of al robles, you would be saying tony who because that was a real organizer, a real man. i don't consider myself to be a great organizer, not even a good one, but i'm a poet like my uncle was. just a poet, just a dreamer. filipino-american history month is observed in october. it commemorates filipinos landing in morrow bay, part of san luis obispo, manila trade that started in 1865 and lasted until about 1815. 250 years of transferring, 200 to 300 filipinos each time, okay. many jumped ship. 101 people in contrast came over on the mayflower. now, by the time the mayflower got here in 16 20, there were over a thousand filipinos here on the west coast. we've been here, we have a rich and a very rich and powerful history here. and i got that information not

from my own head, but from filipino scholar oscar [speaker not understood]. i want to say we got the world series happening. i tell you, the world san francisco giants, i've got to tell you, those kids out on the mission playground standing up and standing and holding their ground. (applause) >> those are the real san francisco giants. i'll tell you some other giants. the kids who are at west bay, the way they comport themselves, the way they behave with such class and the way they behave around their elders, those are the real san francisco giants. i take my hat off to them. those are the real san francisco giants. my work in the housing organizing is inspired by manila town. it's inspired by my uncle al. i work with senior and disability action. i'm the president of the board of manila found heritage foundation. what i've seen in san francisco, it breaks my hardththv. i'll be honest with you.

the eviction crisis that we're in, being born and raised here, it's heart breaking, you know. it really is. i go back five generations here in san francisco, man, and to see, to see what's happened to my city, you know, to see the poetry and the art disappear from our city, how are we going to have a city without poetry? how are we going to have it without art? but i'hopeful that we have kid like those in the mission playground that stood their ground and said, no, we ain't gonna move. we have a right to be here. we dee he serve to be here. this is our home, this is our -- this is our community. this is our community. ~ deserve we're not going to be bought out from our community. you can see my t-shirt i have here, you see my t-shirt?

(applause) >> excuse me -- >> you ain't buying your way out of this one. but anyway, i want to -- i just want to thank you once again for honoring not only me and my work, but honoring my uncle and my family. i want to introduce somebody really important in my life, my best friend james whitten, went to college together, city college together, known each other 30 years. my mom, i think she's watching from north carolina. i love you, mom. and my wife from poor magazine, thank you. [cheering and applauding]

>> thank you, supervisor mar. (applause) >> i understand our district 2 honoree is here, supervisor farrell. >> thank you, president chiu, and thank you, colleague, for -- supervisor mar, for going and jumping ahead once my monday rewas running into the building literally. so, want to bring up al perez. colleague, today -- a round of applause for mr. perez here. (applause) >> colleague, today i have the pleasure of honoring commissioner al perez who was a pointed by then gavin newsom to be [speaker not understood]. an amazing part of that group that works with all of our offices so well. i think to me what stands out about al is his commitment to the community in general here in san francisco. al is so active in so many volunteer activities in our neighborhoods. he currently serves as president of the filipino-american arts expo significance where he lead a core staff and army of

volunteers planning and executing the annual pistan parade and festival they celebrate each year which is one of the largest expressions of the filipino community outside of the philippines. also volunteers with two teams very close to all of our dear hearts. not only soon to be san francisco warriors but also the san francisco giants. filipino cultural and heritage nights at our ball parks and our arenas. he also works to organize those nights with the oakland raiders and athletics for that we forgive you here in san francisco, al. al serves in a number of other organizations at the asian street heritage celebration, the san francisco be free campaign and the filipino women's network. for all the outstanding work over the years he's also received presidential citations from former presidents of the philippines. he's an amazing leader. someone we've all gone to work with in the role of the entertainment commission now. i want it thank you for all of your service to the city, to the filipino community and

congratulations on this award. (applause) >> thank you so much, supervisor mark farrell for this honor, i'm really touched and really honored to be here. i share this award with over 200 volunteers and staff of the filipino-american arts expo significance, faae is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization. our mission is simple, to promote the best of the filipino-american art, culture, history and community, to foster cultural pride and economic empowerment. thank you for recognizing my work and our work as a group. it's really appreciated and this motivates me to keep moving forward, so, thank you. (applause)

>> thank you, supervisor farrell. why don't we now go to district 11, supervisor avalos. supervisor avalos? [laughter] >> thank you. i have actually two commendations to do, one for the filipino community center and after that for pat, [speaker not understood]. first i'll do the filipino community center and would like to call up terry [speaker not understood] who is the director at the center. [cheering and applauding]

