ABC Unified School District Board Member Mark Pulido recently called on members of Pangasinan Brotherhood USA — one of the largest umbrella organizations of Filipino hometown associations in America — to lead a movement for Filipino-American political empowerment in the U.S.
The call came on the 32nd Anniversary Gala and Induction for the Pangasinan Brotherhood, held on July 24 at the Marriott Hotel in Norwalk, a city in southeastern Los Angeles County. Hometown associations are social groups that bring together immigrants from certain provinces or regions of their home countries. Pangasinan is a province is central Luzon in the Republic of the Philippines, north of the capital city of Manila.
"My simple challenge to the Pangasinan Brotherhood is to help lead the way for our community — to be the vanguard of the movement for political empowerment here in America," said Pulido, who is in his third term as an elected member of the ABC Unified School District board, which oversees public campuses in Los Angeles County cities of Artesia, Cerritos, and Hawaiian Gardens, along with portions of Lakewood, Long Beach, and Norwalk.
Pulido is one of eight Fil-Ams currently serving as elected officials at various levels of local government throughout Los Angeles County. The others are: Artesia Mayor Pro Tem Victor Manalo; Carson Mayor Pro Tem Elito Santarina; Duarte Mayor Pro Tem Tzeitel Paras-Caracci; Walnut Mayor Pro Tem Tony Cartagena; Claremont City Councilmember Corey Calaycay; Vernon City Councilmember Bill Davis, and ABC Unified School Board Member and US Army Major Armin Reyes.
"I am proud to be a part of this movement for political empowerment in America," Pulido said. "I am even more pleased that our Filipino-American community is becoming more and more involved in the mainstream decision-making process of our schools and communities by voting at the ballot booth, getting involved, running for office and serving with integrity and dedication."
Pulido was born in Bellflower to Filipino parents. He now lives in Cerritos with his wife Gloria (nee Perlas), 8-year-old daughter Malia and 1-year-old son Mark Jr.
Pulido said that Fil-Ams could do more. He said that he was hopeful that soon the Filipino-American community would elect highly qualified candidates from their ethnic group in areas with significant concentrations of Filipino-Americans residents — including sections of Los Angeles and nearby cities such as Glendale, West Covina, and Long Beach. Pulido added that he was hopeful the community would soon witness that historic day when "we finally elect a Filipino American to the California Assembly, the California Senate, and even the United States Congress.
"There is tremendous promise in the air. I know this, because two rising stars of our community made history recently," said Pulido, who studied at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and at University of Chicago, where he earned his Masters degree in Public Policy. Pulido referred to the recent appointment of Mona Pasquil early this year as Acting Lieutenant Governor, and the nomination by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of Appellate Justice Tani Gorre Cantil Sakauye to be the next Chief Justice of California.
"Both of these young Filipina-Americans are daughters of Filipino farm workers who came to this country to work the fields of California and plantations of Hawaii."
Pulido said that the realization of the "American Dream" was happening in the Fil-Am community.
"It is truly a beautiful and inspiring thing — beyond getting a college education, beyond home ownership, beyond a secure retirement — collectively our community in America is no longer voiceless and invisible, but we are stepping up to the challenge, stepping into the mainstream of American society and leading the way."
President Dan Nino, who took over the presidency of PB-USA from Mely L. Cerame, was introduced by Eddie Ferrer, his high school teacher at St. Louis University Boys High School in Baguio City. He described Nino as "a sales tax collector by profession, a journalist by avocation, and a musician by frustration." In his inaugural speech, Nino called his ascension to the presidency a destiny.
"It's a grace from God," Nino said. "No matter how you avoid it, if it is really meant for you, you become the chosen one like the Israelites who became the chosen people of God. This is also what happened to Cory Aquino and Noynoy Aquino. And now it happened to me. As president of Pangasinan Brotherhood-USA, I'm doing my level best to promote unity and create projects like the scholarship program for our poor but deserving college students from Pangasinan."
The scholarship program was inaugurated during the term of past president Adz Diaz. "We might even solicit computers from Bill Gates and from Dell Computers now that we are a tax-exempt 501-C3 organization," Nino said.
Vice Consul John Reyes of the Philippine Consulate General of Los Angeles inducted the organization' 37 elected and appointed officers, and past president and 2010 Independence Day chairman Gil Mislang was the evening's master of ceremonies. Nino lauded recipients of the Ten Outstanding Pangasinan Entrepreneurs "for their indomitable spirit to carry on despite the economic slowdown we now have" and called the honorees "the role models and beacons of inspiration for future generations of Filipino-Americans or Pangasinenses."
Rene Villaroman is a writer for Asian Journal.
Photo from www.pangasinanusa.com.
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