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.

Robert Ragsac, Community Advocate

Ragsac, during the 1930s grew up in “Pinoytown,” the Filipino community located primarily in a one to two block area between Heinlenville Chinatown and the expanding Japantown before its residents were forcibly removed and sent to concentration camps during World War II. Ragsac is in the process of gathering images, ephemera, and interviews to prepare a book about Pinoytown, in collaboration with Curt Fukuda. Ragsac recently organized the first known formal walking tour of Pinoytown in San Jose, California at the request of local college students and continues to give talks and presentations about it and Filipino American history to students and community groups. He, his brother, and father were some of the thousands of Filipino farmworkers who harvested crops throughout California beginning in the 1920s. Ragsac is a retired aerospace engineer who devotes his time to local history research and involvement with the local Filipino American community. He is a board member of the Filipino American National Museum in Stockton, California’s “Little Manila Town.” Ragsac is 92 years old.

Alyssa Rafael, Singer and Actor

Alyssa Rafael is a singer, actor, executive producer, and host. She was named among "30 Under 30" by Forbes, Hollywood & Entertainment. Alyssa was an Executive Producer and Coordinator for the Disney Launchpad Shorts Incubator program, where six directors from underrepresented backgrounds produced a short film for Disney +. In 2022, Rafael hosted the three-day Disney's D23 Expo Live Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim Convention Center and interviewed several Disney stars including the cast of Encanto. She has appeared and performed for major networks such as Fox, Freeform and Good Morning America. She and her singer/performer husband, AJ Rafael, recently released a song with Jim Brickman called Counting Down to Christmas. She has garnered over 30 million views across her social media platforms.

Janet Nepales, Hollywood Journalist

Nepales was recently elected to the Golden Globe Awards Advisory Board. Born in Quezon City, Philippines, Nepales pens the weekly column, Hollywood Insider, on GMA-7 News. She is also the Hollywood TV correspondent of GMA-7 TV Network. She graduated cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila with a B.A. in journalism and edited the college journal and the university-wide paper. After graduation, she wrote for top newspapers and magazines in the Philippines, including The Times Journal, Parade magazine, People’s Journal, and Manila Bulletin where she wrote a weekly column, Hollywood Bulletin for many years. Her awards include honors from the Los Angeles Press Club’s National Entertainment Journalism Awards and the Southern California Journalism Awards, Philippine American Press Club’s Plaridel Awards, The Outstanding Filipino Americans Awards for Outstanding Journalist, and the Los Angeles Philippine International Film Festival’s Outstanding Women in Film Journalism Award, The Outstanding Pilipinos (TOP) Awards, and Excellence in Journalism from the Friends of The Philippine Society USA, Inc. She is the first Filipina journalist to join the HFPA in 2008. She was elected as the first Filipino Executive Secretary of the HFPA for two terms (2017-2019). She was also elected as the first Filipino Treasurer of the HFPA for two terms (2019-2021).

CaseyAnn Carbonell, Consultant

Carbonell is a second-generation Filipina American who was born in San Jose, California and grew up in Stockton. Outside of her day job at a philanthropic organization, she is a community organizer/advocate. She co-founded Empowering Marginalized Asian Communities (EMAC) because there was a lack of resources for the Southeast Asian community in Stockton. She aims to create community and work towards equity collectively. At First Stockton Women’s March, Carbonell shared her story of overcoming toxic relationships that affected her confidence, friendship and work life. “I see this march as an opportunity to meet someone new, or realizing just how powerful Stockton women are,” she said. “I am 100 percent convinced women working together are unstoppable, and when we work together we can do it right.” She is also a member of Little Manila Rising.

Vince Sales, Philanthropy Consultant

Vince Salas *(Source: Everyday Impact Consulting)*

Sales is the CEO of Everyday Impact Consulting, a firm providing services tailored to the unique needs of nonprofit, governmental, philanthropic, and corporate organizations to build meaningful relationships to create social good. He has more than 28 years of combined experience in higher education institutions, non-profit organizations, and philanthropic foundations. In his various roles, he has built programs and provided oversight for marketing, strategic communications, media relations, government and community relations, and fundraising campaigns. In fundraising, he has extensive experience in campaigns, major gifts, planned giving, annual giving, as well as corporate and foundation relations. He served as vice president for university advancement at Sacramento State and Sonoma State University where he was also president of its philanthropic foundation. He completed his designation as a Certified Specialist in Planned Giving from the American Institute for Philanthropic Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Sales earned his BA in Mass Communications (with high distinction) from the University of California, Berkeley and an MPA (nonprofit administration emphasis) from San Francisco State University. He is currently working on a graduate certificate in Arts Administration at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Elaine Dolalas, Podcaster

