FilAm rondalla player in SF receives 'local Nobel'

Using his rondalla playing to raise awareness and funds for humanitarian causes, Filipino musician George Gange received a local version of the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian efforts in the San Francisco Bay Area. Gange is the latest recipient of the Jefferson Awards for serving the Filipino community in the San Francisco Bay area for almost a decade. Gange was cited particularly for his rondalla music, fundraising efforts for Philippine cyclone victims, and voluntary service for Filipino-American World War II veterans, the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco reported. Rondalla music is performed on ensembles comprising string instruments of various sizes, including the banduria and guitar. In its report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Philippine Consulate General said it congratulated Gange for earning the Jefferson Awards and voiced hopes his example will inspire more Filipinos to put the bayanihan spirit into action. The Jefferson Awards were established in 1972 in San Francisco as a prize for public and community service. The Awards are presented on national and local levels, with the national award recipients considered a “Who’s Who" of outstanding Americans. Recently, Gange and his FilAm Veterans Rondalla were able to raise more than $2,000 to assist rehabilitation efforts in the Philippines for the victims of typhoon “Ondoy" (Ketsana). The FilAm Veterans Rondalla also raised funds for scholarships, memorial services with full military honors for Filipino-American WWII veterans, other disaster relief efforts, and rondalla musical training. “Mr. Gange has also been recognized as the Most Outsanding Filipino Immigrant in 2007 by FriendsUSA Charitable Foundation of San Jose. He was also featured in the Filipino Insider Magazine as one of the Filipino American Models of Excellence in 2007. Moreover, he was selected as one of the 100 Filipino American Achievers at the Pistahan 2006 celebration in San Francisco. In 2004, he was chosen as a Bayani awardee by the City of Hercules," the DFA said. The Jefferson Award recipients are “ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectation of recognition or reward," the DFA said. - HGS, GMANews.TV