2012fanhs pa joan may cordova

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Filipino American National Historical Society - FANHS PA receives

Philadelphias First Filipino American History Month Resolutionsand presents FANHS PA Community Service Awards

Nearly 170 people joined in FANHS PAs 5th Annual Filipino American

History Month Celebration at Ocean City Restaurant in Philadelphia on

October 26th, 2012. Highlights of the lively dinner-dance included FANHS PA

Community Service Awards, cultural performances and a multimedia history

presentation, as well as the first ever Filipino American History Month

Resolutions from the City of Philadelphia.

Councilman David Oh read the Filipino American History MonthResolution he had co-sponsored with Councilwoman Maria Quinones Sanchez.

Commissioner Rommel Rivera also read a Filipino American History Month

Proclamation from the Mayors Commission on Asian American Affairs. While

October as Filipino American History Month is a national observance (initiated

by FANHS 20 years ago) with legislation passed by Senate and Congress, the

City of Philadelphias Filipino American History Month Resolutions presented

during FANHS PAs celebration are believed to be the first in Pennsylvania.

FANHS PA founders Roger Hilario, Mary Faustino, Joan May Cordova, Marife Domingo, Eliseo

Silva receive Proclamation from Dr. Rommel Rivera of the Mayors Commission on Asian American

Affairs. Past FANHS National President Dr. Joan May Cordova and Councilman David Oh hold

the Filipino American History Month Resolution from the City of Philadelphia.


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FANHS PA Celebrates Filipino American History Month / page 2

In light of the year-long celebration of100 years of Filipino American

Achievement in Greater Philadelphia, FANHS PA presented Community

Service Awards to eight local leaders. Speaking as both a FANHS PA founding

member and past FANHS National President, Dr. Joan May Cordova

announced: As FANHS honors these eight leaders for their strong community

service, we honor their families, their histories, and the communities and

causes they represent. She also described how each awardee would receive

two booksVoices: A Filipino American Oral History(Stockton, CA: Filipino Oral

History Project Inc.,1984 & 2000) documenting histories of West Coast Filipino

immigrant farmworkers of the 1930s as well as Filipinos in Alaska: 1788-1958

(Anchorage, AK: 1996 & 2006) by the late Thelma Buchholdt, former FANHS

National President and the first Filipina woman in U.S. history to be elected toa state legislature (http://thelmabuchholdt.com).

Congrats to all FANHS PA Community Service Awardees! Pictured: FANHS PA Past PresidentsEliseo Silva and Kim Barroso, FAAPI President Dr. Rommel Rivera and FANHS PA Community

Service Awardees Mary Faustino, Skip Voluntad, Virgie Olivar Luz, Amelia Belardo-Cox, Cyndi

Gutierrez, Janet Ismael Escarcha, Noel Abejo, Lovella Calica with Dr. Joan May Cordova and

Marife Domingo.
http://thelmabuchholdt.com/http://thelmabuchholdt.com/http://thelmabuchholdt.com/http://thelmabuchholdt.com/


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FANHS PA Community Service Awardees for 2012 are writer/artist

Lovella Calica, founder of Warrior Writers and the artist collective Tatlo

Mestiz@s; Noel Abejo, former Commissioner, FECGP Vice President and

founder past President and advisor for the Filipino American CommunityAthletic Association (FACAA); Janet Ismael Escarcha, a key volunteer for the

Gleam of Hope Orphanage (http://gleamofhopeorphange.org) in Haiti who

chooses to make a difference in my global community; Cyndi Gutierrez

serves such groups as Interpersonal Violence Against Asian Communities

(IVAAC), Asian Pacific American Health Consortium, and recently worked for

AIDS Services in Asian Communities (ASIAC); Amelia Belardo-Cox, a

Consultant in Organization, Program and Resource Development established

the Alma Belardo Arts Scholarship in memory of her sister, Alma, to fund Asian

High School graduates pursuing an education in the arts; Virgie Olivar Luz,

Founding President of the University of the Philippines Alumni Association PA

Chapter and founder of the Mutya Philippine Dance Company; Mary Faustino,

a former assistant for Senator Rick Santorum, served as Co-Chair and

Treasurer of the National Pan Asian Business Conference and is past President

and treasurer of the Asian American Womens Coalition (AAWC); and Skip

Voluntad, partner in New Populations, Inc., is former chair of the Mayors

Commission of Asian American Affairs and the first Asian serving both the

Council on Aging and AARPs Volunteer Executive Council for Pennsylvania.

Skip Voluntad with Eliseo Silva

Eliseo Art Silva, artist/author and FANHS PA Founding President gave a

multimedia presentation on Filipino American History and signed his book,

Filipinos of Greater Philadelphia, recently published by Arcadia Press.
http://gleamofhopeorphange.org/http://gleamofhopeorphange.org/http://gleamofhopeorphange.org/http://gleamofhopeorphange.org/


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FISDU emcees announce PCSNJ President Senen Fontanillas winning raffle ticket (left)

after14 year-old Kirby Asunto entertains the crowd (right).

Perfecto Galido and Kent Jimenez, leaders of the Filipino Intercultural

Society of Drexel University (FISDU), emceed the event and highlighted

entertainment by award winning vocalist Kirby Assunto, performances by

Philippine Folk Arts Society, Incs (PFASI) Rondalla, cultural and modern

dances by FISDU and the Zumba Dancers and Pure Ener-J Dancers - both of

the Philippine Community of Southern New Jersey (PCSNJ). Music was by DJ

Pure-JJerry Ancheta.


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Display of historic photos created by the Filipino American Association of Philadelphia, Inc.

(FAAPI) for its 2012 Centennial Celebration. FANHS PA is an active FAAPI Centennial Partner.

FANHS PA thanks all whove supported its work through the years and

for the 2012 event: Don Pak Law Firm; Senen Fontanilla, Mary Faustino and

Amelia Belardo-Cox for hosting tables and/or sponsoring students; and all

donors and volunteers. Organizations represented at FANHS PA's celebration

included: Filipino Executive Council of Greater Philadelphia, Asian Americans

United, Philippine Community of Southern New Jersey, Inc., Filipino

Intercultural Society of Drexel U, Asian American Women's Coalition,

Philippine Folk Arts Society, Inc., Filipino American Association of

Philadelphia, Inc., Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp., Asian Chamber

of Commerce, Filipino American Athletic Association, Mutya Philippine Dance

Troupe, and others.

FANHS leaders from throughout the United States reviewed awardees

bios, sent greetings and joined us in spirit. Tweets, email, and Facebook

messages came from FANHS Metro New York, FANHS Alaska, FANHS Hampton

Roads (VA), FANHS Michigan, FANHS Chapters in California and others. For

more information on FANHS, please seehttp://fanhsis25.blogspot.com Youll

find links to the FANHS PA program and additional photos by Philip Reyes,

event photographer.
http://fanhsis25.blogspot.com/http://fanhsis25.blogspot.com/http://fanhsis25.blogspot.com/http://fanhsis25.blogspot.com/

2012fanhs pa joan may cordova

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