1st Filipino elected deputy mayor of town near London

Bicolano Nurse Danilo Favor has made history not just for being the first Filipino to win an elective post in the United Kingdom but also as the first Filipino to be elected deputy mayor of a town near London.

Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom Antonio Manuel Lagdameo congratulated now Deputy Mayor Favor following his election as Deputy Town Mayor of East Grinstead in Sussex, some 43 kilometers south of London.

Lagdameo said Favor, who was elected by members of the East Grinstead Town Council, will assist Town Mayor Rex Whittaker during Council meetings and in raising funds for various community charities.

A member of the Conservative Party, Favor became the first Filipino to hold elective office in the UK after he was elected Councilor of East Grinstead in 2011.

He was re-elected to a second term in 2015.

The Filipino nurse-turned UK public servant was a recipient of the Presidential Banaag Award for outstanding Filipino individuals and organizations overseas who have advanced the cause and promoted the interests of overseas Filipino communities.

Favor has lived in East Grinstead for 15 years and is an ophthalmic nurse practitioner at the Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

He graduated in the Philippines with a degree in nursing and continued his ophthalmology nurse specialist studies at King's College in London.

Aside from being the president of Bicol United, the umbrella organization of various Bicolano communities in the United Kingdom, Favor is the chairman and founder of Extra Care Team, a health and wellness initiative run by volunteers that provides free health screening check-ups for members of various community groups.

While serving as councilor, Favor received a Community Service Award in 2014 from Mid-Sussex District Council for his active involvement in numerous community organizations in and around the town.