Dalubguro Bios

Our DalubGuro Bios

Our DalubGuros share our vision of transforming learning and teaching. 

We invite DalubGuros who share our mission of digital capabilities in order to achieve our vision of transforming learning and teaching.  

THELMA BOAC

Thelma Boac was born in the province of Bohol, Philippines. She came to America at the age of ten and lived with her adopted parents in Grover Beach, California. Her adopted father, a World War II veteran, was one of the original “manongs” who immigrated to America in the 1920’s. Thelma’s adopted mother, her own biological aunt, came to America as a young war widow. Both parents were active in community affairs. Thelma received her BA degree and Secondary Teaching Credential from San Francisco State University and the University of Granada, Spain, and MA degree in Educational Leadership with emphasis in Administration and Supervision from San Jose State University. Thelma retired after almost forty years in education serving as both teacher and high school principal. She continued her involvement in education at San Jose State University and The National Hispanic University where she was an adjunct professor, supervising and training graduate students entering the teaching profession. Thelma currently is a professional expert coach to newly promoted principals and school administrators for the Santa Clara County Office of Education. At present, Thelma is a distinguished member and serves as President of the Berryessa Union School District Governing Board of Trustees in San Jose, CA. She holds the distinction of being the first Filipina ever to be elected and the only female serving on the Board of Trustees, thus expanding her influence and commitment to youth and community. Love by everyone, this humble and highly respected educator, community leader, and public servant has been the recipient of many awards which are too many to mention. Thelma has been recognized as one of the Most Influential Filipina Women in the U.S., as well as one of the Most Influential Women in the World, by the Filipina Women’s Network, a world-wide organization focusing on the advancement in the role of Filipina women throughout the world. She is one of the contributing authors of the second and third books on Leadership called DISRUPT 2.0 Filipina Women: Daring to Lead and DISRUPT 3.0 Filipina Women: Rising. She has been recognized by Congressional and State legislative leaders, as well as various community organizations for her dedication to public service.

HONEY DAWN GUBUAN

Honey Dawn G. Gubuan is the Associate Principal of Educational Development, Evergreen Valley High School, East Side Union High School District. Honey was born in Las Pinas, Metro Manila, Philippines to parents from Kabangkalan and Bacolod City. She was raised by her maternal grandparents until she was 7 years old. At the age of 7, she joined her parents in Rome, Italy where she lived until the age of 11. That was a transformative time for her, as she experienced living in a culture far different from her own. Honey attended schools that spoke Italian, and gave her a first hand experience of being a language learner. Her experiences and growth then, still influences and defines her educational values today. At age 11, Honey and her parents moved to the United States, specifically Stockton, California. She attended middle school at Annunciation School and Oakbrooke Schools, and high school at Linden and Lincoln High Schools. During her high school years, she was involved in her community’s Filipino cultural organizations where she found her passion for Filipino cultural dance and empowerment. After high school, Honey attended UC Santa Barbara and earned her Bachelor's degree in Political Science/International Relations with a minor in Asian American Studies. She continued to be involved in the Filipino community through UCSB’s Kapatirang Pilipino organization. Poised to follow her educational journey into law school, Honey took an unexpected detour by volunteering to work in an 8th grade class in Santa Barbara. Here she taught lessons around the history of California Filipino migrant workers. During this experience, Honey found her calling to be a teacher. Her work with the students in this classroom and with mod/severe autistic students made her realize that teaching adolescents is where she needed to be. So, in 2001, upon graduation, she found herself back home in Stockton, attending the University of the Pacific earning her Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. She was awarded the UOP Single Subject Credential student of the year upon graduation. Honey was recruited by East Side Union High School District in April 2002. In July 2002, her employment was finalized when she was placed at W.C. Overfelt High School. After her first year teaching, Honey earned Stockton’s Phi Delta Kappa’s New Teacher of the Year award. Until 2014, Honey served as Social Studies teacher, department chair, and the Puente program co-coordinator. In 2012 to 2018, Honey served the district as Subject Area Coordinator for Social Studies. Since 2014, she moved schools to serve as teacher in two other district schools, Santa Teresa High School and Independence High School. Honey has taught English Learner students to Advanced Placement students in Social Studies. Prior to entering administration, for two summers in 2017 and 2018, Honey served as Independence High School’s summer school coordinator where she got a glimpse in the life of an administrator. In 2018, Honey was selected to be Piedmont Hills High School’s associate principal of administration, then in 2019 as Evergreen Valley High School’s associate principal of educational development. Honey is also a proud wife and mother of 2, Isabella (16) and Joseph (12). During her free time, she enjoys cooking, crafting, and hanging out with her family and friends over delicious food and lots of laughs. 

