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UC Davis Asian American Studies files
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Filipino-American Farmworker History, United Farm Workers, Philip Vera Cruz
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Publications, oral history interviews, and newsletters regarding the United Farm Workers and the Filipino-American leadership.
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1969-1977
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_vq95GTBZajdZBDhusa5Fio4489s87sg/view?usp=sharing" title="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_vq95GTBZajdZBDhusa5Fio4489s87sg/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_vq95GTBZajdZBDhusa5Fio4489s87sg/view?usp=sharing</a>
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"Maria Clara"
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Asian Women, Philippines, Jose Rizal
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Article written by the Manila Article, discussing Jose Rizal's "Maria Clara".
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1956
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ucdw_wa004_s002_0021_pub_2018
Asian Women
Jose Rizal
Philippines
wa004s002
-
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Title
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Fenkell Family collection
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a6CxWmHffusbZquBbF7DF3IdDsq0KR0J/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a6CxWmHffusbZquBbF7DF3IdDsq0KR0J/view?usp=sharing</a>
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1975 Far West Convention poster
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Philippines,
Marcos, Ferdinand E.: 1917-1989; Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP), Philippine National Day Association
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Poster for the 1975 Pilipino People's Far West Convention held at Berkeley, California.
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1975
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Courtesy of Tim and Nina Fenkell. The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies makes digital versions of collections accessible for educational and research purposes only, in regards to legal fair use terms indicated by Section 108 of the Copyright Act of 1976 (Title 17 U.S. Code). Please contact archivist Allan Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu in regards to any reproduction use.
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ucdw_wa012_s003_0001_art_2018
Ferdinand E.: 1917-1989; Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP)
Marcos
Philippine National Day Association
Philippines
wa013s003
-
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Fenkell Family collection
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B1dld9HxcAzklj-mHZvi2py875icm-zL/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B1dld9HxcAzklj-mHZvi2py875icm-zL/view?usp=sharing</a>
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1976 Far West Convention Poster
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Philippines,
Marcos, Ferdinand E.: 1917-1989; Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP), Philippine National Day Association
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Flyer for the 1976 flyer from the Philippine National Day event.
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1976
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Courtesy of Tim and Nina Fenkell. The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies makes digital versions of collections accessible for educational and research purposes only, in regards to legal fair use terms indicated by Section 108 of the Copyright Act of 1976 (Title 17 U.S. Code). Please contact archivist Allan Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu in regards to any reproduction use.
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ucdw_wa012_s003_0002_art_2018
Ferdinand E.: 1917-1989; Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP)
Marcos
Philippine National Day Association
Philippines
wa013s003
-
Dublin Core
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Fenkell Family collection
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c21xR9rErbprRw8JVb-rcYKZE5v7DbuG/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c21xR9rErbprRw8JVb-rcYKZE5v7DbuG/view?usp=sharing</a>
Dublin Core
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1982 Filipino People's Far West Convention - Los Angeles
Subject
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Third World Movement, Philippines,
Marcos, Ferdinand E.: 1917-1989; Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP), Philippine National Day Association
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T-shirt from the 1982 Far West Convention
Date
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1982
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Courtesy of Tim and Nina Fenkell. The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies makes digital versions of collections accessible for educational and research purposes only, in regards to legal fair use terms indicated by Section 108 of the Copyright Act of 1976 (Title 17 U.S. Code). Please contact archivist Allan Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu in regards to any reproduction use.
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ucdw_wa012_s002_0001_art_2018
Ferdinand E.: 1917-1989; Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP)
Marcos
Philippine National Day Association
Philippines
Third World Movement
wa013s002
-
Dublin Core
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Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies files
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wa011
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Add link from google drive; exterior link
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Document Text
Document text
CollectingHERstory
Honoring Pinays in Women’s History
Throughout the centuries, Filipinas have played an integral part in fighting for the freedom of others. Whether it be through organizing in the grape fields or fighting in the battlefields, pinays (women of Filipino descent) have remained resilient in fighting for themselves and others. Pinays are unique in the way they’ve challenged traditional western gender roles. They are not only mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives. They are writers, advocates, fighters, and warriors who continue to inspire others today.
This biographical exhibit showcases some of the many Filipinas in the past and present who have made a significant impact within their communities.
Gabriela Silang
Silang was a Filipino revolutionary leader during Spain’s colonial hold over the Philippines. Born in Ilocos Sur, Silang found herself absorbed by the Filipino Independence Movement aiming to oust Spanish control. She married another fellow revolutionary, Diego Silang, in 1757. Together they amassed a grassroots military force (over 2000 recruits), large enough to begin a revolt in 1762.
Silang took over the reins of the Ilocos-bred independence movement after her husband was assassinated in 1763 by a coalition of Filipino-Spanish loyalists and Spanish officials. She was known for her ferocity and effective military leadership, winning the hearts of the people in neighboring cities of Ilocos Sur. As her popularity grew, the people of Ilocos gave her the title of “Henerala” (a woman general), as she was known to fight alongside her Ilocano comrades in battle on horseback with her bolo sword in hand.
The Spanish colonial military would lose to Gabriela Silang’s revolt in her hometown of Santa, Ilocos Sur. Their multiple defeats at the hands of a Philippine woman spurred the Spanish colonial government to exercise all means to capture and shut down sentiments of Filipina/o resistance as Silang’s military base expanded and news of her achievements began to reach the towns of northern Luzon. One of her most famous military efforts include her siege on Vigan. Unfortunately, her forces were overwhelmed by the Spanish retaliation at the siege, forcing Silang to go into hiding.
Silang and her compatriots were eventually captured in the mountain town of Abra. At the age of 32, she was executed by public hanging under the colonial government of the Spanish East Indies on September 20, 1763. Today, Gabriela Silang is still honored and remembered for her military victories and role in planting some of the first seeds of Philippine cultural pride and nationalism.
Guerrilleras
1940-1950
The Philippine Underground Resistance was composed of guerrilla fighters who successfully undermined the control of the Imperial Japanese Army over the Philippines throughout the entire duration of the war. What is less well-known, however, are the efforts of Filipina warriors who joined the resistance movement by taking up arms, working as spies in Japanese industry, distributing Allied propaganda, healing the sick, wounded, and starving as nurses and doctors, and mapping out battle strategies to raid POW camps and Japanese military centers on the islands. These women were known as guerrilleras: female guerrilla soldiers.
Colonel Yay Panlilio
One of these guerrilleras was Yay Panlilio. Born in the United States to an Irish American father and a Filipina mother, Panlilio left the USA as a young adult to live in the Philippines to reconnect with her Filipina/o heritage and to find a collective space to hone her writing as a journalist with other like-minded women of color. She would become a radio jockey and news correspondent in the years leading up to the invasion of the Philippine Islands by the Imperial Japanese Army. Once the Imperial Japanese had taken Manila, forcing the Allied Filipino and American troops into hiding following the Bataan Death March, Panlilio became a spy sending out crypted messages to the Filipino resistance for the Allies at a Japanese controlled Filipino radio station in Manila. Her broadcasts with KZRH station were so complex and cryptic that even MacArthur was unsure of whether she remained loyal to the goal of liberating the Philippines.
Upon hearing about her allegiance to the Allies, Panlilio was forced to flee Manila as the Japanese Imperial Army zeroed in on her whereabouts. She escaped to the forests and contracted malaria, but would recover and join the Underground Resistance, eventually becoming a colonel in the Markings’ Guerrilla branch in Luzon, east of Manila. Whether she was operating as a journalist, camp nurse, military strategist, leading men into espionage missions, building resistance networks from province to province, or raiding Japanese military warehouses and reconnaissance centers, Panlilio was a headstrong, stalwart, and plucky guerrilla leader in the Pacific Theater. She became one amongst only a handful of women who received the high rank of colonel or general along with the United States Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm. She would eventually write of her courageous war experience in her memoir, The Crucible: An Autobiography By Colonel Yay, Filipina American Guerrilla. She passed away in 1978.
Lourdes Poblete
From a young age, Lourdes Poblete was raised on Philippine American military bases. When the Japanese Imperial Army invaded and took control of American bases in Luzon, her family was forced to leave after her father was taken hostage. Soon after, she was recruited as a teenager to operate as a guerrilla informant. Poblete’s main tasks involved carrying Allied propaganda and coded messages, sometimes folded into newspapers or hidden in cigarette boxes. She was eventually caught by Filipino makapili (Filipinos loyal to the Imperial Japanese regime) and Japanese informants and was imprisoned for two years at Fort Santiago. Poblete was constantly anxious and afraid that the Japanese soldiers would use her as a comfort woman. She and another inmate, a fellow Filipina guerrillera, were able to band together for moral support in an uncertain and life threatening environment. Forced to work as cleaners of fort tunnels converted into POW jails, the women lived in filthy conditions, vulnerable to body lice and disease that regularly spread from prisoner to prisoner. Once the Underground Resistance and Allied forces began to make headway in taking back the Philippines from the Japanese, Poblete managed to escape after she was transferred to Manila. She traveled from Manila to her hometown of Pasig by foot. During the grueling 15 mile trek, she was extremely malnourished and too afraid to ask passerbys for help, as they too might be informants for the Japanese Imperial Army. As the Allies and Filipina/o guerrillas began to liberate the main island of Luzon, Poblete again volunteered her services to the resistance effort as a nurse and caregiver to the injured soldiers. After the war, she became an informant and key witness aiding in the war crime trials investigation led by the International Military Tribunal of the Far East. She eventually immigrated to the United States and worked as a medical personnel and caregiver in the Bay Area. Still alive and in her late nineties, Poblete is currently retired and lives in the famous International Hotel (I-Hotel) for Asian American senior citizens. She remains active in promoting Filipina/o American World War II history to local youth.
Serapia Estojero Aremas
Serapia Estojero Aremas was only a college student when she heard the sirens and bells ring on her campus, warning students that war had broken out and that they had to leave the university immediately to go home to their families. Soon after, she was recruited as a guerrillera to watch over an affluent Filipino family who had ties to the Philippine Guerrilla Forces stationed in Samar. Once the family was assassinated by Japanese soldiers, Serapia traveled back to her home province on Leyte. There she participated in the guerrilla communication networks that warned nearby villagers if Japanese Imperial soldiers were nearby through bamboo “telephone” poles (An older Filipino communication system that required knocking on bamboo stalks to produce a loud hollow echo. By following certain rhythms or taps, similar to morse code, villagers were able to relay different signals and messages to one another over long distances). Towards the last stretch of the war, Serapia volunteered to help pack and distribute both medical supplies and food rations to local families. Her volunteer work with the United States Armed Forces of the Far East (USAFFE) and Red Cross restored morale and stability to the ravaged communities on Leyte.
After completing fashion and design school in Manila, Aremas and her husband, a Filipino American sergeant, left the Philippines for the United States. Her husband Ricardo, part of the famous manong generation, returned to working as a farm laborer on the Central Coast in the Salinas Valley, eventually settling in Salinas and working at Fort Ord. Serapia would become a homemaker, professional seamstress, designer, beautician, and cake designer, to name a few of her trades, and together with her husband helped to support the Filipina/o American community of Salinas. Still a devoted club member to the Salinas Filipino Women’s Club, Serapia is enjoying retirement and recently celebrated her 99th birthday.
Pinay Legacies of World War II
The ratio of guerrilleras—women guerrillas—to male guerrillas was 1:10 in the underground resistance. Pinay guerrilleras’ presence and heroic feats in a male dominated warzone opened the conversation of women’s capabilities outside the traditional labor assignments given to women in war as nurses, typists, or secretaries. The accomplishments of women like Panlilio, Aremas, and Poblete broke traditional gender molds and serve as prime examples of the modern pinay warrior. Pinay Guerrilleras would not be recognized for their services in the war until President Barack Obama’s signing of the Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2016. Nearly 42,000 other applicants by the end of 2016 were acknowledged and awarded medals of recognition and veterans’ benefits both at the state capital and again in San Francisco’s City Hall.
For more information, see Pinay Guerrilleras: The Unsung Heroics of the Filipina Resistance Fighters during the Pacific War by Bulosan Center Historian Stacey Anne Salinas. The book can be purchased at http://www.pacificatrocities.org/pinay-guerrilleras.html
Lorraine Agtang
Lorraine Agtang was born in a labor camp near Delano, California on 1952. Lorraine is of Mexican and Filipino descent. Her mother, Lorenza Agtang, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico. Her father, Platon Agtang, was a migrant worker from Cavite Province in the Philippines, who worked at the sugar fields in Hawaii, canneries in Alaska, and the farmworker circuits throughout Central California. Lorraine’s exposure to farm labor activism occurred at an early age, as Agtang and her family left the fields of Chamorro Farms in support of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee during the 1965 Delano Grape Strike.
As Lorraine grew older, she became increasingly involved with the United Farmworkers (UFW), first working at the hospital clinic at the UFW’s 40 Acres facility. After the completion of the Agbayani Village retirement home, she served as the facility’s first manager. While working at Agbayani Village, Agtang interacted and befriended several Filipino veterans of the 1965 strike, including Willie Barrientos, Sebastian Sahagun and former UFW Vice President Philip Vera Cruz. During the 1973 Strike, she served as a UFW organizer in Northern and Central California.
Today, Lorraine continues to advocate for the history of Filipino Americans in the United Farmworkers, often giving speeches about the accomplishments of Manongs (An Ilocano word for “Older Brother,” typically attributed to the original 1965 Filipino strikers). Her image is depicted in the Chavez memorial at Sacramento’s Cesar Chavez Park.
For more information on Lorraine, please view her oral histoy interview and photograph collection at the Welga Digital Archive
(tinyurl.com/WelgaArchive)
Cynthia Bonta
Cynthia Bonta is a scholar and social justice advocate known for her community service work and her involvement with the Christian ministry. Born at Laguna, Philippines, Cynthia received her BS in Zoology in 1958, before moving to the United States in 1965 as a Ecumenical Scholar for the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. She became involved with the school’s Social Justice Committee, which worked with the farm worker activists in the Central Valley. Through the 1970s, she devoted more time towards the farmworker movement, eventually relocating to the United Farm Workers La Paz Headquarters at Keene, California. She became involved with Philippine and Filipino American issues during the 1970s, becoming an activists for the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP).
Additionally, she co-founded the Outstanding Filipino Youth Awards
Program in 1990 as a project of the Philippine National Day Association, held several leadership positions for the Council of Asian Pacific Islanders Together for Advocacy and Leadership (CAPITAL), and in 2004 she was named a KVIE Local Hero during the 2004 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
For more information on Cynthia, please view her oral histoy interview at the Welga Digital Archive
(tinyurl.com/WelgaArchive)
Lillian Galedo
Lillian Galedo was born in Stockton, California in 1948 to parents who emigrated from Bohol, the Philippines. Lillian entered UC Davis in 1968, at a time when the United Farm Workers rallied strike supporters throughout the country and when the Third World Movement recruited college students to the ethnic studies cause. Lillian was instrumental in organizing the Stockton Filipino Research Project, which documented the city’s Filipino Community and researched the history of Little Manila’s demolished buildings.
During the late 1970s, Lillian joined the Katipunan ng Demokratikong Pilipino (KDP) and helped organize the Far West Convention at Seattle, Washington. After graduating from UC Davis, Lilian joined several social justice and civil rights causes, as she advocated against the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration bill (see photo), co-founded the Filipino Civil Rights Advocates, and joined Filipino Advocates for Justice. She has held staff positions at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Davis and has been a research assistant with the Migrant and Farmworker Research Project for the state Department of Labor. In recognition of her involvement, Lillian was chosen by both the city of Berkeley and by Filipinas Magazine as a 1994 Outstanding Woman of the Bay Area. In 2017, Lillian retired as the Executive Director for Filipino Advocates for Justice.
For more information on Lillian, please view her oral histoy interview at the Welga Digital Archive
(tinyurl.com/WelgaArchive)
Dawn Bohulano Mabalon
From her humble beginnings as a young woman from South Stockton, Dawn rose to become a tenured professor of history at San Francisco State University, a National Trustee and National Scholar for the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) and one of the key figures of the Asian American Pacific Islanders in Historic Preservation among many other distinctions. One of Dawn’s most notable accomplishments was the preservation of Stockton’s Little Manila neighborhood, which was continually threatened with “urban renewal efforts” throughout the 20th century. Along with her lifelong friend Dillon Delvo, Dawn established the Little Manila Foundation, which ensures Stockton’s Filipino heritage is preserved and promoted through after school education programs, cultural dance programs, and preservation initiatives.
