PETER’S PINOY PATTER — October 2021
Bridge Generation News
BG Personality of the Month — Leatrice “Letty” (Bantillo) Perez, 92: Letty was born on January 16, 1929 in Stockton CA to Philippine immigrants Anastacio Bantillo from Capiz Province, Panay Island and Virgilia Marella of Batangas Province on Luzon — the sixth of eight children.
Letty can be considered as an embodiment of typical Bridge Generation experiences in America. She: (1) Survived the Great Depression. (2) Lived through two wars (World War II and the Korean Conflict). (3) Worked as a farm laborer. (4) Participated in a Filipino youth club. (5) Endured racial discrimination before civil rights/affirmative action legislation. (6) Advocated equitability for all Filipinos.
Of her growing up years, she modestly described herself as being “dull and a square.” Regardless, she experienced many Bridge Generation watershed moments. She often served as chaperone for her older sisters when they were courted by middle-aged manongs. She watched her older sister and other young pinay contemporaries reluctantly compete for Queen in “social box” fund raisers. At the 1939 Good Friday Asparagus Strike by 7000 Filipino farm workers protesting harsh pay cuts, she helped her mother provide hot meals to strikers. On February 1942 following the attack on Pearl Harbor that began World War II, she sadly bid goodbye to Japanese American classmates forced to live out the war in remote “relocation” (aka concentration) camps. In support of the war effort in 1943, Letty was a member her church choir that helped the Caballeros Dimas Alang fraternal organization raise $10,000 in war bonds that paid for two fighter planes. In 1944, her brother — a sailor serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kwajalein — lost his life. The same year, along with other Filipino Youth Association members, she travelled to Fort Hunter Liggett to entertain soldiers of the First and Second Filipino Army Regiments. Letty also worked in the fields. But after toiling under Stockton’s hot sun and itching from peat dirt, Letty found weekend work waitressing at the Filipino-owned Lafayette Lunch Counter.
Discrimination also reared its ugly head for Letty at a young age. In 1942, her parents purchased a home at a white-only neighborhood only to be met by neighbors with petitions to have her family ousted. When Letty asked her mother why, she was told, “Some people are ignorant.” Her mother was right. After her mother developed a friendly relationship with the next-door neighbor, the now embarrassed neighbor sheepishly revealed all she previously knew about Filipinos were newspaper reports that the men “were dirty and liked white women.” Moreover, she remembered how Filipinos who strayed beyond Main Street — Stockton’s demarcation line dividing white neighborhoods from ethnic minorities –were routinely beat up by bat-carrying white men, placed in the notorious “Black Maria” paddy wagon by police, and jailed. When going to movies, Letty and her teenage friends were relegated to undesirable side sections; middle sections were whites-only.
In 1948, Letty married Filipino journalist Frank Perez. During their courtship, her strict father did not consider chaperoning was necessary for Letty as it was for her older sisters. Why? Because the affable Perez developed a close personal relationship with her father! Letty and Frank’s marriage produced three sons, five grandchildren, and four great grandchildren. With Frank, Letty co-authored “Filipinos in San Joaquin County” published in the Quarterly Journal of the San Joaquin Historical Review in 1994. Until Dawn Mabalon wrote “Little Manila is in the Heart” in 2013, the article was considered by many as the most important publication of the history of Filipinos in Stockton.
After graduating from Stockton High School and Delta College, Letty went to work at the newly established Sharpe Army Depot. She later transferred to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, rising to the position of Employee/Labor Relations Advisor. She retired in 1987 after more than 3o years of employment with EPA.
Much of Letty’s adult life has been spent working on behalf of the Filipino community and its interests. She is a long-time member of the Teodora Alonzo Lodge of the fraternal organization Legionarrios del Trabajo, serving as secretary for 18 years. In 1993 she joined the newly organized FANHS Stockton Chapter, serving several terms as president and secretary. In 2003 she testified before the City Council as part of community efforts to save the last three remaining Little Manila business establishments that were demolished by urban redevelopment. She currently is a board member of the FANHS Museum in Stockton.
Although disabled and a wheelchair user, Letty remains busy. Thanks to zooming, she continues to be involved in the Filipino community, often participating in virtual meetings. As the matriarch of the large Bantillo clan, she regularly attends family gatherings. And, as the only surviving charter member of Trinity Presbyterian Church (formerly the Filipino Christian Fellowship/Lighthouse Mission of Little Manila), she remains active spiritually.
