Lupa: Stories of Our Land – A Virtual Film Screening and Expert Q&A

INHERITANCE AND INTRIGUE: what happens when Filipino Americans are called to settle property issues in the Philippines? Hear the stories of several families and find out what to expect when the unexpected occurs. This online program, which is co-presented by the National Filipino American Lawyers Association (NFALA), will start with a screening of the short documentary Lupa, followed by a Q&A session featuring director Kristian Kabuay, attorney Aileen Ligot Dizon, Vice Consul Marco Angelo Lopez of the Philippine Consulate General in Houston, and moderated by FYLPRO/NFALA board member Mark Calaguas.

About Lupa:

Lupa is a short film that captures stories from Filipino Americans about their experience with land ownership in the Philippines. Director Kristian Kabuay explains, “Growing up, I would hear family stories about some land we owned back home. It was typically drama-filled, revolving around land deeds, sexism, and old grudges. With this project, I hope that it sparks these often difficult conversations within diaspora communities. Lupa means soil or land in Tagalog.”

Speakers:

Kristian Kabuay

Kristian is an artist/entrepreneur/futurist specializing in endangered writing systems from the Philippines. As a leading authority for the propagation and instruction of prePhilippine scripts, he launched his own edutainment business specializing in custom art, books, events, technology, and apparel. Kristian has spoken around the world at museums, schools, and companies. His work is wide-reaching that spans across multimedia, traditional practices, and technology. He is currently working on his 7th book, 2nd documentary, education startup, and learning traditional tattooing.

Aileen Ligot Dizon

Aileen is the founder and the managing partner of the Ligot Dizon Law Firm, P.C. She is an attorney admitted to practice law in all state courts of Texas and handles divorce law cases, immigration law cases, and wills-trusts-probate law cases. Aileen is a lifetime member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. She has worked as a court attorney in the Philippine Court of Appeals where she handled cases involving annulment & nullity of marriages and cases involving real estate disputes. Born and raised in the Philippines, she speaks and writes Tagalog fluently.

Vice Consul Marco Angelo Lopez

The Honorable Marco Angelo Felix Lim Lopez is Vice Consul of the Philippine Consulate General in Houston, Texas, a position he was appointed to in 2018. His previous roles at the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs include serving as Acting Director of the Treaties Division of the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) and Principal Assistant in the OLA’s Litigation and Service of Summons Division. He also served as Executive Assistant in the Office of Justice Lopez of the Court of Appeals of the Philippines. Vice Consul Lopez received a BA in International Studies from De la Salle University, a JD from the University of the Philippines – Diliman, and an LLM in International Maritime Law from the University of Malta.

Mark Calaguas

Mark Calaguas is a data privacy and electronic discovery attorney presently serving as Product Counsel for Tayo, an online COVID-19 help desk. Mark is a board member of the Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO) and the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area (AABA Chicago), immediate past president of the Filipino American Lawyers Association of Chicago (FALA Chicago), and is also a founding board member of the National Filipino American Lawyers Association (NFALA), where he presently serves as at-large trustee. Additionally, Mark sits as a federal appointee on the Illinois State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and is board chair of the Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE).