Bhong Zausa is the owner and president of AZ Media Entertainment Services, based in Houston, Texas, which aims to create and strengthen social, cultural and economic bonds between the Filipino-American communities in Texas with friends, loved ones and fellow countrymen in the Philippines. He has been instrumental in building long-lasting ties and friendships with everything he accomplishes.
After he moved to Houston, he starting working as a manager in a sandwich shop, and through hard work and perseverance, was able to branch out into his many successful business ventures, among them an authorized dealer of The Filipino Channel (TFC), a DirecTV/Dish Network dealer (FilAm Satellite), the owner of Boracay Restaurant, operations manager of Star Kargo and One Philippines Cargo Global Express. These entrepreneurial ventures allowed him to start thinking about what he can do for the Filipino community in Houston and in Texas, and a community leader was born.
He founded AZ Media Entertainment Services in 2008, and was the producer and organizer of many concerts and events that featured performing artists from the Philippines. Also founded in 2008, One Philippines News Texas provided information on the many local Texas events that featured Filipinos, and included entertainment articles, trivia, and news from the Philippines.
In 2014, Bhong wanted to create an event that brought back happy memories of local celebrations from the Philippines, and Fiesta Ko sa Texas was the result. To this day, it is a hugely successful event that brings together Filipinos from all over Texas to watch local talents perform, along with a famous celebrity who comes from the Philippines specifically to headline the event. It also provides a venue for the many Filipino owned businesses to show their specialties, along with a large number of food vendors, of course! The search for Miss Fiesta Ko sa Texas has become its signature event, and is expected to become even bigger and better in the coming years.
The Fil-Am Street Food Festival started in Dallas, Texas in 2018, and was very warmly received in its first year.
Among his many worthwhile causes, Bhong truly believes in providing educational assistance to underprivileged children in the Philippines. Net proceeds from Fiesta Ko sa Texas and The Fil-Am Street Food Festival have funded his Adopt-A-School Program which has equipped hundreds of elementary school children with tools and school supplies to assist them in the school system to make learning more inspiring and memorable. He is also a regular promoter of natural disaster relief fundraisers that benefit the Philippines.
The social and cultural benefits of Bhong’s multiple endeavors – AZ Media Entertainment Services, One Philippines News Texas, Fiesta Ko sa Texas, and the Fil-Am Street Food Festival – are cross-cultural, intergenerational and cross-sectoral, and have cumulatively provided a public and community forum that is all-inclusive, but still uniquely Filipino.
