JCI Philippines Awards for

The Outstanding Young Men of 2018

The Junior Chamber International Philippines together with TOYM Foundation and the Gerry Roxas Foundation concluded the
much-awaited search for 2018 The Outstanding Young Men and Women of the Philippines.

This year’s TOYM Search Committee gathered nominations from all over the Philippines submitted by individuals and
organizations. This year-long search was supported by JCI Philippines National President Rey Felix C. Rafols and was chaired
by JCI Sen. Mark Joseph N. David, TOYM Search Committee of JCI Philippines with the following members:

Area 1 Chairman: Ms. Maan Versoza

Area 2 Chairman Ms. Caroline Quiroga
Area 3 Chairman Ms. Sigrid Peralta-Emralino
Area 4 Chairman Ms. Sherlaine Campugan
Area 5 Chairman Mr. James Montalvan

This year's search brought out eleven (11) Honorees from different categories. Nominations were screened by a panel composed of
past TOYM Honorees chaired by Mr. Richard Javad Heydarian, 2016 TOYM Honoree for Social Science and 2018 JCI Ten
Outstanding Young Persons of the World for Political Legal and/or Governmental Affairs (JCI TOYP):

Mr. Ronivin Pagtakhan
Ms. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla
PSupt. Byron F. Allatog
Mr. Randy Halasan
Engr. Jose Ramon Aliling
Dr. Eugene Mende
Mr. Earl Martin Valencia
2016 TOYM Honoree for Youth Leadership &
2018 JCI TOYP for Humanitarian and/or Voluntary Leadership
2014 TOYM Honoree for Journalism
2017 TOYM Honoree for Government Service & Law Enforcement
2016 TOYM Honoree for Education
2015 TOYM Honoree for Civil Engineering
2017 TOYM Honoree for Veterinary Medicine
2016 TOYM Honoree for Entrepreneurship

Thereafter, the distinguished Board of Judges went through the nominees as well. This year's board of judges was chaired by Sec.
Fortunato Dela Peña of Department of Science & Technology and the members of which include:

Ms. Alegria Limjoco Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Ms. Margie Floirendo Cultural Center of the Philippines
Mr. Emmanuel Bonoan KPMG Philippines
Atty. Jesus Clint Aranas Government Service and Insurance System
Mr. Herman Basbaño Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas
Mr. Vincent Reyes TV5 Network Inc.

This year’s roster of TOYM Honorees:

1. Dr. Nassef Manabilang Adiong TOYM Honoree for International Relations

2. Ms. Jamela Aisha Martinez Alindogan TOYM Honoree for International Journalism
3. Ms. Cherrie De Erit Atilano TOYM Honoree for AgriBusiness
4. Mr. Karl Kendrick Tiu Chua TOYM Honoree for Economic Development
5. Mr. Bernard Faustino La Madrid Dy TOYM Honoree for Public Service
6. Mr. Rodne Rodiño Galicha TOYM Honoree for Environment Conservation & Climate Change Education
7. Ms. Fatima Peñones Ibias-Lanuza TOYM Honoree for Government Service /Law Enforcement
8. Dr. Erika Fille Tupas Legara TOYM Honoree for Education Innovation
9. Dr. Katerina Tolentino Leyritana TOYM Honoree for Public Health
10. Dr. Mark Anthony Santiago Sandoval TOYM Honoree for Medicine/Endocrinology
11. Mr. Jaton Zulueta Jr. TOYM Honoree for Community Development

This year’s theme “Inspiring Lives Towards Nation Building” has brought out great Honorees in this year’s search. TOYM
recognizes these eleven (11) exemplary individuals who, beyond concern, have brought service to others, beyond their talent
exuded excellence, beyond their position shone leadership and beyond their achievement have grown greatness. The Honorees are
true models of exceptional young Filipinos worth emulation by the young generation and the nation in general.

This year’s search is co-presented by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) Home Fibr.
The project is made possible through generous support of its major sponsors: San Miguel Corporation
Gerry Roxas Foundation, Banco De Oro (BDO) and Royal Duty Free Shops.
 History of the Junior Chamber International
Philippines
(Philippine Jaycees, Inc.)
Any historical account of the Jaycee movement in Asia necessarily begins with the Philippine
Jaycees.
It was here that the first Jaycee chapter in Asia-the Manila Jaycees – was born on December 20,
1947. On March 10, 1948, two delegates from the Manila Jaycees attended the 3 rd World Congress of the
Junior Chamber International held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to petition for the admission of the chapter to the
worldwide organization. They came back to Manila with charter for the national chamber that was to be
known as the Philippine Jaycees, and the distinction for JC Gregorio Feliciano for being the first Filipino Vice
President of Junior Chamber International.

Two circumstances may be said to paved way the way for the Jaycees’ transplantation in Asia
through the Philippines.

