Jamal Ashley Abbas is a freelance writer since 1998, former columnist and Managing Editor of Mr. & Ms. Magazine, awardee of the prestigious Manila Rotary Club Journalism Awards in 2001, Media Studies specialist, former lecturer at the University of the Philippines’ College of Mass Communication and Kalayaan College and Far Eastern University. He teaches Communication and English courses at the FEATI University. He gives seminars / workshops on English, Communication, Media Studies and Film in various academic and professional venues.
He has vast and varied academic and work experience. He was a business entrepreneur, a capital markets executive, a licensed real estate broker, Head Executive Assistant and Manager of the Energy Research Dept. at the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC). He was a consultant at the Presidential Commission Urban Poor (PCUP), Presidential Commission for Good Government (PCGG), Off ice of the Presidential Adviser for Climate Change (OPACC) and Office of the Vice President (Laurel), among others.
He is a social media manager, taking care of several blogs and FB pages including his “flagship” blog, Postprandial Musings, 2.0 @ jamalashley.com and the blogs of the Freelance Writers’ Guild of the Philippines (FWGP) and Astrology Friends Philippines.
He finished his M.A. in Media Studies from the country’s “national university”, University of the Philippines (U.P.). He was the top of his class (GPA of 1.0 = equivalent to 4.0 in the US) and won the Best M.A. Thesis of the College. He was also the President of the CMC Graduate Students’ Association for two years. He is the first Filipino to graduate with an M.A. Media Studies degree from U.P.
He did graduate studies in Business Economics, the Strategic Business Economics Program (SBEP), the flagship graduate studies program of the University of Asia and the Pacific, a top Catholic institution known for its economic researches / studies.
His undergraduate degree is in Petroleum Engineering (B.Sc. Pet. Eng.) from the top school in the Middle East – the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals – where he was a Dean’s Lister. He is the first Filipino petroleum engineer.
He also has Diplome in French Language from Alliance Francaise. He attended classes in Paris and Manila.