Mountaineers Garduce, Oracion lead 2006 TOYM awardees

Two mountaineers who reached the summit of Mt. Everest, the president of the Pag-IBIG Fund and a call center pioneer lead this year’s recipients of the prestigious Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) award. Mountaineer Romeo Roberto "Romi" Garduce was cited not only for reaching the summit of Mt. Everest this year but also for his "Climb for a Cause" ventures that helped raise funds for environmental and humanitarian projects. On May 19, he became the third Filipino in as many days to reach the summit of 29,035-foot high Mt. Everest. He works as an information technology project manager. Garduce’s Mt. Everest climb, which earned him the title "the Philippines’ most accomplished mountaineer," was for GMA-7’s Kapuso Foundation projects. Garduce has also helped raise funds for the Bauan Conservation project for coral rehabilitation in Anilao, Batangas when he climbed Mt. Elbrus in Russia. His Mt. Aconcagua climb benefited the patients of PGH through the Bukas Sarili Foundation while his altitude-record Mt. Cho Uyo expedition in Nepal benefited the indigenous children of Bukidnon. Heracleto "Leo" Oracion was also cited for becoming the first Filipino to reach Mt. Everest’s summit on May 17. Oracion, also a tri-athlete will lead Filipino mountaineers next year for the Unity Climb where the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition Team will climb the mountain on both sides, Nepal and Tibet, and meet at the summit. The other awardees were Romero "Miro" Quimbo for government service; Louis Benedict Hernandez for business leadership, Federico Hizon for broadcast journalism, Vivienne Tan for business education/entrepreneurship, Michael Allen Cacnio for arts/sculpture, Dr. Rafael Consunji for medical community service, Windell Rivera for science and technology-microbiology, Dr. Mariella Sugue-Castillo for medicine-child protection, Eugenio Isabelo Tomas Sanchez Jr for community development, and Samuel Soliven for education. Quimbo, the president and chief executive officer of Pag-IBIG Fund, led the rationalization and liberalization of the country's housing program and turned Pag-IBIG into one of the country’s top 10 corporations. Hernandez is behind the call center pioneer eTelecare Global Solutions, considered the most decorated call center in the world. His company opened up the country’s international outsourced call center sector. Hizon, formerly a reporter of GMA-7, is the first and only Filipino make news anchor to work for two of the most prestigious global news organizations – CNBC Asia and BBC World’s Asia Business Report. Tan’s founding of the Thames International Business School and later, the Entrepreneurs School of Asia pushed entrepreneurship education and training forward. Cacnio’s brass sculptures depict values and traditions of the Filipino family. Sanchez is behind the Catholic inspirational magazine Kerygma. Consunji is a trauma surgeon who is behind the Safe Kids program that seeks to keep children safe from accidental injuries. The program has reached out to more than 60,000 schoolchildren. Sugue-Castillo co-founded the Child Protection Unit, takes care of abused children, under the Department of Pediatrics of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila. Rivera developed a diagnostic tool to accurately detect the cause of gastro-intestinal disorders caused by protozoan parasites. Soliven, a science and math teacher in Nueva Vizcaya is behind the creation of St. Mary University’s Science High School. He is the president of a group of private school principals in the province. -GMANews.TV