Union of Democratic Filipinos, First Quarter Storm, and Filipino Activism at UCLA
From Samahang Pilipino’s (SP) founding in 1973 to today, the UCLA Filipino population boasts a long history of student activism and organizing – much of which involved political awareness and advocacy for compatriots back in the Philippines. In 1970, as a result of increasing costs of necessities and threats of martial law, youth and students in the Philippines mobilized in the tens of thousands in protest against the U.S.-Marcos administration for the entirety of the first quarter (January - March 1970). Beginning around 1972-73, efforts began on the West Coast of the United States for Pilipino organizing against the U.S.-Marcos martial law dictatorship. While there are clear delineations in time of Pilipino politico-social movements against Marcos, there seems to be a gap of knowledge from 1970-1973 on Pilipino youth and student activism in the U.S. in relation to youth and student activism in the Philippines.
This research paper hopes to either illuminate the gap between the First Quarter Storm and Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP) actions at UCLA, or to show a distinction between the actions held at First Quarter Storm and a subsequent independent rise of KDP at UCLA. From reviewing archival material from the 1970s, and from interviewing various individuals who are knowledgeable about organizing efforts in the Filipino community from the 1970s to today, I can conclude that KDP arose semi-independently of the First Quarter Storm, viz. KDP activists were neither directly nor immediately inspired by the militant actions of Filipino youth and students during the 1970s in the Philippines, but they did organize out of the concrete conditions that resulted out of the First Quarter Storm, namely martial law.
Research Question, Materials Reviewed, and Individuals Interviewed
To investigate whether KDP and SP’s initial political orientation arose as a result of the First Quarter Storm in the Philippines, I set about to answer the following research questions:
- Were UCLA Filipino students affected or agitated by the First Quarter Storm of 1970 in the Philippines, and if so, did this manifest into political agitation and organization at UCLA?
- Did KDP at UCLA arise out of the First Quarter Storm?
- How did a KDP presence at UCLA shape the formative years of SP as a Pilipino-identity focused student organization at UCLA?
Summary of Findings
From these interviews and a review of the SP Archival material, I was able to trace out three key findings. Firstly, UCLA Filipino students – at least those who were not in the US as political refugees running from martial law – were not necessarily directly agitated by FQS. Any organizing that came about usually came as a result of anti-martial law stances. KDP organizing primarily arose out of a need to combat the blacklists that were forming in the US, and as well to combat martial law, though it also partially stemmed out of a need for a solidarity organization of Filipinos in the US to support the movements against fascism, imperialism, bureaucrat capitalism, and feudalism in the Philippines. Though some KDP students came directly from the Philippines as political refugees fleeing martial law, the majority of them were American-born Filipino students who were primarily agitated to form or join the KDP either out of resistance against martial law in the Philippines or after finding out that their names were found in one of Marcos’ blacklists (Ibanez). For context, Marcos’ blacklists were lists of names of student activists and organizers both in the Philippines and abroad who were deemed enemies to Marcos’ administration, and as such were either banned from traveling to the Philippines or had warrants for arrest. Thus, it was primarily from these blacklists and from an anti-fascist and anti-martial law stance that KDP students at UCLA were agitated (Montances). In fact, Ibanez himself was found to be in one of those blacklists, and he even says himself that it was a major reason for his subsequent anti-martial law activism.
Certainly, there were Filipino youth and students who participated in the First Quarter Storm and then moved to the U.S. West Coast and began organizing there (Montances). Ibanez also hinted that some of them may have been sent as part of the National Democratic Movement in the Philippines (the primary movement against fascism and what it calls the ‘three basic problems’ of Philippine society: imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism) in an effort to “[establish] a support group in the United States,” which he believed subsequently became the KDP. However, in the context of the pre-martial law era and UCLA specifically, Filipino youth and student organizing often resulted from “either rebelling against [or] falling in line with… [their parents’] Republican views and so forth,” many of which held Conservative views due to their ties to the U.S. military (Ibanez). Moreover, for UCLA Filipino students prior to 1973, organizing tended to center around very uniquely American issues, such as the anti-Vietnam War movement and the Asian American Movement (Ibanez). Filipino-American youth and student organizing along the national democratic and anti-fascist lines that Filipino youth and students held during the First Quarter Storm would not be prevalent until the establishment of KDP in 1973.
Secondly, given that KDP arose in 1973, we cannot concretely say that they arose as a direct result of the First Quarter Storm of 1970, however the concrete conditions that arose out of the First Quarter Storm were what led to the creation of KDP in the first place. When comparing KDP with the activists of the First Quarter Storm, the first thing to keep in mind to see whether one arose from the other is to compare their ideological approaches to activism. The left-leaning youth and students of the First Quarter Storm were then primarily influenced by Mao Zedong Thought (MZT), an ideology which expects criticism and self-criticism among activists, a focus on maintaining a disciplined yet dynamic work style, and summing up best practices in order to learn from what did and did not work during a period of social praxis. When studying even just the Introduction to the documentation of the 1974 Pilipino People’s Far West Convention, which Florante noted was heavily influenced by KDP membership at the time, one can see the tell-tale signs of MZT in verbiage such as “criticisms and self-criticisms” and “lack of discipline and work style.” The KDP, then, certainly were influenced by the same ideology that influenced the First Quarter Storm, and thus would lead one to expect that the former arose as a result of the latter. However, though the KDP were undoubtedly influenced by MZT and the National Democratic Movement, it must be noted that their founding congress occurred in 1973, a full three years after the First Quarter Storm (Ibanez). Even if some of their founding members were participants of the First Quarter Storm, their primary causes for establishment, as Ibanez noted, were Marcos’ declaration of martial law and the subsequent leak of blacklists against student activists. Despite this, Adamian was quick to remind us that
it certainly seems likely to me that the ripples of the [First Quarter Storm] were felt among Filipinos in the United States. But I can't say for sure [that the First Quarter Storm affected SP’s political orientation, or] if [it was] the declaration of martial law -- which we have to remember was partially result of the First Quarter Storm in the first place. A declaration of martial law definitely left a bigger impact and would have been more relevant to Filipinos living in the United States. (Adamian)
In short, blacklists and martial law came as a result of the First Quarter Storm in the first place, hence the indirect lead-up from the First Quarter Storm to the formation of KDP in 1973. However, it cannot be said that KDP arose directly out of the events of 1970.
Finally, an initial KDP presence at UCLA during the 1970s helped to balance SP’s pillars of political awareness and social life. However, by the ‘80s, SP began to move away from politically-charged stances and focus more on the social aspect of college life. Though he was no longer affiliated directly with SP or UCLA when he became a member of KDP, Ibanez did note that SP’s leadership during the 1970s did consist of some KDP activists that he knew, which he believed was one of the reasons that SP maintained a more firm anti-Marcos and anti-martial law stance during his administration. It must be noted, however, that during this time, Filipino-Americans were feeling the political divide in their communities in the United States between pro- and anti-Marcos camps. As Montances noted,
[The KDP] even were fighting against conservative Marcos supporters here in the U.S. They even had -- I think it was called the… Philippine-American Tribune, which was like a popular Filipino newspaper at that time… which was, you know, anti-fascis[t]. And then this [other] newspaper was putting out its own news that was like pro-Marcos. And so they were even battling people in the Filipino community to really change the narrative. Because there were a lot of people in the Philippine community here who… believed a lot of these [conservative] news and media, not only Filipino-American, not only Filipino news, but even American news that painted Marcos as a good, strong Filipino leader-- instead of actually… a fascist and a dictator.
These political divides were felt especially among Filipinos in the UCLA community, which resulted in many other Filipino-identity groups and organizations at UCLA splitting from SP over their anti-Marcos stance. It should come as no surprise, then, that SP transitioned towards a more apolitical and a more college social life-focused stance in the 1980s (Ibanez).
Conclusion
Though Filipino activism was certainly present during SP’s early years – though not necessarily as a result of the militant actions and attitudes of the youth and students of the First Quarter Storm – this activism eventually waned likely due to fears of splits in the UCLA Filipino-American community. Though I understand the desire for social cohesion, especially given that Filipinos are a minority group in the United States, in my opinion, the transition away from political stances was a mistake on SP’s part. There now exists a mother organization, the Mabuhay Collective, which serves to unite all the Filipino organizations at UCLA around their Filipino identity. SP should not be afraid to boldly declare a political stance, educate their membership on the political situations and problems of the Philippines, and ultimately return to its roots of activism and advocacy for their mga kababayan [fellow compatriots] back in the homeland. In its fiftieth anniversary, SP and all Filipinos at UCLA who care for the Philippines’ fight for genuine democracy and liberation should learn from the lessons imparted by the youth and students of the First Quarter Storm and embody their slogan: Makibaka, Huwag Matakot! [Dare to struggle, do not be afraid!]
Works Cited
1974 Pilipino People’s Far West Convention. Pilipino People’s Far West Convention Documentation Committee, 17 April 1975.
Adamian, Martin. Personal Interview. 9 March 2020.
Ibanez, Florante. Zoom Interview. 8 March 2020.
