FIVE Filipinos made it to the list of 11 outstanding alumni of the Philippine-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca).
The five Filipinos recipients of the first Outstanding Searca Scholarship Alumni (OSSA) award are: Dr. Naomi Tangonan (teaching), Dr. Lucrecio Rebugio and Dr. Generoso Octavio (advocacy), and Dr. Delfin Ganapin, Jr. and Dr. Segfredo Serrano (public policy and governance).
Dr. Gil Saguiguit Jr., Searca director, said the awardees were selected from the 1,370 Searca Graduate Scholarship Program alumni throughout the Southeast Asian region.
“The awardees are honored for having personified Searca’s values and philosophy, their professional achievements and the impacts they made on the fields of teaching, research, public policy and governance, and advocacy in agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia,” Saguiguit said.
On Searca’s 50th founding anniversary, the center will present the award to the five alumni from the Philippines, two each from Indonesia and Thailand, and one each from Malaysia and Vietnam.
Non-Filipino awardees are Dr. Klanarong Sriroth of Thailand, Prof. Dr. Mahiran Basri of Malaysia, and Dr. Phan Hieu Hien of Vietnam (research); Prof. Dr. Ir. Mochammad Maksum of Indonesia (advocacy); and Prof. Dr. Musliar Kasim of Indonesia and Dr. Chya Suthiwanith of Thailand (public policy and governance).
Aside from the 11 OSSA awardees, two Searca alumni will also be presented the Emerging Leaders in Transition Economies (Elite) award.
This special citation, Saguiguit said, recognizes the center’s scholars-alumni who help rebuild their nation through their transformative leadership.
The Elite awardees are Dr. Seng Mom of Cambodia and Mr. Agustinho Da Costa Ximenes of Timor-Leste.
The center’s director said the remarkable achievements of scholars-alumni affirm that the Center has carried out its mandate.
“The Center has been helping Southeast Asian countries produce highly trained human resources in agriculture and related fields to accelerate agricultural and rural development in the region,”he said.
The Searca is now on its 50th year of service to Southeast Asia and continue to carry out its mandate to build capacities of institutions working in agriculture and rural development in the region through its programs on graduate education and institutional development, research and development, and knowledge management.