The much anticipated “Ace Burpee’s Top 100 Most Fascinating Manitobans 2020” were announced at the end of December and features some amazing Manitobans including several from Winnipeg’s Filipino Community.
Joanne Roberts: The winner of the 2020 Emerging Filmmaker Pitch Competition at this year’s Gimli Film Festival. The concept of the five-minute short film is exploration into “the grey area of a loving relationship” between a mother and daughter. The film, Anak will be screened at the festival next year.
Hera Nalam: A tremendously gifted actress, Nalam was the star of I Propose We Never See Each Other Again After Tonight. The Winnipeg-made film, which opened in the midst of a pandemic, proved to be a monster hit. She’s awesome.
Virginia Guiang-Santoro: The founder of the Filipino Domestic Workers Association of Manitoba, which works to protect the rights of live-in caregivers in Manitoba. Virginia was honoured as one of Canada’s Top 25 Immigrants in 2020.
Arnel Alibin: He spent 20 years as a health-care aide at Concordia Hospital, and is now co-owner of Max’s Restaurant. Throughout the pandemic, Alibin has stepped up and supported all hospital foundations and countless other front-line workers. He pivoted repeatedly since March and was incredibly giving and compassionate.
Mateo Desousa, Devlin Neil-Mcswain, Noah Curoe, Mathew Ferrer, Arshdeep Sarpal, Jeremy Bulaong & coach Robert Esposito: The Sisler High School Cyber Security Team has placed near the top at several national competitions against the best Canada has to offer. Their final competition was the Canadian National High School Cyber Security Contest, which had teams simulate and problem-solve real-world events to protect a hedge fund company. They placed first. Incredible talent, huge futures. Respect.
Melanie Penner, Lorhiz Aquino & Alexander Pop: They make up the executive team of the Manitoba Esports Association. What started as a league at the U of M has grown into a mission to develop the Esports community and create more opportunities province-wide.
