Search for TOYM awardees needs more Cebuanos

THE Junior Chamber International Philippines (JCI-Philippines) is urging the public to nominate   Cebuanos in the search for  The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) 2015.

This year’s search was launched last Monday at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino  with the theme theme “Building our Nation for Global Competitiveness.”

The TOYM foundation annually selects outstanding young men and women  18 to 40 years old who have made significant contributions to society and the nation in their respective fields.

“We have a lot of awardees from Manila, but only a few from the Visayas. Less than 10 percent of the 463 awardees are from the Visayas, and about five percent are from Mindanao. We are requesting the Visayans to nominate achievers from their area,” said TOYM foundation executive director Larry Cruz.

For more than 56 years, only eight people from Cebu were given the TOYM award.

“There are many accomplished and well-deserving individuals in Cebu. One of the reasons there are  few awardees here is because Cebuanos are shy about nominating. Maybe it is because this year is just the second launch of TOYM here,” TOYM 2014 winner for government service and Liloan Mayor Vincent Franco Frasco said.

Jonathan Jay Aldeguer, TOYM 1997 winner for entrepreneurship and founder of Island Souvenirs, said he did not think about the impact of his business on the Philippines until he received the award.

“I was just focusing on my business when I was 27 years old just like a typical businessman but being awarded a TOYM made me realize that my business helped in promoting local destinations in our country through T-Shirts,” he said.
Nomination forms may be downloaded at www.toym.ph.