Timeliness in Filipino-American Relations in US

Obama and his Immigration Reform
Do you know that the first Filipinos in North America landed in Morro Bay near San Luis Obispo, California in 1587? The following are historic timeliness in Philippines-American History. Note the dates are up only up to 2006. Do you know of another historic event on Filipino-American relationships from 2006 to the present? Please add your comment to the following listing.

1587, first Filipinos in North America landed in Morro Bay near San Luis Obispo, California
1763, first permanent Filipino settlements established in North America near Barataria Bay in southern Louisiana
1781, Antonio Miranda Rodriguez chosen a member of the first group of settlers to establish the City of Los Angeles, California
1898, United States annexes the Philippines
1899, Philippine-American War begins
1903, first Pensionados, Filipinos invited to attend college in the United States on American government scholarships, arrive
1906, first Filipino laborers migrate to the United States to work on the Hawaiian sugarcane and pineapple plantations, California and Washington asparagus farms, Washington lumber, Alaska salmon canneries
1920s, Filipino labor leaders organize unions and strategic strikes to improve working and living conditions
1933, California Civil Code, section 60, amended to prohibit marriages between between white persons and members of the Malay race (i.e. Filipinos). (Stats. 1933, p. 561.)
1936, Philippines becomes self-governing. Commonwealth of the Philippines inaugurated
1939, Washington Supreme Court rules unconstitutional the Anti-Alien Land Law of 1937 which banned Filipino Americans from owning land
1946, Philippines becomes independent. Republic of the Philippines inaugurated; America Is in the Heart by Carlos Bulosan published
1955, Peter Aduja becomes first Filipino American elected to office becoming a member of the Hawai'i State House of Representatives
1956, Bobby Balcena becomes first Filipino American to play Major League baseball, for the Cincinnati Reds
1965, Congress passes Immigration and Nationality Act to facilitate ease of entry for skilled Filipino laborers
1965, Delano grape strike begins when members of Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, mostly Filipino farm workers in Delano, California walked off the farms of area table grape growers demanding wages on level with the federal minimum wage. Labor leader Philip Vera Cruz subsequently served as second vice president and on the managing board of the United Farm Workers.
1974, Benjamin Menor appointed first Filipino American in a state's highest judiciary office as Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court
1975, Governor John A. Burns (D-HI) convinces Benjamin J. Cayetano to run and win a seat in the Hawaii State Legislature, despite Cayetano's doubts about winning office in a white and Japanese American dominated district; Kauai's Eduardo E. Malapit elected first Filipino American mayor
1981. Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes were both assassinated on June 1, 1981 inside a Seattle downtown union hall. The late Philippine Dictator Ferdinand Marcos hired gunmen to murder both ILWU Local 37 officers to silence the growing movement in the United States opposing the dictatorship in the Philippines.
1987, Benjamin J. Cayetano becomes the first Filipino American and second Asian American elected Lt. Governor of a state of the Union
1990, David Mercado Valderrama becomes first Filipino American elected to a state legislature on the mainland United States serving Prince George's County in Maryland
1991, Seattle's Gene Canque Liddell becomes first Filipino American woman to be elected mayor serving the suburb of Lacey City
1992, Velma Viloria becomes first Filipino American and first Asian American elected to the Washington State Legislature
1993, Mario R. Ramil appointed Associate Justice to the Hawai'i Supreme Court, the second Filipino American to reach the court
1994, Benjamin J. Cayetano becomes the first Filipino American and second Asian American elected Governor of a state of the Union
1999, US Postal worker Joseph Ileto murdered in a hate crime by Aryan Nations member Buford Furrow
2000, Robert Bunda elected Hawai'i Senate President and Simeon R. Acoba, Jr. appointed Hawai'i State Supreme Court Justice
2003, Philippine Republic Act No. 9225, also known as the Citizenship Retention and Re-Acquisition Act of 2003 enacted, allowing natural-born Filipinos naturalized in the United States and their unmarried minor children to reclaim Filipino nationality and hold dual citizenship
2006, Congress passes legislation that commemorates the 100 Years of Filipino Migration to the United States
I would be delighted to see a Filipino-American in Obama's cabinet as well as in several Federal Offices in Washington, D.C soon or perhaps after the 2012 election, if he gets reelected.

