[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 160 (Tuesday, September 30, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNIZING FILIPINO AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH

                                  _____
                                 

                              HON. ED CASE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 30, 2025

  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, as the Member of Congress with the most 
Filipino Americans of any Congressional district nationwide (nearly 
200,000), I have been honored since 2019 to co-lead an annual 
resolution recognizing October as Filipino American History Month. I 
have joined many colleagues in doing so once again to recognize and 
celebrate the great contributions of Filipino Americans to our country, 
in government and law, music and entertainment, sports, business and 
countless other ventures.
  The first recorded arrival of Filipinos in the continental United 
States took place on October 18, 1587, when the ``Luzones Indios'' came 
ashore from the Manila-built galleon Nuestra Senora de Esperanza in 
Morro Bay, California. This was followed by the first permanent 
Filipino settlement in the United States in St. Malo, Louisiana in 
1763.
  Since those early beginnings, our Filipino American community has 
grown to nearly 5 million people and is the third largest Asian 
American and Pacific Islander group in the United States. Many of the 
early Filipino immigrants were young men who came to the United States, 
most to Hawaii, California, Washington, and Alaska, seeking a better 
life.
  This first generation of Filipino immigrants are commonly referred to 
as the ``Manong generation'' (Ilocano for first-born male). They worked 
mostly physically demanding jobs in tough conditions for very little 
pay. Over the years, they fought against discrimination, found a way 
forward, became respected members of their communities and made a 
better future for themselves and their future generations. Several 
generations have thrived upon that foundation.
  The history of the Fil-Am community in Hawaii is particularly rich 
and echoes the national story. In 1906, the first fifteen Sakada 
contract laborers arrived in Honolulu from the Philippines aboard the 
SS Doric, marking the first sustained immigration into our country and 
the humble beginnings of Fil-Ams in Hawaii. By 1919, more than 29,000 
Filipinos had traveled to Hawaii to take labor contracts. These first 
immigrants, those that followed and the subsequent generations 
eventually became trailblazers in politics and government, the 
military, business and entrepreneurship, journalism, popular culture, 
music and the arts and more.
  Our resolution honors the tremendous and increasing contribution of 
Filipino Americans to our country in all areas including music, dance, 
literature, education, health care, business, literature, journalism, 
sports, fashion, politics, government, science, technology, the fine 
arts and other fields. I include in the Record the names and 
accomplishments of Filipino Americans, again from my Hawaii:

       Domingo Los Banos was Hawaii's first Filipino American 
     school principal and a loyal veteran of the 1st Filipino 
     Infantry Regiment that fought in the Philippines during World 
     War II.
       Carolina Dizon Wong broke a glass ceiling when she obtained 
     an M.D. degree and became the first Filipino American to 
     start a medical practice in Hawaii in 1952.
       Peter Aduja became the first Filipino American elected to 
     public office in the United States when he was elected to the 
     Hawaii Territorial House of Representatives in 1954.
       Larry Ramos became to first Filipino and Asian-American to 
     win a Grammy Award playing the banjo for the New Christy 
     Minstrels in 1963.
       Benjamin Menor became the first Filipino American to serve 
     in a state's highest judiciary office as a Justice of the 
     Hawaii State Supreme Court in 1974.
       In 1978 Alfred Laureta became the first Filipino American 
     to serve as a federal judge, serving in the federal court of 
     the Northern Mariana Islands.
       Ines Cayaban was the first Filipino American graduate of 
     the School of Public Health, Nursing and Social Work at the 
     University of Hawaii. She received the prestigious Jefferson 
     Award in 1986 for her service.
       In 1994, Ben Cayetano was elected the Governor of Hawaii, 
     becoming the first Filipino American governor of a state in 
     our union.
       In 2019, Roy Macaraeg became the first Filipino American to 
     become a general officer in the history of Hawaii's citizen 
     soldier ranks.

  In Hawaii, we also regularly honor the over 250,000 Filipinos 
nationwide who answered the call to protect and defend America and the 
Philippines in the Pacific theater. In 2016, President Obama signed 
into law the Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal 
Act to bestow Congress's highest honor upon those veterans. With my 
colleagues in the House, I have introduced our Filipino Veterans Family 
Reunification Act, which seeks to reunite World War II Filipino 
soldiers with their children, so that we can honor those living in our 
community who fought to protect the free and open Indo-Pacific that we 
have today.
  Each and all these lives of achievement are but a small sampling of a 
broader community that has achieved so much and contributed so much to 
the rich fabric of our country. And the story of Filipino Americans is 
still in its early chapters.
  It is fully appropriate that we again honor our Filipino American 
community whose story is a quintessentially American story.

                          ____________________