Manilatown Heritage Foundation Board of Directors

Robert Bonta — Attorney, SF City Attorney's Office

“The I-Hotel struggle was a critical flashpoint in Filipino American civil rights history. My mother and many of her colleagues were there that night when the Filipino American Community took a stand, and I want to do my part to continue the struggle for equal opportunity, anti-discrimination, fair housing, and cultural preservation.” Robert received his BA at Yale in 1993, and attended Oxford in 1994. Yale School of Law in 1998.
Robert is also involved with Filipinos for Affirmative Action, Alternative in Action.
Joined MHF 2003
Advisory 2006

Irene Cadiz

“It gives me an opportunity to contribute to the vibrant Fil-Am community in the Bay Area, be a part of its future, and honor its history.” UC Berkeley-2003, NSCS. UCB Alumni Scholar, NRHH. Order of the Golden Bear awardee.
Joined MHF 2005

Jaymee Faith Cadiz Sagisi

Joined MHF 2003

Frank Celada

Joined MHF 1998

Emil A. De Guzman — Dispute Resolution Investigation and Mediation, SF Human Rights Commission

Emil is a former IHTA (International Hotel Tenants Association) president and has been with the early I-Hotel struggle. Currently he works for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission as a fair housing investigator and public dispute mediator. He was employed by the San Francisco Police Department for 12 years to provide protective services for the elderly who are vulnerable to street crimes. He resigned as Executive Director to enroll in Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government Master of Public Administration Program, from which he graduated in 1992. Emil is also a board member of the Grand Oriente, IHTA/United Filipino Association, and KDP; and was awarded the FAA Outstanding Community Award 1987, and SF Sheriff Award 1998
Joined MHF 1996

Estella Habal — Professor, San Jose State University

“The legacy of the I-Hotel needs to be remembered. Children should know of the struggle and the ’Rise of Manilatown’.”
Estella earned her Ph.D. at UC Davis
Joined MHF 1996

Laureen Laglagaron — Attorney, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach

An immigration and family law attorney responding to the needs of low-income Asian immigrants in the Bay Area. Prior to law school, worked for two years as research assistant at the Urban Institute analyzing immigration and immigrant policy in Washington D.C.

"For the last decade, I have aspired to be an advocate for immigrant rights. I have traveled to the Philippines to perform research on international migration patterns of Filipino overseas workers, worked as a demographer analyzing migration patterns within the United States and entered law school to become a legal advocate for immigrant rights. I am currently in the second year of a two-year Equal Justice Works Fellowship housed at API Legal Outreach. My self-designed fellowship project aims to provide direct legal services to the Greater Bay Area's large and growing low-income Filipino immigrant population. I speak English, Tagalog, and French, and am conversant in Cebuano. I became a member of the MHF Board as an extension of my work in the Filipino community." 9/18/06
Laureen has a Law degree from UCLA School of Law, and undergraduate degrees in Economics and Sociology/Anthropology, from Swarthmore College.
Joined MHF 2006

Dawn Mabalon Professor, SF State University

Joined MHF 2003
Advisory 2005

Bruce Occeña — Program Director, Department of Public Health

Former Director of Treatment Access and Community Substance Abuse Services of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Bruce was part of the original team for the International Hotel struggle 30 years ago. Today he brings a wealth of experience in the operations of non-profit service agencies as well as City-funded mental health and substance abuse programs.
Joined MHF 2001

Dioscoro R. Recio — Job Developer, SF Vocational Services

“My grandfather and father walked up and down Kearny Street and their legacy is with me as we ensure the rise of the International Hotel and the importance of the Manilatown Center.” Roy is also a member of the Veterans Equity Center; Excelsior Action, Group; and United Playaz Gang Prevention. A former Eagle Scout Troop 510, Watsonville, Roy earned his BA in Journalism at Humboldt State University
Joined MHF 1998

