Four of the six Ramon Magsaysay awardees this year have championed environmental causes in their countries, reflecting the rising importance of "green" issues in Asia. The region’s equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr. from the Philippines, Ka Hsaw Wa from Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Yu Xiaogang and Ma Jun from China for their respective work in saving the environment...Ma Jun...was cited for establishing an online database of water pollution information...[which] to date...has recorded some 35,000 environmental violations committed by various corporations...Wa...founded the non-profit EarthRights, which filed a case against a US-based company [Unocal (now part of Chevron)] responsible for building the Yadana pipeline.