Dawn’s work is a testament to the importance of encouraging and supporting scholarship amongst minoritized communities. As she wrote: “We have lost much of our community’s history because of the assumption that our past is not history, that is it not an American experience worthy of interpretation and analysis.” Yet, Mabalon’s single-minded passion and commitment to her community’s past allowed her to excavate a history that, by the time of her research, was practically decimated. The rich texture and sites of U.S. immigration history can so easily disappear without the efforts of scholar-activists like Mabalon. Her work is an important contribution to FilipinoAmerican history, Asian American history, and, more broadly, U.S. immigration history.
Dawn passed away on August 10, 2018 at Kauai, Hawaii. On the day of her passing, Dawn and co-author Gayle Romasanta submitted the final draft for Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong. This children’s book is available at bridgedelta.com, and a portion of the proceeds will go to Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), Little Manila Rising, and Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP).
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Collecting HERstory: Honoring Pinays in Women’s History (Exhibit)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Women's History Month
Filipino American women
American literature--Filipino American authors
Economic Conditions
World War, 1939-1945--Guerrillas
Women political activists
Community activists
Little Manila (Stockton)
Philippines
United Farm Workers
Description
An account of the resource
Women's history month essay/photograph exhibit detailing the accomplishments of Philippine and Filipina Americans
Publisher
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Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies, UC Davis
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
February-March 2019
Contributor
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Abbygayle Principe, Stacey Anne Salinas, Nicholas Garcia, Allan Jason Sarmiento
Rights
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Exhibit photographs were used and digitized in accordance to fair use procedures as dictated in the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, Section 107. Fair use is a provision in copyright law that allows the limited use of copyright materials without permission of the copyright holder for noncommercial teaching, research, scholarship & news reporting purposes.
The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of the textual information. Usage is restricted for educational purposes only.
Language
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English, Tagalog, Ilocano
Identifier
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ucdw_wa011_s005_0001
1939-1945--Guerrillas
American literature--Filipino American authors
Community activists
Economic Conditions
Filipino American women
Little Manila (Stockton)
Philippines
United Farm Workers
wa011s005
Women political activists
Women's History Month
World War
-
Dublin Core
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Title
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Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
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Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Description
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<strong><br />Note: Collection upload in process</strong>
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Kyrene Giezel Gutierrez
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Dante Gutierrez
Transcription
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[Session 1, June 9, 2019]<br />[Begin Audio File]<br />GUTIERREZ, K: Alright, it is June 9, 2019 and it is 3:19pm. This is Ky interviewing for the Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project for ASA 150. Today, I am interviewing:<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: My name is Dante Gutierrez.<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Alright, so let’s start with a little of your childhood and your early adult life. So, where and when were you born?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I was born in Manila in 1953.<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What did your parents do? What jobs?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: My parents is doing a civil service servant. She [my mother] was assigned in the water works company in Manila, and she has been a cashier there until she retired. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: How many siblings did you have? Did you come from a big family?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: On my father’s side, there were 5 siblings and on my mother’s side, there were 8 siblings. I don’t think that was a big family. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: How about you? Did you have siblings?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Yea, I had siblings too. We were 5 in the family. I am the second to the eldest and the rest are three daughters. Yea, three sisters. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Did any of your family members move to America before you?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: No, I did not have any family members that went to America. It’s only us [immediate family members: wife and kids].<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: How did you immigrate to America?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: We visited America in the year 2000 in November. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What was your academic experience in the Philippines?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: In the Philippines, I’ve been doing the – the profession that I have acquired during college, I’ve been a Certified Public Accountant in the Philippines and worked with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, like IRS here in America. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Why did you decide to move out of the Philippines?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I decided to stay in America, because I want to experience American life and I think it is peaceful staying here as compared to our country. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Why do you think it’s more peaceful?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Like for example, there are now many more movements threatening the government to stabilize the situation. <br /><br />[4:51]<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: And the political parties, they were not coordinating with each other. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What did you think about America before you moved here?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I was thinking that there are more opportunities in America. There are more job opportunities in America, which is better for our children for their better lives and education if we stayed here.<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Did any of that change after you arrived? Any of your thoughts? <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Yea. I’m not thinking for anybody else that harm us, because it’s very peaceful here and the situation here is so secured. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What jobs did you perform when you moved to America?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I was assigned doing the accounting job like in the Philippines. I’ve been connected with the construction company. I handle the accounting system and the budgeting department. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What else were your jobs here in America?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: After that, I lost my job and I was unable to find a job, because one of my daughters gave birth. I was taking care of them and help raise her child, too. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What experiences helped you get the job, like did any of your past professional and academic experience from the Philippines help you get the job in America? How did you get your job?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Before, in the Philippines, I was also assigned in the manufacturing company, being the accountant over there. Then, after that, I was doing product management in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia before going to America.<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Why were you in Saudi Arabia?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: In Jeddah. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Why were you there though, dad?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: What?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Why were you there?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Why?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: At Saudi? How did you get there?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: There was a job offering and consequently, the company that I was working before that is going to be closing. And Saudi Arabia hired me for contract basis. <br /><br />[9:53]<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: How long did you work at Saudi?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I’ve been working in Saudi Arabia as a product management. It was two years. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What are some of the memories you had in Saudi?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: The memory… what memory are you talking about?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Did you have any memories in Saudi?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: One thing is the climate. The climate is too hot in there as compared to other countries. The people there, only a few of them understands English. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: How long have you been living in America approximately?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Right now, I’ve been living here for almost 20 years, I think. I’ve been here since 2000 and right now, it’s 2019. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Do you notice anything different between you and Filipino Americans? People who were born in the Philippines versus people who were born here in America, like Filipinos. Do you notice anything different?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I think the only difference is the culture. Number one is the culture. What they eat here compared to the Philippines, I think they don’t want to eat the Filipino food here. For example, the fish. Most Filipinos who were born here did not want to eat fish. One thing is the Filipino attitude, like saying po in a respectful way, they are doing the same thing. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Where did you first live when you were in the U.S.?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I stayed in Daly City when we arrived here as a room tenant. After two years, I’ve been renting out an apartment, for a one-bedroom apartment. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What are some of the things you remember as a child living in the Philippines? <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: As a child, when I grew up... I think the most memorable thing that I have to…<br /><br />[14:57]<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I have to get some money in order to have your [daughter’s] education. Without money, I think you cannot get sent to school. Even though there are some public schools over there, but still you have to pay. One more thing is we came from a poor family. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What was the highest education you’ve had in the Philippines?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Highest?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Like how high did you in your education?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I finished my college in the Philippines and took my board exam, also in the Philippines. I graduated in college as BSC in Accounting, Bachelor’s of Science in Commerce Accounting Major. After I finished my college, after a year, I found a job. While in the job, I was planning to take the board exam to be a Certified Public Accountant over there. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Did you ever get your Master’s?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Yea, one more thing is that I got my Master’s when I already finished my Certified Public Accountant career. I got it October 1999. I got my Master’s Degree in Business Management. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Do you use your degree?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I never use my degree, my Master’s in Business Administration. I think, only few, when I used it in here, during my budgeting function here in America. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What were some of your experiences while here in America?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: What experiences?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Like did you face any discrimination, racism? <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I think there’s no discrimination regarding the job opportunities. The only thing that I noticed is that you must be flexible in your job when you’re already hired as being a worker. You must do whatever you can do just to help other staff inside the company. That’s the only thing I noticed that I experienced. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: I remember you talking to me one time about how you lived during the Marcos regime. How was that?<br /><br />[19:54]<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: During the Marcos regime, I think most of the people were disciplined, especially during the martial law time declared by President Marcos. Nobody was inspired to give a negative opinion on the government and how it ran. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What was your opinion?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Opinion for what?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: For the government.<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: The only question I have in my mind is that why are there many political candidates who wants to occupy some position in the government. They were investing more money, billions of money, just to run for a position in the government. That’s the only thing I would have in my mind. Maybe, one of the reasons is that they want to protect their business interests. I think that’s the only thing I have in mind. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Do you still participate in voting back home in the Philippines?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Right now, I’m not participating anymore since I’ve been living here in America even though I still have rights to vote. With the situation now, it’s so very different. Whatever the people choose, they [the government] are still doing the same thing. They’re still doing their personal interests or business interests. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: How often do you go home to the Philippines?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I prepare to go home now yearly as possible. If I have time or if I have some money to pay for my ticket, I have to go home yearly just to visit any difference or any progress made to be seen with my eyes. Like, the one before when I never went to the Philippines for 10 years, it’s very different now that there are so many… what do you call this one? The areas have too many people now. Place are now overcrowded, more traffic. Even though the road is widened and I don’t know what’s the reason on how they solve the traffic. There are many peddlers on the street. You could imagine traveling for 10 miles away. You can spend 2 hours. That’s how worse is the traffic in the Philippines. <br /><br />[24:51]<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Do you have any regrets leaving the Philippines?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I don’t have any regrets living in the Philippines, because I was born there. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: No, leaving, leaving the Philippines. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: No, no, no. I never regret. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Tell me more about Ilocos Sur. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Ilocos Sur now is good. There are more roads that were built. Many business establishments were there already. The one department store is already there. Going to Ilocos Sur is more comfortable, because there are more roads built coming from Manila, from the other provinces, like Baguio and Zambales. There are many alternative routes. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: How is it different from when you were growing up?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: The only difference is that there was only one road they were using when going there. There’s the national road, the Manila road, but the McArthur highway. They call it the McArthur highway. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: McArthur, as in General McArthur?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Yea, I think that road was named after General McArthur. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What did you learn about in school, in terms of the Philippines?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Academic or what? <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: nods<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I think there’s no difference in learning school here and there in the Philippines, because the adoption is also the same as an American textbook. So, what you learn here is almost the same in the Philippines. The only thing is the way the teacher teaches his class in the Philippines, the way he teaches, the way he wants his class to learn. <br /><br />[29:58]<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: So, it’s about the same material?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Yea, the same material. They are the same books. The teaching method is also in English, but the only difference here is purely English. Unlike there, sometimes they are using the Filipino dialect and English if the class do not understand [the dialect]. That’s the only difference I think. But also, Filipino subject in the Philippines. They also have World History subject and Filipino History, of course. They’re also teaching how to do Home Economics. They also teaching the [inaudible] work, like how to make the tables, how to repair the vehicles. The home jobs. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: What do you like about America?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Number one reason that I like to stay here in America is that it’s very peaceful although there are some crimes. But the police enforcer can resolve it right away. The judicial right and judicial cases are solved right away unlike in the Philippines. Some of the crime cases were not solved until now even though it’s been 10 years above or below. Number two reason is the climate. The climate here. You are experiencing 4 seasons: the autumn, summer, spring, and fall [winter]. On the negative side, the house rental or apartment rental is too expensive as compared to the Philippines. You could imagine if you are the only one working on minimum wage, you can’t live here in America. All your earnings, being the basic earner, only goes to the owner of the house or owner of the apartment. The members of your family or maybe even around 4 people in the family or household would be working in order to live. <br /><br />[34:53]<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Were you a part of any labor organizing work?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: No, I never did that. Even in the labor union, I never became a member. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Why not?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: Because my previous job, they won’t be covered. Under the administration, you are not allowed to be a member of any union clubs. <br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Do you know anything about Filipino labor organizers from back in the day?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I know the Trade Union of the Philippines, TUP, and the FFW, Federation of Free Workers, that I know in the Philippines.<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: But you weren’t a part of any of those?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: No, I haven’t been part of those, because the policy in the Philippines is that if you are under administration, you won’t be able to become a member for any of the labor unions.<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: Is there anything else you would want to share or add about your experiences as a Filipino immigrant coming to America or anything like that?<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I think the only experience I’d want to add is that I have heard, many instances that Filipinos with other Filipinos are not helping each other. Filipinos want to promote himself as being a worker, but Filipinos should help other Filipinos. So, right now, if there are some Filipinos who want to come into America, they should plan that they have the right home to stay in America, they have the right job to pay for their obligations. <br /><br />[39:48]<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, D: I think they have more relatives living here in America. Just in case, if they need help, some of their relatives can help him. I think that’s the only thing I’ve never experienced here. Because we don’t have any relatives living here in America. It’s only us, who started and wanted to acquire those American Dreams.<br /><br />GUTIERREZ, K: That’s it. That’s all. Thank you for letting me interview you and if there’s anything else, just let me know.<br /><br />[End Audio File]
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Oral history interview with Dante Gutierrez, interviewed by Kyrene Giezel Gutierrez
Subject
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Manila, Philippines, civil service servant, water works company, Certified Public Accountant, accounting, Bureau of Internal Revenue, immigration, immigrant families--United States, immigrant, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Filipino Americans, Daly City, BSC Accounting, Bachelor's of Science in Commerce Accounting Major, Certified Public Accountant, Master's Degree, M.S., MS, Business Management, discrimination, racism, Marcos, Ferdinand Marcos, President Marcos, Martial Law, Illocos Sur, Ilocano,Ilokano, Baguio, Zambales, McArthur Highway, union, Trade Union of the Philippines, TUP, FFW, Federation of Free Workers
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Dante Gutierrez, interviewed by Kyrene Giezel Gutierrez
Date
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9-Jun-19
Rights
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The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivist Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu
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Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
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ucdw_wa014_s001_0016
accounting
Bachelor's of Science in Commerce Accounting Major
Baguio
BSC Accounting
Bureau of Internal Revenue
Business Management
Certified Public Accountant
civil service servant
Daly City
discrimination
Federation of Free Workers
Ferdinand Marcos
FFW
Filipino Americans
Illocos Sur
Ilocano
Ilokano
immigrant
Immigrant families--United States
immigration
Jeddah
M.S.