1. Its historical ties with the United States

2. The restlessness of its young professionals to help the
country recover from the ravages brought by the Pacific War.

From various accounts in the past, we have known how this involvement begun with the curiosity of
that venerable Artemio Vergel de Dios, still very much active in the movement to this day, who as a young
man read about the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce in October 1946 issue of the American Magazine
PIC and for with wrote the U.S. Jaycees to inquire how a similar organization could be established in the
Philippines.
By September 12, 1947, Vergel de Dios got the cue from Bob Richards, Executive secretary of the
US Jaycees, who referred him to Bert Talbot, a former Jaycee from St. Paul, Minnesota, who was then
Northwest Airlines traffic manager in Manila. At about the same time, Talbot got a letter from Tyrlor Cole,
then president of the Junior Chamber International, about Vergel de Dios intention, suggesting that he and
Robert Trent, then representative of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters in Manila, meet with the Filipino.

As advised, the meeting among the three was arranged and held at the Rotary Room of the Manila
Hotel on September 25, 1947 and initial plans were drawn for an organizational meeting. These were firmed
up in October with a list of 60 young men to charter members, but only 17 were able to attend the
organizational meeting December 20, 1947, 10 of whom were Filipinos and 7 Americans. The Filipinos, who
were soon to become prominent businessman and industrialist, were Ramon V. del Rosario, Oscar Arellano,
Rafael Estrada, Fred Benitez, Gregorio Feliciano, Oliverio Laperal, Jose Mayuga, Eugenio Puyat,
Graciano Yupangco and the one who started it all, Artemio Vergel de Dios. The Americans were John
Bachman, Steve Brodie, Chuck Nelson, Stephen Stonich, Wylie Young and the two referrals, Bert Talbot
and Robert Trent.

By the time the constitution and By-Laws of the chapter, was taken up and approved on January 03, 1948,
42 members had signed up. The first board of directors elected Ramon del Rosario- President, Robert
Trent-Executive Vice President, Eugenio Puyat-Vice President for External Affairs, Jose Mayuga-Vice
President for Internal Affairs, Artemio Vergel de Dios-Secretary, Gregorio Feliciano-Treasurer and Steve
Brodie-Public Relations Officer.

Having granted the charter for the national Jaycees Organization in the Philippines, the intrepid
Manila Jaycees fanned out in the provinces to organize chapters. The first to respond were the young men
of BACOLOD, CABANATUAN, CAPIZ, CAVITE, ILOILO, DAVAO, LUCENA, SAN PABLO, TACLOBAN and
ZAMBOANGA. By the year end, the number of chapters organized had reached 22.
 The first national convention was held in Manila in April 1949. Following the approval of the
constitution and By-laws of the Philippine Jaycees, the first set of national officers were elected with Ramon
del Rosario as President.

That same month, 19 Filipino Jaycees led by Del Rosario attended the 4 th JCI World Congress in
Brussels. The rather large delegation must have so impressed the Jaycees from different countries that they
voted to hold the 5th JCI World Congress in Manila the following year.

From Brussels, the Filipino delegates broke up into five teams for a “Sell the Philippines” campaign
tour to Latin America, Canada and the United States, with different itineraries, the Filipino ambassadors of
goodwill did their country proud as they spoke at banquets, radio programs, TV appearances and newspaper
and its people, in the process dispelling ignorance and correcting misinformation then prevalent about the
fledgling republic.

At the 5th JCI World Congress held in October 1950 at the Manila Hotel, the delegates were
addressed by President Quirino and other officials of the Philippine Government. A momentous highlight of
the assembly was the election of Ramon del Rosario as world president of the Junior Chamber International,
the first Filipino and Asian to hold that position. In three successive years, del Rosario earned the distinction
of chalking up three first: first president of Manila Jaycees, and first Filipino president of JCI. Two years
later, another Filipino, Roberto Villanueva, was elected to the same office: Other Filipino subsequently
elected JCI President were Feliciano Belmonte, Jr., Victor Luciano and Crispin Dy, Jr.

Through the years, the Philippines Jaycees as an organization has become a byword in civic projects
of varying scope and importance such as setting up monuments, blood banks and puericultures centers,
exterminating rodents and harmful insects, and campaigning for people to “get out and vote”. The tragic
death of National President Joaquin V. Gonzales in a plane crash is memorialized by a rehabilitation pavilion
at Welfareville in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, set up under the auspices of the Philippine Jaycees.

Two projects of the Philippine Jaycees which have become institutions are the “Voice of Democracy”
oratorical contest among students and the annual search for the “Outstanding Young Men” of the
Philippines.

Also to this great credit and to this day widely remembered is “Operations Brotherhood”, a humanitarian
project in Vietnam and Laos whose methodology evolved out of the “Help the Barrio” project initiated by
Cesar Climaco in Zamboanga and later adopted nationwide by the Philippine Jaycees, under the name
“Held Juan”. The essence of “Operation Brotherhood” was an enlarged and more systematic application of a
Multi-disciplinary approach in helping the needy whose implementation Oscar Arellano successfully headed.

