Every August, the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library fills with something that feels less like a ceremony and more like a family reunion – and this year, Positively Filipino is bringing that gathering back for a third time.
On August 8, from 2 to 5 p.m., the online magazine will host “Building Communities: A Tribute to Our Manongs and Manangs” at the library’s Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin St., honoring 12 elders whose life’s work has quietly shaped the Filipino American story.
The word “manong” and “manang” (Filipinized from the Spanish hermano and hermana) is what generations of Filipinos have used to address anyone older with respect. But this tribute gives the term a stage of its own, turning it into a title of honor for the pioneers who built community from scratch, often against the odds.
This year’s honorees carry that history in their own biographies: Lt. Gen. Edward Soriano (Ret.) of Colorado; author and poet Linda Ty-Casper of Massachusetts; entrepreneur and philanthropist Eddie Flores Jr. of Hawaii; community activists Polly Cortez and Perla Ibarrientos of California; and educator Dr. Richard Tenaza of California.
They’ll be joined by retired public servant Paciencia Gacoscos of California; Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (Ret.) of Nevada; retired nurse and Filipino veterans advocate Luzviminda Micabalo of Virginia; community volunteer Evangeline Paredes of Washington, D.C.; Dr. Joy Bruce of Florida, founder of NANAY; and public servant Mila Medalion Kaahanui of Hawaii.
Musical group Kulintang Dialect will provide the afternoon’s entertainment.
Last year’s tribute offered a glimpse of what to expect: old friends who hadn’t seen each other in over 40 years found themselves reunited in the same room, and the afternoon carried both laughter and tears as honorees like labor leader Cynthia Bonta and civil rights educator Amy Agbayani shared stories of struggle and hard-won belonging.
Publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco, who has led Positively Filipino for 12 years, has said the magazine’s very name was chosen as a rebuke to the “Positively No Filipinos Allowed” signs that once hung in California hotels – a reminder of how far the community has come, and how much work remains.
That history is part of why the tribute matters to Yuchengco and her team.
In a year marked by renewed fights over immigration policy, she has said honoring elders who tilled the farms, staffed the hospitals and filled classrooms and government offices feels less like nostalgia and more like a necessary act of gratitude – one she hopes flows both ways between the honorees and the country they helped build.
Seating is limited, so anyone hoping to attend should RSVP at pf.event.rsvp@gmail.com or visit PositivelyFilipino.com for more details.
Both Mona Lisa Yuchengco and Ret. Gen. Tony Taguba were named to the TOFA Awards in 2020, honoring the 100 most influential Filipinos in America.
