MANILA, Philippines—Six Asians have been chosen to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award—Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize—among them a Filipino lawyer known for successfully championing the cause of the environment in the country.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation announced Monday that Filipino Antonio Oposa Jr., Yu Xiaogang and Ma Jun from China, Thai Krisana Kraisintu, Deep Joshi from India, and Burmese Ka Hsaw Wa would be recognized for their achievements in awarding ceremonies to be held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Aug. 31.
“They are Asia’s heroes, leading efforts that put scientific knowledge and tools at the service of specific and vital human concerns—affordable and effective health care, improved livelihoods, environmental destruction and basic human rights,” Carmencita Abella, the foundation’s president, said in a statement.
Abella said the awardees each used “calibrated strategies to craft lasting solutions to problems besetting their people” while sharing “a greatness of spirit which infuses their leadership for change.”
Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award celebrates the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine president and is considered Asia’s highest honor. It is given every year to individuals or organizations in Asia who manifest the same sense of selfless service that ruled the life of the late Filipino leader.
The six Magsaysay awardees join 271 laureates who received the honor before them. They will each receive a certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of President Ramon Magsaysay, and a cash prize.
Oposa will be recognized for “his path-breaking and passionate crusade to engage Filipinos in acts of enlightened citizenship that maximize the power of the law to protect and nurture the environment for themselves, their children and generations still to come.”
Environmental law
Instead of pursuing a lucrative law practice, the Harvard Law School graduate decided to focus on environmental law and made his first mark with an unusual case that later popularized the “Oposa Doctrine” in international legal circles, the foundation said.
“This was a class action suit he filed in which 43 minors asked the government to cancel timber licenses on the grounds that rampant logging violated their constitutional right to a healthy environment,” it said.
In a 1993 decision, the Philippine Supreme Court upheld the principle of “intergenerational equity,” affirming Oposa’s argument that the interests of future generations could be protected in court.
“A triumph of principle, the case set a precedent for how citizens can leverage the law to protect the environment,” the foundation said.
It said Oposa demonstrated this in 1999 when a citizens’ group filed a case holding the government liable for the pollution of Manila Bay and responsible for its cleanup.
“Marshalling the resources of the law and pursuing the case for all of 10 years, he won a Supreme Court decision compelling 11 government agencies to coordinate their efforts in rehabilitating Manila Bay, submit action plans, and regularly report to the court on the progress of their work,” the foundation said.
It also noted that Oposa risked his life to stop illegal dynamite fishing in the Visayan Sea through his Law of Nature Foundation.
Pharmaceutical rigor
Thai awardee Kraisintu will be recognized for “placing pharmaceutical rigor at the service of patients, through her untiring and fearless dedication to producing much-needed generic drugs in Thailand and elsewhere in the developing world.”
Joshi will be cited for “his vision and leadership in bringing professionalism to the NGO movement in India, by effectively combining ‘head’ and ‘heart’ in the transformative development of rural communities.”
Yu will be awarded for “fusing the knowledge and tools of social science with a deep sense of social justice, in assisting dam-affected communities in China to shape the development projects that affect their natural environment and their lives.”
Ma will be recognized for “harnessing the technology and power of information to address China’s water crisis and mobilizing pragmatic, multisectoral and collaborative efforts to ensure sustainable benefits for China’s environment and society.”
Ka Hsaw Wa will receive the award for “dauntlessly pursuing nonviolent yet effective channels of redress, exposure and education for the defense of human rights, the environment and democracy in Burma (Myanmar).”