The rise of Jayceeism in the Philippine and in Asia paralleled the organization’s phenomenal growth
the world over. By 1952, there were 52 national chambers. In Asia, the growth of Jayceeism was notably
brisk from that year to 1952.

In 1952, there were only 79 local chapters in Asia of which 37 in the Philippine and 34 in Japan, with
a chapter each in Hongkong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. By 1954,
Jaycee chapters had been organized in Burma, Ceylon, Malaysia and Pakistan. There were nucleus
organizations in Borneo and Laos which eventually become full chambers with a total of 126 local chapters.

Today, there are 15 national Jaycee organizations in Asia, with the addition of Bangladesh and
Nepal. Under the JCI structure, the region falls under Area B to which Australia, New Zealand, Guam and
Fuji are included.

The other dimension of Jayceeism is the Jaycee Senate, founded in January 1952 by JCI World
President Phil T.R. Pugsley of Canada to provide a lifetime link with the organization for elder members and
at the same time harness them for Jaycee extension.
 Today, the Jaycee Senate International has over 43,000 members representing just a little over one
percent of the three million people who have been Jaycee. This is so because a JCI Senatorship, lifetime
title, is selectively for outstanding performance by a Jaycees whether on the local, national or international
level.

TOYM HISTORY
The Philippine Jaycees, Inc., as an organization, has the following goal and mission: to contribute to the
advancement of the global community by providing young persons with the opportunity to develop leadership
skills, social and fellowship for positive change. This goal or mission finds basis on the JCI Creed.

The JCI Creed, which is universal in its perception and exhortation, sees man not only in the light of what he
is but what he can be. This precept proceeds from the principle that earth’s great treasure lies human
personality which must be develop in its wholeness. This recognized with implicit faith in GOD gives its
dimension.

The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Awards was initiated by the Manila Jaycees as a chapter project on
April 6, 1959 during their 11 th National Convention in Baguio City.

Since 1973, the Gerry Roxas Foundation co-sponsored the project due to the similarity of its goals to
promote leadership and exemplary innovation among the youth to address our nation’s development. On
October 22, 1990, the TOYM Foundation was organized by past TOYM Awardees and Jaycee national
Officers to provide support and continuity for the annual search.

In 1996, the TOYM Awards was changed to TOYF of “The Outstanding Young Filipino” to give women equal
exposure and emphasis in the search. However women were already made integral part of the search since
1984. In 1999, the name was reverted back to its original name TOYM to preserve the sanctity of the
awards, as the word “men” does not intend to distinguish the difference in gender.

Over the years, the TOYM has become an institution having develop a reputation for its selectiveness of
Outstanding young men upon whom the awards is conferred TOYM seeks to give National Recognition to
young Filipino men and women between the ages of 18 to 40 years of age selfless dedication to their
profession or vocation has resulted in significant contributions to the welfare of their countrymen as well as
to the advancement of their fields of endeavor.
2018 TOYM AWARDEES

DR. NASSEF MANABILANG ADIONG

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Despite his young age, Dr. Adiong is a prolific academic with

three peer-reviewed books and edited volumes, nine peer-
reviewed journal articles, seven peer-reviewed encyclopedic
entries, twenty web-based articles, and more than 44 papers
presented at academic conferences. His research and writings,
which encompass Islam, International Relations, the Bangsamoro
and Philippine knowledge production on the concept of the
‘international’. Among his published, presented, and forthcoming
works are ‘Salafiyyah in the Philippines’, ‘Religion, International
Relations and ‘Philippine IR’, and ‘Relationship between Balik-
Islam and full-fledged Muslims under the Auspices of 209 Islamic
Teachings in the Philippine Setting’, among many others, and he
is an editor of the Routledge Book series ‘International Relations in Southeast Asia’, the Brill-
published ‘International Journal of Islam in Asia’ and the book series ‘Islam in Southeast Asia’ with
Palgrave Macmillan. This collection of works reveal that Dr. Adiong touches upon sensitive yet
relatively poorly-understood facets of Philippine society, the Moros, the practice of Islam in the
ARMM, and the entanglements of this region in global discourses of the nation-state and political
Islam. It is a well-established observation, noted even by numerous ilustrados and Ferdinand
Blumentritt in the late 19th Century, that the relationship between Muslims and Christians in the
country has long been fraught and subject to the exclusionary
practices of colonial powers. Now more than ever, with growing separatism and the emergence of
terrorist groups, the Philippines requires a nuanced and inclusive perspective towards its Muslim
population, as well as mediators that communicate a message of peace and coexistence. Dr.
Adiong touches on the influence of international and transnational forces that influence ARMM that
have largely gone unnoticed in the population save for sporadic media appearances. His scholarly
work has been embodied in his practices, which strive to create the necessary interfaith
understanding between the three Abrahamic religions and other Asian faiths.
His brand of scholarship has also impacted students at the Institute for Islamic Studies at UP
Diliman and at other institutions, who have come to not only critically examine the global and local
dimensions of ethno-national conflicts but also appreciate other points of view, a crucial 21 st century
learning skill.
Through the professional association he founded, the Philippine International Studies
Organization (PHISO), Dr. Adiong asked the question if one could speak of a ‘Philippine
International Relations’, bringing the concept of indigenization that has long been discussed in
Philippine historiography to the fore of theorizing in International Relations. The idea has been
highly influential and has contributed to the success of the International Conferences of PHISO.
The discourse of International Relations has often been critiqued for representing an American
approach to the Social Sciences to the detriment of other worldviews, despite emphasizing
universality. As the Philippines represents the confluence of Western, Asian and Islamic
civilizations, it potentially has much to offer in terms of accommodation strategies, norm diffusion
and syncretism. Through such a research agenda and discussion forums, the Philippine academe
and general public can divest themselves from an inward-looking focus and include the country in
global and regional forces that impact similarly-situated states. Dr. Adiong's editorship of the
Routledge book series ‘International Relations in Southeast Asia’, which provides a venue to link
specialized Area Studies knowledge to global forces, as well as his forthcoming work on ‘Critical
International Studies in the Philippines’ evidences his
commitment to bringing scholars together in making the Philippines’ contributions to knowledge
known to the world of International Relations. It is due to his many internationally-known
publications and efforts to promote understanding about Islam and International Relations in the
Philippines that Dr. Adiong pushes the horizon of
knowledge about our country and makes this known to his large local and International networks
through the appropriate tools – he manages numerous social media pages, websites and his own
personal page that act as outreach tools to the new tech-savvy generation of students, researchers
and scholars. While Dr. Adiong is not one to always present himself to traditional media, he has, in
his own quiet and humble way, made a tremendous impact on the direction of scholarship in
international Relations of the Philippines and exercises due diligence in promoting his works
through personal, community-based communication.
Ms. JAMELA AISHA MARTINEZ ALINDOGAN
INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM

