William Masterson Award

Citation

In these times of great concern for health and the environment, and the poverty of the majority of the world, we are fortunate to have crusaders for alternative ways of development which is sustainable.

Jesus Nicanor P. Perlas, a cum laude agriculture graduate of Xavier University in 1972, has distinguished himself for championing the cause of “sustainable agriculture”. Sustainable agriculture, he wrote, “concerns itself with farming methods which heal the earth and nourish people. It also strives toward the creation of new special values and institutions which respect life and nurture the development of individuals.”

He believes that, to be sustainable, agriculture should be “ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just, culturally appropriate and based on holistic science.”

For all his professional life Nic Perlas has championed the ecology of development, especially in agriculture. In the 70’s he wrote about ecological agriculture in Modern Agriculture and Industry – Asia, the widest circulating English language agriculture magazine in Asia. In 1978 he had to leave the Philippines due to his opposition to the Philippine Nuclear Plant in Bataan.

While in the US, he helped farmers change from chemical-based farming to organic or bio-dynamic farming. In the 80’s he helped coin “sustainable agriculture” and co-founded the International Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture (IASA).

Since his return to the Philippines in the late 80’s, he has actively worked for ecological agriculture and has successfully established IKAPATI Farm, the largest producer in the country of chemical-free bio-dynamically-grown vegetables. He co-founded the Center for Alternative Development Initiatives (CADI) and he currently serves as its president. He is consultant to various governmental and UN agencies, training institutions, farmers’ organizations and NGOs.

Last year, he received two prestigious awards for his outstanding contributions to environmental protection and ecological agriculture: the Global 500 Award from the UN Environmental Program and the Ten Outstanding Filipinos Award for Agriculture from the Philippine Jaycees.

In recognition of his outstanding work as an agriculturist and his invaluable contributions towards sustainable and environmental-friendly agriculture, Xavier University (Ateneo de Cagayan) is pleased to confer its Fr. William F. Masterson S.J. Award on its alumnus, Jesus Nicanor P. Perlas.

FR. WILLIAM F. MASTERSON S.J. AWARD

Fr. William F. Masterson S.J. was appointed Rector and President of Ateneo de Manila in 1947 and his vision effected the transfer of the Ateneo to Loyola Heights. From 1950 until his death in 1984, Fr. Masterson was at Ateneo de Cagayan as founder and Dean of the College of Agriculture and of its various extension programs. He was especially concerned about the proper training and development of leaders and workers for development – in agriculture, in cooperatives, for the development of Mindanao. In 1974, he was the recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in recognition of his work in training hundreds of rural development leaders for Asia, Africa and the Pacific. In memory of Fr. Masterson’s life and in recognition of his bold pioneering vision, Xavier University established the Fr. William F. Masterson S.J. Award to honor outstanding service to the community for the growth and development of the country, especially of Mindanao.

The President and Trustees of Xavier University, Ateneo de Cagayan conferred upon JESUS NICANOR P. PERLAS this award in recognition of his outstanding work as an agriculturist and of his invaluable contribution towards sustainable and environment-friendly agriculture on 25 March 1995.