Celebrating 60 years of the Peace Corps: building the “foundation of freedom, condition for peace”

The Philippine Embassy led an online information drive on the achievements of 60 years of the United States Peace Corps in the Philippines. 

Ambassador Brenda Brown Schoonover, who was part of the first Peace Corps Class in the Philippine program, spoke about her experience along with guest alumni Rebecca Scarbrough and Michael Walsh.

Peace Corps Philippines’ Acting Director of Programming and Training Ambet Yangco and PCAFPD scholar Hannah Catiis also spoke during the event.

The first Peace Corps volunteers, 128-strong, arrived in the Philippines in October 1961, working as teachers in the countrysides. More than 9,300 American Peace Corps volunteers served in the Philippines in the past six decades.

The volunteers who all had knowledge and skills direly needed in the country, especially in remote rural areas, trained Filipinos to protect coral reefs and marine sanctuaries, help farmers improve crop yields, spur economic development in poor communities, and help children and families facing difficulties.

They lived with host families and many became deeply rooted in the communities they served.

In celebration of the Peace Corps and Filipino American History Month, the Philippine Embassy premiered the webinar, “Forward for Peace” on October 15 thru the Embassy’s official Facebook page, @PHinUSA.

 

The event, part of the year-long commemoration of the 75 years of US-Philippine diplomatic relations, offered a venue for past Peace Corps volunteers to talk about their personal journey and experiences; as well as for representatives from the Peace Corps Philippines and the Peace Corps Alumni Foundation for Philippine Development (PCAFPD) to share the program’s mission and impact to aspiring future volunteers. 

 

“I am thankful that the American people have been so interested in helping the Philippines and that the Peace Corps has enabled such volunteers to immerse themselves in our society,” Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel G. Romualdez said in his address.

There is no doubt that the continued success of the Peace Corps Program, which was started by a great American President John F. Kennedy, is anchored on the passion and dedication of your members and volunteers who continue to make a life-changing impact at the grassroots level during and beyond their tours of service,” he added.

The life of the Peace Corps volunteer, Pres. Kennedy said at the organization’s founding “will not be easy” but “will be rich and satisfying.”

“For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps, who works in a foreign land, will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace,” he declared.

Patrick Realiza, Chair of the Peace and Security Committee for the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA-NCA) moderated the event. 

Ex-Subic volunteer recalls “adventure of a lifetime” 30 years ago

Jay Gatchalian heard from a friend that Richard Gordon, then the mayor of Olongapo City would be talking at the George Washington University. He’d been following news about Mt. Pinatubo and the vote to kick out US military bases in the 1990s, so he was curious. 

The afternoon would prove momentous for the young University of Virginia student - drawing him back to the Philippines for an adventure of a lifetime, joining about a dozen other college-age Fil-Am who volunteered to be Gordon’s cadres.

Jay’s eyes still light up recounting that episode. He admitted he was listless, shifting majors at UVa to his parent’s consternation who urged him to pick one and stick with it. 

“I wanted to get out of school,” Jay said, adding he scrounged around for money to buy a plane ticket to Manila. “I came because he inspired us to go to Subic. He showed how we can make it happen.”

After a year in the Philippines, he returned to Virginia grounded, sure of the future he wanted. He said he saw the best and worst in the Philippines.

Subic naval base was as large as Singapore in acreage, the key American logistics hub during their war in Vietnam (1959-1973) and R&R destination. In September 1991, the Philippine Senate voted to junk the Military Bases Agreement, effectively evicting the US from its largest overseas air and naval bases. 

But just months earlier, Mt. Pinatubo - a volcano that lay dormant for centuries - erupted, blanketing both Subic and Clark bases in feet of mud and volcanic debris. The double whammy prompted the US to call it quits, mounting an evacuation that makes Kabul look like child’s play in terms of the numbers of Americans who had to be moved Stateside.

Subic Base, cannibalized and buried in lahar, still held vast value and resources. Manila didn’t have a contingency plan, so it was left to Olongapo City Mayor Gordon. His plan rested on the patriotism, commitment and imagination of about 10,000 Olongapo residents who agreed to  invest in Subic upfront - cleaning, repairing and restoring, pulling it up from the dead on the promise of future jobs.