Seigmond “MangEmong” Abad 

My name is Seigmond “MangEmong” Abad, living in Dubai in for 7 years now, resident filmmaker and co-founder of On Distinctive Designs, a creative agency company here in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, co-director of The Bill Out Night (TBON) and a financial planning consultant.

As a filmmaker, I got featured twice in ABS CBN Balitang Global when the videos we created for Empowered Expats was recognized for being unique, stylish, and cinematic. Then I was featured again whenI won the grand prize during the Nikon Bride event in Abu Dhabi for my stylish and world-class video in Abu Dhabi. I have always thought that Filipino artistry in Film-making is world class. I represent the Philippines in the international stage. This what drives me and that was the reason why I won the grand Prize winner during the Bride show participated in, among other nationalities in the UAE. 

I want the Filipino People in the UAE to be afforded more respect, to be given the spotlight to elevate who we are. This Filipino Pride was the reason why I got selected and the only Filipino among the pro filmmakers in the list, not just in the UAE, but in the world, by the Nikon Cinema-Z competition that saw ten countries with 400 plus unique international participants all over the world. I won 2nd place during that time. I was nominated also as a Filmmaker of the year by The Filipino Times, last December 2019. Last January 2020, The Bill Out Night (TBON) production who has almost 1.2 million followers, appointed me as a co-director and cinematographer.  

Currently, I am the fashion filmmaker of world-class fashion designers like Michael Cinco, Furne Amato, Ezra Santos, and even other international fashion designers like Milano in Italy.


Raul Jorolan

Before establishing Hot Salad Productions, Raul Jorolan (Direk RJ), one of the country’s top directors, was a principal creative force behind one of the leading production houses in the country for many years. 
After completing a degree in Fine Arts major in Advertising from The University of Santo Tomas), Raul Jorolan spent the next substantial years forging a career as an art director in some of the leading advertising agencies in the country. He started his professional career working with an upscale, high-profile retail department store chain. 
Upon joining the advertising business and being a painter and illustrator, he immediately was thrust in the world of TV commercials via storyboard art (a hint of a future endeavor). With his flair in print art direction and graphic design and also dabbling in photography, Raul Jorolan cemented his career as an accomplished multi-disciplinary visual communicator. 
Moving on and after 5 solid years with McCann-Erickson Manila where he was honored as the very first recipient of the Agency’s Most Valuable Player Award (MVP), Raul Jorolan hopped on to join McCann-Erickson Hong Kong to gobble more advertising experience as a creative warrior in the regional arena for the next 2 years. He handled global accounts and was involved in regional and international advertising pitches. 
Upon his return to Manila he opened an advertising and design shop where he won several creative awards in the Philippine Advertising Congress. His directorial debut came as an opportunity he created himself.
In 1991, he was requested and prevailed upon to direct a series of TV commercials and the rest, as they say, is history. It started his move into the world of moving images and motion graphics. In that same year he shot his very first commercial in film, a seminal TV commercial for a fashion specialty store that started the ball rolling for him as a TV commercials director. This spot started a trend in TV commercials especially in art direction by using wide, picturesque imagery and thus up-shifted his directorial career into full throttle.  
In 1997, after six years as a successful freelance director, Raul Jorolan joined to form a production company (Scene Stealers Production) and under his creative stewardship gained high recognition as well as winning local and foreign awards along the way. His works were seen and noted, some were aired in the region and became benchmark/peg for same-product advertising worldwide.
Given his background in various visual disciplines, Raul Jorolan gained prominence with his ability to create arresting and powerful moving pictures. A visual artist and storyteller with a great sense of humor and an inherent talent to connect with people. It has allowed him to motivate his on-camera talents and create rapport through his engaging work ethic. As an artist, exploring with different styles excites him. It allowed him to develop a prolific repertoire, build momentum and take on different assignments with ease of pace. His visual sensibility has made him notch projects that need style and art direction, a wide range of commercials from babies to vehicles. He has the ability to spin tales or handle narratives that are heartwarming or humorous. He revels too in technically challenging commercials that are fused with visual effects and computer graphics. And with a good grasp of post-production technique, he has also spawned memorable spots in this category as well.
Raul Jorolan has directed a full-length feature film (The Red Shoes), Rated A by the Cinema Evaluation Board and won the Special Grand Jury Award in the Bogota Film Festival in Colombia and was a finalist in the First Hanoi Film Festival Competition in Vietnam. He has also completed an hour-long documentary on Global Warming for the Department of Energy shot around the Philippines.  
A short film that he wrote and directed was also selected as the favorite in the Nestle 100 Years in the Philippines celebration Film Anthology.
Raul Jorolan is also an active painter having mounted two solo painting exhibits as well as being a part of numerous group art exhibitions.
After years in the advertising wars, the film production industry and the visual art world he is still happily in the thick of it, 
A very good story woven, wrapped and told in beautiful images fascinates him like how! 

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