12 remarkable Fil-Am elders and their enduring legacies
‘Tribute to Our Manongs and Manangs’ headliners (from left, seated): Dr. Richard Tenaza, Dr. Joy Bruce, Luzviminda Micabalo, Perla Ibarrientos and Polly Cortez; (standing) Joe Gacoscos for his mother Pat Gacoscos, Consul General in San Francisco Arnel G. Talisayon, PF founder Mona Lisa Yuchengco, presenter Brig. Gen. Steve McLaughlin for retired Lt. Gen. Edward Soriano, retired Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, Roderick Medallon for his mother Milagros Medallon Kaahanui, and emcee Lloyd LaCuesta. Photo by Minerva Amistoso
SAN FRANCISCO – A dozen Filipino American leaders in their later years received an outpouring of gratitude at a heartfelt formal presentation that newly installed Consul General Arnel Talisayon, the event’s special guest, praised as “inspiring.”
“Their stories are themselves a call to action and an affirmation of what can be achieved for oneself and one’s community despite challenges that may be faced along the way,” Talisayon shared his thoughts with Inquirer.net USA about the third annual recognition event staged by digital magazine Positively Filipino.
Honorees
All honorees of “Building Communities: A Tribute to Our Manongs and Manangs 2026” dedicated their adulthood to outstanding service in diverse fields. They faced and overcame obstacles, modeling Filipino values while uplifting the lives of compatriots in the United States and the Philippines.
Each of the honorees “began their journeys as immigrants [and] have shaped this nation with their dreams,” said philanthropist Mona Lisa Yuchengco, publisher of Positively Filipino and founder of Philippine International Aid.
“We wanted to recognize those who have devoted so many years to uplifting our community—to express our gratitude and say thank you while they are still with us, to receive our appreciation and savor the affection and admiration of the community they helped build,” Yuchengco said in her introductory remarks.
The following laureates, between the ages of 76 and 110, raised the Fil-Am profile across the country throughout their lives, some to their last days.
1. Retired US Army Lt. Gen. Ed Soriano
Retired US Army Lt. Gen. Ed Soriano served in the Gulf War, in Bosnia and in domestic operations after 9/11, concluding his 35-year military career as commander of I Corps and Fort Lewis in Washington. He was the highest-ranking Fil-Am in US military history when he retired as a three-star general in 2005. Today, he continues to share his expertise in business development, strategic planning, management and the defense industry in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he is also involved with nonprofit organizations.
2. Perla Ibarrientos
Community advocate Perla Ibarrientos has been hailed as the “greatest community volunteer in the history” of her adopted city of Daly City, California, by its current city manager. For more than half a century, the Iloilo native has volunteered in various capacities, beginning at her children’s schools. In 1989, she co-founded the Pilipino Bayanihan Resource Center (PBRC), where she continues to serve as board chair. The organization provides a lifeline for newcomers and marginalized community members. At 91, Ibarrientos serves on the Daly City Personnel Board and remains deeply involved in Fil-Am community initiatives.
Honoree Perla Ibarrientos (fourth from left) with fellow community volunteers (from left) Ruby Roque, Nellie Hizon, Daly City Council Member Juslyn Manalo, Consul Marc Benigno and Office of Supervisor David Canepa Chief of Staff Tony Bayudan. Photo by Cherie M. Querol Moreno
3. Eddie Flores Jr.
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Eddie Flores Jr. made traditional Hawaiian meals accessible on the US mainland through L&L, the restaurant chain he co-founded. Despite speaking little Tagalog, the half-Chinese Fil-Am joined the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, which was founded before Hawaii achieved statehood. He supported the construction of the Filipino Community Center and several Filipino festivals — notable achievements for someone with a learning disability who repeated fourth grade but later earned a perfect score on the US Post Office exam in high school.
4. Evangeline Abellera Paredes
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Community volunteer and activist Evangeline Abellera Paredes has served both her birth and ancestral countries for more than 90 years and, at age 110, continues to seek opportunities to serve. The Brooklyn, New York, native was secretary to Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon and later served as a public relations officer for Carlos P. Romulo before working at the Pentagon for 30 years. She considers her greatest achievement helping to raise funds for the Congress Heights Senior Wellness Center in Washington, D.C., which primarily serves Black Americans.
5. Milagros Medallon Kaahanui
Public servant and community activist Milagros Medallon Kaahanui moved to Hawaii at her father’s urging as martial law loomed in the Philippines. Concerned for her safety because of her involvement in the University of the Philippines student movement, her father encouraged the Camiling, Tarlac, native to relocate. In Hawaii, she became a social worker, forming and leading state and nonprofit organizations that empowered immigrants, World War II veterans, youths and older adults. Kaahanui died in March, and her son, Rod, accepted the recognition on her behalf.
6. Dr. Joy Bruce
UST alumna and Cleveland Metro General Hospital-trained neuropathologist Dr. Joy Bruce taught pathology for 30 years while raising three children in Miami. She formed organizations to assist disaster survivors in the Philippines before founding NANAY (National Alliance to Nurture the Aged and the Youth), which provides health screenings and counseling, and its namesake Community Development Corporation, which provides housing for older adults. Among her many philanthropic efforts, Bruce has also advocated for juvenile justice reform in the Philippines. She urged tribute attendees to join her campaign to separate young offenders from adults in prisons.