Jamela Alindogan is an award-winning correspondent

of Al Jazeera English for over ten years. She covers
the Philippines and most of South East Asia and even
Africa. She has reported on elections in Indonesia and
Malaysia, protests in Vietnam and Cambodia and has
reported exclusively in many conflict areas most
specially in the troubled region of Mindanao in the
southern Philippines. Exposure to the aftermath of
war that has destroyed communities has impelled her
to cofound Sinagsala Centre for Women and Children
in Conflict,a group that opens safe spaces to
War survivors. Sinagtala has opened toy libraries in Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Lanao province. Last
year at the height of the war in Marawi, Jamela opened seven facilites for children and two weaving
centers for displaced women that continue to this day.
She was elected President of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

FOCAP is an organization with members of top foreign news agencies. Her mandate
includescrafting and lobbying for policy measures that aim to protects journalists in the field. She
also organizes forums with top newsmakers and policymakers.
Before joining Al Jazeera English, Jamela held a variety of positions in several news channels in
the Philippines. She was a field reporter and weekend news anchor for ABS-CBN Channel 2 and
the 24-hr English news channel ANC in the Philippines. Between 2001 and 2003, she was
the network’s sports correspondent for its channel ABS-CBN Sports. At the same time, she
was also a sports reporter for a sports show in RPN-9 channel.
Ms. CHERRIE DE ERIT ATILANO
AGRIBUSINESS

The nominee was head-hunted from Malacañang palace during the

awarding of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines 2007 as a
Landscape Supervisor/Horticulturist Executive for Ayala Land Inc. -
Makati Development Corporation for projects in Bonifacio Global City,
Greenbelt, Nuvali and other known open malls of Ayala from 2007 -
2008. After a year of work, she resignd the high paying corporate job to
be a volunteer of Gawad Kalinga to help build the Food Sufficiency
Program called Bayan-Anihan from year 2008 - 2010. She was about
to fly to the US to study in an Ivy League University under a Fulbright
Scholarship that she got the Principal Grant, however, she opted to not
accept the scholarship and helped in building the Gawad Kalinga
Enchanted Farm from 2010 - 2014 as a fulltime volunteer; to make
ends meet, she worked as a TV Host in PTV 4 in a morning show called Metro One at the same
time a Consultant to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to help establish the Agrarian
Reform Community Connectivity for Economic Support Services (ARRCESS) from 2011 - 2015.
She
was so inspired by her work on smallholder farmers all over the Philippines through her exposure to
DAR Agrarian beneficiaries that proppeled her to start her own social enterprise called AGREA
Agricultural Systems International, Inc. that is now working a lot for a One Island Economy Model in
Marinduque Island and expanding in Siargao Island at the same time she also founded the non-
profit called AGREA Agricultural Communities International Foundation, Inc. to run the Farm
School, the first Farm School that is accredited by the Department of Agriculture - Agricultural
Training Institute (DA-ATI) and the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (TESDA)
to amplify the work in educating farmers, nonfarmers, out- of-school youth and women to learn
about sustainable agriculture and agripreneruship.

