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 Buenconsejo
Filipino Pronunciation: bwen-kon-SEH-ho
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Jordyn Chan, Kuya Jason Dinh, Kuya Johny Nguyen
Legacy: Kyle Buenconsejo danced for Modern from 2012-2015, directing for 2014 and 2015. The iconic hand sign was from the 2015 modern set and was one of the sets that won UH first place in modern. The family name was named after not 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 Carandang
Filipino Pronunciation: ka-RUN-DUNG
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Jerric Atienza, Ate Jovy Sanchez, Kuya Braden Ventura
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 she inherited from her dad who passed away when she was 8. 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): Kuya Ryan Pajarillaga, Kuya Oscar Corvera, Ate Catherine Nguyen
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 also helped create our Pamilya system! This is one of the original pamilyas of UHFSA.
Pamilya Dalisay
Filipino Pronunciation: duh-LEE-sigh
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Belle Redoma, Ate Kaycee Oconer, Kuya Nilo Picar
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 De Guzman
Filipino Pronunciation: de-GOOS-mun
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Mary Uyenco, Kuya Ricky Le, Ate Niki Phan
Legacy: The family name was established in 2015 and named after Jeremy de Guzman. He was in FSA for 4 years. Jeremy de Guzman started playing Soccer and ended up coaching after his 1st year and every year he coached FSA won 1st in soccer. He also did modern. Jeremy de Guzman was never an officer but he really did change soccer. After he graduated he went to St. Augustine’s University for PT school.
Pamilya Dinamling
Filipino Pronunciation: dee-NUM-ling
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Ysobel Calma, Kuya Travis Nguyen, Ate Arrieanna Porras
Legacy: Named after Jun Dinamling, a notable dancer who director 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 Britney Nguyen, Kuya Dylan Tran
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 Ledesma
Filipino Pronunciation: leh-DES-muh
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Michaela Chen, Kuya Nathan Nguyen, Ate Lindsey Truong
Legacy: Pamilya Ledesma was 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. He single-handedly won first place for Modern during a Goodphil year as a solo director!
Pamilya Llanto
Filipino Pronunciation: LEEYUN-tow
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Chelsea Huynh, Ate Zoie O’Shea, Kuya Viet Tran
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. She played all sports and also danced in Cultural and Modern.
Pamilya Ocampo
Filipino Pronunciation: oh-KHAM-po
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Kuya Matthieu Guerrero, Ate Annie Lam, Ate Sckyler Sagullo
Legacy: Pamilya Ocampo was named after Rikki Ocampo, who participated in Modern as a director from 2009-2012. He was the only Goodphil Chair to have ever attended every single Goodphil since he graduated. He had always generously contributed money to FSA and does until this day.
Pamilya Panganiban
Filipino Pronunciation: puh-nguh-NEE-bun
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Kuya Nikolas Soto, Ate Zenaira Francisco, Kuya Brendon Vu
Legacy: Named after Dave Panganiban, who was part of the board that devised the Pamilya System. This is one of the original pamilyas of UHFSA.
Pamilya Prudencio
Filipino Pronunciation: prroo-DEN-shoh
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Kuya Pierre Remigio, Ate Shaina Baral, Kuya Jonathan Tran
Legacy: Named after Sarah Prudencio, who was part of the board that devised the Pamilya System. This is one of the original pamilyas of UHFSA.
Pamilya Santos
Filipino Pronunciation: sun-TOES
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Ate Isabela Guinto, Kuya Jaden Beck, Kuya Yano Pucio
Legacy: Named after Christian Santos, who was part of the board that devised the Pamilya System. This is one of the original pamilyas of UHFSA.
Pamilya Semilla
Filipino Pronunciation: seh-MEEL-yuh
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Kuya Zedric Estrella, Kuya Joseph Catubay, Ate Taylor Dizon
Legacy: Keri Isabel Semilla was instrumental in restructuring and reorganizing Kultura 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 and Oklahoma, 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 was also on the 2022 Goodphil volleyball team. After graduating from UH, Keri Semilla went on to start medical school in Cebu City, Philippines.
Pamilya Tayam
Filipino Pronunciation: TAI-yum
Current Ate(s)/Kuya(s): Kuya Vietcan Tran, Ate Quyen La, Kuya Justin Tran
Legacy: Named after Eileen Tayam who made her mark as a dancer and officer in UHFSA. Tayam served two-term as Kultura Chair from 2016-2018 and directed for UHFSA Modern and Cultural from 2013 to 2017. She grew up dancing next to many other pamilya namesakes such as Buenconsejo, Dinamling, and Ledesma — who were all incredibly talented and unique. While balancing her official duties as officer, she directed both dance teams 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): Kuya Dean Nguyen, Ate Kaitlyn Lee, Ate Alessandra Ison-Wolf
Legacy: Named after Nate Villaseñor, he started as the Ultimate Coach, became Goodphil Chair during UH’s host year, and then went on to become a two-term president. He participated in Ultimate Frisbee, Basketball, Modern, Spirit, and Cultural. He was known for being an active and outgoing Goodphil Chair during UH’s hosting year in 2017, one of the best Goodphils, and led UHFSA to place 1st overall.
Inactive Pamilya Names
Pamilya General (heh-neh-RRUL)
Pamilya Marrero (muh-RREH-row)