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GENE ALCANTARA,
journalist, writer, former British Council official, and an active leader of the Filipino community in London, ran for office
for the Labour Party in Westminster Council in the 1990s, and was selected in 2005 by the then newly established Veritas
Party as its official parliamentary candidate for West Ham, in the London Borough of Newham in the May 2005 general elections.
In June 2009 he stood as an independent candidate for the European Parliament.
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-honours scandal,
sexual shenanigans at the highest level. More recently the Labour Party has been accused of lies over the Iraq
War, of being partly responsible for the credit crunch in Britain, and the shameless housing and expenses claims by Labour
Ministers.
He then joined Veritas Party, "the straight-talking party", and ran for
Parliament in West Ham, London, where he lived for a number of years, during the general election in May 2005.
The seat was won comfortably by the Labour Party. In February 2006 he withdrew from the party and joined the Conservatives
under the leadership of David Cameron.
He stood for the European Parliament as an independent candidate in June
2009.
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 Russian, some Spanish 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. For a brief period he lived in Kensington, and for the last 17 years
he has been living in the City of Westminster, in the Bayswater Ward.
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, operating between Warsaw and
Krakow, 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 was 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. In 2008 he was awarded
the 'Ambassador for Peace' title by the Universal Peace Federation for his voluntary work with the community.
Gene now works as an OISC-registered Immigration Adviser/Caseworker
at Equalisers Ltd and is a Consultant to Bison Management, with both companies based in Elstree & Borehamwood. On
a part-time basis he is an Authorised Agent for ABS-CBN The Filipino Channel, and is a correspondent for BEU-European News
which is broadcast every Sunday in Europe and around the world.
He is
married to Carmila Legarda and has three children, Melissa (16), Terence (25), and Giselle (26) who is now married to Campbell
Mickel, a Scot from Edinburgh.
| Gene Alcantara in Old Sana'a |
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Taking a break from promoting British cultural
relations in Yemen
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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.
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