Positively Filipino strongly condemns the heinous assassination of our media colleague, the popular radio broadcaster Percy (Mabasa) Lapid on Monday night, October 3, Philippine time. We hope the Philippine authorities will expeditiously identify the perpetrators and the mastermind(s), and bring swift justice for the Mabasa family.

We send our deepest condolences to the bereaved family.

October is here again and with it, the annual celebration of Filipino American HISTORY Month, not Heritage month, as some publications have mistakenly named. There's an important distinction between these two terms, as explained by the late, beloved historian, Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon:

Why October? It was the month of the first known landing of Filipinos in America, specifically in California. Though they were not yet known as Filipinos, but rather as Indios Luzones, these men were aboard the Spanish frigate, Nuestra Señora de Buena Esperanza, which started its journey from the Philippines on July 12, 1587, with Acapulco, Mexico as its final destination. California was its three-day stopover. Read Again about this history in Abraham Ignacio Jr.'s article, "Where Exactly Did 'Filipinos' First Land in California?"

October as Filipino American History Month is a nationwide commemoration, legislated by the US Congress and the California Legislature in 2009. It took 18 years of hard work to achieve this official designation and we owe the victory to the relentless efforts of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS).

In the early 20th century, when Filipino farmworkers began arriving in California in hordes, the farming region of Pajaro Valley was the initial destination of most of them. Today, a group of community researchers, the Watsonville Is in the Heart initiative in partnership with The Tobera Project, are unearthing and documenting the stories of the manongs. Christina Ayson Plank and Kathleen Cruz Gutierrez, both of the University of California Santa Cruz, tells us about their work.

Ponce Cazem of San Jacinto, Pangasinan, was one of those who sailed to America in 1929 to seek better opportunities. He didn't go the farmworker route, however. Instead, he got employment as a houseboy and chauffeur to some Hollywood stars and later, a rich family in Illinois. Cazem later distinguished himself as part of the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment in WWII. His son, Mark Cazem, writes about his father's interesting life.

A young FilAm, Mikko Jimenez, pays tribute to his aunt who immigrated to the US in the late '60s and, in the process, reflects on his dual identity as American and Filipino.

Sumalee Montano is one FilAm to be proud of. She created, co-produced and stars in "The Deal," a sci-fi thriller inspired by her Filipino mother, currently showing on The Roku Channel. PF's LA-based Correspondent Anthony Maddela reports.

Check out the FilAm History Month celebrations in our Partner posts below and in your communities. This month we gather and connect.

More This Week

[Read It Again] Positively Filipino’s Timeline: Filipino American History

[Read It Again] Where Exactly Did ‘Filipinos’ First Land In California? by Abraham Ignacio, Jr.

[Partner] The Nation’s Largest Filipino American Book Festival Announces Its Return To San Francisco

[Partner] Celebrating Filipino American History Month And The USS Telesforo Trinidad (DDG-139)

[Cook it Again] The Happy Home Cook: Nora Daza's Pato Tim

[Video of the Week] A Life Of Purpose With Toto Malvar

In The Know

That’s how we roll! Lumpiang Shanghai is 2nd Best Street Food in the World, according to TasteAtlas

https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/food-drinks/lumpiang-shanghai-ranking-best-street-world-tasteatlas-2022/?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0y_lsvNL-W5C-sjjEQcrP9MYPeH4pSYtfBhFqh3yfvO6g9y_Sx9VYJxZI#Echobox=1664374781

The enduring legacy of Talisay’s Balay ni Tana Dicang

https://philstarlife.com/geeky/698178-enduring-legacy-talisay-balay-tana-dicang?page=6&fbclid=IwAR0_gv-Macb0jgToblI3xTESuHOQngQNd9CPbeyqTVIk6G4PJoB46cUocPA

