Filipinos have been in the United States since the 16th century, yet many of their stories remain untold. For the past year, 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.

Ligaya Mishan, Food Writer and Critic

Ligaya Mishan (Photo by Tony Cenicola/The New York Times)

Mishan’s mother grew up in Cotabato and her father is an Englishman. The two fell in love while taking a summer course in Tokyo, got married and settled in Hawaii. Ligaya received her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Princeton and a Master of Fine Arts from Cornell in Poetry. Mishan started working for The New Yorker as a copy editor and wrote hundreds of unsigned short book reviews. She moved to Table for Two, a section of the publication for restaurant reviews where she could sign her name. Then the editor of The New York Times food section offered her a job as a columnist for the Hungry City. Her essays have been selected for the Best American Magazine Writing and the Best American Food Writing. In 2020 she was a finalist for a National Magazine Award and a James Beard Journalism Award. In 2022, she started contributing to the Eat column of The New York Times Magazine. She says that writing about the people who are making the food is more interesting. “After the presidential election in 2016, it seemed much more urgent to tell these stories because so many of the restaurants I cover are run by immigrants and people of non-Western traditions, just making sure that, not only their voices are heard, but their faces are seen. I always ask the photographers to take pictures of the people at the restaurant so that the readers remember that it’s not just food, that there’s somebody there who is making this for us,” she said in an interview with ANC. Although she is active in social media, Mishan does not post any photos of herself – she has to stay anonymous, without the risk of being identified as a food critic.

Jenny Odell, Writer and Digital Artist

Odell was born in San Francisco and graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in English Literature and received her MFA in Design + Technology from the San Francisco Art Institute. Odell “makes use of secondhand imagery, most commonly from Google Earth. Her work attempts to bring into focus the specific, fragile and physically determined characteristics of human existence by cataloguing its infrastructure,” as described in New Life Quarterly issue in 2017. Her work consists of acts of close observation such as bird-watching, collecting screenshots, or trying to parse bizarre forms on e-commerce. In an interview with Work Culture blog, Odell says her mother is from the Philippines and her father is white and wonders if orienting her life around the in-between comes easier to her because she’s biracial. “I don't know if this is just me, but it makes it easier for me to do other things that are also kind of in between—like, interdisciplinary work or writing a book that's half about technology and half about like, birds and trees. It just made me more comfortable with combinations of things and that something interesting and new will emerge at the intersection of that.” Odell is an artist, educator (she has been teaching at Stanford University since 2013) and a New York Times best-selling author with her book How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. The book has been hailed by former U.S. president Barack Obama as one of his favorites from that year. Odell tells The Guardian that she hopes “learning ‘how to do nothing’ may serve as self-care in the original sense that Audre Lorde intended it—as a strategy of self-preservation for activism.” In goodreads website, her book is described as: “Odell sends up a flare from the heart of Silicon Valley, delivering an action plan to resist capitalist narratives of productivity and techno-determinism, and to become more meaningfully connected in the process.”

Mark Paguio, Actor

Legaspi City-born Paguio studied performing arts at Monash University and received further training at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts. He is known for playing Chris Hemsworth’s righthand man in the movie, “Spiderhead.” At eight years old, he joined a community production called “Ambassador Popoy” to help raise funds for villages in the Philippines. His family moved to Australia in 1999, and his mother, a teacher, took on a factory job, then studied accounting, then law, and is now an immigration agent. In an interview with ANC, Paguio says, “[My parents] understand that there is not one way to do things. So, I think that is why they are supportive of what I want to pursue.” He loves the idea of playing different personas and bringing himself into them. They may not be necessarily Filipino, but Paguio believes he brings his own Pinoy-ness to the job. “How I work is very Filipino,” he says. “I like to bring as much joy into everything, and I work really hard. [Being a Filipino] plays a lot into how I live my life and how I work.”

Ricco Villanueva Siasoco, Author

Ricco Villanueva Siasoco (Source: Amazon)

