Mylene Madrid is a first-generation immigrant from the Philippines who arrived in the U.S. when she was nine with her mother and two sisters. Her kindness, compassion, and motivation to make the U.S. a safe and welcoming place for communities that are struggling for a new beginning in this country is both inspiring and relatable. Mylene’s father first arrived in ... Read More »
Growing up, my parents loved talking about their childhood in their intimately small community of San Fernando, Pampanga. My dad would relay stories about coming home from school and riding his bike around the neighborhood shouting “Pandesal! Pandesaaal!” trying to get people to buy his family’s freshly-baked rounds of sweet, warm and crispy ... Read More »
My coworker, Maria Minoza grew up in the Philippines and was born in Bohol. In 2018, Maria flew to the United States for the first time a day after she married her husband. On a previous trip to London she met her current husband and reconnected later in Hong Kong. Their love story began from there. He visited Maria a ... Read More »
Rafael John (name changed) is a forty five year old man, who is both a first generation immigrant from the Philippines and now a citizen of the United States. John is half Filipino and half Caucasian. He is a husband and a father of three children. John said he was working two jobs, but due to the ... Read More »
My mother, Marigold Suico (née Villaroya), was born on November 7, 1968 in a small town called Cagayan de Oro in the Philippines. Her father was an attorney and her mother was a stay at home. My mother’s story was slightly unconventional compared to the other immigrant stories I’ve heard about. By comparison to her life in the United States, ... Read More »
“My life was better.” My mother described her former life in the Philippines, reminiscing in all of the old memories she had of her childhood and young adulthood. My mother was born in 1980 and grew up in the crowded and vibrant city of Cavite in the Philippines. In this city, she lived a standard yet fun and easy-going life ... Read More »
“Please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing. Thank you for flying Philippines Airlines,” the flight attendant announced. I looked out the window astonished at how different California was compared to my native home, the Philippines. I glanced at my brother and he was fast asleep with his mouth open. I thought to myself, this is an unbelievably exciting time, ... Read More »
Elizabeth was born in Cabugao, a rural town in the Philippines. Recounting her memories of Cabugao, she told me, “There were a lot of poor people. It’s called the barrio, Padayog in Ilocano (dialect of this region). My grandparents’ house was next to our house, so we saw them everyday. I used to have a black cat, and my dad had a ... Read More »
“I cannot live like this anymore, we cannot live like this anymore, we have to do something about this,” I said to myself as I look at my struggling family. This marked the start of our pursuit of happiness in America. My name is Doris Perez, and I was born and raised in the Philippines. I met my husband here ... Read More »
My father was born on April 17th, 1975 at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila, Philippines. He moved alone from his hometown of Malabon, PI. to the United States at the age of 19. He decided to make the big move to America when he was offered an athletic scholarship for tennis at Saint Ambrose College in Iowa. Currently, my ... Read More »