• Peter’s Pinoy Patter: March 2024

    Bridge Generation News

    BG Personality of the Month: Pio de Cano, Jr., 84, educator: 

    A native Seattleite, Pio was born on June 5, 1939 to immigrant parents from the Ilocos Philippines and has essentially resided in the Emerald City ever since. An altar boy at St. Teresa’s Catholic Church, his formative years were otherwise unremarkable as he went through local schools without incident. While attending central area Garfield High School, however, Pio began socializing with a group of mischievous boys whose activities were not always positive. Pio’s grades soon plummeted.  He was arrested by the police for stealing hubcaps. He was devasted, especially for disappointing his education-focused mother. Pio subsequently served six months on probation and had his record expunged.

    Following high school graduation, Pio attended the University of Washington.  But after two years at UW, he was still uncomfortable with what he wanted to do with his life.  He decided to join the military.  Pio carefully explored each of the armed services before deciding to enlist in the branch he perceived to be the most challenging – the U.S. Marines.  But after undergoing a dehumanizing three months of boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, he wondered if he made a mistake!  Might he be destined for the infantry? Fortunately, upon learning Pio possessed two years of university study, a helpful Marine officer suggested he apply for duty with the Embassy Security Group.  The ESGs’ mission — to provide support for Marine detachments at U.S. diplomatic missions throughout the world.  In 1959, after going through a seven week training course, Pio was assigned to ESG headquarters in Lima, Peru responsible for Central America, South America, and Mexico.  His job was to provide direct administrative support to the commanding officer which he found challenging and exciting. He would remain in the position until the end of his four year enlistment.

    In 1963, Pio returned to the University of Washington to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree and went to work as a teacher at nearby Mercer Island High School.  However, his thirst for more education was not quenched.  After earning a master’s degree in consulting psychology at UW, he enrolled at Washington State University where he graduated with a PhD in education.  Perhaps a more significant achievement was his doctorate dissertation — the need for improved cooperation, not competition, among Washington’s community colleges.  The dissertation proved to be a valuable document in the state’s efforts to improve the administration of the community college system. Pio went on to direct a four-state (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho) bilingual technical assistance center, as a multi-cultural teacher training institute at Central Washington University, and as a Bilingual Program administrator to the Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

    Financial support for Pio’s educational pursuits was made possible by annual summer jobs in Alaskan salmon canneries as an Alaskero.  Education may not have been his initial purpose for working in the canneries.  However, working alongside and living with older members of the Manong Generation was a significant learning experience.  Pio watched and listened to the manongs.  He learned —  taking every opportunity to understand the Manong Generation’s challenges in coping with the difficult life they encountered in an unfriendly America.

    Pio’s Alaska experiences with the manongs inspired him to immerse himself into the issues of the Filipino community.  He taught a class in Filipino American history, supported the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), served on the FANHS Board of Trustees, was an active member of the non-partisan Filipino American Political Action Group of Washington (FAPAGOW), and was instrumental in the successful effort for the State of Washington to adopt October as Filipino American History Month.  In all his activities Pio took particular pride in bringing different factions together to resolve community issues.

    Participation in the Filipino Community is not surprising.  Pio had excellent role models in his parents.  His father, Pio de Cano, Sr. made history on April 30, 1940 by winning a landmark case enabling Filipinos to purchase real property.  His lawsuit overturned the application of a state 1921 Alien Land Law prohibiting Filipinos from owning land. He was also the first President of the Filipino Community of Seattle.  Pio’s mother, Luzviminda (Romero) de Cano, likewise made history by becoming one of the first pinays to be hired by the giant Boeing Airlines Company.  She also fought for women’s rights in the male dominated Filipino Community of Seattle and was the first President of the Filipino Women’s Club.

    Pio’s activism was not limited to Filipinos.  When Washington State opted to welcome Vietnamese refugees (including Hmong tribal people) in the early 1970s, he helped in their resettlement.  Shortly thereafter, he was among those who led the effort to establish the Washington Commission for Asian American Affairs — precursor to today’s Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. He joined other Asians in saving the International District from redevelopment.  More recently, he participated in protesting the White Supremacist march in Charlottesville as well as rallies for peace and women’s and reproductive rights.

