The Council’s history is a story of families building something meant to last: a place to preserve culture, strengthen friendship, serve the community, and prepare future generations to lead.
Our Beginning
The Filipino-American Association of Mississippi Gulf Coast was established in 1979 by approximately twenty Filipino-American families. From the beginning, it was shaped as a charitable, cultural, social, civic, and nonprofit association devoted to community connection and service.
The association’s charter was approved on December 11, 1980, and its existence was established as perpetual. That foundation gave the community something durable—an organization created not only for its founders, but for the generations that would follow.
The Council Today
Today, the organization continues as The Filipino-American Council of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, also known as Fil-Am. Its bylaws describe a Mississippi Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation organized for charitable and educational purposes.
The current name reflects a broad community role while carrying forward the original association’s commitment to heritage, service, fellowship, and education.
A Living Legacy
Across the decades, members have sustained the organization through cultural celebrations, civic participation, charitable work, fellowship, and volunteer service. The archive is still growing, and many important stories remain in family albums, personal memories, event programs, and photographs.
Preserving those stories is part of the Council’s responsibility to future generations.
Past and Present Presidents
The following leaders are preserved in the organization’s historical record. A complete term-by-term chronology is still being reconstructed.
- Armando Bautista — founding president, 1979
- Bob Guerrero
- Ben Acosta
- Nestor Lista
- Michael Rauen
- Obie Oblipias
- Rudy Rafada
- Freddie Lacap — served twice
- Ed Jacuillo
- Ed Santiago
- Bal Aguila
- Jerry Palang — served twice
- Edgar Suarez
- Ed Schultz
- Maria Delos Santos
- Gordon Culpepper
- Virgilio Peredo — served twice
- Majelen “Coco” Pitcher — 2023–2024
- Gordon Culpepper — 2024–2026
Each leader represents a chapter in a longer community story shaped by members, officers, directors, volunteers, families, and friends.
Help Preserve the Record
The Council welcomes historical materials that can deepen this archive, including:
- Photographs from early gatherings and anniversaries
- Founding family stories
- Past officer and board rosters
- Scholarship and youth-program milestones
- Cultural event programs and flyers
- Community service records
- Newspaper clippings, documents, and personal recollections
Have a story, photograph, or memory that belongs in the archive? Contact the Council.
Maraming salamat po. Mabuhay!