LIGAYA Fernando-Amilbangsa, 71, of Marikina is one of the recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Award this year.
The award will be conferred to Fernando-Amilbangsa and four other awardees during formal presentation ceremonies to be held today at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Awardees will each receive a certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of the late President Ramon Magsaysay and a cash prize.
Fernando-Amilbangsa, who came from a prominent Catholic family in Marikina, and sister of former Marikina Mayor and Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando, is being recognized for “her single-minded crusade in preserving the endangered artistic heritage of southern Philippines, and in creatively propagating a dance form that celebrates and deepens the sense of shared cultural identity among Asians.”
In her biographic sketch on the web site of Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation, Fernando-Amilbangsa is described as one who has always loved dance and the arts. A turning point in her life came when she married a schoolmate and moved to his home in Sulu where she immersed herself in the rich cultural life of the Muslim South in the next three decades.
An excerpt from her bio sketch lifted from rmaf.org.ph states: “Her signature involvement has been the study, conservation, practice and promotion of the dance style called pangalay [gift offering or ‘temple of dance’ in Sanskrit], a pre-Islamic dance tradition among the Samal, Badjao, Jama Mapun and Tausug peoples of the provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. She inspired the formation of performing arts groups, networked with dance scholars and practitioners in Asia and presented both traditional and innovative pangalay choreographies in and outside the country.
“Moving back to Metro Manila in 1999, she formed the AlunAlun Dance Circle and lent her own home for a dance studio—to study, teach and perform pangalay and other traditional dance forms. The group has since done hundreds of performances and workshops throughout the country.”
Fernando-Amilbangsa is honored along with Kommaly Chanthavong (Lao PDR), Anshu Gupta (India), Kyaw Thu (Myanmar) and Sanjiv Chaturvedi (for Emergent Leadership; India).
Marikina Mayor Del de Guzman expressed his pride as Fernando-Amilbangsa is a Marikeña.
“What other honors could we give to our nation than by giving selfless service and creating an impact in the lives of many people? This distinct recognition is, indeed, an honor for all of us Filipinos. Tunay na kapuri-puri siya,” de Guzman said.
Since 1958 the Ramon Magsaysay Award has been giving honors to individuals whose lives are characterized by selfless service which impacts the lives of the greater many—the same ideals and achievements for which President Ramon Magsaysay was known for. The Magsaysay Award is often regarded as Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.