About Me

Having been a member of the Labour Party for many years, even running for local government in Westminster in 1998, Gene withdrew from the party early in 2005 after becoming disillusioned with the government's record and the blatant lies its leaders fabricated. Since then the Labour Party has been mired in sleaze, with cash-for-hounours scandal and sexual shenanigans at the highest level.

He then joined Veritas Party, "the straight-talking party", wanting to represent the people of West Ham following the general election in May 2005. The seat was won by the Labour Party.

Gene was born in the Philippines in 1959. He has Malay, Spanish and Chinese ancestry. Apart from English, he is fluent in Filipino and speaks some Spanish, Russian and Polish.

He worked in Saudi Arabia in 1980, and came to London to pursue Russian studies, following this up with a postgraduate diploma in East-West Trade at the University of Westminster. He obtained an MBA from Oxford Brookes University, after successfully writing up a project on UK, French and German Cultural Diplomacy. He has also completed the one year TUC Employment Law course at the College of North East London in June 2005. He acquired British citizenship in 1992.

He lived in the East End of London for many years, starting with Stepney Green, Bethnal Green and then West Ham. His two eldest children were born in the area.

Gene worked for the British Council for 21 years, serving in various capacities, the last one being Head of Accounting Services/Accounts Payable, supervising outgoing payments of c£300m, managing credit cards and leading a multi-racial, multi-creed team of 20 people. As a Programme Officer, he looked after scholars from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Africa. As a Management Consultant, he has travelled widely in Asia, South America, East & Southern Africa and the Middle East, advising country directors on efficiency, effectiveness and economy. He was assigned in 1999 to Poland for three and a half years as Assistant Director/Resource Manager, promoting British cultural relations in Central and Southern Europe.

He has been active in his local community as a leader, activist, journalist and writer. Gene was a member of the Westminster Race Equality Council, and was the founding Chair of the British Council's Ethnic Minorities Development Group, both groups campaigning for racial equality and eradicating racism. He is an experienced trade union activist having been a branch executive member of the Public & Civil Services Union, representing employees to management, and was a member of the PCS Black Members Group. In January 2005, Gene had the honour of being included by the 3rd Global Filipinos Convention, held in Cebu City, in its Gallery of Heroes.

Gene Alcantara in Old Sana'a

Taking a break from promoting British cultural relations in Yemen

What a job!

My job involved servicing the British Council's global network of offices in 110 countries around the world. This might include giving them advice or visiting local colleagues to provide training on managing risk, or giving hands on support. I enjoyed my interaction with people from various parts of the world. It was an enriching experience to be able to deal effectively with other cultures, whilst promoting British achievements, its culture and way of life, the English language, arts, literature, and education.