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.

Dr. Peter N. Bretan, Jr., Urologist and Kidney Transplant Surgeon

Bretan found his career goal at eight years old when a doctor performed an innovative surgery to save his father’s life. “I looked at surgeons as angels, as heroes. It was my focus to be a surgeon after seeing my father’s life saved. I never forgot my roots after that.” He is the first Filipino American physician to serve as president of the California Medical Association (CMA). He gave up his practice in the Bay Area to serve patients at a safety-net hospital in Watsonville. He is also the founder and CEO of Life Plant International, a charitable organization that furnishes lifesaving transplants in developing countries, for which he was recognized by the AMA with the Benjamin Rush Award for Citizenship and Community Service. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in physiology from University of California, Berkeley and his medical degree from University of California, San Francisco where he completed residencies in general surgery and urology, as well as a fellowship in radiology, and a fellowship at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in transplantation and renovascular surgery. Bretan is also the current president of the California Urological Association and serves as an adjunct clinical professor at Touro University where he has taught classes in health care policy for the past 16 years. He now provides urologic and laparoscopic surgical care at a safety-net hospital in Santa Cruz County where most of his patients do not speak English and have no medical insurance. Bretan says, “I grew up as a child farm laborer, and I know what it is to be without adequate health care. My greatest motivation is in service to give back to society for my good fortune.”

JoAnn Balingit, Poet and Nonfiction Writer

Born in Columbus, Ohio to a German American mother and a Filipino immigrant father, Balingit grew up in Lakeland, Florida. She earned her B.A. in English Literature from the University of California, Irvine, her M.L.S. from Indiana University, and her Doctorate in Education from the University of Delaware, where she currently teaches poetry. She was the poet laureate of Delaware from 2008 to 2015. Her two-award-winning chapbooks, Forage and Your Heart and How it Works, explore female identity and Philippine ancestry. She is also a reporter for Delaware Online, a subsection of The News Journal. She lives in Delaware with her two daughters.

Michael Dadap, Guitarist, Composer, and Conductor

One of 14 children, Dadap was born in Hinunangan in Southern Leyte into a family of musicians. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of the Philippines, majoring in conduction, studied composition, and conducting at the Mannes College of Music in New York City, and three years later made his debut performance at Carnegie Recital Hall. He was influential in the creation of a world-class rondalla ensemble in the United States, and he is also the founding music director of the Iskwelang Rondalla of Boston, Massachusetts. Since 1984, he has been the artistic and musical director and principal conductor of the Children’s Orchestra Society (COS) in New York City. He has received numerous awards and has performed with noted artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, who happens to be his brother-in-law.

Luisa Blue, Union Leader

Blue was elected in May as International Executive Vice President at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), making her the highest-ranking Asian American in the labor movement today. Her involvement with labor started 40 years ago as a registered nurse at San Francisco General Hospital where she helped organize a successful campaign for improved patient care and better working conditions for health care workers. Blue says her parents who immigrated from the Philippines instilled in her a drive to help others.

Dr. Luz S. Fonacier, Allergist-Immunologist

Dr. Luz S. Fonacier (Source: NYU Langone Health)

Fonacier is Head of Allergy, Training Program Director at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, New York, and professor of medicine at SUNY Stony Brook, New York. She treats disorders of the immune system, including food, insect and respiratory allergies, eczema, asthma, and immune deficiencies, such as HIV/AIDS. She has been in practice for more than 20 years. She received her medical degree from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in Manila and completed residencies in dermatology and internal medicine, fellowships in allergy and immunology at New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center, and in dermal immunology at New York University Medical Center. She served on the Board of Regents of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the Joint Council of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, and was president of the Long Island Allergy Society. She is the recipient of the 2012 ACAAI John O. McGovern Lectureship, the 2010 ACAAI Jean A. Chapman Memorial Lectureship, and the 2009 ACAAI Women in Allergy Award.

Peter Urscheler, Mayor of Phoenixville, Pennsylvannia

Urscheler’s parents, a Swiss professional soccer player and a Filipino mother, met and married in Australia. Peter is their only child who grew up in Tavares. Florida. In high school he was elected president of his class three years in a row. He attended Stetson University and became a prominent student leader where he raised $17 million for student scholarships from the state legislature, impacting 28 educational institutions and over 30,000 students in Florida. In 2014, his mother passed away from stomach cancer, and this led him to give up his corporate career to pursue his passion for community and focus on caring for his aging father. He got involved with a number of local organizations and was elected President of Pennsylvania Jaycees. At 34 years old he was elected Mayor of Phoenixville, the youngest in the borough’s 170-year history. On January 2, 2018, at 90 years old, his father held the Bible as his only child was sworn into office. His father died peacefully in his sleep that night. As mayor, Urscheler oversees a 31-person police force, which serves over 17,500 residents.