Filipino Immigrants in US

This week, my curiosity was aroused when my next door neighbor ( white Anglo-Saxon ancestry) asked me, how many Filipino-Americans are now residing in US. I was not able to answer him, so I told him I do some google search on it. I ask him why he asks the question. He replied, that last month he was in Daly City, CA at the mall. He observed that about 90% of the shoppers were Filipino-looking. That day, he was also invited by his Filipino-American friend to their house in Hercules, CA. About 75%of the residents in Hercules are Filipino-American according to his friend.

The following article "Filipino Immigrants in the United States" is by Aaron Terrazas and Jeanne Batalova of the Migration Policy Institute dated April, 2010

The United States is home to about 1.7 million Filipino immigrants, making them the second-largest immigrant group in the United States after Mexican immigrants.

The Filipino immigrant population grew rapidly during the 1970s and 1980s and has continued to grow (although at a slightly slower pace) since then. In addition, the United States is home to about 1.4 million native-born US citizens who claim Filipino ancestry.

Heavily concentrated in the western United States, the Filipino born account for almost half of all immigrants in Hawaii (for more information on immigrants by state, please see the ACS/Census Data tool on the MPI Data Hub). Compared to other immigrant groups, Filipinos are better educated than the immigrant population overall, and Filipino immigrant women are more likely than other immigrant women to participate in the civilian labor force.

This spotlight focuses on Filipino immigrants residing in the United States, examining the population's size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics using data from the US Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey (ACS) and 2000 Decennial Census, and the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS) for 2008.

Size and Distribution

•There were about 1.7 million foreign born from the Philippines residing in the United States in 2008.
•Nearly half of the Filipino born resided in California.
•The Filipino born accounted for a large share of all immigrants in Western states.
•Between 2000 and 2008, three states saw the size of their Filipino immigrant population grow by 25,000 people or more.
•More than one-third of Filipino immigrants resided in three metropolitan areas.
•Filipinos were two of every five immigrants in Honolulu.
•There were 2.9 million members of the Filipino diaspora residing in the United States in 2008, including 1.4 million native-born US citizens of Filipino ancestry.
Demographic and Socioeconomic Overview
•Over one-quarter of all Filipino foreign born in the United States arrived in 2000 or later.
•Almost two-thirds of Filipino immigrants in 2008 were adults of working age.
•Filipino immigrant women outnumbered men in 2008.
•Filipino immigrants were much more likely than other immigrant groups to be naturalized US citizens.
•Less than one-third of Filipino immigrants in 2008 were limited English proficient.
•A minority of limited English proficient Filipinos did not speak Tagalog, one of the national languages of the Philippines.
•Over three-quarters of Filipino foreign-born adults had some college education or higher. •Filipino immigrant women were more likely to participate in the civilian labor force than foreign-born women overall.
•Almost one-third of employed Filipino-born men worked in health-care support or in construction, extraction, and transportation.
•Nearly one of every four employed Filipino-born women worked as a registered nurse.
•Filipino immigrants were far less likely to live in poverty than other immigrant groups.
•Filipino immigrants were more likely than other immigrants to own their own home, but they were also more likely to have a mortgage.
•One in 10 Filipino immigrants did not have health insurance.
•About 87,000 Filipino immigrants have served in the US Armed Forces.
Legal and Unauthorized Filipino Immigrant Population
•The Filipino foreign born accounted for about 4.5 percent of all lawful permanent residents living in the United States in 2008.
•More than half a million Filipinos gained lawful permanent residence in the United States between 1999 and 2008.
•Over half of Filipino-born lawful permanent residents in 2008 were admitted as the immediate relatives of US citizens.
•Filipino-born lawful permanent residents made up 3.7 percent of all those eligible to naturalize as of 2008.
•In 2009, 2 percent of all unauthorized immigrants in the United States were from the Philippines.
•The number of unauthorized immigrants from the Philippines increased by one-third between 2000 and 2009.

