GREATNESS OF SPIRIT LIVES!

"You are equal to the task: you have the clear-eyed vigor of youth, and your minds have been sharpened into keen and precise instruments. You will not fail if you bear in mind always that your success and well-being as individuals cannot be separated from the well-being of your community, from the progress and development of your nation. You cannot fail if you have faith in your God and confidence in yourselves.

As useful citizens of today, I welcome you. As leaders of tomorrow, I salute you."

President Ramon Magsaysay speaking before the graduating students of the University of the Philippines, April 5, 1955



So spoke the late Filipino leader more than half a century ago. The inspiration for Asia's most prestigious prize, Ramon Magsaysay remains relevant to this day. Born on August 31, 1907, he redefined the meaning of public service and inspired his countrymen to dream of greatness. He tragically died in a plane crash on March 17, 1957. This year marks both his birth centenary and his 50th death anniversary.

His memory lives on through the Ramon Magsaysay Award which annually honors astounding individuals and organizations who perpetuate his exemplary leadership and remarkable character across Asia. Also recently launched to celebrate the much loved Filipino president's special relationship with youth is the 5th Ramon Magsaysay Student Essay Competition (RMSEC) in the Philippines carrying the theme, "The Magsaysay Awardee Who Inspires Me The Most: The Magsaysay Greatness of Spirit Lives."

RMSEC has had an international run in Korea in 2004 with another tour that just concluded in India this March. The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation continues to look to the competition as an avenue for inspiring the youth to imbibe the "greatness of spirit in service to the people" which the Magsaysay Awardees exemplify. Since 1958 when the first awards were given, 256 individuals and organizations across Asia have received the award.

Following a soft launch in Baguio City on February 21, the 5th RMSEC formally opened at SM Megamall, on 12 March 2007. Highlighting the event are the back-to-back travelling exhibits RMSEC @ SM and the display entitled "Magysaysay: The People's President". The latter exhibit showcases the late President's life from childhood to his meteoric rise to the presidency. A film bio entitled My Guy Redux also travels with the exhibits. Soon, an interactive video game "Adventures with the Guy" will also be available for a fun yet in-depth learning of the President's positive values and brand of leadership.

The roving exhibits will tour five SM Malls nationwide until June. It will provide prospective competition participants, as well as the general public, useful information on the Magsaysay Awards and on the past winning essays. In partnership with the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF), SHOEMART, the country's largest chain of malls, provides venues to introduce secondary and college students in the Philippines to the competition rules and the inspiration behind the seven-year student essay competition. The roving exhibits, which have been to Baguio City, will visit three more SM malls nationwide - Lipa, Cebu and Davao.

RMSEC, a RMAF vehicle for connecting the awardees' sterling lifework with the aspirations of the youth, encourages participants to read and research on the awardees, and to select an awardee to write on. Secondary and college students may well take the challenge and prepare to enter the competition. Educational institutions and teachers nationwide are enjoined to get their students to participate.

At the SM Megamall event, RMAF President Carmencita T. Abella, SHOEMART Vice President for Corporate Communications Millie Dizon and Regional Operations Manager Roysten Cabuñag led the guests. Among them were Senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr. who emphasized the need for the young to actively participate in the affairs of the country and Department of Education Undersecretary Vilma Labrador who reinforced the RMSEC challenge to students and teachers across the country.

Other RMSEC institutional partners this year are the National Historical Institute, Foundation for Worldwide People Power and the Gilas Consortium. Second-time partners National Bookstore and Anvil Publishing Inc. are joined by Philippine Airlines. Official media partners are the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Studio 23 and Knowledge Channel. Other participating institutions include the MRT and LRT where RMSEC posters will be featured.

Highlighting the Megamall opening was the presence of recent RMSEC grand prize winners Jessica Robredo, Bianca Consunji and Jason Naniong who read excerpts from their winning essays while fellow winner Raymundo Lucero Jr. provided beautiful music on his violin. Teachers and students from the Ramon Magsaysay High Schools in Cubao and España, Quezon City Science High School and Our Lady of Guadalupe College attended the activity.

High school and college students are invited to submit 2 - 4 page essays online. Participants will conduct their research, registration and submission online. To research and register for the competition, click here. Essays are submitted through rmsec5phil@gmail.com. Deadline for registration and submitting entries is on 10 August 2007.

Competition prizes include P50,000 for the grand prize winners and personal computers for eight regional winners - one high school and one college each from NCR, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Educational organizations are invited to ensure wide participation: Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC), Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU) - Coordinating Council for Private Educational Association (COCOPEA), Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), Association of Christian Schools and Colleges (ACSC), Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU), Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP), Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities, Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA), Association of Catholic Universities of the Philippines (ACUP), Association of Local Colleges and Universities (ALCU), and the Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAPSCU) .