• PETER’S PINOY PATTER: January 2024 (Revised)

    / December 25, 2023

    HAPPY NEW YEAR

    Bridge Generation News

    BG Personality of the Month, Arthur Bigornia, 81, Surprise AZ:

    I met Art at the first Young Filipino People’s Convention in Seattle in 1971.  The convention, attended by more than 300 young pinoys/pinays, is considered to be the beginning of the nation’s Filipino American movement. It featured presentations by labor leader Larry Itliong, journalist/historian Fred Cordova, and activist Rodel Rodis on farm labor movements, ethnic identity, and civil rights, respectively.  Art was part of a sizable delegation from Vallejo and used the convention’s Seattle site to visit numerous relatives in the city.
    As Art and I chatted at the convention we found we knew of no other Filipino American employees of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (DHEW) in what the department described as “top-level technical and supervisory positions.”  We had benefited by a  DHEW policy that sought to employ more ethnic minorities in the department.  The policy, however, had mixed results.  While many ethnic minorities became employed in lower level positions, it failed to achieve the desired results for top level positions — Art and I are, at best, only among a tiny number Filipino Americans in DHEW top-level positions.
    Art started work at DHEW as a personnel clerk in 1963 and began a remarkable record of promotions — jumping eight pay grades in six years.  He attributed his rapid rise to taking basic courses while serving in the army, the education he received from Solano Junior College, and the strong support from a variety of immediate supervisors who recognized Art’s potential for greater responsibilities.  In addition,  recalled Art, “It was being in the right place at the right time.”
    Art was born on April 16 1942 in Seattle, the fifth of six children of Felipe Bigornia and the former Angela Floresca from the Ilocos, Philippines.  The family moved to San Francisco when Art was an infant. Shortly thereafter they moved thirty miles north to Vallejo.  In addition to boasting a large Filipino population, Vallejo was the home of the Mare Island naval base and shipyard.  During World War II, Mare island attracted thousands of new workers from across America, including hundreds of Filipinos who were able to leave farm and domestic work for better paying positions.
    The early 1950s were boom years for Filipino American Youth Clubs when clubs in Northern and Central California engaged in athletic competitions in basketball.  Art was elected as president of one of several youth clubs in Vallejo  — the Mabuhays.  Its team, however, was not the most competitive.  That distinction belonged to the ValPhi club whose players included older youth such as Joe and Burt Oriarte and University of Santa Clara star Eddie Chavez.  Although the Mabuhays was not of championship caliber, its greatest value for youth, according to Art, was providing opportunities to meet many young pinoys/pinays from other communities during basketball and softball tournaments and the popular dances that followed.
    Art’s marriage to Sylvia Montano of Stockton when they were in their teens ended in divorce. His subsequent marriage to Gina Anderson, a field manager with the Social Security Administration, is now in its 38th year.  The massive 1989 bay area earthquake shook their Foster City home and caused Art and Gina to question their future safety.  In 2002, after several more earthquakes that were minor they moved to quake-free Surprise AZ.
    In 1986 Art retired from federal government at the relatively early age of forty-four, having accumulated sufficient eligibility time from his  combined years in the U.S. Army and the government.  He may have been retired but he was not through working.  For the next eight years he worked as a consultant/investigator and another ten years with a company in Silicon Valley when high tech was in its infancy.
    Today, Art and Gina live happily in quake-free Arizona but are thankful to have survived the record setting heat that reached 54 straight days of 110 degrees or higher in the summer of 2023.
    Visit from “Young Turks”:
    Thirty-four years ago I left Seattle to accept a position in my native state of California and continue to live here in retirement.  On December 8, Sonny Tangalin, Tony Ogilvie, and Larry Flores — activist members of the 1970-80s “Filipino American Young Turks” (but today’s Old Turkeys)– paid another of their annual visits with me. Once again, we reminisced about the role the Young Turks played in helping bring the Filipino community into the socio-political mainstream of Seattle.  Once again, we paid homage to departed Young Turks — Bob Santos, Fred Cordova, Roy Flores, Terri Jamero, Dale Tiffany, and Father Harvey McIntyre.  Thanks Sonny, Tony, and Larry for continuing your annual visits.  I am touched.
    Passings:
    Paul Zamora Paular, 91, of Torrance CA passed away on December 13, the third of four sons of  Isaias “Paul” Zamora Paular and the former Felicidad Salcedo. He was predeceased by Rebecca, his wife of 48 years, and brothers Ray and Jerry.  He is survived by his  children — Anthony, Cynthia, and Dora Linda; and brother Cornelio.  Paul is best known as the manager of the structural analysis engineering team at Northrop Grumman in developing the B2 “Stealth” bomber.