Manila
Marcos
Martial Law
Master's Degree
McArthur Highway
MS
Philippines
President Marcos
racism
Saudi Arabia
Trade Union of the Philippines
TUP
union
water works company
Zambales
-
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Title
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Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
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Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Description
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<strong><br />Note: Collection upload in process</strong>
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Ralph Gabriel Giron
Interviewee
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Gloria Dela Cruz
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[Giron] <br />Today is the second of June 2019. Today I will be doing err conducting an interview with a Filipino immigrant. My name is Ralph Giron. May I… have your full name?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Yeah, my name is Gloria Dela Cruz.<br />[Giron]<br />[coughs] So… Gloria, I will be asking you a few questions talking about your life as a Filipino immigrant. Umm… most of these questions are going to be in English. If you think that your English is not good enough, you can, of course, speak in Tagalog. Umm…yes! We shall start! So, to start off, where and when were you born? <br />[Dela Cruz] <br />I was born in Malolos, Bulacan in Philippines. [Felt uncomfortable providing birthdate.] <br />[Giron] <br />Where were your parents born?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />At the same place I was born.<br />[Giron]<br />What jobs did your parents do?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />My mom is [was] a sew… umm…dress maker and my dad is [was] a soldier before.<br /><br />[Giron]<br />Soldier? Uh to go upon that, when did he fight err what war did he fight?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />What war did he fight? They just umm it is a community fight, like in the same place in the Philippines. Where in there is… the new people’s army that were fighting in [for] their freedom against the government. <br />[Giron]<br />Okay and do you remember your grandparents?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Yes.<br />[Giron] <br />Okay… with your grandparents…do you… Where were err where were your grandparents born and what did they do?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Umm… my grandparents were born in the same place where [was] I born in the Philippines, and what they job before are… they are the farm raiser, like umm [pause] How do you call that? They raised chicken and…<br />[Giron]<br />Farmers?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Yeah.<br />[Giron]<br />Okay so, another quick question: how many siblings did you have?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />I have four siblings.<br />[Giron] <br />Boys? Girls?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Two boys and three girls [Four related by blood. One half-sister] <br />[Giron]<br />Did you come from a large family?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Uhh no I have only my dad and my aunt. [Pause] So there are only two kids from my grandparents so it’s not really large.<br />[Giron] <br />I meant, as in general, with your parents and your siblings. Did you grow up with a larger family like umm, uncles? Aunts?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Uh yeah yeah, yes I did.<br />[Giron]<br />And how many can you count in total?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />At my father’s side they only two and my mom’s side is there are three siblings.<br />[Giron]<br />Did any of your family members move to America before you?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Uh they are my auntie before, on the third cousin, my parent’s third cousin, they were in Texas right now.<br />Giron: And when did they move to America?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Uh they said America is a better place for good education…<br />[Giron]<br />No.. uhh When did they move to America?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />When? Um that will be 1970…1976 like that.<br /><br />[Giron]<br />Okay, and to go off of this, since they moved before you did when did you move? What year did you move?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />My family and I move here on 2005.<br />[Giron]<br />What state did you reside in?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Here in California.<br />[Giron]<br />[changing subjects] Umm so in the Philippines, I’m assuming since you’re an immigrant, did you study in the Philippines?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Uh yes I graduated in college. Major in Bachelor of Science in Commerce. Oh! Studying Bachelor of Science in Commerce, major in Economics.<br />[Giron]<br />And what school did you go to?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />I graduated in Regina Carmeli Uni [Pause] now is um University of Regina Carmeli. <br />[Giron] <br />Regina Carmeli? <br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Yes.<br />[Giron] <br />Okay. So growing up in the Philippines err having your education in the Philippines, what was it like? How were the schools there? How was your academic experience?<br /><br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Umm compared to the U.S., Philippines is way…lesser [struggling to think of the word]<br />[Giron]<br />You can speak in Tagalog.<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Yeah yeah, kung ikukumpara ko ang studies from Philippines [than] here in U.S. I can say that America is much better than the education in the Philippines. In the sense that… mas marami ang year ng pag <br />a-aral mo, dito sa America ‘kay sa Pilipinas. <br />[Giron] So you’re saying that you go to school longer in the Philippines that you do… <br />[Dela Cruz]<br />No, here [in America] is longer. Cause right now we have up to grade twelve. In the Philippines we only have fourth year. Grade six in elementary. Four years in high school, and four years in college. <br />[Giron] <br />Ahh okay that is very interesting. Sorry, I did not go to… I did not have education in the Philippines, so that is very new to me. Umm and you said you… I’m sorry what was your major again when you were in college?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />My major was in Economics.<br />[Giron] <br />Economics! Okay! So umm since you majored in Economics, what was work like err what work did you apply for? <br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Uhh I never got a chance to use my major because when I first graduated in college I went to a different country with my mom to work with her with one family there as a domestic helper and it last for one year and then when I came back umm I got this job in a publication where you will uhh make a newspaper, magazines, books, leaflets, invitations like that, something like that. And then I cannot… I didn’t pursue the… [Struggling to think of the word]<br />[Giron]<br />Your original major?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Yeah, my original major.<br />[Giron]<br />Umm and this is a little bit personal, but do you have any regrets not pursuing your major or did you enjoy doing the whole newspaper business? <br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Actually, my major’s course is not really my dream course because what I want at the time is to be a nurse, but because I don’t have money, or my parents did not have money to put me into that kind of school. So it [I] never happens to be a nurse at that time. But I enjoy being a newspaper, a layout artist in that publication.<br />[Giron] <br />Okay! So, the next couple of questions will ask about umm you coming here to America. So, to start off, when did you decide to move out of the Philippines? So, when did you start thinking, “I want to move to America.” About when did you start think about that?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Actually, that wasn’t our plan before. It wasn’t came to my mind that I would be going here to America, but there’s an opportunity for my sister to be here, to come here in America, and then after the five years of being here she petitioned my parents. After my parents, she petitioned us, siblings, so that how we get in here in America. <br /><br />[Giron] <br />Okay! Let me get this straight. So, your older sister?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />My youngest.. um no, my sister next to me. <br />[Giron] <br />So, a year? Or?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Yeah a year.<br />[Giron]<br />So, your younger sister had an opportunity to come to America and when she came here, did she become a citizen? <br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Yes, she married a citizen… guy.<br />[Giron] <br />So, she married someone who was a citizen, therefore she became a citizen, and she petitioned your parents to come to America and then she also petitioned you guys, the siblings.<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Yeah the remaining children.<br />[Giron]<br />So, when did that occur?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Umm, for my sister, or…?<br />[Giron]<br />For you. So, once your sister petitioned you guys, when was the petition? <br />[Dela Cruz]<br />I remember my parents came here 1996, and they file a petition for their kids, for their children after that. I think I came here like 10 years after they were in America.<br />[Giron] <br />Why did you choose to move here, rather than stay in America [I meant to say the Philippines.]<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />In the Philippines?<br />[Giron]<br />Yes. <br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Yeah, umm they said umm America has a great opportunity for us Filipinos. They said.. what do you call honey… green… <br />[Giron]<br />[Laughs] uhh yeah, I don’t know the correct saying.<br /><br />[Long Pause, then resumes. We had to search up the proper saying for her reference] <br /><br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Yeah, they said America is a land of milk and honey, like there is a greenest pasture here in America. The greatest opportunity for us Filipinos to be here, so we can uhh.. para pag unlad yung sarili naming.<br />[Giron]<br />Uhh did you have any children that kind of… So, the reason why you wanted to move to America, because the saying that you just did, that America is the land of milk and honey and talked about opportunity. Did you want your children to have a better opportunity?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Yeah, that’s the first thing that came to my being err to my mind that I want my children to come here, to get the knowledge or the.. to get study here, finish their college here, and I’m also dreaming that they can be a doctor here, sometimes, [Quietly laughing in unison] because being a doctor here in America is a kind of umm mataas na ni pag ina aralan. Mataas na ni pag ina aralan na kahit saan ka marating, kahit saan mag punta basta graduate ka ng America being a doctor, marami kang chance sa ibang lugar mapuntahan or ma pag trabhoan dahil mas mataas ang edukasyon ng pagiging doctor dito sa America.<br />[Giron] <br />Okay, very interesting! So, you referred to America or, you believed err used to believe that America a land flowing with milk and honey. After you moved here, did any of that idea change?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Uhh not really kasi sa Pilipinas wala ka naman masyado na pa-pasukan na trabaho. Maliit lang pag kumita ka, halimbawa na “in’ ka sa isang company, they just… they’re not giving you much salary so you can send your children to what your dream of them become. So, I’m very lucky that I have my parents, my sibling, who brought me here together with my children, so they can have this opportunity that they can study whatever they want. <br />[Giron]<br />Okay, that’s it? So, you do not regret leaving the Philippines at all?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />No. No regrets at all.<br />[Giron]<br />Okay! So, for your life, now that you’ve lived here [in America] for over a decade already, and you lived most of your life in the Philippines. Can you tell me different situations err what was different about living in America, as oppose to living in the Philippines?<br /><br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Umm… living in the Philippines is easy, like when you don’t have anything to eat you just plant and you have something to eat, but here in America if you don’t get a job, you don’t have nothing to eat. Like hindi mo ma bi-bilhin yung gusto mo bilhin pag na sa Pilipinas ka, pero compared in the Philippines to America, mas masaya and buhay mo sa Pilipinas dahil enjoy mo… they said that… there’s nothing like home.<br />[Giron] <br />There’s no place like home?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />There’s no place like home. All your friends, all your relatives are living there, so… as if you have a lot of company. Marami kang, kung baga, ka-kampi, compared dito sa America na limited lang kayo, konti lang kayo, na mag mga maganak ng nadtio, walang masyadong tutulong, especially kung wala ka naman ka maganak, walang masyadong tutolong sayo. Compared na sa Pilipinas ka ‘aan doon yung maganak mo. Umm mayroon kang ma pu-puntahan kung kailangan mo ng tulong. Hindi sinasabi sa pera, pero tulong as in companion ba. Unlike dito sa America, puro ka trabaho. Kailangan mo mg trabaho para meron kang magandag opportunity na makatira sa ganitong lugar, makabilhi ka nang gusto mong bilhin, makain mo yung gusto mong kainin. Something like that. <br />[Giron] <br />Okay, and, so, now that I have a better idea err better understanding of your thoughts about America and the Philippines, I wanted to ask about your first few years here coming to America. So, when you first moved here you said that you lived in California, you currently reside in California, and this is the place you first came. I kind of want to know about your experience of coming to America for the first time. So, do you still remember the day you left the Philippines and the day you arrived in America, in the airport? <br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Yeah, in the airport I was so amazed on the place. Of course, it was different, too much different compared to the Philippines, in a sense that the roads are really [Pause] developed compared to the Philippines. I can compare that America is really established. The roads are really… ni pinagplanohan, may plano lahat. Unlike sa Pilipinas na “oh itinayo itong daan na ito ng pa ganun lang.” [Waving arm motion] Like hindi nag isip or hindi masyado na plano. Kung ico-compara mo dito and lahat na makita mo sa daan is una una lang yung dadaanan mo, makikita mo na talagang wide, Na sa plano.<br />[Giron] <br />Okay! To make this a bit clear for me, you’re comparing the differences between the Philippines and America. You said America, when you see the roads, you know that things were built with a purpose. Things were built with a plan.<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Yes.<br />[Giron] Comapred sa Pilipinas where, it seems like they just built things randomly, without a plan. Is that what you’re trying to say?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Mhm! Yes, that’s it.<br />[Giron] <br />Okay! So, I would like to know… which airport did you come from, oh, not come from, but when you came to the Philippines, which airport in California did you arrive in?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />We arrive in San Francisco Airport.<br /><br />[Giron]<br />Can you tell me about your experience, about… What was going through your mind as you stepped foot out of the airplane? Were you excited? How were you feeling?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />I am [was] a little nervous because I don’t now what will I expect America will give to me. What job should I do here, compared to what I have in the Philippines. I don’t know if there’s same job that I can get here as a publisher because when I first applied, I don’t want to mention the company, but I applied in some company, like a publication company. They said, I hear that this company is having a politics, you know, politics in the sense, that they just accepting people like your relative, your friends. So, I never got the chance to get into that company the same as I’m working in the Philippine. <br />[Giron] <br />So, with that when you said that you weren’t able to go into the job that you were used to, with the publication, did that change your life? As in, since you didn’t get into that job, were you forced to…<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Yeah, I forced to go a different route, yes. <br />[Giron] <br />What route was that in, since you weren’t able to…<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Actually, I, in economics there’s a little background of accounting, so… [asking me a question] Do I have to mention this company? <br />[Giron]<br />Uhh you don’t have to mention the company.<br /><br /><br />[Dela Cruz] <br />So, I get into this company as a accounts payable in accounting because I have an experience or I have a background in accounting, to what I graduated, I used that experience or I can use that experience to get into that job. For the first time, yes, it is difficult for me to adjust because you will be working with people that new for you, like American people, different culture, like what you grow in [pause] different surroundings, yeah and different… I don’t know how you will work on that place you don’t know how to be with other people. Hindi mo alam kung pa-pano sila pakisamahan dahil iba ang kanilang kinalakihan, o ang ugalit, or kanilang ni pagaralan. And then that time, even this time I can admit that I having a hard time speaking English, so I don’t know how will I talk to them, and how will I talk to the customer that I was assigned to.<br />[Giron] <br />When you first came here, your life was very tough especially the adjustments. Was it similar for your children… the adjustment for them, was it difficult for them as well? <br />[Dela Cruz] <br />I never got a chance to ask them, but I think they don’t have a very hard time being with other people because they were so little before. Growing up here, I think they were really easily adjust themselves.<br />[Giron] <br />Perfect! So, when you first arrived here in California, did you have a place to stay? Did you already have a home? Did you stay with a relative? How did you get by for the first [few] years here, so where did you live?<br /><br /><br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Umm my parents that time had a house to live in Sunnyvale. So, they owned a house, but, because living in California is too expensive, so… We lived there for like five years, and then after that because life is very tough, my parents didn’t have anymore job that time and then my siblings are living in different place like, they were just living in apartment and I was the only one living with my parents. It’s too hard for us to pay that house… the mortgage of the house, so we decided to move into an apartment with my parents and with my kids, too. <br />[Giron]<br />Okay. Uhh [Pause] So, you told me before… I think I’m done with the “Living here in America” with that section. Umm, I wanted to go into your professions when you first moved here to America. So, you told me you wanted to get into some publications, but you didn’t get in. You told me some other things as well, but you said that it did not work out. What did you eventually settle on? What type of work did you eventually settle on?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Actually, you cannot pick your job. You cannot pick any job you want as long as you’re just… as long as you have a job to do [Pause] <br />Yeah, before, like I said, I was in this company I work in accounting, but the job is too tough for me, so I started one course to be a CNA, like a certified nursing assistant, I work in this [accounting] company, like I said, seven years, but this is too tough for me because like that time they said the company will be close in a couple of years. I decided to take a course, like a CNA, so I can have another job kapag ng saran a yung [accounting] company. <br /><br /><br />[Giron] <br />So, when you said you took another course did you have to go back to school here in America just to become a CNA? Or how did that process go?<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />I never dream of being a CNA. I just took that course because I want an easy easy… easy job, like papaano ako makaalis ako dito sa company to ayo kong ma bakante, like ayo kong pag nag-sara itong company na ito ay…<br />[Giron]<br />Jobless?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Maging jobless ako kaya… Naging practical lang ako na gusto ko saana dalawang trabaho, saana para ma kumita nang mas malaki, but the thing is, I cannot make… do double job at that time. It’s too hard having two job at the same time.<br />[Giron] <br />And, so, what was funny is that in my class now we learned about Filipinos and wanting to help [out], so it was very interesting to hear that you wanted to be a CNA. You wanted to be a CNA, a nursing assistant. Can I ask, you wanted… in the Philippines you wanted to become… your dream job was to become a nurse, so why did you settle to become a nurse assistant rather than pursue being a nurse when you knew the money…<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Of course, money is a problem here, how can I pursue my study being a nurse if I don’t have a job to do, so I can pursue that nursing job or nursing course. Kailangan may trabaho muna ako bago ako ma pursue ko yun, pero, dahil may mga anak ako, I have two kids, it’s too hard to get back to school being a full-time student while I have have my two kids with me, living with me and no one will look [after] for them and especially I don’t have money to use to continue my study being a nurse. Inisip ko papaano kong gagawin yun kung yung ang mga anak ko ay kasama ko, at mag fu-full time student ako? Ano kakainin ng mga anak ko kung estudyante ako? Kahit mga uutang ako nang pag aaral ko… how ‘bout yung kakainin yung mga anak ko? Saan ko ku-kuhanin yun? <br />[Giron] <br />That’s understandable.<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />So, I’d rather work than going to school. Being a CNA is konting panahon lang para tapusin mo. So, I think I take that course for only three months. So, after I finish that I get a job. Actually, a double job, but it’s too hard, so I stay for only one job and then, but after being a CNA for like two years I decided to get another job and I was now employed in electronics and now, compared to being a CNA and compared to being an accounts payable associate going to CAN and going to electronics I can say that electronics is more better for me… for my age because right now I’m a lead… a production lead in that company, so I’m earning like more than I’m earing in accounts payable or being a CNA before. <br />[Giron] <br />So, the current job you’re in now you make way more… <br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Yes.<br />[Giron]<br />Okay! So, a lead is that like a manager status?<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />No, it’s umm… compared to supervisor, your’re under the supervisor. <br /><br /><br />[Giron]<br />That’s great to know that you were able to face America with all the issues and not having a job here early and all the difficulties you had in thie first few months… was there any other issues and hardships you faced.<br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Yea, a hardship I’m facing right now is the apartment that we’re living right now… because my kids are getting older and I don’t want them to live in this apartment that not comfortable for them. I want more bigger hosue because my dream is to give my children a better life, but for me doing that it’s too hard, also ‘cause like I said living here in America it’s not really easy. You have to have two jobs so you can have your [Pause] Makuha mo yung gusto mo. As in makakuha ng bahay na mas kumportable para sa mga anak mo, pero, dahil na sa hirap nang buhay [intangible] dito sa California mahirap. Acutally, California it yung center nang job. Sa ibang lugar, halimbawa, i-compare mo sa, like in Texas, Texas is more… houses are more affordable, but the thing is… the problem with that area is the job. Ang mas mura sa lugar na ganoon, pero yung trabaho wala rin masyadong makakuhang trababo doon sa ganoong lugar. So, sa California dito talaga centro ng lahat ng company. <br />[Giron] <br />Okay, so, one final question: Did you notice anything different between the first-generation immigrants and the Filipino-<br />American community? Meaning, since you are an immigrant, you’re a first-generation immigrant [Pause] you grew up in the Philippines… was your life different from the Filipinos born in America? Did you notice anything different? For example, the opportunities.<br /><br /><br />[Dela Cruz] <br />Yes, opportunities, in the sense, that mas maganda ang opportunity na mga tao naka pagaral dito [in America] kaysa sa naka pagaral ka sa ibang lugar bago ka nag punta ka dito. Syempre, ang mas priority na ma nga company ay yun naka graduate ka, naka pagaral ka dito sa America, kaysa naka pagaral ka sa ibang lugar. So, masasabi ko na, yes, mas masarap ang… laka ng pagaral ka dito sa America kahit nung bata ka pa, na ka graduate ka dito kase mas maganda ang buhay, magiging buhay mo kung nag tapos ka nang pag aaral dito at naka kuha ka ng trabaho dito. Yeah, compared sa… na sa Pilipinas ka naka graduate tapos dito ka ng trabaho wala kang opportunity na makuha mo ung gusto mo talaga na trabaho dit sa America.<br />[Giron]<br />Okay, Gloria, that will be the end of the interview. I do not have any more questions left, so thank you for taking your time to speak with me… and yeah.<br />[Dela Cruz]<br />Uh yeah you’re welcome.<br />[Giron] <br />Thank you!
