Filipino-American History Month Comes to THD: A Little Celebration of a Big Heritage

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October has a special meaning for Filipino Americans. It is Filipino-American History Month, a time to remember the people, experiences, sacrifices, achievements, traditions and stories that have helped shape both the Philippines and the United States.

This October, I will be doing my own small part in celebrating that history right here at The Heritage Downtown (THD) in Walnut Creek-my home since June, 2023.

It will not be a large festival. There will be no parade or elaborate program. Instead, I will have a small display of some Filipino treasures that have been part of my life for many years, three Philippine wood carvings and my collection of jeepney art.

And, on October 7, our THD restaurant will give us an even more delicious way to celebrate: a Filipino dinner  featuring some of the foods that remind me of home.

Why October?

Filipino-American History Month is observed every October because the first recorded presence of Filipinos in what is now the continental United States occurred on October 18, 1587, when Filipinos known as Luzones Indios came ashore at what is now Morro Bay, California. The Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) began promoting October as Filipino-American History Month in the early 1990s, and Congress formally recognized the observance in 2009. 

That date always fascinates me. Filipinos were in California more than four centuries ago.

As a Filipino American living in California today, I sometimes think about that long historical journey from those early Filipino sailors on a Spanish galleon to the millions of Filipino Americans who now call the United States home.

My own journey is, of course, much more recent.

I was born in the Philippines in 1934 and spent my first 26 years immersed in Filipino life and culture. I grew up speaking Hiligaynon/Ilonggo and later Tagalog, went to the University of the Philippines, earned my chemistry degree, and eventually came to America as a young scientist.

Today, at 91, I find myself looking backward as much as forward.

And these three pieces of wood have suddenly become more meaningful to me.

Filipino Carvings and a Forgotten Memory

I purchased these three wood carvings in the Philippines several years ago.

At the time, I don't remember having a profound reason for buying them.

Perhaps I simply liked them. That happens to me more often as I get older. Something that seemed ordinary many years ago can suddenly acquire a different meaning.

Looking at these carvings today, I see more than pieces of Philippine handicraft. I see my ancestry.

The central figure is a woman carrying a vessel on her head. The two darker carvings beside her have a primitive, almost ancestral quality. They remind me of the Philippines before modern buildings, highways, shopping malls and smartphones.

They make me think of our islands, our villages, our farmers, fishermen, craftsmen and women, and the generations who came before us. These wood carvings were from Benguet, Northern Luzon. 

Their meaning to me is personal. They remind me that before I became an American scientist, FDA chemist, husband, father, grandfather and now a 91-year-old blogger, I was a Filipino boy from Iloilo.  And that part of me never disappeared.

My Little Jeepney Collection

I will also display some of my jeepney art.

The jeepney may be one of the most recognizable symbols of Filipino ingenuity.

The original jeepneys developed from American military jeeps left in the Philippines after World War II. Filipinos transformed them into colorful public transportation vehicles, extending and decorating them in ways that became uniquely Filipino.

To me, the jeepney represents something larger than transportation.

It represents Filipino creativity, taking something left behind and turning it into something distinctly our own.

That idea has always resonated with me.

Filipino Americans have done something similar in America. We brought our language, food, music, faith, family traditions and values with us, while becoming part of the larger American story.

We did not have to choose between being Filipino and being American. We could be both.

Filipino Food Comes to THD

Perhaps the most enjoyable part of our little celebration will take place on October 7, when Filipino dishes will be served in our THD restaurant.

Just look at this menu:

• Beef nilaga
• Chicken adobo
• Garlic-fried deboned bangus
• Lumpia
• Eggplant and okra vegetable mix with shrimp paste
• Leche flan
• Puto

For a Filipino, that is almost a culinary trip back home without having to get on an airplane!

Nilaga reminds me of the simple comfort foods of Filipino families.

Adobo, of course, may be one of the best-known Filipino dishes around the world. Every Filipino family seems to have its own version.

Bangus, our milkfish, takes me back to the Philippines immediately. And garlic-fried bangus is difficult for me to resist.

Then there is lumpia. I don't think a Filipino gathering is complete without lumpia!

And for dessert- leche flan and puto. What more could a Filipino-American ask for?

There is also something especially appropriate about celebrating history through food.

