Juan Pablo A. Paredes, LL. B.

Juan Pablo “JP” Paredes  -  strategist, political analyst, writer, and leader.  He is a competitive fellow by nature.  An athlete in high school, he was a member of the Hall of Fame 1972 NCAA Champion Ateneo de Manila High School Track and Field team.  In college, he played varsity soccer for the College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

 

JP was initiated into the Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity, Eta Chapter in UP Diliman, Batch 1973-A.  He was a recipient of numerous leadership and service awards, having served as Historian, Grand Chancellor, President of the Eta North America Foundation (ETAANA), and an Adviser of the Eta Chapter.  He served as Regional Adjudicator for APO’s Administrative Region for North America (ARNA) from 2007-2017.  He served as President of the Greater Washington Alpha Phi Omega (GWAPO) in 2021.

 

JP was a student leader – President of the UP Philosophical Society, Vice-President of the UP Debating Club, Class Representative to the Law Student Government, President of the Metro Manila Student Organization umbrella group for 300 student organizations.  He had a major role in the establishment of the UP Interfraternity Council by, among others, drafting its Constitution and By-laws that provided for mechanisms to govern inter-fraternity relations and diffuse rivalries.

 

Prior to entering the College of Law, JP worked as a Staff Writer at the Batasang Pambansa’s Public Relations Service.  He subsequently became the Editor-in-Chief of the Batasang Pambansa Newsletter after topping a competitive writing exam, thus becoming the first, the youngest (at 23 years old) and the only non-journalist to hold that position.  JP moved on to legislative policymaking as Technical Assistant to a Congressman, and as Chief of Staff of another.

 

JP earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and took units in Masteral of Industrial Relations.  He entered Law School at UP Diliman in 1979 after topping the UP Law Aptitude Exams (LAE), earned his degree in Bachelor of Laws and later passed the Philippine Bar Examinations.  He served as Senior Attorney and Chief of Investigations, Special Projects Section of Pantranco-PCGG. 

 

JP believes that APO’s guiding principles of Leadership, Friendship, and Service should not be limited exclusively within APO alone but should be shared with the community.  In Seattle, JP served as officer and adviser to various Fil-Am organizations and causes.  He is the current President of the Filipino Cultural Heritage Society of Washington (FCHSW) since 2013. He served as Vice President of the Philippine Centennial movement, Seattle Chapter; Parliamentarian and Comelec Chair for the 3,000-member Filipino Community of Seattle (FCS); President of the Ateneo Alumni Association of Washington (AAAW); writer for various local publications, as well as editor-in-chief of the Philippine Chronicle.  In 2012, JP was appointed to a 3-year term with reappointment as a Member of the Practice of Law Board (POLB) of the Washington State Supreme Court, the first Asian to be appointed to that body.

 

JP worked at the University of Washington, having served as Executive Assistant to Principal Investigators of Pathology (25 years), Radiology (5 years), Clean Energy Institute (1 year), and Family Medicine Research (5 years).  He is retired and, with his wife of 43 years, Melanie, they are both enjoying their two grandchildren, Jonah and Ethan from their first-born son, John, a Paralegal at Microsoft.  Their younger son, Ian, is a Principal Platform Engineer at CTS in London.