These are the Best Serviced Apartments in Metro Manila

https://www.tatlerasia.com/homes/property/best-serviced-apartments-in-manila

Overlooked No More: Maria Orosa, Inventor of Banana Ketchup

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/obituaries/maria-orosa-overlooked.html?unlocked_article_code=RN3uDQrAvDGxkqFN4Va3CxOwRqLiJhPLVEST2e9-2wCHjErR2II5TY9EVwqmVu4tDw5MV9spKicEKGFAkDQZMxjaNEoAM8kI2D2R7diGTb8a07Iu3SgW44d1EkCP9xlSJLPAz8yK8PvMFUpDD_szTblYzbgD2EKHITQCIQv9Dokfovgk_bmrwWa6GrZicvetHG9AiAoevggXbvVv2lBIzDfJJQn1tp-vsdb-iaH5WrS8xwtszMF0x446NRDCH9Aa1T3ktRQMEHKjj_A7kZPl0nzVK9iNNl9UanH_3s_F2gFINqywNYiOTgfgXHCqUl6MTK5_4uUshysyS6Pffg1f6cjS5w&smid=share-url

This Family Is Putting Filipino Food On The Map In London

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lelalondon/2022/09/27/this-family-is-putting-filipino-food-on-the-map-in-london/?sh=6a6caa4c4aaf&fbclid=IwAR1AuDhk4gCDl9O6HymIFamTtyF8pvVO8MY5n2mNkXsS121cO7UDBhMAcM0

Filipino fan art inspires BTS’ Park Jimin’s tattoo

https://www.thediarist.ph/filipino-fanart-inspires-bts-park-jimins-tattoo/

Fermin Tobera, a 22-year-old Filipino farmworker, was asleep for the night when a mob of white men fired shots at the bunkhouse where he and other Filipino laborers were billeted. The lone bullet that pierced his heart inflamed what was already a powder keg between whites vs Filipino workers, and led to the infamous Watsonville riot of 1930.

[Here's more about the anti-Filipino riots in Central California: In the Heat of the Night: The Exeter and Watsonville Riots 1929-1930]

Ninety two years later, Tobera, largely unacknowledged in the annals of Fil-Am history, is being honored with a mural in the California town (now a city) where he lost his life. The Tobera Project, steered by Roy Recio Jr. and other community leaders, got a boost in 2020 when the Watsonville City Council issued an apology to the Filipino community for the 1930 race riots. Since then, an exhibit titled "Watsonville is in the Heart" has been set up to show Filipinos' pivotal role in shaping the history of the city.

It's never too late to correct historical omissions and mistakes. PF contributing writer Harvey I. Barkin reports on "Fermin Tobera: From Historical Footnote to the Big Picture."

Two Filipino Americans are staking their claim in the American tapestry. Averie Danielle Bishop wowed judges with her articulateness and her community-oriented vision to win the Miss Texas title, the first Asian American to hold the title. Next stop: the Miss America contest in December. Texas resident Gus Mercado reports.

Recent Yale grad Reina Bonta completed her first film, LAHI, which pays homage to her Filipino and Hawaiian ancestries, and dedicates the film to her grandmother, Cynthia, a long-time community activist. PF Correspondent Cherie Querol Moreno tells us more.

From across the pond, the future of the West Philippine Sea, specifically the Ayungin Shoal, is at stake as a new Philippine administration takes over. Retired editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer Rosario A. Garcellano shares with us her piece on this issue.

Florentino Peñaranda was a revolutionary leader in Leyte during the Philippine-American War at the turn of the 20th century. More than a century later, his grandson, the writer/professor Oscar Peñaranda, by a lucky stroke of serendipity found the actual revolutionary flag of his lolo. Here's how it happened: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/a-reunion-of-strangers

Fifty six years ago this month, the Beatles performed in Manila. Marra PL. Lanot was there and here is her story: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-beatles-in-the-philippines

[Cook It Again] http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-happy-home-cook-nora-dazas-humba

[Video of the Week] Igorot Stone Kingdom