Ateneo’s Traditional Awards to honor individuals, group

The Ateneo de Manila University will hold its Traditional University Awards on Sept. 27, honoring four individuals and one group who exemplify the values of the university.

This year’s recipients are Tzu Chi Foundation, Austere Panadero, Aga Mayo Butocan, Beatriz Tesoro, and Justice Adolfo Azcuna.

Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines will receive the Parangal Lingkod Sambayanan award. Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines caught the attention of the public in 2013 during its relief operations in Leyte in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda.

The foundation has been in the Philippines for 22 years now, working without fanfare and transforming lives through its various programs in disaster relief and rehabilitation, education, medicine and environmental protection.

Austere Panadero will be conferred the Government Service Award. Long-time Undersecretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Panadero has served six presidents and worked under 11 DILG secretaries, showing an ability to manage change well, ensuring policy and program continuity despite leadership transitions. As head of the local governance portfolio of the DILG, he has proven his unflagging devotion to the difficult work of transforming local governments to become participative, effective, transparent and accountable.

A Maguindanaon kulintang master musician and ethnomusicologist, Aga Mayo Butocan will receive Gawad Tanglaw ng Lahi award. She has been teaching at the University of the Philippines – Diliman for more than 40 years, and giving lectures and performances on the kulintang in other educational institutions and cultural organizations both here and abroad. She has produced a handful of kulintang virtuosos and introduced hundreds of young Filipinos to the beauty, complexity, and richness of our indigenous musical tradition.

Also receiving the Gawad Tanglaw ng Lahi award is Beatriz Tesoro. Known as the Grand Dame of Philippine Fashion, Tesoro has devoted 30 years of her life to resurrecting the art and use of traditional Filipino fabrics, most significantly piña cloth. She has brought Filipiniana designs to contemporary consciousness and has brought the beauty of our traditional wear to the attention of the world. In the 1980s, Patis played a significant role in halting the alarming decline of piña cloth production in the country, and she continues her role as an advocate of traditional Philippine textiles by focusing now on reviving the production of organic Philippine cotton.