---. “Our People’s Wedding……KDP Style.” ROOTS: Asian American Movements in Los Angeles Zine, Chinese American Museum, 19 January 2017, Los Angeles.
Montances, Alex. Zoom Interview. 9 March 2020.
Appendix
Interview with Alex Montances
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 0:00
Now. Timestamp, 2:17 pm March 9, 2020. This is Kyle.
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 0:07
This is Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 0:10
This is for contribution to the Samahang Pilipino Archival Research class into the digital archives. We are interviewing Kasama, Alex Montances, if you could introduce yourself please, Alex.
Alex Montances 0:23
Yeah, my name is Alex Montances. I am a community organizer with the Filipino Migrant Center. But also a--
also like an alumni, I guess a former member of Anakbayan Los Angeles and also of Anakbayan Seattle. And so I've been an organizer for quite a few years now, since at least 2007.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 0:53
Very great to hear-- so our research topic is on First Quarter Storm and activism here in the United States. So our first question is, have you heard of or are you familiar with the First Quarter Storm of 1970? FQS for short.
Alex Montances 1:09
Yes, yeah, I am familiar. You know, it's a historic period of time where a lot of young people in the Philippines who are part of different organizations who really believed in National Democracy really--
took...took--
took--
took the streets, specifically also at like major university campuses, like the University of the Philippines Diliman, which was like a center for a lot of the organizing.
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 1:54
Just a follow up question. What do you know of the mass organizations that really led the front lines during the FQS and this National Democratic work on during that period?
Alex Montances 2:08
Yeah, well, they were. They were all sorts of Filipino Nationalist organizations at that time. So different student Christian ones different studies, study organizations who were interested in Filipino Nationalism and actually looking at the problems that Philippine society, you know, was facing especially then in the 1970s. But one of the biggest ones was Kabataang Makabayan, or patriotic youth there in the Philippines, which I believe was started in 1964.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 2:51
It was before your time, but did people you personally know-- participate in political activities as members of the Filipino community during 1970 either in the Philippines or the United States, if you are able to speak to those experiences.
Alex Montances 3:07
Yeah, there are so many Filipinos who are part of the First Quarter Storm who have immigrated and moved to different parts of the world. Including where I grew up in Seattle. There were definitely different folks who were activists during martial law in the 60s and 70s. And I met at least a few folks who are Migrante organizers who were part of the first quarter storm I can think of at least one Auntie named Malu, who was part of Migrante actually in in Australia, who I had met when they were staying here and in the Los Angeles, Long Beach area, who was actually in First Quarter Storm and was a good friend of Lorena Barros one of the other youth and women activists during the time of the First Quarter Storm. And so it's true like there were thousands of young Filipinos and folks from all sectors of society. So not just young Filipino activists, but workers, women, people of faith, Christians and Catholics. A lot of them marched on the streets against U.S imperialism, like the U.S military bases, the war in Vietnam and just general you know, imperialism and bureau-- bureaucrat capitalism and feudalism in the country. So there are thousands of FQS--
activists who are all over the world. And folks who--
definitely inspired me today, you know? As an organizer in 2020.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 5:05
Great. Oh, cool to know. Um, so, Chuck and I expressed like, I'm
just very impressed about the one Auntie who knew Maria Lorena Barros, but for those who might be reading this transcript who might not know, could you explain a little of who... Lorena Barros is?
Alex Montances 5:26
Yeah, I know Maria Lorena Barros was a Filipina youth activist, they were
part of Kabataang Makabayan in the 1960s. And up to the 70s. They were also apart of the First Quarter Storm. They were a student leader, I think they were an anthropology student, and who was really--
part of KM(Kabataang Makabayan) and also in starting--
a women's organization called Makibaka, also a National Democratic organization that came out of Kabataang Makabayan. So these are young people and students who were who were fighting against imperialism and bureaucratic capitalism and feudalism at that time in the 60s and 70s, who, as they were building the movement, they saw that the repression of the state, the fascist state, especially under Marcos was getting even more fascist and even more heavy handed and they were building towards what would eventually be martial law. And so a lot of them really figured out that the state was not going to pass any kind of reforms to change society, but was on the--on the eve of military control. So Maria Lorena Barros was one of those student activists and who eventually went underground when martial law was declared and ended up being a guerrilla fighter. In The New People's Army fighting against the Marcos dictatorship and its soldiers who were incredibly cruel and, and really were fascist, and in how they treated regular poor communities who spoke up against the Marcos dictatorship. And eventually she was actually killed and martryed.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 7:29
Thank you. I'm just figuring out the next question real quick.
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 7:44
Just a follow up question, Kasama could you give a little history of Makibaka and just like an overview of that organization at the time and also if it sowed the seeds for any organizations that still organize to this day along the same National Democratic line.
Alex Montances 8:04
Yeah, I mean my understanding of Makibaka, the women's organization was, it really started then in the 1970s. Like I was saying it came out of the broad Filipino youth organization Kabataang Makabayan. So they really saw the need to organize women. Because women, not only do they face the same issues of poverty and oppression at that time under the Marcos dictatorship, but they also struggled with sexism, and other forms of gender oppression. So I know that Makibaka at that time was organizing women throughout the Philippines, and different communities. And they even lead protests against Miss Universe Pageant that was happening in the Philippines, and really was talking about how the Miss Universe pageant was--you know, upholding these ideals of a Maria Clara--like soft Filipino woman who was submissive but we're saying that the new Filipina is first and foremost a militant, so a Filipino who is fighting to see the Philippines free, not competing in beauty pageants and, you know, just doing what her husband says. And so yeah, Makibaka eventually went underground in the Philippines during martial art and never came back up and continues to be an underground organization. But it inspired many Filipina organizations after, especially Gabriela Philippines, and, and its overseas chapters of Gabriela USA today.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 10:02
So yeah-- we're talking now about the United States and organizing here. Are you familiar with or did you know members of KDP? Or? It stands short for Union of Democratic Filipinos, either in Seattle or here in the LA area?
Alex Montances 10:19
Yeah. I knew people who were part of the KDP. In Seattle, there was also a Seattle chapter there. My understanding is that also in the 60s, not only was there this, you know, fierce, National Democratic Movement amongst students and workers in the Philippines, but some of those people escaping the dictatorship, also moved to the United States and stayed in Filipino communities like Los Angeles and Chicago, and, Seattle and San Francisco. And so they started the KDP. And we're basically building solidarity here in the U.S, and we're fighting the dictatorship. They were building an anti-fascist movement here in the United States. And so that was a very big thing in Seattle, in the 1970s, and 80s. And a lot of these KDP chapters around around the whole U.S was really leading the anti-fascist,
anti-Marcos dictatorship. And eventually, a lot of those KDP members would become some of the Filipino American activists who would do some of the different organizing that we know--whether it was like, you know, kind of the Third World Liberation, whether it was--being in solidarity with the Manong farmworkers and the 1960s and 1970s. And even some of those Filipino student activists would be part of starting different college students or student organizations like Samahang Pilipino at UCLA, or Pac, the Pilipino American Coalition at Cal State Long Beach--So that long history of organizing in the 60s and 70s and the 80s helped build a lot of the institutions that a lot of our Filipino American college students were eventually part of when they went to school in the 90s, or the 2000s. Or even today. So yes, I did know KDP people, I definitely know one or two Auntie's, like Auntie Emma back there in Seattle, who was one of the founding members of--one of the founding members and like board members of the Seattle--like the Filipino community Center of Seattle. And so, when I joined the Filipino community there in Seattle, she was one of those people who was also a KDP member and also knew to Filipino-American KDP members who were killed and slain by the Marcus dictatorship, Jean Viernes and Sulmin Domingo.
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 11:47
--also going off on KDP and the rise of pro-Pilipino youth-- and just all sectors of society organizations within the diaspora-- Do you happen to be familiar with the organization known as Friends of the Filipino peoples or FFP for short? If you are, could you speak a little bit on the work that--
they have historically done?
Alex Montances 13:46
Yeah, you know, I'm-- I have not met anyone from Friends of the Filipino people. But my understanding was that in the 70s, and I believe, specifically in the 80s there were different people who were not Filipino, who were part of this organization that supported the National Democratic Movement in the Philippines. And so these are non-Filipinos here in the U.S who supported the National Democratic Movement, who were against the Marcos dictatorship and were against U.S imperialism controlling the Philippines. And so, yeah, they were--not only were Filipinos-American activists in KDP, organizing other Filipinos to support the movement back home in the Philippines and fight for the rights here in America--But they were organizing non-Filipinos who felt a deep sense of solidarity, and also wanted to do their part to cut off U.S support and funding by the U.S government of the Marcos dictatorship. And so I know that they were also doing legislative work, and also just really condemning the Marcos dictatorship in the 80s.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 15:06
Great. So to the best of your knowledge, what sorts of political struggles were undertaken by the general Filipino population here on the West Coast of the United States? From about 1970 to 1974? Like I know, we briefly spoke about--
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 15:24
anti-martial law movements, Pro-Pilipino youth movements growing out of here-- But if you could speak a little bit like what kinds of maybe mass struggles or campaigns were happening at that time, and then--so it's two-pronged what kind of campaigns or struggles are undertaken by the Filipino population 1970 to 1974. then number two, from your understanding, did these political activities arise in response to FQS? Or do you think they were semi-independent of FQS?