7. Lydia Ty-Casper
Author and poet Lydia Ty-Casper has written 20 books, mostly works of historical fiction, many depicting the Marcos dictatorship. Born in Manila and raised in Malabon, Ty-Casper graduated at the top of her law class at the University of the Philippines. She married literary critic Leonard Casper, and the couple moved to Massachusetts. She pursued a master’s degree in international law at Harvard but, after a hurricane disrupted her studies, shifted her focus to literature. The acclaimed writer, whose honors are nearly as numerous as her books, accepted her recognition via video.
8. Luzviminda Gonzalez Micabalo
Retired oncology nurse and philanthropist Luzviminda Gonzalez Micabalo earned her nursing degree from the University of the Philippines and a master’s degree in health care studies from Long Island University. She established Cabrini Medical Center’s first home health agency before pursuing humanitarian work in Nevada with her late husband, Dr. Zosimo Micabalo. Together, they led medical missions across the Philippines. She also founded the Phil-Am Charity Foundation, which supports communities in the United States and the Philippines through initiatives such as Gawad Kalinga housing and GILAS tech literacy programs.
9. Dr. Richard Tenaza
Educator and biologist Dr. Richard Tenaza grew up as the eldest child of a Filipino migrant farmworker, at times living in a packing-crate home in labor camps across California. Those experiences kindled his fascination with life, nature and culture and ultimately shaped his career. For 39 years, he taught biology at the University of the Pacific in his beloved Stockton, while his curiosity took him to remote corners of the world. Among them was Antarctica, where Tenaza Peak was named in his honor by the US Geological Survey for his research on Adélie penguin behavior.
10. Polly Santiago Cortez
Community activist Polly Santiago Cortez survived a lightning strike as a child and went on to spend 38 years in federal banking regulation with the US Treasury Department. The Pasig City native now shares her expertise with Friends of the UP Foundation of America and the Girl Scouts of Northern California. She has led the Pasigueñians and helped establish the South San Francisco-Pasig Sister City Committee and the Dr. Jose Rizal Legacy International Foundation. The foundation installed a statue of Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal in Colorado and plans to unveil another in Daly City before the end of the year.
Honorees Polly Cortez and Dr. Richard Tenaza (3rd and 5th from left) with supporters and presenters (from left) Joe Santos, Louanne Tancinco, Elena Mangahas and South San Francisco Council Member Flor Nicolas. Photo by Cherie M. Querol Moreno
11. Pat Gacoscos
Retired elected official and community activist Pat Gacoscos devoted years to public service in Union City, serving on the New Haven Unified School District Board of Education, the Tri-City sanitary board and the City Council. In 2010, she became the first Fil-Am woman elected to the City Council, receiving the most votes and going on to win reelection twice. She previously served eight years on the school board, where she advocated for Tagalog instruction at James Logan High School. Gacoscos died in May after a battle with cancer. Her legacy is memorialized with a Union City street named in her honor.
12. Retired Major Gen. Antonio Taguba
Retired Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba was born in Manila and raised in Hawaii, where his family moved when he was 11. The son of a Philippine Scout and Bataan Death March survivor and a mother who survived a World War II internment camp, Taguba went on to become one of three Philippine-born Americans to attain the rank of general officer in the US Army. His honors include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit and Bronze Star.
Taguba gained national attention as the author of the 2004 Taguba Report, which documented “widespread misconduct and failures in military oversight” in the treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. He said he was “instructed to retire” in 2006.
After leaving the military, Taguba turned his efforts toward securing recognition for Filipino World War II veterans as chair of the Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project (FilVetREP). In December 2016, he helped lead the effort that resulted in the Congressional Gold Medal being awarded collectively to some 260,000 Filipino and Filipino American soldiers who served during World War II.
Annual tribute
The invitation-only gathering at the San Francisco Public Library’s Koret Auditorium brought together multiple generations of community advocates whose contributions have helped shape Filipino American history, adding significance to the occasion.
Beyond the honorees, the presenters, volunteers, guests and organizers have themselves broken barriers and made a difference, some more visibly than others, but all leaving a mark on their respective communities.
The event brought “awareness of the many ways each attendee impacts the community,” Benemerenti Medal recipient Nellie Hizon told Inquirer.net USA. Hizon attended last year’s tribute and this year brought along Ruby Roque, her fellow volunteer at St. Stephen’s Church, to meet kindred spirits.
Roque, in turn, said she was “impressed” by the honorees’ “energy, enthusiasm and will to keep on going.”
“Manong” and “manang” are terms of respect for older people that were commonly used by early Filipino immigrants, many of whom came from the Ilocos Region.
The honorifics have since become part of the vocabulary of many Fil-Ams – both those rediscovering their ancestral culture and those who have remained connected to their roots. The terms also inspired Yuchengco, her husband, event emcee Lloyd LaCuesta, and Positively Filipino editors Rene Ciria Cruz, Gemma Nemenzo and Raymond Virata in naming their much-anticipated annual tribute.
