Philippines Independence Day (1898): June 12, 2023 

From history.com, THIS DAY IN HISTORY: June 12, 1898, Philippine independence was declared:

“During the Spanish-American War, Filipino rebels led by Emilio Aguinaldo proclaim the independence of the Philippines after 300 years of Spanish rule. By mid-August, Filipino rebels and U.S. troops had ousted the Spanish, but Aguinaldo’s hopes for independence were dashed when the United States formally annexed the Philippines as part of its peace treaty with Spain.”

From the Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook, Philippines:

“The Philippine Islands became a Spanish colony during the 16th century; they were ceded to the US in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. In 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing commonwealth. Manuel QUEZON was elected president and was tasked with preparing the country for independence after a 10-year transition. In 1942 the islands fell under Japanese occupation during World War II, and US forces and Filipinos fought together during 1944-45 to regain control. On 4 July 1946 the Republic of the Philippines attained its independence.”

October is Filipino American History Month 

Filipino Americans are the second-largest Asian American group in the nation and the third-largest ethnic group in California, after Latinas/os and African Americans. The celebration of Filipino American History Month in October commemorates the first recorded presence of Filipinos in the continental United States, which occurred on October 18, 1587, when “Luzones Indios” came ashore from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Esperanza and landed at what is now Morro Bay, California. In 2009, U.S. Congress recognized October as Filipino American History Month in the United States. Various states, counties, and cities in the U.S. have established proclamations and resolutions declaring observance of Filipino American History Month. The late Dr. Fred Cordova, along with his wife, FANHS Founder Dr. Dorothy Laigo Cordova, first introduced October as Filipino American History Month in 1992 with a resolution from the FANHS National Board of Trustees. (source: Filipino American National History Society)

Learn more about Filipino American History from these links:

                                      

HISTORY OF FILIPINO AMERICANS

50 Years Since the First Young Filipino People’s Far West Convention

The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the First Young Filipino People’s Far West Convention, a meeting that took place at Seattle University in 1971 and brought over 300 young Filipino American participants from the West Coast of the US. The convention is hailed as the beginning of the Filipino American Movement.

The first convention theme was “A Quest for Emergence” and was hosted primarily by the Filipino Youth Activities, Inc. (FYA) under the leadership of then-FYA Youth Director, Dorothy Laigo Cordova and convention chair, Anthony Ogilvie. This initial meeting would result in a series of conferences that would later become known as the Filipino (or Pilipino) People’s Far West Conventions (FWCs), which were held annually between 1971 and 1982, in places like Seattle, Los Angeles, Stockton, and Berkeley.

Filipino American National Historical Society 

 

St. Malo, Louisiana

St. Malo was the first permanent Filipino settlement in the U.S. in 1763. In the first half of the 19th century, Filipino sailors established a village on the southern shore of Lake Borgne on a site previously settled by Native Americans and Maroons. By the mid-19th century, St. Malo was the largest fishing village on the lake and a symbol of the growing Filipino presence in Louisiana.

Remembering American's First Filipino Settlement Before It Vanishes Into the Sea - Huffington Post

Composite of five wood engravings of drawings by Charles Graham after sketches by J.O. Davidson, from the 1883 Harper’s Weekly article by Lafcadio Hearn. (Library of Congress)

FILIPINO AMERICAN DEMOGRAPHIC DATA


Sources: Data from U.S. Census Bureau 2010 and 2021 American Community Surveys (ACS), and Campbell J. Gibson and Kay Jung, "Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population of the United States: 1850-2000" (Working Paper no. 81, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, February 2006), available online.

BAY AREA FILIPINO ORGANIZATIONS

SOMA Pilipinas

This Filipino American Life Podcast