    Today, Pio lives quietly with his wife, Susan, in Seattle and enjoying his three children from previous marriages – Andrea Elizabeth, Pia Francesca “Jenai”, and Polo, who also possesses a PhD.  When asked to reflect on his life, he simply said, his greatest satisfaction was…” bringing people together in solving common problems.”  (Acknowledgements:  Interview with Pio de Cano, January 23, 2024, Google, and Wikipedia.)

    Passings:

    Yet another proud member of the Bridge Generation has died.  John Maglinte, 85, passed away on January 11, 2024 from a major heart event at his home, surrounded by his family.  Born on March 4, 1938 in Hilo HI, John was the son of Simeon Maglinte, from Cebu, Philippines and the former Kiyoko Tanaka of Japanese ancestry.  During the 1950s, the Maglinte family moved to the Delta river community of Isleton CA where John went to local schools.  An accomplished athlete, John was on the high school basketball team and the outstanding center on the Isleton Filipino Youth Club “Hawks” — a regular participant in Filipino American youth club tournaments, then in its halcyon years of the 1950s-60s.  I was introduced to him when he was going steady at Rio Vista High School with Alice Cabog, a close friend of my late wife Terri.  John and Alice were married in 1958, the same year Alice became godmother to our daughter, Julie.

    After graduating from high school John worked for the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, for the next 38 years.  He began his federal employment as a draftsman, was promoted to the engineering team, and rose to a supervisory position until retiring in 1996.  His job with the Department of Interior — entailing a five-day weekly 80 mile roundtrip commute between his home in Isleton and Sacramento — was tolerable. Why?  Alice, also worked in Sacramento and kept him company.

    John was preceded in death by his parents, Simeon and Kiyoko; brothers August , Octavio “Sabu”, Jack Murashige, and Raymond; and sisters Rosalita and Rosalia Maglinte.  He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Alice; sons Matthew, Marty, Monty; daughter Michelle; and grandchildren Cyrus, Kaelus, Tyler, Allison, Sofia, Ian, and Camille. 

    Happy March Birthdays to:

    Bob Balandra, Eleanor (Engkabo) Paular, David Galanida, Evelyn (Guillermo) Agdoma,  Manuel Luna, Rich Tenaza, Ed Ventura

    Pinakbet — News Across America

    Filipino American Historical Tidbits:

    In 1899 David Fagan, an African American soldier stationed in the Philippines during the Spanish American War defected to join the Filipino guerilla movement.

    Did You Know:

    Phoebe Cates, best known for her role in “Fast Times In Ridgemont High”, is part pinay on her mother’s side.  Her husband of 25 years is Oscar-winning actor, Kevin Kline.

    Musings

    From White Supremacy in America, (to) It has Always been about People of Color, (to) Equitable Justice for People of Color, (to) Multi-racial Democracy Weakened, (to) Political/Gun Violence) Part XLIII: 

    Last month, this column shared a thoughtful essay by Robert P. Jones, “The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy” that was published in the October 23 issue of Time Magazine, providing the genesis of White Supremacy.  A brief summary:

    The Doctrine of Discovery, written in 1493, a year after Columbus returned from the America’s, merged the interest of European imperialism with Christian missionary zeal. The doctrine furnished the foundational lie that America was “discovered” and enshrined the noble innocence of  White “pioneers”.  This sense of divine entitlement would influence key events, policies, and laws throughout American history.    

    The Doctrine has been a part of United States history from the very beginning of the United States.  The U.S. Constitution legally rationalized slavery by declaring blacks as less that their White slave owners.  Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3, of the Constitution provides that apportionment of Representatives would be based on the population of free persons and “three fifths of all other persons.”  Those “other persons” — African slaves. In subsequent years the Doctrine was only applied to People of Color in American policies of Manifest Destiny, in immigration laws, and in the colonization of the Philippines. In my grade school during the 1930s Great Depression in California, a common saying among transferring White students from Southern/Dust Bowl states was, “The South Shall Rise Again!”  Another manifestation of White Supremacy!

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