Jose V. Fuentecilla

Born in Manila, the Philippines in 1938, Jose "Pete" Fuentecilla completed his B.A. degree in Journalism from Ateneo de Manila, a Jesuit university. A 50-year career followed in communications -- advertising, public relations, publishing -- before he retired in 2010. His writing duties involved worldwide travel, including six years as an information specialist for a civic action and medical aid program in Laos in the 1960s. The latter assignment resulted in a book, "Filipinos In Laos", co-authored and published in 2004 which he is updating for its second edition.

He immigrated to the USA in 1968 to complete a masters degree in communications at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana campus). Shortly he joined a U.S.-based group of Filipinos lobbying against the martial law regime of Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos. This 14-year experience is memorialized in "Fighting From A Distance: How Filipino Exiles Helped Topple A Dictator."

Pete has been living in New York City with his wife. They have three grown-up sons.