Sampung Ulirang Nakatatanda (SUN) Awards
The Sampung Ulirang Nakatatanda (SUN) Awards is an annual search and awarding of 10 most inspiring and outstanding older persons in the Philippines. The SUN Awards started in 1991 and has been part of the annual Elderly Filipino Week celebration. This is to recognize the important contributions of older women and men to their respective community and the entire society.
SUN nominees and awardees come from different sectors like farmers, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, fisher folks, human rights advocates, environmental advocates, educators, and others. They are ordinary people who, one way or another, have rendered exemplary and notable services to help others and their communities.
“We always say that older persons play a big part in the nation-building but we seldom show our appreciation of what they have done to our society. The Sampung Ulirang Nakatatanda (SUN) Awards is our simple way of searching for these unsung heroes and honoring the services and efforts they have shared in making our nation a better one.”
Older women and men with the following qualifications can be nominated by an organization, community groups, or individuals whom they have served and inspired:
- 60 years old and above
- Not multi-awarded and not well-recognized at the international or national level
- Selflessly rendered life for the service of other people, community, or organizations for at least five (5) years.
Immediate family members or relatives of the older person cannot nominate him/her in the SUN Awards.
Old people are honored in the Philippines but aging is not. Beyond all the good programs (health care, advocacy ,etc) my deepest wish is that both older people and society look at aging differently and older people become who they are supposed to be… at the peak and not end of a lifetime of growth and hence invaluable to themselves and others.