Mike Guingona

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Michael P. Guingona (born 1962), also known as Mike Guingona , is a Filipino Filipino politician who currently serves as Council Member for the city of Daly City, California (pop 104.407). Previously, he served as Mayor of Daly City, but was replaced by Carol L. Klatt. He is a lawyer in private practice. He was first elected as a member of Daly City Council in 1993 and became the youngest mayor at the age of 33 in 1995. He has been elected a member of the City Council three times.

Guingona was the first Filipino to be elected to the City Council of Daly City. 2005 marked his fourth term as Mayor Daly City.

Guingona also hosts the TV show Citizen Pinoy and Pinagmulan on The Filipino Channel or TFC which is featured on cable TV.

Video Mike Guingona

Biography and career

Early life

Guingona was born in San Francisco, California, but moved to Daly City in 1965 at age 3. He grew up in Daly City and attended Daly City Public School from K-12. He graduated from Westmoor High School where, during his senior year, he was elected president of the class. Guingona participates in, soccer, swimming, track, and grapple in high school.

Gunigona's grandparents served as governor of Batangas, a province in the Philippines.

Guingona studied at Skyline College for two years where he continued wrestling before attending the University of California at Los Angeles where he earned a B.A. in history. When he returned to Daly City, he went to San Francisco University Law School to pursue his Doctor Juris. He received his law degree in 1989 and was accepted to the California Bar Association in the same year. He founded his own private practice in 1999 in San Francisco, specializing in criminal defense.

Political career

Guingona first ran for office in 1992, when he occupied fifth position in field 12. He has since served several terms on the council and four tribes as mayor. His first successful campaign was seen as an important event in the Bay Area and by the wider Filipino-American community, as he was the first Filipino elected to the City Council in Daly Town, a city often called "Little Manila," because of the immigrant population big form the Philippines. Guigona, who speaks English with a foreign accent, runs a problem-oriented campaign that appeals to citizens of all ethnic origins, and is criticized by some Filipino activists for "lack of Filipinos." Guigonas replied by saying that, "I do not even want to take the remains of the system in the Philippines and bring it here because they do not work here."

His colleagues at the City Council elected him to serve as Mayor in 1995. He was the youngest to serve as mayor of Daly City at the age of 33. During his first term, he continued to work as a full-time Public Defender's Deputy at San Francisco Public Defender's Office. He left the Public Defender's Office in 1999 and founded a private practice in San Francisco specializing in criminal defense. Guingona was elected for a second term as Mayor in 1997, third in 2001, and fourth term in 2005. In addition, when Guingona was not the Mayor in 2005, he served as deputy mayor.

The number of people living within the Daly city limits swelled from 40,000 to more than 100,000 during the Guingona period. In 2000, Americans of Filipino descent accounted for nearly a third of the population.

In addition to his duties as a member of the City Council, Guingona has served his community as a member of the San Mateo District Transit District Board (SMC), chaired in 2001 and San Mateo District Transport Authority, chaired in 2003. He was defeated for his fourth term in 2007. He is also actively involved with the Sister City Committee and plays a role in starting the partnership of Sister City City-Quezon City.

Professional affiliation

Guingona's professional affiliates include membership at the California Trial Lawyers Association, State Bar of California, San Francisco Bar Association, Bar Association of Philippines from Northern California, and California Public Defenders Association.

Television show

Guingona co-hosted the Citizen Pinoy program in the Philippines Channel launched in 2005 in the US and the Philippines. He hosted for four seasons.

Guingona also hosted Pinagmulan's show on The Filipino Channel. This is a reality-TV show that helps Filipino-Americans connect with their families and friends in the Philippines. "Pinagmulan" means "origin" or specifically "where a person is from" in Tagalog. The show aired in the United States and in the Philippines. The show lasted 14 episodes in 2006.

Maps Mike Guingona

Personal life

He has a son named Kai, who is active in judo and wrestling. He trained wrestling at South San Francisco High School and with Cahill's Judo Academy in San Bruno, California. She married Jackie Castillejo in 2008 and lives in Daly City, California. In addition he also helped train wrestling at Archbishop Riordan Highschool in San Francisco. His brother is David Guingona, a video journalist with KRON-TV in San Francisco.