Alex Montances 15:57
My understanding is that a lot of the Filipino-American activists with KDP and all of these other organizations were waging all sorts of local struggles, on local campaigns, everything from fighting the eviction of like Filipino manongs from like low income housing in San Francisco to fighting for Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State to pushing for Filipino community centers and youth and--
after-school programs in Los Angeles, I know that even SIPA the Search to Involve Pilipino-Americans was funded--and not just funded, but um, was founded by different progressive Filipino-American activists, and scholars and community leaders in 1972. So even they were saying that, you know, there are a lot of Filipinos here who don't know their culture who don't know their history. And-- need resources like SIPA to provide like after-school programs, and also to fight against some of the the problems that were happening for Filipino-American youth in the 1970s. Like, specifically gangs--like I know that the Santanas and other Filipino gangs were prevalent because of the discrimination that-- that Filipino immigrant and Filipino-American youth were facing. So they joined gangs and things like that. So these Filipino activists were doing things like starting organizations that taught Filipino history and culture and helped young Filipino youth join these cultural organizations and learn about their identity. And also, you know, speaking out against the Marcos dictatorship-- in order as a-- as a way to keep them out of the gangs as well. So there were all sorts of different campaigns and struggles among Filipinos. And my understanding is that KDP also was putting out education and propaganda to Filipinos throughout the Filipino community. They have their own newspaper. And were even putting out different newspaper articles and pictures from the Philippines to really call out the Marcos dictatorship. And they even were fighting against conservative Marcos supporters here in the U.S. They even had, I think it was called the Philippine-American news. I think that's the, the, or the Philippine-American Tribune, which was like a popular Filipino newspaper at that time. So yeah, the-- the KDP put out their own news. That was, you know, anti-fascism. And then this newspaper was putting out its own news. That was like pro-Marcos. And so they were even battling people in the Filipino community to really change the narrative. Because there were a lot of people in the Philippine community here, who, um, you know, they believed a lot of these news and media, not only Filipino American, not only Filipino news, but even American news that painted Marcos as a good, strong Filipino leader-- instead of actually as a-- as a fascist than a dictator.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 19:30
Right. Yeah. So it's very clear that, you know, the struggles back home in the Philippines, the political and socio political divides all of the diaspora here in the United States as-- as far as you're aware, what do you think were the conditions that led to the creation of KDP. I know you've already talked about martial law and the divide within the Filipino community between pro and anti-Marcos camps, but I was just wondering if you could speak more to what you think the conditions were that led to the creation of KDP?
Alex Montances 20:06
Yeah, I mean, in general-- my understanding for a lot of Filipino immigrants and Filipino Americans, a lot of them. Yeah, they did immigrate and migrate, fleeing the Marcos dictatorship. Some of those young people were put on blacklists and were in the Philippines. And were either asked by their families to flee to America for safety, or moved, you know, for better opportunities. And so, some of those folks, they were already student activists in the Philippines, but their families, you know, help them move to the US or petition them. And so they just continued to continue organizing they saw that even though there are Filipinos in America that they still needed to be connected to seeing the Philippines be free. So a lot of those folks ended up starting to hear and I think also for Filipino-Americans in the 1970s-- like, there was just a lack of support and community for Filipinos here. Yes, the Philippines had had come out of World War II-- and there was all of this--surge in Filipino immigration in 1965. And all sorts of Filipino professionals and other folks came in because the immigration laws changed. But there was still discrimination against Filipinos here. There was racial discrimination. There was economic discrimination-- in terms of Filipinos not being able to get higher paying jobs or, you know, feeling different obstacles in their workplaces. They weren't able to use their degrees they had back home. So I think there was definitely a sense of assimilation, and a sense of alienation among Filipino-American, Filipino immigrant youth here. And so I think the KDP was a place for a lot of these--
Filipino-American and Filipino immigrant youth to say, Hey, this is an organization that actually teaches us about our, our Filipino youth and identity and, and our culture and heritage and connects us to the Philippines, but not in in a way where it's just like, we need to learn our identity and culture and how to speak Tagalog or how to dance Filipino dances because a lot of youth groups were-- were doing those things, but that they saw that the reason they were here is because of the issues in the Philippines and the Neo-Colonization-- and that folks were saying, Wow, because the Philippines is a Neo-colony of the U.S-- that's kind of why our families are here in the States. And there's no opportunities back there because of Neo-colonization. So now we're over here and now we're also facing assimilation, poverty, and discrimination. So joining this organization KDP helps me find my purpose that, um, you know, we can't just be Filipino in identity and culture, but Filipino in action, that we actually want to see the Philippine nation free. And that us as Filipino-Americans-- the way that we can contribute is by forming our own organizations here in the U.S, and also fighting back against that racism-- fighting back against that Neo-colonization. And, you know, that gave people like a sense of a sense of identity that was tied to liberation, and not just surface level like culture, dance and food.
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 23:48
Thank you so much. You talk about Filipinos in action actively--
fighting for liberation-- What do you know of mass organizations that continue to lead this movement? To support the National Democratic Movement, either in the Philippines or in the United States, if you could speak on that--
Alex Montances 24:06
Yeah, you know--you know, KDP from the 70s and the 80s. A lot of them were studying some of the things that that people in the FQS were studying, they were studying books like-- what do you call it?-- Philippine society and revolution,PSR, written by Amado Guerro, which talks about the three basic problems in the Philippines and talked about how revolution is really the only way to change our situation and the Philippines being a Neo-colony. They were even reading a whole bunch of like-- radical writings from from that time, which like-- back then in the 60s, were radical-- but they were coming from like, so Filipino historians and sociologists, people like Teodoro Agoncillo who was writing like-- Philippine nationalist history? Like instead of just using the old textbooks that were written by, like-- an Americanized education system in the in the 20s 30s 40s and 50s-- That was really like-- Oh, yeah, you know-- America is the friend of the Philippines. But people like Teodoro Agoncillo and other Filipino historians at that time, were writing some, you know, history from the viewpoint of Filipinos, so they wrote like, different-- yeah-- different books that actually talked about that the Philippines was actually a Neo-colony. Even people like Renato Constantino, who wrote Miseducation of the Filipino people were reading that, and not only that, but people were starting to read what other like Filipino socialists and union organizers were writing here in America. I know KDP people were also reading books like America is in the Heart by Carlos Bulosan. And were learning about-- Oh, even Filipino immigrants and migrants who came in the 20s and 30s were also the products of American colonization. And I had faced discrimination in the US like 20 or 30 years before the KDP started. And so they were reading those things and they were reading about Filipino Manongs, and cannery workers, and agricultural workers, and farm workers who were with the United Farm Workers like Larry Itliong and Phillip Vera-Cruz, and they were mixing and mingling with these-- these older Filipino Manongs and learning about the workers' struggle. And so yeah, folks like-- who were from KDP, they were integrating with the Filipino masses even here in the U.S and learning from the farmworkers' struggle. So they were being basically radicalized or revolutionized by learning about what was going on in the Philippines, but also about what was going on to the Filipino Manongs here in America. And they were even visiting the picket lines with the Manongs-- were part of the United Farmworkers' struggle, part of the Grape Boycott, and even later on helping the Manongs with retirement at Agbayani village. So yeah-- folks who were in the KDP, and-- and all of these other organizations were doing that. And even when the KDP disbanded, like after-- in the 80s, other organizations continued to pop up at different places who saw that there's like-- just because Marcos was toppled doesn't mean the problems of Neo-colonization-- You know, or imperialism. U.S imperialism or bureaucratic capitalism or feudalism are over--they continued organizing in the 90s, and 2000s, and all the way up until-- even when Anakbayan was formed in 1998 in the Philippines, they formed Anakbayan even here, in 2002. And the Anakbayan was in-- was Anakbayan Seattle in 2002. That was the first Anakbayan in America. And so Filipinos-- even in the new millennium, were also organizing for liberation, and seeing that the the problems that they face here in America are connected to the movements in the Philippines, like the people from First Quarter Storm.
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 28:45
You talk about the introduction of an Anakbayan, a National Democratic comprehensive youth organization in 1998, as well as the first Anakbayan USA chapter, Anakbayan Seattle. Could you speak a little bit about the work that you did personally, as a member of Anakbayan Seattle, and also just the introduction of how you got introduced to this type of revolutionary and radical organizing?
