National Artist Ryan Cayabyab among 2019 Ramon Magsaysay awardees

National Artist Ryan Cayabyab was named as one of the recipients of this year's Ramon Magsaysay Award.

Also named awardees for this year are Kim Jong-Ki (South Korea), Ravish Kumar (India), Ko Swe Win (Myanmar) and Angkhana Neelapaijit (Thailand), according to the award-giving body's post on Facebook.

Already on its 61st year, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia's premier prize that aims to celebrate greatness and leadership.  

For Cayabyab, he was awarded for "nurturing the gift and unifying power of music," according to the awards committee.

Prior to this, well-known maestro Cayabyab has been awarded already as a National Artist for Music back in 2018. He was also named as one of Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Centennial Honors for the Arts and was awarded with the Gawad CCP para sa Sining in 2004.

Awardee Kim Jong-Ki, on the other hand, was honored "for stemming the destructive tide of youth violence", Ravish Kumar for "harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless", Ko Swe Win for "building the quality and force of media's truth-telling", and Angkhana Neelapaijit for "championing justice case after painful case."

The 61st Ramon Magsaysay Award will be conferred officially to the recipients this coming September 9, 4:30 p.m., at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. —Kaela Malig/KBK, GMA News