About Phil-UK

Phil-UK started off as a group of second-generation Filipinos living in Britain who came together to make sense of our place in British and Filipino society. We met in real life to start projects that got us involved in our community. Most of us were University students or young professionals in finance, law, media, and technology.

As with any group of young people, we wanted change things. Our goal was to improve the perception that first-generation Filipinos and non-Filipinos have of us as a segment in British society. We were very active in the early part of this decade but other priorities in life took over. The original members of the group are now spread out all over the world.

Phil-UK continues as a site that's updated on a semi-regular basis by Anthony Lopez-Vito.

How Phil-UK started

Phil-UK's founders first met each other in 2000 during the ARC (Awareness, Respect and Co-operation) meetings held by the former Philippine Ambassador Cesar Bautista. One of the main points highlighted was the need to increase the visibility of the Filipino Community in the UK, so we joined together to create Phil-UK.

The founders of Phil-UK were:

  • Alexis Aquino
  • Anthony Lopez-Vito
  • Carmelo Macasaddu
  • Fe Abogadie
  • Rachiel de Chavez
  • Roann Tubalinal

About the Filipinos in the UK

Filipinos began to emigrate from the Philippines around the early 70's to fill a skills gap in the UK. Usually driven by the need to support family left behind, many of the first-generation often worked long and unsociable hours. Their labour was perhaps made bearable by plans to build enough wealth to return to their families.

Eventually, a second-generation of Filipinos began to appear - our generation. Some of us were born in the UK; others were brought over from the Philippines. However, as our parents focused on meeting economic needs, our social and cultural needs tended to be neglected.

The second-generation of Filipinos in the UK have no voice in Britain; our parents have been silent for too long. What is our contribution to British society? What do we know of our history and how do we pass on our heritage? Did our parents sacrifice too much when they left the Philippines? These are the questions we ask ourselves.