    Oops:

    An earlier blog erroneously identified a New York City slashing victim as mentally disabled.  Your blogger apologizes for the mistake.

    Happy January Birthdays:

    Al Baguio, Frank Carido, Beverly (Daquioag) Ventura, Nina (Dublin) Gonzalez, Larry Flores, George Jamero,

    Pinakbet — News Across America

    Filipino American Historical Tidbits:

    May 14, 1903: President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated a monument in San Francisco’s Union Square to Admiral George Dewey’s victory in Manila Bay…………… May 22, 1945: The California Supreme Court decided in favor of Celestino Alfafara in affirming that a Filipino born in the Philippines during the Commonwealth is not an alien and is therefore allowed to purchase real estate in California. The decision paved the way for California Filipinos to legally own real property.  (Positively Filipino)

    Did You Know:

    Nate Robinson — at 5’6” one of the shortest players in National Basketball Association history — is the only three time winner of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, winning in 2006, 2009, and 2010.  His great, great, grandfather on his mother’s side was Filipino which makes Nate one-sixteenth Filipino.  To naysayers who may want to quibble — the late historian Fred Cordova always said, “If you have one drop of Filipino blood, you’re Filipino”………….. Jessica Cox, the world’s first armless pilot was a speaker in J.P. Morgan Chase’s eighth annual Women’ Leadership Day Conference on October 5.  The event brought together thousands of employees and clients in New York City as well as around the globe…………… Phoebe Cates, best known for her role In “Fast Times In Ridgemont High”, is married to Kevin Kline who starred in “A Fish Called Wanda” which won an Oscar.  (Wikipedia, personal documentation)

    Musings

    From 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, (to) Political/Gun Violence) Part XXXXIII.

    Breaking News!!!!  Section 3 of the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution states:

    No person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States … who, having previously taken an oath … as an officer of the United States … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

    On December 19, the Colorado Supreme Court declared ex-president Donald Trump ineligible to serve as president under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot.  The declaration is setting up a likely showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the front-runner for the GOP nomination can remain in the race. Colorado’s highest court overturned a ruling from a district court judge who found that Trump incited an insurrection for his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. (Denver Post)

    The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the president is an “officer” under the United States Constitution and that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment applies to the ex-president, reversing a ruling by a district court in November that Trump could appear on Colorado ballots for president despite engaging in insurrection on January 6, 2021. The Colorado Supreme Court ruling also affirmed Trump engaged in an  insurrection and that his actions on and leading up to January 6, 2021 are not protected by the First Amendment. Respected jurist  J. Michael Luttig, the prominent conservative legal scholar together with the liberal law professor Laurence Tribe, support Colorado’s position that the 14th Amendment disqualifies Trump from seeking a second term. (Associated Press)

    The Colorado ruling stands in contrast with several recent legal decisions on the matter.  Last month, a Minnesota Supreme Court decision said the state party can put anyone on its primary ballot. But the court said petitioners could try again in the context of the general election. In Michigan, the court of appeals decided just last week that it won’t stop Trump from appearing on the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot. (CBS News)

    Breaking News!!!! More drama — On December 28 the Maine Secretary of State also declared former President Donald Trump ineligible to serve as president under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot. (MSNBC)

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