Skyline Transfer Opportunity Center

Michael Guingona was born in San Francisco but grew up in Daly City. He attended Westmoor High School and came to Skyline College in 1980. He is a first-generation American, his parents having been born in the Philippines. While at Skyline he was one of the first athletes to ever play three sports – wrestling, cross-country, and track! The educational support he received at Skyline encouraged him to “reach for the stars” and after earning his A.A. in Political Science in 1982, he achieved his dream of transferring to UCLA. After receiving his B.A. in History at UCLA, he entered Law School at University of San Francisco where he earned his J.D. in 1989. While in Law School, Michael coached wrestling at Westmoor High School and also taught “Street Law” there.

Various factors such as his work as a Public Defender in San Francisco, his work with youth at Westmoor, his affiliation with the Filipino Bar Association and his work as chair of the Asian-American Recovery Service motivated him to get involved in politics. In 1993 he became the first Filipino elected to the Daly City City Council! One of his main goals was to make Daly City more reflective of its ethnic diversity. He established a sister city relationship with Quezon City in the Philippines and founded the Filipino-American festival which is still attended by thousands every June in Westlake, Daly City. In 1995, with a great base of support, Michael, at age 33, became the youngest mayor of Daly City! He has served as mayor three times and is currently serving as vice-mayor. A virtual inexhaustible fountain of energy, Michael has a thriving criminal law practice across from the Hall of Justice in San Francisco and has been chair of numerous boards including the San Mateo Transportation Authority.

Michael is extremely devoted to Filipino culture and was fortunate enough to receive his black belt in “Kombaton”, a traditional form of Philippine martial arts, which he also teaches. He also engages in competitive Hawaiian outrigger canoe racing! He has a 5-year old son and will soon be traveling to the Philippines with a group of Filipino-American DJ’s bringing “deephouse and progressive” music there as part of MEOW Productions which he founded with his brother, David. A member of the President’s Council of Skyline College, Michael is also the star of a new cable TV program, “Citizen Pinoy”, focusing on solving problems that Filipino immigrants face in the United States. Instead of an actor going into politics, Michael joked, he is “a politician going into acting!”