Camarines Sur Governor LRay Villafuerte added another bright plume to his already very colorful cap of awards and citations with his recent selection as one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) of 2008”.

        Governor Villafuerte, the only Filipino among this year’s TOYP honorees, was conferred the award by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) in recognition of his outstanding business, economic and/or entrepreneurship accomplishment.

        The worldwide TOYP program recognizes young people aged 18 to 40 years who excel in their chosen fields and exemplify the best attributes of the world’s youth in order to encourage other young people to seek excellence and serve others.

        The other awardees in the ten-category search are Mayya Assaad of Syria for contribution to children, world peace, and/or human rights; Dr. Angelin An-Lin Chang of Taiwan for cultural achievement; Garrett Gravesen of USA for scientific and/or technological development; Tania Major of Australia for political, legal and/governmental affairs; Melissa Moon of New Zealand for personal improvement and/or accomplishment; Dr. Sam Prince of Australia for humanitarian and/or voluntary leadership; Dr. Pascal Saffache of France for moral and/or environmental leadership; and M. Yan Wai Kiu of Hong Kong for personal improvement and/or accomplishment

        The TOYP 2008 honorees will formally receive their awards at ceremonies during the 2008 JCI World Congress scheduled in New Delhi, India on November 4 to 8.

        Governor Villafuerte was nominated for the award by the Naga “Cariñosa” Jaycees for being “an excellent social entrepreneur who has the heart and compassion of one who truly wants to transform lives for the better”.

        Cited among his outstanding accomplishments is his being a self-made businessman whose career gained international recognition and achieved financial success, largely thru his personal brand of distinctive entrepreneurship founded on never being fazed by difficulties and an overriding quest for excellence.

        Moreover, Governor Villafuerte has translated the same business principles into a unique system of socio-entrepreneurial governance when he joined public service, firmly believing it is by creating opportunity and building self-sustainability that the means are acquired to address the ills of society like malnutrition, unemployment and poverty.

        Innovative programs in tourism, agriculture, education, information and communications technology, investment generation and human resource development launched by Governor Villafuerte in Camarines Sur are now reaping dividends greater than expected and turning the province around from a bleak past to a future of discernible prosperity.

        Governor Villafuerte was also a Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) awardee of the Philippines Jaycees in 2002 and aside from a long list of citations when he was still in private business, other recent major awards include the 2002 World Young Business Achiever Award from the Northern Ireland Business Achievement Award Trust Program, Outstanding Filipino Achiever, Parangal ng Bayan Award in 2003, the 2003 Aurelio Periquet, Jr. Business Leadership Pearl Awards from the Philippines Chamber of Commerce, the 2004 Asia-Pacific Excellence Award from the National Consumer Affairs Foundation, the 2005 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, the 2005 DENR Saringaya Award, the 2006 People of the Year from People Asia Magazine, 50 Inspiring Filipinos in 2007 from the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, as well as one of the Ten Most Inspiring Tourism Entrepreneurial Awardee of 2007. (GBClaveria/MMEC)