Celebrating 100 Years of Filipino Immigration
January 10, 2006
It was not surprising for Filipinos to venture to the US in droves at the turn of the 19 th century. Emerging war-weary after 300 years of resisting Spanish colonization only to fall under another colonizer at the end of the Spanish American War, Filipinos desperately clung to the promise of benevolent assimilation under American rule.
The Filipino contract workers came from the town of Santa Lucia in my home province of Ilocos Sur in northern Philippines. They were referred to as manongs, an Ilocano term of respect meaning older brother.
The manongs performed backbreaking work in the vast plantations of Hawaii. Soon enough they were main characters in success stories about Filipinos doing well in America. More and more Filipinos hankered for the opportunity to live in America and become success stories themselves.
In deference to the origins of the early Filipino plantation workers of Hawaii, Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii is leading a group of delegates from Hawaii who will visit my hometown, Cabugao, Ilocos Sur this month. Many of the early Filipino immigrants who followed the first manongs to the US boarded ships docked on a port in Cabugao.
Life was far from easy for the early Filipino immigrants. Work opportunities were dictated by the seasons. They toiled away at Hawaiian plantations or California vineyards on cooler months and moved to the fish canneries of Seattle or Alaska on warmer months. Their lingering homesickness was hardly helped by the racial discrimination that was palpable and blatant in their adopted country then. What could only have kept them going was the possibility that circumstances would be kinder and life would be better for their families in the future.
The manongs blazed many trails for Filipino immigrants. They laid the foundation for Filipino American communities, disseminated Filipino culture, and established the reputation of Filipinos as honest, intelligent and hardworking people.
The Filipinos who came during the succeeding waves of Filipino immigration have done the manongs proud. Filipino Americans have contributed positively to the cultural diversity, intellectual life and the economy of this vibrant country.
But we can do more to honor the legacy of the manongs. While passing a presidential resolution to honor the centennial of the Filipino immigration to Hawaii makes for a stirring tribute to one of the first OFWs, we ought to do more.
For one, the Philippine government can seriously reconsider its policy of exporting its people abroad to subsidize widespread corruption and to prop up the ailing economy. Filipinos as global citizens deserve the freedom to immigrate, but that does not imply being practically driven out of their homeland by circumstances created by poor governance and lack of political will.
In the US, the Filipino American community still needs to reexamine its priorities in light of intermittent bickering and petty quarrels that have sidelined the more important issues it needs to address.
Many thousands of undocumented Filipino immigrants face the uncertain prospect of being thrown out of the country as Congress deliberates on immigration reform issues. Those who have been waiting for decades to reunite with their families might have to wait some more if we do not actively call for changes in the immigration system in a clear and unified voice.
As fragmented as it would appear now, there is little the Filipino American community can do in the way of political empowerment if those with pretensions to leadership continue to set aside community welfare in favor of personal aggrandizement.
Hopefully, the celebration of the Filipino immigration centennial will give us pause to consider how we can better protect the rights of immigrants and how we can best realize our full potential as members of American society.
Filipino communities across the country, particularly in California and Washington in the West and the Tri-State of the East could take this occasion as an opportunity to come together and celebrate the legacy of the manongs.
Perhaps, the organizers of the upcoming Independence Day Parade could include activities that recognize the first wave of Filipino immigration that took place in Hawaii and honor the early Filipino immigrants who bravely opened the doors of opportunity in America so that younger generations of Filipino immigrants may share the American dream.