Baja conferred TOFIL award

Ambassador Lauro Baja, Jr., permanent representative of the Philippines to the United Nations, will receive The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) award for bilateral and multilateral diplomacy on Dec. 6.

Baja was cited for his "outstanding work in the field of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy through the years, which have helped give the proper focus and attention to national and global concerns and issues to make the world a better place to live."

The TOFIL award was conceived by the Philippine Jaycee Senate in 1988 to institutionalize public recognition of men and women aged 41 years and older whose exemplary achievements are worthy of emulation. It is an annual project of the Philippine Jaycee Senate and the Insular Life Assurance Co., Ltd.

With this award, Ambassador Baja joins the ranks of previous TOFIL awardees such as the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin (Spiritual Leadership, 1988); the late Senate President Marcelo Fernan (Judiciary, 1989); former President Diosdado Macapagal (Government Service, 1990); Teodoro Locsin Sr. (Journalism, 1990); Jose Joya (Visual Arts, 1992); former Sen. Jovito Salonga (Public Service, 1993); Menardo Jimenez (Entrepreneurship, 1997); and billiards king Efren "Bata" Reyes (Sports, 1999).

Baja is also a recipient of the Gawad Mabini Award with the rank of Dakilang Kamanong, and the Order of Sikatuna with the rank of Datu, the highest awards a member of the Philippine Foreign Service could receive; the Carlos P. Romulo United Nations Award from the United Nations Association of the Philippines; the Outstanding Alphan for 2003, from the Alpha Phi Beta UP Law Fraternity; and the "Dangal ng Batangas" Outstanding Batangueño award in 2004.

He had also been conferred the highest awards from the Brazilian government, the Ordem de Gran Cruz de Rio Branco (Order of the Grand Cross of Rio Branco), and the Ufficiale nell Ordine’ Al Merito Republica Italiana (Order of Merit) by the Italian government during his assignments as Philippine ambassador to those nations. — Pia Lee-Brago