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Oral history interview with Gloria Dela Cruz, interviewed by Ralph Gabriel Giron
Subject
The topic of the resource
Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines, dressmaker, soldier, civil war, farmers, Texas, California, immigrant, immigrant families--United States, B.S. Commerce, Economics, Bachelor of Science in Commerce, Economic studies, University of Regina Carmeli, Tagalog, domestic helper, OFW, overseas Filipino workers, publication, layout artist, petition, petition visa, petition visa in the US, San Francisco, Sunnyvale, CNA, Certified Nursing Assistant,
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Gloria Dela Cruz, interviewed by Ralph Gabriel Giron
Date
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2-Jun-19
Rights
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The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivist Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu
Format
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Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
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ucdw_wa014_s001_0014
B.S. Commerce
Bachelor of Science in Commerce
Bulacan
California
Certified Nursing Assistant
civil war
CNA
domestic helper
dressmaker
Economic studies
Economics
farmers
immigrant
Immigrant families--United States
layout artist
Malolos
OFW
overseas Filipino workers
petition
petition visa
petition visa in the US
Philippines
publication
San Francisco
soldier
Sunnyvale
Tagalog
Texas
University of Regina Carmeli
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><br />Note: Collection upload in process</strong>
Oral History
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Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Jared Perez
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Gwendolin Perez
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
[Session 1, May 31st, 2019]<br />[Begin Audio File]<br />JP: Okay, can you say your name?<br />GP: Gwendolin Perez<br />JP: Where and when were you born?<br />GP: I was born March 2nd, 1969 in Pampanga, Philippines.<br />JP: Where were your parents born?<br />GP: Same place.<br />JP: What jobs did your parents do?<br />GP: My dad was an accountant, my mom was a teacher in the Philippines until she came here<br />and then she did clerical work for Levi Strauss. From the time that she arrived to early 2000’s I<br />think.<br />JP: And your grandparents?<br />GP: My maternal grandparents were farmers. My father’s parents I’m not quite sure what they<br />did for a living.<br />JP: How many siblings did you have and did you come from big family?<br />GP: I have two brothers and a sister and extended family is pretty big on the mother’s side.<br />JP: DId any of your family members move to America before you?<br />GP: No. Oh Before me? My parents. My parents came first and then my siblings and I came<br />maybe 7, 8 years later.<br />JP: What was your academic experience in the Philippines?<br />GP: Say that again?<br />JP: What was your academic experience in the Philippines?<br />GP: I left the Philippines when I was in the third grade.<br />JP: Why did your parents decide to move out of the Philippines?<br />GP: Uhm, Financial reasons, economics, I guess. The story I heard was that my dad was gonna<br />come here, they were both gonna come here and work and save some money and then come back<br />to the Philippines and start a business. But that didn’t materialize, they just ended up staying here<br />and ended up bringing us over.<br />JP: When did you move to the united States?<br />GP: My dad came in 1970, my mom followed a year after and my siblings and I came in June,<br />1977.<br />JP: Did move anywhere else before settling in the United States?<br />GP: No, just the Philippines.<br />JP: What were your thoughts about America before you moved here?<br />GP: Well I was a kid and every time I saw, I knew that you had to fly in an airplane to get to<br />America, so I always thought that America was up in the sky. Being eight years old, I really had<br />no thoughts about what America was like, except what I was told that it was cold.<br />JP: Did your thoughts changed after you arrived?<br />GP: About America?<br />JP: Yeah<br />GP: No because we came in the summer, it was warm.<br />JP: [laughs] What was different about living America, oh hold on. What was different about<br />living in America as opposed to living in the Philippines?<br />[4:50]<br />GP: Uh there was a lot of family members in the Philippines. And as a child you had more<br />freedom to roam around. There weren’t any restrictions like there were here. When we got here,<br />there weren’t any family members it was just my mom and dad and we lived in an apartment in<br />San Francisco. So the freedom to run around as a kid wasn’t there like it was in the Philippines.<br />JP: What were you first feeling when you came to America?<br />GP: Fear. I was scared. It was a whole different way of life and I didn’t speak the language and I<br />didn’t speak the language. And I was a very shy kid at the time.. So fear was the most, was the<br />only feeling I had at the time.<br />JP: What changed?<br />GP: Hm. [Familiarity] I can’t say the word. Just being familiarized with the surrounding and<br />society after a while. And uhm the fact that I was able to communicate by the end of my first<br />year in school. And I found friends in school.<br />JP: Where did you first live in the United States?<br />GP: San Francisco. 16th and Mission.<br />JP: How long did it take your parents to find work in America?<br />GP: Uh I’m not sure, but I don’t think it was that long. We weren’t here when we first got here,<br />so I don’t think, I’m not quite sure how long it took them.<br />JP: What jobs have you had since moving to America?<br />GP: Me?<br />JP: Yeah.<br />GP: My first job was at Marine World, Africa, USA, which is now Discovery Kingdom I guess<br />in Vallejo. And then my second job was at Target and I was the assistant for the Human<br />Resource Manager and then I was going to school at the time and when I got done with school, I<br />quit working at Target and I got my license as an LVN. And that’s all the jobs I’ve done since.<br />JP: Was there a reason why you wanted to become a nurse?<br />GP: I was told that, I didn’t really wanna be a nurse but I was told that I would always have a<br />job. Plus, I think the fact that everyone else in the family was in the medical field, I kinda wanted<br />to learn the medical lingo so I could contribute to their conversations.<br />JP: Can you talk about your experiences with the American education?<br />GP: Uhm, It’s a lot different than it is now. Back when we were in school ,we didn’t have all the<br />convenience of the computer. It was tedious, any research that you had to do, you had to go<br />through the library and carry tons and tons of books, whereas now, you have everything at your<br />fingertips.<br />JP: How would you relate the education here in America to the education in the Philippines?<br />GP: I’m not sure because I was only there up until the third grade. The only difference that<br />stands out is that I notice with my own kids, I notice that, if you notice a lot of the Filipinos that<br />grow up in the Philippines they have beautiful penmanship. In the Philippines, I believe from<br />first, from first grade, there’s a set time just for writing a certain letter for that day. And it wasn’t<br />just about writing, it’s about how you wrote it and what it looks like and making sure that it’s,<br />they’re all proportioned to one another on a single page.<br />[10:25]<br />JP: Did you notice anything different between first generation immigrants and the rest of the<br />Filipino-American community?<br />GP: First generation what do you mean?<br />JP: First generation like the first to move to America so like I guess you, I think you’re<br />technically one and a half because first generation would be if you moved here after you were<br />fifteen or something like that. But yeah. I think what the question is asking like either the<br />difference between you and Mama and Lolo or you and me and Ate. Talk about both.<br />GP: So what was the question again?<br />JP: What are the differences between your generation and like Mama’s generation? And then<br />your generation and then like Ate’s generation.<br />GP: I dunno. I mean I can only speak about your generation and my generation. Mama’s<br />generation I think from what I see or what I saw, especially with women, Asian women, they’re<br />a lot more submissive, especially to their spouses. And then my generation are kinda like in<br />between where, especially you’re still gonna have that Asian culture lingering in the background<br />so you’re not quite Asian and you’re not quite American fully, ya know? So you have a little bit<br />of, you have an influence from a little bit of both sides of the world where East meets West. But<br />in your generation, I think a lot of the Asian culture might be on the smaller percentage side<br />rather than the American side. So I’m not quite sure how to answer that question, but if we’re<br />talking culturewise, there’s a big, I think there’s a big difference from my generation to yours<br />and from mine to Mama’s. Especially with them growing up in the Philippines.<br />JP: Talk about that then.<br />GP: What?<br />JP: Like what makes it different. Like I don’t know like socioeconomic status-<br />GP: Well okay, so I think even in your generation, kids in the Philippines are a little different.<br />Well, not a little different. Like kids in the Philippines, even your age, you ask these kids<br />because they grow up in poor surroundings and education to them is very important. Education is<br />the ticket out of their poverty. So parents they will crawl through mud to get their kids through<br />school. And in the Philippines, there aren’t any government loans or student loans that they have<br />here. So everything, whatever tuition that the kids need paid, the parents have to find somehow,<br />whether they go to relatives and borrow or what, but they will crawl through mud, they will sell<br />whatever they have to sell to get their kids through school and when you ask kids in the<br />Philippines what their goals are in life, you often hear them say I wanna finish school so that I<br />can help my mom and dad, or so I can help my mom and dad support my siblings so that they<br />can go to school. That’s always the majority of the answer. Here, you know, you ask kids, and<br />then you ask kids in the Philippines what they wanna be, they wanna be either lawyers, doctors,<br />or nurses. Something that’s sustainable as far as jobs. Here, you ask, you ask kids what they<br />wanna do, what they wanna major in, like I wanna major in English, well you answer, you say<br />that to a Filipino parent, they’ll look at you funny. Especially if you say I wanna major in fine<br />arts. There’s just no jobs for that in the Philippines or whatever. So those are kind of like a no-no<br />majors in the Philippines. Did I answer your question?<br />[15:34]<br />JP: Have you had an experience with like Filipino activism here? Anything that you could, like<br />remember?<br />GP: Filipino activism?<br />JP: Yeah.<br />GP: In what sense?<br />JP: Just like anything.<br />GP: Uh like political stuff?<br />JP: Uh yeah. It could be but like I know that like for example, like this stuff happened before you<br />were born. And some of it happened before you got to America.<br />GP: Yeah I haven’t run across that, but what I do remember back in the late 70s is this, back in<br />San Francisco there was this gang war between Filipinos and Mexicans. And I remember my<br />brothers were teenagers and my mom, my mom and dad always told them, ‘don’t go out after<br />dark’ because any Filipinos, especially guy Filipinos wandering the streets of San Francisco<br />often got shot by these Mexican gangs, but other than that, I don’t remember anything of that<br />nature.<br />JP: Was there anything else that you wanted to share?<br />GP: Like what?<br />JP: I dunno anything about your experience. Anything about you immigrating here, like a<br />struggle that you had?<br />GP: Uh one of the struggles that I had was when I first came, I was eight years old, I was, before<br />I left the Philippines, I was surrounded by family and then I come here, I didn’t know how to<br />speak the language, I didn’t understand the language. I had no family members except my<br />siblings or my parents. But it was scary and lonely at the same time.<br />JP: Do you wanna talk about your family experience? How you felt like your family experience<br />would have been different if you were in the Philippines as opposed to when y’all were living in<br />America?<br />GP: Uh, I dunno how it would have been different.<br />JP: Do you think it would have been different?<br />GP: Probably.<br />JP: Why?<br />GP: Probably would have different because well a lot of it had to do with family dynamics here.<br />My parents weren’t all that they weren’t all that parental. You know what I mean?<br />JP: Do you think that could be due to the fact that they had to work so much?<br />GP: No, I think it was just how their relationship was. I mean, I kinda, they brought us in when I<br />was eight years old and my oldest brother was fifteen and I think I always said that one of my<br />biggest blessing was not growing up with my parents because they didn’t know how to parent<br />and one of my blessings was that I was raised by people who set that good foundation. I don’t<br />think I woulda had that here with my parents.<br />JP: Was there anything else you wanna share? Nothing?<br />[19:51]<br />GP: No, I mean I pretty much, I was eight years old when I came here, so any way of life that I<br />know would be the way of life here in America, here in California. I remember very, the thing<br />that stood out to me was that of course in the Philippines, we were surrounded by family, by<br />cousins and aunts and uncles and the houses, ya know, you wanna go to your uncle’s house, it’s<br />a hop, skip and a jump away. You wanna go play with your cousins’ they’re all over the place.<br />And here, I didn’t have that, so that was the one thing that really stood out to me. I missed out on<br />that family dynamic, or that huge family dynamic.<br />JP: What about your experiences with Dad? Or like Dad’s experiences?<br />GP: I don’t know anything about Dad’s experiences, what do you mean?<br />JP: Nothing.<br />GP: I mean Dad grew up in the Philippines, he was in his thirties when he came here. So, I think<br />he has, I dunno. I dunno what he would have to say. All I know is that I remember him telling<br />me that he left the Philippines because well, first of all there wasn’t much work out there and he<br />did a lot of hanging out with buddies and with no job and little to do they did a lot of drinking<br />and just hanging out. So he decided to just come to America to see if, to try his luck. And I guess<br />he was fortunate, he found a good job when he got here.<br />JP: What was the process of both of you getting your citizenship here?<br />GP: What’s that?<br />JP: What was the process of both of you getting your citizenship here?<br />GP: Well, mine was easy, I was a minor when both your grandparents became citizens. So that<br />carried us over into citizenship. So I just had to file for it and claim it. But when Dad, Dad had to<br />wait to be a resident at least, I think 3 years before he could file for citizenship and then he had to<br />go through the process of taking the exam, which was nothing, just waiting it out.<br />JP: What was Dad’s background, like in the Philippines? What kind of background did he come<br />from? What kind of family did he come from?<br />GP: I dunno, you’re gonna have to ask him about that.<br />JP: What did his parents do, do you know?<br />GP: His mom was a housewife and his dad owned his own radio control shop. That he repaired. I<br />guess. They’re the two-way radios, he would repair them. And I guess Dad worked a few jobs<br />while he was out in the Philippines. Before coming here. Other than that, and I know that he had<br />a grandfather that had his PhD in Math or something like that. He taught at one of the big<br />universities in the Philippines. But I don’t know much.<br />JP: Okay, that was it.<br />GP: That was it?<br />JP: Yeah<br />GP: Okay, I’ll talk to you later.<br />[24:55]<br />[End Audio File]
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Oral History Interview with Gwendolin Perez
Subject
The topic of the resource
Pampanga, Philippines, Accountant, Teacher, Clerk, Levi Strauss and Company, Farmers, San Francisco, Marine World Africa USA, Vallejo (Calif.), Target Corporation, Personnel management, Nurse, Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN), Asia, Culture, Immigration, Gangs, Mexicans, Mexican American criminals, Family & Relationships, Family Dynamic, Citizenship -- United States, U.S. Citizenship, Mathematics, University
Description
An account of the resource
Oral History Interview with Gwendolin Perez, interviewed by Jared Perez
Date
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5/31/2019
Rights
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The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivist Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu
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Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
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ucdw_wa014_s001_0038
Accountant
Asia
Citizenship -- United States
Clerk
Culture
Family & Relationships
Family Dynamic
farmers
Gangs
immigration
Levi Strauss and Company
Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN)
Marine World Africa USA
Mathematics
Mexican American criminals
Mexicans
nurse
Pampanga
Personnel management
Philippines
San Francisco
Target Corporation
teacher
U.S. Citizenship
University
Vallejo (Calif.)
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><br />Note: Collection upload in process</strong>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Alexandra Fontanilla
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Katherine Isip
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
[Session 1, May 30, 2019]
[Begin Audio File]
Alexandra or Alexa: It is May 30, 2019 and it is 2 PM. This is Alexa Fontanilla interviewing for ASA 150: The Filipino American Experience. Today, I am interviewing:
Katherine: Katherine Isip. I’m 27.
Alexa: [laughs] Okay. Um, where and when were you born?
Katherine: Um, May 24, 1992 in the Philippines—in Manila.
Alexa: Um, where were your parents born?
Katherine: When?
Alexa: Where?
Katherine: Where? In Manila, Philippines, too.
Alexa: Um, what jobs—uh, do—did/do your parents do?
Katherine: So my dad is a business man and my mom was an interior designer.
Alexa: Oh, she was?!
Katherine: Uh huh!
[3]
Alexa: Oh my gosh! Is that why she was friends with my mom? [in reference to our mom’s being sisters-in-law and interior designers]
Katherine: [laughs] No.
Alexa: [laughs]
Katherine: But she went to Interior Designing school and she, like, designed sets before, but she stopped working because yeah—because of the babies AKA me and Maxine [her sister].
Alexa: Okay, okay. Um, what does Lolo [our grandfather] and Lola [our grandmother] do?
Katherine: Oh, they’re both, um, business people. Businessman, businesswomen—woman? Woman.
Alexa: [laughs]
Katherine: Dami [a lot]?
Alexa: Yeah [laughs].
Katherine: [laughs]
Alexa: How many siblings do you have and do you come from a big family?
Katherine: [sigh] I don’t know if it’s big, but I have two sisters—yeah.
[4]
Alexa: Okay.
Katherine: But yeah.
Alexa: Um, did any of your family members move to America before you?
Katherine: Uh, my aunt—wait. My aunt? How do you say it? Aunt? Aunt?
Alexa: Uh, it doesn’t matter. They’re both the same.
Katherine: Okay. Yeah and I’m not sure about my grandparents, but I think my grandparents as well.
Alexa: Um
Katherine: Yeah. They are, they are.
Alexa: Kind of. They have dual citizenship.
Katherine: Yeah.
