" I arrived in America in 1968, I was a pioneer, the first in my family to leave the Philippines in search of opportunity. I was recruited by Boeing in Seattle, WA, and was on the team that designed and built the wing flaps on the legendary 747.

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I met my lovely wife Cora Dychangco in Vancouver Canada and got married in December 1969 in Los Angeles. Our only son Arnold was born in October 1971. On a sunny, spring day in March 1976, Cora, Arnold and I moved into our new Valencia home and began living our American dream. 
 

In the late 70s, seeing other Filipinos in the Santa Clarita Valley was a rarity, but things started to change slowly. As more Filipinos started arriving in the early 80s, I and a group of other like-minded folks saw the need to form a social network that would unite the Filipino American community.

I was one of several founding members of the Filipino-American Association of Santa Clarita Valley and helped develop, ratify, and execute the original bylaws of the association. I served on the board from 1984–87 and was elected President in 1986.  I am still actively involved with FilAm of SCV activities and has been elected advisor to the board for several years.

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I graduated from Cebu Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.  I am a registered Professional Mechanical Engineer in the State of California.  I am one of the principals of California Engineering Design Group, Inc., a consulting mechanical engineering firm serving the building industry. Cora is a retired executive secretary. My son Arnold works as a web developer at a non-profit organization in Berkeley, CA, and lives in Torrance with his wife Christel Okihara.