“If you care about your community, you owe it to your sisters and brothers, their children, your elders, to somehow help clarify what seems like a confusing situation because they're bombarded with social media, what you see on TV, all of these images and all of this commentary.”
- Jon Melegrito
Jon Melegrito
Biography
Jon Melegrito is the Executive Secretary of the Filipino Veterans Recognition & Education Project (FilVetREP), a community-based, all volunteer national initiative whose mission is to raise awareness about the service of Filipino World War II veteran. A son of a USAFFEE soldier who endured the Bataan Death March, he has been part of national efforts over the last three decades to obtain justice and recognition for Filipino veterans who fought under the American flag.
A community leader for many years, he was the Executive Director of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) when it was founded in 1997. NaFFAA’s mission is to promote community empowerment through advocacy and civic engagement.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Melegrito was actively involved in the Coalition Against the Marcos Dictatorship (CAMD), an opposition movement to restore democracy in the Phillippines.
Melegrito received his Masters Degree in Journalism and Public Affairs at American University. He is currently the Editor in Chief of Manila Mail, a community newspaper based in Washington DC. He writes for various publications, including Inquirer.Net, Positively Filipino, and Pinoy News Magazine.
After retiring from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in 2013, where he worked as a publications specialist, he spends his time volunteering for Meals on Wheels, doing advocacy work on behalf of the Filipino American community, and serving as adviser to the Philippine American Foundation for Charities.
Melegrito was born in Guimba, Nueva Ecija in the Philippines on January 19, 1944. He came to the U.S. in 1965 and finished his undergraduate degree in English at Central Methodist College in Fayette, MO.
Melegrito lives with his wife, Elvie, in Kensington, Maryland. They have one daughter (a music teacher) and two grand daughters.
Melegrito’s passions include gardening, singing in a church choir and playing the ukulele with friends.