The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Award is a project of the Insular Life Assurance Co., Ltd. and the Philippine Jaycee Senate. It was conceived in 1988 to institutionalize public recognition of men and women, 41 years of age and over, whose exemplary achievements are worthy of emulation.

Other awards of Nicanor Perlas:
Alternative Nobel Award
Global 500 Award
Masterson Award

Citation

For pioneering in environmentally friendly and socially just and meaningful agriculture or “sustainable agriculture;”

For being the first to successfully establish and operate a commercial biodynamic, pesticide-free and environmentally friendly farm in the Philippines, thereby becoming a source of inspiration to thousands of farmers and rural workers all over the country in the area of “sustainable agriculture,” which term he coined in 1983 together with two colleagues form the United States;

For being the first Asian agricultural journalist to alert the Philippines and Asian public about the environmental and social impacts of the “Green Revolution” in farming;

For refining the philosophical, scientific and intellectual understanding, and advancing the concept and practice, of “sustainable agriculture;” and

For focusing national attention and action to the hidden practice in the Philippines of using pesticides banned or restricted in other countries, which resulted in the banning of dozens of pesticide formulations,

For all of which he received, among others, the prestigious “Global 500 Award” from the UN Environmental Program.