The life worth living
Tomorrow, Aug. 31, is the 111th birth anniversary of the late Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay, the seventh president of the Philippine Republic. Magsaysay, also known as “The Guy,” died 61 years ago in a plane crash in Cebu. The lone survivor of that crash, journalist Nestor Mata, passed away just last April at the age of 92 — finally laying to rest a memorable chapter in the nation’s history.
One can surmise that, with Mata gone as well, the unfortunate events of March 17, 1957 will also be soon forgotten. “Mt Pinatubo,” which was the name of Magsaysay’s ill-fated plane, is more known now as the volcano that brought Central Luzon to its knees during a mighty eruption in 1991. Pinatubo is in the mountain range of Zambales, Magsaysay’s home province.
As generations come one after the other, understandably, people tend to forget events in the nation’s past. My knowledge of Magsaysay, for example, comes from books and other literature, as well as interaction with his descendants. After all, his life far preceded mine. It was just my fortune to have met his son, and his grandson.
It takes an active and conscious personal effort to learn from the past. For most people, however, history is just that — history. Something that is from the past and best left in the past. As such, perhaps unless taken up in school, or as a matter of necessity, there is little effort to know and to learn about the past. What matters most is the present, and then the future.
It was perhaps for this reason that the Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation (RMAF) was established in 1957. Its annual award, deemed as Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize, has been given out in the last 60 years to “perpetuate [Magsaysay’s] example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society.”
Since the first award was given in 1958, every 31st of August to coincide with Magsaysay’s birth anniversary, it has continued to recognize the best and the brightest in Asia, with particular emphasis on individuals or organizations that have rendered exceptional and exemplary service in the fields of public service, government service, community leadership, and journalism and literature, among others.
And it has been a long list, proof that we are never short of good people and organizations that work for the best interest and the common good of people all over Asia. This year, 2018, the Filipino awardee is former ambassador Howard Dee, who joins five other awardees from Cambodia, East Timor, India, and Vietnam.
Dee is to be awarded in ceremonies tomorrow, being recognized by the RMAF for “his quietly heroic half-century of service to the Filipino people, his abiding dedication to the pursuit of social justice and peace in achieving dignity and progress for the poor, and his being, by his deeds, a true servant of his faith and an exemplary citizen of his nation.”
“Poverty eradication. Indigenous people’s rights. Social justice. Peace building. Each of these issues involves complex aspirations, seemingly intractable conflicts,