Alex Montances 29:15
Yeah. So I grew up in Tacoma, Washington, which is an army town actually, south of Seattle. So I grew up Filipino immigrant parents. I was born and raised in Tacoma. My dad was in the army, but he came here earlier in the 60s, as a domestic worker, because he was from-- like a poor, farming family in the Philippines. And he became like, basically like a domestic worker, a domestic helper to like a more wealthier Filipino family that brought him over as a teenager in the 60s. And then, in order to stay he ended up joining the US Army. So he experienced a lot of racism-- In the 1970s, when he joined the US Army, and-- but eventually settled in Tacoma, Washington because that's where he was stationed in Fort Lewis, in Tacoma, Washington. And so I think a lot of those things really influenced my life. The things that he faced as an immigrant and the hardships and the-- hardships he faced as a domestic worker, and eventually as a, you know, as a veteran. And so, I think like, for me-- I was always trying to struggle out with my like-- own Filipino identity. I was in like a Filipino dance troupe, which had a lot of like, army-- army kids in it also. And so, you know, I pretty much thought okay-- all right. So I guess I know a Philippine culture because we know dances and food and parties. But then like, it wasn't until later after I had moved out and moved to Seattle, that I started to see the need to actually learn more about my Filipino culture than just being in a dance troupe. So I really was thinking I'm gonna go back to graduate school, because I graduated from college-- in Tacoma and then I moved to Seattle. I was like, yeah, I really want to-- maybe go back to grad school and study Philippine culture as an anthropology professor. And so then I was thinking-- Oh, yeah, maybe I'll start volunteering now that I moved to the bigger city of Seattle. So I went to the Filipino Community Center of Seattle-- And I went there. And they told me that they didn't really have a youth program. They just had some senior programs. And-- but they did say there was one organization-- a youth organization called Anakbayan Seattle that I should join. And so I met with one of the people who ended up being one of the founders of Anakbayan Seattle. His name was Freedom Allasyam, a Philippine-American. And yeah, I started meeting with him every week. And he basically did like a mini-study with me, of Philippine Society and Revolution. So every Friday, I would go and learn a little something new. And it actually-- is what inspired me, because I was saying, wow, you know-- I know about Filipino dancing and food and parties, but I never knew about Philippine history, and also the long history of American colonization of the Philippines, and the fact that Filipino youth, whether they're Filipinos in America, or Filipinos back in the Philippines, have always been at the forefront of fighting for justice. And so it really inspired me to join that group Anakbayan Seattle, and I started doing educational workshops at student conferences, and learning about Philippine and American history, and it gave me a sense of identity-- Like I was saying, not just one was based in dancing and food, but then one that was based on justice-- and one that is based on the idea that, you know-- the Filipino people aren't free yet-- And it's our responsibility as young people to fight for the change that we want to see and see all our all our people free. And so yeah-- I was with Anakbayan Seattle for like two years before I moved eventually to-- to Long Beach and Los Angeles.
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 33:33
Yeah, that was that was amazing.
Just speaking about the current--
movement towards a Nationally Democratic Philippines with a socialist perspective, how do you see this movement growing--
Either like right now or in the future? Yeah.
Alex Montances 33:51
Yeah. I mean, I think it's pretty obvious for a lot of young people-- that there are big systems that control our everyday life. You know, whether it's big companies like Amazon, or oil and fossil fuel industries like Exxon, or Shell, or fascist presidents like Donald Trump or Rodrigo Duterte-- that there are these big systems that are keeping people down-- And I think maybe before-- for a lot of young people, whether they were Filipino or other cultures or ethnicities or nationalities-- I think there are there are some people who always knew that there were systems oppressing us-- but I think now in this time, where fascism is like-- so obvious, a lot of people see the need to-- to be activists-- to actively fight for change-- That's all activism means-- is to actively change our society. And so, I think like-- the National Democratic Movement, whether it's Anakbayan, whether Migrante or Gabriola, these organizations are really fighting for an alternative to-- to the systems that we see right now that are keeping people poor, that are, you know-- hoarding money for like the 1% and then giving everybody else, you know-- chump change for wages, and "utang" in college debt, and, you know-- homophobia and transphobia-- Like these systems are hurting us. And so-- and they're also destroying our environment, right. So I think like nowadays, a lot more people are open to activism, and they're critical of capitalism. They see this as like late stage capitalism, and it's unsustainable and it's hurting a lot of people-- including our-- our own parents or even people from the-- the-- the baby boomer generation are hurting, because of the way the system is. So I think a lot of young people, not only are they critical, but they're starting to want to take action and to join organizations like Anakbayan or Gabriela because they're-- they're sick and tired of seeing their futures-- become more and more bleak. And they would rather fight against these systems and change the systems for something more--
equitable, like a socialist society.
I think in the Philippines, which you know, has so many natural resources, and so many people-- it's sad that the wealth of the land, whether it's the food and the crops, or whether it's the-- you know, whether it's the--the-- the rich land or whether it's the-- brilliant education and-- and smart intelligence of regular everyday Filipinos and that hard work, and love, all those things are being wasted-- either being sent away or being wasted away-- or their natural resources are being sold off to big companies that like-- the regular everyday Filipino people-- they don't see the fruits of their labor in a system where it's always rich-- people and-- and foreign companies-- that are ruling over them. I think a lot more people are-- are starting to see that. We need like a system where healthcare and education are human rights and are guaranteed and that the vast majority of people who are working people-- working class and low income people, farmers and workers should-- should be taken care of-- and should-- should have a government that works for them and not the same old rich, snooty Filipino wealthy families. So I think people also see that socialism is good in the Philippines too. And people are starting to rise up and they're trying to push for something different. So there is-- there is hope. But there's only hope if we fight for it.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 38:27
Well said, Well said. Thank you so much, Alex, we're coming to the end of this interview. And--you've given us a lot of information, a lot of history to glean upon. Our last question is-- do you feel there was question we left out? Or do you think there was something we should have asked-- that ought to be said and contributed to these archives that now future generations should know about First Quarter Storm, about activism, about anything?
Alex Montances 38:57
Yeah, I think I mean, just like to add one last part, I think the thing about being a Filipino youth or a Filipino-American youth-- is that we're at an important time in our lives. It's like a time where you can go many ways, right? You can do what the system tells us to do. Go to school, get a job, pay off your student loans, you know-- get married and have like, whatever, 2.5 children, and a white picket fence. And you can do that-- Or you can also take a look around you and see the injustice, the poverty, the rising homelessness, the fact that people don't have access to health care or education, and you can look at that pathway and say, wow, we need to be activists to change those things. So you can, you can either go and just fit in and be part of the system-- Or you can look the other way and go down the other path which is harder-- which is to fight for a better world and a better community. And so we have like a decision as young people-- like do we want to be indifferent and serve-- serve the-- the oppressor and be part of the system? Or do we want to fight the system and change it? I think like when I joined Anakbayan Seattle in like 2007-- I was seeing that-- that fork in the road. I could either go right or left. And I actually started reading things like "America is in the Heart" and "Miseducation of the Filipino" and it really opened my eyes to see that taking the left turn in the road and the fork in the road is a viable way. I was reading the book, "America is in the Heart" and it described Carlos Bulosan-- living in-- living in Chinatown in Seattle. And like-- in some of the old hotels and apartments that were for Filipino cannery workers, and he described the-- the streets in Chinatown-- And at that time in 2007, I had moved to Chinatown, and I was living in some of the old apartments that some of the Filipino cannery workers like Carlos Bulosan had lived in when he first moved to America. And I was like, wow, like what Carlos Bulosan is writing about in his experience when he first moved to Seattle into America-- That's like, where-- what I'm doing right now. And so it was seeing that very long history of Filipino young people fighting for justice. And, actually, that revolutionary tradition that actually made me turn left on the fork in the road, and not just fit into the system and try to get a good job and, you know, do all this kind of stuff that we're expected of as good Filipino-American youth and students, but then to take the the seldom, you know, path down the road, which is much harder, which is to fight for our communities and fight for a better world. And I've-- you know-- I did that in 2007, and it's been more than like-- I guess it's been more than 10 years-- maybe 11 years now, since I joined-- and I don't regret the thing. So it was the one of the best decisions I ever made was to become a community organizer.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 42:52
Extremely well said, All very inspiring.
Very gleaning. Thank you so much, Alex.
Alex Montances 43:00
Yeah.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 43:00
This this is a great opportunity-- a great time to interview you-- I'm so glad you-- agreed to participate in this. Chuck, do you have any last thoughts?
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 43:10
I just wanna say thank you so much for really allowing us to have this discussion have this dialogue about the beauty in the struggle--
and the possibility-- ihe imminent possibility-- imminent creation of, you know, a society that really, you know--
cares for all of its people and really puts into action policies--and --
Yeah-- policies that benefit all the people-- even the most exploited within society.
Alex Montances 43:45
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. I appreciate you all for interviewing me. I'm sorry, I'm not a UCLA alumni, but uh, I'm glad I was able to share what I could.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 43:56
That's okay. We're all still related. Some of-- you literally
So yeah-- thank you again, Alex, we really appreciate this. Once our research is done, we'd be happy to send it your way and send you our results if you'd like to see them.
Alex Montances 44:13
That would be great. Thank you.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 44:14
Great. Thank you again, Alex-- You have a good rest of your day
Alex Montances 44:18
Hope you do too. Bye bye.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 44:19
Bye bye
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 44:20
Bye bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Interview with Florante Ibanez
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 3:10
Starting the recording now it is 2:13 PM, March 8. My name is KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA. I'm a third year political political science student at UCLA studying the Samahang Pilipino Archival Research Class under the guidance of Professor Grace Hong and facilitated by student facilitator, Kaitlin Alcontin. If you could just briefly introduce yourself please, Florante.
