Peter’s Pinoy Patter – March 2020

BG Personality of the Month: Arthur Suguitan, 88

During the heady years of Filipino American Youth Clubs in California, it was not difficult to spot him on the basketball court.  Standing at just shy of six feet, Art towered over his smaller BG opponents as the outstanding center of the San Francisco Mangos that dominated youth club basketball during the 1950s.  Along with Mango teammate Rudy Calica, he also starred on the Polytechnic High School junior varsity basketball team — both earning All-City honors from SF’s daily newspaper. Art was born in 1931 in San Francisco where the family resided in the Western Addition — home for countless Filipino families.  He went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree from San Francisco State University, but because of the Korean War, was immediately drafted into the U.S. Army, serving as a finance specialist at Fort Ord CA.

Following his military discharge, Art continued his education under the GI Bill — earning a Master of Business Administration from Golden Gate University.  His career was entirely spent in the finance field, beginning as Administrative Officer of the San Francisco Cow Palace.  Perhaps his most exciting position was as Administrative Officer and Special Assistant to the controversial SFSU President S.I. Hayakawa during the student protests of the late 1960s.

Art also worked as Senior Vice President of United Way of Los Angeles.  By a happy coincidence, during this same time I held a similar position in Seattle — Vice President for Planning and Allocations, United Way of King County.  At UWay national meetings we caught up on the latest news from our youth club days.  Imagine – two West Coast brown Filipinos Americans reminiscing among all the corporate bigwigs!

Among Art’s other jobs was Chief Financial Officer for California State University, Long Beach.  Perhaps his most important position was Administrative Officer and Special Assistant to the Chancellor of the California State University System – the largest system of higher education in the nation.

In recognition of his many achievements he received the VIP Gold Award for Corporate Executive from the Filipino American National Historical Society in 1994 and was elected to the Polytechnic High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980.

An avid golfer he and his wife, the former Nadene Smith, spent their retirement years in the Southern California golf haven of Palm Desert CA. He is most proud of his children — professor/writer Lisa (Suguitan) Melnick and James Suguitan. Sadly, during the past year he lost both Nadene and son, James to illness.

As successful as Art may have been in his life’s work, his career does not represent his most important accomplishments.  He proudly says,

“The most important things in life have been my family, my Filipino ethnicity, and being born in America.”

Art Suguitan

A Filipino Serenader

Another Passing

Sad to report the sudden passing of Corinne (Artiaga) Fontanilla on January 7.  Born on March 8, 1937 in Guadalupe CA, she spent most of her life in Stockton. Her marriage to chemist Jim Fontanilla in 1958 produced four children — daughter Lesley and sons Jim, Robert, and David. A stay-at-home mother of four, she didn’t work outside the home until her children were raised.  But first, she completed college and became employed by the Bank of America.  Shortly thereafter, Corinne began an eventful 45 years as legal secretary and assistant to attorney Tom Zuckerman. 

Corinne is perhaps best remembered for her love of music, particularly for her deftness on the ukulele, regularly performing with several ukulele groups and entertaining relatives and friends. On January 24, a capacity crowd conveyed their final farewells at Corrine’s Celebration of Life.

Please click here to view Corinne’s obituary.

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Happy March Birthdays

• Bob Balandra
• Eleanor (Engkabo) Paular
• David Galanida
• Joe Jamero
• Dolores (Ladaga) Abasolo
• Manuel Luna
• Rich Tenaza
• Ed Ventura

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Pinakbet — News Across America

Helicopter crash victim

Like other American sports fans, Filipinos mourned the untimely death of retired pro basketball legend Kobe Bryant in a January 26 helicopter crash in Calabasas CA.  Unlike other Americans, however, they also mourned the death in the same crash of one of their own – Christina Mauser.  The 38-year old worked as a basketball coach at Mamba Academy, where Bryant was co-owner.

Musang

On January 9 Musang  — a spinoff Filipino restaurant from chef Melissa Miranda’s popular pop-up of the same name — opened in Seattle’s multi-cultural Beacon Hill District with high promise. (A wait for a table during preview dinners was over an hour for a table). The restaurant is the most recent among the newest Filipino dining destinations — between the high-end tasting menu elegance of Hillman City’s  Archipelago and the modern vibe of  Hood Famous Café and Bar in the International/Chinatown District.

2524 Beacon Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144 (206) 708-6871

Feast of Santa Nino

In the jam-packed St. Jude Thaddeus (Catholic) Church Hall in Livingston CA, more than 200 Filipinos from surrounding towns in this small rural farming community celebrated the Feast of Santa Nino in January.  Initiated in the 1980s by Bridge Generation women  Connie (Cabrillas) Blanco and  Jean (Hipolito) Labuga, the celebration, called  Sinulog, began with Holy Mass followed by a colorful procession of celebrants to the church hall.   Sinulog is defined as the link between the Philippine’s pagan past and its Christian present.   Sinulog also describes the dance ritual to the sound of drums that symbolizes the current ( sulog).  While dance groups entertained them, celebrants enjoyed a scrumptious spread of Filipino food.

Meet Zenei Cortez

As president of California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United, she is the first Filipina president of  CNA, which has 100,000 members and the only pinay president of a national labor union in the United States.

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Musings

Is excluding People of Color in favor of White Nationalism/Supremacy in America’s Future? Part VIII

On February 5, the U.S. Senate acquitted Donald Trump on impeachment charges of “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress.” Acquittal may have slowed but does not end my optimism on future reductions of People of Color assaults by Trump and his White Nationalism/Supremacy followers. Although the president immediately claimed he was exonerated, acquittal does not mean he is exonerated or innocent.  According to the Cornell University Law School regarding civil law, acquittal means that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt; civil cases have a lower burden of proof than criminal cases. Conclusion: Trump was not exonerated nor was he found innocent of the charges.

Acquittal does not erase the impeachment charges.  Trump is “Forever an Impeached President”, joining disgraced Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton as the only presidents in the 227-year history of the United States of America to be impeached.

Regardless, the president chooses to ignore the Constitution and continues to speak about his exoneration. So what are concerned citizens to do?  I continue to believe in America’s democratic system. So I strongly suggest:

Register to vote and cast your vote against Trump and his administration in November.

Another significant development during the Senate impeachment trial was the following pronouncement by the President’s attorney, Alan Dershowitz:  “…one must have committed a crime to be impeached.”  This is contrary to the long-standing interpretation of the Constitution that impeachment can only occur because of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

International support for the American president remains its highest in the Philippines, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. The Philippines showed the most positive view of the U.S. president among 32 countries surveyed.  The survey has caused me to wonder, “Do Filipinos in America share a similar high level support for Trump?”

Did You Know?

McConnell Stalls 275 Senate Bills

Speaker Nancy Polosi recently reported 275 bi-partisan bills passed by the House have sat idly on Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk.  He has refused to move them for a vote.  The bills include voting rights, gun control, climate change, and reducing the cost of prescriptions.

Filipino American Museum in Stockton, Funding Countdown – now 1 year, 9 months with no action

When will the Board of Trustees, Filipino American National Historical Society – who has program and fiduciary responsibility – provide critically needed financing to assure keeping open the FANHS Museum in Stockton, the historic center of Filipino immigration?