Definitions
The US Census Bureau defines the foreign born as individuals who had no US citizenship at birth. The foreign-born population includes naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees and asylees, legal nonimmigrants (including those on student, work, or certain other temporary visas), and persons residing in the country without authorization.

The terms foreign born and immigrant are used interchangeably. Here's an interesting video about Filipino-Americans.



Addendum to this Video: In 1990, I was the first Filipino-American Review Chemist hired by USFDA Center of New Drugs, Silver Spring, MD. In 1996, I was promoted to Chemistry Team Leader. As far as I knew, I was the first Filipino-American Chemistry Team Leader and so far the only one in the history of the USFDA Center of New Drugs. In 2002, when I retired there were several Filipino-Americans working as Medical Reviewers, in Project Management and in Administration Office, but none in the Chemistry Division of New Drugs. I know I was the only Filipino-American Chemist out of more than 100 chemistry Reviewers in the Center of New Drugs, since we have meetings every month and I know all of the Chemistry Reviewers and Team Leaders at that time. For details on my professional career in USFDA, visit:
http://theintellectualmigrant.blogspot.com

Little Manila in Stockton, California

There is section in downtown Stockton( China Town), California called Little Manila. Macrine and I had been to this historic site a number of times when we were still residing in Modesto, way back in the late 1970's. It is a historic site and the video below shows that a group of Filipino-American residents in the area are working hard to preserve this section in the City of Stockton. Do not forget to view the related videos illustrating the struggles of Filipino workers and immigrants in the early 1930's in Stockton, California.

Preserving Little Manila in California

Let's go to the Spa and Casino in French Lick, Indiana!

The first time I heard of French Lick, Indiana was from a comment of one of my readers in my blog about the town called Intercourse, Pennsylvania, the other day. I was curious of how the town gets its name so I google searched and here's what I found.
French Lick is a town in French Lick Township, Orange County, Indiana. The population was 1,807 at the 2010 census. In early 2006 the French Lick Resort Casino, the state's tenth casino in the modern legalized era, opened drawing national attention to the small town.

French Lick was originally a French trading post built near a spring and salt lick. A fortified ranger post was established near the springs in 1811. On Johnson's 1837 map of Indiana, the community was known as Salt Spring. The town was founded in 1857.

The sulfur springs were commercially exploited for medical benefits starting in 1840 By the later half of the 19th century, French Lick was famous in the United States as a spa town. In the early 20th century it also featured casinos attracting celebrities like boxer Joe Louis, composer Irving Berlin and gangster Al Capone.

In 1943, the Chicago Cubs held Spring Training camp in French Lick. In order to conserve rail transport during World War II, the 1943 Spring Training was limited to an area east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River.

The French Lick Resort Casino was the focal point of most of the entertainment; the hotel remained open well after the casinos were closed down and the heyday of the town was well past. The resort closed for renovation in 2005.

Pluto Water, a best selling laxative of the first half of the 20th century, was bottled here. It was also home to a large 7-Up bottling facility, which ceased operation in the mid-20th century.

Franklin D. Roosevelt announced his intention to run for president at a National Governors' Convention held at the French Lick Springs Hotel.

The town has been best known for being the hometown of NBA great Larry Bird ever since his professional basketball career took off. In his later basketball career, Bird was given the nickname "the Hick from French Lick". French Lick is also the hometown of former Sacramento Kings head coach Jerry Reynolds, who currently works as the team's color commentator on its television broadcasts and is the Kings' director of player personnel.

Here's a video of the French Lick Spring Hotel and Casino for your information.


Note: This is Post #2 in a series of articles that I plan on writing regarding unusual or delightfully named towns or places in the United States. My first posting was Intercourse, Pennsylvania, an Amish Town in Lancaster County, PA.