Food travels with people.  When Filipinos immigrated to America, they didn't leave their kitchens behind. They brought recipes, flavors and memories with them. Filipino food became one of the ways subsequent generations could remain connected to their heritage.

FANHS has even highlighted the important historical role of Filipino cooking, agriculture and food-service workers in the United States. 

So our October 7 meal at THD is more than just lunch. It is a little edible history lesson.

From My Filipino Childhood to My American Life

My own Filipino-American story has many chapters.

I left the Philippines as a young man to pursue graduate education in America. I earned my Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago.

I eventually worked in industry and later spent many years with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where I retired after a long career in pharmaceutical chemistry.

My wife Macrine and I built our married life in America while maintaining our love for the Philippines. We raised our family, watched our children grow, and eventually became grandparents and great-grandparents.

But America never erased the Philippines from our lives.

Our family traveled to Marinduque. We participated in medical missions. We cooked Filipino food. We spoke Filipino languages at home. We danced Filipino and American dances. We maintained friendships with Filipinos and Filipino Americans.

And I continued writing about the Philippines. In fact, many of my blog posts are really my attempt to preserve pieces of that Filipino-American journey.

Filipino-American History Is Also Family History

The official 2026 theme for Filipino-American History Month is "Beyond the Margins: Centering Intersectional Filipino American Histories." FANHS describes the theme as an effort to bring attention to Filipino-American stories and experiences that have sometimes been overlooked or underrepresented in traditional historical narratives. 

That theme makes me think about something I have learned at 91:

History is not only made by presidents, generals and famous people.

History is also made by ordinary families. It is made by the Filipino nurse who works the night shift.

The farmworker who helped harvest California crops. The sailor who served in the U.S. Navy.

The teacher who educates American children. The scientist working in a laboratory.

The restaurant worker preparing Filipino food.

The immigrant mother raising children while trying to preserve her language and traditions.

And the 91-year-old Filipino-American blogger living in a senior community in Walnut Creek who still wants to tell his stories!

Each of us carries a small piece of history.

Filipino-American History Comes to THD

That is why I am happy to bring these objects to our little corner of THD.

I have lived here for several years now. I have discovered that a senior community can become much more than a place where older people live.

It can become a community where we share our stories.

At THD we have residents with fascinating backgrounds, people who have been scientists, engineers, physicians, nurses, teachers, business people, artists and professionals in many fields.

We have lived through different eras and come from different backgrounds.

So perhaps my three wood carvings and jeepney collection can start a conversation.

Someone may look at them and ask: "David, what are those?"

And I can tell them: "They are from the Philippines. Let me tell you a little about where I came from."

That is how history sometimes begins, not in a textbook, but with a conversation between two people.

My Ancestry Is Part of My Legacy

As I have written before, I have become increasingly interested in my Filipino ancestry and the stories behind the family names and places that came before me.

At 91, I have discovered that ancestry is not simply about looking backward.

It is about understanding who we are today.

The Philippines gave me my first language, my childhood memories, my education, my values and my sense of family.

America gave me opportunities to pursue higher education, build a scientific career, raise a family and eventually become a writer.

I am grateful for both. I don't see my Filipino heritage and my American identity as competing identities.

They are two parts of the same life. I am Filipino. I am American. I am Filipino- American.

And after 91 years, I am finally beginning to appreciate just how beautiful that combination can be.

A Small Celebration, A Large History

Our THD Filipino-American History Month celebration will be small.

A few wood carvings. Some jeepney art. A Filipino meal.

Perhaps a few conversations around the dining table.

But sometimes small things carry big meanings.

Those three wooden figures that I bought years ago without really knowing why may have been waiting for this moment.

They now remind me of my Filipino ancestors.

The jeepneys remind me of Filipino creativity.

The food will remind me of home.

And sharing these things with my fellow THD residents allows me to share a little piece of the Philippines with the community that has become my home in America.

At 91, I have learned that a legacy does not always have to be something grand.

Sometimes a legacy is simply telling your story while you still can.

And perhaps that is what Filipino-American History Month means to me.

Remember where you came from. Appreciate where you are.
And leave a little of your story behind for those who come after you.

From the Philippines to America, from my ancestors to my children and grandchildren, the journey continues. Mabuhay!

