History of TOWER Awards

The TOWER Awards, the country’s top awards for skilled workers, was first launched jointly by the Rotary Club of Manila, the Ministry of Labor, now the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines during the presidency of PDG Teofilo “Fil” Reyes in RY 1975-1976 with then Club Secretary Alberto “Bert” Romulo, the “Diamond Year” President as Project Chairman. The presentation of the TOWER Awards was one of the highlights of the annual “LABOR DAY” observance with then President Ferdinand E. Marcos and First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos.

A big boost to the TOWER Awards was the Rotary Club of Manila’s successful sponsorship of Presidential Proclamation No. 1728 issued during the Presidency of Fr. Frank G. Reyes in RY 1977-1978. The proclamation declared the period from April 24 to 30, 1978, and every year thereafter as “EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE WEEK” in the Philippines.

The TOWER Awardees, all lowly workers, but each excelling and outstanding in his or her own respective jobs, were presented to the public at the Labor Day Luncheon of the club last April 28, 1978, with Labor Secretary and Rotarian Blas Ople as Guest of Honor and Speaker. The awardees received a Cash Award of P1,000 per awardee. Cash prizes have, since then, increased throughout the years and there were certain years when their Nominators were given honoraria.

TOWER Awards Trophies were presented to the respective awardees on May 1, 1978, Labor Day, at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) by First Lady and Metro Manila Governor Imelda Romualdez-Marcos. President Ferdinand E. Marcos was the principal Guest of Honor and Speaker.

The “TOWER Awards”: A Salute to All Useful Occupations and the Dignity of Fruitful Labor

TOWER in a Nutshell

The TOWER (The Outstanding Workers of the Republic) Awards was founded in 1975 by the Rotary Club of Manila as an annual search for outstanding “blue-collar” workers in the country. Subsequently, it included in its coverage “white collar” (non-supervisory) workers. It aims to recognize the contributions to the economic development of the legions of skilled workers who constitute the backbone of our country’s manpower capacity. The awards program transcended the confines of a Club’s concern because of its nationwide reach and significance in uplifting Filipino workers’ morale and social status, leading to greater prestige at the workplace—to the entrepreneur/employer and the colleagues, to the family and the community—while enhancing individual career opportunities and promoting industrial peace.

The nationwide project was suspended for several years but was revived in response to the call to revitalize excellence and productivity at the workplace and energize the collective skills of our workers for global competition. Most recently, the borderless competition for labor effectiveness and efficiency with the dawn of globalization and the surge in information technology changed the work paradigm, the way we work, and how companies operate. It gave rise to the decline in the industrial “blue collar” labor force which resulted in the rapid rise in the number of workers in the informal sectors as well as of white-collar workers. The latter group “mushroomed” and dominated the information technology, telecommunications, banking, insurance, professional services, and even the manufacturing sectors.

To date, a total of more than two hundred (200) TOWER awardees have been recognized. Through the years since its revival, the Rotary Club of Manila, together with the Metrobank Foundation, Inc., as well as the other cooperators and supporters, have worked together in recognizing work excellence, productivity and innovation that can spell the difference towards decent work and harmony at the workplace thereby preserving jobs and enhancing employment opportunities.

Institutions and organizations like the Department of Labor and Employment, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines (HRAP), the SOFITEL Philippine Plaza Manila Hotel, the Chinese Business Club, Inc., the Technological University of the Philippines, the Pamantasan Ng Lungsod Ng Maynila, the Central Colleges of the Philippines, the System Technology Inc. (STI) and other state colleges and universities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, have supported and have continued to support the project. In like manner, the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) has supported and has continued to support the project.

In RY 2018-2019, during the observance and celebration of the 100 Years of the Rotary Club of Manila and the Rotary Movement in Asia, the club leadership and its members deemed it fitting and imperative to stage a Centennial Edition of the TOWER Awards. With the all-out support of the Rotary Club of Manila’s main partners at that time, the People Management Association of the Philippines and Petron, which provided technical expertise and financial assistance, respectively, the Rotary Club of Manila’s TOWER Awards Committee headed then by PP Benny Laguesma conducted information dissemination and nationwide search to encourage participation and nominations from all over the country. To ensure the successful staging of the TOWER Awards, the Rotary Club of Manila has concluded Memoranda of Agreement with the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP), Petron Foundation Inc., the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the New World Makati Hotel during that centennial Rotary year.

As the nation navigates the new normal in the wake of the global pandemic, it is but fitting that the heroic works of the unsung heroes of the workplace, who have displayed the kind of resilience that has made many industries survive the challenges to the Philippine economy, be brought to fore in this legacy project that has defined the finest hours of Asia’s First Rotary Club. After a one-year hiatus at the height of the global pandemic where many industries have been pivoting, the search resumed RY 2020-2021 under Chairman/Centennial President Jesus “Susing” M. Pineda, Jr. (President, RCManila Foundation, Inc.) and Co-Chairman Herminio “Hermie” S. Esguerra (Chairman, RCManila Foundation, Inc.). The TOWER Awards project partner during the post-pandemic period was the RCManila Foundation, Inc. (2020-2021), together with the perpetual project partners, the People Management Association of the Philippines and the Department of Labor and Employment. Major Donors/benefactors were the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and San Miguel Corporation.