Alexa: Um.
Katherine: No—no they’re immigrants. They’re not citizens yet.
Alexa: Oh, okay. Okay. Um, what was your academic experience in the Philippines?
[5]
Katherine: Um, what was my—it was good. It was fun. Like, I think I learned a lot. Um, it was hella long though because it was 5 years for PT School. The normal like—
Alexa: Mhm.
Katherine: Like um, a bachelor’s degree there would be like 4 years, but my course was like 5 so… yeah.
Alexa: Um, and then what was your professional experience like?
Katherine: Professional? It is different than it is here because over there we don’t have—like here we have PT aids and PT assistants. In the Philippines, it’s just us.
Alexa: Oh, okay.
Katherine: And we’re under doctors.
Alexa: Ohh.
Katherine: Um, here in the States we are as well, but um, we have more power?
Alexa: Mhm.
Katherine: I guess. Like to treat patients, like to determine what the patients need because usually doctors would
[6]
just diagnose and send them to us and then we’ll be the ones to evaluate and see.
Alexa: Mhm.
Katherine: But, in the Philippines, it’s the doctors who diagnose and give the treatment plan and we just implement the treatment plan.
Alexa: Oh, okay, okay.
Katherine: Uh huh.
Alexa: Okay.
Katherine: And the pay, and the salary.
Alexa: Okay, do you get paid more here?
Katherine: Of course, yeah. For sure. I think I get paid there a day… if I convert it into dollars. Like, around $11 a day.
Alexa: Oh, wow. Okay.
Katherine: Mhm.
Alexa: Okay, um.
Katherine: So, yeah.
[7]
Alexa: Uh, why did you decide to move out of the Philippines?
Katherine: Because I was making $11 a day.
Alexa: [laughs]
Katherine: [laughs] And I like—love it better here in the States compared to the Philippines.
Alexa: Um.
Katherine: I don’t know. The way of life here.
Alexa: Oh okay, yeah. That makes sense. Uh, when did you move to the United States?
Katherine: Last year.
Alexa: 2018?
Katherine: 20—oh, shoot! 2017.
Alexa: 2017. Okay.
Katherine: So, it was like a year and a few months ago.
Alexa: Okay. Um, did you move anywhere else before settling at the US?
[8]
Katherine: Like a different country?
Alexa: Yeah.
Katherine: No, just directly from the Philippines.
Alexa: Okay, um. What were your thoughts about America before you moved here?
Katherine: Um, what were my thoughts? I guess I thought that it would be hard to live here because in the Philippines, you know, we got used to having ya-yas, or maids.
Alexa: Mhm.
Katherine: So, like, compared to here you’re more independent. You do everything.
Alexa: Yeah.
Katherine: Like laundry and cooking and everything. Not like in the Philippines, like someone else does it for you.
Alexa: Mhm.
Katherine: So I think that’s like the big, like, thing that people tell me is the difference.
Alexa: Uh huh. And like, those thoughts—have they changed like after you started living here or?
[9]
Katherine: They’re still the same.
Alexa: Yeah I was about to say.
Katherine: Yeah, it is true.
Alexa: Do—is it—do you like it more?
Katherine: I mean, it’s not that hard. Like, you have dishwashers and washing machines and stuff like that over here. Well, you have some in the Philippines, but not a lot of people have that.
Alexa: Yeah.
Katherine: So, I think it’s not as hard as I thought it would be.
Alexa: Mhm. Okay, that’s good. Um, where did you first live in the United States?
Katherine: Um, Anaheim, California.
Alexa: With who?
Katherine: With Auntie.
Alexa: [laughs]
Katherine: With my auntie and uncle and my grandparents.
[10]
Alexa: Um, what jobs did you perform when you moved to America?
Katherine: Well just a PT.
Alexa: Um, so. Did the experiences that you had in the Philippines—did it help you get the job?
Katherine: Yes, for sure.
Alexa: Okay, so I know you went back to school here. Um, what was that like compared to the Philippines?
Katherine: Um, it’s super-fast paced.
Alexa: Here?
Katherine: Like, yeah. Like it’s extra—like in the Philippines it’s fast paced, but here it’s EXTRA. And like your professors here or like instructors are like I feel like they care less. I don’t know. Like in the Philippines they’re like “What do you need? What can we do? Blah blah blah to help you pass.” Or like they really teach. Over here, yeah they teach, but not as detailed or something—like you do all the work.
Alexa: Oh.
Katherine: You know what I mean?
Alexa: Yeah. So like in the Philippines did they kind of, like, walk you through it?
[11]
Katherine: Yeah.
Alexa: Oh, okay.
Katherine: Not like when you were in like high school—like it’s going to be step by step. I mean it was a faster pace, but they—it’s like super organized and like you would like get it… unless you’re dumb. Then, you won’t.
Alexa: [laughs]
Katherine: [laughs] Unless you’re dumb, but I mean, if you’re like okay, you would get it.
Alexa: Okay, okay.
Katherine: It’s not that hard.
Alexa: It’s not that hard. Okay.
Katherine: I mean, it’s hard. I mean it’s harder in the Philippines like the exams and stuff compared to here. Like, I think Filipinos who study in the Philippines and who started studying here. Like, even though like in high school or something, like I think they excel in school here more than compared to the Philippines because it’s harder, like the topics and stuff.
Alexa: Yeah. Okay, that makes sense.
[12]
Katherine: Like it’s super advanced over there, but they like teach you step by step.
Alexa: Yeah.
Katherine: But over here it’s like okay, but we study by ourselves. You can do that. Like [the professors] explain a little bit, help you a little bit. But not like, you know what I mean?
Alexa: Yeah. Okay, that makes sense. Um, and then just for the record, where did you go to school and what did you study?
Katherine: Over here? Or in the Philippines?
Alexa: Over here.
Katherine: I studied my Doctorates of Physical Therapy in Unica College in New York.
Alexa: Um, and then, last question. Did you notice anything different between first generation immigrants and um, like me, like Filipino Americans?
Katherine: Mhm, like yeah. I think it’s a big difference. Like, I think Filipino Americans are like more, um, how do I say it? They’re like—they’re more [sigh] open? Not open, like more—they express their, um, what they think more compared to the ones in the Philippines. Like me, I can’t like say stuff, like talk back—not talk back, but like, it’s different. [frustrated sigh] How do I say it? Alexie [her nickname for me]!
[13]
Alexa: If you want to say it in, like, Tagalog that’s fine.
Katherine: Even with—like, I mean, starting. Like I’m thinking pero parang ang hirap din [but it’s like hard still]—wait. Um, parang mas-- [it’s like more--]
Alexa: It’s just like—do you not feel like you—
Katherine: Vocal yung mga people, yung mga kids here compared to the Philippines [the people and kids here are more vocal than in the Philippines] or like the people in the Philippines.
Alexa: Vocal?
Katherine: Mas like, mas conservative [the Philippines is more conservative]. There you go. I think that’s the word. Conservative.
Alexa: Oh, okay. So it’s more conservative in the Philippines?
Katherine: In the Philippines. Like, not super, but if you compare the two, Filipinos in the Philippines are more conservative than Filipino Americans.
Alexa: Oh. Do you think, um, like now that you’ve, like, lived in America for while that, like, do you think you’re still that kind of level of conservative or like, have you changed?
[14]
Katherine: Oh, for sure, I’ve changed. For sure. Yeah. Like, I’m more open to things that are not that open in the Philippines. Like, gay marriage and stuff like that. Like, those kinds of ideas. Like, yes, I accept those more than the people in the Philippines. I guess. Something like that. Like an example. Because it’s very conservative in the Philippines remember because we’re like a Catholic country and like religion is like a big thing. So, like, being gay is like a—it’s not that—I mean it’s more accepted now, but still like, it’s still hard for people there.
Alexa: Mhm, okay. Yeah, I guess. Yeah, it’s a lot more open here and I guess, um, there’s a lot more support for it here.
Katherine: Mhm, I mean in the Philippines they do too, but it’s not as like—there’s still like older generations, who are, like, against that and like thinks that’s like not right. But, like, over here there’s like a lot of people who are accepting it. I mean there’s still people who don’t but you know, most people… yeah.
Alexa: Okay, well. That concludes the interview.
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YpJ246ok2NPTIV5xenQG-VEoD5oQ9qbL/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YpJ246ok2NPTIV5xenQG-VEoD5oQ9qbL/view?usp=sharing</a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RxccS_zqfTqAtAfjeYe6nRSwdN5tNH1k/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RxccS_zqfTqAtAfjeYe6nRSwdN5tNH1k/view?usp=sharing</a>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Oral history interview with Katherine Isip, interviewed by Alexandra Fontanilla
Subject
The topic of the resource
Manila, Philippines, business-man, business man, interior designer, interior design, businesspeople, business-woman, PT, physical therapist, physical therapy, PT aids, physical therapist aid, PT assistants, physical therapist center, Anaheim, California, CA, Southern California, SoCal, Utica College, New York, Doctorates of Physical Therapy, first generation immigrants, first-generation, immigrant families--United States, gay marriage, gay rights
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Katherine Isip, interviewed by Alexandra Fontanilla
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
30-May-19
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivist Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ucdw_wa014_s001_0013
Anaheim
business man
business-man
business-woman
businesspeople
CA
California
Doctorates of Physical Therapy
first generation immigrants
first-generation
gay marriage
gay rights
Immigrant families--United States
interior design
interior designer
Manila
New York
Philippines
physical therapist
physical therapist aid
physical therapist center
physical therapy
PT
PT aids
PT assistants
SoCal
Southern California
Utica College
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><br />Note: Collection upload in process</strong>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Clarimin Diaz
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Noemi Botor
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
Diaz: Okay it is June 2, 2019 and it is 3:00pm. This is Clarimin Diaz interviewing for the Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project for the Welga! Filipino American Labor Archives and the Welga! Project. Today I am interviewing:<br /><br />BOTOR: Noemi Botor<br /><br />Diaz: Okay, let us begin. So lets begin our discussion by talking a little bit about your childhood and early adult life. Where and when were you born?<br /><br />BOTOR: I was born in Baguio City, Philippines.<br /><br />DIAZ: Can you talk about your childhood experiences in the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: I moved at kind of a young age from the Philippines so from what I can remember, I just remember like the area I lived in and going to school but like not too much [laugh].<br /><br />DIAZ: Okay Noemi, where were your parents born?<br /><br />BOTOR: So my parents were also born in the Philippines [Baguio City].<br /><br />DIAZ: Do you know anything about their experiences in the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: Not very much, I know that they went to college there and what not. They didn’t come from or move to the states or go to college here [The United States] so we didn’t know very much about what to do with that process [going to college]. Their experience there, they were both working as nurses and we moved because they didn’t get paid very well in the Philippines so I guess they were looking for a better life elsewhere.<br /><br />DIAZ: I see, so do you know what kind of jobs your grandparents had?<br /><br />Botor: My grandparents. I know for my dad’s side, my grandmother was an office worker and my grandfather was in the Navy.<br /><br />DIAZ: So did you come from a big family?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah, it was a pretty big family. I remember for my first birthday there were like hundreds of people there, so it was a pretty big, yeah [laugh]<br /><br />DIAZ: Did any of your family members move to America before your you or your parents?<br /><br />BOTOR: There were a couple, but it wasn’t family that we were very close to so, I am not sure where they are now. But I know there people who had moved before us.<br /><br />DIAZ: Earlier you mentioned your experiences in school, can you give me any more specific details about your academic experiences in the Philippines, like what it was like to be in school in the Philippines at that age?<br /><br />BOTOR: Well I remember first I went to a private school and our teacher was only responsible for our class and within our class there was only about I would say 10 kids max. It was very small, private, and personal. I remember having to walk to the school every day. I feel like the basic things that I learned were things I needed when I moved here [United States], but I also learned other things like brushing our teeth [laugh] and stuff like that [laugh].<br /><br />DIAZ: Why did your parents decide to leave the Phillipines and move to America?<br /><br />BOTOR: Well first we actually moved to England before moving to America and I feel like one of the biggest factors was just basically how much they were getting paid. Like I said, they don’t pay nurses in the Phillippines very well and so they got jobs offers in England so we moved there, but I think they got better job offers in California so then we ended up moving to California.<br /><br />DIAZ: Around how old were you when you were living in England? Do you remember what it was like living in England?<br /><br />BOTOR: I left the Phillippines when I was like 4 or 5 and then I lived in England for two or three years before moving to California.<br /><br />DIAZ: Do you know what year your parents moved to the United States?<br /><br />BOTOR: I am not sure [laugh].<br /><br />DIAZ: That’s fine.<br /><br />DIAZ: So what were your thoughts about America before you moved here?<br /><br />BOTOR: I feel like it was the typically stereotypes that people think about. I was just thinking about the types of food that I would like to eat because America is known for burgers and like really big foods and things like that. So that was one of my expectations but like culturally, that wasn’t something I thought about I guess when I was younger [age 9] but I just knew that this is how this place is and so I am going to move there and it will be fine [laugh].<br /><br />[5:20]<br /><br />DIAZ: So, growing up in America, how has your view changed about living in the United States?<br /><br />BOTOR: Well there is a lot of talk about why people move to America in the first place and its because people want to chase that American dream. So when I moved here with my parents, I knew how lucky I was compared to my cousins who had to stay back in the Philippines. But I think just like the image of the American dream and like what it stands for, that has definitely changed over time because things are a lot harder than like how people say it is.<br /><br />DIAZ: So what do you think are some of the differences between living in America as opposed to living in the Philippines, like the culture and overall experience?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah, I would say one of the biggest differences in definitely transportation. Back in the Phillipines my family and I would mainly travel by Jeep or like taxi but coming here or like when my parents moved to the UK [England] at first, they had to like get their own drivers licenses which they didn’t need before. So, I think that transition was definitely a big thing. And then, I also think, I remember when I was younger, I would like always be outside playing [in the Philippines] and it didn’t matter where I was or what time it was. So, I feel like when we first moved to California, when I was like living in the city, because I was living in this place called Berlingame, instead of like here where I live now in Brentwood. It was a lot more city like so I didn’t have the chance to go outside to the park and play with my friends and things like that.<br /><br />DIAZ: What is your academic experience like here in America?<br /><br />BOTOR: I feel like compared to when I was back in the Phillipines, I feel like for one the classes are bigger and I guess you’re not like so personal with your teachers compared to back in the Philippines. We [the Phillipines] still teach the basic stuff, like the education and GE’s are the same but then there are some differences because I remember back in the Philippines they would like teach us like basic hygiene, cutting out nails, and check our hands if they were clean and if they weren’t they would tell our parents about it [laugh] and I didn’t experience any of those kinds of things [here in the United States] because I thought like initially coming to America like, oh I wonder if they are stricter here but it was like to opposite.<br /><br />DIAZ: I see, so from your experience do you notice anything different between first generation immigrants and the Filipino American community here in Davis?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah, I know first generation immigrants speak out more on like the culture since they’re the ones who know how to speak [the native language] and things like that. And so, it’s nice to see that being involved with the community that way, educating like Filipino Americans who’ve like never have been back home [the Philippines] and things like that. <br /><br />DIAZ: How do you retain your culture in America?<br /><br />BOTOR: I feel like a big part of it is my parent’s influence because obviously if they decided not to eat Filipino food anymore then I eventually forget what Filipino food is. So it’s a good thing that my parents you know kept cooking Filipino dishes, they always speak Ilocano and Tagalog in the house, so that I would not forget how to speak [Tagalong and Ilocano] and yeah I would say that my parents role in retaining the culture is a big part of it. <br /><br />[10:05]<br /><br />DIAZ: Do you visit the Philippines often, and if so what type of things do you usually do when you go back to the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: I visited last last summer [2 years ago] but before that I haven’t been there in like six years. When we do visit I notice that we never go to like where people consider tourist areas of the Philippines. We always like go back home [Baguio City] and stay around that areas or we would be in Manila just because that where the airport is. <br /><br />DIAZ: Is there anything you miss about the Philippines when you come back?<br /><br />BOTOR: I definitely miss the food because for example, us living in Davis, there is not a Filipino restaurant near by so when I like come home [Brentwood] on the weekends one of the things I like to eat is Filipino food. Its just not accessible to me back in Davis. Also like how cheap the food is [laugh] and things like night markets and stuff like that are really fun and I miss those. And of course, most of my family is in the Philippines so it’s nice seeing them because back here [in the United States] its mainly just me, my mom, and my dad.<br /><br />DIAZ: Do you currently go to college right now?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yes<br /><br />DIAZ: And what are your plans for after graduation?<br /><br />BOTOR: So after graduation, I’m thinking of taking a gap year and during the gap year I want to continue to taking education classes and I also want to start preparing for the GRE and take that. I am hoping to apply to grad school in like this upcoming year. I am going to apply to Davis [UC Davis] again so hopefully I can stay in the area but I am also going to apply to other places like UC Santa Barbara for their toxicology or environmental program.<br /><br />DIAZ: What are your career goals? Is there anything you want to pursue specifically?<br /><br />BOTOR: Well one thing, there is something I keep telling myself that I am going to do but I don’t think I will end up doing it until I really have the time and certain outlet to do it for, but I’ve been really wanting to become more fluent in my language [Tagalog and Ilocano] because I would want my kids to know it too and so I can teach then obviously, but I don’t know it myself. So I think it would be cool to become more fluent in Tagalong and Ilocano.<br /><br />Diaz: Have you been involved in any activism while in college at UC Davis?<br /><br />BOTOR: No not really.<br /><br />DIAZ: How involved would you say you are in the Filipino American community on campus [UC DAVIS]?<br /><br />BOTOR: I was more involved during my first two years. I definitely went out to more events and things like that. I’ve kind of been more focused on my other club activities during my junior and senior year, so I wouldn’t say that now I am extremely involved with the Fil-Am community.<br /><br />Diaz: So, I want to as you a few questions about your academic experience here in America. Have there been any obstacles you’ve experienced while pursuing higher education?<br /><br />BOTOR: I think one of the biggest obstacles that, I don’t know much about it, but I just know from what my parents have told me but people always say that “Oh if you want to apply for this, just know that they also offer financial aid” because there was this one summer where I wanted to study abroad in Japan but I have never applied for financial aid and I know from my parents it can get frustrating because sure they both make enough to be considered okay financially but I feel like they don’t consider that they put their money into other things like for example, my parents always send money back home to the Phillipines to help out there, they don’t just use all of their expenses on me. There are so many other things that are not considered. So its kind of annoying that we are not able to get aid.<br /><br />DIAZ: Have you struggled in college or has it been a smooth sail for you?<br /><br />BOTOR: No, I would definitely say that I struggled a lot, just like trying to figure out how the [academic] system works I guess. Like I said, my parents didn’t go to college here so we didn’t really know the things that I could have taken advantage of. I later found out that people take college classes at a community college while they are in high school to help them with GE’s and stuff. I wish I would have known that because I would have done that if I did, but I didn’t. So there’s just little things like that that my family and I didn’t know just because they haven’t been to college here so I’m kind of like the guinea pig in this trial.<br /><br />[15:00]<br /><br />DIAZ: Is there any advice that you would have for any Filipino immigrants that are pursing higher education?<br /><br />BOTOR: I would definitely say if you know family that have been here for a while, definitely talk to them and ask for advice because sometimes when you go to [academic] counselors they have the same experience as you do and although some of their advice may be helpful, there is no harm in finding someone who’s like more similar culturally and how they went about things.<br /><br />DIAZ: Okay Noemi, thank you for your interview today.
