To the Editor:

I would like to share this short bio of my son, Francisco, a former Guilderland resident, now a Manhattan resident.

Francisco is a commercial and independent producer, director, actor, host, cinematographer, and editor. After graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology, majoring in film and television, he relocated to Manhattan.

Having filmed throughout the world, he has made pieces for the Travel Channel, Discovery Asia, MTV, Google Travel, Current TV, Fuji TV, ESPN, Match.com, Ford Models, Condé Nast, Lucent, Aviation Week, Asia Society, The Idealist, Common Ground, Association of Schools for Public Health, and Food Network. 

His films have screened in dozens of film festivals including Sundance, Hot Docs, and the Manila Film Festival and he has won many awards.

Francisco attended excellent schools — the Guilderland Central High School and St. Madeleine Sophie Elementary School. We are very grateful for his successful career in film and television.

It  is a tribute to his experiences and education he received, especially his active involvement in the Media Department at Guilderland Central High School with Mr. Nick Viscio and all his teachers. 

He was born in the Philippines in 1965 and came to Albany in 1967 with his father and I who were offered jobs at St. Peter’s Hospital as medical interns. We moved  to Guilderland in 1973 and have been here ever since.

I am sharing this information to give credit to the St. Madeleine Sophie School and the Guilderland Central High School and all his teachers for the excellence of the educational experience he had. I sincerely thank them and give them much credit for his success.

Guilderland has been a wonderful place to live and to raise a family. Coming from another country of a different race and ethnicity, we are most grateful for being fully accepted and respected by the community.

Emma Aliwalas

Guilderland