Born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, San Francisco-based Siasoco is a writer, educator and activist. His mother, an educator, founded the Filipino American Association of Iowa in 1969 with a dozen or so families who had also immigrated from the Philippines. In an interview with Interlocutor, he says now that he is older, he has “begun to understand the link between U.S. imperialism in the Philippines, the installation of Western medicine and education in my parents’ homeland, and the ways that immigration laws ensured migration of an elite class to feed neoliberalist tendencies in the U.S.” He also did not see any faces that looked like him in the books he read. Siasoco received his MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars and has taught at Boston College, Columbia University and the Massachusetts College of Art. He has received fellowships from The Center for Fiction, Lambda Literary and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is also an advisory board member of Kundiman, a national literary organization dedicated to Asian American literature. His first book is The Foley Artist. The book is a collection of nine stories that “give voice to the intersectional identities of women and men in the Filipino diaspora in America: a straight woman attends her ex-boyfriend’s same-sex marriage in coastal Maine; a college-bound teenager encounters his deaf uncle in Manila; Asian American drag queens duke it out in the annual Iowa State Fair; a seventy-nine-year-old foley artist recreates the sounds of life, finally unable to save himself.” He chose The Foley Artist as the title of the collection because “that story has a lot of meaning for me. In one sense it’s [about] respect for elders. [And in another] sense to know our history. So, the character is a manong; he came over in the 1940s because of the U.S. need for foreign labor to build up our economy. That’s why this whole generation of manongs came over. But also, I love the idea that foley artists reproduce sounds of life [for film] and make them more beautiful. For me it’s very evocative of life, of other characters and stories. I thought about some of the other story titles that have to do with queerness, but The Foley Artist allows a reader to impress upon it anything they want,” he said in an interview with Asian American Writers’ Workshop.

Travis Emmanuel d’Arnaud, Professional Baseball Player

Travis Emmanuel d’Arnaud (Source: Firstsportz.com)

D’Arnaud is a professional baseball catcher for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was born in Long Beach, California into a musical family: his Filipino American mother, Marita, ran an after-school performing-arts center in Long Beach, while his father played trumpet, piano and trombone. In his extended family, two of d'Arnaud's uncles were pianists, while his cousin was an electropop musician. D'Arnaud had committed to play college baseball for the Pepperdine Waves of Pepperdine University after high school, the same school for which his brother played the 37th overall pick. He chose to void his college commitment and signed a minor league contract for $832,500. He announced his retirement in 2020 but made himself available to play for the Philippines in the 2021 World Baseball Classic held in Arizona. He suffered some injuries in 2022.

He signed a two-year $16 million contract or an average of $8 million a year in 2019 and renewed it in 2021 at the same pay.

Kenneth Mejia, Politician

Kenneth Mejia (SOurce: Grassroots Law PAC)

Mejia, a 32-year-old accountant, became the first Filipino American, first Asian American, the youngest and first person of color to hold the Los Angeles city controller’s office in more than a century. He will oversee monetary auditing services and financial operation for the city. A member of the Democratic Party and a former Green Party member, he was a three-time candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in California’s 34th congressional district.

Mejia leveraged social media presence, predominantly on TikTok and Twitter, and other unconventional methods to engage young voters and spread his message. Spectrum News 1 said, “Mejia analyzed city data and produced free resources for Angelenos, including an affordable housing map, a City of LA payroll database app, a breakdown of the proposed city budget and even an interactive tool that shows where LA drivers are most likely to get a parking ticket. Mejia created giant campaign billboards throughout the city, sharing his findings. And, of course, he shared them on social media.” Mejia said, “I feel very proud and honored to represent our community, especially when you think about what we’re trying to do, is help people — the most vulnerable people. And we’re doing that through education and through accountability.”

Grace Mercado-Ouano, Businesswoman

Grace Mercado-Ouano (Source: Grace O Foundation)

Mercado-Ouano is the first Filipino American to be awarded the Order of St. Gregory the Great, the pontifical knighthood in the Catholic Church. She was honored for her “personal service to the Holy See and the Roman Catholic Church, as well as setting a good example for others in her community and country.” She and her husband are proprietors of four skilled nursing facilities in California. Goodnewspilipinas says that she also started her own culinary brand, FoodTrients, a website, and cookbooks to help prevent the diseases of aging. The Grace O Foundation she started is dedicated to nutrition and longevity research, health education, food advocacy and other charitable efforts. Born in Manila, Mercado-Ouano immigrated to the U.S. in 1992. She is also the author of three cookbooks – The Age GRACEfully Cookbook: The Power of FOODTRIENTS to Promote Health and Well-Being for a Joyful and Sustainable Life, The Age Beautifully Cookbook: Easy and Exotic Longevity Secrets from Around the World, and Anti-Aging Dishes from Around the World.

