Sofronio Vasquez is historic. The 32-year-old singer became the first Filipino to join the iconic winners list on “The Voice” following the Dec. 10 finale. Vasquez says it’s “heartwarming” that so many people are celebrating his win back home in the Philippines,

Vasquez, who is from Mindanao in the Philippines, just moved to Utica in the middle of last year. But he’s felt like part of the community from the moment he started appearing on "The Voice," he said. “It feels like I was really born and raised in Utica,” he said. “I never felt like being an alien.”