i think it is also appropriate to announce that govern merck -- governor edwin brown announced that hed ab 199, school curriculum, social sciences, filipinos in world war ii. i think that all of these events show that the filipino- americans are really coming out of the woodwork and showing themselves as a group that needs to be recognized. as we, this evening, a well recognized quite a number of them. we welcome you tonight. may i also ask you to welcome the honorable mayor edwin lee. [applause] >> well, welcome. welcome to city hall, everyone. it is my pleasure to welcome all of you here to the seventh annual philippine-american celebration heritage month. counsel general, thank you. mayer brown, thank you very much. i know you are out there somewhere. board president, thank you for being here as well. i am is so happy, because we have a lot of things to celebrate. and i want to first and foremost thank one of the people that i have had a chance to work with, and i think she is a proud member of the filipino-american community here in san francisco, and that has been my chief adviser