Filipina scientist knighted in the Netherlands for her longstanding work in agriculture and foreign relations

Filipina scientist, Dr. Mary Ann Pelagio Sayoc, received the Order of Orange-Nassau and was recognized by Ambassador Saskia de Lang for her longstanding efforts in agriculture and promoting relations between the Netherlands and the Philippines.

“The Philippines and The Netherlands have developed strong ties in the agri-food sector in the areas of trade, investments, agricultural technology, and knowledge transfer… We are very proud to announce that it has pleased His Majesty King Willem Alexander to award a knighthood to a leading personality of the Dutch Filipino community. It is a recognition of exceptional merit to The Netherlands,” said the embassy in a statement. (via ABS-CBN)

Dr. Sayoc serves as the public affairs lead for the East-West Seed Group and head of the Philippine-Dutch Fellows Network, Inc and has been a board member of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines Inc. since 2014 as well as a number of Dutch-Filipino companies.

“Prior to her move to the seed industry in 1998, Dr. Sayoc was involved with the International Training Center on Pig Husbandry (ITCPH), an institution created by The Netherlands government through Barneveld College and the Philippine government through the Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute (DA-ATI),” said the embassy. (via ABS-CBN)

SOURCE: ABS-CBN