Araw ng Davao special – Meet this year’s Datu Bago awardees

A Jesuit priest and a visual artist were named the Datu Bago Awardees for 2016.
The Datu Bago Awardees Organization, Inc., chaired by Dr. Guillermo P. Torres Jr., announced that Rev. Fr. William Joseph Malley, S.J. and Teody Boylie Roxas Perez, PhD. had been chosen as this year’s awardees.
Peace and development in the grassroots
A naturalized Filipino citizen since October 1, 1979, Fr. Malley founded the Ignatius Institute of Religious Education Foundation (IIREF) in Davao City in 1992. Through his institute’s scholarship program, he contributed to the education and value formation of countless marginalized youth in the urban and rural communities in Davao City.
He has written several books on Filipino family values and humanistic philosophy.
His humanitarian mission focused on those incarcerated in the Davao Penal Farm and in the Correctional Institute for Women has earned for him a recognition from the Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care (ECPPC) which bestowed upon him the “Gawad Paglilingkod” Award on October 26, 2014.
Fr. Malley is nominated for the Datu Bago Award 2016 for his contribution to peace and development in the grassroots communities of Davao City through his ecumenical spiritual training programs that promote interfaith dialogue among Muslims and Christians. His noteworthy program among the prisoners has also contributed not just to the decongestion of the prisons,but also to the prisoners’ rehabilitation to become productive citizens of the city upon their release.
Promoting Dabawenyo culture and arts
Born and raised in Davao City, Perez has taught art for many years at Philippine Science High School in Mindanao, Philippine Women’s College of Davao, and the University of the Philippines in Mindanao.
He earned his master’s and Ph.D. in Fine Arts in Japan through three scholarship grants. A recipient of many top awards in painting locally and nationally, he also holds the distinction of being the sole foreigner to receive the Excellent Award in the 36th West Japan Art Competition in 2003. His art work has been featured in various international publications.
Perez is nominated for the Datu Bago Award 2016 for catapulting Davao City to prominence because of the numerous local, national, and international recognition he has received for his excellence in visual arts. He has also promoted Filipino and Dabawenyo culture and arts through his exhibited works internationally.
The Datu Bago awardees are recognized for their outstanding, exemplary and selfless contribution to the growth and development of Davao City through its greatest resources, its people, and for their invaluable contribution to the preservation of the Dabawenyo culture heritage.
The Datu Bago Award is the highest award that the Davao City government bestows on its constituents.
The 46th Conferment of Datu Bago Awards 2016 will be one of the major events during the celebration of the 79th Araw ng Dabaw.  It is set on 12 March 2016 (Saturday) at The Royal Mandaya Hotel, Davao City. Patmei Bello-Ruivivar/Tisay R. Torres