5 founders, 56 weeks, 141 storytellers, 296 stories
/Positively Filipino's San Francisco Bay Area contributors and staff celebrated the magazine's first anniversary at the residence of publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco. (Seated L-R: Lloyd LaCuesta, Mona Lisa Yuchengco, Vivian Araullo, and Gemma Nemenzo, Standing: Michael Yap, Imelda Oppenheim, Ferlie Andong, Mike Moreno, Rachelle Ayuyang, Cherie Querol Moreno, France Viana, Rene Ciria Cruz, Raymond Virata, Ben Pimentel, Irwin Ver, and Ken Guanga. (Photo by Ken Guanga)
5 founders, 56 weeks, 141 storytellers, 296 stories. These are the magic numbers behind our first year of creating a premier digital native magazine that celebrates uniquely Filipino stories about our kababayans in the diaspora.
True, the numbers pale in comparison to other fully staffed news sites that post stories daily, but for an online magazine that started out as an experiment in tapping into the consciousness of the global Filipino diaspora, I say we've done quite well.
Some readers have asked who really are behind this endeavor, impressed as they are with the design, the coverage and the quality of the stories. Here's the honest answer: as our website states, there are only five of us putting out this publication in our spare time since each of us has a million other things going on and Positively Filipino is just one of them.
"We" means Mona Lisa Yuchengco, our publisher; Rene Ciria Cruz writes our daily news briefs and he also does the editing; art director Raymond Virata seeks out the best photos to accompany the texts for creative tech director Franklin Ricarte to design and optimize for the web, tablets and mobile devices the finished and finessed articles for you, our readers. As chief story gatherer, I source the stories, testimonies, reports and histories and find the best writers and chroniclers to tell us about them.
This online magazine wouldn't be what it is, however, without the talent, the enthusiasm and the commitment of our writers worldwide who, like us, are multitasking to the max so that they can do their part in telling and sharing the stories of our people.
To everyone who makes Positively Filipino possible, and to you who make all these efforts worthwhile, our sincerest wishes for a fruitful, fulfilling and fantastic 358 days ahead.
I hope we can continue to count on your support—by liking, sharing and telling friends and family about Positively Filipino.