Filipino Faces of Biotechnology 2023 Awards Night to Celebrate Pioneers of Progress in the 8^th Consecutive Year

In its 8th year of recognizing excellence and contributions to the field of biotechnology, the Filipino Faces of Biotechnology (FFOB) Awards was conducted on December 15, 2023 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

This year’s FFOB awards honored nine exceptional individuals from the fields of agriculture, environment, and policy and regulations.

The FFOB awards, inspired by the renowned Humans of New York, have become a beacon of inspiration, bringing the achievements and stories of exceptional individuals who have significantly advanced biotechnology in the Philippines closer to the public.

This year’s awardees include outstanding individuals who have left an indelible mark on the landscape of biotechnology: Dr. William D. Dar, Dr. Carmencita Padilla, Dr. Evangeline Castillo, Dr. Lourdes J. Cruz, Mr. Adriel Dave Alvarez, Dr. Eufemio T. Rasco, Dr. Antonio A. Alfonso, Ms. Lorelie U. Agbagala, and Ms. Charo Ampil.

The awarding of this year’s recipients is led by Department of Agriculture and represented by Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla, and Department of Agriculture Biotechnology Program Director Dr. Claro N. Mingala.

“𝘈𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮,” said Undersecretary Sombilla in her speech.

The FFOB awards aim to recognize Filipinos who have demonstrated exemplary work and have contributed significantly to the advancement of biotechnology in the Philippines. The awards also aims to bring biotech closer to the people by sharing real-life and powerful stories that inspire others to continuously propel in bringing the benefits of biotechnology to the Filipino people.

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