| Ludy Astraquillo Ongkeko, Ph.D. Beverly Hills, California Dynamic National Community Leader and Organizer |
When Ludy A. Ongkeko won a landslide victory on her election as
president of the Filipino American Press Club of Los Angeles a
few years ago, it was the highest accolade within the gift of her
peers to bestow on her.
Accolades in her chosen profession are nearly natural for Ludy.
A thumbnail sketch by the late Fred Munoz, a noted colleague
says it all: “Dr. Ludy Ongkeko’s rapier-like mind, is no match to
any. Great in speech, she is equally great in friendship, service,
devotion to duty and what have you. She has looks and charms
which largely contribute to her effectiveness in a first-rate
speaker, to say nothing of being a first-rate writer as well.”
A resident of Beverly Hills, Ludy is an alumna of the University of
the Philippines where she obtained her bachelor of science and
bachelor of arts degrees as a college scholar. In the United
States, she attended the University of Southern California’s
Graduate School and became the first recipient of the Master of
Arts degree in Journalism. While still at USC, she pursued a Ph.
D. in Mass Communications, awarded to her with distinction.
president of the Filipino American Press Club of Los Angeles a
few years ago, it was the highest accolade within the gift of her
peers to bestow on her.
Accolades in her chosen profession are nearly natural for Ludy.
A thumbnail sketch by the late Fred Munoz, a noted colleague
says it all: “Dr. Ludy Ongkeko’s rapier-like mind, is no match to
any. Great in speech, she is equally great in friendship, service,
devotion to duty and what have you. She has looks and charms
which largely contribute to her effectiveness in a first-rate
speaker, to say nothing of being a first-rate writer as well.”
A resident of Beverly Hills, Ludy is an alumna of the University of
the Philippines where she obtained her bachelor of science and
bachelor of arts degrees as a college scholar. In the United
States, she attended the University of Southern California’s
Graduate School and became the first recipient of the Master of
Arts degree in Journalism. While still at USC, she pursued a Ph.
D. in Mass Communications, awarded to her with distinction.
Ludy was captivated by the writing profession after her U.P. graduation, starting off as a reporter of the
Manila Daily Bulletin. Her predilection for in-depth and feature writing brought her works to Manila’s major
publications like the Sunday Times Magazine, Daily Times, Weekly Women’s Magazine, Saturday Mirror
Magazine, Kislap Graphic and The Nation. She is in touch with the homeland with her column, Dateline
USA, appearing weekly in The Business Daily of Metro Manila. Locally, Ludy has resumed writing for the
Philippine News, for which she wrote as its first editorial columnist in the 70’s and the 80’s, the only Filipino-
owned weekly with subscribers from coast to coast and abroad.
As a communicator, Ludy has been a committed advocate of the enhancement of the Filipino image overseas
which she pursued with zeal and determination through civic activism. Many times in the forefront of
Filipino causes through various community organizations in the greater Los Angeles area, Ludy served in
several levels of officership and each association she has belonged to has recognized her as “most
dedicated and outstanding”.
Many awards and certificates adorn the family room of the Ongkeko home, among them: “outstanding
community service from former Los Angeles City Mayor Tom Yorty; “award of honor” from the Los Angeles
County Board of Supervisors; “award of excellence” from the Los Angeles Fil-Am Jaycees as the most
outstanding Filipino American in the field of journalism in Southern California; “most outstanding alumnus
award” from the UP Alumni Association in Southern California; from the USC’s Trojan Fourth Estate “in
recognition of election to membership in the organization to assist the programs of the School of
Journalism.”
Ludy is happily married to Colonel Hermie Ongkeko (AFP, ret.) a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy in
Baguio City which is a well-known tourist spot and acclaimed as the summer capital of the Philippines.
Baguio, also known as the city of pines, is home in the Philippines to Ludy, and the PMA campus, site of
traditional military gatherings served as trysting grounds for young hearts, then and now. But it was a
common love for writing that drew Ludy and Hermie to one another. Hermie, at that time, served as his
school's honor committee chairman and edited the PMA’s Femmes Issue.
The Ongkekos are blessed with three children and six grandchildren. All three not only finished college with
every conceivable honor belonging to them. They are also graduates of professional schools, earning their
respective graduate degrees in record time, all before they were out of their early twenties.
Ludy has a sunshine disposition and it shows. She brought that light to the press club she once headed at a
time when mediocrity had taken the high ground in many Fil-Am organizations. A multi-awarded, crusade
journalist and editor Joe Jison noted, “Ludy’s professional approach to community journalism may not sit
well with common “envelopmental” newsmen, scissors, jobbers, and “praise release” specialists, but it is
time to show that true Filipino newsmen, using English as a second language, are at par with the best of the
world.” #
Manila Daily Bulletin. Her predilection for in-depth and feature writing brought her works to Manila’s major
publications like the Sunday Times Magazine, Daily Times, Weekly Women’s Magazine, Saturday Mirror
Magazine, Kislap Graphic and The Nation. She is in touch with the homeland with her column, Dateline
USA, appearing weekly in The Business Daily of Metro Manila. Locally, Ludy has resumed writing for the
Philippine News, for which she wrote as its first editorial columnist in the 70’s and the 80’s, the only Filipino-
owned weekly with subscribers from coast to coast and abroad.
As a communicator, Ludy has been a committed advocate of the enhancement of the Filipino image overseas
which she pursued with zeal and determination through civic activism. Many times in the forefront of
Filipino causes through various community organizations in the greater Los Angeles area, Ludy served in
several levels of officership and each association she has belonged to has recognized her as “most
dedicated and outstanding”.
Many awards and certificates adorn the family room of the Ongkeko home, among them: “outstanding
community service from former Los Angeles City Mayor Tom Yorty; “award of honor” from the Los Angeles
County Board of Supervisors; “award of excellence” from the Los Angeles Fil-Am Jaycees as the most
outstanding Filipino American in the field of journalism in Southern California; “most outstanding alumnus
award” from the UP Alumni Association in Southern California; from the USC’s Trojan Fourth Estate “in
recognition of election to membership in the organization to assist the programs of the School of
Journalism.”
Ludy is happily married to Colonel Hermie Ongkeko (AFP, ret.) a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy in
Baguio City which is a well-known tourist spot and acclaimed as the summer capital of the Philippines.
Baguio, also known as the city of pines, is home in the Philippines to Ludy, and the PMA campus, site of
traditional military gatherings served as trysting grounds for young hearts, then and now. But it was a
common love for writing that drew Ludy and Hermie to one another. Hermie, at that time, served as his
school's honor committee chairman and edited the PMA’s Femmes Issue.
The Ongkekos are blessed with three children and six grandchildren. All three not only finished college with
every conceivable honor belonging to them. They are also graduates of professional schools, earning their
respective graduate degrees in record time, all before they were out of their early twenties.
Ludy has a sunshine disposition and it shows. She brought that light to the press club she once headed at a
time when mediocrity had taken the high ground in many Fil-Am organizations. A multi-awarded, crusade
journalist and editor Joe Jison noted, “Ludy’s professional approach to community journalism may not sit
well with common “envelopmental” newsmen, scissors, jobbers, and “praise release” specialists, but it is
time to show that true Filipino newsmen, using English as a second language, are at par with the best of the
world.” #
Washington D.C. Since 1987
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