Al Robles — Community Coordinator, Self Help for the Elderly

"This is my life...the manongs…Manilatown, the I-Hotel.” Historian and poet Al Robles has dedicated his life to community organizing. Through oral history, poetry, and “talk-stories,” Robles continues to bring generations of diverse peoples together. His activities ranged from coordinating poetry readings for inmates in San Quentin to organizing intergenerational Barrio Fiestas in the South of Market to capturing oral histories at the International Hotel. Robles is an accomplished poet who has been featured in several publications, including the Liwanag anthologies, Volumes I and II. His book of poetry, Rapping with Ten Thousand Carabaos in the Dark, was published by UCLA Asian American Studies Press. He has received many honors for his writing, including being recognized as one of the Poet Laureates by the San Francisco Public Library in 2002. He is a board member of the International Hotel Senior Housing, Inc. and West Bay Multiservices. He currently works as an Organizer for Self Help for the Elderly and was the founder of the Manilatown Senior Center. Al is also involved with Pilipino Writers, Kearny Street Workshop, JAM Workshop, and CANE; and created the Oral History Papers; Literary UCLA (Archives); Council of the Arts, and made his Manilatown Manongs Poetry Dissertation at the University of Hawaii; and honored in a multi-media exhibit and website Inspiration of Al Robles (alrobles.manilatown.org).
Joined MHF 1996

Ken Songco — Associate Director, AACE Educational Services

Ken earned his BA in Psychology, at UC Santa Cruz 2001, and a Certificate of Completion in Tagalog, Palawan, Philippines 2000
Joined MHF 2005

Desu Sorro — Library Web Services, SF Public Library

“Manilatown was a hope for a better life; and it will be again with the new Manilatown Center. I first came to Manilatown in the early 70s because my father was a tenant at the I-Hotel. What I found there was a place that allowed me to explore my identity — not just a place for me to learn where I came from, but also to dream of where I might go. With the I-Hotel as a catalyst, Manilatown became a place were the community, manongs and young people — a microcosm of different kinds of people who had come to work for a better world — were respected and their dignity could not be taken from them. I envision the Manilatown Center again being that kind of focal point, where a young person can find what their community means to them and what their part is in it.” Second generation San Franciscan, Desu has been attending civil rights rallies since he was a toddler in the 1960s. In his early teens he began working with the International Hotel tenants doing maintenance, lightconstruction and cooking for Sunday brunches. He now works for the San Francisco Public Library managing an online directory of community information and maintaining the Library's website.
Joined MHF 1999

Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales — Professor, SF State University

“Learning about the I-Hotel changed my life. Teaching about the I-Hotel keeps me alive.” Allyson is also a member of Pin@y Education Partnerships, and the Filipino Community Center; earned her BA in Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley, and a PhD in Education at UCLA
Joined MHF 2003
Advisory 2005

José Toledo

Former Tenderloin District Coordinator for the San Francisco Neighborhood Safety Partnership. He served as a LISC Americorp Intern at Resources for Community Development, and as an intern at Grassroots Institution for Fundraising Training. Jose was a member of the Filipino theater group Teatro ng Tanan and served as the set designer for Pearl Ubungen Dancers and Musicians "Fall of the I."
Joined MHF 2002
Staff 2005

In Memoriam

Dixon Campos

Rubin Luchica

Bill Sorro — 1939-2007 "Being a member of MHF allows me to be a part of building an important institution in the I-Hotel and Filipino Community." A native San Franciscan and former tenant of the International Hotel, Bill Sorro has been a civil rights and affordable housing rights activist for over 30 years. Sorro served as a trade unionist for 25 years and was a founding member of Ironworkers for Union Democracy #378 in Oakland, California. He retired from the Mission Economic Housing Development Project in 2001. He is on numerous boards, including the Veterans Equity Center, the Kearny Street Housing Corporation, the International Hotel Senior Housing, Inc., and the CCSF Education in Action. He is a member of several advocacy organizations including Filipinos for Affirmative Action, Filipino Civil Rights Advocates, and United Pilipino Organizing Network, and co-chair of Bernal Heights Pre-school Committee. In 2001, Sorro was given a SOMA Koshland Committee Award. Bill is also a member of the Sailors Union of the Pacific, and the Iron Workers International Union. Featured in KQED's American Family Portraits: The Sorros, awarded the KQED API Heritage Local Hero Award 2005; Neighborhood Excellence Initiative Award, Local Hero 2007; and honored in a multi-media exhibit and website A Serving of Love: The Passion of Bill Sorro (billsorro.manilatown.org).
MHF Founding Member