This was when Jay and the other Fil-Am recruits came in. They were bright-eyed 20-somethings who’d taken sabbaticals from colleges across the US and in the Philippines - lured by the tale of Gordon’s large army of unpaid volunteers, a vision of grassroots development and the opportunity to be part of that seeming miracle.

Jay was born in Manila but moved to Virginia when he was in sixth-grade. He was one of four UVa undergrads and another from Virginia Tech who decided to take a year off to follow “The Boss” - as they called Gordon - working as executive assistants and getting to work on “real projects”.

When Fedex founder and CEO Frederick Smith met the Filipino mayor in Memphis, TN, he was surprised to see the young faces sitting in the high-stakes conference. “They are my assistants,” Mr. Gordon introduced them, making a point of mentioning Ivy League backgrounds.

In another instance, they were bundled up for a meeting in Hongkong. It turns out Mr. Gordon was making a pitch to Walt Disney, that was then hunting for a location for their Asia Disneyland.

“Subic has an airport. We had the land, the roads,” Jay narrated, “so we were competitive but they always had China in mind.”

“I believed they met with us to raise their bargaining chips with China, because they could say, see we have other offers,” Jay recalls amusedly.

When they accompanied Mr. Gordon to New York, they found their way to a large conference room, Jay recalls, that had a table filled with goodies that he sheepishly confessed he started stuffing into his pockets. A gentleman sauntered in, engaging him in light banter that ended with him professing admiration with the firm they were talking to, and the man matter-of-factly wishing Jay might join the firm in the future. He would later learn he had swapped small talk with Michael Bloomberg who of course owned the company they were meeting with.

But working in Subic wasn’t always positive. As a Gordon staffer, there was a time when a reporter sought him out for an interview, Jay remembers. As the scribe finished questioning, he asked for money. He recalls being recoiled by the ask. “Well,” the reporter said, “your story is not coming out”.

Jay said his year in Subic provided him an education he could never get in any university. “I was 21 and eager to make a difference,” he declared. He said he’d endorse any program for young Fil-Ams to get involved in “real projects” in the Philippines instead of acting as simple observers.

The group still keeps tabs with each other, the last time when they joined a Zoom call to wish the now-Sen. Gordon, in isolation after getting the Covid 19 virus, a 76th happy birthday last August.

He said some of them decided to stay in the Philippines. Like him, Anna “Trish” Bantug-Herrera returned after two years in Subic, where she honed skills in economic development, including microfinance, mobile technologies, rural and agricultural finance, and reproductive health and family planning - experiences that’s proven invaluable to what she does today.

Trish is an Associate Director of Asia Foundation in Washington D.C.

As for Jay Gatchalian, he decided to take up Michael Bloomberg’s invitation. 

Photos (top) Jay Gatchalian and Olongapo City Mayor Richard Gordon Sr. with Subic volunteers; (bottom) Subic Bay sunset during our last vacation in 2019

Masked & dancing, MHC brings back People’s Ball to recognize outstanding Fil-Ams

After a year’s hiatus, the Migrant Heritage Commission’s People’s Ball is back, none the less for wear from the deadly Covid 19 pandemic as it recognized the contributions of Fil-Am groups and individuals in the Metro DC region.

The party drew a good-sized post-pandemic crowd - a vaccination card or negative test result was required at the entrance. Live music alternated with disc jocks that kept people on their feet.

The highlight though remained to be the awards.

Receiving community service awards were: the Philippine Humanitarian Coalition for helping engage the Fil-Am community for disaster relief from Typhoon Haiyan to Covid Food Aid for the Philippines;

Baltimore-based Mabuhay Inc’s Romero Paredes Cobo, the Ilocano Society of America’s Rebecca “Ruby” Lopez, Malou Cadacio of the United Federation of Filipino-American Educators, Roy Torres of the Alexandria Asian American Lions Club;

Lorna Vasquez Kivlehan of the Fil-Am Association of Stafford, Jojo and Ednora for their work with the MHC Dance Ensemble and Fil-Am Ministry of St. Michael; the Culpeper Filipino American Community, the Family Alliance Veterans Care; and

Arnis exponents Walter, Wesley and Lexi Crisostomo of Ultima Eskrima-Pinakatay Arnis Sigidas.