Finally My Photo of the Day:

Bayanihan Katague Philippines -Personalized Printing of Shirt from Wonder Prints 

Proudly Presenting the New Website of My Daughter- The Ditas Group

I am proudly presenting the new Website of My Daughter Consulting Service

  

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The Ditas Group - Strategic consulting to strengthen democracy

https://www.theditasgroup.com/

The tagline on the site is "Strategy That Moves Communities Forward."

The core idea is closing the gap between civic institutions and the communities they serve,  providing what they call the strategic architecture that makes democracy work for everyone.

Who leads it: 

Ditas Katague described as a democracy strategist and institutional leader with 25+ years building trusted-messenger infrastructure. The site notes she's the creator of the trusted-messenger ecosystem model, first piloted in California in 1999 and later scaled to national federal operations. It's now cited as a breakthrough approach to community-driven communications and civic trust-building.

What they do:

The Ditas Group advises government, philanthropy, and the private sector on:

• democracy strengthening,  voter engagement and  Census investment

Their focus areas are strategic architecture, trusted-messenger expertise, and partnerships to strengthen civic participation and build stronger connections with communities.

The site also has sections for "Areas of Expertise," "We've Worked With," and "Explore Our Work" with images of civic organizing, voting rights advocacy, and team organizing.

AI Overview: 

Ditas Katague is an expert in civic engagement, multi-ethnic public outreach, and communications who has built a distinguished 25+ year career across federal, state, and non-profit sectors. She is highly regarded as a bipartisan leader in democracy strengthening and public participation.

Career & Leadership Highlights

• The Ditas Group, LLC: She currently serves as the founder and President of The Ditas Group, a consulting firm advising California government, philanthropic organizations, and civic leaders on election administration and democracy strengthening.
• Center for Inclusive Democracy (CID): In July 2026, she joined the National Advisory Board of the Center for Inclusive Democracy to assist in their mission of providing nonpartisan research and data to election officials and communities. 
• U.S. Census Bureau: Katague was appointed by the Biden administration in April 2022 as the Associate Director for Communications and Engagement. In this role, she directed all internal and external communication efforts, marketing, media relations, and congressional affairs for the nation's largest statistical agency. 
• California Complete Count (Census 2000, 2010, 2020): She served as the Director or Chief Deputy Campaign Director for California’s decennial census outreach campaigns across three decades. She pioneered the "trusted-messenger ecosystem model," a localized, multi-lingual messaging strategy designed to count historically underrepresented or hard-to-count demographic groups. 
• California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC): She previously served as Chief of Staff to CPUC Commissioner Catherine Sandoval, focusing on expanding public integration and access to utility rate-making, broadband, and regulatory processes.

Core Competencies & Policy Expertise

Katague is recognized as a pioneer in community-driven communications. Her policy and advisory experience spans a vast array of civic and infrastructure sectors, including: 

• Democracy infrastructure and voting safety
• Race, ethnicity, and hard-to-count population variables
• Telecom, broadband expansion, and digital equity
• Environmental policy, energy regulation, and water 

Personal Note: As Ditas Father, I am super proud of her accomplishments.  For her other passions: yoga, painting and art, visit : 

https://www.grievingthruglee.com/

Welcome Caleb Brown- Director of Food, Beverage and Business Operations

The other day, I was able to chat with Caleb. I have been planning to talk to him since he joined THD several months ago, But he is always busy and always on the run. However, Last Sunday, I was able to corner him and asked him for his bio for my blogs. I am reprinting it for your information.  Again, Congratulations Caleb on your promotion as Director of Food, Beverage and Business Operations. May your employment here at THD be a Long and Productive One in your career.     

" I was born and raised in New York, where I built my career in the state’s fine-dining restaurant industry. I spent several years in Manhattan before moving to Syracuse in Central New York.

My culinary journey began under Chef Tim Brown, a highly regarded chef in New York. I served as his chef’s apprentice for approximately four years, working alongside him at several fine-dining restaurants, including Lemongrass, Citronelle, The Krebs, The Atrium, and many others. That experience established the foundation for my approach to culinary leadership, service excellence, accountability, and attention to detail.

After Chef Tim Brown and I went our separate ways, I continued developing my skills under several accomplished New York chefs, including Chef Kevin Gentile, Chef Jim Hickey, Chef Larry Mills, and celebrity chef Shawn Wilder. I accepted my first sous chef position under Chef Kevin Gentile and trained with him for nearly a year.

