Magsaysay Foundation presents 1959 award to Dalai Lama at home after 64 yrs

The 1959 Ramon Magsaysay Award was presented to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at his residence in Dharamsala by members of the award foundation personally after 64 years on Wednesday, his office said.

It was the first international award given to "His Holiness for Community Leadership in recognition of his leadership of the Tibetan community's gallant struggle in defense of the sacred religion that is the inspiration of their life and culture" by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation in the Philippines in August 1959, the Dalai Lama's office said.

Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation president Susanna B Afan and foundation trustee Emily A Abrera met with the Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace laureate, to personally present the 1959 Ramon Magsaysay Award after 64 years.

According to the Tibetan spiritual leader's office, his elder brother Gyalo Thonden had received the Magsaysay Award on his behalf in Manila, the Philippines in August 1959.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 and has lived in India in exile since then.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award, often called the "Nobel Prize of Asia", is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society, the Dalai Lama's office said.

The prize was established in April 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund based in New York City with the concurrence of the Philippine government.