Florante Ibanez 3:38
Florante Ibanez, with an "I," currently librarian at Loyola law school, been there for 28 years and hoping to retire in August. I also teach one class as an adjunct at Pasadena City College history of Pacific, Asian Pacific Americans and I have my degrees in... my MA from UCLA Asian American Studies and my MLS Library Science from UCLA as well in 2006. And my undergrad is a BA in comparative cultures at UC Irvine.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 4:24
Very cool. Thank you so much... So the reason I'm interviewing you today is because you are one of the co founders of Samahang Pilipino back in 1973 or 1972. I forget what year Exactly. And you are also a member of Katipunan ng mga Democratikong Pilipino, otherwise known as KDP. Is that correct?
Florante Ibanez 4:51
Right, Union of Democratic Filipinos.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 4:53
Yes, Union of Democratic Filipinos in English. So my research question for contribution to the archives has to do... Well, let me read you the full question. The first part is, were UCLA Filipino students affected or agitated by the first quarter storm of 1970 in the Philippines? And if so, did this manifests into political agitation and organization at UCLA? Did KDP at UCLA arise out of the first quarter storm? And how did a KDP presence at UCLA shape the formative years of Samahang Pilipino, SP from here on out, as a Filipino identity focused student organization at UCLA? So I guess First off, I just want to ask if you were familiar with the first quarter storm of 1970, in the Philippines?
Florante Ibanez 5:40
Right, so I've never been to the Philippines first of all, but I was active in the community in the late 60s 1970s with SIPA, Search to Involve Filipino Americans, and this is where I began to learn my own identity as a Filipino American. Prior to that, I had no real knowledge. And so that's when I was a first year student over at Cal State Dominguez Hills. I was also involved in the anti war movement, anti Vietnam War movement at that time on campus, and became a draft counselor and worked, got a stipend from the Associated Student bodies and was appointed as the was the Director of Community peace and education services as a draft counselor and took classes at the same time, and I was at that point started with the Asian American movement and the Filipino American movement through SIPA. [In 19]71 I attended the first Filipino People's Far West Convention which was held in Seattle. Sponsored by FYA, Filipino Youth Activities Incorporated of Seattle, headed up by Dorothy and [Greg?] Cordova, who now, well, Fred's passed, but Dorothy heads up the FANHS, Filipino American National Historical Society, and is the National Executive Board, executive director. And so all these things kind of coincide at the same time. And as a result of my working with draft counseling, I met a lot of folks in the Asian American community at that time, which was just beginning. Folks like Warren [Forotani} and bunch of folks and then I also got a job in '71 working at the Asian American Studies Center, UCLA, as the first Filipino on staff, and my job there was to distribute the recent book that they had just published, which became the first textbook of all the Asian American studies classes in the US, which was Roots: An Asian American Reader. And I also was in charge of getting... They had a small library or collection of the first Asian American films that were being shot by Asian American filmmakers, which later transcended or I was in charge of running them and distributing to campuses and getting them back. The small collection was the start of Visual Communications, which became a separate organization but started as a student community project under the Asian American Studies Center. And as well as in the emerging Filipino American movement, and then when martial law was declared in '72, then things got changed a little bit. So I became more involved with the anti martial law movement, mainly because I was placed on a blacklist that was published by force or publicly published, published by the then the Consulate in LA because he didn't want to go along with it. And so he exposed that there was a blacklist that was out. And so I'm listed as one of those Filipinos that was blacklisted from going to the Philippines along with other folks and forgot how long the list was. That plus my anti war activities, I guess, labeled me as a potential threat to the Marcos dictatorship. Anyway, in '73, the Union of Democratic Filipinos had their initial meeting and Congress up in where was it, I think was in Santa Cruz. I was not present at that meeting, but I was contacted by people who were there in Los Angeles who were out of Los Angeles. This is a meeting of basically left leaning activists from different major cities in the US, including Hawaii. And together they decided to form the KDP. KDP was formed. It was based on two principles or goals. One was to fight for international that support the National Democratic struggle in the Philippines against the Marcos dictatorship at the time and then also to fight for social justice for the Filipino community in America. So with that two pronged platform, I decided to join the Union of Democratic Filipinos KDP I was first approached by them at the 1973 Filipino People's Far West Convention which was held in San Jose. And coincidentally, I met my future wife there who was involved with similar folks in San Diego. Rose Estepa who was with the the Samahang -- oh no they were the Samahan, no G, at San Diego State at the time, that was their student organization. And they in turn, many of them later started the KDP chapter in San Diego. So when we were married in '74, after the '74 Far West Convention, which was held at UCLA then we also participated. We had our wedding kind of coordinated by both chapters of the KDP, San Diego and Los Angeles. So it's kind of like a we, we put it as a people's wedding. So there's a lot of tie in with that. Now as far as the KDP, and Samahang in the beginning, they weren't I wasn't really in KDP when I was at UCLA, because I left in '72 to '73, no '74 maybe, well, I left UCLA to go back to college. And that's when I went to UC Irvine and got my BA in comparative cultures. And so on the beginning of Samahang was not really involved in the anti martial law movement. There were people there who were concerned about it, but more conservatively concerned not so much and actively opposing it, although there were some. So it's like both they were opposing it. There was activists, well, I won't even say activists. There were people, there were students who were wanting to take a stand and those who did not want to take a stand.
So that's, and then when I transitioned over to UC Irvine, at Irvine, I was in KDP. And so we did push Kababayan, which is the other organization I helped start, to be more actively educated about the situation in the Philippines. I believe at the '74 Far West Convention that was held at UCLA. The position of the convention was that the question of martial law should be addressed as a workshop for education and not for a taking a stand one way or the other, but to become more educated about it. So, you know, we invited the consulate, they didn't show up, and activists who were concerned about the Philippines were pretty much the speakers for that for that panel workshop. So people were more exposed to it but not really active in the anti martial law period in the beginning of Samahang, as far as I know, and then when I was at UCLA, I mean at UC Irvine, I really lost touch with who was even in leadership at at UCLA at the time, because I was busy at Irvine and not going back to UCLA. So that's kind of where it was at at the time. We were because of the SI-- because of my involvement in SIPA in '69, '70, '71 I became I guess, one of the initial recruits of SIPA, Search to Involve Filipino Americans, which was basically a community based youth group headed up by elders or leaders who are with the Filipino Christian church. And they began by having these identity conferences or retreats. Held at Oak Grove in the San Gabriel Mountains at these retreats, which were usually held on Labor Day weekend, or sometime in the summer. Young people, High School and early college, gathered to learn about their own identity. This is where I learned about my own identity, Philippine History. And then when the subject of martial law came around, learning about that, as well, as an outgrowth of that some folks got involved in what were called study groups, or where they would study, Mao Zedong Thought. Also, the PSR, Philippine Society Revolution by Amado Guerrero, and other works about imperialism and the situation in the Philippines. And also, you know, the situation in Vietnam because Vietnam was still going on at the same time. So these were the things we learned about not so much as Samahang but as individuals who might have been in Samahang, but at the same time, were also active in the community and wanting to attend these study groups. So that's kind of the way it happened. It wasn't until later on that I think depending on who was in political leadership of the club, that folks got more involved in politics than not. There was a period, I think, more so in the 80s, which was like the latter years of martial law in the Philippines, where there was a push folks to not push too much on the political side, but try to keep the club going more on the social side. So I think when we were there, we tried to make sure that was kind of a balance between learning about the community and the issues, as well as having parties and potlucks and so forth. So that's my experience with the anti martial law movement at UCLA, so it wasn't so much through Samahang that this happened, but to outside people and through SIPA and through yeah, the study groups that were happening at the same time outside the campus.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 18:07
Wow, great. So much information on all good stuff to know. Thank you for answering. I'm just gonna, very quickly, very quietly, go through the interview questions I had listed first. Just not out loud because you answered a lot of them. So I'm just trying to find which ones are still pertinent. So if you just give me a minute, please.
Florante Ibanez 18:30
Sure.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 18:31
Thank you. Okay, so if I could just ask a few clarifying questions.
Florante Ibanez 18:56
Yeah.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 18:58
What year would you say you got involved with KDP again?
Florante Ibanez 19:03
In '73, after it got started, I was approached at. Well, Rose and I were both approached at the -- Rose, my wife, we're both approached at the 1973 Filipino People's Far West Convention, which was held in San Jose.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 19:19
Okay, I see. And SP was founded -- oh sorry, go ahead.
Florante Ibanez 19:24
And then we were actually recruited by folks in LA after, after the conference, and they followed up with us to see if we wanted to join.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 19:34
I see I see. And SP was founded when again, please?
Florante Ibanez 19:38
Samahang?
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 19:40
Yes.
Florante Ibanez 19:42
I'd have to check that for I think it's 73.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 19:46
Yeah, that's, I think that's what I have down is the date as well.
Florante Ibanez 19:50
Yeah. Um, so I was, I was working at the Asian American Studies Center there at the time. I was not a student there.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 19:57
Okay, I see. Yeah, that
Florante Ibanez 19:59
The other folks who were the co-founders were students. So that would be Judge [Cass] Tolentino, his wife Jennifer Tolentino maiden name Mascolino. And then Sheila Tabag and myself.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 20:18
I see.
