A Thai senator who champions the rights of the underprivileged and an Indonesian anti-corruption crusader lead the recipients of the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Awards -- Asia's equivalent to the Noble Prize, organizers said yesterday.
Thai Senator Jon Ungphakorn was chosen as the awardee for government service for "his impassioned insistence as a senator that Thailand respect the rights and attend humanely to the needs of its least advantaged citizens."
The 58-year-old senator founded in 1980 the Thai Volunteer Service aimed at exposing university graduates to the rural poor and the non-government organizations working with them, according to the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF).
In 1991, he founded a foundation that provides counselling to people afflicted with the deadly AIDS virus and their families, as well as campaigning for affordable treatment.
Indonesian Teten Masduki, 42, will receive the award for public service for "challenging Indonesians to expose corruption and claim their right to clean government."
Indian V. Shanta is also being cited for the public service award category for his untiring advocacy for cancer research, the foundation said.
Other awardees are Bangladeshi Matiur Rahman for journalism, literature and creative communications arts for using the power of the press to crusade against "acid throwing" and South Korean Hye-Ran Yoon for emergent leadership for her "catalytic role" in promoting social responsibility. Laotian Sombath Somphone won the award for community leadership for training young people on sustainable development.
There was no awardee this year for the peace and international understanding category.
Lourdes Balbin, RMAF communications officer, said the board "did not find a suitable choice" for the category.
The winners will be honored in ceremonies in Manila on Aug. 31.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award was established in 1957.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
RSS