The 1975  Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service

RESPONSE of  Phra Chamroon Parnchand
Ramon Magsaysay Award Presentation Ceremonies
31 August 1975 Manila, Philippines

It is my honor to deliver the response of Phra CHAMROON PARNCHAND to the recognition he has received from the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation as follows:

Some 20 years ago I committed myself to a religious vow not to use any vehicular transportation. This vow prevents me from being present at the Award Presentation Ceremonies on the 68th birth anniversary of the late President Ramon Magsaysay.

I want you to know, however, that the Magsaysay Award for Public Service has brought to prominent public attention the problem of drug addiction, and particularly the treatment service available at our monastery, Wat Tham Krabok. During this past week since the announcement was carried in our mass media, addicts voluntarily coming to our monastery seeking liberation from the cursed enslavement to drugs has sharply increased to more than twice the usual number. This means that more and more victims who have been lost to drug addiction will have the opportunity to return to respected, useful new lives in the community. The monetary portion of the Award will serve a very important purpose for it is sufficient to care for about 1,000 addicts. The fortunate 1,000 who will benefit from the Ramon Magsaysay Award shall be the aged—over 60 years old, the young—under 16, students and women, regardless of faith, creed or nationality.

At the present rate of admission it is likely that the stipend will be expended within the next two months—less than the duration of the monsoon rains. Remembrance of your far searching Award, however, shall be perpetuated. At Wat Tham Krabok a spacious new building, attractively designed and now in the final phase of construction, is intended for treatment of drug addicts. At another historic Ramon Magsaysay Award Ceremony on September 6, 1975 it shall be named Gusaling Magsaysay (Magsaysay Pavilion). In this building the Public Service Award medal and certificate will be on display to inspire and remind: that for man, good deeds bring forth merits.

Note: In respect for the abbot's vow not to travel in any type of vehicle, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, for the first time in the 17 years of its history, saw fit to hold a second presentation outside the Philippines. In a formal ceremony at Wat Tham Krabok on September 5, 1975 the Award was presented to Phra CHAMROON by the Philippine Ambassador, the Honorable Manuel T. Yan, with opening remarks by Dr. Dioscoro Umali, former chairman of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, and reading of the citation by Dr. José B. Abueva, a former trustee.