Japanese animator, doctors among Magsaysay awardees

MANILA, Philippines —  One group and four individuals, including award-winning Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, were proclaimed as recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards this year.

Aside from Miyazaki of Japan, environmental activist Farwiza Farhan of Indonesia, reproductive health advocate Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuoc of Vietnam, scholar Karma Phuntsho of Bhutan and the Rural Doctors Movement from Thailand will receive the award, dubbed as “Asia’s highest prize and highest honor,” now on its 66th year.

Miyazaki, known for Oscar-winning animated films “Spirited Away” and “The Boy and the Heron” that he both wrote and directed, was recognized for “his lifelong commitment to the use of art, specifically animation, to illuminate the human condition, especially lauding his devotion to children as the torchbearers of the imagination, to whom he has passed the light and spark of his own,” according to a statement from the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF).

It added the Japanese animator and filmmaker “tackles complicated issues, using his art to make them comprehensible to children, whether it be about protecting the environment, advocating for peace or championing the rights and roles of women in society.”

Farhan was given the award for her “profound understanding of the vital connection between nature and humanity, her commitment to social justice and responsible citizenship through her work with forest communities, and her promotion of greater awareness of the need to protect the beating heart and lungs of her country’s and Asia’s rich, but endangered natural resources.”

She founded the Yayasan Hutan Alam dan Lingkungan Aceh or HAKA, or Forest Nature and Environment of Aceh Foundation, which protects the Leuser Ecosystem, a 2.6-million hectare forest in Aceh province “where some of the world’s most highly endangered species have managed to survive.”

A physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, the RMAF cited Phuong for her “extraordinary dedication and talent, but also the spirit of public service and the message of hope she continues to propagate among her people.”

Her study established that people exposed to tetrachlorodibenzodioxin – one of