Bridge Generation News

BG PERSONALITY OF THE MONTH, CONNIE (VIERNES) PASQUIL, 87.

Our personable Personality of the Month has lived in the California Delta and its environs virtually all her life – “A Delta Girl.”  Connie was born in Walnut Grove CA on October 16, 1933, the oldest child of Augustin and Fortunato Viernes, immigrants from Siquijor, Philippines. She was delivered by mid-wife Felisa Lapineg, who brought many Filipino babies into the world as was often the practice during the Great Depression years.

Life was not easy during the Depression years for Connie and her younger brother, Manuel, as they frequently migrated with their parents in their search for work.  Once, the family had to live in the tack room of a horse stable.  Following their parent’s divorce, the two children lived in a room above a Walnut Grove grocery store while their mother found occasional farm work.

In 1941 her mother married Celedonio Olaivar who moved the family up the road to Vallejo where he was employed at the Mare Island Ship Yard – then bustling with World War II ship building/maintenance. Their prefabricated government home at Carquinez Heights was also home for other Filipino families — the first time Connie was around kids her own age that looked like her and talked in her Cebuano dialect.  Her elementary school was the largest school she ever attended compared with the one/two-room Delta schools.  After their move to Woodland, the family increased to six children with the addition of twins Lucille and Lorraine, Danny, and Leonora.

Following her freshman year at Courtland High School, her stepfather and two of his kababayans opened a grocery store in Sacramento.  Connie, now a vivacious dalaga, graduated from Sacramento High School and went on to earn an Associate of Arts degree in business from  City College. Armed with her AA, she obtained a job with California State government where she worked for 26 years.

In 1960 Connie married Kansas native Cornelio “Corney” Pasquil, a social worker by day and an accomplished jazz pianist by night.  What followed were perhaps the most exciting years of her life.  In rapid succession came five children and a move to Wilmington, Delaware while Corney earned a Masters of Social Work degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Following two years in Delaware, the Pasquil family moved back to Sacramento.  By a happy coincidence, they settled near my family in South Sacramento. My wife, Terrie, and I grew even closer to Corney and lifetime friend Connie.  We became kumpadre/kumadre, hosted many fun parties, and occasionally drove to South Lake Tahoe NV to try our luck.

Connie and Corney were well known to the Filipino community, especially with the “Siquijor Protective Association” for which Connie is its longest serving President.  With the death of Corney in 2012, the family established the “Pasquil Family Foundation” in his memory.  Its main activity, the “Lugaw Program”, provides hot breakfasts for 700 children at her ancestral home of Siquijor Philippines.

She is most proud of her children: Mona Rogers, former top aide to California Governor  Jerry Brown and currently a Facebook executive; Gabriella “Gigi” Ferarri, stay-at-home Mom; Cornelio Jr. “Corky”, CEO of MyBarong.com; Danny, District Director, U.S. Department of Labor; and Cris, high school history teacher.  In return, her children have blessed her with six beautiful grandchildren.

Today in retirement, the “Delta Girl” says,

“Life is good.  It’s familiar in the Delta….all roads lead to Walnut Grove and family.”

 

Did you Know?

Tireless Mike Nisperos, who has held a number of high profile positions in his illustrious career, came out of retirement to serve as Commissioner of the Civil Service Commission in his new hometown of Vallejo CA.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy May Birthdays:

• Bernie Cantil
• Jeannette (Castillano) Tiffany
• Jose Fidel
• Plorenze “Jack” Hipolito
• Irene (Plaza) Edralin
• Walter Yuponco

 

Musings

Impacts of COVID-19

(The virus is on the mind of everyone, including Filipino Americans.  Since Trump’s daily briefings and other pandemic news occurs at unprecedented speeds, it is impossible to provide  detailed news.  Consequently, rather than describe Trump’s “fake news” at his daily briefings, this blog will only  report real news.  Coronavirus is also having a hugely disproportionate impact on Persons Of Color. Beginning with this issue, this blog will focus on COVID-19’s impact on POC, esp. Filipino Americans.) 

 

Disproportionate Impacts on Persons of Color:

In New York City, the epicenter of the virus, infection/death rates for blacks are reported to be 4-5 times more than whites with Latinos not far behind. Chicago reported that black communities represented about 2/3 of coronavirus deaths — despite being only about 1/3 of the population.  While statistical data is not available for Filipino Americans, anecdotal accounts demonstrate similar disproportions.

