Cebuano wins ‘Torch of the Race’ Ateneo award

RESIL B. MOJARES, billed by Amazon Books as a Filipino literature ambassador, fictionist, historian, and critic, is one of the five recipients of the 2013 Ateneo’s Traditional University (“Luz in Domini”) Awards.

A retired professor of the University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City, he was founding director of the Cebuano Studies Center (19751996), a pioneering local studies center in the country.

Mojares received the“Gawad Tanglaw ng Lahi (Torch of the Race Award)” for his “distinguished scholarly work on Philippine and Cebuano literature, culture, and history that have greatly contributed to a deeper understanding of ourselves as a people and as a nation.”

The awards were given at a convocation Tuesday at Irwin Lee Theater in Ateneo, Loyola Heights, Quezon City. The other four awardees were:

-- EDMUNDO F. NOLASCO, one of the Philippine labor movement’s leaders for his “inspired and extraordinary pursuits in the the name of social justice”;

-- electoral reform advocate CHRISTIAN MONSOD, public service awardee, for his contributions in ensuring the integrity of Philippine elections, winning landmark decisions in favor of farmers of Sumilao and Hacienda Luisita, and his battles for neglected and marginalized sectors;

-- Bukad Palad (Open Palm) awardee SOR MICHELE GAMBOA of the Religious of the Good Shepherd, for dedicating 50 years of her religious life “empowering the poor and marginalized, teaching them sustainable agriculture, financial management, and other livelihood skills...”;

-- JESSE ROBREDO, a posthumous government service award, for being “a true servant leader” as mayor of Naga City for 19 years and as DILG secretary before he died in a plane crash in 2012.