I was then offered my first executive sous chef position under celebrity Chef Shawn Wilder at Greek Peak Mountain Resort in Central New York. Before leading the resort’s culinary program, Chef Wilder spent close to a decade as Shaquille O’Neal’s personal chef. Some time after joining the resort, I was promoted to Executive Chef, which became my first executive chef position.

After my time at the resort, I continued working throughout New York’s fine-dining scene while looking for the place where I could build something lasting. I eventually became the Executive Chef of the Embassy Suites by Hilton at Destiny USA in Syracuse.

At Embassy Suites, I received my first opportunity to rebuild an entire restaurant and culinary department from the ground up. With the organization’s full support and a substantial renovation budget, I temporarily closed the kitchen for approximately three months while overseeing a complete remodel. I rebuilt the restaurant’s operating systems, hired and trained a new team, built a very high end, fine dining menu that included a 18 course tasting menu, and reestablished the department’s culinary and service standards. That experience strengthened my ability to lead large operational projects, develop effective systems, and transform a department while maintaining a clear vision for the guest experience.

Approximately one year after accepting that position, I reconnected with a woman I had met in college who was originally from Walnut Creek, California. I began flying between New York and California once or twice each month while we maintained a long-distance relationship. After about a year, I decided it was time to make a major life change and move to California. I have now lived here for approximately a year, and I am loving it.

I joined The Heritage Downtown as Food & Beverage Director, overseeing Newtons Fine Dining and the community’s culinary operations. I have since expanded my responsibilities by accepting the position of Director of Business Operations.

Although my role has grown, nothing about my leadership or oversight of the culinary department is changing. Newtons is still my “baby,” and I remain fully committed to its continued success, growth, and high standards.

As Director of Business Operations, my expanded role is designed to support the other directors and department heads in their roles. I will help strengthen and provide each department with the support it needs to accomplish its goals.

Outside of work, I have a wide range of interests. I enjoy experiencing Michelin-starred restaurants and have visited nine since moving to California. My other hobbies include glassblowing, riding dirt bikes and ATVs, and buying and selling recreational vehicles, boats, airplanes, and other unique items.

While living in New York, I also bred exotic Bengal cats and occasionally flew my airplane when time and finances allowed. Although I had to leave the airplane in New York, flying remains a special interest of mine. I also enjoy working on my home in New York, where my projects have included building multiple ponds, completing additions, landscaping, and making many other property improvements.

Whether I am rebuilding a restaurant, supporting a department, developing new operating systems, or completing a project at home, I bring the same passion, creativity, and determination to everything I do.

I am extremely happy and honored to be part of The Heritage Downtown. I truly love my job and appreciate the opportunity to work with such a talented team of professionals. I am very excited about my new role and everything we can accomplish together. My goal is to support our directors, department heads, and employees while continuing to raise the bar for our residents and their overall experience at The Heritage Downtown ".

Personal Note: I also enjoyed exploring local Michelin & Bib Gourmand rated restaurants. Someday, I love to join you and your friends for a night out to the new Fine-Dining Upscale Filipino restaurant in San Francisco- Naides .    

https://www.restaurantnaides.com/

The Apocalypse Has a Headline Now

Several mornings ago, I came across a headline that was almost designed to make 

one put down one’s coffee: “How AI would ACTUALLY kill all humans has been

 revealed.” It came with a smoky, ruined cityscape and the familiar silhouette of a mysterious figure at glowing computer screens. Well. That certainly gets one’s 

attention.

At my age, I have lived through enough predictions of doom to know that panic 

is rarely a reliable guide to wisdom. We were supposed to be destroyed by nuclear

 war, overpopulation, acid rain, computers that would crash at midnight in the year

 2000, and depending on which decade one remembers, the next epidemic, 

economic collapse, or foreign menace. Some dangers were real. Some remain real. 

But sensational language has always had a way of making fear feel like knowledge.

Artificial intelligence deserves serious attention. It is already changing how we write, learn, work, communicate, diagnose illness, make art, spread rumors, and conduct 

war. But “AI will kill us all” is not a fact that has been revealed. It is a frightening speculation about possible futures and there is an important difference.

What people are really worried about

When experts talk about an AI catastrophe, they generally do not mean that 

today’s chatbot will wake up tomorrow morning with an evil plan. The more serious concern is that future systems could become much more capable, more 

autonomous, and more deeply woven into the machinery of modern life: banking, transportation, military systems, scientific laboratories, energy grids, health care, communications, and government. The fear is less like a Hollywood robot rebellion

 than a slow and dangerous surrender of human judgment.