Florante Ibanez 20:19
I knew Jennifer and Sheila, from being from the South Bay and our families knew each other. So we we knew those folks already. We contacted Cass Tolentino because he was a, I think director of the UCLA tutorial project at the time. And he was a zoology major. And we used his office to have our first meetings and the idea to plan a potluck to start the club and that was the beginning of Samahang.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 20:55
Okay, I see. Thank you. Noted. I just want to trace back to 1970. The year 1970. If that's okay with you.
Florante Ibanez 21:06
Sure.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 21:07
Where were you at that time? Like where you at -- I think you said you were studying initially at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Right?
Florante Ibanez 21:13
Right.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 21:14
Were you at Cal State Dominguez Hills at that time?
Florante Ibanez 21:16
Yeah. I was doing draft counseling and other students.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 21:21
Okay, so, yeah. So your primary activism work was in draft counseling. But are you -- were you aware of any like, what the Filipino community at the time was participating in terms of political activities? Or what was the big political question at the time, because I know that was a pre martial law period.
Florante Ibanez 21:41
It was pre-martial law. And I think, well, depending on who you talk to, like my parents, and a lot of our parents, we're going to, you also have to understand the dynamics of the community. So those who folks who are mainly from the South Bay We're from Navy families. And so my dad was from the Navy. Jennifer's Dad was with the Navy. I didn't know about Sheila's dad. And then Cass's dad was with the army. And so there was a conservative streak already that, you know, from family members that contributed to us either rebelling against or or falling in line with, you know, Republican views and so forth. When I oppose martial law, it was because, you know, I had heard about what was going on there prior to martial law. I mean, prior to martial law, or the situation of political prisoners and what was happening to folks there, it was, you know, something I felt that I had to take a stand against, as I had already taken a stand against the Vietnam War. So that's what drove me into it. And I think a lot of my fellow students were also of the opinion that, you know, they should do something about it. But at the same time, they felt like they were held back because they didn't want to upset their parents. I mean, my mom always told me, you know, "don't get in trouble. Be careful, don't get hurt." And you know, cuz at that time, there was demonstrations against the war, and people were getting arrested and so forth. And then, just prior to martial law, I think it was April of '73 or '72. When the blacklist was published, then it really got a lot of people in the community upset or finding out what was going on in the Philippines because, you know, all of a sudden, their name showed up on this list and they had nothing to do with the markets, opposing the markets, dictatorship or anything. So at the time, we felt like that the blacklist was published mainly to intimidate the community here to not take a position or to scare folks here who are active in the community, not around anti martial law stuff, but -- or anti dictatorship stuff, but more around just the community issues of the youth and community building and social services and so forth. And there was even a few folks on that list who had already passed away. So whoever their agents were over here collecting that list, didn't do a very good job of who they put on the list.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 24:35
I see. Okay.
Florante Ibanez 24:39
I should mention this too. So one of those other people on the list was Roy Morales. And Uncle Roy was the one who taught the Filipino American Experience class at UCLA for two decades. So I'm sure and he was already anti anti dictatorship in the first place. I'm sure in his class that the subject came up. And I'm sure this then also influenced many of his students, which was usually over 100 students each, each time.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 25:12
Wow. Ah, do you know if he still teaches UCLA?
Florante Ibanez 25:17
No, he passed.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 25:19
Oh, I see. Okay.
Florante Ibanez 25:23
I forget that 2010 or 2009. But, you know, folks, you know, know him and love him as a, as a community leader and also as a mentor. And, and, yeah, just a good guy.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 25:41
Okay, I see. Um, I just want to jump again, back to KDP and UCLA. I know you said you got more involved with KDP after your time working at the Asian American Studies Center at UCLA. But are you familiar with or did you know members of KDP at UCLA?
Florante Ibanez 26:04
Let me see who's there? No, I don't think there was. There may have been some -- we had some activists who were at LACC. And then it was also like folks that were allies with us, but not necessarily members. I'm trying to think who was at UCLA then. No, I don't think so. There were other folks that were anti martial law, but not in the KDP. And I'm not sure what year he started, but Enrique Dela Cruz, who was a past direct-- Assistant Director of the Asian American Studies Center, and then eventually went on to be director at CSUN of Asian American studies with anti martial law, he's not on the blacklist, but he was, you know, always there was they had another group and there was another grouping of folks. Well, yeah, I know. So there was another group saying this over and over again. So there was another grouping of folks that did not want to join the KDP but were anti martial law and also anti imperialist left leaning folks here in LA. And he was with that group. And he was at UCLA in a, you know, staff position. I'm sure there was other folks that were also anti dictatorship, anti martial law after it got declared at UCLA, but they were not part of the KDP. So there was other groups in action at the same time, like that group that Enrique was with and it was also-- So other student groups that were not part of Samahang that were also members that were against martial law in the Philippines, but were not part of the KDP.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 28:17
Okay, great. Um, and just as just to follow up, or do you happen to remember the name of that other group?
Florante Ibanez 28:25
It didn't really have a name formally because they were. They were a study group. And they weren't all Filipino. It was more or less a study group, Marxist study group. But I know who you could contact for that. And she was actually she was a student at the time. Lillian Tamoria. Yeah, she's, she's retired now. And her sister Lee Tamoria actually joined the KDP But I think it was after she left UCLA and was picking up law school in Hawaii. Wait, is [Fick] Law School in Hawaii or is [Fick] law school at UCLA? I forget. So there was two sisters Lee and Lillian tomorrow. Lee is living in Hawaii now retired and Lillian lives in LA but she's retired also, I can give you their emails if you want to contact them.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 29:29
Yes, please. I think I think I'll reach out to them too, if they're available this week. Okay. Okay, great. And then just one last question, because you've essentially answered everything else. Were you involved with the planning for the Filipino People's Far West Convention 1974 at Royce hall?
Florante Ibanez 29:50
Yeah, I was on the steering committee representing Kababayan from UCI. And then since I knew a lot of the folks there already from having gone to work, there you know, as you know, I think I was useful in knowing a lot of the contacts and stuff. And it was a, I was gonna mention that if you know anything about them, they were all, you know, from all over the West Coast, principally, and then also from other other cities. I think we had some folks from Chicago, from Hawaii, and other places outside of the West Coast. But mainly the folks were college students aged from Seattle down to San Diego. And it became a regular, yearly kind of reunion for folks to see each other as community activists, as student activists, and it helped us kind of look at the situation in all of our communities all together at the same time and have those conversations of what what might work or what might not work to try and solve those problems. So, but in the case of the martial law in the Philippines, it was always pretty much pitched as a educational workshop. Other workshops could have resolutions that were presented at the closing plenary. But in reality, a lot of those resolutions were not followed up on. They were mainly more I guess in spirit of folks to go back and try to implement on their own in their own respective communities. There was a controversy with the '74 convention, if you don't know about it. Where a young KDP organization was blamed for disrupting or, or getting the plenary session that was closing hung up to go into overtime because the organization was voting as a bloc, and it was members from different cities attending and folks felt that they shouldn't be doing that. As an organization that folks should be voting on their own. But you know, it was what it was. Afterwards there was an apology meeting. I was there. Oh, I know who was at UCLA at that time. Jamie Geaga or Jaime Geaga.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 32:17
Jaime Geaga?
Florante Ibanez 32:19
Geaga, G-E-A-G-A, I'll give you his contact too. So Jaime was at me-- was actually my roommate at Irvine, and then he transferred to UCLA. So we kind of switch places. And so he but I don't know if he was really active with the club, or was just doing stuff on his own. And so yeah, so a lot of us made up the steering committee and also another guy from the LA chapter KDP, Russell Del Paraiso. We went to a summation meeting that Cass and Jennifer were also present at. Where one of the other steering committee people threatened to throw Jaime out a window because he was so upset about how he felt the the convention had gotten sidetracked into talking too much about martial law and anti imperialism. And it was mainly because he thought, since he had raised all this money through going through the Presbyterian Church as a donor that it put -- it felt he felt like it put him in a bad light or something, but he even after all this work he had done, and this is how it ends up being disruptive or whatever. Okay, so we did apologies from the KDP. We're sorry about if any disruptions had occurred and that we know if folks felt bad about we just apologized. Because folks actually ended up walking out of that last session because it was going on for so long and they were just getting pissed off and especially the folks from FYA and Seattle who had started the first one in '71 felt like the conference was being taken over by the KDP. So they, they walked out on it. And the rest is history.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 34:33
I see. I see.
Florante Ibanez 34:34
Are you familiar with FANHS, Filipino American National Historical Society?
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 34:39
No, I'm actually not.
