FORMER security adviser and political analyst Clarita Carlos led the three laureates named for the 6th Award for Promoting Philippines-China Understanding (Appcu).
The two other laureates were Baguio City-based businessman Peter Ng and Zhang Zhaodong, an expert in rice hybrid production in China.
The awardees were announced by Raul Lambino, chairman and president of the Association for Philippines-China Understanding Inc. (APCU), and Vice Chairman Sixto Benedicto, during a press conference on Monday at the Kamuning Bakery and Café in Quezon City.
Benedicto, who heads the organization’s selection committee, admitted difficulty in choosing this year’s Appcu awardees since “most of them were qualified, but we have to choose the best among them, and they ended up with the top three laureates.”
A former National Security adviser under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Carlos resigned from her post in January 2023.
Carlos, a former professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman, was once branded as “pro-China,” but she responded by saying that she “was just a scholar who has been seeking explanations for events using different theoretical prisms.”
Last January, Carlos warned against casually using the diplomatic term persona non grata, emphasizing its serious implications for foreign relations.
She was referring to the Chinese Embassy in Manila Deputy Spokesman Guo Wei, who was critical of Philippine lawmakers.
Carlos said that labeling the embassy official as undesirable could only escalate tensions and have far-reaching consequences.
Lambino said the annual award recognizes Filipinos who have significantly contributed to strengthening friendship and mutual understanding between the Philippines and China through their work in fields such as public service, media, business and culture.
“But we are announcing as this is the first time that we would have a foreigner in the name of Zhang Zhaodong, who has been chosen to be one of this year’s three top Appcu awardees,” Lambino told reporters.
He said Zhang has been regarded as a “key practitioner of Yuan Longping’s ‘Global Hybrid Rice Dream’ for successfully promoting hybrid rice technology in tropical countries such as the Philippines.”
A former presidential adviser for Northern Luzon under former president Rodrigo Duterte, Lambino said APCU is the pioneer and leading non-government organization (NGO) in the country that promotes “people-to-people diplomacy, bilateral understanding, and friendship between the Philippines and China through cultural, academic, and visit exchanges; sisterhood between Philippine local government units (LGUs) and Chinese LGUs; and economic and trade cooperation and partnership.”
He stressed that APCU was instrumental in facilitating the establishment of official diplomatic ties between the two countries on June 9, 1975. The awarding rites would be held on June 3 at the Manila Hotel, according to Benedicto.