The Indefatigable Mercados of North Texas
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Gus and Ethel Mercado are shown at the Banaag Awards Ceremony at the Malacañan Palace in the Philippines. (Photo courtesy of Gus Mercado)
The Mercados are community pillars in North Texas, and their accomplishments have had a great impact on the Filipino American community. Their commitment to each other reflects their commitment to the community. Through an email interview, Gus said, “Common love for making a difference in people’s lives, being on the same page on issues facing the community and our company is one of the strengths of our marriage.”
That strength has grown deeper through the years.
Gus and Ethel Mercado are community pillars in North Texas. (Photo courtesy of Gus Mercado)
To understand the Mercados’ journey to the United States, one has to travel back to the tumultuous years in the Philippines when then-President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared martial law and incarcerated people who got in the way of his power grab under his brutal dictatorship. The year was 1972.
The Mercados hail from Ibaan, Batangas, which is known for its historic Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of Saint James the Greater. The city chose the “Pascua” as its official flower due to its red color, which is symbolic of residents’ courage, according to amazingbatangas.com.
Like many who had the means to leave the Philippines during the political turmoil in the1970s, Gus and Ethel settled initially in New York City. A job transfer in 1976 took them to Dallas. While working for Caltex in Las Colinas, a Dallas suburb known for its corporate hubs, Gus was assigned to public affairs and got involved in the community, philanthropic activities, and public relations that led him to establishing Filipino associations in Dallas.
He said he wanted “to establish businesses and charitable organizations that would align with his personal goals in giving back to the community, helping the Filipinos back home and having a voice in the localities where Filipinos live and work to express their needs and concerns.” The couple had a concept of where their goals would take them in uniting the growing communities among Filipinos who came from different islands and who have their own dialects.
“Our vision is to see the community, in our lifetime, more united and eager to rally around worthy causes for the betterment of the Filipino Americans in the U.S. as well as our native land,” Gus said.
From publishers of a world trade magazine, Business Horizons, to founders of their current company, Datalogix, an information technology consulting company that blossomed into a multi-state enterprise, the Mercados have always looked after marginalized Filipinos and the immigrants.
OnePhilippinesTX, a tabloid-format newspaper, reported in 2017 that “Datalogix provides high-paying jobs to more than 200 Filipino and Mexican engineers, who were hired on H1B visas.” The newspaper reported that “the company has expanded beyond engineering into construction, civil works, and tower services, remaining proudly 100% family-owned. The Information Technology company provides services to companies like IBM, Perot Systems and Hogan Systems and utilizes their backgrounds as Communications Managers with large corporations such as San Miguel Corporation, Rockwell International, Caltex and Sprint.” Gus serves as the chairman and chief executive officer of the company while Ethel serves as the company president and the chief financial officer.
The extent of their commitment to their marriage and the community has been witnessed by Filipinos in Texas, Philippine presidents, and local politicians; yet, Gus would say that it’s Ethel who has given more to the community and is the reason behind their success. He said Ethel has done more for the Filipinos than he has.
Of the numerous achievements, awards, and accolades the Mercados have received, perhaps the most notable one was when Ethel accepted the role of “unpaid Honorary Consul” offered to her by the late Philippines President Corazon Aquino when she came to power after the People Power Revolution in 1986.
According to click2houston.com, the Philippine Consulate General in Houston, Texas, was closed for 25 years before it reopened in September 2018. With a unique role to help the Filipinos get their passports renewed or apply for dual U.S.-Philippine citizenship in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas, Ethel set up an office in their house and donated “$65K every year for salary staff and office costs,” according to the OnePhTX.com.
Ever the modest “community servant,” as she considers herself, Ethel doesn’t seek credit and the spotlight. Her humility is sewn into everything she does for the community. Her strength lies not in commanding attention, but in earning trust, a quiet conviction “that leadership is about service, not spotlight” as she has shown through the years.
In 2024, Ethel received the Emeritus Chamber Leadership Award from Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson at a celebration of Filipino Heritage Month. Devoted to the basics of altruism, the Mercados have rallied Filipinos through the organizations they have founded to raise funds to help in health emergencies, natural disasters back home, scholarships for the poor, and many acts of kindness.
Gus said “their mission has always been simple: to give back to the country and the community without holding back and without forgetting their mother homeland.” Bringing the community together is not an easy task, Gus said. Moving forward requires a willingness to confront uncomfortable realities. But for the Mercados, such challenges have only strengthened their commitment to serve.
“If you have the patience and genuine love for your community and by showing leadership by example through self-sacrifice and humility, you can make leaders with clashing egos realize that conflicts are normal,” Gus said. “But community service and service to humanity are bigger than us. You figure out where the community wants to go and you’ve got to be willing to get there.”
