Bridge Generation News

Personality of the Month:  Alfred Baguio, 88:  

I first met Al in 1952 soon after I was honorably discharged from four years in the U.S. Navy.  Al, who earned all-league honors as a speedy basketball guard with Salinas High School, was now starting for the Livingston Filipino American Youth Association Dragons — then the dominant team in California’s Filipino Youth Club basketball circuit.  The Dragons’ dominance was a far cry from its 1948 inception when it was a perennial loser. Its current success was due to the addition of taller talented players.  Besides Al, the team now featured Livingston area Filipino Americans: high-scoring  Hank Dacuyan, passing wizard Sonny Pomicpic, Flo Hipolito and David Galanida forwards; rebounding ace Patrick Alcordo and six footer Fred Pomicpic centers; and guards Apollo Bacaylan, George Jamero, and Albert Lomoljo.  Out-of-area teammates were forwards Don Del Pilar of San Francisco and Art Villarruz from San Jose, center Fred DeLeon also of San Jose, and Vallejo’s Joe Muca guard.  Friendly with an understated sense of humor, Al fit in well with the Dragons as he also teamed with Joe to form the fastest pair of guards in Filipino youth basketball.

Al was born on January 20, 1935 in Salinas CA — the fourth of six children of Filipino immigrants Casiano Baguio from Siquijor and Isabel Sanches of Cebu.  Salinas — known as “America’s Salad Bowl — was and continues to be a lettuce-growing  center.  During the 1920-30s, drawn to the area by the need for stoop labor to harvest lettuce, Salinas boasted one of the largest Filipino populations in the nation; included were Al’s sakada (to rise/climb up) parents who came to Salinas via Hawaii’s sugar plantations.  Like many Bridge Generation youth of the times, Al also toiled in the fields on weekends and summer vacations.

Al’s parents encouraged their children to speak English and become educated in integrating into America.  Following his 1952 high school graduation, a year at Hartnell College was followed by being drafted into the army during the Korean War.  His two-year military stint was spent in Germany where he was able to tour the country and England.  After earning an Associate of Arts degree at Hartnell, Al went to work as a Probation Officer for Monterey County.  From Probation Officer, he soon rose in the ranks of the department — Assistant Superintendent of Juvenile Hall and Assistant Superintendent of Boys Ranch.  However, his assistant superintendent position was subsequently eliminated by the county because of California’s Proposition 13, which reduced property tax rates — a major source of funding for county programs.  Consequently, Al’s job was reduced to Probation Officer III.

The Probation Department’s reduction-in-force turned out to be fortuitous as it enabled Al to complete his education.  He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology at San Jose State University in 1968 and a Master’s in Justice Administration at Golden Gate College in San Francisco in 1978.  The most fortuitous Probation Department development, however, was when Al met co-worker Christy Belvail.  After a brief courtship, they were married on February 1, 1954 at picturesque Mission San Juan Bautista.  Their marriage produced three children of whom they are most proud: Nicholas, supervisor in a computer firm; Stephanie, a paralegal; and Nathan, senior vice president in a transportation company.

Al retired in 1991 after 34 years with the Probation Department.  He and Christy live quietly in the same house in Salinas they have occupied for decades. In grateful appreciation to the community that has been home for his family for almost a hundred years, Al became increasingly involved in the broader Salinas community including: Member, Monterey County Grand Jury; President, Monterey County Historical Society; and President, Monterey Bay Chapter, Filipino American National Historical Society.

Passings:

Dolores (Ladaga) Abasolo, 82, died on December 23 at her home in Salida CA from the lingering effects of diabetes and a serious automobile accident.  The eighth of ten siblings, she was the last of her family to pass away. After graduating from Livingston High School in 1959, she attended community college in San Jose.  She then went to work for the Santa Clara County Probation Department, was promoted to an administrative position, and remained there until her retirement in 1996.  In 1991 Dolores was a founding member of the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society.  She is survived by daughter Gina Abasolo; grandchildren Joseph and Sheila Abasolo; and great grandchildren Nicholas, Valen, and Skylin Abosolo-Vega.  Blessed with a positive demeanor and a great sense of humor, she will be missed by her many relatives and friends………….. Two Bridge Generation Filipino Americans of pioneer Stockton families passed away in December. From a family of ten siblings, Phyllis (Cano) Ente, 90, died on December 4.  A longtime employee of the Stockton Unified School District, she is survived by her husband of 73 years, Demetrio Ente Jr., seven children, ten grandchildren, and eleven great grandchildren.  One of thirteen children, Fedencio “Dentoy” Revillar, 88, passed away on December 27.  He and his wife of 60 years, Irene (Estante) Revillar, are survived by four children, ten grandchildren, and thirteen great grandchildren. He was a well-known Grandmaster of Escrima (Filipino martial arts)………….. Leonardo (Andy) Suan, 91, of Hayward CA passed away on January 16.  One of seven children from his native Hawaii, Andy moved to Hayward as a teenager, served in the Korean War as a reconnaissance sergeant, and later worked as a sheet metal welder. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, the former Connie Adlao, three children, six grandchildren, eight great grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.

