tonight, we are 50 years of the san francisco manila sister cities. there's a bridge that connects the thrill of the orient to the city by the bay. it is a bridge of ambassadors, one made of people whose roots and hearts and the pacific ocean. in april 1961, the city of seven cisco formally and stated a committee under the office of the mayor to become the preeminent cultural and economic [inaudible] between san francisco and manila, developing a system that promote closer ties between the cities. this year, the san francisco manila sister city committee represents -- celebrates its 50 year, marking five decades of service to our people. the san francisco bay area filipino american community salutes this milestone, a legacy of goodwill and true filipino american pride. >> representing the san francisco manila sister city committee, are defective chairman -- our de facto chairman. [applause] >> if i may, i'd like to call up some very key members of the committee. i cannot call all 100-plus people up here, but some very key members. first filipino electe

linda and dennis have given so much heart and soul to the manila sister city. on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, we love you so much. we are broken hearted that you have stepped down, but we know that your leadership will not go away because this is where your heart is. on behalf of all of us, we will miss you terribly. but as they say, you do not retire, you rewire. that means you will be connecting back to so many of us and continuing your fabulous work, and we cannot thank you enough for so many years. for any of you who have not had the opportunity to go on a delegation, it is the most organized, amazing experience you will ever have, and behind every strong man, there's an amazing woman in linda, so thank you for everything that you do. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, once again, let's give a warm round of applause to all our honorees tonight. [applause] making a difference in the community is about bold courage and hopeful optimism. >> that is right. more and more, the filipino american community continues to build a pipeline with emerg

and then, of course, there is the fantastic san francisco manila sister city. i want to give a special thank you to dennis normandy. thank you for your wonderful leadership on the sister city and for your great work on our commission as well. thank you very much. [applause] we want to recognize the incredible diverse accomplishments of all of our filipino-american contributors to our city and to make sure we look forward to continuing that strong relationship as we go forward in our city. so it is my honor to present today, on behalf of our city and county, the filipino american history month proclamation. you may join the council general, and please, the honorable hydra mendoza, president of our board of education, and of course, kyra rodriguez from our filipino channel. please take this problematic -- proclamation declaring this is a filipino-american history month in san francisco. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the highest ranking and only filipino-american elected official in the city and county of san francisco, president of the board o

tonight, we are 50 years of the san francisco manila sister cities. ere's a bridge that connects the thrill of the orient to the city by the bay. it is a bridge of ambassadors, one made of people whose roots and hearts and the pacific ocean. in april 1961, the city of seven cisco formally and stated a committee under the office of the mayor to become the preeminent cultural and economic [inaudible] between san francisco and manila, developing a system that promote closer ties between the cities. this year, the san francisco manila si