I was right on time, but the Metrobank Plaza auditorium was already full when I got there. Important people were everywhere. Metro Manila mayors, several police generals and bank officials mingled with the country’s top educators, writers and artists. US Ambassador Kristie Kenney was a special guest, as was the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Marixi Prieto. Retired Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban would be the evening’s keynote speaker.

They were all there for the Metrobank Foundation Inc.’s 30th anniversary celebration. The low-key but very capable Chito Sobrepeña, MBFI president, had graciously invited me to join them that special evening. Ms Irene Labitad, senior program manager, warmly welcomed me as I walked in.

After 30 years, who hasn’t heard of the Metrobank Foundation?

The MBFI’s Search for Outstanding Teachers is an event that the country’s educators and the general public look forward to every year since it was first launched in 1985. This recognition has been earned by no less than the likes of Onofre “Sir Pagsi” Pagsanghan, Dr. Josette Biyo and Dr. Fely Pado, to name just a few.

MBFI developed The Search for Outstanding Teachers “to promote a culture of excellence in education by recognizing the country’s best mentors who can be upheld as models not only for educators but for other community members as well.”

Today, more than 200 exemplary elementary, high school, and college teachers from all over the country have won this award, but it does not end there. These amazing individuals have gone on to form the Network of Outstanding Teachers end Educators (NOTED), “an honor society that actively works towards the elevation of teaching through professional development and advocacy.”

Through its Search for Outstanding Teachers, the MBFI has succeeded in inspiring our educators to strive for excellence. At the same time, the teacher’s invaluable role as an agent of change is profoundly emphasized. I’m proud to say that the Foundation for Worldwide People Power’s Mentoring the Mentors Program espouses these very same core values.

The prestigious Metrobank National Painting Competition is another event that has made the MBFI a household word. Since the ’80s, this contest has attracted the country’s top young painters. In 2004, the MBFI expanded the scope of the competition to include the disciplines of architecture, sculpture and interior design and called the program the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence, or MADE. Like the painting competition that preceded it, MADE has drawn in the country’s best young talents in these fields and elicited national accolade for their outstanding creative work.

Through the Manila Doctors Hospital, MBFI has done exemplary work in health care as well. Most notable is the “Sama-sama sa Malusog na Barangay” [Together in a Healthy Community], a comprehensive health care intervention initiative that the Manila Doctors Hospital is implementing for its adopted community in Pasay City. MBFI also has scholarship grants at the Manila Doctors College.

The MBFI likewise recognizes the country’s finest policemen and soldiers with the COPS (Country’s Outstanding Policemen in Service) and TOPS (The Outstanding Philippine Soldiers).

Chito Sobrepeña himself said that the MBFI raised this search into full career awards because “by making the recognition into career rather than annual achievement awards, we recognize the consistency in excellence of service to the nation.”

New to me were the Award for Continuing Excellence in Service (ACES) and the Partner in Empowering and Advocating Excellence (PEACE), although I learned a bit later that these recognition programs have been around for quite some time.

The ACES was first given out in 2004, during the MBFI’s 25th anniversary. It is “a distinction bestowed to past winners who have continued to stand out in their respective fields after having been honored by the Metrobank Foundation for their achievements.”

This year, MBFI named 30 ACES from their roster of Outstanding Teachers, MADE, the Search for Outstanding Journalists, and recognition programs for members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from 1984 to 2004, who are “distinguished by their positive influence and leadership among their peers and in their respective communities.”

PEACE, on the other hand, is an award handed out to institutions with whom the MBFI has established strong partnerships, and “whose commitment in uplifting the lives of the least in society and in recognizing the best of the Filipinos mirrors that of the MBFI.”

In his welcome remarks, Metrobank founder and group chairman George S.K. Ty told the gathering that “All the work that the Foundation has done in the last 30 years is my way of giving back and sharing my success with Philippine society.” He said that one of the reasons why he founded the MBFI in 1979 was “to show my gratitude for the country and the countless opportunities opened to me by the Filipino people.” Mr. Ty also said that “amid the financial crisis of today, I believe we need to do more.”

The evening’s theme: “Excel, Engage, Empower.” This adequately describes the effect the evening’s honorees have on us. In turn, our response to them should be: “Engage, Empower, Excel.”

Eugenia Duran Apostol is the founding chair of Foundation for Worldwide People Power.