| TOS
STAFF
SUSAN F. QUIMPO is the co-founder and current
program director of Tagalog On Site. She has been an educator, activist,
community organizer and freelance writer/editor. She earned her bachelor's
degree in Psychology from the University of the Philippines, and her graduate
degrees in Journalism and International Affairs from Ohio University.
She is also a graduate of the Writing Program at Columbia University in
New York City. Her work with Filipino Americans began in 1990 when she
facilitated workshops with a group called Youth for Philippine Action.
Two years later, she co-founded Arkipelago, a New York City-based arts
and advocacy group. Arkipelago took the lead in promoting awareness campaigns
on immigrant rights, AIDS, racial violence and other concerns of the Asian
American community in the New York-New Jersey area. After nearly a decade
of living in the US, Susan and her family moved back to the Philippines.
She and her husband set to work on new curriculum, fusing language and
culture studies into a program meant to provide a holistic introduction
to the Philippines. In 1996, she brought a pilot group of nine Filipino
American participants from all over the US to the Philippines to test
ideas for what was to become Tagalog On Site. Besides working for TOS,
Susan worked as an editorial consultant for the Ayala Museum in Manila.
She has taught writing classes and has facilitated organizational development
workshops for government and non-government organizations. Her articles
on the Philippine diaspora have been printed in publications in the US,
Japan and the Philippines.
GEORGE CHIU - co-founded
Tagalog on Site and serves as its finance officer. He has experience as
a second-language/cultural orientation teacher and curriculum developer
when he worked in two refugee camps for Southeast Asian "boat people"
in the early eighties. He was also a community college instructor in New
York City for six years, teaching second language and various other subjects
to new immigrants, among others. He holds an undergraduate degree from
Ateneo de Manila, and graduate degrees from Ohio University (International
Affairs, MBA).
GERALDINE HIDALGO, or
“Ged,” is the Administrative and Logistics Officer for TOS.
She graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a Bachelor’s
Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management. Later, she received a certificate
in Professional Education and continued her studies to earn a Master’s
Degree in Special Education from the University of the Philippines, Diliman.
Ged worked as a Special Education teacher for two years, serving children
with physical and mental disabilities. She has also been active in her
community since 1986, participating in Ecology Camp, Social Camp, and
community organizing with groups such as Ugnayan ng Pahinungód.
Ged was also a member of Kontemporaryong Gamelan Pilipino of UP Diliman,
a Bayanihan dance troupe, Himig ng Bagong Lahi, where she performed ethnic
dances, played indigenous instruments, and conducted workshops in dance,
music, and the arts.
DIANNE QUE participated
in TOS in the summer of 2003. She graduated from the University of California,
San Diego in 2004 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science
and a Minor in Ethnic Studies. She has always been actively involved in
the Filipino communities, having worked with organizations such as Kaibigang
Pilipino of UCSD, the Kamalayan Kollective, and other community organizations.
Dianne has also worked as a Diversity Peer Educator and Office Manager
at the Cross-Cultural Center of UCSD. She is also a member of the Freedom
Writers Collective, a dynamic group of writers, artists, and storytellers.
In 2004, Dianne wrote and co-directed Story, UCSD’s 13th Annual
Pilipino Cultural Celebration, a theater production whose intersecting
storylines were largely based on the stories and experiences of TOS. In
June 2005, Dianne returned to the Philippines to serve as Coordinator
for TOS. Currently, she is helping to establish a community/therapy center
for survivors of toxic waste in the Madapdap Resettlement Center in Mabalacat,
Pampanga.
LEAH RIZAH ANDRES has
worked as a language instructor and curriculum developer for Tagalog On
Site since 1998. She also taught English and Filipino language at the
Christian Language Studies Center in Makati from 1990-96. She was an English
language teacher for UNICEF Trainees for a program for out-of-school-
youth from 1998-2000, and has taught Business English to the employees
of the Pan Pacific Hotel in Manila. She was a TSE (Test of Spoken English)
and TOEFL (Test of English as a Second Language) trainor of Nurses at
PROQUEST, Inc. She is a part time facilitator at Visions and Breakthroughs
International, Inc., a training, coaching and consulting firm. She continues
to provide private tutorials in English and Filipino to foreign nationals
living in the Philippines.
REBECCA DIZON joined
the language teaching staff of Tagalog On Site in 2002. She has held the
position of Head Language Teacher for five program cycles, and has co-facilitated
TOS teacher-training workshops. Rebecca has developed instructional materials
for TOS and has been involved in reviewing and revising its language curriculum.
Shortly after earning her Bachelor’s degree in Business administration,
she joined the US Peace Corps, Philippine Office, to teach Filipino and
develop modules for language training. Besides working for TOS, Rebecca
works as a freelance Filipino language teacher for various agencies such
as the Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO), Dutch Development Organization
(SNV), Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV), Korean Overseas Volunteers
(KOV), German Development Service (DED), Australian Youth Ambassadors
for Development (AYAD), Christian Service International (CSI), and Save
the Children Foundation.
ALEXANDER BLANCO joined
the language teaching staff of Tagalog on Site in 2003 and was head language
teacher for the Summer Program. Alexander designs language activities
and instructional materials for TOS. He graduated from the University
of the Philippines with a bachelor’s degree in Language Education.
He was awarded a government scholarship to pursue a degree in Indonesian
Language in Literature at the University of Indonesia, Jakarta. Alexander
has been teaching Filipino English and Indonesian as second languages
to foreign diplomats, researchers, business executives, visiting professors
and scholars. Alexander also works as a language instructor, translator
and interpreter at the Asian Center for Foreign Languages.
VIOLETA CALDERON has
been teaching Communicative Tagalog since 1998. She was trained as a language
teacher by the International Mission Board, and has been teaching foreign
missionaries assigned to work in the Philippines with the Assemblies of
God and the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. She joined Tagalog On Site
in 2003, and has served as a language instructor for three program cycles.
GAYIA GESITE BEYER is
an Anthropologist who has been taking TOSers with her to Banaue and Sagada
since 1996. A descendant of Henry Otley Beyer, the pioneering American
Anthropologist and Lingayu Gambuk, Gayia's Ifugao heritage as well as
anthropological background has allowed students to observe rituals as
well as participate in the planting and harvest of rice. Currently, Gayia
works as a Consumer Anthropologist for BrandLab Inc., a strategic planning
consultancy firm based in Makati
LECTURES
AND RESOURCE SPEAKERS
Dr. ROFEL BRION holds
a master's degree in Filipino Literature from the Ateneo de Manila University
and a doctorate degree in English Studies from the Creative Writing Center
at UP Diliman.. He was a fellow at the UP Summer Writer's Workshop (1984),
the Hawthornden Castle International Retreat for Writers (1989 and 1994),
the University of Iowa International Writing Program (1990), and the UP
Creative Writing Center (1992-93). He received British Council grants
in 1986, 1989 and 1994, and a Fulbright grant in 1990-91. His placed first
in the 1982 Gawad Galian sa Tula and won the National Book Award in 1990
for Baka Sakali, his first book of poems. For TOS, Dr. Brion lectures
on Filipino literature and popular culture.
Dr. RICARDO G. ABAD holds
a B.A. in Sociology, from Ateneo de Manila and a Ph.D. in Sociology from
Fordham University, NYC. He is a recipient of the prestigious Metrobank
Outstanding Teacher Award. His long experience in teaching includes a
post as an instructor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology
at Fordham University from 1970-71,and as lecturer in the Social Sciences
Division of the College of White Plains in New York from 1971-72. He has
taught in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of Ateneo since
1976 and was department chair from 1979 to 1987. His distinctions in the
field include a Fulbright Senior Fellowship Award given by the Philippine-American
Educational Foundation and the East-West Population Institute, in 1983.
For excellence in teaching, he was awarded four professional chairs from
1984 to 1999 and was named a Most Outstanding Senior Lay Teacher by the
Ateneo de Manila in 1993. Aside from teaching, Dr. Abad worked as research
associate and chief of operations in the Institute of Philippine Culture
in Ateneo from 1975 to 1977 and as its director from 1977 to 1980. He
served as consultant for the Institutional Development Program of the
Philippine Social Science Council from 1982-85 and in the Project Development
Division of the Population Center Foundation. He served as editor for
the Philippine Sociological Review from 1981 to 1990. He is currently
the Chair of the Fine Arts Department, and a professor in the Sociology
and Anthropology Department of Ateneo, the associate editor of the academic
journal Philippine Studies, and a statistical consultant in the language
proficiency project of the English Department. Dr. Abad has lectured for
Tagalog on Site since 1996 on several topics, among them: the Barangay/village
culture, effects of Spanish Catholicism, and the principles of Filipino
life.
JOSEFINA HOFILEÑA is
an associate professor at the History Department, Ateneo de Manila University
and a Ph.D. candidate in History at the University of the Philippines
(UP), Diliman. She holds a bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies
in Ateneo de Manila and a master’s degree in History from UP, Diliman.
She was named Outstanding Junior Teacher for schoolyear 1999-2000 at the
Ateneo. She taught Asian and World history at St.Theresa's College, Q.C.
from 1982-84 and has been teaching several subjects in Philippine history
in Ateneo since 1985. She wrote "Life in the Occupied Zone: One Negros
Planter's Experience of War" published in the Journal of Southeast
Asian Studies (March 1996). She was the co-author and history consultant
of The Story of the Philippines, a Childcraft book published by World
Book Inc. For TOS, Prof. Hofileña lectures on the following topics:
the Philippine Revolution against Spain, the American Colonial Period,
the Japanese Occupation, and the Huk Rebellion.
DR. ELIZABETH PROTACIO-DE CASTRO is
a professor of Psycology in the University of the Philippines, and has,
for many years, been the director of the Children’s Rehabilitation
Center (CRC) in Manila. She is currently the head of the Psychosocial
Trauma and Human Rights Program of the Center for Integrative and Development
Studies (CIDS) of the University of the Philippines.
Dr. FRANCIS ALVAREZ GEALOGO is
an assistant professor at the Ateneo de Manila University. He received
his Masters of Arts in History in 1990, and his PhD in Philosophy (Philippine
Studies) in 1995 from UP Diliman. His fields of specialization are the
history of social movements, demographic history, gender, reproduction
and history. Francis has been a Frederico Alcuaz Diamond Jubilee Professional
Chair for 1998 and a recipient of the UP Local Faculty Fellowship Grant
from 1993-95. Prior to teaching at Ateneo, he was an assistant professor
at UP Diliman, and served as editor for the Diliman Review. For TOS, Dr.
Gealogo lectures on post- World War II history.
CAROLINA S. RUIZ-AUSTRIA, LLB was
the founding Executive Director of WomenLEAD (Women's Legal Education,
Advocacy & Defense Foundation Inc.) from 2000-2005 and currently teaches
a course on Feminist Legal Theory and Practice at the College of Law,
University of the Philippines. She holds a B.A. in Journalism from the
College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines, Diliman,
and an LLB, Bachelor of Laws from the College of Law, University of the
Philippines, Diliman. She was a 2001 Packard-Gates Fellow of the International
Health Program at the University of California. In 2003 she was Convener
of the Reproductive Health Advocacy Network (RHAN) and is a member of
the RHAN Steering Committee. Her work has been published by Reproductive
Health Matters (RHM), a bi-annual Journal in the United Kingdom and Littlefield
Publishers in the United States. For TOS, Attorney Ruiz-Austria lectures
on the status of the Filipina.
JOHN SILVA is currently
a Senior Consultant for the National Museum of the Philippines. From 1971-1975,
he was an instructor of Philippine-American History in the University
of California, Berkeley Asian American Studies Department. Mr. Silva was
also an Associate Publisher of Filipinas magazine. He is also a contributing
writer and columnist for local and international publications that concern
Philippine arts, culture, and history including: Arts of Asia, Philippine
Star Week magazine, Enquirer, The Wall Street Journal, and Filipinas magazine.
RONLADO MONARES LLAMAS presently
works as a consultant for the Center for Agrarian Reform and Transformation
(CARET), and the Institute of Politics and Governance (IPG). He is also
the founding president of the AKBAYAN! Citizen’s Action Party, and
a member of the Executive Committee of Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC).
Ronal has also served as Executive Director for the following organizations:
the Center for Education and Research for Government Employees; the Center
for Agrarian Reform, Empowerment, and Transformation (CARET); the Laber
Education and Research Network (LEARN); the Center for Popular Empowerment
(CPE); and the Institute for Politics and Governance (IPG).
DINDO MANUDAL is a
T’boli tribesman, possibly the best male T’boli dancer in
Lake Sebu, South Cotabato (Mindanao). He has been featured in Dreamweavers
(produced by Bookmark, Inc.), a comprehensive video documentary on the
T’boli tribe, and was the male lead dancer of the Helobung Dance
Troupe, a group of T’boli dancers who perform in the Philippines
and abroad. Even while in high school, he was given the important task
of passing on the T’boli dances, stories and music to grade school
and high school youth in the public school system in Lake Sebu. For TOS,
Dindo Manudal has taught the indigenous dances of the T’boli.
MIKE “Mitu” TUPAS
is a musician, visual artist and educator. He has performed as the lead
percussionist for concerts that have featured Joey Ayala, Grace Nono,
Bayang Barrios, among others. For TOS, Mike Tupas has taught indigenous
music workshops and drumming workshops. He has taught TOS participants
how to craft bamboo flutes and instruments.
ROBERT FRANCIS B. GARCIA
is currently the head of Amnesty International, Philippines. In 1987,
Mr. Garcia left UP Los Baños, where he studied Zoology, to join
the NPA and the armed movement in the Philippine countryside. In 1990,
after leaving the movement, he continued his studies at UP Diliman and
finished a degree in Community Development. He joined Popular Education
for People’s Empowerment (PEPE) in 1991 and served as its executive
director from 1992-1999. He also taught at the UP College of Social Work
and Community Development for four years. While with PEPE, Mr. Garcia
wrote Of Maps and Leapfrogs, a book on popular education. He is also the
author of To Suffer Thy Comrades, a book chronicling his experiences in
the Philippine Left.
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