EDITORIAL - Asia’s best

Music provides a glimpse into a nation’s soul, and Ryan Cayab-yab has devoted much of his career to crafting and promoting original Philippine music. In pursuing his life’s calling, the National Artist for Music has also mentored countless budding artists in developing OPM.

For his work, Cayabyab is one of this year’s recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards. He was cited for “showing us all that music can indeed instill pride and joy and unify people across the many barriers that divide them.”

Asia’s version of the Nobel Prize, the prestigious award recognizes individuals whose work embodies the competent and dedicated service to the public that marked the life of former president Ramon Magsaysay, whose 112th birth anniversary is celebrated today.

Honored along with Cayabyab are two journalists. The awardee for emergent leadership, Ko Swe Win, 41, works in Myanmar, one of the most challenging places for media members. He had been arrested, tortured and spent seven years in prison for joining anti-government protests when he was a university student. Upon release, he studied journalism and now edits the online paper Myanmar Now. He has been sued, harassed and briefly jailed for criticizing hate speech and violence targeting the Muslim minority.

The other journalist is Ravish Kumar, senior executive editor of NDTV India. Kumar was cited for being “most vocal on insisting that the professional values of sober, balanced, fact-based reporting be upheld in practice” in a media environment “toxic with jingoist partisans, trolls and purveyors of ‘fake news.’ ”

Thailand’s National Human Rights commissioner Angkhana Neelapaijit, founder of the Justice for Peace Foundation, is being honored for her work in building a network that documents the rights situation in southern Thailand where there is Islamic unrest. The foundation also provides legal assistance to victims and trains women on human rights and the peace process. Neelapaijit started her advocacy after her husband was kidnapped in 2004 in Bangkok and later killed after he publicly accused the military of torturing detainees in southern Thailand.

South Korea’s Kim Jong-ki is being honored for transforming his grief over the suicide of his 16-year-old son into a crusade to end school bullying and violence. Kim, a businessman, set up the Foundation for Preventing Youth Violence, which has helped raise public awareness on school violence. South Korea now has a law on the prevention and handling of school violence, and incidence has dropped from 20 percent in 1995 to three percent.

On Sept. 9, the five will be formally conferred the Magsaysay Award for their “courage undaunted in their commitment to build solutions to vital and complex issues in their societies.”