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ALVAREZ, ACOSTA TO GET GUSI PEACE AWARDS
Efren Montano
People's Tonight
November 19, 2007
FORMER Sen. Heherson Alvarez, Chief Public Attorney Persida V. Rueda-Acosta as well as Presidential Anti-Graft and Corruption Commission chairperson Connie de Guzman will be among the 16 2007 Gusi Peace Prize laureates to be honored Wednesday at the Meralco Theater in Pasig City.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been invited to grace the Philippines’ annual biggest international spectacle featuring great achievers of the world.
Gusi Peace Prize Foundation chairman Ambassador Barry Gusi and Gusi president Manuel L. Morato said Alvarez will be cited for being a visionary public servant and environmentalist while Acosta will be honored for her noble prison activities and vital contribution to the abrogation of death penalty in the country, as well as the resumption of the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
De Guzman will be cited for his anti-graft and corruption crusade.
Alvarez is serving with Cabinet rank as chairman and CEO of the Philippine Mining Development Corporation. He is married to Secretary Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, an RM awardee for the arts.
U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy cited Alvarez for fighting for freedom and democracy.
When climate change was not yet being seriously taken by Asia-Pacific leaders, Alvarez was already actively addressing the issue, anticipating mitigation and adaptation measures.
Climate change was then considered a scientific hoax until the Jopex Experiment in November 1994 which proved Alvarez’s vision right.
Alvarez also showed government’s political will in pushing a unique yet equitable approach to the Mount Diwalwal issue, effectively solving 19 years of legal battles, violence, pollution, health and safety hazards and injustices suffered by indigenous peoples and small miners in the area.
The former solon brought the oil companies into negotiation to remove lead in gasoline and reduce sulfur in diesel, paving the way for the Clean Air Act and the Solid Waste Management laws.
Other awardees include Voice of Americas George Bistis (USA) for broadcast journalism; Mehmet Ali Birand, Turkey’s talk show host for CNN, for journalism and human rights; China’s billionaire hotelier Yu Pang Li (People’s Republic of China) for philanthrophy and humanitarianism; kung fu master Thomas Cheng Wai Yu (Hong Kong) for sports; Dr. Shigeru Suganami, M.D., Ph.D., who is president of Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (Japan), for medicine; Maejo University president Dr. Thep Phongparnich, Ed. D. (Thailand), for agricultural research for education; Sen. Ney Robinson Suassuna (Brazil) for political governance; Peter M. Schantz, V.M.D., Ph.D. (USA) for veterinary medicine, research, disease control and prevention; Finance Minister Mechalos Konstantinos (Greece), employment alleviation; Vice President and Justice Minister Elias Camsik (Republic of Palau) for ecosystem and biodiversity; world-renowned archaeologist Dr. Farland H. Stanley (USA), for archaeology; world rugby sports superstar and advocate of kidney donor research organization John Alamo (New Zealand) for sports and humanitarianism; and Republic of Korea’s former Minister of Public Highways Dr. Tae Sup Lee.
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