Japan awards Foreign Minister’s Commendation to Dr. Fernando Sanchez Jr.

On 01 August 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the awarding of the Foreign Minister’s Commendation on Dr. Fernando C. Sanchez Jr., Professor and Former Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, in recognition of his contributions in promoting agricultural academic exchanges in between Japan and the Philippines.

Dr. Sanchez earned his doctoral degree from the Graduate School of Tokyo University of Agriculture in 1998 as a Japanese Government MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) Scholar. He served as Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Los Baños for two terms from 2014 to 2020. During his tenure he actively fostered academic exchanges with the Tokyo University of Agriculture, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kyoto University, Nagasaki University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, among others. Notably, he was instrumental in establishing the Nagoya University Asian Satellite Campus in 2015.

He also served for many years as a member of the selection committee for the Japanese Government MEXT Scholarship program, and led the “The Project for Development of a Hybrid Water-Related Disaster Risk Assessment Technology for Sustainable Local Economic Development Policy under Climate Change in the Philippines” (HyDEPP) under
the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) since 2019.

The Government of Japan extends its sincere congratulations to Dr. Fernando C. Sanchez Jr. and lauds his significant contributions to forging stronger ties between Japan and the Philippines.