>> [speaker not understood] organizing the filipino community center, the fcc, was established in 2004 by community organizers who were responding to the mass layoff of filipino airport screeners and other immigrant workers in the post-911 hysteria and to address the great unmet needs to services to the filipino community. from a church based on san juan to now being located in the heart of excelsior across from the [speaker not understood] triangle fcc has grown its services from employment and legal support, domestic violence prevention, [speaker not understood], language access, and immigrant and worker rights. it continues to thrive based on three core strategies. it was founded upon organizing, advocacy, and service. in the last ten years the fcc

has achieved major victories with the neighborhood. city and filipino community ~. working with and organizing neighborhood youth, the fcc helped to get a new stop light on all man i and san juan after a young student, stacey cross was killed at the intersection. alemany ~ [speaker not understood]. in just the past few years the fcc's worker rights program in collaboration with the office of labor standards enforcement has helped win over $1 million in back wages from filipino caregivers -- four of them, i'm sorry, four filipino caregiver, which is a significant event. and what's really great about the work that the filipino community center does on wage theft is that there are volunteers who actually do a lot of the work and really connect with the workers and make sure that they know what

their rights are, what their services are. it makes the filipino community center really stand out. and just this year the fcc was instrumental in the timely certification of filipino [speaker not understood] to be required to be provided for city services. lastly, the fcc has help build grassroots leadership in the neighborhood and multi-racial solidarity with various organizations in district 11 to fight for affordable housing in the upper yard site, at the balboa park station, city investment, in workforce and economic programs, and more for youth, family, and senior services in the district. terry ballan is here as a representative from the filipino community center. if you would like to share a few words and i want to thank you personally for your great work leading this organization of many, many leaders, many staff, but many more volunteers who really are the glue to the filipino community in san francisco.

>> thank you, supervisor avalos, and thank you to all the board members for honoring the filipino-american history month. the work of the fcc over the last ten years, i've been at this for ten years now and it's an honor to serve as the director there and to celebrate all of these achievements and victories. but i want to call up all of the friends and family to stand here with me because they're not honoring me today, they're honoring the work of the fcc and is the work as you mentioned volunteers, grassroots partners [speaker not understood] to advance the leadership of youth, [speaker not understood], san francisco committee for human rights in the philippines. we're part of as you mentioned multi-racial collaboratives on domestic violence, domestic rights, partnership rights. [speaker not understood] chris at the asian law caucus, tony manila town, all the partners. we're especially honored to also be co-honored with [speaker not understood] educational partnership in your district. thank you for hosting us in your district. we look forward to another ten

several years down the road. we're celebrating our ten-year anniversary with the [speaker not understood] february 7. [speaker not understood] and we are as you all mention building on that legacy standing on the shoulders of the giants that come before us for housing rights, immigrant rights, workers rights. and we're just honored to be part of this community and building a stronger san francisco. so, thank you. (applause) >> thank you, supervisor avalos. going from district 11 down to -- >> i still have one other to

do. thank you. i apologize for not sharing that information with you earlier. so, i also want to recognize a great program that has its roots in district 11. it has previously made its home in the filipino community center, but has grown to be at every level a public education in san francisco. pep. so, [speaker not understood] education partnership program what established in 2001 to respond to the social, academic and emotional challenges faced by filipino-american youth in san francisco schools. pep is an ethnic studies educational [speaker not understood] that creates partnerships and projects that work toward social justice. they provide classes at long fellow elementary school, [speaker not understood] middle school, balboa and burden high school, city college of san francisco, san francisco state, and the university of san francisco. every year pep sends hundreds of students to college, graduate school, and credential

programs. pep is proud to have produced hundreds of critical teachers, scholars, social workers, organizers, all of which are serving our communities and social justice organizations in teaching in schools, and colleges across the nation. pep has published numerous book with lesson plans, units and workshops that highlight the marriage between critical filipino, filipino-american studies content and the practice of critical pedagogical i. pep has also worked with community organization and educators to institutionalize ethnic studies in high schools and the san francisco -- in the san francisco unified school district ~. the founder, dr. alison [speaker not understood] who is a long-time district 11 resident could not be here today, but two of the co-directors, dr. allene and [speaker not understood] are here to accept this recognition. thank you for being here. do you want to share any words with you?