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Oral History Interview with Noemi Botor
Subject
The topic of the resource
Baguio City, Philippines, nurse, nursing, office worker, Navy, England, UK, OFW, California, American Dream, Berlingame, Brentwood, Filipino school curriculum, Filipino education, Davis, Tagalog, Ilocano, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, toxology program, environmental program, graduate school, grad school, financial aid, finances, Japan, study abroad, first generation, first-generation, immigrant families--United States
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Noemi Botor, interviewed by Clarimin Diaz
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2-Jun-19
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivst Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu
Format
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Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ucdw_wa014_s001_0008
American Dream
Baguio City
Berlingame
Brentwood
California
Davis
England
environmental program
Filipino education
Filipino school curriculum
finances
financial aid
first generation
first-generation
grad school
graduate school
Ilocano
Immigrant families--United States
Japan
Navy
nurse
nursing
office worker
OFW
Philippines
study abroad
Tagalog
toxology program
UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara
UK
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><br />Note: Collection upload in process</strong>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Samuel Hewitt
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Noemi Botor
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
[Session 1, May 24, 2019]<br /><br />[Begin Audio File]<br /><br />HEWITT: Okay are you ready? [laughs]<br /><br />BOTOR: Yep!<br /><br />HEWITT: Alright my name is Sam Hewitt and today is May 24th. It is currently 7:15pm and I am interviewing:<br /><br />BOTOR: Noemi Botor.<br /><br />HEWITT: Alright. So, I have a couple questions that - not a couple, a good amount, I was hoping you could answer for me. First question: Where and when were you born?<br /><br />BOTOR: I was born in Baguio City, Philippines. And when?<br /><br />HEWITT: Mhmm.<br /><br />BOTOR: March 1st, 1997. <br /><br />HEWITT: Where were your parents born?<br /><br />BOTOR: My parents were also born in Baguio City, Philippines. Yeah.<br /><br />HEWITT: What jobs did your parents have in the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: Before I was born, for a while my parents were managing a floral shop. But they decided to move out of the Philippines to find better pay as their main jobs as nurses because they weren’t paid very well in the Philippines.<br /><br />HEWITT: Okay what jobs did your grandparents do?<br /><br />BOTOR: My grandma was just like an office worker and then my grandpa - on my dad’s side - and my grandpa was, he was in the, oh yeah, he was in the navy.<br /><br />HEWITT: How many siblings do you have?<br /><br />BOTOR: I’m an only child [laughs]<br /><br />HEWITT: That’s rare for Filipinos. [laughs] Do you have a large extensive family?<br />BOTOR: Yeah. Actually, even my parents’ families are kind of small. Cause my mom had two other siblings and then my dad has one other sibling but their parents, they had families of like ten to twelve siblings.<br /><br />HEWITT: Did any of your extensive family move to America before you did?<br /><br />BOTOR: Some of them, but not really the ones who we’re very close to so I’m not really sure where they're at or what they're doing.<br /><br />HEWITT: What was your academic experience in the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: I remember for preschool, it was very - it was a very small class and it was very hands on. And then when I moved to a different school, it was kind of more of what you see here with several classrooms and different teachers and things like that?<br /><br />HEWITT: Was the different school in the same city?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah it was in the same city. But I think one was private and one was public. So the private one it was really only our class that they had to manage.<br /><br />HEWITT: Why did your family decide to move out of the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: Like I said, my parents wanted better pay as nurses cause they don’t pay very well in the Philippines. But also, just like in general trying to look for a better life. So first we moved to England then we moved here.<br /><br />HEWITT: When did you move to the US?<br /><br />BOTOR: When I was seven or eight. That’s when I moved.<br /><br />HEWITT: What year?<br /><br />BOTOR: Oh god what year is that? <br /><br />HEWITT: I don’t know [laughs]<br /><br />BOTOR: I’m twenty-two [laughs]<br /><br />HEWITT: Alright well some year. Okay did you move anywhere else before settling in the US, other than England?<br /><br />BOTOR: No, it was just - we left the Philippines, well actually at first my parents left to England ahead of me and it was just my grandparents taking care of me for about two years. And then when they felt I was old enough, then they brought me over to England. But then after that we moved to California.<br /><br />HEWITT: Okay what were your thoughts about America before you arrived?<br /><br />BOTOR: I don’t know, I feel like since I was really young, I didn't really have any really big expectations. But I feel like the usual stuff I was thinking about was there. Like “oh I can eat really good burgers” [laughs]<br /><br />HEWITT: Really good American food? [laughs]<br /><br />[4:59]<br /><br />BOTOR: But I didn't really have any expectations on school would be like or making friends would be like. So, nothing really big then.<br /><br />HEWITT: Did your thoughts change after you arrived?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah, a little bit. I noticed that, for example, a lot of kids would be interested in - especially the first month that I was in America because I still had an accent from England, so a lot of kids were intrigued by me. So, I kind of felt like an attraction to some people. There like “Oh my god look at this Asian girl, she has an English accent. Blah blah blah that’s so cool!” And they would ask me questions like “Oh why do you eat that and why do you do this and that?” I remember being asked those things.<br /><br />HEWITT: When you say, “eat that,” what do you mean by “that”? Like traditional Filipino food?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah. Like my mom would pack me lunches and I've heard other people’s stories before where they were ashamed to bring it. But I haven't experienced a bad one, people were just wondering what I was eating, and it was never a bad thing to me so I wouldn't stop eating it. I would continue to bring food from home that my mom or my dad made.<br /><br />HEWITT: That's good. What was different about living in America as opposed to living in the Philippines?<br /><br />BOTOR: I feel like - I don't know, when I was in the Philippines, I felt more free just because I could go out anywhere with my friends even at such a young age and it would be fine. But when I first moved here, I lived in - I didn't live here in Brentwood. I first lived in Millbrae and it was kind of more like a city. So, I didn't really get to go out and play as much because we lived in an apartment and it was in a city area. So, there wasn't really - I couldn't really go out into the street to play with my friends really because it would be a highway or something.<br /><br />HEWITT: Yeah like a busy intersection.<br /><br />BOTOR: Mhmm.<br /><br />HEWITT: What was different about education in America as opposed to the Philippines? If you can remember?<br /><br />BOTOR: [clicks tongue] I guess there was less punishments in America. In the Philippines, they would be really strict. I remember that before going into the classroom, they would check how clean out hands were, and we would get in trouble if they were dirty because they were really look for hygiene and stuff. I remember even transitioning from England to America, it was kind of different because I remember my teach asked me how to spell the word color. And in England they have the u in it, but they don’t here. And so, when I was trying to spell it out with the u, the other kids were like “no that's not how you spell it” and my teach had to be like “oh no that how they spell it in England.” So, there was stuff like that [laughs]<br /><br />HEWITT: Where did you first live in the US? You said you lived in Millbrae?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah, I first moved to Millbrae. And then I think in the fourth grade that's when I moved to Brentwood.<br /><br />HEWITT: Did you notice anything different between first generation immigrants and the Filipino American community?<br /><br />BOTOR: I feel like for Filipinos there’s - I feel like there's a lot of insecurities because of all the colonial baggage that we face. I feel like a lot of Filipinos have a lot of trouble identifying themselves because it’s like we’re part of that Asian American model minority. But there are some of us who aren't like that and are into different things. So I just find a lot of Filipinos having trouble identifying with themselves and who they really are. Because there's a lot of outside influences that pressure them to be a certain way.<br /><br />HEWITT: Do you feel that’s true for the FilAm community at UC Davis?<br /><br />BOTOR: Yeah definitely [laughs]<br /><br />HEWITT: Alright well I think that’s about it.<br /><br />BOTOR: [whispers] Is it long enough?<br /><br />HEWITT: [laughs] Do you have any more remarks?<br /><br />[9:59]<br /><br />BOTOR: I don't know. I hope - obviously with each community, especially one that's like Filipino Americans and things like that, they'll always have their flaws, but I hope that they continue to grow in the rights ways in rather than the wrongs ones. That’s all I have to say about that.<br /><br />[10:25]
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Oral history interview with Noemi Botor, interviewed by Samuel Hewitt
Subject
The topic of the resource
Brentwood, CA, California, Baguio City, Philippines, floral shop, florist, nurse, Navy, England, UK, United Kingdom, California, Millbrae, first generation, immigrants, immigrant families--United States, model minority, UC Davis
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Noemi Botor, interviewed by Samuel Hewitt
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
24-May-19
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivist Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ucdw_wa014_s001_0018
Baguio City
Brentwood
CA
California
England
first generation
floral shop
florist
Immigrant families--United States
immigrants
Millbrae
model minority
Navy
nurse
Philippines
UC Davis
UK
United Kingdom
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><br />Note: Collection upload in process</strong>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Wendy Hernandez
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Paolo Banaag
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
Hernandez: “Alright, it is June 3, 2019 and it is 9:43. This is Wendy Hernandez, interviewing for the Filipino immigrant Oral History Project. Today I am interviewing:<br /><br />Banaag: Paolo Banaag<br /><br />Hernandez: Alright, let us begin. So we are going to start by talking a little bit about your childhood and early adult life. <br /><br />Banaag: Alright.<br /><br />Hernandez: When and where were you born?<br /><br />Banaag: I was born in the Philippines, Manila<br /><br />Hernandez: And where were your parents born?<br /><br />Banaag: My parents were also born in the Philippines.<br /><br />Hernandez: Do you know what jobs parents did in the Philippines?<br /><br />Banaag: My mom was a hotel and restaurant manager and my dad is an engineer. <br /><br />Hernandez: How many siblings do you have? If you have any?<br /><br />Banaag: I have two little sisters.. Well, they’re not that little anymore [laughs]<br /><br />Hernandez: Do you come from a big family?<br /><br />Banaag: Well, my immediate family is only 5. But my dad has 9 nine brothers and sisters and my mom has four brothers and sisters. So, I would say its a medium size family. <br /><br />Hernandez: And did any of your family members move to America before you?<br /><br />Banaag: Yes. My uncle did. <br /><br />Hernandez: When.. When did you immigrate to the U.S? If you by any chance remember?<br /><br />Banaag: Yeah, I came here November 2000.<br /><br />Hernandez: Do you remember traveling by yourself or with other members of your family?<br /><br />Banaag: No, we all came together.<br /><br />Hernandez: How would you describe your experience immigrating to the US?<br /><br />Banaag: It was kind of tough, because I had to leave all my friends behind but it wasn’t as tough because before coming to the U.S my family migrated to another country. When I was seven, my family moved to Brunei, which is a small country in South-east Asia. Then from there, we came to the U.S. So in terms of transitioning, it wasn't as physical.<br /><br />Hernandez: Do you know the process? [Such as] did you have a visa; was it easy? <br /><br />Banaag: No, definitely not. We actually came to the U.S with a tourist visa. We were only supposed to be [in the U.S] for a couple of months and then we decided to stay. So for a while we were actually undocumented and it was quite a process to get our green card, our social and then all of that documents.<br /><br />Hernandez: Since you did immigrate to the U.S at a young age, did you know, at the time, that you were considered an immigrant?<br /><br />[Pause]<br /><br />Banaag: I actually had a cousin who married this white guy and he, for some reason, would tell us that we were immigrants. So that’s how I was like ‘okay, yeah, okay .We are immigrants, I get it.’<br /><br />Hernandez: Did your status affect you in a specific manner? Like in education, work, etc.<br /><br />Banaag: Definitely, I came here when I was fourteen. So I went to a high school. I attended community college for two years. I actually did nursing for two years and then, when it was time for me to apply for a nursing program, they wouldn’t even give me an application because I didn’t have a social security number. Also, I didn’t have.. I couldn’t work and I didn’t have financial aid which was before California Dream Act, DACA. So I had to do a lot of under the table jobs to put myself through college. I had to refigure out my career goals and educational goals because I was undocumented. I took the bus everywhere because I couldn’t really drive; we [couldn’t] get our license.<br /><br />Hernandez: How was your academic experience like being undocumented?<br /><br />Banaag: Well, since I was still the first person in my family to go to college here, in the U.S, it was quite like nobody could really help me figure it out. I had to rely a lot on friends, counselors, professors to really figure out the way to a higher education. Again, being undocumented [meant] you don’t really know what is available to you. You don’t know kind of like where the system is just going to tell you can’t move anymore forward. So there was a lot of unknown and it was really tough to motivate myself to pursue or to continue with a higher education. But I guess I just had the right people around me, who just kept pushing me forward. I was eventually able to transfer to UCLA and majored in English. But even at that time, I was commuting from Glendale to UCLA; which is like a two hour bus ride back and forth-that how it affected my education. <br /><br />Hernandez: What jobs did you have? Like you said you did like under the table jobs.<br /><br />Banaag: I was a—. Well I worked for—. I was a receptionist at one point. And then I actually worked as a nursing assistant when I was like seventeen or eighteen. So I was like on life-input, feeding elderly people.. I was working at a convalescent hospital. And sometimes I would work from like 11pm at night till 7am in the morning. Then I would go straight to school afterwards. I kind of had to do whatever job was [available]—. I had to go anywhere where they would let me work pretty much and do whatever they would ask me to do. <br /><br />Hernandez: Did you state that you didn’t have a social security number? Did you use a fake social?<br /><br />Banaag: At the time I had a PIN number and I think they were able to use that. But they knew that I didn’t have papers. And actually, their reason that I got let go was because they were going to do an audit or something like that. So that’s why.<br /><br />Hernandez: As a first generation immigrant do you feel like there’s any difference with like within the Filipino-American community?<br /><br />Banaag: In terms of..?<br /><br />Hernandez: In terms of education experience and job experience.<br /><br />Banaag: I feel like being undocumented kind of separated me aside from the Filipinos who grew up here and have their papers. But there are a lot of Filipinos and actually not just Filipinos but a lot of Asian Americans who are undocumented. I feel like there’s a stigma where people hear like ‘Oh, undocumented people [are] only referring to the Latinx population.’ But there’s actually a big population of Asian Americans who don’t have their papers. But I do feel like the subculture that I belong to there’s not a lot of Asian Americans or a lot of Filipinos who belong in because I did have my documentation. <br /><br />Hernandez: Yeah, did you have any specific thoughts about America before you moved here?<br /><br />Banaag: [laughs] Yeah, you know, like America is supposedly the land of opportunities; the land of the great or whatever. I just feel like it still gave me a lot of, obviously, opportunities but I feel like it is a lot harder than what people, especially in LA, it’s a lot harder to get to that position than what people typically say. I feel like I still have relatives in the Philippines who think that money just grows on trees here and it’s not really like a struggle or process to find work and to be competitive or to be marketable. So I feel like there’s a misconception that people have outside of the U.S that think about the U.S. <br /><br />Hernandez: What was different about living in America as opposed to the Philippines?<br /><br />Banaag: I feel like there’s just so much options here. Maybe, even a little too much. In the Philippines it’s—. The level of education there is also pretty high but definitely in the U.S it opens a lot more doors for you. In the Philippines too, its like mobility is very hard. You can't just drive anywhere. I think, actual physical mobility and then also social and upward mobility, the states definitely provide you with a lot more. <br /><br />Hernandez: You mentioned that you now in LA. Did you first live in LA when you first moved to the U.S?<br /><br />Banaag: Yeah. So my uncle lives in Glendale, which is a part of LA county. We actually lived in his attic, for like a good year. There were five of us living in his attic before we got our own apartment. But ever since then we´ve stayed local.<br /><br />Hernandez: Are you still under DACA?<br /><br />Banaag: No, my dad—. Ironically enough, my dad got petitioned right after I graduated from UCLA. All through my education I didn't have financial aid and when I graduated my dad got petitioned by his job. And that's how we were able to get our paperwork. I believe this was six years ago that I got my citizenship. Five or six years ago. <br /><br />Hernandez: How would you describe your education as a DACA recipient?<br /><br />Banaag: Again, I wasn’t DACA. I feel like—. DACA didn't start until 2012. I was undocumented from the year 2000 to like 2009. I never really got to apply for that. Just being undocumented, again, there were so many opportunities that I wasn´t able to get. Even like scholarships, there were some scholarships you can ́t apply for because you don't have your social. On top of having to work to pay for college. I feel like it did kind of pushed me a little bit more. You know, they have that word ´ganas,´when you´re undocumented. You kind of are a little more resilient than your documented peers only because, to me, I was paying for those classes out of pocket so if I failed them I would have to pay for them again. So I kind of had that motivation of like, ´okay, you can't mess around because you're just wasting your money.´ So in a sense, being undocumented kind of humbled me in a sense’ to pursue and persist in my education. (Sp?)<br /><br />Hernandez: Do you remember your academic experience in the Philippines?<br /><br />Banaag: No, I left the Philippines when I was like in fourth grade. I wasn ́t experienced, I can tell you that. It was definitely a learning experience for me. <br /><br />Hernandez: Have you traveled back to the Philippines since then?<br /><br />Banaag: Yeah, I went back in 2011 and came back, actually recently, this past Christmas. I was there for a couple of weeks. <br /><br />Hernandez: How would you relate your experience now going back to the Philippines-do you miss it?<br /><br />Banaag: I miss my grandma because she still lives there and so does some of my family members. But, I feel like my life is here now. But I do still treasure having to come from the Philippines and the experiences I ́ve had then. It has definitely shaped me into the person I am today like being able to speak another language, being able to have another culture aside from just American. I'm a professor and a college counselor, it helps me be a little more relatable and adaptable to my students. <br /><br />Hernandez: Do you see any difference, like your family in the Philippines, in the way they treat you?<br /><br />Banaag: Not necessarily, my mom's side of the family is a little bit ´Americanized.´ So they don't even live in the Philippines. They don't really treat me any differently. But my dad's side of the family is a little bit more on the lower socio economic side. So they do feel like being in American, again, you're automatically rich. Money falls from trees over here, so I feel like they have that expectation of like ´oh, he’s going to be snobby or he’s going to be better than other people.´ But I try to not be like that. I don't show off when I'm in the Philippines, I just try to like hang out with my family. <br /><br />Hernandez: Well, that is it for my questions. Would you like to enclose anything else from your experience?<br /><br />Banaag: No, I mean, again, I think being an immigrant it teaches you how to be flexible and adaptable to a lot of things. You also gain a lot of grip and a lot of resilience by being an immigrant because, again, you have an experience from another country and uprooting everything and risking everything to just come to another country. It takes a lot of courage and determination. It does teach you a lot of things in life that other people who might not have left or traveledñ they don't understand that process. It has really shaped me today. <br /><br />Hernandez: Thank you for your time!<br /><br />Banaag: No problem Wendy. [Laughs]
