Facilitators

Pia Arboleda

​Recipient of the 2015 Regent's Medal for Excellence in Teaching, Pia Arboleda is Professor of Filipino and Philippine Culture and Chair of the Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures at the University of Hawai''i at Manoa. She serves as Director of the Center for Philippine Studies. Professor Arboleda holds a Doctor of Arts degree in Language and Literature. She produces multi-media bilingual materials on folklore and indigenous culture; and is a Filipino <> English translator.

​More

Precious Mae Arao

Precious Arao is lecturer at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa and Kapi'olani Community College. She teaches Filipino as a second language primarily to beginners. In addition, she also teaches Philippine culture courses such as Philippine Folklore. Precious received her Masters degree in Second Language Studies from the Department of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. She also holds a Bachelor's degree in Filipino Language and Literature also from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. 

More

Markee Micu

Markee is a Baguio native and a San Francisco transplant currently based in Honolulu. He joined the Center for Philippine Studies and the Filipino Language and Culture Program last year and spearheaded a webinar on the West Philippine Sea. He is also one of the Co-Founders of the Baliktanaw Conference–a student-initiated virtual conference aimed at addressing the issues faced by the Filipino diaspora.

Darren Sana

Darren Sana graduated from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in both Photography and Philippine Language and Literature, major in Filipino.

At UH Mānoa, he teaches IP courses like Philippine Food, Music and Rituals and Philippine Literature in English.

Jayson Parba​

Jayson Parba holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Second Language Studies from the Department of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. His primary focus in both research and teaching is social justice in education. He specializes in second and heritage language teaching of Filipino in the U.S. context, particularly in Hawai'i. Jayson also has substantial experience acquired from teaching ESL and literature courses (e.g., Philippine Literature, English Literature, World Literature) at junior high school and university levels in the Philippines prior to joining the Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literature. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Secondary Education major in English (cum laude) and a Master of Arts in English from Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan in the Philippines. 

​More

Maribel Bertulfo

Maribel Bertulfo holds a Bachelors of Arts in Philippine Language and Literature (Filipino) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She also completed her Bachelors degree with a distinction of cum laude. She also holds an Associate degree in Teaching where she was a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

At UH Manoa, she teaches Philippine Travelouge, Intermediate Filipino, and Filipino Translation Techniques.
Amy C. Peria
​Amy C. Peria teaches Filipino as a heritage/second language to beginning and intermediate level students. She is fluent in Tagalog and Pangasinan. Currently, she is learning Ilokano and Cebuano.
She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a Bachelor of Arts in both Political Science, and Philippine Language and Literature, major in Filipino. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in the Department of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Amy’s research interests include family language policy, heritage language learning, critical language pedagogy, and second language reading.
Ces Jocson

Raquel A. Colangoy

Raquel A. Colangoy graduated from Philippine Normal University with the Degree in BSE Speech and Theatre Arts (Mga Sining sa Pagsasalita at Teyatro) in 2005. She has earned units in Teaching Filipino and passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers in 2005. She has also earned units in MA in Panitikang Pilipino at the University of the Philippines Diliman in 2006, and finished Academic Requirements for MA in Educational Management in Philippine Normal University, Manila in 2017.
Raquel A. Colangoy also graduated from Philippine Christian University with a degree in MA in Education major in Educational Administration in 2019 and is currently taking up PhD in Educational Management at De La Salle University, Manila. She also served as Level Facilitator at Southville International School and Colleges from 2009-2013 and currently holding the position of being the Subject Area Head of Filipino and Foreign Languages Department at Southville International School and Colleges from 2013 .
Raquel A. Colangoy has earned the Mentor at Duke of Edinburgh International Award Organization and is a member of Transform Our World Global Movement. She is the Founder of NCC Family Project, an organization that caters to marginalized family, conducted seminars and workshops on drama and creative arts, an invited speaker in Region 4B DepEd initiated Seminars, and had also attended seminars in the Philippines abroad. Raquel A. Colangoy has 17 years of experience in Teaching Filipino Language and Filipino as a Foreign Language.
​

Angeli Callo

Angeli Callo graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Philippine Language and Culture from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she was consistently on the Dean's List. She completed an Associate’s degree in Junior Tourism Management at Air Link International Aviation College in the Philippines, and an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts at Honolulu Community College, where she was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She has extensive experience in a corporate setting, specializing in administrative and office management tasks as comprehensive support to company executives.
Angeli was awarded the 2015 Outstanding Woman Achiever in Arts & Entertainment by the Hawaii Filipino Women’s Club.

