10 World-Class Filipinos our Kids can Look up to

Today is the 114th anniversary of Philippine Independence, and we take this opportunity to take a look at Filipinos who have made a name and a reputation for themselves worldwide with their achievements. Whether it’s the arts, sports, performance or business, these individuals from the Pearl of the Orient Seas have distinguished themselves internationally and show that Filipinos can indeed stand tall and shake the heavens. Here’s to hoping that someday our kids can aspire to reach these heights as well.

Fernando Amorsolo

Photo from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Amorsolo

One of the most important painters in the Philippines, Amorsolo was known for his vibrant, idyllic scenes of country life and for the use of light in his artworks. A prolific artist, he is known to have illustrated over 10,000 sketches and paintings, utilizing natural light and backlighting techniques to create an ethereal glow for his subjects. Although Amorsolo died in 1972, the world has recently begun to take notice of his genius – in recent auctions held at Christies, a painting of his fetched a princely sum of $440,000 (P19M), making it one of the highest sums ever paid for a Filipino painter’s work. His pieces have been appreciating in the international art market as previous auctions have seen sales of $100,000 to $374,000 for his other works.

Tony Tan Caktiong

Photo from http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/86/philippines-billionaires-09_Tony-Tan-Caktiong_7TXY.html

Not too many people are familiar with this boyish, bespectacled Filipino-Chinese entrepreneur but there is no doubt that you have probably heard of the brand he founded - Jollibee. The Jollibee franchise has over 745 restaurants in the Philippines and 78 other branches worldwide employing more than 29,000 workers. In addition, Caktiong’s fast food empire also consists of other well-known restaurants such as Greenwich Pizza, Red Ribbon Bakeshop, Chowking and Mang Inasal. To date, Jollibee Foods Corporation has an annual income of over $73M and Caktiong himself ranked number 11 in a July 2011 Forbes magazine poll for the top 40 richest Filipinos, with an estimated net worth of over $1B. Not bad for a guy who started with an ice cream parlor in 1978.

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Dean Devlin

Photo from http://cliqueclack.com/tv/2009/01/08/dean-devlin-creator-of-leverage-cliqueclack-interview/

Devlin has an interesting pedigree. His father Don was also a producer and his mother was Filipina entertainer Pilar Seurat, an actress from the 1950s-1960s whose television credits include Star Trek, The Fugitive, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Hawaii Five-O and Bonanza. The young screenwriter/producer/director found himself penning the first Universal Soldier movie for sci-fi director Roland Emmerich. Later on, they collaborated on the Kurt Russell movie Stargate, following it up with blockbuster alien invasion flick Independence Day (with Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum in the cast), Godzilla (alongside Matthew Broderick and Jean Reno) and The Patriot (with Mel Gibson back when he was still sane). Currently, Devlin directs episodes for Timothy Hutton’s action/drama series, Leverage.

Gabriel Elorde

Photo from http://www.undergroundhit.com/ebg/ebg_flash.html

Although the name Manny Pacquiao is a household word now, it was Gabriel “Flash” Elorde who put the Philippines on the map in the boxing scene. Elorde is considered one of the greatest boxers of all time – until now, he still holds the longest record for the junior flyweight division and was a world super featherweight champion. He was the first Filipino boxer who gained international acclaim in forty years, since Francisco “Pancho Villa” Guilledo won the World Flyweight Championship in 1923. Elorde retired with a record of 88 wins (33 KOs), 27 losses and 2 draws. Although he passed away in 1985 from lung failure, he was posthumously honored in 1993 when he became the first Asian inducted into the New York-based International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

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Jessica Hagedorn

Photo from http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/hagedorn/hagedorn.htm

Celebrated author, poet and playwright Jessica Hagedorn has been writing since the early 1970s. Her first play, Mango Tango, was produced by theater legend Joseph Papp in 1978. Since then, she has focused on reflecting the emotions, relationships and travails of migrant Filipinos through her novels such as Pet Food & Tropical Apparitions, Dangerous Music, Dogeaters, Danger and Beauty, Charlie Chan is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction, The Gangster of Love, Burning Heart: A Portrait of the Philippines (with Marissa Roth) and Dream Jungle. Dogeaters won an American Book Award in 1990 and has been adapted for stage by Hagedorn herself, premiering in La Jolla, California on September 8, 1998.

