Mayor London Breed leads celebration
Philippine Consul General Neil Ferrer joined Mayor London Breed and the Filipino American Community in the 18th annual official celebration of Filipino American History Month in the city and county of San Francisco early this month. The event was hosted by the Golden State Warriors’ Filipino American “hype man” Franco Finn and NBC Bay Area reporter Ginger Conejero-Saab.
During the program at the City Hall’s famed rotunda, Ferrer expressed his gratitude to Mayor Breed, the board of supervisors, and the city and county government for recognizing the “significant contributions of the Filipino American Community in the city, including the recent appointment of lawyer Kevin Benedicto as the city’s first Filipino American Police Commissioner.” Ferrer also paid tribute to the Filipino American healthcare workers and first responders who served on the frontlines of the pandemic.
The Philippine consul general also said that he looks forward to the “revitalization of our longstanding economic, cultural, and people-to-people ties through the Manila-San Francisco sister city relations” following the election last May of the Philippine capital’s first woman mayor, Dr. Honey Lacuna.
During the celebration, Mayor Breed presented her proclamation of October 2022 as Filipino American History Month in San Francisco, citing the city’s longstanding history of openness and respect for people of all backgrounds and celebrating the history of the Filipino American. The proclamation was presented to executive director Cecilia Gaerlan of Bataan Legacy Historical Society and executive director Eleanore Fernandez of Manilatown Heritage Foundation, in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Fall of Bataan and the Bataan Death March and the 45th year of the International Hotel eviction, which effectively dissolved the erstwhile Manilatown in the city’s downtown district, respectively.
The proclamation of October 2022 as Filipino American History Month in San Francisco celebrates the history of the Filipino American.
Filipino American History Awards were also given to exceptional Filipino American leaders in San Francisco, including Simon Timony of Advocates 11 (Emerging Leader Award), Edwin Lozada of the Philippine American Writers and Artists (Community Champion Award), and Bernadette Sy of the Filipino American Development Foundation (Trailblazer Award).
Young Filipino American leader Carla Laurel, executive director of the West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Center, the oldest non-profit corporation in Northern California, keynoted the celebration with a special tribute to the West Bay mothers.
The event also showcased Filipino American performing artist Ruby Ibarra, Filipino cultural groups Kulintang Dialect and Parangal Dance Company, as well as a pop-up exhibition of Philippine-based baybayin artist Taipan Lucero whose “CalligraFilipino” art exhibit at the consulate has been extended until end of October.
The year 2022 marks 435 years since Filipinos first set foot on the shores of continental US with the arrival of Filipino sailors in Morro Bay, California on Oct. 18, 1587 onboard the Spanish galleon ship Nuestra Señora de Esperanza. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the first Filipino American History Month celebration in the country, through the initiative of the Seattle-based Filipino American National Historical Society.
Images courtesy of San Francisco Philippine Consul General.