There are several broad anxieties:

• Powerful AI could be used by people with bad intentions, to produce convincing propaganda, automate cyberattacks, design dangerous biological agents, 

  or manipulate elections and public opinion.

  
  

• Governments and corporations may race ahead because they fear being left

   behind, even when safety rules have not caught up.

  
  

• People may become so dependent on systems they do not understand that they

   lose the ability to question, correct, or shut them down.

  
  

• A sufficiently advanced system, if poorly designed or poorly controlled, might

  pursue goals that are not aligned with human well-being.

  
  

Those are not trivial concerns. The 2026 International AI Safety Report describes a possible “loss of control” scenario in which highly capable AI systems might act 

outside effective human control. Yet the report also emphasizes that the likelihood, timing, and exact nature of such outcomes remain deeply uncertain. Current AI

 systems are not known to possess the kind of independent power imagined in apocalypse headlines.

The danger may be us

I am less worried about a machine suddenly developing a melodramatic hatred of humanity than I am about human beings using powerful tools carelessly, greedily, or irresponsibly. That is the older story, isn’t it?

The atom did not invent Hiroshima. Social media did not invent cruelty or loneliness

The printing press did not invent lies. Every great technology enlarges human

 capacity, for healing and learning, certainly, but also for exploitation, surveillance, deception, and violence.

AI can help a physician notice a pattern in a scan. It can help a lonely older person

 find words for a letter to a grandchild. It can translate across languages, assist 

disabled people, organize mountains of information, and perhaps accelerate 

discoveries in medicine and climate science.

But the same ability to generate words, images, code, and scientific ideas can 

be used to flood the world with falsehoods, impersonate our voices, invade privacy,

 and put sophisticated tools into reckless hands. The immediate question is not 

whether a robot will hunt us down. The immediate question is whether we will

 preserve human responsibility while allowing machines to do more and more for us.

That is a much less cinematic problem. It is also more urgent.

Fear is not a policy

Some AI researchers have offered alarming personal estimates of the chance that advanced AI could pose an existential threat within the next decade. Others argue 

that extinction is not a realistic near-term outcome, even while agreeing that 

present-day harms—fraud, disinformation, cybercrime, unfairness, job disruption,

 and concentration of power—are very real. There is no scientific consensus that

 AI will destroy humanity, and no honest person can claim to know the odds with

 certainty. This uncertainty should not lead us to shrug. Neither should it lead us to believe every terrifying headline.

We need rules before, not after something goes wrong. We need independent

 testing of powerful systems, meaningful oversight, clear accountability when 

companies cause harm, and international cooperation in areas such as 

cyber warfare, autonomous weapons, and biological risk. We need to resist the I

dea that speed is the highest virtue, especially when the technology in question

 may affect billions of lives.

Most of all, we need ordinary citizens to pay attention.

For too long, technology has been presented as though it arrives from the heavens, irresistible and beyond democratic discussion. A company releases a new tool;

 we are told it is inevitable; then we are left to adapt. But technology is made 

by people, funded by people, sold to people, regulated or not regulated by people.

There is nothing inevitable about handing every important decision to systems that cannot love, grieve, remember, forgive, or accept moral responsibility.

Keeping the human in the picture

As someone who writes, reflects, and tries to make sense of a changing world, 

I find AI both astonishing and unsettling. It can be useful. It can even be 

companionable in a limited way. But it has no childhood, no grandmother’s stories,

 no private grief, no memory of holding a baby, no fear of losing a friend, 

no conscience awakened in the middle of the night.

It can imitate the language of feeling. That is not the same as feeling.

Perhaps that is the point we must remember as the machines become more

 fluent and more impressive. Intelligence is not wisdom. Speed is not judgment.

 Information is not understanding. And sounding human is not the same as being 

human. The future will not be decided by whether we can build ever more powerful

 AI. We almost certainly can. It will be decided by whether we are wise enough 

to insist that human dignity, human agency, and human responsibility remain 

at the center of the story.

So when you see a headline announcing that AI will “actually kill all humans,” 

do not dismiss the underlying issues. But do not surrender your common

sense either. The future is not yet a ruined cityscape. It is still a human choice.

My Photo of the Day: