PAMILYAS

Pamilyas are a great way for individuals to connect with other members of UHFSA. Each pamilya is headed by an officer, alongside another Ate (older sister) and Kuya (older brother); the members of each pamilya are the Ates’ and Kuyas’ adings (younger siblings). Here, you can see the most recent pamilya photos in our archives (from 2019 onwards)!

Pamilya means “family” in Tagalog.

Here at UHSFA, each pamilya is named after someone who greatly influenced the organization and the people in it!

Pamilya Carandang

Filipino Pronunciation: ka-RUN-DUNG

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Cara Delacruz, Ate Angela Tungpalan, Kuya Ruel Cabading, Kuya Jacob Nguyen

Legacy: Ella Carandang served as President (2021-2022) and as Secretary (2020-2021) while performing with the Modern dance team from 2019-2021. She represented determination and perfectionism through her extremely challenging presidential term. As President, she rebuilt UHFSA from the ground up to achieve new heights despite coming out of a year of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She pushed UHFSA to achieve its most successful state all while hosting and eventually winning GoodPhil 2022. Carandang is one of the few pre-colonial last names of the Philippines, which Ella inherited from her dad who passed away when she was eight years old. She takes inspiration from her mom, who never gave up on raising Ella and her siblings as a single mom. With her mom’s unconditional support, Ella achieved her aspiration of hosting GoodPhil and becoming one of the most influential UHFSA presidents, despite how much the pandemic set the org back.

Pamilya Cava

Filipino Pronunciation: KA-buh

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Arrieanna Porras, Ate Rosa Perez-Negron, Kuya Alex Tomita, Kuya Anthony Hoang

Legacy: Named after Tara Cava who was a Vice President for two years and went on to become Co-President and Co-Senior Advisor afterwards. She participated in both basketball and flag football for GoodPhil and coached volleyball. She also helped create our Pamilya system! This is one of the original five pamilyas of UHFSA.

Pamilya Dalisay

Filipino Pronunciation: duh-LEE-sigh

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Kuya Nilo Picar, Kuya Rithik Jameel, Ate Tegan Le, Ate Kaitlyn Ly

Legacy: Alyssa Dalisay joined UHFSA in Fall 2016. She was Media Chair from 2018-2019 and was Vice President from 2019-2020. Throughout her years in the organization, she was active in Media Team, Modern, and Cultural. She joined Spirit after the tradition of an all-male Spirit team was broken, making her one of the first girls in UHFSA history to have ever been a part of all three dance teams. Alyssa has gone above and beyond in showing support for the organization, especially as an alumni. You’ll most definitely bump into her if you’re ever visiting Soundbox Studios, so make sure to say hello!

Pamilya Dinamling

Filipino Pronunciation: dee-NUM-ling

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Dezra Daduya, Ate Reina Dacones, Kuya Timothy Malit, Kuya Chrisna Som

Legacy: Named after Jun Dinamling, a notable dancer who directed Modern for five consecutive years and directed one of the most iconic UHFSA Modern sets: the GoodPhil 2017 Houston set. He went on to direct a dance team out of Soundbox Dance Studios, Galing. He had majored in Radiology and is currently a radiologist.

Pamilya Escudero

Filipino Pronunciation: es-koo-DEH-rroh

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Sandy Nguyen, Ate Julia Villegas, Kuya Raphael Martinez, Kuya Andrew Huynh

Legacy: Mark Daniel Escudero started off in UHFSA in 2018 as a dancer in Cultural and Spirit. The following year, he made Modern and became one of the few members to do all three dance teams for what would unfortunately be a cancelled GoodPhil due to COVID-19. Returning from the pandemic, Mark would step in to a bigger role as a leader, becoming a Direktor for Dilaab and being elected Secretary during UH’s host year of GoodPhil 2022. During his time as Secretary, Mark once again danced on all three teams, introduced the QR code attendance system, and became an organizer of UHRDK to promote the next generation of dancers. To cap off his FSA career in 2023, Mark was Vice President, directed Spirit, and graduated with a BS in computer engineering. Today, Mark works as a computer engineer and is a yearly sponsor of the org.

