By RODNEY J. JALECO
ABS-CBN North America News Bureau
VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia – They're among the fastest growing ethnic groups in the region, also among the best educated and highest paid wage-earners. Meet the Filipino-Americans of Hampton Roads.
Hampton Roads is composed of Virginia's southeastern region that includes Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and Williamsburg. Most of the Fil-Ams are retired US Navy servicemen and their families, who've decided to settle near Norfolk, home of the US Navy Atlantic Fleet.
There are 34 Fil-Am organizations here, representing the various ethnic and geographical divisions in the Philippines, as well as professional groups.
Julius Aspa is president of the Cebuano-Speaking Association of Tidewater (CSAT). "CSAT was formed 20 years ago because our countrymen needed help, and of course we also wanted to help each other here," he told ABS-CBN's Balitang America.
"During natural calamities, we always try to send help back home like what happened after the Leyte landslide," Aspa said.
Olongapo City Association of Tidewater (OCAT) president Joseph "Joe" Ortega said their group is sending several college and high school students to schools in the Philippines.
These groups come alive in spring when Saturday night parties and dance-alongs, featuring the latest "line dancing" hits, become a staple for the growing, dynamic Fil-Am community here.
There are now about 50,000 Fil-Ams in the area, mostly in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. A study released by the Old Dominion University (ODU) showed that over 20% of foreign-born residents in Hampton Roads came from the Philippines. It is the sixth biggest concentration of Filipinos in the US (Hawaii, California, New York City, Chicago and Seattle).
Read more here...Nurses, servicemen
1 comment:
i visited my cousing there in va beach a few months ago. it was a nice place, and yeah there are lots of filipinos there.
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