Five outstanding leaders feted on "Dia de Roseller"
Five outstanding Zamboangueño young leaders were conferred with the Roseller T. Lim Award February 11 in line with the observance of Dia de Roseller T. Lim. Mayor Celso Lobregat led city officials and members of the Lim family in feting the five awardees. (JOEY BAUTISTA)
No less than Mayor Celso Lobregat, assisted by Councilor Rudy Lim and JCI Zamboanga president David Oliver Kong, presented the Senator Roseller T. Lim Award to the five outstanding young leaders—Renee Lynn M. Cabanero, Roel C. Somogod, Aldrin B. Abdurahim, Christian E. Olasiman and Mary Rose Jean C. Andrada.
The awardees were selected on the basis of their academic performance, leadership skills, community involvement and personal values.
In his message during the ceremony held at the Garden Orchid Hotel last night, Mayor Lobregat cited the outstanding young leaders as “exceptional individuals, who at their tender age, exhibit the traits exemplified by the late Senator Lim”.
“These five remarkable young Zamboangueno leaders evoke dynamism and are full of convictions. They are examples of our country’s future leaders and are worthy to be called the Roseller T. Lims of the present generation”, he said, adding “as we commemorate Dia de Roseller Lim today, we celebrate the contributions and achievements of these outstanding young leaders”.
Cabanero is a consistent honor student since elementary until college. She is a graduating nursing student of the Western Mindanao State University (WMSU) and is the brain behind the Nursing Debate Society (NDS). AS a senator in the Student Council, she authored Senate Resolution on the Magna Carta for WMSU students. She is a national youth awardee for being very active in national youth policy recommendations and as head of the Mindanao Youth Task Force on Reproductive Health for Zamboanga City.
Somogod served as governor of the College Student Board of WMSU, where he is a graduating student of BS Nursing Special Program. He is the founder of SHELTER, Inc., an acronym for service oriented young professionals who aim to provide home, education, livelihood, training, environmental protection and relief operation. In less than 3 years, the group, under his leadership, organized 14 outreach missions benefiting over 2,000 patients in remote areas of the city.
Abdurahim is a youth coordinator and community organizer of Peace Advocates Zamboanga, coordinator of the Youth Solidarity for Peace—the youth arm of PAZ and interreligious Solidarity Movement for Peace and a network of numerous youth organizations, school and community in the city. He is the 2007 sole recipient of the prestigious Young Peace Weaver Award for the College Division and 2008 regional awardee for Most Outstanding Volunteer of the Philippines sponsored by National Economic Development Authority.
Olasiman is a 3rd year mass communications student of the Ateneo de Zamboanga, a multi-awarded debater and public speaker. He is a college representative and speaker pro-tempore in the House of Representatives of the Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral ng ADZU. His commitment for genuine service and leadership gave him an opportunity to make history in the annals of student governance in the Ateneo when he successfully revised and with the help of a plebiscite, ratified the changes in the 1997 SMADZU Constitution.
Andrada on the other hand, is a graduate of ADZU from grade school to college. She was selected to represent Zamboanga City in the first batch of the Philippine ACCESS Program at Northern Illinois University. In response to the challenge of peace and leadership posed by the program, she co-founded the youth diversity group Place at the Table along with other Zamboanga alumni. She chairs the Ayala Young Leaders Alliance-Zamboanga Chapter and is currently a faculty member of the ADZU Languages Department and a legislative researcher of District I representative Beng Climaco.
The Roseller T. Lim Awards, now on its second year, is part of the city government’s effort to recognize the contributions and achievements of the late Senator Lim, the first and only Zamboangueño to become a senator. The project is jointly undertaken by the city government and JCI Zamboanga. (City Hall PIO)