Jareza Eva Ramos

​My name is Jareza Eva Ramos. I recently graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with a degree in Business Management and Philippine Language & Culture: Filipino. Throughout my four years at UH Mānoa, I took an interest in all my Filipino classes, which inspired me to pursue a career in teaching Filipino language and culture at the secondary school level. I want to continue being a light to my community, to be the bridge that connects those who came before me with those who started with me, and with those who will come after me. One day, with the knowledge I learned in business school, I hope to own a small business that highlights one of the favorite pastimes within Filipino culture: videoke.

Chachie Abara  

Chachie Abara (she/her/hers) is a recent graduate at the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Philippine Language + Literature: Ilokano Studies. Chachie is the founder and director of operations for Reclaiming Filipinx Media which she hopes to become a platform for those who wants to dive deeper and learn about their cultural heritage and roots. She is incredibly passionate about mental health advocacy and providing the space for the Filipino community to have conversations that can help those fight the stigma that circles around mental health. Chachie is currently taking a gap year from graduate program to focus more on her passion projects such as Reclaiming Filipjnx and Agadal Ilokano. She hopes one day to obtain her Masters Degree in either Public Health Policy or Social Work.  In addition to his, she enjoys writing poetry and podcasting as a hobby. ​

Student Assistants

Rovie Jay Dacumos

Rovie is a senior pursuing his B.A. in Philippine Language and Literature and B.F.A in Graphic Design. He has been with the Center for Philippine Studies for two years and a previous Katipunan Club officer.

Angela Christie Mastrile

Angela Christie Mastrile. First generation to go to college. I am a freshman at UH Manoa. I am double majoring in Philippine Language & Literature and Psychology. On my free time I like to go to the beach and spend time with my friends or you will most likely see me in Target.

Jomar Menendez

Jomar holds an A.S degree in Television Production from Leeward Community
College and is now pursuing a B.A. in Information & Computer Science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. 

Marjorie Kay Raquiz

Marjorie is an undergraduate at University of Hawaii at Manoa pursuing her B.S in Computer Science, Security Science (SecSci) and B.A. in Philippine Language and Literature. 

Marcos Buccat Jr.

Marcos Buccat is a senior studying for a B.S. in Computer Science in the Department of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. My Interests are Web Developer, Game Design, Mobile App Developer.

Tristan Jade Gudoy

I am a student at UH Manoa double majoring in Biology and Philippine Language and Culture: Filipino. Ever since I was child, I have always been interested in the medical field because I have seen how healthcare professionals can have a huge impact in the community and I want to be a part of it. This is why in the past two summer breaks, I have joined 2 different medical missions in Guatemala and Costa Rica through our organization at the university. I am majoring in Filipino because I believe that there is more to learn about the language and the culture. Prior to finishing some classes, I have discovered a lot about culture and heritage that I have not heard of before, this is why I am eager to learn more in the upcoming semester. My hobbies include traveling and collecting plants. I love to travel and I plan on traveling more to explore different cultures and foods. I am also collecting plants that are rare and some common ones. After graduation, I am planning to become a Physician Associate in order to fulfill my goal of becoming a healthcare professional.  ​

Katrine Salmasan

I'm currently pursuing Management Information Systems and Philippine Language and Culture at UH Manoa. But before transferring here at UHM I was a Hospitality Operations major at Kapiolani Community College. My hobbies are traveling, eating, and watching comedy films. 

Aaron Ancheta

Alvin Edrada