Robert Lopez

Photo from http://www.ny1.com/content/features/one_on_1/147894/one-on-1--composer-robert-lopez-creates-hilarious-masterpieces-on-broadway

Lyricist and composer Robert Lopez got his big break in 1999 when he and his partner Jeff Marx put together a raunchy, catchy adult parody of Sesame Street called Avenue Q. This musical eventually hit Broadway, traveled the world to be staged internationally and won three Tony Awards, including Best Original Score, a feather in the cap of this creative duo. Lopez went on to team up with South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker to pen the lyrics for a musical comedy about Mormons who travel to Uganda to profess their faith to the Africans there. The Book of Mormon has since won a staggering ten Tony awards in 2011 and is currently one of the most talked-about Broadway plays this year. He and his wife Kristen also wrote six songs for the Winnie the Pooh movie.

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Rex Navarette

Photo from http://www.myspace.com/jcferrer

Standup comic Rex Navarette got his start in 1989 plying his trade at the campus circuit, performing in over two-dozen colleges and universities. He has since recorded his comedy audio CDs Badly Browned, Husky Boy and Bastos, poking fun at the idiosyncrasies of Philippine culture as it relates to living in the U.S. One of his skits, Maritess and the Superfriends, brought more local recognition when it was made into an animated short and has spread virally across the internet. Since then, Navarette has performed to audiences in Geneva, Hong Kong, Manila, Montreal, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, and Sydney. He also has DVDs of his shows such as Hella Pinoy, Bad-ass Madapaka and Komik Organik: The Comedy of Rex Navarrete.

Monique Lhuillier

Photo from http://specials.sunstar.com.ph/celebrity/2009/05/17/monique-lhuillier/

This comely Cebuana lived in the Philippines until she turned 15, and then moved to Switzerland. From there, the Lausanne-educated Lhuillier pursued a degree in design at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. After setting up a couture fashion shop in her new home, she noticed a market opportunity for high fashion bridal options. She launched her first collection in 1996 to the accolades of fashion critics and buyers. Since then, her gowns made their way onto the Hollywood Red Carpet scene. Lhuillier counts sirens such as Jennifer Lopez, Hilary Swank, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Carrie Underwood, Reese Witherspoon, Shannen Doherty, Drew Barrymore, Taylor Swift, Kim Yoo-Jin, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Kristen Stewart amongst her many esteemed clients.

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Arnel Pineda

Photo from http://arnelpineda.ning.com/forum/topics/arnel-pineda-insights-about-1

Pineda’s success story is that of an overnight sensation that actually took three decades to realize. When he was thirteen, his mother died and her medical bills forced Pineda to live a hand-to-mouth existence until he became a vocalist for his first band two years later. Decades of playing in bars and clubs got him noticed by local recording companies, eventually leading to a career fronting cover bands locally and in Hong Kong. One such cover band, Zoo, got him the break he needed. Zoo had Youtube clips of cover songs from legendary rock band Journey, which got noticed by Journey’s lead guitarist and founding member Neal Schon, who in turn, signed up Pineda. He has since been recording and touring with the band. Journey’s 2008 tour was their highest grossing yet, topping $35M.

Tony de Zuñiga

Photo from http://ghettomanga.blogspot.com/2012/05/rip-tony-dezuniga-co-creator-of-jonah.html

The international comic book community lost a luminary on May 11, 2012 when Tony de Zuniga succumbed to a stroke. This puissant visionary and skilled artist co-created the disfigured gunfighter Jonah Hex (who was later made into a movie in 2010 with Josh Brolin and Megan Fox) and over the past 63 years of his life was dedicated to his art form. He illustrated various characters such as the X-Men, Spider-Man, Punisher, Iron Man, Thor, Conan the Barbarian and Batman for both Marvel and DC Comics, working as well with videogame giant Sega as a conceptual designer. He was also responsible for recruiting other fellow Filipinos into the comic book industry such as Nestor Redondo, Alex Niño, Gerry Talaoc and Alfredo Alcala.