Posted: 10/18/2009 01:30:32 AM PDT
Updated: 10/18/2009 01:30:34 AM PDT

http://www.apihealthsource.com/sites/all/themes/api/images/bg-inner-h1.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; font: normal normal bold 22px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: 0px 100%; ">By Lanz Christian Bañes

 
As a young student in Vallejo, Lala Llacuna's friends asked to see what she had in her lunch bag.

But ashamed at the rice balls her family packed her -- a telltale sign of her Filipino heritage -- Llacuna decided to forego her lunch and went hungry instead.

"We wanted to be invisible," said Llacuna, who further distanced herself from her history by refusing to mingle with Philippine-born children.

Llacuna's story was one of several that illustrated the dizzying struggle for identity that longtime Filipino-American residents of Vallejo shared Saturday at the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum.

"Are we Filipino? Are we American? Are we Filipino-American? Are we Pinoys? Pinays? What are we?" mused Larry Asera, who became Vallejo's first Filipino-American City Council member in 1973 at the age of 23.

The event is part of the Vallejo chapter of the Filipino-American National Historical Society's observance of Filipino-American History Month, established as October by the Legislature last month.

"We were just as bad as some of the general population," Llacuna said of the scorn with which she and her friends had treated the Philippine-born.

Several middle-aged people of Filipino descent presented their thoughts in a panel about "Growing up brown in V-Town." The Filipino-American community they knew growing up was tighter and less expansive than the 25,000 or so people of Filipino descent now living in Vallejo.

Back then, housing restrictions also existed that prevented Filipino-Americans from buying houses in certain parts of Vallejo. Once they obtained a home, they were then in danger of being constantly relocated by the relentless redevelopment of the bustling naval town.

"We were a community that I don't think Vallejo really recognized," said Grace Randall, who at 85 was older than the rest of the panel.

Like Llacuna, Jimmy Hullana, who grew up near Vallejo's notorious lower Georgia Street, denied his Filipino heritage.

"I started moving away from the Filipino culture and started being part of the hippie culture," said Hullana, who moved to Alameda to raise his family and only recently began returning to Vallejo and uncovering his place in its history.

In contrast to American-born Llacuna's disdain for Filipino immigrants, Marian Hopwood described how she would often be derided as "not Filipino" by those same immigrants.

"I may live my life the American way, but I have not forgotten what my grandparents instilled in me," Hopwood said as she showed photographs depicting her family's deep roots in Vallejo.

The celebration of Filipino-American History Month continues Nov. 1 with a Filipino martial arts tournament at Hogan High School. Cost is $10 adult, $5 students. For details, contact Mel Orpilla at (707) 477-1159 or at mel9661@orpilla.com.

Contact staff writer Lanz Christian Bañes at (707) 553-6833 or lbanes@thnewsnet.com.

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