~ with us? thank you. (applause) >> i just wanted to thank supervisor avalos, the board. also want to thank bernadette sy, [speaker not understood], also thank [speaker not understood]. we wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for her hard work, for her to learn ethnic studies at kindergarten and first grade -- (applause) >> and it's something that needs to be defended and protected every day because ethnic studies is something that's always going to be a challenge and it's been 40 years since it's been institutionalized and something that needs to be there every day. people shouldn't wait till they get to college to learn about their own debt it. ~ identity. so, thank you again. (applause)

>> thank you, supervisor avalos. now on to district 10, supervisor cohen. >> thank you very much. to all of the award recipients in the chamber today, congratulations. thank you for making this city just a little bit more bearable. i have the pleasure to acknowledge a gentleman by the name of august stow de la cruz. he's not able to be here with us today. he has a woman by the name of [speaker not understood] who is going to accept the award on his behalf. towed i'd like to honor tito because he was a small minority family owned business in the

visitacion valley community. it's called royal pacific mortgage and realty. they've been in the neighborhood since 1992 and have remained a strong and long-standing business on the leland avenue corridor. tito made an investment visitacion valley 22 years ago by opening his business here and he has employed 11 people from the neighborhood. tito runs more than just a business. if you ever stop by royal pacific you'll also know that it served as a hub and community active [speaker not understood] for many filipino-american residents in the valley which makeup nearly 12% of the population in the neighborhood. in a neighborhood like visitacion valley where everyone seems to know each other, having this type of relationship with the community is incredibly important. tito and had i team have a strong pulse for what's happening in the [speaker not understood] community in the southeast and have always been willing to open up their door and work with my office on outreach to education to cultural exchange within the filipino-american community.

congratulations, congratulations on being such a strong community and business partner to us in visitacion valley and more over to district 10. thank you. maybe you'd like to say a couple word. welcome. >> [speaker not understood] on behalf of [speaker not understood] i would like to take this opportunity to thank you also. i would like to also inform you that there are some filipino in [speaker not understood] that need your help. [speaker not understood] and we on leland we are not so [speaker not understood]. on behalf of tito de la cruz, i would like to thank everybody. thank you. >> absolutely, thank you. (applause)

>> thank you, supervisor cohen. let's go to district 9, supervisor campos. >> thank you, mr. president. what an incredible group of individuals that are being recognized today, and thank you to the entire filipino community for all the contributions they have made to san francisco and our entire state and country. it is my honor to call upon [speaker not understood]. [cheering and applauding] >> and i would ask, i would ask actually -- i know we have a number of folks who are here. if you could please come up, i'm sure [speaker not understood] would love to have you right behind her. >> [speaker not understood] --

>> so, it is my honor today, an honor of filipino heritage month, ~ to recognize the incredible, incredible contributions of iled quihano [speaker not understood]. the director of community engagement and bernal heights [speaker not understood]. she is a long-time youth and public safety advocate in district 9. let me tell you a little bit about her story. after imi grating, she grew up in district heights and the excelsior. it was in these neighborhoods she first found her voice in advocating for change. ~ while still a student at balboa high school, ilid organized students and parents to fight against the

reconstitution of balboa high school by at that point the board of education. she advocated for the teachers that she loved. being a daughter of a migrant farm worker, she was raise today appreciate the importance of hard work, the importance of family. her motivation and drive helped earn ilid a place at u.c. berkeley, becoming only a few balboa graduates that at that time moved on to higher education. while there ilid joined the filipino academic student services, pass and for four years worked to recruit and retain dedicated filipino students who had gone through the same struggles that she had gone through. in 2009 ilid found herself working for the bernal heights neighborhood center where she has worked in a number of capacities including as a census worker, a public safety

coordinator, a program manager, and now as the director of community engagement. today ilid continues to improve the lives of seniors, of youth, of neighbors and resident leaders in harley courts, bernal dwellings. this work has included organizing hot spot walks and i've been to many of them, that bring together residents and city departments to boost public safety in educating seniors so they're able to effectively advocate for their need. she has worked closely with the residents of bernal dwellings, alemany housing and especially holley courts to help develop resident leader that know how to navigate municipal system for the purpose of advocating for their own needs and having their voices heard. she also helped to form a neighborhood group called bernal go team whose aim is for neighbors to come together to advocate for concerns together and to launch any community