Let's Go and have Fun in Intercourse, Pennsylvania!

Last year, I posted in one of my blogs a list of unusual and delightfully named places in the US ( about 50 names) because of the implied connotation. In this list the most delightfully named towns in the US is Intercourse, Pennsylvania. Would you believe it is an Amish town? So, where in the heck is this town with a sexually suggested name? Here's what Wikipedia says:

Intercourse, Pennsylvania (pop. roughly 1,558) is an unincorporated village in Leacock Township, Lancaster County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, ten miles east of Lancaster on PA 340. As with the nearby towns of Bird-in-Hand, Blue Ball, and Paradise, Intercourse is a popular site for tourists because of its location in "Amish country" and its sexually suggestive name. The movie Witness was filmed in Intercourse as well as other parts of the surrounding area, and For Richer or Poorer was set there, though not filmed in Intercourse. Because of the town's unusual name, the sign posts for the town are frequently targeted by thieves.

Tourism and farming are major industries in the area. Small businesses sell Amish crafts, food, and give horse and buggy rides. The town thrives on thousands of tourists who visit the region each year. Most of the land surrounding the town is farmland.

Intercourse was founded in 1754. The community was originally named Cross Keys, after a local tavern. Intercourse became the name in 1814. The village website gives several theories for the origins of the name.

"Another theory concerns two famous roads that crossed here. The Old King's highway from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh (now the Old Philadelphia Pike) ran east and west through the center of the town. The road from Wilmington to Erie intersected in the middle. The joining of these two roads is claimed by some to be the basis for the town 'Cross Keys' or eventually 'Intercourse'. A final idea comes from the use of language during the early days of the Village. The word 'intercourse' was commonly used to describe the 'fellowship' and 'social interaction and support' shared in the community of faith, which was much a part of a rural village like this one."

The village's name is often the subject of jokes relating to sexual intercourse. Along with that of Blue Ball, Pennsylvania, the publishers of the Eros Magazine, sought mailing privileges from the postmasters of the town. Intercourse and Blue Ball are often named in lists of "delightfully-named towns" in Pennsylvania Dutchland, along with Mount Joy, Lititz, Bareville, Bird-in-Hand and Paradise.

Nearby sites of interest are: Amish and Mennonite Tourist Information Center, American Military Edged Weapons Museum, People's Place Quilt Museum Museums and Historic Sites, American Military Edged Weaponry Museum and People's Place Quilt Museum. Here's a short video for your viewing pleasure.

Let's go and have fun in Intercourse, PA this summer! It is not too far from Philadelphia, PA.

Have you Heard of Manila, Arkansas or of Manila, California ?

Manila, California
I believe a majority of Filipinos or Filipino-Americans have never heard of the two towns above. I did not know about these two towns until just recently, when one of my friends in the Philippines mentioned that he has a relative in Manila, California. So I went to Google and here's what I found.

Manila, California is a census-designated place in Humboldt County. It is located 3.25 miles (5.2 km) north of downtown Eureka, at an elevation of 13 feet (4 m). The ZIP Code is 95521. The population was 784 at the 2010 census. The town was founded at the end of World War II, and named after Manila in the Philippines.

The 2010 United States Census reported that Manila had a population of 784. The racial makeup of Manila was 686 White, 14 African American, 25 Native American, 5 Asian, 12 from other races, and 42 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 30 persons.

Manila, Arkansas

There is another town called Manila in Arkansas. The original name of this town was "Cindy". There was a WWII war hero who hailed from the town of Cindy. He was serving in Manila, Philippines when he won a purple heart and saved his whole platoon. His town, Cindy, was so proud of him they renamed the city after the city in which he became a war hero, Manila, Philippines. There is also a life-sized statue of him on the corner of the highway and the business district that happens to be the smallest state park in the State of Arkansas. The population was 3,055 at the 2000 census. It was the hometown of World War I sniper Herman Davis. A park in the town honors his memory today. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.4 km²), all of it land.

Interesting indeed!