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PinoyBuilt
Stories of Filipino America. Culture, diaspora, history, and identity — from the community, for the community.
More than 118 years after the first Sakadas landed in Honolulu, Filipino Americans are borrowing a Hawaiian word to describe their most Filipino value. What does that say about who we are — and what we may have forgotten?
From a GMA fantasy drama to a pambansang anthem: how one OPM song became the gateway for Filipino Americans rediscovering their roots—and what the word tadhana reveals about our deepest values.
How an archaic Tagalog phrase meaning "may the visions of your heart come to pass" survived colonialism, powered a beloved 90s TV show, and is now reclaiming Filipino identity — one tattoo, one graduation caption, and one whispered prayer at a time.
What Filipino-American Students Need to Know Berkeley is not a "reach" — it is a fortress. But for Filipino-American students, the story of Cal starts in 1969, with a strike that changed American higher education forever.
A community profile of a Fil-Am martial artist ensuring that the Filipino presence in Vallejo—one of the oldest in Northern California—is documented, honored, and passed on.
Vicente Manansala's 1950 masterpiece reimagined the sacred Madonna as a Brown Filipino mother in the wreckage of post-war Manila.
The Filipino phrase for 'Every path.'
Why every Fil-Am family must keep Filipino alive
Fil-Am student life in the Central Valley
Orange County's Fil-Am campus pipeline
Santa Cruz's growing Fil-Am community
Keeper of Vallejo's Filipino memory
Photo essay: Hogan '85, Stockton
Vallejo's Filipino memory keeper
Photo essay by J.F.R. Perseveranda
What the U.S.-Iran ceasefire means for OFWs
The balikbayan guide every Fil-Am needs in 2026
The valor was never repaid
The betrayal that shaped the Philippines
Indian Wells 2026 historic run recap
Dispatches Linette in straight sets
History, community, and the NYC diaspora — the definitive guide.
From Stockton to Daly City — the heart of Fil-Am life.
J.F.R. Perseveranda
Founder · Publisher · Editor-in-Chief
J.F. (Jonjo) left the Philippines at age nine, spending a lifetime bridging the gap between his Marikina roots and his Chicago/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.
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4.6 million Filipinos in the U.S. One platform telling our stories. Salamat, kababayan.
- UC Berkeley Received 133,211 Applications for Fall 2026 — What Filipino-American Students Need to KnowApril 2026
- 2.4 Million Filipinos in the Crossfire: What the U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Means for OFWs and the DiasporaApril 2026
- Kagitingan: 84 Years After Bataan, the Valor Was Never RepaidApril 2026
- Learn Filipino: Finding Your Tahanan Through 'Bawat Daan' by Ebe DancelApril 2026
- Language Is Identity: Why Every Fil-Am Family Must Keep Filipino AliveApril 2026
- Edu Manzano's Viral Travel Challenge and the Balikbayan Guide Every Fil-Am Needs in 2026April 2026