Pamilya Guinto

Filipino Pronunciation: GWEE-n-toh

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Kuya Jerric Atienza, Kuya JC Parco, Kuya Jaden Beck, Ate Naomi Orion

Legacy: Named after Isabela Osmeña Guinto, she was known for her multidisciplinary talents and involvement across multiple sectors of UHFSA. Isabela, affectionately called “Isa,” joined UHFSA at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when the organization primarily operated online. Her initial involvement was with Dilaab, and she later served as the Kultura Chair for 2021-2022 during UHFSA’s GoodPhil host year. During her tenure, Dilaab grew to over 50 members, and she led the Cultural dance team alongside other pamilya namesakes such as Escudero and Semilla. Isa continued to help lead Dilaab as a Direktor for the 2022-2023 year and joined the special sports team (kickball) that same year. In addition to Cultural, she danced in Modern since GoodPhil 2022 and in Spirit since GoodPhil 2023, up until her last GoodPhil in 2025. That same GoodPhil, she became a director once again—this time, for Spirit. For the 2024-2025 academic year, Isa took on the role of Senior Advisor for UHFSA and Alumni Chair for SIFA. As Senior Advisor, she organized UHFSA’s first Pamilya Pageant, which has become a cherished annual tradition.

Pamilya Ledesma

Filipino Pronunciation: leh-DES-muh

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Kuya DJ Navarro, Kuya Anthony Nguyen, Ate Ashley Chanthachone

Legacy: Named after Cliff Ledesma, who was a former Modern director from 2009-2012. He currently owns a barber shop, Cliff Cuts, located at Soundbox Studios. Among his achievements in FSA, he is renowned for single-handedly won first place for Modern as a solo director!

Pamilya Llanto

Filipino Pronunciation: LYUN-tow

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Kuya Viet Tran, Kuya Kenny Tran, Ate Apple Nguyen

Legacy: Named after Laureen Llanto, she was the first UHFSA member to go from member to Secretary during her sophomore year. She then went on to serve two terms as president from 2013-2015. Throughout her FSA career, she played all sports and also danced in Cultural and Modern. During her last year of college and of her presidency in 2015, her father unfortunately passed away. Laureen remembers her many friends and the members of UHFSA under her tenure who supported her during this difficult period of her life.

Pamilya Marrero

Filipino Pronunciation: muh-RREH-row

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Francheska Laguna, Ate Leah Padilla, Kuya Vinh Duong, Kuya Kaden Wong

Legacy: Named after Nico-Mae Marrero, who was Co-President from 2010-2011 and was part of the board that devised the Pamilya System. This is one of the original five pamilyas of UHFSA.

Pamilya Ocampo

Filipino Pronunciation: oh-KHAM-po

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Kuya Noah Salazar Perez, Kuya Luke De Los Angeles, Ate Khushi Bhatnagar, Ate Fei Slupecki

Legacy: Named after Rikki Ocampo, who participated in UHFSA Modern as a director from 2009-2012. He was the only GoodPhil Chair to have ever attended every single GoodPhil since he graduated.

Pamilya Prudencio

Filipino Pronunciation: prroo-DEN-shoh

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Kylie Wood, Ate Emily Nguyen, Kuya Wallace Tai, Kuya Louie Rodriguez

Legacy: Named after Sarah Prudencio, who was part of the board that devised the Pamilya System. This is one of the original five pamilyas of UHFSA.

Pamilya Santos

Filipino Pronunciation: sun-TOES

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Jordyn Chan, Ate Anna Cruz, Kuya Michael Elarmo, Kuya Larry Rabara

Legacy: Named after Christian Santos, who was Vice President from 2010-2011 before becoming President from 2011-2012. He was also part of the board that devised the Pamilya System. This is one of the original five pamilyas of UHFSA.

