The ‘Makilala’ Corner with Rachelle Ocampo-03

 The ‘Makilala’ Corner with Rachelle Ocampo

What do you want to be when you grow up?” That is a question each of us has been asked since we were little kids and has been programmed to go into secure, high-paying, and traditional fields like Medicine, Engineering, Accounting, or Law or as UniPro Blogger, Kristina Rodulfo coined as a “M.E.A.L.” path. I immediately took the Medicine track thinking that I wanted to ‘help people’, but I realized after 8+ years of community service and organizing, that there are other ways to ‘help people’ outside of writing prescriptions and fixing broken bones. I never imagined myself to be where I am now – a Community Service Leader, a Public Health Advocate, and a lead Co-Host for Makilala TV, the first FilAm TV Talk Show in the NY Metropolitan area. “Makilala” translates into “get to know” in Tagalog, and aims to raise the Filipino American voice by highlighting empowering community leaders, innovators and emerging artists in our community and beyond.

Who are we? Makilala TV is not your ordinary television talk show since we purposely chose to only feature Fil-Am women as our guest co-hosts to give Fil-Am women a platform to share their experiences. My lead co-hosts Cristina Pastor and Jen Furer, Executive Producer, Maricor Fernandez and I have unique perspectives on each topic, but we all share the same vision of raising the FilAm voice. As strong-willed and passionate Filipinas in our respective fields, we wanted more than just Facebook to voice our opinions, and this was our way to make a difference in the community by raising relevant and thought-provoking topics like shedding light on transgender issues, importance of civic engagement, featuring women in business, and Filipinos in politics.

Behind the Scenes: Our February episode featured two Young Fil-Ams in Public Service- NJ Councilman Peter Mendonez Jr. and White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Senior Advisor Jason Benjamin Alinea Tengco. Peter was first groomed to be in his position as a community organizer and Jason started as a Fellow for Asian Pacific American Institute of Congressional Studies. Behind the scenes, Jen raised a question of bipartisanship efforts in Washington and claims that nothing really happens when politicians campaigns for bi-partisan efforts. Councilman Peter believes that all politics is local and shared a specific example of bipartisanship when he and NJ Councilman Rolando Lavarro, a liberal Democrat, joined together to coordinate Filipino American History Month- New Jersey (FAHM-NJ). There should be more push for collaborative efforts such as bipartisanship initiatives. According to the 2013 Asian American Federation Census, there are approximately 85,000 Filipino Americans who predominantly reside in Queens (56.4%), and comprises the 4th largest minority among all Asian Americans in NYC. Just imagine if all Fil-Ams in NYC came together and advocated for increasing voter registration and turnout. Our voice would be respected and taken seriously when we ask our politicians and public servants to push for issues that matter to us. Whether it is Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), student loan forgiveness, or equity for all- our voices as Fil-Ams must be heard.

Makilala Ka: What issue do you think all FilAms should stand behind as a whole community? Reply to us on Twitter @MakilalaTV

Alam Mo Ba? Makilala TV ladies learned about the term in politics called “RINO” (Republican In Name Only) who NJ Councilman Peter Mendonez Jr. described himself as.

Want to be featured as one of our sponsors? Email us at info@makilalatv.com

Check us out at Makilalatv.com / Like us at fb.com/makilalatv / Follow us at @MakilalaTV or our FULL Episodes on youtube.com/user/MakilalaTV/

When do we air on TV?

Queens Public TV Time Warner Cablecast Schedule:

• 2^nd Friday of every month- 10:30 pm, Channel 79, Time Warner
• 2^nd Saturday of every month 1:00 pm, Channel 34, Time Warner
• RCN 82, 83, 84, 85; Verizon Fios 34, 35, 36, 37

Rachelle Peraz Ocampo, is a lead Co-Host for Makilala TV, a Project Director for NYU Langone Medical Center’s Community Service Plan, a Board Member of Pilipino American Unity for Progress (UniPro) and Roots of Health (Ugat ng Kalusugan), and Co-Director of External Affairs for Filipino American Young Leaders Program (FYLPro).  She is also a Groupon addict who enjoys red wine, roses, and truffle parmesan fries. @RockyRach16