Oops:

Regarding the Mike Nisperos story in my January blog: wife Eleanor was the first in the family to pass the bar — not Mike.

Happy February Birthdays:

Carlene (Sobrino) Bonnivier, Laura (Cabanero) Ente, Fred Campano, Lydia (Antiporda) Galian, Gloria (Carido) Nomura, Marya (Castillano) Bergstrom, Bob Flor, Lillian Galedo, Vince Gomez, Cris Krisologo, Dorothy (Laigo) Cordova, Dan Poland, Rosalie (Salutan) Marquez, Joyce (Tibon) Balandra.

Pinakbet — News Across America

Filipino American Historical Tidbits:

In Hawaii on September 9, 1924, 16 Filipino farm labor strikers led by Pablo Manlapit, were killed and buried in an unmarked grave in Hanapepe, Kauai. Subsequently, Manlapit was jailed and deported while strikers were blacklisted, resulting in the migration of many Filipinos to the American mainland.

Did You Know:

Tabasa Gardens is the name of a 53-unit low-income family housing development that recently broke ground in Watsonville CA. Named after  community leader Rosita Tabasa, this will be the first naming of  buildings recognizing a Filipino/a contributor to Watsonville’s history.

Musings

White Supremacy in America, (to) It Has Always Been About People of Color, (to) Equitable Justice for People of Color, (to) Multi-racial Democracy Weakened, Part XXXII:

Since People of Color are often targeted, last month’s column discussed whether mass shootings have become normalized.  Mass shootings are just one example of political violence. Following are examples of political violence targeting members of the political structure:

• Violent threats on members of Congress increased from 3,939 in 2017 to 9,625 in 2021.
• Death threats against two black Georgia poll workers, 62-year old Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, on December 2020.
• The January 6, 2021 failed coup on the nation’s capitol by insurrectionists that killed seven persons.
• Violent threats by Republican Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert against House colleagues in 2022.
• The October 28, 2022 hammer assault by David DePape on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi‘s husband, Paul Pelosi. 
• The unannounced dumping of several busloads of migrants at Vice President Kamala Harris‘s home on December 24, 2022.
• The January 16, 2023 arrest of election denier Solomon Pena in New Mexico for paying four men to shoot at the homes of several  Democratic elected officials.

Breaking News:

As this blog was being finalized, three more senseless mass gun shootings were committed.  The first was the evening of January 21 at the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park (pop. 59,667 — 65% Asian American Pacific Islander).  Huu Can Tran, 72, shot and killed 11 fellow AAPIs including a Filipino (Valentino Alvero), and injured 9 AAPI senior citizens at a dance studio. Twenty minutes later Tran entered another  dance studio in the city of Alhambra intent on shooting more persons.  There, ticket taker Brandon Tsay wrestled him to the ground, took away his modified firearm, and forced him to flee.  The gunman, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot the next afternoon. Motivation for the murders is undetermined.  The shootings occurred just a block away from where the Lunar New Year Festival, which drew thousands, was celebrated a few hours earlier.

Two days later in Half Moon Bay, 30 miles south of San Francisco, another gunman murdered seven farmworkers in two locations.  The first site was at a mushroom farm and the other near a trucking facility.  Like the Monterey Park incident the gunman, Chunli Zhao, 67, was elderly and carried a semi-automatic handgun.  Unlike Monterey Park, however, the victims were Latino as well as AAPI.  Motive is yet to be determined.  Zhao was taken into custody after he was found in his car in the parking lot of the sheriff’s office substation — presumably to turn himself in.

A few hours after the Half Moon Bay murders, a shootout police believed to be gang-related killed an 18 year old and injured four others at a music video filming in Oakland.

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