Alex Cabagnot

Alex Cabagnot, embattled professional basketball player, is currently signed with the Philippine
Basketball Association’s Sta. Lucia Realtors. The young point guard, although born in the
Philippines, spent his adolescent and young adult years in Los Angeles, stirring up some
controversy surrounding the All-Filipino requirement to play for the Realtors. That aside,
contract disputes and an untimely suspension of Cabagnot made both the team and player
aware of the advantages of staying together, and Cabagnot is back in the backcourt for the
Realtors.

Cabagnot was born in Quezon City, Pilippines, on December 12, 1982.Although he spent most
of his youth in the Philippines, he moved to Los Angeles for high school and college. As a
member of the Eagle Rock High School basketball team in Los Angeles, he earned four letters in
basketball, was all-Northern League Conference pick three times, voted the league’s MVP
twice, and won other honors as well.

At Los Angeles Valley College, Cabagnot distinguished himself with honors and recognition, not
the least of which winning the Western State Conference League Iron Man award—twice.
During his stay at college, he led his team in several areas, and helped them win conference
championships as well.In 2005, the Philippine Basketball Association’s team Sta. Lucia Realtors
drafted Alex Cabagnot. Although the team finished seventh in qualification play for the
Philippine Cup that year, he had a consistently good record.

In the 2006 offseason, however, the Realtors and Cabagnot had a falling out. Cabagnot was
displeased with his contract, and there was an issue with the Realtors’ pure Filipino policy.
Cabagnot, although born in the Philippines, spent his high school and college life in the United
States, and it seemed his national blood-bond may have been questioned. He left the
Philippines, didn’t return for a team meeting, and didn’t contact them. Eventually they
suspended him indefinitely, and he was in danger of being banned from the PBA.

Fortunately, Alex Cabagnot and the Sta. Lucia Realtors found a way to mend fences and he is
back in the lineup and once again strengthening the Sta. Lucia roster.
 

Jason Ignacio

When Jason Ignacio attended the 24th Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards, the highest distinction
given by the District of Columbia to individual artists, organizations, and patrons of the arts, he
did so without any expectations.

Jason is known in the nation’s capital as the Filipino ballet dancer and choreographer, and yes,
the outstanding emerging artist, too.

Jason began his dance training at the age

of 12 in Manila, Philippines. He trained
at Ballet Philippines, Philippine Ballet
Theater, Steps Dance Studio, and was
a member of Earth Savers Dreams
Ensemble for five years. In 2001, Ignacio
continued his dance training in New
York City with a scholarship at Ballet
Hispanico. He was a fellowship student
at The Ailey School and toured nationally
with the Martha Graham Ensemble.
He has performed with the Daniel
Gwirtzman Dance Company, Diversity
of Dance, Cortez and Co., Connecticut
Ballet, Zig-Zag Ballet, American
Repertory Ballet, Verb Ballets, and was
an apprentice for Bill T. Jones/Arnie
Zane Dance Company.
 Dr. Baldomero M. Olivera

Dr. Baldomero M. Olivera - Distinguished Professor at University of Utah. His group made a
breakthrough discovery of a family of biomolecules they collectively calledconotoxins from
Conus sp. marine snails (Cone shells) collected in tropical waters of the Philippines. These
biomolecules are widely used in neuroscience research today in the study of ion channels and
neuro-muscular synapses. The group's research effort,. (the research group has Dr. Lourdes J.
Cruz who has appointments in Utah and the University of the Philippines and SCF's long time
reader, lurker and sometimes poster Dr. Fe. C. Abogadie as members among others) was
prominently featured in and was on the cover of Science (Conus markings) in 1990, (along with
a glowing feature on Dr. Olivera and the importance of his discovery) and the EMBO Journal
(European Molecular Biology Organization) also in 1990.

Sources: Science EMBO Journal

Dr. Olivera graduated summa cum laude graduate from the Univesity of the Philippines in 1960.
He took his PhD from the California Institute of Technology (1966) in Chemistry, a research
fellowship at the CIT and postdoctoral work at Stanford University School of Medicine was a
fellow of the Damon Runyon Research Fund, Dept. of Biochemistry from 1966-1968. He
returned to the Philippines to become a research associate professor of Biochemistry at the
University of the Philippines College of Medicine before coming back to the U.S. to take up a
position as a visiting research associate professor at Kansas State University. He then became
an associate professor at the University of Utah in 1970, a professor at the same university in
1973 and has held the title of Distinguished Professor of Biology since 1992. Dr. Olivera has over
158publications on the different classes of Conus sp. toxins.
 Filipino Achievers
in Arts, Sports
and Science:
Awards ad Story of their Life