Stories of Some Filipino Americans of San Diego, California

Two years ago, due to the pandemic and my age, I sold my business, the San Diego Asian Journal, and retired after publishing the Filipino American newspaper for 33 years. I then realized that I’ve written a lot of profile articles during my career. I decided to compile them and publish them into this book, “Stories of Some Filipino Americans in San Diego, California.” For years, I’ve been telling those who would bother to listen that we should record the personal stories of the Filipino Americans of San Diego County, lest they be forgotten. This sentiment I shared with the late Dr. Rizalino Oades, a Filipino American associate professor on Asian American Studies at the San Diego State University. We just talked about it until Riz passed away, and our prospective subjects also died one after another, their stories completely forgotten and lost forever in the dustbin of history. The subjects of the profiles we published in our newspaper, however, were lucky. Their stories were stored in our archives which I am now publishing in this book. As someone said, “if one wants to be remembered, he should father a child, plant a tree, or write a book.” The stories of these subjects are now immortalized in history and will be read not only by their children and grandchildren, but also by future generations to come. They will be remembered as long as a copy of this book exists and read. As I went through the profiles, I was amazed and honored to realize that we’ve published quite a collection of good stories. Each is interesting enough to entertain and educate the readers. Among them were: Chef Larry Banares recalls how at one time, he cooked for the “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson. Joe Cabrera, who wrote jokes in the form of Pilipino poems, was also a celebrated pianist. No less than Joan Kroc, the widow of the McDonald’s founder, Ray Kroc, and was a pianist in a mall when she first met her husband, used to have Joe picked up at his apartment in a limousine to play for her intimate dinner parties. Dr. Romy Dela Rosa was so poor growing up in a squatter community that he, and his teammates, could not afford to wear shoes in basketball tournaments. To comply with the regulations, they, at one time, shared three pairs of shoes among five people. Four of them wore a single shoe each during a tournament they won. Todd Gloria became the mayor of San Diego, the highest rank a person with Filipino ethnicity have achieved so far. Daughtlet Ordinario’s project is to purchase band instruments in America for use by the band she organized in the Philippines. Not only did these boys learn how to play music; they also marched all over different towns during their fiestas. They also earned scholarships in college due to their rare talents and skills. John Oropesa, the founder of the pioneering oriental store in San Diego, Family Loompya, introduced Filipino delicacies to the community when they were not yet available to the public. Others followed and the template for a Filipino grocery store and restaurant was born. Then there is the amazing story of Tony Deleon Pizarro, a poor and orphan boy from the Philippines who achieved financial and philanthropic success in America. I wrote his rags to riches biography published into a book last year. Manny Ramirez collects donated books and school supplies, sometimes buying them himself, and gives them to schools in poor communities in the Philippines. After Dr. Maria Lourdes Reyes' successful career as a medical doctor, director of a health advocacy group, and professor of medical school in prestigious universities, she chose to serve God by entering the convent in nearby Tijuana, Mexico, doing prison ministries, if not feeding the poor. There are other San Diego Filipino Americans, about sixty, profiled in this book with interesting stories to tell. Simeon G. Silverio, Jr. San Diego, California June 2023
ASIN: B0C47NSS4X
VSKU: BVV.B0C47NSS4X.A
Condition: Acceptable
Author/Artist:Silverio Jr., Simeon Galang
Binding: Paperback
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: The item is very worn but is perfectly usable. Signs of wear can include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, worn and creased covers, folded page corners and minor liquid stains. All pages and the cover are intact, but the dust cover may be missing. Pages may include moderate to heavy amount of notes and highlighting, but the text is not obscured or unreadable. Page edges may have foxing age related spots and browning . May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.