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.

Larissa Maestro, Cellist and Composer

Larissa Maestro (Source: larissamaestro.com)

When Maestro was 12 years old, she watched Yo-Yo Ma perform in her hometown and then she bolted backstage to shake his hand and to tell him that she also played the cello. Since arriving in Nashville in 2007, she continues to play the cello with recorded credits that include Margo Price, Brandi Carlile, Kyshona Armstrong, and other artists like John Legend, Mickey Guyton, Wanda Jackson and Lauryn Hill. She’s had a close bond with Allison Russell, last year’s three-time Grammy nominee who engaged Maestro to arrange the strings for her next album. Her extensive work in roots and folk music earned her the Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2022 Americana Honors and Awards, the first cellist and the first Filipino American and first woman of color to do so. Last March 26, an entire concert of her composing career was part of the ECHO Chamber Music Series at The Parthenon in Centennial Park. Maestro chose to use her mother’s maiden name to focus on her Filipino roots.

Mari D. Parlade, Judge and Child Advocate

Judge Mari D. Parlade (Source: judgethejudges.com)

Parlade is a judge for Department A of the Nevada 8th Judicial District Court family Division. She assumed office in January 2023 and her term ends in 2029. Her child advocacy started at the University of San Diego School of Law where she was recognized as an Outstanding Child Advocate and Trailblazer by the Children’s Advocacy Institute. She brought her passion and advocacy to Las Vegas where she served as a Pro Bono Children’s Attorney for the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and received Congressional and Senatorial recognition for her dedication. Parlade then served as a Judicial Officer for the 8th Judicial District Court for over three years where she presided as an Alternate Hearing Master over Juvenile Dependency, Juvenile Truancy, Juvenile Delinquency, Domestic Violence and Dependency Mother’s Drug Court Hearings. In her capacity as a Judicial Officer, Parlade was chosen to lead the Courts Catalyzing Change Initiative addressing disproportionality and disparity in the child welfare system. “Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat (thank you everyone) This is our win. We’ve done this together as one community. We’re gonna continue to go forth as one community – strong, Mabuhay strong,” Parlade said during her official oath taking ceremony.

Oscar Solis, Bishop

Solis was named by Pope Francis bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, Utah in 2017. Born in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines, Solis immigrated to the U.S. in 1984 and served for four years as parish vicar at St. Rocco Parish in Union City, New Jersey in the Diocese of Newark. He then relocated to Louisiana to the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux and held several posts there. In 2004, he was appointed titular bishop of Urci and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles where he focused on minority issues and organized the first National Assembly of Filipino Priests in the U.S. He has also held several positions with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is fluent in Spanish, English and Tagalog. In 2018, Solis released the Pastoral Plan for the diocese. It focuses on developing a comprehensive vision for strengthening faith formation, promoting vocations to the priesthood and a universal call for holiness to the laity, seeking new ways to support the diocese financially and support the needy, increasing the reverence and devotion of the Eucharist, and upholding the dignity of all in society. Implementation of the plan began in 2018 and was to end in 2023.

Lieutenant General Antonio A. Aguto, Jr., Army Commander

Lieutenant General Antonio A. Aguto, Jr. (Source: Wikimedia)

Aguto has led the Security Assistance Group Ukraine based in Wiesbaden, Germany since December 2022, which includes 300 U.S. service members. He most recently served as the 40th commanding general of First United States Army from July 8, 2021, to December 2, 2022. He previously served as the Commanding General of the 3rd Infantry Division and prior to that served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans, and Training of the United States Army Forces Command. Aguto is a 1988 graduate of the United States Military Academy with a B.S. degree in aerospace engineering. He served as the commanding officer of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment from 2010 to 2012 and the 7th Army Training Command from July 2016 to May 2018. In his 2021 promotion to lieutenant general witnessed by family and friends who traveled from the Philippines, General Michael Garrett said, “This promotion represents the sum of all of Tony’s experiences. He’s a proven combat leader who served in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan; he has built trust and interoperability with our partners around the globe… The grandson of a WWII Filipino scout turned commissioned U.S. Army captain, it’s clear that Tony has the Army in his blood, and continues to honor this family’s legacy through his service today.”