The impact of COVID-19 on Persons of Color, however, is not top of the mind for most Americans. Why? POC health issues have been grossly unreported. National statistics are not usually available.  If available, they usually are not adequately reported by the media   Even when health statistics indicate ethnic minorities are disproportionally represented, the implication is that it is somehow the fault of POC.  Rarely considered are socio-economic factors such as health consequences of poverty, access issues, multi-generational living, lack of insurance, etc.  These issues also impact Filipino Americans.  However, Filipino Americans have additional predisposing factors. They predominate among healthcare personnel and, like many Persons of Color, are over represented among those in food related jobs.

General Impacts:

• April 16 At the launching of the federal government’s Guidelines, Donald Trump surprisingly backed off from virtually all of his controversial positions as the Guidelines reflected support for a science-based approach in reopening the economy.
• April 17 However, Trump revealed his true intent — reopen the economy, even in the absence of widespread testing. Testing is the only way to determine the extent to which COVID-19 exists.  But only less than 2% Americans were tested by the end of April.
• April 18 Trump declared states, not the federal government, had the lead role in procuring testing, associated agents, and materials.
• April 19 Governors were unified in voicing their disagreement with Trump, declaring coordination tasks are constitutionally the responsibility of the federal government.
• April 21 Trump and Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York agreed to a partnership arrangement whereby the federal government is  responsible for a national/international supply chain to support testing by the state.
• April 23 At his daily virus TV briefing, Trump suggested injecting disinfectants into humans to get rid of coronavirus!
• April 24 The president chose not to take questions. So rather than the usual 2-plus hours, the briefing was the briefest ever.
• April 25 Some (mostly Republican) states announced plans to reopen their economies despite inadequate testing. In related news epidemiologists declared, “If Trump dealt with COVID-19 two weeks earlier, it would have prevented 90% of ensuing deaths.”
• April 25-27 Trump did not schedule COVID-19 briefings, presumably due to his widely refuted comments regarding injecting disinfectants into the human body.
• April 27 After cancelling the daily briefing, a later briefing was quickly scheduled with corporate executives engaged in producing testing materials.  In Dr. Anthony Fauci‘s absence,  Dr. Deborah Birx was the only scientist present.
• April 28 In Jan/Feb, Trump ignored 16 COVID-19 warnings by the Intelligence Council in its Presidential Daily Briefing Book.
• April 29 Dr. Fauci announced that preliminary trial results of the remdesivir drug showed a 31% faster recovery time for patients.

As a “Concerned for America” citizen, following are my humble comments:

• Quell the COVID-19 crisis first; public health will result in economic health.
• Keep stay-at-home strategies in place; only reopen the economy when it is scientifically supported.
• Coronavirus will not be resolved until widespread testing is completed and a vaccine, estimated for 2021, is found.
• Trump should stop using the daily briefings as campaign opportunities.
• Trump should stop blaming others for bad news while taking credit for good news.
• Trump should stop rewriting COVID-19’s history through constant lies, half-truths, and misrepresentations.
• The COVID-19 crisis is not a time to play politics versus life. As Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

 

 Pinakbet — News Across America

A New Beginning for the Filipino American Museum In Stockton (FAMIS)

After almost two years of frustratingly unsuccessful appeals to the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) Board of Trustees for program direction and funding, there has been a breakthrough. The FAMIS Museum Board, using its own 501(c)(3) non-profit authority, recently voted to become independent of FANHS.  Rather than waiting for FANHS to act, the Museum can now make its own decisions.

Not the Expensive Cognac

Meet Remy Martin, 6 foot basketball guard of the Arizona State Sun Devils. The Pac-12’s second-leading scorer at 19.1 points per game, Martin is a front-runner for conference player of the year.

Seattle’s Oriental Mart

Seattle’s Oriental Mart, a Pike Place Market eatery famous for its inexpensive Filipino food, is about to get busier. It won a prestigious James Beard Foundation “America’s Classics Award” on February 18. Owner Mila Apostol opened Oriental Mart as a grocery store in 1971 and added the 18-seat eatery in 1979.

 

 

 

Director for COVID-19

On March 22 Washington Governor Jay Inslee named retired  Vice Admiral Raquel C. Bono as director of COVID-19 Health System Response Management. Bono will advise the governor on actions needed to address the state’s capacity to deal with its health care system.