Filipinos have been in the United States since the 16th century, yet many of their stories remain untold. For the past months, Positively Filipino has been running a series on notable Filipino Americans who have made their marks in this country. There are hundreds, or maybe even thousands more, that need to be added to this story, and we need your help. If you know of a Filipino American who deserves to be included in this line-up, please send us their names and any supporting documents you may have to pfpublisher@yahoo.com. For now, we are including only those who are currently active and visible in the media and the community, regardless of their religious, sexual or political orientation. Thank you.

Clint Ramos, Costume and Stage Designer

Costume designer Clint Ramos and actress Jennifer Hudson (Source: Rappler)

Ramos was born and raised in Cebu, Philippines and lives in New York with his husband and daughter. He is the costume designer for RESPECT, the Aretha Franklin biopic starring Jennifer Hudson on screen in the Fall of 2021. He is also the recipient of a TONY Award for Best Costume Design for Eclipsed, making him the first person of color to win that category, and a double nominee in 2020 for scenic design for Slave Play and costume design for The Rose Tattoo. Ramos has also received two OBIE Awards, three Lucille Lortel Awards, a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, two American Theater Wing Henry Hewes Awards, TDF Irene Sharraf Young Master Award, Helen Hayes Award, Craig Noel Award, among others. In the Philippines, he received the Ani ng Dangal Presidential Award. He has designed sets and/or costumes for over two hundred theater, opera and dance productions. Ramos is Assistant Professor of Design and Head of Design and Production at Fordham University. Prior to this, he was professor of scenic design at SUNY Purchase and a visiting professor/artist at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, University of California Santa Cruz and Georgetown University. His lifelong advocacy is for “an equitable landscape in theater and film for Black, Indigenous and People of Color and for the rights of immigrants.

Catherine Buan, Investor Relations Specialist

Catherine Buan (Source: brainstudy.info)

Buan is best known for her track record with high performance tech companies including the recent IPO’s of Asana, Lyft, Okta, AppDynamics, Docusign, and many more. For over 20 years, she has led award-winning Investor Relations programs, managing equity strategy for leaders in high growth technology. She is brought into companies for critical events including IPO’s, M&A, reputation management, turnarounds, and maximizing equity valuation long term. Buan was also President of PhilDev for the first three years, when the non-profit was launching its cornerstone programs, providing science and engineering scholarships, primary research institutes, and various entrepreneurship programs in partnership with organizations such as the US State Dept/USAID. She currently remains on the board of directors. She has also been on the board of directors of the American Red Cross Silicon Valley, the Asian Pacific Fund, Beyond-the-Book and St. Bartholomew Church. Buan’s mother first immigrated to the U.S. as a nursing student and her father came after to get his master’s degree in engineering. He later achieved over 60 patents around the world. Buan was born in Newark, New Jersey and said that the church gave her family a place to live as her parents could not afford to pay for housing. She went to a public high school in Connecticut and received her BA degree in Economics from Stanford University, the first girl in the family to go to a university.

Dr. Bernard Ellorin, Music Professor

Dr. Bernard Ellorin and Kimberly Kalanduyan

Dr. Bernard Ellorin is an adjunct faculty of music at Miramar College and Mira Costa College in San Diego County, California. He received his Ph.D in Ethnomusicology from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa in 2015. Ellorin’s academic and community work spans over 28 years of educating Filipino American and non-Filipino American communities on Filipino diasporic performing arts. From 2012-2013, Ellorin was a research fellow with the Fulbright Research and Study Abroad Program conducting a comparative study on the contemporary music of the Sama-Bajau in Semporna District, Sabah Malaysia and Batangas City, Philippines. Currently he is the music director for the Samahan Filipino American performing Arts & Education Center in San Diego, California.

Christine Bunuan, Stage Actress

Christine Bunuan (Source: christinebunuan.com)

Bunuan’s family immigrated from the Philippines to California in the ‘70s, with $800 in their pocket. At a young age, she started singing and took piano and clarinet lessons. She pursued a bachelor’s degree in acting at the Theater School of DePaul University in Chicago. Her first theatrical and musical appearance was in Grease. She has appeared in A Christmas Carol, Aladdin, Julius Caesar, among others. Her first solo show Christmas at Christine’s in December 2016 was a memoir of a child of Filipino immigrants and how she built a home with varying religions. Her husband, Sean Fawcett, is of Irish and Jewish heritage. In an interview with Positively Filipino, Bunuan says, “I feel my purpose is to bring laughter into people’s lives, to teach empathy, to show that we are all equal and that we can learn and embrace our differences and similarities.”

Jon Melegrito, Community Advocate and Journalist

Melegrito is the Executive Secretary of the Filipino Veterans Recognition & Education Project (FilVetREP), a community-based, all volunteer national initiative whose mission is to raise awareness about the service of Filipino World War II veterans. A son of a USAFFEE soldier who endured the Bataan Death March, Melegrito has been part of national efforts to obtain justice and recognition for Filipino veterans. A community activist for many years, he was the first Executive Director of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) when it was founded in 1997. Prior to his service at NaFFAA, he worked for an international labor union (AFSCME) and the George Washington University, where he served as advisor to the Philippine Cultural Society. Now retired, he spends most of his time volunteering (Meals on Wheels, Tanghalang Pilipino, Philippine American Foundation for Charities), editing Manila Mail and writing for various publications. He received his master’s degree in Journalism and Public Affairs at American University.