Rene Gube, Comedian, Actor, and Writer

Gube was executive story editor and writer for the critically acclaimed CW show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, where he also had a recurring role as “Father Brah.” The show has been hailed as the first series to portray Fil-Am life, with a number of Filipinos in the cast, on primetime U.S. television. Born in Waukegan, Illinois to immigrant parents from Batangas and Pampanga, Gube grew up in Rancho Penasquitos, San Diego and went to Mount Carmel High School. He earned his BA in political science at the University of California, San Diego. Prior to his career as a comedian, Gube used to be a high school teacher at Belmont High School in downtown Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, Gube formed a comedy sketch group, Touchblue, and they performed throughout California. He is married to Ground Floor co-star, Briga Heelan.

Sari Arambulo, Production and Social Media Coordinator

A graduate of University of Southern California, Arambulo can be seen on Seth Meyers and Lorne Michael’s show, “A.P. Bio” on NBC as the character Grace. She has also guest starred in Girl Meets World, The Middle and Modern Family. She made her debut by appearing in 2008 in Brown Soup Thin and after five years, she got another chance to appear in four TV series: Trophy Wife, The Soup Investigates, Perception and See Dad Run. Recent work includes Abby Normal (2016), Buccaneer Galaxy (2018) and Party of Five (2020).

Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine, Public Health and Board Overseer

Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine (Photo by Melvyn Calderon/Rappler)

Acuña was born in Roxas City, Philippines. Her family lived in Manila where she studied in Poveda for grade school. Her family moved to Texas during the martial law years. Acuña is co-founder of the Collaborative Center for X-linked Dystonia Parkinson (CCXDP) at the Massachusetts General Hospital and president of the Sunshine Care Foundation, Inc. (SCF); both organizations’ mission is to find a cure for XDP (a disease her brother had) while providing comprehensive support for affected patients and their families. She completed her undergraduate degree cum laude at Harvard College, a master’s degree in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a juris doctor degree at Columbia Law School. She was Senior Counsel in Derivatives and Alternative Investments at Bracebridge Capital in Boston for 13 years where she met her husband. Before that, she served as adviser to the late Jovito Salonga when he was Senate President, to Chief Justice Marcelo Fernan, and the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry. She applies her background in law, finance, and public leadership to her current focus in public health, humanitarian medical aid, and facilitating biomedical research. She serves on several boards including the Harvard University Governing Board as Overseer, to which she is the first Filipino American to be elected, and the Columbia Law School Board of Directors. She lives in Boston with her husband and three children.

Thomas Castro, Curator of Graphic Design

Filipino American Castro is the new curator of Graphic Design at The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. He was Head of Graphic Design at the ArtEZ University of Arts in Arnhem and co-founder of the award-winning studio LUST and LUSTLab, and research lab ZERODotZero. He studied psychology and fine arts at the University of California, Irvine where he was introduced to late ‘80s Dutch graphic design, and he decided to continue his education in the Netherlands. LUST won the BNO Piet Zwart Award and the 2008 Dutch Design Award for Interactive Media. At LUST, Castro is responsible for ground-breaking graphic design exhibition concepts such as Digital Depot, created for Museum Bojimans Van Beuningen, the Posterwall for the 21st Century at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, and Type/Dynamics at the Stedelijk Museum. At the ArtEZ in Arnhem, he developed the current de-modernizing design curriculum and has given lectures and workshops in Beijing, Detroit, Mexico City, and Tokyo.

Dr. Neil Cambronero, Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon

Dr. Neil Cambronero (Source; The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Health)

Cambronero received his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook where he graduated magna cum laude. He received his medical degree from the State University of New York at Syracuse. After completing his surgical residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, he completed his Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship and his Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Fellowship at UCSF where he now practices. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Arthur Aufses Jr. Award from the Mount Sinai Hospital, given to the “Chief Resident who demonstrates overall excellence as a surgical mentor.”

The Magazine

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 13