As the Filipino American community grows in North Texas, the Mercados’ efforts to mend the gap between the new and the longtime Filipino immigrants have encouraged open conversations, mutual respect, and a shared effort to understand each other.
Their commitment to understanding different perspectives across cultural and language barriers led to the founding of an organization dedicated to fostering inclusion, dialogue, and community empowerment. In 2018, the Filipino Coalition of North Texas (FILCON) was born.
The Mercados are pictured in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, in 2024. (Photo courtesy of Gus Mercado)
“Our vision is to see the community, in our lifetime, more united and eager to rally around worthy causes for the betterment of the Filipino-Americans in the U.S. as well as our native land,” Gus said.
He added, “Over the years, there are several well-meaning groups that celebrated Philippine Independence, many of them do not exist anymore. But there is only one organization that has consistently focused on the real essence of “Independence” and celebrates the memory of our fathers and grandfathers who fought for our freedoms.”
Joel Clemente, FILCON’s vice president for 2025 humanitarian projects, said “The Mercados’ leadership in North Texas is of excellent performance. They were able to draw people closer to each other in remembering our roots as Fil-Ams by the annual Kalayaan event through culture and arts in songs, dances and other meaningful stints, and in giving honor and recognition to our WW II heroes.”
Joel Clemente, FILCON VP for 2025 humanitarian projects, is shown at the Kalayaan 2025 in Grand Prairie, Texas. (Photo courtesy of Joel Clemente)
Joel Clemente’s father, Enrique “Eking” Clemente, who fought the Japanese during World War II, was one of the recognized heroes at the Kalayaan 2025 Festival during the recent Philippine Independence celebration in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Gus said, “We founded several organizations in our community for different purposes and many still exist today. In terms of outreach and growth, the most successful organization that we founded is the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Texas. From Dallas, our Chamber expanded, and we are now the biggest Filipino Chamber of Commerce in the U.S. with over 1,000 members.”
“But,” he emphasized, “we think FILCON is still the most meaningful and most patriotic organization in Texas that appeals to all generations of Filipinos.”
Lalaine Henry, who has been living in the U.S. for 38 years, said she met the Mercados in an outreach program when her parents were renewing their Philippine passports. “I met them and saw how they're passionate in helping their fellow Filipinos,” Henry said.
Lalaine Henry is a FILCON board member. (Photo courtesy of Lalaine Henry)
She joined FILCON as one of its current board members. “FILCON is the only organization in D-FW that celebrates Philippine Independence Day in a traditional way,” Henry said. “Our goal is to make the Kalayaan celebration bigger every year, to have more young Filipinos get involved. It's also a teaching moment.”
There is one chapter in the Mercados’ life that Gus said was their “most important and most impactful achievement in community service” – their benevolent fight for justice for the Texas 10.
According to positivelyfilipino.com, “Mercado gained national prominence as “the Hero of the Texas 10” when he spearheaded a national campaign to free a group of Filipino airline mechanics who were incarcerated and mistreated in Texas prisons for six months as an overreaction to 9/11. He raised funds for their legal defense, gathered 1,000 signatures meant for President George W. Bush, took care of the inmates and their families for six months, and eventually won their acquittal and release.”
Gus said that one of the Texas 10, after his release from custody, said, “Mr. Gus Mercado and wife, Ethel, advocated for us and fought for our eventual release. While we were in prison, the Mercados took care of our families while raising funds for our legal defense. The all-out and unselfish support that the Mercados gave us and our families during the worst six months of our lives that eventually led to our release is something we will remember forever.”
Contemplating the present situation, Gus said, “This happened 24 years ago and even back then, racial injustice and discrimination against foreign immigrants was widespread although not as intense as it is now. I have a very unpleasant feeling that if this case happened today, it would not stand a chance against the Trump officials with their strong disdain for democracy, equality and inclusion. So the historical significance and relevance of the Texas 10 story is very clear.”
Their commitment to each other reflects their commitment to the community.
Gus and Ethel have paved the way for the Filipinos in North Texas, and it’s now time to pass the torch. Their decades of leadership and vision have opened doors for the next generation. The path they’ve paved is long and winding, but the next generation is ready to walk it, carrying forward the legacy they built.
However, to the Mercados, retirement does not mean completely disappearing. They are still present providing support to the organizations while staying out of the limelight. Gus has words of wisdom to the ones who will follow in their footsteps.
“Our advice to the young and future leaders who will come after us is to stay motivated at all times, and to stoke and keep the fires of patriotism, love of the motherland and unity among themselves burning in their hearts. The challenge for the next generation of leaders whose words and actions are being watched by their young Filipino children is to always keep their young children engaged in Filipino activities and keep their interest in their roots alive and strong.”
Jocelyn Alvarez Allgood is a freelance writer and a local actress in North Texas.
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