“PACCSoCo has continuously hummed to connect people through shared heritage and experiences”
We are tear-streaked to realize that it’s been a year this week when we were in Colorado Springs, the Olympic USA city, where we witnessed how members of the Filipino American community radiated with their homeland heritage.
We had the distinct, if indelible, chance to hear Council Member Nancy Henjum read on Oct. 12 the unprecedented Proclamation, approved by the City Council, declaring the month of October as the Filipino American History Month or FAHM in Colorado Springs.
Recognized by the US Congress in 2009, the FAHM celebrates the arrival of the first Filipinos in the continental United States at Morro Bay, California on Oct. 18, 1587 as part of the galleon trade between Asia and the Americas.
The inaugural Proclamation last year made official the recognition of and appreciation for the many contributions of Filipino Americans in Colorado Springs – through the initiative of the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Southern Colorado – PACCSoC headed by the Metro Manila-born Harmony Cabie Quinto.
Reading of the Proclamation occurred in mid morning of Oct 12 at the back of one of the city’s iconic landmarks – the Satellite Hotel at Lakewood Circle, not far from the stunning 5,400-square-km public park with its iconic red rock formations of Garden of the Gods hundreds of thousands of local and foreign tourists visit daily.
The celebration of FAHM symbolizes the significant part as it were of the history of the Filipino diaspora.
Informed sources have told us FAHM will be marked this year with celebrations in Hawaii and across the continental United States, including major events in California, Los Angeles and San Jose, Virginia Beach in Virginia, Princeton in New Jersey and Washington, DC.
Events range from film festivals and cultural celebrations to food festivals as well as sports-related activities, and many will take place throughout October, pretty much like what PACCSoCO will be doing this month.
PACCSoCo’s (#FAHM) weekend activities run for six hours titled “2,190: From Quotas to Communities,” at the Pikes Peak Family Success Center at Verde Drive starting at 11am.
What is this “2,190?”
The number, according to PACCSoCo president Quinto, our daughter, refers to the number, out of the estimated 100,000 illegals who arrived in the US via the galleon trade ships and those who entered through Hawaii.
The 2,190 took the US government offer of free one-way tickets to the Filipinos without valid status, with the condition: they should promise never to return.
“Out of the estimated 100,000 illegals, 2,190 took the offer and gave up any opportunity to avail themselves of any amnesty in the future.”
She added, “Back then only 50 Filipinos were allowed to legally migrate to the US. This was the time when the US was prioritizing immigrants from Europe (versus Asia). Reason why there was a very low quota for the Philippines.”
Fast forward the years, today, by latest official count, there are an estimated 4.6 million Filipino Americans in the United States and the group constitutes the third-largest Asian American population in the United States, which has an estimated population of nearly 348 million.
The Filipino Americans make up the third largest Asian origin population in the US, with about 1.6 million in California, 383,200 in Hawaii, which is over 25 percent of the 1.446 million state population, Texas, Las Vegas in Nevada, Illinois, Florida, New York, Cleveland, Wyoming, Maryland and Minnesota.
PACCSoCos celebration at the Family Success Center will also have nearly 30 vendors on site, cultural/heritage performances from two Filipino American dance companies — Las Felipinas USA and Hawak Kamay Dance Co. – and a #ParolMaking Workshop.
PACCSoCo’s initiative is seen as celebrating a historic event which fosters unity, preserves collective memory, and reinforces national or cultural identity, while providing a platform to honor past struggles and achievements, understanding the present by learning from the past, and inspiring engagement as citizens.
We have seen how PACCSoCo has continuously hummed to connect people through shared heritage and experiences.
Its weekend celebration, while holding last year’s approved Proclamation, strengthens social cohesion and helps maintain cultural traditions for future generations with multiple backgrounds.
From where we are, west of the International Date Line, we see PACCSOCo’s members, many of whom we met last year, standing loudly and proudly with their name tags on which are embedded humaneness, benignance and commitment.
We honor these inheritors of a great heritage, beliefs and culture.