Pamilya Semilla

Filipino Pronunciation: seh-MEEL-yuh

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Kuya Zedric Estrella, Kuya Adam Bondoc, Kuya Matthew Padilla, Ate Alee Ison-Wolf

Legacy: Keri Isabel Semilla was instrumental in restructuring and reorganizing the Kultura sector at UHFSA at a time where the organization was believed to not be “cultural enough.” She was a Cultural intern in 2020 and later served as UHFSA's Kultura Chair from 2020-2021. Under her term, she gave UHFSA Dilaab its name; the word is of Cebuano origin, as it is her native Filipino language. Keri helped foster cultural awareness and brought cultural education to the forefront of UHFSA. She continued to do so as SIFA Cultural Chair in 2021-2022, serving as an advisor to the Cultural Chairs for FSAs across Texas, including UHFSA. In addition to dancing in Cultural from 2019-2022, she also directed in 2021 and managed props and costumes from 2019-2022. She also played on the 2022 GoodPhil volleyball team. After graduating from UH, Keri Semilla went on to attend medical school in Cebu City, Philippines.

Pamilya Tayam

Filipino Pronunciation: TAI-yum

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Kuya Ryuya Watanabe, Kuya Johann Perez, Ate Shivani Arya

Legacy: Named after Eileen Tayam who made her mark as a dancer and officer in UHFSA. Tayam served two terms as Kultura Chair from 2016-2018 and directed for UHFSA Modern and UHFSA Cultural from 2013 to 2017. She grew up dancing next to many other pamilya namesakes such as Buenconsejo, Dinamling, and Ledesma — all who were incredibly talented and unique. While balancing her official duties as officer, she directed both Modern and Cultural during her two years as Kultura Chair, becoming one of the few people to direct both teams at the same time. Tayam graduated with a bachelors in Psychology and is pursuing a career in the medical field, but is still dancer who continues to dance and teach at Soundbox till this day!

Pamilya Villaseñor

Filipino Pronunciation: beel-yuh-sen-YOR

Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Ysobel Calma, Ate Fabrielle Igirisa, Kuya Isidore Espina, Kuya Louis Bui

Legacy: Named after Nate Villaseñor, he started his UHFSA career as the coach for ultimate frisbee. He then became GoodPhil Chair during UH’s host year in 2017 and then went on to become a two-term president. He participated in ultimate frisbee, basketball, Modern, Spirit, and Cultural. He was best known for being an active and outgoing GoodPhil Chair during UH’s hosting year in 2017, considered to be one of the best GoodPhils, and led UHFSA to place first overall.

Retired Pamilya Names

Pamilya Buenconsejo (bwen-kon-SEH-ho)
- Named after Kyle Buenconsejo who danced for Modern from 2012-2015, and directed for GoodPhil 2014 and 2015. The iconic hand sign was from the 2015 Modern set, which won UH first place in Modern. The pamilya name was given not for Kyle Buenconsejo, but in memory of Kyle’s mother, who had passed away because of cancer. Currently, Kyle is a registered nurse, working as an ICU travel nurse in Los Angeles and is enrolled in nurse practitioner school! He also still dances till this day.
Pamilya De Guzman (de-GOOS-mun)
- The pamilya name was established in 2015, named after Jeremy de Guzman. He was in FSA for 4 years. Jeremy de Guzman started playing Soccer and ended up coaching after his first year. Every year he coached, UHFSA won 1st in soccer. He also did Modern. Jeremy de Guzman was never an officer but he really did change soccer. After he graduated from UH, he went to St. Augustine’s University for PT school.
Pamilya General (heh-neh-RRUL)
- Named after Angelica General, who was a former Social Chair and Community Service Chair. She was also on UHFSA Modern.
Pamilya Panganiban (puh-nguh-NEE-bun)
- Named after Dave Panganiban, who was Co-President from 2010-2011 and was part of the board that devised the Pamilya System. This is one of the original five pamilyas of UHFSA