.
Mr. KARL KENDRICK TIU CHUA
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Karl Kendrick T. Chua has been Undersecretary for the Strategy,

Economics, and Results Group of the Department of Finance since
September 2016. In this capacity, he helps the government achieve
the ten-point socioeconomic agenda by ensuring equitable and
sustainable financing for the country’s key infrastructure and
human development programs through an effective tax reform.

Prior to joining the government, he was World Bank Senior

Country Economist for the Philippines. From 2012 to 2016, he
led the World Bank’s Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management
Global Practice in the Philippines. In this capacity, he supported
the government
in crafting strategies and policies to attain more inclusive growth—
the type that creates more and better jobs and reduces poverty.
His core work covered macroeconomic management,
economic policy, tax policy and administration, public
expenditure management, labor market and poverty analysis, and statistical development. He
was with the World Bank for 12 years from 2004 to 2016.

Karl completed his Masters of arts in economics in 2003 and PhD in economics in 2011 at the
University of the Philippines School of Economics where he specialized in fiscal policy and tax
administration. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Management Engineering at
the Ateneo de Manila University. Prior to joining the World Bank, he was Assistant Professorial
Lecturer of Mathematics and Economics at the Ateneo de Manila University, and was
consultant for several local- and development partner-funded projects in the areas of economic
and fiscal policy. His first job was in Andersen Consulting/Accenture as a systems analyst.
Mr. BERNARD FAUSTINO LA MADRID DY
PUBLIC SERVICE

In his five years as Mayor of Cauayan City, the nominee was able to
bring Cauayan at the forefront of progress, technological
innovation, transparency and integrity-based governance. The
nominee transformed Cauayan City into a bustling and the first ever
Smarter City in the Philippines while maintaining the
competitiveness of its agro- industrial and tourism industries. By
transforming a once neglected city into a SmartCauayan City, the
nominee puts people first and builds on this new era of
collaborative technology to engage citizens, business and
government leaders in new
ways. Among many firsts, the nominee is also the first
Mayor in the Philippines who successfully localised United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

He has created impact to many lives in his city and around the country by using technology to
serve the cause of human progress and localizing the sustainable development goals to
contribute to nation-building.
SmartCauayan City

To ensure that Cauayan Smarter City foster sustainability, the nominee initiated the following
smart programs:
1. SMARTER MSMEs
2. SMARTER EDUCATION
3. SMARTER AGRICULTURE
4. SMARTER TRANSPORTATION
5. SMARTER HEALTHCARE
6. SMARTER GOVERNMENT
7. SMARTER JOBS
Localising the 17 Sustainable Development Goals:

One of the 17 notable programs of the nominee is SDG # 2 achieve zero hunger in Cauayan
City. He created a mechanism to build up the spirit of “Bayanihan” by creating a FOOD BANK
operated by volunteers. All establishments engaged in selling of non-perishable goods are
encouraged to donate food items months before expiration. This will be cooked, processed and
given to indigent families. Individuals, establishments, local retailers, NGOs take part through
donations. In 2016 alone, a total of 2,728 school children have benefited in a continuous
feeding program. Having the goal to ensure access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year
round, the food bank has contributed to the decline of the malnutrition rate to an all-time low of
1.2%, making Cauayan the awardee of the 2016 National Nutrition Award. To ensure that indigent
families in the far flung areas benefit from this, the nominee came up with Food Bank on Wheels
where the volunteers, donors and members of the working committee of the Food Bank
themselves visit the families and conduct feeding programs in barangays.
Mr. RODNE RODIÑO GALICHA
ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION

Rodne ‘Rod’ R. Galicha serves as Philippine Manager of

Washington-based The Climate Reality Project(TCRP),
founded by Nobel Laureate and former US Vice President
Al Gore. He has mentored TCRP climate leaders at the
Climate Reality Leadership Corps trainings in Indonesia,
United States, South Africa, Australia, and Brazil.

Serving his fellow islanders, Rod is chairperson and

president of Bayay Sibuyanon Inc., a local organization
in Romblon province working on cultural heritage and
ecology. He is also vice- chairperson of Greenpeace
Philippines.

In 2013, he received the Gawad Bayani ng Kalikasan national individual award and the
2014 MIMAROPA Regional Volunteer Award from the National Economic Development
Authority (NEDA).

In 2018, the Philippine Tatler included him in the Generation T list as one of the 50 brightest connectors,
creative visionaries, influential innovators and disruptive talents in the Philippines, joining fellow
environment advocate Anna Oposa, celebrities like Anne Curtis, Erwan Heussaff
, Solenn Heussaff, Matteo Guidicelli, photographer BJ Pascual, chef Miko Aspiras, Cherry
Mobile CEO Maynard Ngu and human rights activist Bemz Benedito, among others.

Strategically engaging with the government, he is a voting member of MIMAROPA Regional

Development Council while serving as member of the executive committee of the National Central
Cultural Communities Committee of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). He has
been lobbying for the inclusion of NCCA as member of regional development councils.