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Title
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Oral history interview with Paolo Banaag, interviewed by Wendy Hernandez
Subject
The topic of the resource
Manila, Philippines, hotel manager, restaurant manager, engineer, Brunei, Southeast Asia, visa, undocumented, green card, immigrant, immigrant families--United States, California Dream Act, DACA, nursing, first generation, first-gen, UCLA, University of California Los Angeles, Glendale, convalescent hospital, physical mobility, social mobility, upward mobility, petition, petition visa, professor, college counselor
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Paolo Banaag, interviewed by Wendy Hernandez
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
3-Jun-19
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivist Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu
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Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
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ucdw_wa014_s001_0017
Brunei
California Dream Act
college counselor
convalescent hospital
DACA
Engineer
first generation
first-gen
Glendale
green card
hotel manager
immigrant
Immigrant families--United States
Manila
nursing
petition
petition visa
Philippines
physical mobility
professor
restaurant manager
social mobility
Southeast Asia
UCLA
undocumented
University of California Los Angeles
upward mobility
visa
-
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><br />Note: Collection upload in process</strong>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Daniel Gonzalez
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Rheanne Cruz
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
[Session 1, June 10, 2019]<br />[Begin Audio File]<br />Daniel: So today is June 10, 2019 and it is 11:10 AM. This is Daniel Valentin Gonzalez<br />and I am interviewing for the Filipinx Oral History Project for ASA 150: The Filipinx<br />Experience in the US. Today I am interviewing:<br />Rheanne: Rheanne Cruz.<br />Daniel: Alright so let's get started. So first we are going to start by talking a little but<br />about your childhood and your young adult life. When and where were you born?<br />Rheanne: I was born in Manila, Philippines and I was born on March 19th, 2000.<br />Daniel: Okay, and where were your parents born?<br />Rheanne: My mom was born in Mindanao, Philippines but I’m not sure where my dad was<br />born.<br />Daniel: And what did your parents do?<br />Rheanne: My mom is currently a nurse, but in her time in the Philippines she was just a<br />student.<br />Daniel: Oh okay. And do you know what your grandparents did for work?<br />Rheanne: Yes. My grandma moved over 20 years before my mom and I did, and she was a<br />personal caretaker.<br />Daniel: Oh okay, and that’s here in the US?<br />Rheanne: Yes.<br />[3]<br />Daniel: Okay. And how many siblings did you have?<br />Rheanne: I am the only child.<br />Daniel: Oh okay, so you said that your grandma moved here before you and your mom<br />did?<br />Rheanne: Yes.<br />Daniel: And was she the only family member that moved here before you did?<br />Rheanne: Yes my only immediate family member, but I had extended family here. I had like<br />aunts and uncles.<br />Daniel: Okay. But your grandma was your primary contact?<br />Rheanne: Yeah.<br />Daniel: Okay, and did you have any schooling or academic experience in the Philippines?<br />Rheanne: No I didn’t.<br />Daniel: So when did, at what age did you come here?<br />Rheanne: I came when I was four.<br />Daniel: Okay. And why, well I guess you didn’t have much of a say in coming did you?<br />Rheanne: Yeah no, my mom moved over, well she decided to come here because the<br />“guarantee of a better life”<br />Daniel: Okay, so right now where do you live?<br />Rheanne: I live in Los Angeles, California.<br />Daniel: Okay, did you live anywhere else prior to living there?<br />Rheanne: I lived in Roseville, California in Sacramento.<br />[4]<br />Daniel: Okay then, and what made you go back to, or go to LA?<br />Rheanne: Oh it was my parents divorce.<br />Daniel: Okay I see. Did you have like, do you remember any feelings you had about the<br />United States before you moved here?<br />Rheanne: I was really young, but I guess all I really remember thinking about Americans or<br />America was that they had a lot more than the Philippines did.<br />Daniel: And what about your mom, did she like express anything about the US?<br />Rheanne: No not really, I don’t remember talking to her much about it.<br />Daniel: Oh okay, and did your grandma have any influence in you, what your family did?<br />Rheanne: We video chatted with her and not really, if it was something she had a lot more<br />than anybody in the Philippines did, but she was definitely sending it over to us.<br />Daniel: Okay, do you remember any differences about the way you lived in the<br />Philippines compared to the way you lived here?<br />Rheanne: In the Philippines I guess I saw a lot more people, I lived with a lot more people,<br />and here I lived with my grandparents and my mom and I didn't really see anybody like that<br />around, it didn't feel like, there was a bigger sense of community in the Philippines.<br />Daniel: Oh okay, so you haven’t been able to find something similar here?<br />[5:02]<br />Rheanne: Yeah it's like in the Philippines there's like being able to walk over to a neighbors<br />place and feeling very welcomed, and here it’s like not super normal.<br />Daniel: So umm, did you, where did you first, oh sorry.<br />Rheanne: It’s okay, don’t worry.<br />Daniel: Where did you first live when you came to the United States?<br />[5]<br />Rheanne: I first lived in Roseville, California.<br />Daniel: Oh okay so you started there.<br />Rheanne: Yeah.<br />Daniel: So did you, so you went to school here in the US right?<br />Rheanne: Yes.<br />Daniel: And did you go to school with like any other first generation immigrants or other<br />Filipino immigrants?<br />Rheanne: I went to, I lived in Roseville, so that was predominantly white I remember only 3<br />students of color in my classes and I didn’t know if they were immigrants or not, but when I<br />moved over to Los Angeles there was actually a lot more first generation immigrant kids.<br />Daniel: Oh okay then, did you, so how was that comparing those two different<br />environments?<br />Rheanne: When I was younger I guess I felt like an outsider in order to socialize with kids<br />and feel relatable, but when I moved over to Los Angeles where its much more diverse I felt a lot<br />more welcomed.<br />Daniel: Okay, and what about, did you notice, so when you lived in LA was there<br />diversity between just like other ethnicities besides Filipinos?<br />Rheanne: Yes.<br />Daniel: So did you notice anything different between those immigrants and the Filipino<br />immigrants, or did you feel like they shared similar experiences?<br />Rheanne: I think they were pretty similar, if there was family around people were very close<br />to family, and family was, and like, our home countries, people definitely were still in contact<br />with them, but I don't know. I guess in the school that I went to there weren't as many Filipinos<br />and Filipinos that I met had a lot more family over so it was kinda different. Yeah sorry if that<br />was a little bit vague.<br />[6]<br />Daniel: No yeah, no you’re good. Yeah a lot of times we don’t really like think about<br />these things when you're going through it. Okay well that's all the questions that I have unless<br />you have any closing remarks or any other comments that you’d like to make as well.<br />Rheanne: Oh no I think that’s it.<br />Daniel: Okay then well thank you for your time, I really appreciate it.<br />Rheanne: Okay no problem.
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Oral history interview with Rheanne Cruz, interviewed by Daniel Gonzalez
Subject
The topic of the resource
Manila, Philippines, Mindanao, nurse, Los Angeles, California, LA, Roseville, Sacramento, first generation, immigrant, immigrant families--United States, divorce
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Rheanne Cruz, interviewed by Daniel Gonzalez
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
10-Jun-19
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivist Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu
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Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
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ucdw_wa014_s001_0015
California
divorce
first generation
immigrant
Immigrant families--United States
LA
Los Angeles
Manila
Mindanao
nurse
Philippines
Roseville
sacramento
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><br />Note: Collection upload in process</strong>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Isabel Pel
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Sebastian Zablan
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Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
[Session 1, June 9,2019]<br />[Begin Audio File]<br />PEL: Today’s date is June 9th, 2019 and it is Sunday, 2:05 P.M.<br />I am going to be interviewing Sebastian Zablan for the oral<br />history project.<br />When were you born?<br />ZABLAN: I was born in January 20, 1965.<br />PEL: And where were you born?<br />ZABLAN: I was born in the Philippines in the town, we call it<br />Minalin, Pampanga, Philippines.<br />PEL: And where were your parents born?<br />ZABLAN: They were born in the same town, Minalin, Pampanga,<br />Philippines.<br />PEL: Do you remember what jobs your parents did?<br />ZABLAN: My parents, they [were] businessmen. They had their own<br />rice mill where they also traded household goods stuff to<br />different places.<br />PEL: And do you remember what jobs your grandparents did?<br />4<br />ZABLAN [ Laughs]. So basically I don’t know what their job was<br />because, I think I was two [years-old] then when my grandparents<br />passed away. So I have no recall of my grandparents.<br />PEL: How many siblings did you have?<br />ZABLAN: So I have three brothers and five sisters, and I’m the<br />youngest in the family.<br />PEL: So did you come from a big family?<br />ZABLAN: Yes. So total, we were like ten [siblings]. One died<br />when she was two, a baby, so I didn’t get to see her.<br />PEL: Did any of your family members move to America before you?<br />ZABLAN: Yes. So my oldest brother, Thomasito Zablan, he married<br />a<br />U.S. citizen, but [she was] from the Philippines also. So, they<br />got married in the Philippines and they moved to the United<br />States right after that. That was back in 1980, I think.<br />PEL: What was your academic experience in the Philippines?<br />ZABLAN: So, I went to high school in the seminary for the whole<br />year thinking that I’ll become a priest but just like they said,<br />“many are called but few are chosen.” So I was not the one who<br />[was] chosen. So right after high school, I went to college to<br />5<br />take [a] bachelor in medical technology for four years, which I<br />graduated [in].<br />PEL: Did you have any professional experience, like job<br />experience?<br />ZABLAN: Yes. So right after I graduated college, I was able to<br />find a job at the Philippines Heart Center for Asia. It’s a<br />government hospital where I was doing [a] job as a Nuclear<br />Technologist.<br />PEL: Why did you decide to move out of the Philippines?<br />ZABLAN: So, when my parents moved in 1985, so they decided to<br />petition us and since I… I wanted to be in a better place and to<br />be with my family. So I decided to move to the United States.<br />PEL: When did you move to the United States?<br />ZABLAN: So I worked at the Philippines Heart Center for two<br />years and in 1991, that’s when our petition came and so, my<br />brother… together with my brother and sister, we moved to the<br />United States in August 1991.<br />PEL:Did you move anywhere else before settling in the U.S.?<br />ZABLAN: No, that’s the only place I went. So my entire… until<br />the age of 25 I’ve been in the Philippines and then [in] 1991<br />that’s when I moved to the United States.<br />6<br />[4:45]<br />PEL: What were your thoughts about America before you moved<br />here?<br />ZABLAN: Well of course, when you say America, that’s everybody’s<br />dream. Better places, better life. You can own your own car or<br />house someday as long as you work harder.<br />PEL: Did your thoughts change after you arrived [to America]?<br />ZABLAN: No. When I arrived, that was in 1991, that’s when it was<br />hard to find a job, but with the help of my brother-in-law, he<br />helped find a job. But, this [was] in the military service,<br />which I joined after three months after I arrived here in the<br />United States.<br />PEL: What was different about living in America compared to<br />living in the Philippines?<br />ZABLAN: Living in the Philippines… it’s… life is harder and<br />salaries for employees are lower, and government employees are<br />corrupt. Whereas here in the United States, you’ll find a better<br />job and you’ll find a better salary also, or pay. And as long as<br />you work harder, you are [able] to get what you want when it<br />comes to material things, things like that.<br />PEL: Where did you first live in the United States?<br />ZABLAN: I remember, when we arrived here, my parents lived in<br />Daly City. I can’t even remember the street name but I was only<br />there for three months then I joined the military after that.<br />7<br />PEL: Did you stay with your family or were you alone [when you<br />moved to the U.S.]?<br />ZABLAN: So, the first three months after I arrived here I stayed<br />with my parents, and then that’s when my brother-in-law helped<br />me find a job and [I] joined the military. And so, I went to San<br />Antonio for the basic training for six weeks and right after<br />that, I didn’t get to go back to Daly City so I went to my tech<br />school [in the military] right after my basic training. So that<br />[was] for another eight months. Finally, after finishing my tech<br />school, I went back to San Antonio for my first base station. I<br />was there for five years as a physical therapy assistant helping<br />and working in the hospital.<br />PEL: So you worked in the military when you arrived in America,<br />but were there any other jobs besides that, that you worked?<br />ZABLAN: Since I had my Bachelor’s [degree] in Medical Technology<br />and it was hard to find a job here without any experience. So I<br />tried not to get a job that’s as… nothing to do with [a] medical<br />[training or background]. So, I waited a little, for like, three<br />months and then just like I said, with the help of my<br />brother-in-law, he was able to help me find a job at the<br />hospital, which I really like so basically that’s the only job I<br />applied for when I first came in [to America].<br />PEL: Did you professional or academic experience in the<br />Philippines help you get the job?<br />ZABLAN: I would say yes because of my Bachelor’s [degree] in<br />Medical Technology which has a medical background. It kind of<br />helped me choose hospital related jobs like physical<br />8<br />therapy,tech… so I would say that [experience in the<br />Philippines] helped me as far as because taking the subjects<br />again and different related medical courses.<br />[9:53]<br />PEL: Did you go back to school here in America?<br />ZABLAN: So just like I said, when you join the military, they<br />send you to a technical school where you take classes to prepare<br />you for that job. Like in the physical therapy [classes], I took<br />a lot of medical or science courses or subjects, like anatomy,<br />physiology, biology, things like that. And so, that was a<br />fast-paced course, so once you finish your tech school, you<br />don’t stop right there so you go to your first base and you<br />continue with your training [in the military] and taking some<br />more classes until you get certified. So, that’s what I did, so<br />it took me, I would say five years, to finish my career… or<br />courses in [being a] physical therapy assistant.<br />PEL: And did you notice anything different between first<br />generation immigrants, which is like you [coming from the<br />Philippines] and then you live in the U.S. after that, and the<br />Filipino American community, which is like other Filipinos who<br />were born in America?<br />ZABLAN: The difference you said?<br />PEL: Yeah.<br />ZABLAN: Oh okay. I’ll say, during our [referring to other first<br />generation immigrants] time, we’re more old-fashioned and very<br />9<br />conservative and we… brought that Filipino culture. While, the<br />kids who were born here, we call them millennials, though they<br />don’t know anything about Filipino culture. Basically they are<br />like… born here and whatever culture they have here it’s not…<br />they’re trying to… live by. Very liberal… they’re not so polite<br />[ laughs] -- I would say, just like… the way they call our<br />elderly, they just call them by their first name. While during<br />our time, we’re always taught to be polite with elderly people.<br />PEL: Okay and that is the end of the Oral History Interview with<br />Sebastian Zablan. It is currently 2:17 P.M. and it is still June<br />9th, 2019.<br />[End of Audio File]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Oral History Interview With Sebastian Zablan
Subject
The topic of the resource
Minalin, Pampanga, Philippines, businessmen, Business, Seminary, Priests, Medical Technology, Philippines Heart Center, Philippines Heart Center for Asia, Radiologic Technologist, Nuclear Technologist, United States, Military, Salaries, Daly City (Calif.), San Antonio (Tex.), Physical Therapy Assistant, Technical education -- Philippines, Culture, Immigration
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Sebastian Zablan, interviewed by Isabel Pel
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
6/9/2019
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivist Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ucdw_wa014_s001_0037
Business
businessmen
Culture
Daly City (Calif.)