Posthumous awards for outstanding community service were given to US Navy veteran Celso Santos Antonio of the Ilocano Society of America, and Leonora “Nora” Mendoza of the Philippine Nurses Association of Metro Washington.

Ofelia Valentos and Wilmer Acebron of the Filipino Global Market (Falls Church, Va. and Oxon Hill, Md.) received the outstanding migrant award in business.

Gift of Life awards were given to cancer survivor and advocate Nita Mortensen, nurse Elena Odonzo, and entrepreneur and philantrhropist Edward Penaflor Logan.

Medical assistant Maricar Salazar Galsim, teachers Olga Moon and Leila Rodulfa;  nurses Rannie and Ruth Abo, and Raymundo and Jocelyn Akiatan received the Assistance to Nationals community service award.

Philippine Labor Attache Angela Trinidad was handed the “Kaakibat Award”.

Special awards were also given to Yvonne Inventor Taneza, 2019-21 Mrs. Heritage Philippines and the reigning title holder, Melanie Dua, as well as Roxanne Hodzic as 2021 Miss Pre-Teen Heritage Philippines.

2012 ISA Miss Teen Philippines-America Iana Kozelsky, World Champion of Performing Arts Dave Valeriano and journalist Kristina Maralit shared emcee duties for the night.

Entertainment also provided by the MHC Dance Ensemble and FAASVA Carinosas. 

Fil-Ams celebrate contributions and their place in America

West to East, from sea to shining sea, the United States marks Filipino American History Month the whole of October - kicking off this weekend with an exhibit on the historic USS Hornet in Alameda, Ca. and this year’s staging of the long-running Filipino festival in Virginia Beach, Va. 

Locally, the Migrant Heritage Commission’s People’s Ball is coming back after a year’s hiatus because of the Covid 19 pandemic. The Ball - which also marks 75 years of US-Philippine diplomatic relations will be held at the Marriott Fairview Hotel in Falls Church, Va.

The US Congress passed in 2009 a resolution recognizing October as Filipino American History Month. The month coincides with the first landing of Filipinos - conscripted to crew the Spanish galleon Senora de Buena Esperanza - in what is now Morro Bay, California on Oct. 18, 1587.

Various Fil-Am organizations across the US usually mark the event with exhibits and lectures to raise awareness of the Filipino contributions to America, as well as concerts, foodfests and parties.

The USS Hornet Museum in partnership with the Bataan Legacy Historical Society, the Friends & Family of Nisei Veterans and the USS Telesforo Trinidad Campaign are opening an exhibit this weekend (Oct. 3) to kick off Fil-Am celebrations.

The month-long exhibit will focus on “120 Years of Loyal & Faithful Service by Filipinos in the US Navy.” It will chronicle the role of Filipinos in the US Navy fron 1901 when President William McKinley created the Insular Force until 1992 when the enlistment program ended by which time Filipinos became the largest foreign-born recruits in the US Navy. 

The exhibit also features Telesforo Trinidad, the first Filipino sailor who received the Medal of Honor in 1915. There is now a Fil-Am community campaign to have one of the new US Navy ships named in his honor.

The USS Hornet saw action during World War II in the Philippines.

On the East, Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer will preside over a day-long Filipino festival at Mount Trashmore tomorrow (Oct. 2) that will feature a beauty pageant and a lot of dancing.

Virginia Beach has the highest Filipino population in Hampton Roads region and is home to the Philippine Cultural Center of Virginia in Kempsville.

Chicago comedian Erick Esteban and hip-hop artists S.N.R.G. (Some Never Really Get) from Northern Virginia are among the featured artists.

Buko Resto-Bar food truck will serve Filipino street food. Bambu and Maria & Isabel’s will offer desserts. There will also be a lumpia (eggroll) eating contest.