PETER’S PATTER – APRIL 2015

Bridge Generation News

For the past 35 years Lillian Galedo has served with distinction as the executive director of Filipino Advocates for Justice (formerly Filipinos for Affirmative Action) — perhaps the longest serving head of a Filipino American social service agency in the nation.  Under her leadership FJA has expanded from its beginnings in Oakland to serve ever-growing Filipino American populations in Union City, Hayward, and Alameda.  During this period FJA’s annual budget has grown more than fifty times.  Lillian has led FJA in the fight over such wide ranging issues impacting Filipino Americans as the disparate treatment of public school students, violence prevention, voter participation, World War II Filipino veteran equity rights, and labor issues involving airport screeners and caregivers.

Lillian’s dedication to social justice began with her growing up years in segregated Stockton where Filipinos were relegated to the hardscrabble South and East areas of the city.  Her father, Inocenio Galedo, from Garcia-Hernandez, Bohol, immigrated during the height of Filipino migration during the 1920s and spent most of his life as a farmworker.  Lillian remembers her father working ten hours a day harvesting asparagus, pears, grapes, onions, and sweet potatoes.  Farm work was often a family affair where she learned the values of hard work and discipline.

It was during Lillian’s college years at University of California, Davis when her eyes were fully opened to the injustices experienced by Filipinos. The planned Crosstown Freeway threatened to obliterate the Little Manila business district.  It would also displace many single manongs from rooming houses and hotels.  These were among the findings of Roadblocks to Community Development in Stockton — the study Lillian and her fellow UC Davis researcher, Laurena Cabanero, presented to city officials.  Their study had mixed results.  Although the Crosstown Freeway was eventually built — leaving only two blocks of Little Manila — their research resulted in building the multi-story Filipino Center, which to the present day provides housing and space for businesses and community events.

…………. Pastor Engkabo, recently found time from his busy community schedule with the American Legion and the Sacramento chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society, to man the Dual Citizenship desk sponsored by the Philippine Consulate on Wheels 2015 program……….. While watching  the University of Kansas basketball game on TV during March Madness, I spied assistant coach Kurt Townsend. He reminded me of his late mother Virginia Rugnao Townsend of San Jose who broke the gender barrier at her company as the first woman to become a fork lift operator………. When reading last month’s item about the Filipino Barbie doll, Gloria Balanon of Niles wrote about her own Filipino Barbie doll she purchased years ago.  Unlike the present day version, her Barbie, says Gloria, definitely has a cute pinay nose………. Laurena (Cabanero) Knoll of Sacramento is still gushing after learning that her daughter, Kimberly Knoll, was nominated for a TV Emmy Award for her work on Nickelodeon’s Sanjay and Craig……….. March birthdays were celebrated by: Eleanor (Engkabo) Paular of Sacramento, Tony Bucol of Delhi, David Galanida of Hayward, and Rich Tenaza and Vangie (Catanio) Black both of Stockton………… Judy Hipolito of Victorville, painfully scarred after being stricken with a rare skin disorder for the past 24 years, finally had the condition properly diagnosed.   Let’s pray treatment goes well………. Your prayers are also requested for Walnut Grove community leader Connie (Viernes) Pasquil who suffered a stroke on April 2……….. I’m saddened to report the passing on March 27 of Jerry Laigo, an elder of the prominent Laigo-Castillano family of Seattle………….  Jazz lovers are still reeling from the untimely death of bay area deejay Bob Parlocha from a heart attack on March 15.  Born and raised in Vallejo of a Filipino father and African American mother, I remember Bob at events sponsored by his hometown Filipino American youth club during the 1950-60s.  Even then, he already was known for his jazz knowledge.  Blessed with a rich soothing voice, he went on to become perhaps the leading straight-ahead jazz dj in the nation. 

Pinakbet – News Across The Country 

Filipino food will be The Next Big Thing for American foodies. This was the prediction of Andrew Zimmern, the star of Bizarre Foods on TV’s Travel Channel……….. March 3 marked an important date for Filipino American elected officials in Los Angeles County — home to an estimated half a million Filipinos: Mark Pulido and Frank Aurelio Yokoyama were both elected to the Cerritos City Council and Elito Santarina was elected to a fourth term on the Carson City Council ..……… In Northern California, long time Daly City Councilman Mike Guingona recently celebrated an early kickoff for his 2016 campaign for San Mateo County Supervisor…………  For 36 years the sleepy Central Valley city of Merced has hosted the Kiki Raina Tahiti Fete featuring Polynesian dances and music.  The weekend event, which typically draws many Filipino performers and fans, usually attracts upwards of 1200 persons……….. According to homie Celeste Gonzalez de Bustamonte — now a tenured professor of journalism at the University of Arizona — Sheila Coronel is the new Dean of Academic Affairs at the Columbia University School of Journalism.  Dean Coronel first became known for leading the investigative reporting on the excesses of former Philippine President Joseph Estrada in 2000……….. Vallejo native and Cal Berkeley grad Natalie Coughlin was included by the SF Chronicle in its list of Notable Bay Area Women, part of the celebration of March as National Women’s History Month. Her six medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics still stands as a record for any female U.S. athlete and her twelve overall Olympic medals ties her with two other women for most of any female U.S. athlete ever…………… Still another Filipino American in sports – Pablo Torre, sportswriter and columnist for cable station ESPN…………. Finally, here are the answers to the Super Bowl trivia questions in last month’s blog.  The halftime entertainment stars of Filipino ancestry were Prince, Alan Pineda of the Black Eyed Peas, Enrique Iglesias, and Bruno Mars; the TV commentator was Tedy Bruschi, former New England Patriot linebacker; the only NFL quarterback born in the Philippines was Tim Tebow; and the only FA player in this year’s Super Bowl was wide receiver Doug Baldwin of the Seattle Seahawks.