Fil-Ams celebrate Filipino American History Month at the White House

We were privileged and honored to be invited recently to the White House to celebrate a belated Filipino American History Month, a postponement that was worth the wait.

In the windy and chilly 40-degree weather in my pink Oliver Tolentino Filipiniana terno and my husband Ruben in his Tolentino barong, we braved the cold and proceeded to the Indian Treaty Room where the celebration would be held.

Emceed by Philip Kim (Senior Adviser, White House Office of Public Engagement), the event had Hollywood celebrities participating as presenters like Lou Diamond Phillips, Tia Carrere, Reggie Lee, Jennifer Paz, Jules Aurora and Chris Chatman.

Some of the community leaders, movers and shakers present during the FAHM celebration included Loida Nicolas Lewis, Sonia Delen, Monalisa Yuchengco, Lisa Manibog Lew, Melissa Ramoso, Bing Cardenas Branigin, Councilwoman Arleen Bocatija Rojas from the City of Carson, Brendan Flores, Jannelle So-Perkins, Jessica del Mundo, Jocelyn De Guzman-Torres, Purple Patch owner and chef Patrice Cleary among others.

Ted Benito, who isthe producer-director of the FAHM presentation at the White House told us in an exclusive interview how this historic event was planned.

He said, "The planning for this special celebration of Filipino American History Month at the White House began in May of this year. I submitted a proposal to WH-OPE (White House Office of Public Engagement) and WH IAAHPI (White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders) in June and ever since then, we've been waiting for a greenlight on the project.

"But actions on the international, national and local stages (wars in Ukraine and Israel, lack of a House Speaker, strikes by the UAW, SAG-AFTRA, WGA, etc.) made me less and less certain this event would ever happen. Meanwhile, I was besieged with responsibilities for other productions I had committed to but all the while, the White House event was still pending.

"Once we received the final greenlight in mid-October, I still did not believe it would ever happen. But the WH-OPE pushed forward and within weeks, I had to submit scripts, confirm talent, pull a shortened guest list together (there were only 100 the WH could accommodate for this event) and coordinate the event along with three other co-producers and the WH-OPE staff.

"So, to have this special day at the White House, the first in-live participatory FAHM event in the Biden Administration, along with a cabinet Secretary (Julie Su, the Department of Labor Secretary) giving the opening address, in a room filled with community leaders, elected and appointed officials that came from everywhere across the country, was indeed historic. And unforgettable. It was an honor that I could never replace...unless, of course, they want me to do this again next year! It's always a great time to be Filipino and Filipino-American!"

Benito, who is also the President of the Board of the Apl.de.Ap Foundation International, was assisted in organizing the event by Vida Benavides, Irene Bueno, and JoAnn Fields.

President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were reportedly scheduled to attend the FAHM event, but they had to attend the memorial service for former First Lady Rosalynn Carter in Plains, Georgia.

President Biden in a note sent earlier for the occasion said, "Our nation has been immeasurably enriched by the contributions of Filipinos and the Filipino American community. Since America's founding, countless courageous Filipino immigrants have picked up their lives and found new homes here.

"As educators, entertainers, entrepreneurs, health care workers, lawyers, Service members, chefs, and so much more, Filipinos and Filipino Americans have helped forge the very idea of America.

"And while they have helped build our country, they have never forgotten where they came from – weaving the vibrant heritage and rich culture of the Philippines into the tapestry of our nation.

"Filipinos and Filipino Americans embody the best of our country – putting service over self, remaining committed to their opportunities, and bolstering the bonds that unite us as Americans.

"By recognizing Filipino American history, we are better able to learn from our past, celebrate the progress we have made, and grapple with the distance we still have to travel on our path to living up to our country's founding ideals.

"May we continue honoring these proud Americans for all they have done to strengthen our great nation for many years to come.

"To the Filipino and Filipino American community: Thank you for all you do to ensure our nation remains a land of hope, opportunity, and optimism."

Actor-writer-director-producer-playwright-author Lou Diamond Phillips said, "It is my honor to be here with all of you today in celebration of Filipino American History Month. And even though the official commemoration of the month occurred in October, we are eternally grateful to the White House, the White House staff, and everyone involved in producing this special day."

Phillips, who is known for his roles in "La Bamba," "Stand and Deliver," "Courage Under Fire," "Longmire," has also more importantly shown the spotlight on the struggle of our beloved Filipino veterans, helping to draw attention to their struggle to gain the recognition and monetary compensation they had been denied.

He added, "At the 103rd Congress, a resolution to nationally recognize Filipino American History Month was introduced. In October 2009, the Senate of the 111th Congress passed a resolution recognizing Filipino American History Month and in November that same year, Congress passed House Resolution 780 officially recognizing October as Filipino American History Month.

"FANHS (Filipino American National Historical Society) now has over 40 chapters across the US. In Seattle, FANHS houses the national Pinoy archives, which is one of the largest collections of Filipino American history anywhere. The FANHS National Museum is located in (FANHS co-founder) Fred Cordova's hometown of Stockton, California.

"So today, we say, 'Maraming salamat,' thank you very much (FANHS founders) Dorothy and Fred Cordova for giving us this special time to celebrate our history and to FANHS, today represented by its national president, Dr. Kevin Nadal.

"On behalf of FANHS, we extend an invitation to all of you to attend the next FANHS national conference which will be held next year in Houston."

