The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) officially presented Asia’s premier prize and highest honor to this year’s four awardees on Wednesday, Nov. 30.

During the 64th Ramon Magsaysay awards presentation, RMAF chairperson Aurelio R. Montinola III described the 2022 awardees as “lighter of freedom.”

“A lighter of freedom is surely someone who ignites in others the desire to uplift, to free those who live in the hopeless darkness of poverty, ignorance, hunger, and injustice. It is a perfectly apt phrase to describe Ramon Magsaysay, as well as this year’s Ramon Magsaysay awardees,” Montinola said.

This year’s awardees are: Filipina pediatrician and child right’s advocate Bernadette J. Madrid, Cambodian psychiatrist and mental health advocate Sotheara Chhim, Japanese ophthalmologist and humanitarian Tadashi Hattori, and Indonesia-based French environmental activist Gary Bencheghib.

Montinola said Madrid is a “bright torchbearer for the children of the Philippines and Asia.”

“For 20 over years now, Bernadette J. Madrid has tirelessly and passionately worked to ensure that our children live free from fear and harm through her groundbreaking work in this country,” he said.

Meanwhile, Montinola lauded Chhim for working to free the Cambodians from the shackles of trauma and distress that have creeped them for generations.

“He has courageously addressed his people’s broken courage with resolve, gentleness, and humility, ever mindful of the unique of the cultural experience of his people. He is a beacon of hope to those who have lived in the dark shadows of Cambodian history,” he said.

Montinola also praised the humanitarian work of Hattori.

“A few know that thousands of Vietnamese people have faced the threat of living with seriously impaired eyesight with little hope of the much needed surgical remedy. Japan’s Tadashi Hattori, a doctor whose compassion and benevolence extends beyond the borders of his home country, has restored the vision of thousands allowing them to continue living productive lives free of assistance. He’s a steady blaze that illustrates the model of individual social responsibility,” he said.

Lastly, Montinola described Bencheghib as a “youthful light.”

“One of our youngest Ramon Magsaysay awardees, Gary Bencheghib, imagined a world free of plastic pollution. With his trademark zeal and charm, he has chartered his own future and the future of his adoptive country by taking those first courageous steps towards making his dream a reality. Thanks to him, Asia has a workable model. Surely, his youthful light will shine even brighter in the years and decades to come,” he said.

“Bernadette Madrid, Sotheara Chhim, Tadashi Hattori, and Gary Bencheghib spark and spread light in the seeming confusion of our world today. Tonight, we are proud to present them as recipients of Asia’s premier prize and highest honor, the Ramon Magsaysay Award,” Montinola said.

In over six decades, the Award has been bestowed on over 300 outstanding individuals and organizations whose selfless service has offered their societies, Asia, and the world successful solutions to some of the most intractable problems of human development.

The Ramon Magsaysay Awardees, annually selected by the RMAF board of trustees, are presented with a certificate and a medallion with an embossed image of Ramon Magsaysay facing right in profile.