User:The FILOsopher/sandbox

WHO IS RADO GATCHALIAN?

Rado Gatchalian is an active Filipino community leader in Australia. Nation-building is at the core of his passion, projects, and movements. Rado marries his background in Philosophy and Psychology and his previous career in Education, Community Outreach Program, and Counselling to promote a stronger love for the country and to call to action his fellow Filipinos for nation-building. His love for the Arts is evidenced through his poems, essays, music and photography that continually inspire budding artists not only in Australia but across the globe.

In 2019, Rado was the Vice-President External of the Philippine Community Council of New South Wales. Currently, he is the President of the One Pangasinan Association of Australia, VP External of Tagalog Association of Australia, and the Deputy Area Commander of Eastern Australia - KOR ANZO Region and the Archivist of the Order of the Knights of Rizal, Northern Sydney Chapter. He is a columnist of the Philippine Community Herald Newspaper and a regular contributor to the Bayanihan News and the Philippine Times in Australia. He has published articles in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a leading newspaper in the Philippines. He has recently joined Radio Tagumpay as a co-host.

As a blogger and social media influencer, he maintains Facebook social pages promoting poetry and Filipino culture and values namely TulaMusika, TuLarawan, Poetography, Let’s Read Project, Tula’t Panulat Para Kay Rizal, and The FILOsopher. He has interviewed some personalities such as the late F. Sionil Jose, National Artist for Literature, Pilita Corrales, Asia’s Queen of Songs, and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, formerly the Speaker of the Upper and Lower Houses.

In February 2019, Rado was given a special commendation award by the Urdaneta City University, Pangasinan, Philippines for his literacy advocacy and philanthropy. In April 2019, together with other OFW leaders from different countries, Rado had a special audience with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte held at the Malacañang Palace.

Recently on 19 July 2022 he was invited as one of the panel members, together with other noted academicians with PhDs based in the Philippines and Australia, via webinar of the University of Sydney’s Sydney Southeast Asia Centre’s Roundtable on the 2022 Philippine Presidential Election.

He was dubbed as a “modern commentator” by Philip Bowring in his book, The Making of the Modern Philippines. Rado continues to focus his poems, essays, speeches, talks and content creation in social media to shine more light on the works and life of Dr. Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines.