Aquino hails 7 TOYM awardees

President Benigno Aquino III shares the stage with the winners of the 2011 The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Awards for a photo souvenir in a ceremony at the Rizal Ceremonial Hall, Malacañang Palace on Wednesday, December 7, 2011. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The head of the first biotechnology consulting firm in the country, two mayors, an infectious disease specialist, an accomplished musical director, the businessman behind the only publicly listed agricultural firm in the country and the man behind the Mang Inasal fast-food chain are this year’s awardees of the annual The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) awards.

President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday conferred awards to the seven personalities in a simple ceremony in Malacañang, praising them for “readily responding to the call of the times.”

“To our awardees: you are living symbols of the energy, excellence, and dedication that we Filipinos are capable of when we put our minds to it,” the President said in his speech.

The only woman TOYM awardee is Ma. Antonia Gregorio Arroyo, the daughter of Senator Joker Arroyo, who is the chief executive officer and founder of Hybridgm Consulting, the first biotechnology consulting firm in the country.

“Her firm developed policy for the government, facilitated over $4 million in biotech investments, and trained over 15,862 aspiring entrepreneurs,” according to a profile of this year’s awardees prepared by the TOYM organizers.

Other awardees

The other winners are: Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian (for public service); Calapan City Mayor Paulino Salvador (community development); infectious disease physician Dr. Raul Destura (medical science); music director Gerardo Joseph Salonga (music); Edgar Sia II (entrepreneurship) of Mang Inasal fame and Antonio Tiu  (entrepreneurship).

According to Gatchalian’s profile, the Valenzuela mayor “infuses a corporate style of leadership to running the government.”

“Not unlike a proactive CEO, (Gatchalian) leads the city like a corporation, with local employees as prime assets, the citizens as valued assets, and Valenzuela City as a trusted brand name,” said the profile on Gatchalian.

Destura, on the other hand, is credited for his research, including those on two dreaded diseases—dengue and tuberculosis. He developed the Dengue Lamp kit which the Department of Health is set to release  in the first quarter of next year.

Meaningful endeavors

The President called on them to “continue to pursue meaningful endeavors.”

“Instead of looking at this award as a guarantee that you will go on to be leaders of our country, it should instead serve as a challenge for you to be an example—a living inspiration—of the best that our country can be,” the President said.

“I hope that you will not take this lightly. If you succeed in this, each of you can help dispel cynicism, corruption and selfishness thereby restoring our confidence in ourselves. But if you fail to live up to this challenge, you will have contributed to the erosion of our collective values and self-esteem,” he added.

President Aquino asked the awardees to support his government’s agenda to institute reforms “to eliminate poverty, weed out corruption and promote inclusive growth and lasting progress” in the country.

Originally posted at 04:27 pm | Wednesday, December 07, 2011