Leaders of tomorrow

AY Foundation celebrated this month the 12th Annual National Discipline Awards, a character-building program that seeks to recognize worthy students who have shown leadership in the service of family and community, particularly the needy and the less privileged. Said another way, the awardees clearly demonstrated four core values that spell leadership --self discipline, integrity, courage and self-sacrifice.

This year’s awardees from all over the country totalled 500. This brings the number of awardees since its inception in 1990 to 4,000.

In the awarding ceremony held at the RCBC Plaza in Makati, each awardee was given a San Lorenzo Ruiz gold medallion and a cash prize of P5,000.

"Whether we like it or not, the era of globalization is upon us. Competitiveness is the name of the game in the world market. If we don’t get our act together and rally behind a common vision for the Philippines, then we lose the opportunity to prosper as a nation. When that happens, globalization becomes a curse rather than a blessing to us," Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations Alfonso Yuchengco said.

This call for national discipline as a competitive advantage was echoed by Ateneo de Manila University president Fr. Bienvenido Nebres.