Felix Agraan

FELIX A. AGRAAN
President, Surong Valley Association International

PERSONAL AND FAMILY

I was born on May 8, 1957, the third and youngest of three sons
of the late Ulpiano Agraan and Lourdes Agraan of Tamdagan,
Vintar, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. My father was a farmer and my
mother was a plain homemaker, a poor couple, who were deeply
obsessed with sending us to school all the way up to getting our
college degrees. My eldest brother, Porfirio Agraan, was a
Geodetic Engineer but passed away in 1992, and the middle
brother, Alberto Agraan, became a teacher who now lives with his
family in Mindanao, Philippines. I am married to the former Gliseria
“Glacey” Agasid, a Registered Nurse both in the Philippines and
Hawaii. My wife started her own care home business in 1997
while working at Saint Francis Hospital, which is now known as the
Hawaii Medical Center. She quit in early 2000 after working for

approximately thirteen years, from 1986 to 1999.

I came to Hawaii to join my wife in May 1989. We are blessed with two intelligent daughters,
Regine Miracy and Charisse. Regine Miracy died in 1999 at the age of 10 years old while battling
leukemia.

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ADs of
Felix Agraan

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

I graduated with a degree of
Bachelor of Science in Civil
Engineering (1979) and Bachelor of
Science in Sanitary Engineering
(1982), both from the National
University, Manila, Philippines.
Started work at the Metropolitan
Waterworks and Sewerage System
as a Cadet Engineer in February
1980 and became a Supervising
Civil Engineer until I left the agency
in March 1989. I got my first job in
Hawaii as Draftsman with Oahu
Plumbing and Sheet Metal Ltd. from
July 1989 to September 1989.
During that period I was also
applying for an engineering job and
was lucky to be hired by the
Honolulu Board of Water Supply,
Honolulu, Hawaii, as a Civil
Engineer in October 1989 and still
working for the same agency up to
the present.

AFFILIATIONS

President (2002 to present) –
Surong Valley Association
International (SURVA), formerly
Surong Valley Association of Hawaii
(SURVAH)

Member – Filipino-American League
of Engineers and Architects (FALEA)
based in Hawaii.

ACHIEVEMENTS

As a community leader:

1. Member of the Holy Family Catholic Academy School Board from July 2001 to June 2002.

2. I was one of the founders and driving force behind the establishment in 2002 of the Surong Valley Association International (SURVA).
I was elected as the first president and still the president after having been re-elected twice. This is a non-profit and tax-exempt
organization whose primary objectives are: to promote brotherhood, foster close relationship and cooperation among members, and
perform charitable and educational benefit to those in need. I have accepted the leadership responsibility because I know that there is
a noble objective that we have to pursue. SURVA has 20 members at its foundation in 2002 and now has 165 active members, and true
to its objectives, the association with this humble leadership has already accomplished the following:

o Given funds of $400.00 or PhP20,000.00 for each of the twelve barangays (villages) comprising the Surong Valley area (Philippines) to
finance their respective projects.
o Sponsored scholarship for three deserving college students in the Philippines. One of them has graduated with a teaching degree.
o Given funeral donations to 32 members and close relatives who have passed away ($100.00 for relatives and $500.00 for members)
o Donated linens, intravenous (IV) fluids and poles to the District Hospital located in the Surong Valley area (Philippines).
o Distributed over-the-counter medicines costing approximately PhP315,000.00 to 2,066 families in the Surong Valley area during the
2004 Homecoming and Medical Mission in the Philippines.
o Launched a program in 2008 to provide financial support for improvement projects of every elementary school, two schools per year,
in the Surong Valley area (Philippines) hosting the joint closing exercises at the end of the school year. Cost of projects ranges
between PhP50,000.00 and PhP150,000.00.
o Given $1,000.00 donation through ABS-CBN Foundation for the victims of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.

As a private citizen:

1. In 2004, five years after the death of our first child, my wife and I decided to give yearly monetary awards for the top three graduating
students of the Tamdagan Elementary School, our alma mater, in memory of Regine Miracy. We thought that this is a good motivation
for the students to strive and study harder in order to excel. (Note: I was the Class 1970 Valedictorian and my wife was the Class 1971
Salutatorian in that school).

2. In 2004, we also initiated to give yearly Christmas Gifts to all students, including faculties, of the Tamdagan Elementary School in the
name of our daughter, Charisse, who was born in December.

MISSION

I was born and raised in a poor family and I consider myself very fortunate and thankful to have come to the land of milk and honey, the
United States of America, where my wife and I were blessed with better life and opportunities. My wife and I intend to continually share
these blessings, whether as community leaders or as private citizens, to help alleviate the lot of others who are less fortunate,
especially those living in the remote barangays (villages) of the Surong Valley area, Municipality of Vintar, Province Ilocos Norte,
Philippines where we originally came from.