Singer-actress-model and two-time Grammy Award winner Tia Carrere, who will also be seen next year as Mrs. Kekoa in the live-action version of the family favorite 2002 animated movie "Lilo & Stitch", kicked off the celebration with a moving rendition of the classic "Aloha Oe," the Queen Lili'uokalani-written song, that Carrere dedicated to the memory of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter in Plains, Georgia.

Actor Reggie Lee ("Grimm," "Prison Break," "All Rise") recalled, "The first wave of Filipino immigrants came to the island of Hawaii in the early 1900's. They were recruited primarily for cheap labor and worked in numerous sugar plantations.

"Throughout the early 1900's, additional waves of Filipino immigrants, usually single men, came to the US in search of higher education and a better life. They would trade those dreams for manual labor jobs, mostly working as immigrant laborers in the agricultural heartland of America and they faced racism and violence."

Actress-singer-writer Jennifer Paz ("Miss Saigon," "Steven Universe") said, "As the second and third waves of Filipino immigrants came in the 60's, 70's and 80's, the new battles were being fought by Filipino Americans, indeed all peoples of color, across the nation.

"The 'only English' movement in California came to fore when, in 1989, Aida Dimaranan, a Filipina nurse at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, filed a lawsuit accusing the hospital of requiring nurses to speak only English at work. She claimed the hostility towards her and other Filipino nurses who spoke Tagalog created an atmosphere of inferiority, isolation and intimidation. The case caught the attention of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who enjoined the case in support of Aida's first amendment right to speech."

Singer-actress Jules Aurora ("The Young and the Restless," "Indio," "The X Factor USA") sang the US national anthem and also assisted Phillips, Carrere, Lee, and Paz, in highlighting and showcasing Filipino American trailblazers and achievers in various fields from public service, military, sports, arts and entertainment, and food movement.

We missed Cristeta Comerford, who has been the White House Executive Chef since 2005 and whom we interviewed at the White House in 2009. She had been texting us that she was very busy and could not join the FAHM celebration. We met then-First Lady Michelle Obama in a hallway when Comerford was giving us a personal tour of the White House.

Former 1982 Bb. Pilipinas International and eight-time Emmy Award winner Lisa Manibog Lew, who took a red-eye from Los Angeles with her husband Peter Brennan to attend the event, got moved when Phillips mentioned and spotlighted her late father, Monty Manibog who was elected to the City Council of Monterey Park in 1972, making him the first Asian-American to hold such a position. He later became Mayor of that same city through the early and mid-1980's. Manibog was also the first Filipino-American to pass the California Bar Exam.

Other speakers at the event included leaders Erika Moritsugu (Deputy Assistant to the President and AA and NHPI Senior Liaison), Nani Coloretti (Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget), Steve Benjamin (Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President, Director of the Office of Public Engagement), Luisa Blue (SEIU Executive Vice President), Irene Bueno (NVG LLC Co-Founder and Partner), Krystal Ka'ai (Executive Director, White House Initiative on AA and NHPI), and JoAnn Fields, community leader in San Diego's South Bay.

Chris Chatman, a "Blackapino" singer-songwriter born and raised in Los Angeles, California who has sung with the likes of Gladys Knight, Chicago, Billy Idol, Tituss Burgess and Lin-Manuel Miranda, capped the evening with a moving rendition of Martin Nievera's "This is the Moment" from Jekyll & Hyde but changing the words from "I" to "Our" and "Me" to "We." Benito, who made the suggestion, explained "It means something entirely different when the song is about a people."

By the end of the program, Benito showed a photo onscreen of one-year-old Maddie Mendoza who happens to be the 2023 Gerber baby. "She is the first Filipino American to be chosen to represent an entire generation," Benito revealed.

"What will Filipino Americans 20, 50 even 100 years down the line going remember that our generation accomplished? How will we leave our legacy? So, Irene Bueno and I have a few suggestions that we would like to share with you."

Bueno shared, "We would like to have our Olympic heroes – Vicki Manalo Draves and Natalie Coughlin immortalized in US mint coins."

"We would like to have our manongs, the men who galvanized Filipino farm workers and together with Mexican workers, formed the United Farm Workers – all memorialized in first edition US stamps."

"We would like the opportunities to work with state and local leaders to obtain naming rights to roads, highways, and byways in honor of our community leaders, Royal Morales in Los Angeles and Bob Santos in Seattle, as well as others whose contributions to Filipino American history can be so recognized."

"We would like to submit formal portraits of Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz to the National Portrait Gallery. And most importantly, we would like to work with the Biden administration and other national entities to establish, for the very first time, a national monument dedicated to the sacrifices our Filipino American forefathers made."

"In fact, we call upon the persons in this room to help form a national committee for the creation and institution of a Filipino American monument."

Benito added, "Moreover, and this is a personal wish, I hope we can establish multiple national monuments, in cities and regions of the United States where our history in America began. These could be the FANHS plaque at Morro Bay, the historical marker currently located at St. Malo in Louisiana, the memorial dedicated to the Alaskeros (Filipinos in Alaska) in Juneau, and the Gintong Kasaysayan mural in Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles created by artist Eliseo Art Silva."

Finally, Benito said, "We want Maddie Mendoza and her generation to know and be proud of Filipino American history because it will be her history too."