Agbayani Village

Agbayani Village is a housing compound for retired farm workers. Many Filipino farm workers lived there at one time or another, and it was named after a Filipino farm worker that died on a picket line in 1967.

Agbayani Village was built by United Farm Workers volunteers in 1973 in recognition of Filipino contributions to the farm worker movement and their often solitary lives. It became a place of pilgrimage for young Filipinos who craved knowledge of their roots and saw the workers as symbols of ethnic pride.

These men were among hundreds of thousands that immigrated to the United States starting in 1898. They were an integral part of the thriving agricultural business in California. They were heroes, which makes the name proper, because bayani means hero in Pilipino, the national language of the Philippines.

Reviving Filipino Tattoo Traditions

The Tatak ng Apat na Alon Tribe is an organization that strives to revive the traditional tattoo culture of the Philippines. Just as tattoos and body art has grown, as well as Polynesian tattoos, so have Philippine and Filipino themed tattoos.

A common piece of body art is to get a tattoo in Baybayin, the ancient script of the Philippines. The tribe can specially design tattoos for individuals. All their designs are one of a kind, because it is based on the history of the individual, including their family, social, professional, and personal histories.

Indigenous Filipinos got tattoos as a sign of their status. The more ink, the more significant they were. They were called Pintados (painted ones), and they proudly displayed their tattoos for all to see. Today, many Filipinos do the same.

Historic Filipinotown

Historic Filipinotown is an area in Los Angeles that was a hub for Filipino immigration and commerce during the 1940s. It was officially recognized for its historic role in 2002 by LA City Council President, Eric Garcetti.

A planned project for the area is a monument to Jose Rizal in one of the districts parks, which will go nicely with the mural entitled Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana by Eliseo Silva, and the Filipino American Library.

Philippine Cultural Dance Troupes

A Pinoy activist from the 1960s pointed out how the Filipino Cultural Dance Association of Sacramento (FCDAS) is endangered. They perform less and less and do not have many new dancers.

A Herbert Spencer inspired reaction would be to point out that only the strong survive. If the FCDAS is irrelevant, then it would eventually disappear.

Other Filipino cultural dance troupes in other parts of the country are thriving. In Sacramento, hip hop dance groups are thriving, as well as Hawaiian halaus, Latin dance, ballroom dancing, Hmong cultural dance, etc. Somehow, Filipino dance is not experiencing that sort of success.

The Power of Women in Philippine Culture

In honor of Mother's Day, I want to acknowledge and point out the prominence and importance of women in the Philippine culture.

In the indigenous culture of the Philippines, women played prominent roles in religion, serving as priestesses called babaylan. One can see the "ba" root that is shared with babae and Bathala, or Bahala.

While the Catholic religion and Spanish conquest would espouse the revision of history and the placement of women in less prominent roles, women would never yield their positions. As many people know, the Philippines' Corazon Aquino was President from February 25, 1986, until June 30, 1992, and incumbent Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been President since January 20, 2001.

In my home, my mother was always the boss in the home, and I have often heard that the women in a Filipino home would manage the household finances. They were masters of their domain, so to speak. My mother ruled with a fair and compassionate fist. In fact, all that I am and all that I ever will be, is thanks to my mother.