Unity for Progress in the Filipino Community

The launch of UniPro San Diego brought out the support of several groups from the community

Their previous summits have drawn attendees from across the globe and have progressive themes from “Building Bridges” - Locally, regionally and globally, “Renaissance” - The awakening of the individual Pilipino’s earnest passions and aspirations. “Rise” - to move from a lower to a higher position, move upward, ascend, to last year’s “Your Move” challenging attendees to fi nd themselves in, and move their community forward. Founded in 2009, UniPro (Pilipino American Unity for Progress) is a non-profi t 501c3 by Steven Raga in New York City which aims to facilitate and encourage cooperation through coalition development among Filipino organizations, institutions and programs. “It’s a great time to start UniPro. In my position I’ve never seen the community this well organized and united. I think UniPro is in good position to unify especially the emerging leaders in San Diego and It’s very important to my position because one of my roles is to help promote unity. To have an organization like UniPro assist in that regard will be great for the community. “ Stated Honorary Consulate General, Audie De Castro when asked about UniPro’s presence in San Diego. San Diego’s staff consists of President Romyn Sabatchi, Vice President Alicia Ricafrente, Director of Community Relations Anthony DeGuzman, Brandon Cerezo High School Liason. They are supported by staff members Julius Alejandro and Alyssa DeGuzman. Their educational backgrounds range from political science to sociology, sectors range from real estate to non-profi t and altogether have combined decades of experience volunteering and working in the Filipino community. There were several community cornerstones in attendance which shows UniPro’s ability to draw support and encourage teamwork among groups including Honorary Consulate General - Audie DeCastro, Rey Monzon, Dr.Aurora Cudal, Secretary to the House of the Philippines - Joanne Rullan, Registrar of Voters - Jr Amor, Vice President of UniPro Noel Aglubat. Community organizations represented by their staff and members included FilAmFest, AB Samahan, Pagkakaisa, PAYO, Salayan, KAMP, Operation Samahan, Copao, and NaFFAA. The main prompt for the evening was “What does community mean to you?” After breaking out into discussion, groups came to several conclusions in identifying the needs of the Filipino community. Some of the concerns included: Creating visibility, which includes the lack of political voting power and participation of the Filipino people. A participant stated that altogether we “either lack communication, have miscommunication or don’t have communication at all”. Another stated that at times we are “competitors instead of collaborators” which has proven true in the past when members of an organization fail to see eye to eye and end up leaving to start their own chapter or group. When asked about expectations for San Diego, Noel Aglubat, Vice President of UniPro stated “They want to focus on professional development, aligning their passion and interest with the community so I just want them to build a foundation here for what they think is needed in San diego, because each community is different” UniPro plans to have a monthly discussion centering on one issue per meeting all of which are open to the public. They can be reached on their website www.unipronow.org, e-mail sandiego@unipro.com and Facebook. com/UniProNow Expectations for the organization are high per Audie De Castro: “I would like to see UniPro develop leaders for the future and help build our legacy as a community and to also address issues that we haven’t addressed before. In the past what i’ve seen is issues especially with the younger Fil-Ams, don’t always get addressed and this is a great vehicle for that.” Are there other needs that were not covered by the community? Are there any concerns that UniPro should look into? Is there more we can do? Let’s talk ErnieS@TheFilipinoPress.com