Happy October Birthdays: Abe Amen, Angie (Castro) Gamido, Helen (Galanida) Agraviador, Luna Jamero, Barbara Posadas, Delia Rapolla, Art Suguitan, Andres “Sonny Tangalin, Josie (Tenio) Canion, Don Velez, Connie (Viernes) Pasquil.
Pinakbet — News Across America
Filipino American History Tidbits:
On October 18, 1587, the first Filipinos to set foot on what is now the continental United States were two Filipino crewmen — part of a landing party from the Spanish galleon “Nuestra Senora de Esperanza” commanded by Pedro de Unamuno that entered Morro Bay. The landing party was attacked by hostile Indians, killing one Filipino crewman. Fast forward to October 21, 1995 — a marker commemorating the historical event was dedicated in Coleman Park at the foot of historic Morro Rock by members of FANHS’ Central Coast Chapter. Chapter President Ernie Cabreana read the marker’s inscription before more than 500 FANHS members who came from the far reaches of America to witness the dedication.
Did You Know:
Mona (Pasquil) Rogers of Walnut Grove CA has amassed an impressive record of “Filipino Firsts.” For five months beginning in November 2009, she served as Lieutenant Governor of the State of California. From 2011-2019 during the administration of California governor Jerry Brown, she worked as his Appointments Secretary — responsible for recruiting top-tier candidates to help the governor build his administration. Currently, Mona is Corporate Vice President for Facebook…………. The mother of Laylah Fernandez, the Filipina Canadian teenager who came within an eyelash of winning the U.S. Women’s Tennis Open in New York City on September 11, worked in the United States for three years to provide financial support towards Layla’s tennis career…………. 
Kataluna Enriquez, became the first openly transgender woman to win the Miss Nevada title. She will be competing in the Miss USA pageant in November…………. Marshawn Lynch, the former “beast mode” of Seattle Seahawks fame, is opening a Hawaiian/Filipino sports themed restaurant in Portland OR called BEAST. Many of BEAST’s dishes will draw inspiration from Lynch’s Filipina grandmother, who raised him in Oakland CA’s cultural melting pot………………. Stephanie (Tamayo) Rivera was a point guard for the University of California, Berkeley “Golden Bears” women’s basketball team in the early 1980s. While at UC Berkeley she met and married Ron Rivera, head coach of the Washington Football Team (nee Redskins)…………. Seattle’s fine dining destination “Canlis” hired Aisha Ibrahim to take the reins as head chef. She is the seventh executive chef and the first female executive chef in the 70-year history of the posh restaurant.
Musings
September 11, Twenty Years Later — This is not the America I remember:
Like many of you, I relived the horror of September 11’s 20th anniversary on television. At the same time, I was also gratified to hear many speakers compare Americans coming together in the immediate aftermath of 2001 to today’s widespread disunity and animus towards others with whom they disagree. Particularly impressive among the 9/11 anniversary speakers was former president George W. Bush. Without specifically citing the January 6 Insurrection or the twice impeached ex-president, Bush compared “violent extremists at home” to the foreign terrorists who hijacked three planes on September 11, 2001 that crashed into New York City, Arlington VA, and Shanksville, PA — killing nearly 3,000 people.
While I commend former president Bush, I also cannot help remembering how Americans pulled together for four years during World War II after Pearl Harbor was attacked. Men, young and middle-aged, rushed to enlist in the armed forces; women worked in non-traditional jobs, such as riveting; families grew “Victory Gardens”; homes proudly displayed blue or gold star banners indicating a family member in military service or killed in action; civilians, without objection, accepted mandatory food and gasoline rationing; and children collected scrap metal and other scarce items. (As for me, I faithfully balled together foil from discarded cigarette packages at our campo.)
Today, Americans face other major threats — Covid variants, climate change, domestic terrorism, authoritarian countries that wish to do us harm. Today, Americans cannot disagree without resorting to hatred or violence. Today, we tend to forget ethnic and religious diversity. Today, we are hopelessly polarized. Today, states are introducing anti-civil rights and voter suppression legislation. Today, like the former president, I do not have ready-made answers. But to paraphrase the former president — This is not the America I remember!
It Has Always Been About People of Color:
Regarding the Administration’s inept actions and inactions in its handling of the Haitian refugee crisis at Del Rio TX, I ask, “Would it be different if the refugees were white?”
OCTOBER IS FILIPINO AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH
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