Dolalas is a Historic Filipinotown-based writer, podcaster, and independent curator. She curates Color Your Troubles Away, a monthly arts event that offers stress relief, healing, and meditation through coloring. Elaine is happily trying to figure out the secret of life through writing, volunteering, and most importantly avoiding cleaning her room, much to her husband TFAL producer Mike’s chagrin. Her essays, podcasts, and CYTA events can be found at ObliviousNerdGirl.com.

Petty Officer Johncarlo Legaspi

In 2022, Legaspi was selected Junior Sailor of the Year. The San Diego native currently serves as his command’s assistant material officer. In this role, Legaspi tracks the readiness of 14 Military Sealift Command ships which support warfighters from all of the U.S. Armed Services. These ships are prepositioned throughout the Indo-Pacific Region, ensuring Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps vehicles, heavy equipment, personnel, and supplies are strategically positioned to support myriad missions. “My job is important because it gives a snapshot of the readiness of our ships. At any point in time, we know who is up and ready to operate,” Legaspi said. He also trains civil service and contracted mariners on how best to prepare their ships for their Ship Material Assessment and Readiness Testing (SMART) Inspections, which take place every three years. Born in Manila, he says Guam (where he is stationed) reminds him of home. “I am proud of my heritage, and I take pride in teaching the command about different cultures around the world and their significant contributions to our Navy,” he said.

Sergio Alcubilla, Workers’ Advocate

Sergio Alcubilla came to Hawai‘i from the mainland because it reminded him of his family’s upbringing and working-class background. He was born in the Philippines and has five other siblings. His father, who was in the military, was killed during the People Power Revolution in 1986 that ousted Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Alcubilla was only six years old then. From that point, Alcubilla says his mother, who had been a nurse in the U.S., raised her children on her own. Alcubilla and his family first emigrated to the mainland from the Philippines but eventually came to Hawai‘i because of its large Filipino community. An early memory of his is of seeing so many working-class Filipinos working in Waikīkī in the hotels and service industry. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from the University of Florida, and received his law degree from UH Mānoa’s Richardson School of Law. He says he felt “this sense of duty – that if I could give back to the community, this would be the best place for us to settle down.” He talks about “our kababayans,” which means compatriots in Tagalog, “who are working low-wage jobs and two or three additional jobs.” He himself worked late nights at Macy’s to support himself while going to law school. Now, as executive director of the Hawai‘i Workers Center, he advocates to ensure workers are paid living wages, have rights and are treated equally. “From our own personal experiences, we just know how hard it is to try to raise a family, to try to make ends meet and really fulfill that immigrant dream.”

Nikbo (Nicole Bonsol), Songwriter and Singer

Nikbo (she/they) is a shapeshifter. The Filipinx artist makes “Third Culture Pop” that blends pop aesthetics with textures and rhythms from the many cultures she was raised in: The Philippines, Morocco, Malawi, Canada, Kazakhstan, and the SF Bay Area.

Nikbo’s debut music video for Be A Little Lonely won an Independent Music Award in 2020 as an audience favorite. Her 2021 song, We Need Each Other, was featured in Smithsonian Magazine and included in the We Rise Spotify x TRAKTIVIST x Hate is a Virus Editorial Playlist, featuring revolutionary voices in Asian-American music.

Nikbo’s latest EP, From the Garden, is a love note to fellow Third Culture Kids, immigrants, and organizers. “Rage is power. And hope’s a drug. But grief is love,” belts Oakland-based Nikbo in her movement anthem. Released in 2021 amid weekly extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, ongoing struggles against anti-Blackness, police brutality, and increasing anti-Asian violence, Nikbo’s transnational rallying cry assembles “peace defenders, tender artists, punks + lovers, and broken-hearted. Her layered vocals over pounding beats uplift us from pandemic isolation, gets us deep into our feelings, and back onto the streets.” She is working on a project about the Filipino diaspora, grief, and healing through family/ancestral connection. Of our own personal experiences, we just know how hard it is to try to raise a family, to try to make ends meet and really fulfill that immigrant dream.”

Source: Google and Wikipedia

The Magazine

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 62