In honor of Bill Sorro, San Francisco's Manong Street Sheet, October 2007.
Remebering Bill Sorro. Leland Wong photographs of Bill Sorro's Celebration of Life, September 29, 2007
Filipino American activist Bill Sorro died of cancer. Stories in Action, September 28, 2007
Bill Sorro has passed on, but his monument is the International Hotel SF Chronicle, September 26, 2007
Remembering community leader Bill Sorro. September 26, 2007 PinoyPod ChroniclePodcasts | 14:03 min : 11.84 MB
Mourning the passing of Manong Bill. Manilatown Blog, September 6, 2007
Bill Sorro, presente! A tremendous footprint on peoples' lives and their collective struggles. SF Bay Guardian Online, September 5, 2007
Bill Sorro – Presente!: Beloved I-Hotel, Labor and Asian American Community Leader Passes On. BeyondChron, September 4, 2007
Bill Sorro, ¡Presente! Portside, August 29, 2007
Bill Sorro Presente! Longtime San Francisco Movement Leader Leaves Tremendous Legacy of Struggle. Educational Justice, August 28, 2007

Jeff Trinidad
Born and raised in San Francisco, Jeff attended public schools including San Francisco City College. He was involved in student government on campus and founded Pilipinos for Education Arts, Culture and Empowerment. Jeff transferred to the University of Hawai'i in 2003. He was also active in Asian and Pacific Islander political involvement, the Veterans Equity Center, and Teatro ng Tanan where he developed his passion for poetry, set design, lighting and sound.

Etta Chung
Henrietta "Etta" Lai Chung lived in International Hotel in the mid-1970s and experienced the trauma of the forced eviction in 1977. After the International Hotel was razed, Etta became a member of the International Hotel Citizens’ Advisory Committee. She was also a board member of the Kearny Street Housing Corporation.

Benjamin Abarca
Joined MHF 1998

Anna Alves
Anna is currently assisting with event-planning, programming and development work as MHF's Program Coordinator. She has worked with Bindlestiff Studio and La Pena Cultural Center in the Bay Area and Fil Am ARTS and 18th Street Arts Complex in Los Angeles. Formerly Program Manager at the Asian Pacific Fund, and was a Program Associate in the Media, Arts and Culture unit at The Ford Foundation. Anna also has taught Filipino American history, culture and literature courses at UCLA. Anna earned her BA in English and History and an MA in Asian American Studies at UCLA. In addition, she is a published writer of short stories and review essays.
Joined MHF 2003
Staff 2005

Rolando Barlaan — Architect
Joined MHF 1998

Caroline Cabading — Multimedia Developer, GSA
Joined MHF 2003

Cleotilde Dacut-Cabrera
Joined MHF 1998

Harvey Dong PhD
Joined MHF 2002

Irene Estrada
Joined MHF 2005

Nelly Go
Joined MHF 1998

Barbara Jane Reyes
Joined MHF 2005

Erin Dawn Garcia Pasaporte
Joined MHF 2005

Belvin Louie — Information Technology Manager, PG&E
Belvin works with Manilatown because, “It's the right thing to do.” Also a member of the Korean Youth Cultural Center. Korean Community Center East Bay
BA Management
Joined MHF 2001

Marco Garcia — Graphic Designer
Joined MHF 2001

Nelly Go

Marie Romero

Christina Shauf — Student Services Resource
Also a member of Enterprise for High School Students; Search to Involve Pil-Ams, Pilipino American Alliance BA Social Welfare, UC Berkeley
“The legacy of Manilatown and the I-Hotel represents our struggle to live; surviving in culture, community wellness and the challenges that face us.” Joined MHF 2003