Cover The Ramon Magsaysay Award medallion
The Ramon Magsaysay Award medallion
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Embracing the theme “Illuminating Our Future”, the 67th festival season of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards highlights the importance of confronting today’s challenges—whether in education, the environment or health—through transformative leadership and keeping hope alive
The board of trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) globally announced this year’s recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, considered to be Asia’s premier prize and highest honour. This marks the commencement of the 67th festival season of the said awards, continuing the foundation’s longstanding celebration of transformative leadership and greatness of spirit that shape Asia and inspire the world.
This year’s theme, “Illuminating Our Future”, is illustrated by an eternal flame, inspired by the Eternal Flame Monument at Corregidor Island in the Philippines. The flame represents continuity, responsibility and the cost of what has been withstood, echoing the monument’s purpose of serving as a symbol of remembrance that parallels with the festival’s emphasis on continuity, accountability and the resolve to move forward.
Read more: Igniting Action: Tracing the origins and ethos of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation
“Aligned with this year’s theme and key visual inspiration, the festival season honours the 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Awardees whose respective work demonstrates how incessant challenges can be met with resolve and underscores the commitment of this year’s awardees to address urgent issues and to help shape a future grounded in justice, dignity, and shared humanity,” the foundation expressed in a statement.
“For 67 years, the Ramon Magsaysay Award has celebrated transformative leaders who have become enduring beacons for Asia and the world,” says RMAF chairperson Edgar O Chua says. “Each generation of Ramon Magsaysay Awardees has shown us that integrity, courage, and compassion can shape societies for the better. This year’s recipients stand firmly by that proud tradition,” he adds.
This year’s awardees include the Foundation to Educate Girls Globally, the first foundation/organisation to receive this award from the said country, which is recognised for its commitment to address cultural stereotyping by empowering and educating girls and young women to achieve their full potential; environmental advocate and ocean conservationist Shaahina Ali, the first recipient from the Maldives, for her unwavering commitment to protecting the marine ecosystem of her home country and ensuring her work’s sustainability in the long run; and lastly, religious-missionary priest of the Societas Verbi Divini (SVD) Flaviano Antonio Villanueva, from the Philippines, whose lifelong mission is to uphold the dignity of the poor and the oppressed by founding the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center in Manila that caters to the needs of indigent and powerless citizens.
“Their stories affirm that the leadership values embodied by President Ramon Magsaysay remain as urgent and as vital today, guiding us in a world where the need for principled action and moral clarity has never been greater,” concludes Chua.
Above Home visits and counselling with parents done by the Foundation to Educate Girls Globally (Photo: courtesy of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation)
Home visits and counselling with parents done by the Foundation to Educate Girls Globally (Photo: courtesy of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation)
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Inspiring hope and action, the deserving awardees will each receive a medallion bearing the likeness of President Ramon Magsaysay, a certificate inscribed with their citation and a cash prize. The 67th Ramon Magsaysay Award presentation ceremonies will be held on November 7 at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila.
“In their unwavering dedication, we see not only solutions to pressing issues today but also light sparks of hope for generations to come,” says RMAF president Susanna B Afan. “[The awardees] remind us that the call to serve, selflessly, transcends borders, generations and circumstances.”
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Before assuming the Art and Culture Editor position, Franz has always had a penchant for visual and performing arts. He is passionate about exploring and writing about the local cultural scene and rediscovering the country’s storied past and rich heritage. Besides working on this luxury lifestyle magazine, Franz is an avid book reader, local traveller, museum-goer, chorister, and community theatre playwright.
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Franz earned a degree in Journalism from the University of Santo Tomas. He writes about local visual and performing artists and their craft; drinks wines, liquors, and spirits and talks about the creativity of their respective winemakers and master blenders; tries to learn more about business and investments; respects the tradition and artistry that go behind the making of watches and jewellery; and appreciates the genius of architecture and creative design.
As head of Tatler Philippines’ pool of writers, he helps them bring impactful and socially relevant stories to light.
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