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Home • 2026. PinoyBuilt — Stories of Filipino America. An independent Filipino-American publication and permanent archive of the diaspora. fil-am, filipino, filipino american, diaspora, pinoy, pinay, philippines, culture, history, decolonization, learn filipino, photo essays, kalusugan, uc admissions, alex eala, community.
Since 2011

PinoyBuilt

Stories of Filipino America. Culture, diaspora, history, and identity — from the community, for the community.

An independent, founder-led Filipino-American publication and a permanent archive of the diaspora. We publish today's stories and keep the ones that came before us.

PinoyBuilt — archival Filipino American family photographs, letters, and heirlooms arranged on a weathered wooden table in warm afternoon light
Ngayon · Now

Latest from PinoyBuilt

Every new story lands here.

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Noong Araw · On This Day

On This Day

From fifteen years of the PinoyBuilt archive — what we published, remembered, or marked on this date.

    Ang Arkibo · The Archive

    Our primary format. Weddings, reunions, protests, fiestas, and ordinary Tuesdays — Filipino American life told frame by frame, and kept.

    Photo Essays

    Documentary photography from the diaspora and the homeland, published as dated, permanent entries in the archive.

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    Ugat · Roots

    Where we come from, what was taken, and what we still carry. This is the spine everything else on the site leans against.

    Decolonization

    Reclaiming pre-colonial identity, language, and history — the throughline of everything PinoyBuilt publishes.

    Featured

    "Filipino" Wasn't Ours: How We Took the Word — and Why Some Want to Trade It for Maharlika

    The name we answer to was invented for a Spanish king. What we did with it, and what it would mean to put it down.
    More decolonization coverage →

    History

    Pre-colonial Philippines, the Philippine-American War, the manong generation, and the labor history that built two countries.

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    Learn Filipino

    Word studies built on OPM, regional languages, and grammar — for Fil-Ams reconnecting with the language of their lolo and lola. Language is identity.

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    Kapwa · Community

    The people and the places. Who is holding the diaspora up, and where in America we actually live.

    Community Profiles

    Organizers, veterans, artists, nurses, and neighbors — the people and organizations holding up Filipino America.

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    Explore by Region

    Filipino America, place by place. Each guide is a standing pillar page, not a news post.

    Filipino Americans in USA

    An estimated 4.6 million residents of Filipino descent — the third-largest Asian American group and the largest population of overseas Filipinos anywhere in the world.

    Filipino Americans in California

    1.7 million residents of Filipino descent — more than any other state, and more than any country outside the Philippines and the U.S. itself.

    Filipino Americans in Hawaii

    125,000 Sakadas built this state — from the SS Doric to the Hanapepe Massacre to the ILWU to Bruno Mars.

    Filipino Americans in Texas

    232,000 Filipino Americans and growing fast — now the third-largest home for Filipinos in the United States.

    Population figures are sourced and dated on each regional guide.

    Buhay · Life

    The practical lane: our health, our kids' schools, our papers. What Filipino American families actually need on a Tuesday.

    UC & U.S. Admissions

    Campus-by-campus guides for Fil-Am families navigating the UC system — application counts, deadlines, and the Filipino student organizations waiting on the other side.

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    Kalusugan

    Health through a Filipino American lens — diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, sleep apnea, and the conditions that hit our families hardest.

    Series pillar

    When the Bato Breaks: Diabetic Kidney Disease and the Filipino-American Silent Crisis

    The first piece in the Kalusugan series — diabetes, blood pressure, and the kidney disease that follows them through Filipino American families.
    Series in progress Kalusugan is a deliberately slow lane — each piece is reported and sourced before it publishes rather than posted on a schedule. Sleep apnea is next.
    More Kalusugan →

    Immigration & OFW

    Policy and lived reality for OFWs, balikbayans, petitioners, and the families waiting on both ends of a case number.

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    More immigration coverage →
    Kultura · Culture & Sport

    Global Filipino excellence — on the charts, on the screen, and on the court.

    Entertainment & Culture

    BINI, H.E.R., Bruno Mars, OPM, Philippine mythology on screen, and what it means when the world finally looks.

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    Tennis

    Alex Eala's tour arc and the Filipina athletes following her — every match, every ranking, every round.

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    More tennis coverage →
    Sino Kami · Who Built This
    J.F.R. Perseveranda, founder of PinoyBuilt
    Founder · Publisher · Editor-in-Chief

    J.F.R. Perseveranda

    J.F. (Jonjo) left the Philippines at age nine, spending a lifetime bridging the gap between his Marikina roots and his Chicago and Vallejo upbringing. A proud Hogan Spartan from East Vallejo, he founded PinoyBuilt not just as a digital archive, but as a cultural compass for his three children to navigate their heritage, language, and identity with Pinoy pride.

    Read the full story: About PinoyBuilt →
    Join the PinoyBuilt community: Facebook Instagram X TikTok Community Talk Shop

    Recently Published

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    4.6 million Filipinos in the U.S. One platform telling our stories. Salamat, kababayan.

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