Frederick Docdocil, Commmunity Leader

A Public Relations Commissioner for the City of Carson, California, Docdocil is an active member of multiple Filipino American organizations, including the Filipino Community of Carson (FCC) and the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA). He is a Board Member and Vice President of Kagay-anons of Southern California (KSC); a President Emeritus and current Board Member / VP of Membership for the FilAm Chamber of Commerce of SouthBay LA Area (FACC-SLAA); the President / Chairman of the Board / Trustee for the Philippine Independence Day Foundation, Inc. (PIDF); and a Household Head & Speaker for Couples for Christ (CfC). Professionally, Fred is the Mabuhay Branch and Business Development Coordinator for Mabuhay Credit Union, which is among the very first full-service Financial Institution to specifically help the Filipino and greater communities in Southern California and beyond with their financial service needs. Fred is a proud recipient of the Top Outstanding Pilipino (TOP) award for Community Leadership, has been among The Outstanding Filipino Americans in the USA awardees.

Jules R. Amores, Navy Officer

Chief Warrant Officer Jules Amores (center), with Cmdr. Manuel Sanchez (left) and Capt. Steve Leehe (Photo by Eric Gill/Hartford Sentinel)

Growing up in the Cebu, Amores loved to read about science and medicine and pour over photographs of ships and planes, daydreaming about life aboard an aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy’s All Hands magazine that his uncle brought home from his job at the American Embassy. In Stars and Stripes newsletter, Amores said that he never imagined he would one day enlist in the U.S. Navy and that his 1992 enlistment ceremony would be featured in All Hands. Amores was only 21 years old when he earned a shot through a competitive recruitment program that enlisted Filipino men into the U.S. Navy (35,000 Filipino men were enlisted). Thirty years later, Amores, an aircraft mechanic, retired on March 25, 2022 as Chief Warrant Officer 4. He believes that he might have been the last person recruited from the Philippines who was still serving on active duty. The Navy’s recruitment of Filipino citizens in their country was unique. The partnership developed out of an agreement in 1947 between the U.S. and the Philippines that allowed several U.S. military bases to operate in the archipelago. Over time, Amores climbed the enlisted ranks to senior chief petty officer and earned his American citizenship, a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. He is commissioned as a warrant officer, serving in his final days as Lemoore’s site leader of the Naval Aviation Technical and Engineering Command. “I’m an example of an American dream. From E-1, I made it to a [warrant] officer, coming from a Third World country,” he said as he prepared for the ceremony. “I’m not doing this [ceremony] for myself. I’m doing for my family, and for the Navy as well, to put a spotlight on what it’s done for me and for my family.” Amores plans to stay in the Lemoore area and take some time to decide on his next chapter in life. In the meantime, he plans to dedicate more time to a group he founded, the Filipinos of Kings County.

Jennifer Camota-Luebke, Disability Advocate

Jennifer Camota Luebke (Source: Principal Post)

As senior vice president of PRIDE Industries, Camota-Luebke leads the company’s workforce inclusion programming strategy and operations, using innovation and data to develop integrated, community-based employment pathways for people with disabilities. Additionally, she influences employment policies that impact people with disabilities by working with local, state, and national legislative offices, and community advocacy organizations. Jennifer served as Associate Dean and Professor of Leadership at the University of San Francisco and Hult International Business School and has run her own leadership coaching and change management consulting practice. She is the co-founder of Ability Revolution, Inc., a not-for-profit organization which produces film and media projects that influence the way society views people with disabilities. Camota-Luebke earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and an Executive MBA and a Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.), with a concentration in Organization and Leadership, from the University of San Francisco. Camota-Luebke’s lived experience as a parent to an adult son with an intellectual disability gives her a unique perspective and insight into the population that PRIDE Industries serves. Jennifer received a Jefferson Award in 2017 for her portfolio of work in advocating for students with disabilities. In 2018, Jennifer produced an award-winning documentary, “You Can Be BRAVE: Breaking Barriers to Inclusion.”

Sam Morelos, Actor

Morelos’ parents are immigrants from the Philippines. At 17 years old, she auditioned on her own when an open call was announced at her high school, California School of the Arts. She will be one of the main characters of “That ‘90s Show,” the sequel to the hit series, “That ‘70s Show,” which launched the careers of Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Topher Grace, Wilmer Valderrama and Laura Prepon. The show will mark her first TV appearance. She says that Filipino representation in the arts mattered to her growing up and now she wants to inspire other young Filipinos to go after their dreams. In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Morelos said, "I also grew up watching teleseryes, TFC, and being able to be that for some kid, for someone to recognize that 'Oh, you're Filipino too. I can do that too. Oh my God. we have the same nose.' Like, I watched “Float,” which is a Pixar short with a Filipino baby in it and we had the same nose and I cried. I sobbed. It was a lot of emotions and I'm really excited to be able to represent my culture in that way." Morelos also sings and plays the guitar, likes to travel and spend time outdoors.

Source: Google and Wikipedia

The Magazine

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 43