Florante Ibanez 34:40
Okay, so they were the group that started the first well not them as *them* because they weren't formed yet they were-- Fred and Dorothy Cordova with Filipino Youth Activities, FYA of Seattle, which was mainly a youth Drum and Bugle Corps. But they did a drill, they did a version of a drill team that emphasized the use of drumming, congas, and Latin American percussion with costuming of the Moros and so they were very colorful and very noisy when they came down the line but they were you know, filled us with a lot of pride at the time because we never saw anything like that with Filipinos going in a parade and stuff. So the FYA drill team was in I don't know, there's probably videos on YouTube and stuff you could check them out. They were the forerunner of the of the FANHS. So FANHS, Filipino American National Historical Society. I'm not sure what year they started. You can look up their website, FANHS-National.org, and they have chapters throughout the United States. They hold conferences every other year. This summer the conference is going to be held in Hawaii in July. And a lot of folks are planning to go except for now that this coronavirus is up people are starting to have second thoughts. So, in fact, we're having second thoughts too, but I think we're still gonna go. So the conference, the conference began, you know, in '71. And even then it was a little controversial because it was mainly youth led. It was mainly FANHS people-led but the youth were the ones who were the attendees. And then the workshops usually were held around the youth, topics of the youth. That'd be the medical field in the one we had at UCLA. We also have one on the -- Filipinos in the military. A workshop on seniors and some other workshops. I can't even think of them anymore. But there's some documentation because the '74 convention actually had a documentation report that came out afterwards. The only one that did and at the time, I think we're the only ones that ended up without debt. We were able to pay our bills. And so that was how we were able to do the documentation part because we had put that money aside to make sure it got done. And there's probably a copy, if you ask Margie, in the reading room, Asian American Studies Reading Room. They should have a copy of that.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 37:46
I was actually able to read the documentation. Recently when I was on -- when I went to go visit the archives.
Florante Ibanez 37:56
Okay, so it's that blue cover thing?
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 37:58
Yes, that was Right. Yeah. Yeah, it was very, very intriguing. Very interesting to read. Yeah. Um, okay, thank you. Um, I know I said that one was the last question. But something like just one question that came up in the middle of all of this for me, and I know you said you weren't present at the initial Congress at the initial meeting of KDP. I was wondering if you could speak to what you think were the conditions that led to KDP forming here in the United States? What would you say were those conditions?
Florante Ibanez 38:32
Well, I know there was a,
as far as I know, there was also pressure from the Philippine movement is to have a support group in the United States. So I think they sent over an activist or a party member at the time to actually help launch it or give the idea to folks and then it was the fact that there were all these other other left leaning study groups going on around the country, in different cities where there was a large population. And so that was kind of like a, you know, there was already folks here, they were just not in an organization. And so the call to form this thing, you know, it's just timing. I think it was really just because the timing and martial law and the timing of the movement here in the United States, because the organization actually was comprised of those young Filipinos who were leaving the Philippines politically because their parents were scared they were going to get killed. Student activists, some of the first quarter storm that made up these initial chapters of the KDP here in the US, as well as Filipinos like myself and [cannot parse] to the Philippines, but were on already, considering, you know, trying to do something in the community and seeing the Philippine situation is also part of that same struggle. So I think, you know, it was it was, on one time, it was just the flow of the movement at the time, because initially [we got involved with] identity and not knowing anything about it, but then later on, as you learned more and went to these study groups, then you understood what imperialism was, and how things were connected, what was racism and the history of Filipinos and other Asian Americans here in the United States, which, you know, drove me to want to teach. And so that's why I got my masters and then also to do research and archive material, so that's why I became a librarian. So that is kind of the timing of the of the of the period. You know, Coming up after the formation of the Black Panthers, Brown Berets, in the beginning really didn't include many Filipinos racially. In fact, there was a question about were Filipinos supposed to be considered Asians? Because, you know, we're colonized by the US and then the rest of Asia was not colonized by the US except for like, Vietnam and so forth after later on. So China and Japan are mainly the scholars that made up Asian American Studies in the beginning.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 41:40
Okay, I see. Yeah, all. Yeah. All very intriguing. All very interesting. material. Thank you so much for all your all your your time, first and foremost, but yeah, for agreeing to this interview. And yeah, just for all the information you've given.
Florante Ibanez 42:00
Did you there was a, my wife and I and Kathy and Jennifer, I think I've done interviews with other grad students in the past about you know, or not so much our take on things, but just our own oral histories. I'll try to find a link. And then I think you can probably from there find the links to Cass's oral. Well, I'll send you all the info to contact these folks directly.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 42:24
Yes, please. I'd really appreciate that. Seeing that. Visit oral interviews. Yeah.
And then, when this project is finished, I was wondering if you'd be interested in like reading it or having access to it through the digital archive.
Florante Ibanez 42:41
Uh huh.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 42:42
Okay, I'll be sure to send it your way then. So just to just as a reminder, if you could please print out that consent form and send it off, you know, you can but otherwise, thank you so much for that thought that this was all it's all really good. Was there anything you think in terms of questions, anything I should have asked from you?
Florante Ibanez 43:08
Well, just as an aside, folks have done research on this as well. One of the things that kind of also placed the KDP outside of the regular, other left organizations in the movement at the time, and even among the Asian American movement was that there's a lot of women in leadership. And in terms of gay and LGBTQ participation, there was really no difference among us as activists, we didn't really care, you know, about your gender. Because the work was so hard if you did the work, then you can do so anyway.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 43:57
Yeah, I'll be sure to ask about that next time. Then. Okay, thank you so much. Thank you for downloading zoom. I really appreciate this. Yeah, I'll be sure to transcribe this. But before I do go through talking about -- oh, yeah, it's a it's very handy. I'll say that much. Okay. So yes, I'll be sure to send you the finished product when it's done.
Florante Ibanez 44:18
Yeah. And if you could find out which of the students got my stuff. Write that down. Because my impression was that they were going to digitize it, then get it back to me. So anyway, okay.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 44:32
Was it a guy or girl?
Florante Ibanez 44:34
It was a guy and a girl. guy and a girl... in Asian American Studies.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 44:43
I'll ask our student facilitator, the ourstorian for SP so maybe she'll know
Florante Ibanez 44:48
Okay.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Interview with Martin Adamian
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 0:00
All right timestamp 1:39pm, March 9 2020. This is Kyle Mendiola.
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 0:07
This is Chuck Parcon.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 0:07
Interviewing Martin Adamian for contribution to the Samahang Pilipino (SP) Archival Research class into the archive. So if you could please introduce yourself, Martin.
Martin Adamian 0:21
Hello, I'm Martin Adamian. I'm a member of Anakbayan UCLA and I'm a student of history. And I'm here to answer some questions about my research into the First Quarter Storm (FQS) as part of Anakbayan UCLA's activities.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 0:39
Great. So I guess you've already given the gamut, you are familiar with First Quarter Storm, can you just tell us a little bit about First Quarter Storm of 1970 from what you understand?
Martin Adamian 0:51
Right. So the First Quarter Storm was a massive student and youth led protest movement that occurred in the year 1970. During the Marcos presidency. The First Quarter Storm was basically the culmination of a decade of intense struggles by Filipino youth and students, and also occurred in the midst of a high tide of revolutionary activity in the Philippines and in the world as a whole. And it's of great significance to the history of activism in the Philippines, particularly student activism and left a big mark on Philippine History.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 1:41
And I understand you yourself aren't Filipino, but if you could-- can you speak to the significance of FQS -- hereby referred to as FQS, First Quarter Storm to the Samahang Pilipino community or really the Filipino community at UCLA. I was just wondering if you can tie those two together, whether back then or in contemporary times, how do you see First Quarter Storm really leaving impact on UCLA students' lives?
Martin Adamian 2:11
So, the experience of the First Quarter Storm gives us a number of very important lessons. I think, first and foremost, it serves as an enormous inspiration to student activists anywhere in the world, whether Filipino or not, that these students basically led a revolt against the Marcos regime and showed no fear in their actions against him. More specifically, I think that it leaves us certain important lessons in terms of tactics and strategy as a student activists. I think... Should I go into that right now or will we leave that for later?
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 3:10
We can [do that right now].
Martin Adamian 3:10
Okay. Okay, so, essentially what the first the First Quarter Storm highlighted the, the importance of the links between the student movement and in the case of the Philippines of workers and peasants -- in our case, workers and other oppressed sections of society. Through the leadership of the first comprehensive Filipino youth organization Kabataang Makabayan (KM). The student activists of the First Quarter Storm developed very close ties with the worker and peasant movement. During the First Quarter Storm for example, they worked closely with workers and peasants who striked in solidarity with student marchers, peasants came in from the countryside to participate in the march. And the students for their part went out to the poor communities to factories, and eventually to the countryside to integrate with the masses, to provide them with services, and essentially, make a common strategy for their future struggles. It very much wasn't an isolated students struggle. It was one that enjoyed the sympathy of the Filipino masses. It was one that was deeply concerned about the issues facing the whole of Filipino society. This is, of course, something that we can learn from. This is, umm, it's essential for any student movement, to maintain links with the masses of society and focus on their issues, and not just on the particular issues facing students, although that's important as well. Filipino youth and non Filipino youth all over the world can draw from these important lessons. Another important one is the importance that education had for the FQS -- The participants of the FQS. They --many of them were radicalized by Marxist classics and various critical reviews of Philippine History. Perhaps most importantly, Philippine Society and Revolution (PSR) worked by Amado Guerrero is of very great importance for Filipino activism. Essentially, in all of their activities, the participants of the FQS they formed study groups, proceeding and during the events. In one of the their actions when it was, I believe on January 30. When student activists were in negotiations with Marcos and that, the protest had to be nonviolent. They essentially held open air study session on U.S. imperialism, feudalism and capitalism, the basic three basic problems of Philippine society. And in this way, they were able to turn their actions also into very productive, -- have very great educational I think this is something that is to a greater or lesser degree absent from activism in you know, I can say perhaps Filipino activism or Filipino activities in the United States is something that we can greatly learn from.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 3:22
And just because this happened recently, you know, Anakbayan at UCLA did do -- did emulate those like open air open educational sessions last Thursday, March 4 or 5, right? Just if you just speak a little bit to that, how was that like?
