PETER’S PINOY PATTER — JANUARY 2017
Musings
On Election Day, President-elect Trump vowed to be the president for all Americans. He also promised to carry out such populist campaign slogans as “to drain the swamp” and “to end establishment Washington”. There is little indication of these promises ever seeing the light of day; appointments he has made so far do not reflect those promises. His selections have worked on Wall Street, are connected to lobbyists, are major donors to Republicans, and are predominantly billionaires/millionaires and/or generals/admirals. Almost all have zero experience in government. Some have even vowed to eliminate or change the basic purpose of the departments to which they have been named — e.g. Trump chose a Secretary of Energy who wants to eliminate his department, nominated an Environmental Protection Agency head who does not believe in environmental protection, a Labor Secretary who is opposed to organized labor, and a Secretary of Education who wants to do away with public education. As disheartening, his Chief Strategist has ties to the White Supremacist Movement. And while Trump appointed a Chinese American, an African American, and a South Asian American, none have a strong record of civil rights nor experience in the area to which they were nominated. He has acted as if he has a strong mandate from the people even though he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million. For his top staff, Trump has assembled an anti-immigrant, racist, pro-corporate, inexperienced-in-government, all Republican team. These are the persons who are tasked to carry out the following Trump campaign promises — all of which will have a disproportionate impact on Filipino Americans and other persons of color: repeal the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare); deliver tax breaks to the wealthy at the expense of the poor, working people, and middle class; increase privatization in health and education programs (Social Security/MediCare/schools); rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act (DACA); cancel federal funding to sanctuary cities; deport 2 million alleged criminal illegal immigrants; go after visa over-stays; and suspend immigration from terror-prone world regions (Middle East/Philippines). On January 20, Trump will be inaugurated as the President of the United States. Will he be the president for all Americans or will he and his top staff carry out campaign promises that throw people of color “under the bus”? I wish I could be more optimistic.
Bridge Generation News
Family patriarch Robert “Bob” James San Jose, Jr., 82, of Seal Beach CA went home to the Lord on November 17, 2016. A lifelong resident of the Long Beach area, Bob was an all around athlete. He starred as an all-city high school running back in football, was a baseball teammate of the first Filipino American to play major league baseball (Cincinnati Reds outfielder Bobby Balcena), and played basketball with the Wilmington Papayas, a Filipino youth club. It was while he was playing with the Papayas in a Stockton tournament in the early 1950s when I first met him. We would not meet again until fifty years later when my late wife Terri and I were invited to the City of Industry to consult with Bob and other organizers of the first SoCal reunion of Bridge Generation Filipino Americans. I was to greatly appreciate the company of the friendly and outgoing Bob after he and his wife Janet became regulars at subsequent old-timer reunions. He had a successful career in wholesale electrical sales for 65 years. But it was with the sport of golf that Bob was best known — first as a player, then serving in leadership positions, and finally working on the rules committee on the national Professional Golf Association and the U.S. Golf Association. For his dedication to golf, he was inducted into the Long Beach Golf Hall of Fame…………..
