FIVE Dabawenyos will be recognized at the 2025 Datu Bago Awards, Davao City Councilor Pilar Braga announced on Tuesday at the Sangguniang Panlungsod on March 4, 2025.
Braga, who chairs the Committee on Education, Science, and Technology, Arts and Culture, told the media that there were about 12 nominees for this year’s edition of the Datu Bago Awards.
The five recipients of the Datu Bago Award are Luis Alfonso Ybanez Aboitiz (posthumous) for innovation, for pioneering corporate social responsibility initiatives at Davao Light and Power Co.; Perla Pichon Kwan for leadership in education, for pioneering academic excellence as the founder of Precious International School.
Maria Antoinette Tiukinhoy Pamintuan for Creative Arts, for elevating the city’s design industry internationally and supporting local artists; Protacio Tan Tacandong for Business and Finance, for upholding business practices and financial transparency; and Josefina Carriedo-Tionko for visual arts, for nurturing local artists through the Dabawenyo Artists Federation Inc. (DAFI).
In addition to the five awardees, a Plaque of Appreciation will be presented to Oscar S. Ong for his humanitarian service in the city through Operation Care Abroad (OCA). Ong spearheaded free medical missions in Davao City and the Davao Region, helping numerous individuals in need.
Braga explained that Ong would not be included as a Datu Bago Awardee since it is stipulated that an awardee must be a resident of Davao City. As Ong is now based abroad, he is no longer eligible for the award, but because he is a Dabawenyo, he will receive a Plaque of Appreciation.
Braga said that some of this year’s nominees were individuals who had waived their nominations in 2024 to make way for former President Rodrigo Duterte, who was the sole nominee that year. However, Duterte did not attend the conferment ceremony on March 13, 2024, and Vice Mayor Melchor Quitain received the award in his stead.
This year’s Datu Bago Awards will be conferred on March 7, 2025, at the Royal Mandaya Hotel.
The Datu Bago Awards is the highest honor conferred by the city, recognizing individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the city’s and its community’s growth and have left a lasting legacy in terms of excellence and service.
From 1999 to 2024, about 84 individuals have received the Datu Bago Award. RGP