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THE PILIPINOS

ASIANS IN D.C.:
PART 3

"PILIPINOS IN D.C."*

*The word Pilipino is spelled as such, as opposed to Filipino,
because there is no "F" in the Pilipino language and the
Pilipino community prefers this spelling and pronunciation.

By Sam Cacas

Because Pilipinos were classified under the category of "all others" before the 1930 census, no records of their numbers in D.C. before then are available. One study done on Pilipino immigration revealed that most Pilipinos who came to America were males from the provinces of Illosos Sur or La Union in the northern part of the Philippine Islands. Many had migrated from the West Coast or Hawaii after having been lured to America by aggressive recruitment methods by the Hawaii Sugar Plantation Association and false advertising by steamship lines. Because of racial hostilities in California and difficulties in finding jobs, many Pilipinos decided to migrate to big cities in the East such as New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. By 1930, there were 294 Pilipinos in D.C.

Movements for the exclusion of Pilipinos took place in the late 1920's. These hostile acts were sparked by California Rep. Richard Welch's introduction of an exclusion bill in Congress, and by outbreaks of spinal meningitis on the West Coast traced to Pilipinos. Though Welch's bill was not passed, the Pilipino exclusion movement continued. In June of 1929 President Hoover issued an executive order forbidding the entry of Pilipinos into the United Sates until the epidemic ceased. The exclusion issue was settled on May 1, 1934, when the Philippine Independence Act was passed by the Philippine legislature. The Act which the U.S. Congress had passed in early 1933, stipulated that Philipinos, after the separation of U.S sovereignty from the Philippnes, would be included in the Oriental provisions of the 1932 Act. The Act failed to decrease the number of Philipinos in D.C. In 1940, the census showed a count of 560, 90% of whom were male. In a bill that was an added provision to the India quota bill, the Senate in 1945 passed a bill granting Philipino immigrants the right to become naturalized citizens on July 8, 1946, four days after Philippine Independence. With the passage of that bill, President Truman established an annual quota of 100.

Beginning in 1950 and up to the present day, the reasons Pilipinos came to D.C. began to change. Many came directly from the Philippines in order to get their education and future jobs here, mainly in medically related fields such as nursing or pre-med. Others came because they were retired or stationed servicemen who lived with their families in government-provided housing units located in or near Bolling A.F.B. This new migration to D.C. continued and by 1960 there were 1,158 Pilipinos. The

number of Pilipinos apparently reached its peak then because the 1970 census showed the number of Pilipinos to have jumped to only 1,662.

However, the number of Pilipinos had swelled, particularly in Virginia and Maryland where the census recorded a combined total of more than 10,000 Pilipinos for both areas. One D.C. area suburb, Oxon Hill, has what is probably the largest concentration of Pilipinos outside of D.C. According to figures from Annual reports issued by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 4% of all Pilipinos immigrants between 1965-1973 were said to have chosen the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia areas as their intended place of residence.

In the 50's and 60's the social life of some Pilipinos centered around many clubs which were named after the provinces from which its members came. Most of these groups, however, merged into one organization that presently exists today: The Combined International Philippine Association. Its elitism and the high prices charged at many of its social functions, on the other hand, has kept it apart from many Pilipinos. During this period, Chinatown, on H Street between 6th and 5th Streets was frequented by many Pilipinos, particularly the oldtimers. On this block was a barber shop and a bar, both Pilipino-owned. In its time, both places were common gathering places for Pilipinos but are no longer today.

Besides being in medically-related occupations, many Pilipinos from the 1960's up to the present served as cooks and valets in the White House. Despite being paid as low-ranking enlisted men in the Navy's Administrative Unit ($7,000-$8,000 a year) and being forced to work overtime, many Pilipinos consider their work in the White House to be an occupation of high esteem. In 1971, former Naval Operations Chief Elmo Zumwalt, of the Johnson Administration, issued a directive to broaden opportunities for Pilipinos and do away with all-Pilipino servant units. Smaller units of Pilipinos were assigned during the Johnson and Kennedy administrations. Only two commanding officers of the unit were not Pilipino. During the Nixon Administration, however, the unit's number increased to 93. Nixon had ignored Zumwalt's directive and had not only used his servants in the White House but at Camp David, and the San Clemente and Key Biscayne White Houses also. Only 53 of the Pilipinos worked full-time in the White House, but when Nixon traveled he took three-quarters of that staff with him.

According to one General Accounting Office (GAO) report, requested by Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire, the Pilipinos on the White House staff complained of being forced to work at after hour parties at the homes of Nixon aides without extra pay. The report said that as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, the President is entitled personally to the unit's services but forcing the men to wait on others might be against regulations. It also said that Pilipino stewards were ordered to make trips to military commissaries to purchase food on behalf of presidential aides at discount prices - a violation of commissary regulations.