collaboration opportunities such as community clean-up days. ilid along with many other filipino leader in the city has also advocated to make tagalog the lang warren buffettv certified in san francisco, a great achievement for the filipino community and a necessary and important language access issue. when looked at in its entirety, it is clear that ilid's organizing work is not just a job for her. it is truly a passion. it is something that is deep, genuine, and personal. lift as you climb has always been her motto, lift as you climb. she is a true daughter of san francisco and our diverse community and i want to thank her for everything she has done for district 9, for bernal heights and i am honored to have worked with her, to call her friend, and i know that she is here surrounded by community, the community that she continues to impact on a daily basis.

congratulations, ilid. [cheering and applauding] >> the floor is yours. >> thank you so much, supervisor campos. i work with both john and david, and i really want to thank you for having this day and time in recognizing all of the filipino -- honoring everybody else that has done so much work in the community. [speaker not understood], i'm going to say it again. we definitely are standing on the shoulders of those who have paved the way for us and sacrificed so much for us including my parents. they migrated here. they didn't speak english, but i think they did their best and i want to recognize everybody else's family everything that they've done and the sacrifices. and i also want to recognize everybody behind me because i know that this is -- i seriously [speaker not understood] all of them.

(applause) >> really honor them. they do a lot of things every single day in our neighborhood and i also want to recognize people that -- it's really weird [speaker not understood]. my teacher here from high school who is [speaker not understood]. hi there [speaker not understood]. and also terry and rachel abora who have really, i've been looking at them and their leadership and mentorship i think is really amazing. so, thank you so much for everything. [cheering and applauding] >> thank you, ilid. and i know that supervisor avalos wanted to say a few words, but the thing about it is a lot of young people are looking to you now as an example. so, thank you. supervisor avalos? >> i just want to take a picture with you, too. and just to say that -- [laughter] >> it's been a pleasure to work with you. and thank you for all your contributions and [speaker not understood] your speech. >> thank you. [cheering and applauding]

[cheering and applauding] >> thank you, supervisor campos. why don't we now go to district 8, supervisor wiener. >> thank you very much, mr. president. and so many great honorees

today, and i have the pleasure of recognizing carmel a [speaker not understood], are you still here? thank you, come on up. (applause) >> so, carmello was born in the philippines and raised in maryland. she graduated university of maryland and as a due graduate, i won't hold that against you, with a bachelor's in government and politics, a certificate in asian american studies. she spent 7 years working for our amazing member of congress, then speaker of the house of representatives and hopefully a future speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi and her campaign and leadership [speaker not understood] and so forth. she also advised speaker pelosi on her outreach to the a-t-i community. she was also heavily involved with the congressional asian

pacific american staff association on capitol hill. she then came out to san francisco, much to our benefit and the community's benefit, and she is now the senior manager of public a at sales force where she is responsible for policy and political strategy in sacramento as well as locally here in the bay area. ~ public as >> carmelo, it's really a pleasure to work with you and be able to recognize and honor you today. congratulations. (applause) >> thank you. thank you, supervisor wiener, for this honor. i'm really humbled to be receiving this commendation among so many of my [speaker not understood] who i have met after working with congressman nancy pelosi for so many years. i'm fortunate to have had a role that allowed me to give back to my community. and, so, for the years that i did work for congresswoman pelosi, we worked on

immigration, we worked on veterans issues, we worked on language access issues. as i moved over to the private sector, my work at sales force as i continue doing things with cloud and privacy, i've also gotten to work, still give back to my community regarding marriage equality and affordable housing. so, a lot of what we do in term of inside and outside grassroots partnership, private/public sector partnership i want to continue to do that. i've never forgotten to always remember where i came from and to continue to give back. so, thank you so much, supervisor wiener, and the rest of the board of supervisors for this commendation and for the rest of my [speaker not understood] here today. (applause) ~ calaban

(applause) >> our final presentation of the day will be by our district 7 colleague, supervisor yee. >> thank you, president chiu. congratulations to all the honorees. and you can see from just today the diversity of leadership that comes out of the filipino-american community and how they express their leadership. it's so different in the way they do this. so, today i have the great pleasure to recognize art belanson. will you come up? better known as the mayor of west portal, as district 7's honoree for filipino-american heritage month, arch immigrated with his family from the philippines in 1969 and