James “Jimmy” Galanida, 82, passed away on November 21 in Clearwater FL. His love for life was ironically reflected on his last day on earth when he played a round of golf and enjoyed an evening of dancing. Born in Butte MT, he grew up and toiled in the agricultural fields of Salinas and Fremont CA. Jimmy, the oldest in a family of six children, and his siblings were the only cousins that I would know during my growing up years — not an unusual situation for Bridge Generation children of the times. Jimmy and his brother David Galanida were spiking stalwarts of the Fremont Bolos, a championship Filipino American youth club volleyball team. An air force veteran, he married the former Erleen Agraviador soon after his honorable discharge. In 1975 he moved to Clearwater where he remained for the remainder of his life. Memorial services for his Florida family and friends were held in December. An additional memorial is scheduled for California relatives and friends in January…………. So proud of my daughter-in-law Caryn Jamero who, along with two friends, drove from Seattle to North Dakota and back in November to bring critically needed supplies in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. For many months indigenous Native Americans, along with more than a thousand supporters, have been protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline construction that threatens the tribe’s drinking water and sacred burial grounds. While protesters have been non-violent, they have often been met by armed police using water cannons and wooden clubs in freezing bitter cold weather. Among the multi-ethnic protesters were Martin Willie Maze Aranaydo of Oakland and Barbara Mumby Huerta, formerly of Merced CA…………… During the holiday season, it is customary to hear many different vocal and instrumental groups singing and playing Christmas carols. It is unusual, however, for a performing group to consist entirely of ukuleles. So imagine my surprise that a roomful of ukulele players, the “Ukulele Strummers”, was featured at a Christmas show at Stockton’s Margaret Troke Library. I was doubly surprised to find an old friend, Corrine (Artiaga) Fontanilla, strumming along in the front row of the group……………. Thanks to fellow baseball fan, Bob Flor of Seattle, for the following Filipino American all-time, all-star major league team: Pitchers —Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants; Bobby Chouinard, Baltimore Orioles; Geno Espineli, San Francisco Giants; Brandon Villafuerte, Arizona Diamondbacks; Kyle Lohse, Milwaukee Brewers. Catcher — Travis d’Arnaud, New York Mets. Infielders — Chase d’Arnaud, Atlanta Braves; Addison Russell, Chicago Cubs; Jason Bartlett, Minnesota Twins; Tyler Saladino, Chicago White Sox. Outfielders — Bobby Balcena, Cincinnati Reds; Benny Agbayani, New York Mets; Chris Aguila, Florida Marlins…………. Happy January Birthdays to: Hank Dacuyan, Nina (Dublin) Gonzalez, George Ramirez, Beverly (Daquioag) Ventura, Larry Flores, George Jamero, Franklin Ladaga, Leatrice (Bantillo) Perez, Franklin Carido
Pinakbet News Across America
In Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown on November 22, vandals defaced a 21-year-old mural celebrating historical and multicultural elements of Filipino heritage. Ugly black graffiti spray was painted over a central portion of the massive outdoor acrylic painting titled Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana (A Glorious History, A Golden Legacy). The massive artwork depicts significant moments of Filipino and Filipino-American history. It was completed in 1995 by muralist Eliseo Silva, 30 years after Filipino and Mexican farm workers staged walkouts and demonstrations that ended the abuse of farm laborers in Central California. …………… On November 30 the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Congressional Gold Medal for Filipino and Filipino American World War II Veterans. The CGM along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom are the highest civilian awards in the country. Following the earlier unanimous approval by the Senate, the bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 15. The CGM recognizes soldiers who responded to President Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s call-to-duty and fought under the United States flag during World War II. They were promised military benefits, but that offer was heartlessly taken away by the Rescission Act of 1946.The medal honors the more than 260,000 Filipino and Filipino-American veterans of World War II, of which only 18,000 remain living (less than 7,000 in America). Major General Antonio Taguba (ret.), chairman of the Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project, led the successful nationwide CGM campaign…………….. Oops! Thanks to Cherie Querol Moreno, Executive Editor of Philippine News, who notified me that I omitted Glenn Acosta Sylvester as a newly elected member of the Daly City Council in my last blog. He joins fellow newly-elected Juslyn Manalo and incumbents Mike Guingona and Ray Buenaventura to form a Filipino American majority on the five member city council. Daly City CA (pop. 104,747) is believed to be the only American city of its size with a Filipino American majority city council……………. The first federal case for same sex marriage in 1975 involved a Filipino American. Richard Adams and his partner were issued a marriage certificate in Colorado. While their marriage was revoked in 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage in 2015 – three years after Adam’s death……….. Filipino American History Trivia: (1) Who was the first Filipino to be elected to a U.S. State Legislature? (2) All-pro quarterback Roman Gabriel was the first Filipino American to throw a touchdown pass in the National Football League in the early 1960s, but who was the last pinoy to do so? (3) In what California city and county is the only state highway stretch in the U.S. where an official state sign dedicates it to the local Filipino Community?
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