immigration
Medical Technology
Military
Minalin
Nuclear Technologist
Pampanga
Philippines
Philippines Heart Center
Philippines Heart Center for Asia
Physical Therapy Assistant
Priests
Radiologic Technologist
Salaries
San Antonio (Tex.)
Seminary
Technical education -- Philippines
United States
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Filipino Immigrant Oral History Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><br />Note: Collection upload in process</strong>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Philip Esguerra
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Alexis Magsano
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
Oral History Transcript
Philip: Hi, today is June 4, 2019. It's 5:48pm, and the title of this project is the Filipino American Oral History report for Asian American Studies 150. I am here with my subject, Alexis Magsano...
Alexis: Oh yeah. Hello!
Philip: ... and what we're going to do is ask him questions about his experience of being a Filipino American. And without further ado, let's begin. So my first question is, "where and when were you born?"
Alexis: I was born November 10, 1998 in a little city in the Philippines, part of the Bohol region-ish [sic], called Tagbilaran city. Don't me about the hospital, I forgot the hospital.
Philip: All right. Do you know where your parents were born?
Alexis: Oh yeah! My mom was born in Bohol also. I forgot the city. My dad was born in Pangasinan and...I don't remember the place either. If I remember it, I'll say it but...yeah.
Philip: Okay. Back in the Philippines, do you know what your parents did?
Alexis: Working?
Philip: Yeah, working.
Alexis: My mom had just graduated...ok not just graduated, just graduated[sic], but I think she was just working like odd jobs here and there. My dad was here in America working for Bear, the Biotech company.
Philip: So your dad was already in America?
Alexis: Yeah. So he moved here... I want to say 3 or 4 years before I was born to just kind of like get a better job. But he had already met my mom. They were already married.
Philip: Okay. How many siblings did you have, and did you come from a big family?
Alexis: My immediate family is not too big. I only have 2 other siblings. They're both younger than me. They were both born here. I was the only one born in the Philippines.
But I mean, my extended family are all here too I guess, if you count that as a big family.
But other than that, my immediate family is just my mom, my dad, 3 siblings.
Philip: Okay.
Alexis: 4 siblings. I have a sister, half-sibling. Complicated story, but she's there.
Philip: All right. So you already said your dad moved to America.
Alexis: Yeah.
Philip: Did anyone else move here, or...[inaudible]
Alexis: Well...my dad and his siblings moved here with my grandma at the same time. So my dad was around 26... 25, something like that [sic].
Philip: Okay. So you said your dad moved to the Philippines [sic] to get a better job or [inaudible]?
Alexis: Oh yeah! Well first he wanted to be a doctor in the Philippines, but then my grandma came here a little bit earlier than he did, and she needed his help raising his siblings, so he agreed to come here, and he just kind of stayed here. He wanted to stay, I think, in the Philippines, but I think ultimately he just stayed here because it was a better opportunity for him and, I guess, me.
Philip: All right, cool! Do you know what date you moved to the United States?
Alexis: I came here 2001.
Philip: 2001?
Alexis: Yeah, tail end of 2001. Around Fall.
Philip: All right. Was there any place you settled in the United States before you came to where you currently live?
Alexis: Well, we always stayed around that general area, around the Vallejo-ish [sic] area, but I think within a year, after we moved here, we eventually resided in our family home that they are in now. I mean granted, the residents were all different. Back then, it was me, my mom, my dad, my dad's entire family. So like, his mom, his siblings, his mom's siblings, were all there.
5:14
Philip: So you don't remember too much about [inaudible]
Alexis: Decent amount about the period of time afterwards. Like, pre-school was rough. I was the only one who spoke Tagalog. I didn't speak English, of course. At all! So the teachers had a hard time with me. It was hard making friends in general. Up until graduating high school, on my report card it said "English learner", even though I was basically raised on English. But even then, I was labeled as "English learner".
Philip: Before moving to the Philippines [sic], did you know how your family perceived America? Like, did they have any initial thoughts based on...
Alexis: Well, like I said before, he didn't want to come initially. Initially, my dad saw America as this foreign place away from home that he didn't want to go to because, well, he's young, has friends in the Philippines. Most of his family is in the Philippines. The only ones that moved really were his mom and his siblings, so he didn't want to come here at first. But I think coming here, and seeing the places he saw, like he saw Tahoe for the first time, like so snow, and in general just how, much more, I want to say industrialized or modernized, I think he realized that it was a better place in general to raise a children going forward. And for my mom, I remember now, he worked as a teacher before moving. And he was an English teacher primarily for people in the Navy. So she would teach English to Navy people before they go out to the world because English is one of the more general languages, so she would teach them that. So they would come back with stories. And her dad was also in the Navy, so he'd come back with stories too about, you know, America and foreign lands and stuff. And so she'd always see it as a, I don't want to call it a fantasy land, but it was definitely like a dream for her, just this place that's, you know, modern and clean, has all this stuff, because I mean the city that she was raised in was not the most modern city. The house was like 50 square feet (laughter).
Philip: Right
Alexis: So it was definitely a dream place for her.
Philip: So they saw it America kind of like the American Dream?
Alexis: Yeah, yeah. And especially once I got into the picture, I think they realized that maybe raising a family in the Philippines wouldn't be the best for them at the time. It was probably not the best for me.
Philip: I see. When you moved to America, did you ever meet anyone who was, I guess, also first generation? Like Filipino Americans in your class?
Alexis: Not until I was a little bit older. Like 9, I think. That's when my dad's cousins came to live with us. So they were fresh off the boat [snicker]. But no, they were first generation immigrants. That's all our family. So that was my first experience with first generation immigrants as well that were related to me.
09:38 9:38
Philip: Okay. So going back, you said in pre-school, it was a little bit tough making friends because there was a language barrier.
Alexis: There was a language barrier, yeah , yeah.
Philip: Was it always like that growing up?
Alexis: I guess at the start of pre-school, there was a language barrier, with the Tagalog thing. But I think moving from there, it was more of a race thing because I was one of three Filipinos among an elementary school of like 300-400 kids, so it wasn't tough making friends because of the language, but I think it was tough making friends because everyone else, I'm not trying to say it was racist or anything, but I think it was more comfortable to be with people of their own culture and seeing how, the Latinx's are with the Latinx's, the African Americans are riends with the African Americans. And you know, I was friends with two other Filipino kids, but it was definitely more of a culture shock for me to be friends with these kids that none of us knew had any idea of different cultures and like, it was just hard. Well, it wasn't hard because we were kids, but it's definitely different probably making friends back then for me than it was for most people.
Philip: So kind of like, just that idea of crossing like cultures?
Alexis: Yeah, like I would talk about lechon or something. No one gets that. Or I think it's a big Filipino thing to respect your elders. There are just some cultures that put as much of an emphasis on respecting elders as much. So whenever I heard people talk smack about their parents, like their grandparents, I would kind of cringe a little bit because that's not what we do. So just those little things.
Philip: I see. Let's see...
Alexis: Oh yeah, there was this one girl that didn't even know where the Philippines was. So I mean, yeah I don't blame her. We're not exactly the biggest country, but it was definitely surreal listening to some girl go, "Oh you're Filipino? Where's even that?" And I was like, "Oh, like in Asia." Then she pointed out the big land mass and she's like, "I don't see you." That was wild! [chuckles]
Philip: Yeah, I could see it's very different. Yeah, so back in your hometown it's like Filipinos were kind of like the minority?
Alexis: See no. Here's the funny thing: they were only the minority in my elementary school. So coming into middle school, when they had to assimilate with the other elementary schools, for example there's one elementary school where Filipinos are the majority. Like Filipinos were 90% going with that elementary school. So when we were all mixed in, all of a sudden I'm dropped in this environment where there's a bunch of Filipinos. And so, it's not like I had assimilate back into my own culture, but it's like I had to figure out how to interact with people of my own culture, because I hadn't done that in the past six years.
Philip: I see.
Alexis: So it wasn't really like a culture shock, I'd say. But it was just more new interacting with other Filipinos, like have people to make Filipino jokes with. Just stuff like that.
13:39
Philip: Let's see, what else can I ask... I guess kind of just to cap off the interview, I guess looking forward in the future, what are your views on the Filipino American community as a whole?
Alexis: I think, as a family come up, I think before this, I guess, decade, I feel like we didn't do the best job in general, I mean I guess with my limited scope of the world, what were we 10 years ago? Middle schoolers?
Philip: Yeah.
Alexis: I guess with my limited scope of the world, I can't really say as much. But I feel like we didn't do as good of a job staying connected to our roots while being here. Because there's a lot, a lot, a lot [sic] of Filipinos that I know that either don't speak the language or just understand it. They can't speak it. And that's fine. It's not like I'm calling them "not Filipino", and it's not even their fault. But I just think that, in general, we just need to do a better job of kinda staying, I'm not saying like staying traditional, but just staying informed of our traditions and our culture. Because I know, especially Latinos, they're very in touch with their culture, in touch with their language, in touch with their home country. And I mean, every other race, I feel, is here. And I just think, I don't know if it's because we didn't do too good of a job assimilating, or because maybe a lot of our parents thought that to be successful is to be American. So it's not really any of our faults, but now we have this whole generation where there's this cultural disconnect between our generation and our motherland. And I think we should try to rekindle that. Because it sucks to hear that, you know, I can't speak Tagalog with a lot of people because, you know, they only understand, they don't speak, or they just don't understand at all. And when I see other races and other cultures having these conversations among themselves, or even if they're just communicating in English about a tradition of their culture, because I feel a lot of Filipino traditions are lost. And I mean, even back in the Philippines, our country's native script is dying. I don't remember what it was called, but it's not even being taught anymore. And I just think that there's this cultural disconnect that I think we can do a little better with.
Philip: So just kind of like having that deep cultural roots...
Alexis: Yeah.
Philip: The older generation teaching...
Alexis: Yeah. I don't want to be saying we need to be like super traditionalist, but at least be aware of what our traditions used to be. Be aware of the language, be aware of where we came from, you know.
Philip: I see. Ok, well that's all the questions I have. Thank you. So the time is now 6:06 pm, and this concludes the end of the interview. So thank you.
Alexis: Yeah, no! Thanks for having me.
Philip: Yeah no problem!
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Oral History of Alexis Magsano
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bohol, Tagbilaran City, Pangasinan, Philippines, Bear, biotech company, biotech industries, immigrant families--United States, immigrants, first generation, first-generation, Filipino families, family, half-sibling, sibling, half-sister, American Dream, better opportunity, opportunity, opportunities, 9/11, September 11, Vallejo, San Fransico Bay Area, Bay Area, SF, Norcal, Northern California, California, NorCal, City of Vallejo, "Vallejo, California", Tagalog, English learner, Tahoe, Lake Tahoe, teacher, Navy, teach, teacher, English teacher, Filipino Americans, fresh off the boat, FOB, f.o.b., language barrier, minority, assimiliating, assimilation
Description
An account of the resource
Oral history interview with Alexis Magsano, interviewed by Philip Esguerra
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
4-Jun-19
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivist Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu
Format
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Audio Recording and Transcript
Identifier
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ucdw_wa014_s001_0009
"Vallejo
9/11
American Dream
assimilation
assimiliating
Bay Area
Bear
better opportunity
biotech company
biotech industries
Bohol
California
California"
City of Vallejo
English learner
English teacher
f.o.b.
family
Filipino Americans
Filipino families
first generation
first-generation
FOB
fresh off the boat
half-sibling
half-sister
Immigrant families--United States
immigrants
Lake Tahoe
Language barrier
minority
Navy
Norcal
Northern California
opportunities
opportunity
Pangasinan
Philippines
San Fransico Bay Area
September 11
SF
sibling
Tagalog
Tagbilaran City
Tahoe
teach
teacher
Vallejo
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Fenkell Family collection
Artifact
Image Link
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UwGqdoP1UJm-EufeOgT5wK_y6s0NljFw/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UwGqdoP1UJm-EufeOgT5wK_y6s0NljFw/view?usp=sharing</a>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Peace Pendant
Subject
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Philippines,
Marcos, Ferdinand E.: 1917-1989; Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP), Philippine National Day Association
Description
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Pendant with a white dove on front and the words "peace" on the back
Date
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no date
Rights
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Courtesy of Tim and Nina Fenkell. The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies makes digital versions of collections accessible for educational and research purposes only, in regards to legal fair use terms indicated by Section 108 of the Copyright Act of 1976 (Title 17 U.S. Code). Please contact archivist Allan Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu in regards to any reproduction use.
Format
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Artifact
Identifier
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ucdw_wa012_s002_0002_art_2018
Ferdinand E.: 1917-1989; Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP)
Marcos
Philippine National Day Association
Philippines
wa013s002
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Fenkell Family collection
Image
A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials.
Image Link
Link to image
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OGpWw9KjJLGmFUhBsKdX6yMIYY2fDJ-K/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OGpWw9KjJLGmFUhBsKdX6yMIYY2fDJ-K/view?usp=sharing</a>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Protest against the Philippine Government's Human Rights Abuse
Subject
The topic of the resource
Philippines,
Marcos, Ferdinand E.: 1917-1989; Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP), Philippine National Day Association
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph of protest against the Philippine's Marcos Dictatorship
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
Circa 1960s-1970s
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Courtesy of Tim and Nina Fenkell. The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies makes digital versions of collections accessible for educational and research purposes only, in regards to legal fair use terms indicated by Section 108 of the Copyright Act of 1976 (Title 17 U.S. Code). Please contact archivist Allan Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu in regards to any reproduction use.
Format
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Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ucdw_wa012_s001_0001_pic_2018
Ferdinand E.: 1917-1989; Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP)
Marcos
Philippine National Day Association
Philippines
wa013s001