Held recently via a virtual ceremony streamed on Facebook was the Ginebra Ako Awards Year 3: Pagkakaisa sa Gitna ng Pandemya.
In line with the brand’s latest campaign “One Ginebra Nation,” GSMI pushed through with the awards seeing the need for individuals and organizations to be recognized especially at this time when Filipinos look up to real-life heroes for encouragement and inspiration.
This year, the award-giving body salutes COVID-19 heroes in three categories: “Pilipino Ako Award,” individual or organization that emphasized the value of unity in advancing their causes; “Matapang Ako Award,” person or group who went beyond their call of duty in uniting their fellowmen for a common purpose; and “Lalaban Ako Award,” person or institution that used their talent and exemplified excellence in their craft to help those in need.
The awardees recognized for their contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic are Martin Xavier Peñaflor, Chief executive officer of Tangere (Pilipino Ako Award); Minnie Pascual Klepacz, a nurse based in the United Kingdom and one of the proponents of Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Network and the Filipino Nurses Association United Kingdom (FNA-UK) (Matapang Ako Award); and the Emergency Quarantine Facility project led by Dr. Glenn Angeles and Architect William Ti (Lalaban Ako Award).
Commendations were also given to the runners-up from each award category: Sr. Corrie Evidente, administrator of Hospicio de San Jose (1st runner-up), and Ma. Cristina C. Evangelista, founder and project head of Rapid Deployment Hospitals (2nd runner-up) for Pilipino Ako Award; Zion Enrico Roque Licup, Co-founder of iUplift Philippines (1st runner-up) and Coleen Danielle Natividad, Founder of Food For Frontliners PH (2nd runner-up); for Matapang Ako Award; and Anthony James Bautista, Ph. D of LISA Logistic Indoor Service Assistant Robot (1st runner-up) and Dr. Francis Aldrin Uy of USHER Technologies (2nd runner-up) for Lalaban Ako Award.
Awardees per category each received ₱100,000, a certificate, and a trophy, while the runners-up per category received ₱25,000 and a certificate.
