Beacons of hope

In times of uncertainty, nothing calms the soul better than knowing that there are people who can still bring out the best in us: the teacher who affirms our humanity by fostering in our youth a culture that celebrates life and learning, the soldier who holds honor, duty and love of country above all, and the police officer with an inviolable respect for the rule of law, who serves and protects the citizenry.

Every year, the Metrobank Foundation Inc.’s Outstanding Filipinos program actively seeks out these exemplary individuals so that they can inspire us, help us heal our divided nation, and become our beacons of hope.

“Much like in previous years, we are once again on an active lookout for noteworthy individuals in the academe, military, and police sectors who exhibit exemplary conduct and performance in their respective pursuits of duty,” says MBFI executive director Nicanor Torres Jr.

This year, however, MBFI elevates the prestige of its flagship recognition program by searching for public servants who are models of excellence in their professions and, more importantly, are agents of positive change in their respective sectors and communities.

“The theme for this year’s search is ‘Beyond Excellence.’ We will recognize 10 Outstanding Filipinos—composed of four teachers, three soldiers, and three police officers—who actually go above and beyond the call of duty to serve the greater citizenry,” said Torres.

Each Outstanding Filipino will receive a cash prize of P1 million, a trophy, and a medallion. Awardees will be formally announced and conferred the award during Metrobank’s 54th anniversary celebration in September.

The awardees will also be given the titular honor of being “2017 Metrobank Foundation Fellows in Public Service.” Each will have the opportunity to share his or her advocacies and best practices through a series of public lectures across the Philippines.

The awardees will be selected under three component programs—Search for Outstanding Teachers (SOT) in partnership with the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education; The Outstanding Philippine Soldiers (TOPS) in partnership with the Rotary Club of Makati Metro and the Armed Forces of the Philippines; and Country’s Outstanding Police Officers in Service (COPS) in partnership with the Rotary Club of New Manila East, the Philippine Savings Bank, and the Philippine National Police.

Per eligibility rules, teachers, soldiers, and police officers may be qualified for nomination if they have a minimum 10 years of service during which they have consistently earned a “very satisfactory” rating, at the very least. Those who are set to retire must have at least three remaining years of service.

Qualified elementary and secondary teachers must have completed academic requirements for a master’s degree while higher education teachers must have a doctorate.

Qualified AFP commissioned officers ranked from captain to colonel must have completed a bachelor’s degree, while AFP enlisted personnel ranked from corporal to chief master sergeant must have completed high school.

PNP commissioned officers (from inspector to senior superintendent) and noncommissioned officers (from police officer 2 to special police officer 4) must have completed a bachelor’s degree.

Applicants must be of good moral character and must not have been found guilty of any administrative or criminal charge.

Nominations may be sent to the MBFI Secretariat or to the nearest Metrobank branch on or before March 24.

For inquiries, you may call (02) 898-8898, (02) 857-8757, (02) 945-7006, or  0956-873-4684 and 0933-522-4186. Please look for Dyan Tee or Neury Chan (SOT), Hero Hernandez (COPS), and Third Salang (TOPS). You may also send inquiries via email to outstandingfilipinos.mbfi@ gmail.com. Nomination forms may be downloaded from the MBFI website (www.mbfoundation.org.ph) or through the “Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos” Facebook page.

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Butch Hernandez (butchhernandez@ gmail.com) is the executive director of the Eggie Apostol Foundation.