In 2015, Rod joined the People’s Pilgrimage with 21 climate advocates who walked more than
1,000 kilometers from Italy to France for almost two months. The walk ended in Paris, France, in time for
the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where the Paris Agreement was adopted by nations to limit global
warming to below 2 degrees Celcius and strive to reach 1.5 degrees Celcius. He has been to
international climate negotiations as one of the technical advisers of the Philippine delegation to
COP22 in Morocco and COP23 in Germany, respectively.

The author of the book We Are Nature, Rod is an alumnus of formerly known as Sibuyan Polytechnic
College, now Romblon State University, and of the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Santo
Tomas (Manila) where he finished Baccalaureate in Philosophy and Bachelor of Arts Classical. He
was a visiting scholar at the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) in 2009.

He previously worked with the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural
Areas (PhilDHRRA), Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources, Legal Rights and
Natural Resources/Kasama sa Kalikasan – Friends of the Earth Phils. (LRC- KsK/FoE Phils.), Alyansa Tigil
Mina, and Bank Information Center.
PO3 FATIMA PEÑONES IBIAS LANUZA
GOVERNMENT SERVICE/LAW ENFORCEMENT

Extending a helping hand when you are in a position of power is

noble, but saving lives while defying discrimination is an act of
heroism.

Police Officer 3 Fatima Penones Ibias-Lanuza, one of the ten

honorable officers recognized in the Search for Country's
Outstanding Police Officers in Service (COPS) by the Metrobank
Foundation Inc. (MBFI) in 2016, is proudly a member of the
Tabangnon Tribe, an indigenous people of the Agtas. Being a
member of an indigenous group, she naturally developed a heart
for the oppressed and marginalized

Hailing from La Anunciacion in Iriga City, young Fatima grew up as

a courteous and respectful girl who is fond of kissing the hand of her
elders. Growing up in the green province of Camarines Sur, she
enjoyed a childhood immersed in nature. At a tender age, she was already showing signs of
bearing great responsibility as her mother’s helper in their humble eatery. Though little, she has
been a reliable and diligent marketer for their eatery. Little did she know that these experiences
have been preparing her for a life of service to others.

With gusto, Fatima took up Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and successfully
graduated in 2007. Entering the police force as a woman was no easy feat for Fatima. At the
start of her career in the male-dominated work place, she noted how she, as a woman, was
easily dismissed and limited to clerical works. This prompted her to ponder how she will be able
to effectively level the playing field with his men colleagues. Thus, with fervor, Fatima studied
Bachelor of Laws in 2010 to 2014 and got her diploma in Bachelor of Criminology through the
Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program. But she did not stop there.
Through and through, she embodied her oath as a government employee, “Sisikapin kong
madagdagan ang aking talino at kakayahan upang ang antas ng paglilingkod sa bayan ay
patuloy na maitaas.”

Fully equipped with her knowledge, skills, and experiences in being a licensed teacher,
criminologist, and civil service legible law enforcer, Fatima was assigned as the Police-
Community Relations Officer and Police Non-Commissioned Officer of the Women and
Children’s Protection Desk . Pouring out all of herself, she began her greatest mission: saving
lives.

One may think that this lady from CamSur is only a hero at work, but Fatima is as much a savior
at work as she is at home. A wife to a seafarer and a mother to two children, she is also giving
refuge and taking care of her rescued victim of incest-rape. In August, 2015, the father of the
victim asked for Fatima’s help as the victim was impregnated by the suspect. Now, under
Fatima’s care, the victim is already in third year college in a known state university in the
province, while her child is already three years old, both under her care.
On August 22, 2017, the Gainza Police Station launched Project TAM (Tabang, Anduyog, at
Malasakit), an endeavor Fatima proposed and dearly dedicates to her departed son whom
they fondly call Tam-Tam. Under Project TAM are outreach activities aimed at curtailing crime
through education and cultivating respect for the environment and fellowmen among the children
and the youth. Fatima is also a picture of strength and power whenever she wears her Wonder
Pulis costume during the outreach activities of Project TAM. This costume entices the children
and helps build the image of the police as protectors, caring friends, and allies. She is currently
reviewing for bar exam and also applying for lateral entry as commisioned officer.

