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Published Brownsville Herald Sept. 27 2010

October is “Filipino American History Month” .
I have lived and worked in the Philippines and married one of these wonderful people. I found that most were very family oriented and genuinely decent folks.
Here in the Rio Grande Valley there is a substantial community of “Filipinos” contributing to Valley progress.
The Filipino-American History like the appearance of the people, is very similar to their cousins in the rest of “Spanish” America especially Mexico. I would like to submit a few snap-shots of the Filipino-American History.
Unknown to many people, Filipino American history began on October
18,1587 with a landing party consisting of Filipino seamen, sent to the California shore to claim the land for the Spanish king. They arrived in an area known as Morro Bay, California. It is also recorded in the ship manifests that there may have been Japanese and Chinese passengers on board as well.
From 1565 to 1815, during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, Filipinos were forced to work as sailors and navigators on board Spanish Galleons and were probably the first Asians to cross the Pacific Ocean, fifty years before the first English settlement of Jamestown was established. I wonder if there is a Filipino community in Acapulco. More »