About ABF

Ang Bagong Filipino blog and Ang Bagong Filipino magazine are published by Asociación Filipina de Escritores e Investigadores en España (Philippine Association of Writers and Researchers in Spain).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES OF THE ASSOCIATION

Asociación Filipina de Escritores e Investigadores is a non-profit organization registered in the Direcció General de Dret i d’Entitats Jurídiques Departament de Justicia Generalitat de Catalunya and guided by the following objectives:

1. Publish “Ang Bagong Filipino” with the end in view of:

a) providing information and contributing to the awareness of the Filipino community and the Spanish society on immigrant issues, interculturalism and other pertinent information which would facilitate coexistence.

b) publishing articles on Filipino culture and social realities outside and within the Philippine society in order to stress the importance and role of a Filipino immigrant in the development of his/her country of origin and his/her host country.

c) giving voice to Filipinos and serving as a medium where they could express their aspirations promoting active participation among the Filipino community.

d) providing a tool that will unify Filipinos.

2. Carry out relevant activities such as researches, studies, conferences, talks, cultural activities, etc.

3. Cooperate with other associations to achieve these objectives.

THE TEAM

The team is composed of volunteer writers, artists and researchers, to wit:

KAY S. ABAÑO

Kay in Paris

 

Kay worked as a Production Designer for film and advertising before leaving Manila for Madrid in 2004 to study a Master in Cinematography. She has since used the art of writing as a means of creative expression- for a couple of online articles on video art, some short stories, but mainly for her own film which she plans to direct sometime soon. Meanwhile, she teaches English for a living. She now lives in Barcelona, and spends her free time between the sea and the Filipino immigrant community.

NEIL DELA CRUZ

Neil in Milan

Neil graduated cum laude from AMA Computer College in 2002 with a degree in Computer Engineering. He moved to Madrid in the same year and studied more IT courses on Diseño Gráfico Publicitario, Networking and Servers. He is now working in a foreign exchange company and in his free time he participates in Filipino organizations based in Madrid such as Western Visayas Association and Asociación Filipina de Madrid. He has also been an active member of Our Lady of Mercy Parish Choir since 2004 and enjoys being a facilitator of language exchanges. He is fond of movies, photography, reading, traveling and blogging.

F. JAVIER GUTIÉRREZ

Javier in Geneva

Javier is a native of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). After he finished his bachelor’s degree in Physics, he worked as a Science Professor, Web Designer and Analyst Programmer. He has also been responsible for writing, translating and proofreading technical tutorials/handbooks and documentation/web content for software and e-commerce companies. As a volunteer of Ang Bagong Filipino, he does the layout of the magazine and edits all the articles written in Spanish. He also writes articles on voice and classical music in his blog vozymusica.wordpress.com.

Dan in Berlin

DANIEL INFANTE TUAÑO

Dan took up Political Science and founded a Political Science organization almost 10 years ago at the University of the Philippines Manila. He has been writing news for almost a decade, taught some things and learned many things from people living with HIV-AIDS, urban poor, student groups and other sectors of the Philippine society. He finished a Master  in International Cooperation and Development in Barcelona and now considers himself an ‘official’ immigrant, having experienced cleaning al fondo already clean houses and opening snappily wine bottles.  He also gives free Spanish classes to Filipino immigrants through Centro Filipino and like all immigrants he dreams of a better future.

Nats in London

NATHANIEL SISMA VILLALUNA

Nats finished Management Accountancy at the University of St. La Salle Bacolod. Then he studied a Master in International Sectorial Economics  at the University of Santiago de Compostela and currently taking another Master in International Cooperation at the University of Barcelona. He loves writing, watching movies, learning languages, reading travel books and traveling.  He is also an active volunteer of Centro Filipino-Tuluyan San Benito Barcelona.

AODH MATTHEW VISITACIÓN PATRIMONIO

Aodh in Barcelona

Aodh is a physician by profession and used to work as a clinical pathologist in Manila being a diplomate of the Philippine Society of Pathologists. He obtained a grant from the Spanish government to study at the Universitat de Barcelona Facultat de Medicina Departament de Microbiologia i Parasitologia Sanitària. He studied Spanish and Catalan in the course of the grant and subsequently French and German and developed a passion for languages. He taught English, Spanish and Catalan as private classes and now does freelance job while awaiting the result of Homologación (Accreditation) of his diploma and academic degrees from the Ministerio de Educación to be able to enter into residency and dissertation program.

 

JUAN P. VEGEZZI

Juan in Madrid

Juan P. Vegezzi has a degree in Journalism and has a master in Radio and Television. He worked as a Scriptwriter at various TV stations in Spain such as TVE, Antena 3, Telemadrid and Tele 5. He was the editor in chief of the magazine AireLibre and has also collaborated with various publications. In 1995, he was hired as external consultant by Instituto Cervantes de Manila. Since then he has been involved in the Filipino community in Spain and has published various articles about the Philippines, which he also visits frequently.

JOY REBANAL-LAYGO

Joy in Barcelona

Joy Rebanal-Laygo, studied at the University of the Philippines Diliman (Theater Arts). Born dreamer, hopeless romantic, opinionated, and with a great sense of humor but above all, a loving mother of two wonderful children and a faithful wife to a faithful husband.