Erica Mosca, Legislator

Assemblywoman Erica Mosca (Photo by K. M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review Journal)

Mosca, daughter of a Filipino immigrant, is a member of the Nevada State Assembly, representing District 14. She won in the general election last November 2022. Born in San Diego, California, she now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. She earned a B.S. from Boston University where she graduated summa cum laude, and M.Ed. from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and an Ed.M. from Harvard University. She founded Leaders in Training (LIT) with her own savings, to empower equitable opportunity for students from similar backgrounds as herself. Today LIT empowers over 200 students annually with a 100 percent college acceptance rate, 81 perent postsecondary persistence rate in 20 different institutions in eight states, from NYU, University of Michigan to USC and all the NV school, and 100 percent of members committing to use their educational success to empower their home community. Currently, Mosca serves on U.S. Congressman Steven Horsford's Equity Cabinet, the NV State Public Charter School Authority appointed by the NV State Board of Education and supports national U.S. Air Force Spouse initiatives as an enlisted military spouse. Recently, Mosca was awarded the 2022 NAACP Las Vegas Branch Legacy Builder Award and 2021 Asian Community Development Council InspirAsian Award.

Alejandro Dumbrigue Aclan, Bishop

Bishop Alejandro Dumbrigue Aclan (Source: Angelus News)

Pope Francis appointed Aclan as titular bishop of Rusicade and auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2019. As auxiliary bishop, Aclan was appointed episcopal vicar for the San Fernando Pastoral Region. On April 2, 2021, Aclan attended a prayer vigil at Incarnation Church in Glendale, California to support women across the United States who had been victims of hate crime attacks. Aclan and his family immigrated to the U.S. in 1982, settling in Covina, California. He holds a degree in medical technology, taught at the university, worked as a programmer and systems analyst and reached middle management positions in banks. In 1988, Aclan entered St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California and was ordained a priest in 1993.

Tessa Winkelmann, Ph.D., Associate Professor

Winkelmann is associate professor of history at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. She is the author of Dangerous Intercourse: Gender and Interracial Relations in the American Colonial Philippines 1898-1946, recently published in Cornell University Press’ “US in the World” series. The book “utilizes a transnational approach to examine a wide range of interracial sexual relationships – from the casual and economic to the formal and long term – between Americans and Filipinos in the overseas colony from 1898 to formal independence in 1946. Winkelmann is working on her second project, tentatively titled Best Foot forward; Gender and Modernity in the Post War Philippines. At UNLV, she teaches courses on Asian American history, U.S. and the world, and gender and women’s studies. Winkelmann grew up in Southern California and received her B.A. at the University of California, Irvine, her M.A. in Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University and her Ph.D. in History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Leopoldo A. Quintas, Jr., Retired Lieutenant General

Lt. Gen. Leopoldo A. Quintas, Jr. (Ret.) (Source: Wikimedia)

A retired lieutenant general in the United States Army, who last served as the deputy commanding general and chief of staff of United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM). Quintas was born in Connecticut and attended Montville High School, graduating in 1982. His father, Leopoldo "Leo" Quintas Sr. was born in the Philippines and was a United States Coast Guard veteran of the Vietnam War. Quintas Jr. is a graduate of United States Military Academy and was commissioned in 1986. He has received many awards and decorations for his service. He is a Board member of the West Point Association of Graduates. He also has his own consulting company specializing in leadership, strategy and technology, advising corporations and non-profit entities.

Jessica A. Gilo, Associate Director, Harper Wave Publishers

Gilo joined Harper Wave in 2022 with over ten years of publishing experience, specializing in books across a variety of illustrated and lifestyle categories, including food and drink, health and wellness, art, architecture and design. She has spearheaded marketing campaigns for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s culinary and lifestyle program, working with award-winning authors. She holds a master’s degree in food studies from NYU and a B.S. in nutrition from Syracuse University.

R. Alexander Orquiza, Jr., Ph.D., Associate Professor

R. Alexander Orquiza, Jr., Ph.D. (Source: Providence College News)

Orquiza is an Associate Professor at Providence College in Rhode island. His first book, Taste of Control: Food and the Filipino Colonial Mentality Under American Rule (Rutgers University Press 2020) “tells what happened when American colonizers began to influence what Filipinos ate, how they cooked, and how they perceived their national cuisine. Through the topic of food, Taste of Control explores how, despite lasting less than fifty years, the American colonial occupation of the Philippines left psychological scars that have not yet completely healed, leading many Filipinos to believe that their traditional cooking practices, crops, and tastes were inferior.” He has contributed essays to Oxford University Press on Filipino cuisine in New York City in Savoring Gotham: A Food Lover’s Companion to New York City (2015) His work is supported by the Fulbright Program, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the W.M. Keck Foundation. Orquiza’s second book examines how American popular culture commemorated American empire in music, architecture, literature, sports, food and teaching. “It will show how immigrants, racial and ethnic minority activists, and anti-imperialists pushed back against who could be called ‘American’.”

Source: Google and Wikipedia

The Magazine

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 47