Martin Adamian 7:21
Right, it was a, it was a good turnout compared with Anakbayan's general experiences in the past. One thing that... we were able to get a fairly large amount of people who are completely unfamiliar with the events of FQS or just Filipino issues or Filipino activism in general, which was a great, a great success. One thing that I do think was lacking was turn out from the main Filipino youth Organizations here at UCLA, Samahang Pilipino, and PTSP transfer student organization. From what I understand, we've had some difficulty getting them to turn out to such events in the past, and I hope that we can rectify that in the future. So that these groups can see particularly someone who, you know, can see the radical role that their antecedents in the Philippines, and even their predecessors here in the United States played in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship. And just overall take inspiration and take lessons from these radical events. There's -- they'll see that the boldness and the courage that Filipino activists showed 50 years ago all the way up until today, in facing dictators and in facing the basic problems of a Philippine society that they were able to change. Over the course of 10 years, Philippine activists who went from being considered -- umm Filipino students, I'm sorry -- went from being considered some of the more docile submissive students of Asia to being considered some of the most radical. I hope that inspires Filipino youth here to also take a more radical stance towards the issues facing their home country and the United States.
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 9:39
About Samahang Pilipino being involved in fighting against the Marcos regime at the time. Could you speak a little bit more about the role that Samahang Pilipino played in that or any other work that was done? In the United States in tandem or inspired by the First Quarter Storm?
Martin Adamian 10:00
It wasn't the focus of my research, but there are a couple of things I can speak on. Basically, after Marcos declared martial law in 1972, I believe I, from what I understand Samahang Pilipino, played a very prominent role in protests against martial law over the course of the 1970s until final overthrow of Marcos and the end of martial law in 1986. Additionally, I know that some young Filipino did some did some activities in solidarity with the armed struggle going on in the Philippines during the 1970s, but I'm not familiar with the details.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 10:54
From the political activities you just described from 1970 onward. Would you say they arise in response to or even in solidarity with FQS? Or do you think Samahang Pilipino's like political stances -- anti martial law -- rose semi independently of FQS? I mean, inevitably these things tie back of course, but would you say FQS had more of a push in that or was it the declaration of martial law that really pushed SP in that direction?
Martin Adamian 11:25
Well, it certainly seems likely to me that the ripples of the FQS were felt among Filipinos in the United States. But I can't say for sure, if the declaration of martial law -- which we have to remember was partially result of the First Quarter Storm in the first place. A declaration of martial law definitely left a bigger impact and would have been more relevant to Filipinos living in the United States. It's but it's definitely something. I believe there's there's much that could be found there.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 12:08
Are you familiar with SP's political orientation through the years?
Martin Adamian 12:16
I can only speak to what I've heard from, from my, from my friends and colleagues who are in Samahang Pilipino, I haven't done research into the specifics, but it does seem that SP had a much more radical orientation in the 1970s. I mean, if they were doing acts, if they were doing actions in solidarity or commemorating armed struggle in the Philippines, then it's obvious that they had a much more radical orientation they do not what what I understand now their political activities are to a minimum.
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 12:59
You mentioned Anakbayan, could you just give a brief spiel about what Anakbayan is or how you perceive it in the work that they do?
Martin Adamian 13:10
Right. So Anakbayan is a progressive Filipino youth organization. That's part of the National Democratic Movement in the Philippines and among the Philippine diaspora. So, here in uhh here in the US, where we fall under Anakbayan USA, but the main body of the organization is in the Philippines. It's an anti imperialist, National Democratic organization with a socialist perspective. And basically, Anakbayan when it was founded in 1998, in the Philippines, was was the first was the first comprehensive Filipino youth organization after Kabataang Makabayan was forced to go underground during martial law. So it filled the it kind of filled the hole that was left when Kabataang Makabayan was forced to go underground. So basically, what we do here in the United States is a organized Filipino youth around Filipino issues to educate them about what's going on in the Philippines, to teach them about the three basic problems in Philippine society. To provide, to provide moral and material support to the National Democratic Movement in the Philippines and to the Philippine masses to ultimately produce student activists that will -- to ultimately produce activists that will later go into different sections of the National Democratic Movement and you know, it's auxiliary support Here in the United States. Also Anakbayan doesn't solely focus on issues in the in the Philippines. It also attaches -- it also connects to the struggles going on in the Philippines with issues that students and youth face in the United States, particularly Filipino youth, but not just Filipino youth. It does extensive solidarity work with non Filipino organizations here, UCLA, or us as an example and it's it's a similar situation with a bunch of chapters all over the country. So Anakbayan makes a great effort to connect the issues that students and youth face in the United States with the greater problems facing the Philippines in the world to U.S. imperialism, neoliberal capitalism and the issues that are plaguing the -- all around the world.
Charles Vincent Macabales Parcon 16:08
You mentioned that Anakbayan has a line that advocates for both Filipinos and non Filipinos and really connecting the struggles that -- connecting this to a class struggle, right? How did you personally get introduced to this type of work? Being a non Filipino.
Martin Adamian 16:26
Right, so I found out about Anakbayan, sometime before I actually joined with them. I was a as a student of radical politics as a someone interested in, in the state of affairs in the world. I came to see the Philippines the National Democratic struggle in the Philippines as a big inspiration, as an example of an ongoing fight of U.S. imperialism. Against U.S. Imperialism that has survived since the major upheavals of the 20th century in 1960s. And I found out about Anakbayan through researching the National Democratic Movement in the Philippines on the internet, primarily. And then when I came to UCLA, I was attracted by their the breadth of their activities, by the fact that they did an extensive amount of solidarity work with other organizations, and focused on local issues, and we're able to make that crucial connection to the bigger struggles of U.S. Imperialism. And especially, just because I believe that the National Democratic Movement is one of the most important in the Philippines is one of the most important struggles against U.S. Imperialism against capitalism going on right now. I wanted to I wanted to play a supporting role to that struggle in any manner possible here in the United States.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 18:11
Okay, so now given the type of work, which we'll just call anti imperialist, National Democratic those are the stances that really came out of FQS what can you can you speak of any other organizations that continue this type of work? I guess you can go broadly speaking, but hopefully we're we can find if you're aware of any like other than Anakbayan any other organizations in the LA or UCLA area that have continued this type of work?
Martin Adamian 18:43
That's a excluding the National Democratic organizations are like the, the ones connected directly?
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 18:53
Yeah, I mean, you can mention them as well, but hopefully we can branch out.
Martin Adamian 18:58
Right. So at UCLA, Anakbayan has done extensive solidarity work with a number of progressive organizations. That includes a SJP, students for justice in Palestine, which is similarly committed to anti imperialism and connects the Palestinian people to that, broader issues and and it's kind of able to bring them closer to home with connecting how the UC system supports imperialism. That's very important. And the similar struggle. We also have done plenty of work with a SLAP, that's a Student Labor Advocacy Project, which is essentially a student organization that organizes students to support the activities of the labor union that organizes workers here at UCLA. Recently, we've also been -- We've also been working with that we've also been involved in the cost of living adjustment struggle going on at UCLA, which just started within the last month. We've been trying to turn out to as many actions as possible in solidarity with the the struggle of graduate students for cost of living adjustment. And we've been putting a lot of our intellectual efforts into kind of formulating, oh, what what the long term struggle is so we can contribute to the planning of the long term -- The long term struggle of the cola strikes and actions... These are all, uhh, Yeah, like I said earlier, these are all important to us. It's always important. It's part of our the Tactical Plan given out to us from our from the higher organs of our organization to connect local struggles and focus on local struggles in order to, in order to build connections with the community in order to build connections with different student organizations, and highlight how the struggle in the National Democratic struggle in the Philippines is intrinsically linked with them.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 21:26
Sounds just like [audio lost]
Martin Adamian 21:30
Definitely, definitely.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 21:33
Just one last question for me. Are you familiar with the -- they're called the Union of Democratic Filipinos, their acronym is KDP Are you familiar with them?
Martin Adamian 21:46
This isn't in the Philippines?
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 21:48
Here in the United States.
Martin Adamian 21:49
No, I'm not.
KYLE MICHAEL MENDIOLA 21:51
Okay, that's that's that's my question.
Unknown Speaker 22:06
[Audio lost] Storm in the links that it has to the current struggle the Filipino people and how it really connects to a broader problem, a broader enemy which is U.S. imperialism.
Unknown Speaker 22:20
Thank you so much Martin, and just be clear, we did get consent for this interview which will be provided. Yes, we did. Yes, we Yes we did. Okay. Thank you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