Truly, it is admirable that Fatima has accomplished all these in her career and personal life,
but it is more praise-worthy that she has done all these in spite and despite of the discrimination
she faced early on as a woman and as a member of an indigenous group
Dr. ERIKA FILLE TUPAS LEGARA
EDUCATION INNOVATION

Legara has a bachelor’s degree, a master’s

and a doctorate in physics—all from the
University of the Philippines where her general
weighted average grade was a perfect 1.0
(with 1.0 as the highest grade point) in the PhD
program. Apart from part-time teaching stints
at the UP’s National Institute of Physics from
2006 to 2011, she worked in Singapore for
most of her professional life [(2012-2017)
before moving back to the Philippines to help
implement the first formal data science
program in the Philippines she chiefly
designed]. As a former scientist with the
Singapore government’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research, the
nominee has been involved in data-driven research on urban systems, [social
systems, and manufacturing systems looking at] supply chain and logistics, among
others. She was part of a team that developed a machine learning model that
predicts how improvements in land-use and amenities affect the number of users of
each of the city state’s subway stations. She also helped build a machine learning
model that predicts the water level in Angat Dam, which supplies about 90 percent of
Metro Manila’s water, six months ahead.
Asked why she [was] leaving Singapore, which has the resources and
infrastructure to allow her to carry out cutting-edge research, Legara said she
wants to be right here in Manila just as the data science, artificial intelligence and
machine learning technologies take off in the Philippines.
Excerpts from Joyce Ann L. Rocamora's write-up on Legara and data science
as 'future' of policy making in PH:

Towards nation-building. As part of her commitment to contribute in nation-

building, Legara shared she decided to come home and take part in the
innovation of the data science curriculum in AIM.
"We really want to equip Filipinos so that they will know data analytics
knowledge and skills," she said.

"I think if we can really train the youth and make them aware that this area of study
exists then it helps a lot, again going back, into nation-building."
Since data science cuts across different industries, Legara said it [has become] the
"future" for both private and public sectors
Dr. KATERINA TOLENTINO LEYRITANA
PUBLIC HEALTH

2009 - After graduating from a residency program in

Internal Medicine in UP-PGH, she entered the
Infectious Disease Fellowship Training Program at
the same institution. During her interview, she was
asked why she wanted to go into ID, she said she
was curious
about HIV as it was relatively new in the Philippines
and not many physicians were specializing in it.
During her fellowship, she won numerous awards in
research, which eventually led to her being awarded
the Clemente S. Gatmaitan Award for Most
Outstanding Fellow in Research, given at the UP-PGH Medicine Graduation
Rites, besting all fellows in the 13 subspecialty training programs of the
Department of Medicine.
2011 - Upon the recommendation of then PCHRD chair Dr. Montoya, she
applied for the prestigious Arthur Ashe Endowment Fellowship of Cornell-
New York Presbyterian Hospital. This was an observership program
especially for healthcare professionals from developing countries. Four
fellows are brought to New York City each year, to experience the ideal way
to treat HIV in a developed country, in the hopes that on their return, they
will be able to give back to their country using the new skills and knowledge
they acquired during the program.
2012 - Upon her return, wanting to further hone her skills in the clinical and
research arms of HIV medicine, she underwent an extra year of Fellowship at
the UP-PGH Section of Infectious Disease. During this time she was
instrumental in the development of administrative protocols of PGH's HIV
clinic, SAGIP Unit, which is currently the country's third largest HIV public
health institution. During this time, she was also awarded the International
Investigator Award of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, for her
poster work on "The changing epidemiology of the HIV-positive patient
before and after accessible anti-retroviral therapy: areas for intervention in
the time of a national epidemic". This allowed exposure of her work to a
broader international audience.
2013 - After graduating from training, she established her private clinical
practice. The growth in number of her HIV patients led her to creating a
primary care institution with other healthcare practitioners who share her
similar passion in caring for the Filipino patient living with HIV. The practice
is now known as SHIP Clinic, which serves as PGH's private service
delivery partner. 2015 - With likeminded individuals from different sectors of
society (public health, business, advocacy), she founded Sustained Health
Initiatives of the Philippines, a Non-profit Organization that aims to bridge
the gaps in HIV healthcare through capacity building, innovation, and
maintaining the HIV care continuum
Dr. MARK ANTHONY SANTIAGO SANDOVAL
MEDICINE/ ENDOCRINOLOGY

Dr. Mark Anthony Sandoval obtained his Doctor of

Medicine degree, cum laude, from the University of the
Philippines (UP) Manila, graduating as salutatorian. He
completed residency training in internal medicine and
fellowship training in endocrinology, diabetes and
metabolism both at the UP-Philippine General Hospital.
He is board-certified in internal medicine and
endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism.

He is presently an Associate Professor at the

Department of Physiology and Section of
Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism,
Department of Medicine of the UP College of
Medicine and Philippine General Hospital.

Dr. Sandoval has engaged himself in various activities

as a physician. As a clinician, he provides
compassionate and competent care to his patients, opting to stay in the country to serve
Filipino patients. He strives to make sure his patients are well-informed, that they have
learned something new every time they see him in his clinic. As an educator, he is known
for his passion in teaching learners in medicine – medical students, residents and fellows
alike. As a scientist-researcher, he has endeavored in locally-relevant researches such
as determining the effects of a popular indigenous plant on cholesterol and glucose levels,
trying to prove or disprove anecdotal reports using the scientific method. He has authored
several case reports which are valuable learning resources for other doctors.

