‘Kababayan’ beyond home
A spotlight on the rising Filipino American community and their impact
Filipino immigration to the U.S. can be characterized in waves. The first Filipinos arrived at Morro Bay on October 18, 1587 during an expedition led by Pedro de Unamuno (Pang and Cheng 166). Centuries later, the first known actual settlement of Filipino Americans is in St. Malo, Louisiana during the 18th century. Around this time, the Spanish galleon trade took place in order to boost commerce between Asia and the New World (specifically, the Philippines and Mexico). Later on, Manila Village was established in Louisiana and was comprised of mostly Filipino sailors, fishermen, and laborers — all of which have moved across different parts of the country (specifically, Alaska, Hawaii, and the West Coast) in order to search for greener pastures.
After Spain ceded Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the U.S. in 1898, the U.S. slowly began to sponsor Filipino students to study at U.S. universities. Come the 1930s and 1940s, the rate of Filipino migration decreased due to the Great Depression and the passing of the Tydings-McDuffie Act which placed immigration quotas on the Philippines to 50 people per year. This was showed the anti-Filipino sentiment at the time. When World War 2 ended, an influx of Filipinos arrived in the U.S., and they fell into the following categories: 1) “war brides” or recruits for the Armed Forces, 2) nurses and health care workers, and 3) highly educated professionals.
The stark increase in immigration can be seen post-1965 after President Lyndon P. Johnson signed the Hart-Celler Act into law. The bill essentially reformed its predecessor, the National Origins Formula, which restricted immigration with Southern and Eastern Europeans and Asians, among others. Additionally, Hart-Celler introduced the seven-category system in order to classify the potential immigrants. From 105,000 in 1960 to about 1.9 million in 2013, the Filipino population in the U.S. increased dramatically.
As of 2015, there are a whopping 3,899,000 Filipinos in the U.S. Among said Filipinos, 82% are proficient in English, meaning they either speak English only or can speak the language “very well.” For the length of time in the U.S., 72% spent more than 10 years within the country — a slight increase from 69% in 2010. Additionally, the population of foreign-born Filipinos stands at 52% compared to U.S.-born Filipinos at 48%.
Educational attainment was slightly more varied, as 37% of Filipinos had a bachelor’s degree, 31% were able to partly attend college, and 23% had a high school-level education or less. In comparison to the aggregate of all Americans, who only had 19% of the population, Filipino immigrants generally had higher levels of education. Unsurprisingly, a higher level in education also meant a higher median annual income. In 2015, Filipinos had a median income of $80,000. Foreign-born Filipinos made a slightly higher income of $83,000 in comparison to U.S.-born Filipinos, who only made $73,001.
California houses the largest number of Filipino Americans at approximately 1.6 million as of 2013. Within California, Los Angeles county contains the most Filipino Americans, with an estimation of 293,000. Cities and neighborhoods such as Historic Filipinotown, Artesia, Cerritos, West Covina, Eagle Rock, Carson, Glendale, Walnut, Diamond Bar, Chino Hills, and Rowland Heights became de facto ethnic enclaves for the Filipino American community (Nadal 19). Historic Filipinotown in the Echo Park area was one of the first few Filipino settlements in Los Angeles and housed several significant Filipino organizations, churches, and social service centers.
Los Angeles is home to many Filipino American grassroots organizations, and their goals are similar — namely, they all work to empower the Filipino American community. Pilipino Workers Center, for example, is a non-profit whose goal is to advocate for better living and working conditions for the low-wage Filipino community in Southern California. SIPA, or Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, aims to strengthen the Filipino American community by providing services such as small business assistance, in-home outreach counseling, and after-school youth programs. The Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Los Angeles, or FACCGLA, is a business organization whose goal is to strengthen Filipino American businesses and help them thrive in the American economy. Lastly, FilAm ARTS, or the Association for the Advancement of Filipino American Arts and Cultures, aims to advance the cultural richness of Filipinos through the arts.
Organizations aside, there are a few important figures who have worked or are still working towards the betterment of the Filipino American community. Historically, one of the most influential figures is Larry Itliong, a labor leader who mobilized agricultural workers in California in the 1960s to demand for better working conditions and fairer wages. Itliong, along with Philip Vera Cruz and other Filipino farm workers, started the Delano Grape Strike. Eventually, the workers were able to sign union contracts which granted them benefits and protections.
On a more contemporary standpoint, Dorothy Cordova, founder of the Filipino American National Historical Society, still works to this day to catalog and preserve the Filipino American history. She and her late husband, Fred Cordova, founded the organization in 1982 to promote the education and enrichment of the history and culture of Filipino Americans in the U.S.
Another stakeholder whose goals are to serve the needs of the Filipino American community is Filipino American ethnic media. For the most part, they are usually based in predominantly Filipino metropolitan or suburban communities such as Los Angeles. Examples of such media outlets are the California Journal for Filipino Americans, Balita.com, Balitang America, Via Times, The Filipino Press, Positively Filipino, the Hawaii Filipino Chronicle, Manila Mail U.S., and Asian Journal.
The outlets’ coverage usually falls into one or more of these categories: 1) news from the Philippines, 2) news about the Filipino American community in the U.S., and 3) features or lifestyle news that promotes the Filipino culture. With the first category, the news is usually political in nature. The current presidential administration in the Philippines is rife with controversy and polarization, so majority of the news headlines from the homeland consist of news of that nature.
Works Cited:
Nadal, Kevin L. Filipino American Psychology: a Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice. John Wiley, 2011.
Pang, Valerie Ooka, and Li-Rong Lilly. Cheng. Struggling to Be Heard: the Unmet Needs of Asian Pacific American Children. State University of New York Press, 1998.
