About Alberta Filipino Journal

Alberta Filipino Journal

Overview

The Alberta Filipino Journal is a free monthly community newspaper serving the Filipino community of Edmonton and the wider province of Alberta. It describes itself with the tagline "The Pulse of the Filipino Community in Alberta, Canada," and it publishes in a mix of English and Filipino, covering community events, cultural celebrations, faith traditions, immigration questions and the achievements of Filipino Albertans. Print copies are distributed free through Filipino-owned businesses in Edmonton, and the paper's articles are published in full on its website, albertafilipinojournal.com. The Journal is led by publisher Jose "Jun" Angeles Jr.; Lito Mendoza Velasco has been named as its editor in the paper's own coverage. It is an advertising-supported community paper produced with the help of volunteer columnists and contributors drawn from the community it covers, and it remains in active publication: its website carried new feature articles in the autumn of 2025, and one of its regular columnists has confirmed writing for a February 2025 edition.

History

The Journal's history is documented in detail from the mid-2010s onward. A May–June 2016 article from the paper, by Tessie Oliva on the Congress of Philippine Associations in Alberta and the 118th anniversary of Philippine independence, is cited in reference works on Filipino-Canadian organisations, placing the Journal in print by 2016. In November 2017 the paper played a central role in Edmonton's Filipino community life when publisher Jun Angeles helped organise, with the Quezonian Club of Edmonton and a coalition of community associations, a memorial service at St. Andrew Catholic Parish for Senator Tobias "Jun" Enverga Jr., the first senator of Filipino descent in Canada, who had died on a parliamentary visit to Colombia. The Journal's own report of the service records community leaders and organisations from across Edmonton gathering under its publisher's coordination.

In 2019 the paper chronicled and promoted two lasting community projects. Its pages carried Ida Beltran-Lucila's call for a Philippine Centre in Edmonton, a campaign for a permanent cultural home for the community, first published in the Journal in March 2019. In November 2018 the Journal had profiled Antonio "Tony" Flores, an Edmonton Filipino who had been named Alberta's first Advocate for Persons with Disabilities after the province proclaimed the Advocate for Persons with Disabilities Act in June 2017; the profile, by contributor Mila Philipzig, traced Flores's life from Camalig, Bicol, to the University of Alberta and his new role as the voice of Albertans with disabilities. The same year, publisher Jun Angeles was the driving force behind the community's Undas (All Saints' Day) celebration and the creation of "Himlayang Filipino," a memorial garden and rock shrine dedicated to Edmonton's Filipino community at Evergreen Memorial Gardens, giving families a focal point in Edmonton to honour relatives buried in the Philippines or elsewhere. The paper also covered the Karilagan Dance Society's 48th anniversary and its Hiyas (Gem) Awards in April 2019, at which the Journal's editor, Lito Mendoza Velasco, was among the award recipients. Through the pandemic period and into the 2020s the Journal continued monthly publication; columnist Giselle General's multi-part account of her 2021 run for Edmonton city council was written for the paper, and she has continued to contribute columns in the years since, including a consumer and community-resources column published in February 2025.

Content and Coverage

The Journal's content is centred on the life of Alberta's Filipino community. Community news and events reporting covers association gatherings, cultural festivals and milestones such as the Karilagan Dance Society anniversary and the Hiyas Awards, which honour excellence in business, sports and community service; the Karilagan celebration it covered in 2019 drew federal and civic officials including MP Amarjeet Sohi and Edmonton mayor Don Iveson, reflecting the paper's place on the community's official guest lists. Faith and tradition are recurring themes: the paper has documented Edmonton's annual Pabasa, the chanting of the Passion of Christ during Holy Week maintained by the Filipino Senior Citizens Association, and the Undas commemorations each November. Practical settlement content is a consistent strand, including an "Ask an Immigration Professional" question-and-answer column that addressed readers' status and permanent-residency problems. Politics and civic life are covered from a community perspective, from the Enverga memorial to Giselle General's first-person series on running for municipal office, her transit-safety and community-resources columns, and profiles of community figures such as Antonio "Tony" Flores, Alberta's first Advocate for Persons with Disabilities. The paper also publishes cultural and heritage features, including a September 2025 article on the propagation of monuments to Philippine national hero Dr. José Rizal across Canada. Contributors named in its pages include Mila Philipzig (Mila Bongco), Ida Beltran-Lucila and Giselle General, alongside event reporting and photography from community correspondents.

Audience and Reach

The Journal is written for Filipinos and Filipino Canadians in Edmonton and across Alberta, a province that is home to one of the largest Filipino communities in Canada, built over decades of labour migration and family reunification. Its distribution model is hyper-local and community-based: free printed copies are placed in Filipino-owned businesses in Edmonton, where readers pick the paper up as part of their regular shopping and community routines, as its columnists describe. Its content mix — community association news, church and cultural events, immigration guidance and profiles of local achievers — is aimed at settled immigrants and their Canadian-born children alike, and its coverage extends beyond Edmonton to Filipino communities elsewhere in Alberta, including Fort McMurray, whose residents appear among the readers writing to its advice column. The Journal publishes no audited circulation figures, and none are claimed here; its reach is best understood through its role as a standing fixture of Filipino business and community spaces in the Edmonton area.

Digital Presence

The Journal publishes its articles on its website, albertafilipinojournal.com, which carries the paper's reporting, columns and photo coverage and serves as the digital edition its contributors direct readers to. New material continued to appear on the site in 2025, including the Rizal monuments feature published in September 2025 and updated in October 2025. The paper is also referenced across the community's own web presence: Edmonton Filipino bloggers repost their Journal columns on their own sites, and community organisations publicly thank the paper for featuring their events in its print editions, reflecting a readership that moves between the free print paper and its online version.

Ownership and Organisation

The Alberta Filipino Journal is published by Jose "Jun" Angeles Jr., an Edmonton community organiser whose roles in the Quezonian Club of Edmonton and in projects such as the Himlayang Filipino memorial garden run alongside his work at the paper. Lito Mendoza Velasco has served as the paper's editor, a role recognised when he received a Hiyas Award for community service in 2019. April Angeles is also associated with the paper's recent editions. The Journal operates as a small, advertising-supported community publication: local businesses advertise in its pages — the paper prints an advertising contact line inviting businesses to call for rates — and its editorial content is produced by a small team supplemented by volunteer columnists and community contributors, several of whom write regular columns over many years. No corporate parent or chain ownership is documented; the Journal is an independent community newspaper.

Contact and Availability

The Alberta Filipino Journal is published monthly and is available free at Filipino-owned businesses and community locations in Edmonton. The full paper can be read online at albertafilipinojournal.com. Businesses wishing to advertise have been invited, in the paper's own pages, to call 780-993-5503, and the paper can be reached through its website. Community organisations and readers contribute news, event coverage and columns through the publisher and editorial team named above.