He has not confined his work in the clinic, hospital or medical school though. He still allots
time to do worthwhile community work. He has helped establish a partnership between
UP Manila and the local government of San Juan, Batangas. In this rural town, he and his
team are involved in a community diabetes care program, a health education-community
service-scientific research activity all rolled into one. He and his team teach about
diabetes self-management education, empowering diabetics in this area where there are
no endocrinologists. The success of this health education program being able to lower
blood sugar levels has been written and published as a scientific research paper. They
have also embarked on a program wherein they teach individuals with prediabetes,
engage them in diet modification and exercise and see if these can help delay or prevent
the onset of type 2 diabetes.

With these roles, Dr. Sandoval is becoming the 5-star physician that the University of the
Philippines College of Medicine endeavors its graduates to be.

Dr. Sandoval has been awarded as one of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines
in
2003. Also, he was the Most Outstanding Resident in Internal Medicine, a distinction
given by the Philippine College of Physicians in 2007. He has also been named as one
of the Young Physician Leaders in Asia in 2013 by the Interacademy Medical Panel.

Dr. Sandoval has this insight regarding how he is able to share his expertise in
endocrinology in various ways: “Endocrinology is admittedly a specialty that is dependent
on high-tech
laboratory tests and its practice is usually hospital- and clinic-based. However, being
involved
in a community diabetes care program in the rural town of San Juan, Batangas, I have
seen how my being an endocrinologist can be relevant to people in the grassroots level.
Our group goes to the rural villages and we empower patients with diabetes who have little
access to specialist care, if at all. Thus, aside from my patients in the hospital and clinics
and my students in medical school, I have applied and shared my knowledge in
endocrinology to a much wider audience -- the ordinary Filipinos out there in the
countryside.”

His endeavors as a clinician, teacher, scientist-researcher and health educator in the

community are his little contributions to building this great Filipino nation.
JATON ZULUETA JR.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

2003 - Jaton started teaching informally when he

was just 19 years old. He would visit the cemetery
less than a kilometer from his house (Manila South
Cemetery), gather out-of- school youth living in the
mausoleums, and teach them basic reading and
arithmetic. Ever the advocate for dynamic,
practical, and fun education, he would use games
and atypical visual aids to get the children excited
about learning - like using the dates on the
cemetery’s tombstones as means to make a game
out of practicing subtraction. He was able to teach
around 60 children at this time.
2005 - Jaton's class in Manila South Cemetery
grew from a group of 60 to 300. Jaton enlisted
the help of his family and other volunteers to
help with weekly tutoring and his newly implemented feeding program.
2008 - Jaton spent a year in the United States to pursue a passion second to
teaching and community development - writing. He enrolled in a writing
prorgam in the University of
Iowa and gained valuable experience as an intern in the Asia Writer’s Society
2009 - Jaton returned to the Philippines, realizing that his ultimate goal was
to not only help his community for the short-term but really help its children
flourish and develop the skills and mindset to find better opportunities,
especially through writing and self- expression. He started AHA! Learning
Center with his sister, Aina, by setting up a physical classroom near the
cemetery, holding proper Math and English tutorial classes up to 5 days a
week, and starting his values formation program
2011-2017 - After trying his hand in different industries (radio, goverment,
and advertising), Jaton decided to start his own business with his other
sister, Andrea. He managed an import-export company that sold salon
products. He grew his company to supply over 150 salons all over the
Philippines, with revenue totalling 300 million over the course of 6 years.
This he used to help subsidize his AHA! Learning Center project.
2014 - Jaton began professionalizing the project. He started hiring full time
teachers and worked on developing his own curriculum for academics,
focused on teaching practical English communication for job readiness,
and values formation, focused on servant- leadership.
2018 - Jaton started working with the Makati City government and its
barangays to expand his reach to LGUs and public schools and to expand
the features of his pilot center to include an urban garden, a computer lab,
and a plant based feeding program.
2018 TOYM Awards Search
Announcement of Honorees
January 9, 2019; Wednesday; 11:00AM
Romulo Cafe, 148 Jupiter corner Comet Street
Bgy. Bel-Air, Makati City

PROGRAM
ACTIVITY SPEAKER

REGISTRATION OF MEDIA
& OTHER GUESTS
Distribution of Press Kits to media guests
OPENING PRAYER, JCI VALUES
WELCOME REMARKS Mr. REY FELIX C. RAFOLS
National President
JCI Philippines
OPENING REMARKS Mr. BIENVENIDO V. TANTOCO III
President, TOYM Foundation, Inc.
Brief on TOYM Mr. MARK JOSEPH N. DAVID
National Chairman
TOYM 2018 Search Committee
PRESENTATION OF 2018 AWARDEES Sec. FORTUNATO DELA PEÑA
Chairman, Board of Judges
TOYM Search 2018
MESSAGE Mr. MANUEL V. PANGILINAN
Chairman, TOYM Foundation, Inc.
Open Forum

Photo Opportunity With TOYM Foundation & JCI Officials

and some of the TOYM awardees
present

Program Moderator: Paolo Lim & Eizelle Yee