PHILIPPINE FLAG HOISTED AT CITY HALL OF DALY CITY, BAY AREA’S “PINOY CAPITAL,” FOR PH INDEPENDENCE DAY
DALY CITY, CALIFORNIA, USA – Amid the city’s characteristic summer fog and cool weather, the Philippine national flag was raised at the City Hall of Daly City, California on 13 June 2023, in celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence.
Consul General Neil Ferrer led the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco in the ninth annual Philippine flag-raising ceremony at the Daly City Hall, hosted by the city government and the Filipino community group Pilipino Bayanihan Resource Center (PBRC).
In his remarks, Consul General Ferrer said that the Philippine flag-raising ceremony highlights Daly City’s “solidarity and fellowship with the 34,000 Filipino Americans currently residing in this beautiful city.” This figure represents 30 percent of the city’s total population, manifesting the highest concentration of Filipino Americans in any city in continental United States.
The Philippine Consul General also noted in his speech that Daly City hosted a delegation from Pangasinan provincial government in April 2023, and said that he looks forward “to hearing more similar engagements between Daly City and our Philippine [local government units in the future.” Daly City currently has sister city relations with Quezon City.
Fil-Am Daly City Vice Mayor Juslyn Manalo represented the Daly City Council during the event, where she extolled the Filipino community spirit of bayanihan, which continues to animate the Filipino American Community in her city.
Vice Mayor Manalo also handed over to Consul General Ferrer a proclamation signed by Fil-Am Daly City Mayor Ray Buenaventura and the other members of Daly City Council, declaring 13 June 2023 as Philippine Independence Day in the city.
According to the proclamation, Daly City “honors and values its Filipino and Filipino American residents for having a strong commitment to family, service, faith and hard work, and recognizes the contributions Filipinos have made to enrich the diversity of our community.”
A representative of U.S. House Representative Kevin Mullin also gave a speech, where it was mentioned that Representative Mullin will file the Filipino Veterans Fairness Bill in the 118th Congress, which would increase the benefits of certain individuals who served in the forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts during World War II. The bill was first filed in the U.S. Congress by Representative Mullin’s predecessor, former U.S. House Representative Jackie Speier.
Following all speeches, Consul General Ferrer and PBRC founder Perla Ibarrientos, who initiated the very first Philippine Independence Day flag-raising at Daly City Hall in 2014, led the hoisting of the Philippine national flag. Following the outdoor flag-raising, the PBRC hosted a luncheon inside the City Hall for all attendees.
Unofficial figures estimate that around 30 percent of Daly City’s total population of more than 100,000 people are of Filipino descent, the highest concentration of Filipinos and Filipino Americans in the United States. University lecturer Benito Vergara Jr. chronicled the history of the vibrant Filipino American Community in the city in his 2009 book, “Pinoy Capital: The Filipino Nation in Daly City”. END
