Dr. Mauro Feria Tumbocon, Jr., a licensed physician, was a researcher at the United Laboratories in the 1970s and 1980s when he dabbled as an entertainment journalist.
Community service in the United States of America has been an extension of a Filipino tradition and vision in the home front.
This has been the advocacy of a film critic and medical practitioner in the Philippines even when he was in the country 31 years ago.
Dr. Mauro Feria Tumbocon, Jr., a licensed physician, was a researcher at the United Laboratories in the 1970s and 1980s when he dabbled as an entertainment journalist.
Using his pseudonym Mike Feria, Mauro wrote movie columns and reviews of films and other stuff in national dailies.
During his movie writing stint, Tumbocon, Jr. was invited by the prestigious critics group, the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (MPP), to be one of its members which he accepted.
Mike was a sharp and socially committed critic which added substance to his entertainment chronicles.
After his membership with MPP, Feria organized another game-changing critics’ org, the Young Critics Circle (YCC), that churned out no-nonsense film criticisms.
When Mike went to the US, he immediately founded the trailblazing Philippine film festival, the Filipino-American Cine Festival (FACINE) which has been existing since 1993.
FACINE encourages and integrates Filipino culture in the Philippines and in the diaspora in films.
Obviously, this vision has caught the interest of Jefferson Awards, one of the most honorable awards in the US.
On March 14, 2024 at the KPIX 5 Studios, Tumbocon was awarded the Jefferson Bronze Medal for Community.
He was the only Filipino among the awardees.