Ernestina De Los Santos-Mac, M.D., Pediatrician

Ernestina De Los Santos-Mac, M.D. (Source: FWN)

De Los Santos-Mac is a pediatrics specialist affiliated with Beaumont Hospital in Troy. Michigan. She graduated from the University of Santo Tomas. She completed her internship at Meriden Hospital in Connecticut and pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. She previously was appointed by the Governor of Michigan to the Asian Pacific Affairs Commission and has served on the boards or as an advisor to World Medical Relief, Phil Am Community Center, Council of Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce, Philippine American Community Center of Michigan among others. She has received numerous awards that included Beaumont Health System’s Outstanding Physician and Humanitarian Award, Diversity Champion from the Birmingham, Michigan Race Relations, Corp Magazine Diversity Award, Volunteer Award by the City of Troy, Michigan. She returns to the Philippines at least once a year for medical missionary work and has also adopted an orphanage.

Cheryl Nora Moss, Family Court Judge, Nevada

Judge Cheryl Nora Moss was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is a first generation Filipino American and daughter of two medical doctors, Dr. Demetrio T. Nora and Dr. Rena Oquendo Magno Nora, who both graduated from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Philippines. Moss served in public office for two decades in the State of Nevada, the first Asian American and first Filipino American elected to a District Court. This January, Moss retired from the only court dedicated to rehabilitating criminal offenders who are caught up in gambling addiction, but she continues to lobby for other states to adopt something similar to the novel Gambling Treatment Diversion Court she headed in Las Vegas the last two years of her career. Moss’ mother, Dr. Rena Nora, a psychiatrist, headed Veterans Hospital programs in New Jersey and Nevada that included a focus on treatment of gambling addiction. Nora’s work led to the legislation in 2009 sanctioning the Gambling Treatment Diversion Court concept, which her daughter, Moss, continued. “You know, gambling is never going to go away, and we’ve got to keep up with this explosion,” Moss said. “Otherwise, it’s going to be costing us a lot of taxpayer money and hurting a lot of people’s lives.”

Jesse Vizcocho, Community Advocate

Jesse Vizcocho (right) (Source: Red Cross Alaska)

Born in the Philippines, Jesse immigrated to Kodiak, Alaska in 1991, and later moved to Anchorage in 2003. For 28 years, he has served as a volunteer and leader of many civic, social, and religious organizations, including as a Community Volunteer Leader for the American Red Cross of Alaska. In 1997, Jesse became the first Filipino American to be appointed as a council member for the City of Kodiak, where he served two terms and was elected Deputy Mayor of Kodiak in 2000. Currently, he is serving as President of the Asian American Pacific Islander Coalition of Alaska. He also recently became the Vice President for Internal Affairs and a Member of the Board of Governors for the Asian American Unity Coalition (AAUC).

Kris Valderrama, Member, House of Delegates, Maryland

Born in Washington, D.C., Kris is the eldest daughter of former Maryland Delegate David M. Valderrama and Nelia Valderrama. She graduated from Oxon Hill Senior High School and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Respiratory Therapy from Salisbury University. She has been a Member of Maryland’s House of Delegates since 2007. Following her career in the health care field, Kris pursued another interest – communications. In addition, Kris has been active in the labor movement for over a decade, campaigning and rallying in support of working family issues. Beyond the scope of her job but along the communications path, Kris co-hosts, reports, and interviews politicians and community leaders on issues of interest to Prince George's County for Valderrama's America.

Keesa Ocampo, Social Media Specialist

Ocampo is a two-time Emmy Award-winning writer, director, and producer for television, during a 16-year career with international broadcast media company, ABS-CBN International. She is the CEO & founder of WeSparq, a positive impact creative agency that empowers brands to find their voice and show up values-forward. It supports organizations that drive business by thinking digital-first, creating with empathy, and being a force for good in their milieus of influence. Ocampo developed and executed social media and communication strategies for various C-suite executives, political candidates, and volunteer-driven nonprofits. Ocampo carries an expertise in political and charitable fundraising. She was appointed as a Commissioner on the San Mateo County Commission on the Status of Women from 2011-2014.

Ricky Punzalan, Professor and Archivist

Punzalan holds a Ph.D. in Information as well as graduate certificates in Science, Technology, and Society (STS) and Museum Studies from the University of Michigan. Prior to his doctoral work, he taught on the faculty of the University of the Philippines’ School of Library and Information Studies, where he served as assistant professor of archives and library science and as museum archivist for the Vargas Museum, an art museum connected to the University. He has been a research associate at the Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives since 2014 and currently serves on the Council of the Society of American Archivists. He is an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Information. He studies “the access and use of digitized anthropological archives and ethnographic data on academic and indigenous researchers.” His research has had the greatest impact in the area of virtual reunification and digital repatriation of cultural heritage collections. His publications have appeared in leading archives journals.

Regina Manzana-Sawhney, Google Leader

Manzana-Sawhney has been with Google since 2002. In 2020 she joined Google Product Management’s Strategy and Operation team focusing on diversity, inclusion, cross-functional leadership, and development. She co-founded the Filipino Googler Network (FGN), which enabled Googlers from around the world to partner with non-governmental organizations through the company’s Global Leadership Development Program, a talent-based, in-country immersion program. She supports early stage start-ups and volunteers with groups focused on equity, education and the Filipino community. She is a board member of Girls Leadership and Phildev Foundation.

Cristina DC Pastor, Publisher, Editor and Journalist

Cristina DC Pastor (Source: Balitang New York)

Pastor is the founding editor of TheFilAm.net, an online magazine for Filipino Americans in New York. She is also co-host of Makilala TV and a reporter for FeetinTwoWorlds.org., founding member of the Fil-Am Press Club of New York (FAPCNY), and author of Scratch the News: Filipino Americans in Our Midst. She organized the FAPCNY Kapihan to enlighten the community on issues such as human rights, freedom of information, immigration, and the like.

Source: Google and Wikipedia

The Magazine

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 26