Fil-ams Celebrate 102 Years of Filipino Migration to US
It was the biggest Fil-Am gathering this year – over 1,200 guests from all over the American national capital region – celebrating 102 years of Filipino migration to the United States. It was held amid a backdrop of continuing challenges for the growing Pinoy community here on the eve of President Arroyo’s third visit to the US.
Every June for the past three years, the Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC) has spearheaded the "People’s Ball" – a commemoration of Filipino migration to the US. This year’s event was held at the Marriott Wardman Hotel in Washington DC.
"Migration is increasingly viewed as a model of development," explained lawyer Arnedo Valera, MHC executive director. "We understand that migration helps but that should not be the template for developing nations because host countries have restrictions, like here in America where we note the mounting anti-immigrant hysteria."
"We want to uplift how other countries and their people view the Filipino. They should realize that politically and economically, we help a lot and we believe it’s just right that that should be reciprocated by recognition and respect," Valera tells ABS-CBN’s Balitang America.
Right timing
This year’s People’s Ball came at an auspicious time. President Arroyo arrived in California over the weekend, and is scheduled to push on to Washington DC and New York this week.
"Her visit is important because it will provide the opportunity to revisit the foundations of Philippine-US relations," he said, adding "we’re affected because the Philippines is so dependent on the US"
Many here have questioned why President Arroyo is meeting with President Bush, who ends his term in December and her own administration is ending in less than two years. Valera says President Arroyo may be demonstrating once more her vaunted political savvy.
"Her regime is restless. They may have successfully managed the various scandals and crisis back home, but the international community is getting more critical. She’s looking for acceptance that she’s doing her best to curb corruption, promote human rights to ensure continued US aid. The President can see the erosion of support from different parts of the US bureaucracy, there are officials who are developing a critical perspective of how she is running the country," Valera noted.
"This could be the culmination of the PR offensive started when they decided to pay $500,000 to Covington improve her administration’s image here," he said, referring to the influential DC-based lobby group.
Eric Lachica, executive director of the Virginia-based American Coalition of Filipino Veterans, tells Balitang America the President’s visit could give a much-needed boost to the Filipino veterans equity bill, which is stalled in the House of Representatives after a resounding victory in the Senate.
He noted that Rep. Bob Filner, chairman of the House veterans affairs committee and chief proponent of efforts to adopt S-1315 (the omnibus veterans benefits bill that contains provisions for expanded pensions to Filipino World War II veterans), expressed intentions to press for House approval while President Arroyo is in town.
Effect on Fil-Ams
Valera also acknowledged that the President’s visit will impact on the estimated four million Filipinos and Fil-Ams here.
"All Filipinos remembering the century of migration to the US should be reminded of our dual mission here," he explained. "First, we should keep our roots to the Philippines because that is our country of origin, and we should always return there to help. And secondly, we should look for ways to balance that out here, to be a positive influence both politically and economically."
Filipino migration to the US actually started way before 1906, the year historians opted to use as a starting point for a timeline of the Filipino exodus to America.
An 1883 Harper’s Weekly report noted the presence of what could have been the first-ever Filipino community in the swamplands of Louisiana. They were reportedly Tagalog crew members of Spanish galleons who jumped ship off western Mexico.
But the first real wave of Filipino migration began after the US annexed the Philippines after winning the war with Spain. Historians say this first wave was composed of two groups – migrant workers recruited in the Ilocos region and Cebu to work in Hawaii sugar plantations, and so-called pensionados, or Filipino scholars sent by the US colonial government to study in American colleges.
Recognized for helping community
The MHC handed out awards to individuals and groups who have helped the Filipino community here, including a special award to ABS-CBN’s The Filipino Channel for "responsible and independent journalism".
The other special awardees are Aurora Calo, the Virginia-based nurse who helped expose the illegal recruitment of teachers, which was first aired on TFC; and musician Rico Ortanez, who formed the Agos Band which recently finished a concert tour in Las Vegas and San Diego to promote Gawad Kalinga.
Leadership and advocacy awards were given to New York-based lawyer Felix Vinluan for his valiant defense of the so-called Sentosa 27 – a group of nurses protesting alleged employment malpractices; and Rico Foz for his work with Project Aspire, the largest federally-funded health research project devoted solely to Fil-Ams. He is also executive vice president of the National Alliance of Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) and board member of the Philippine Forum – two of the most active Fil-Am advocacy groups here.
The MHC also cited Joaquin Talisayan of Stockton, California, who at age 102 is believed to be the oldest living Filipino World War II veteran; and retired US Navy senior chief petty officer Remigio Cabacar, a mainstay in the equity bill lobby on Capitol Hill.
Posthumous awards were given to Ruth Scott, a victim of job discrimination who decided to battle a top US security firm; Manuel Lopez Sr., among the first sakadas to work in Hawaii, joined the US Army at the outbreak of World War II and helped organize the first Fil-Am community organizations in Hawaii and Guam; Leticia Buan for helping form the MHC; choreographer Germie de Asis; and Corazon Manansala for civic and charity work with several Fil-Am organizations.
The other awardees included Dr. Edith Bautista-Quint of Alexandria, Virginia; physical therapist Henry Pit-og of Michigan; publisher-editor Nonoy Mendoza; and Claudio Pedery Jr. who founded GDP Foundation which promotes organ donations.
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