Filipino American educators

WHEREAS, Senate Bill 5865 was passed by the Washington state 1
legislature in 2019, permanently making October of each year Filipino 2
American History Month; and 3
WHEREAS, In a celebration held in Washington, D.C. on November 3, 4
2024, American history was enriched when three Filipino leaders of 5
the Farm Workers labor movement, Larry Itliong, Peter Velasco, and 6
Philip Vera Cruz, were inducted into the Hall of Fame of the United 7
States Department of Labor; and 8
WHEREAS, Washington state is home for over 185,000 Filipinos, the 9
fifth largest population in the United States; and10
WHEREAS, Washington state is the locale of historic cities for 11
Filipino-Americans, including Wapato, Auburn, Bainbridge Island, 12
Bremerton, Pateros, Seattle, and Tacoma; Seattle is the location of 13
the national office of the Filipino American National Historical 14
Society; and 15
WHEREAS, It is imperative that Filipino American youth and Asian, 16
Pacific Islander, and other members of our diverse communities 17
celebrate the work and contributions of professional educators to our 18
state and country; and 19
WHEREAS, Filipino American educators have made invaluable and 20
lasting contributions to public education and other fields of 21
instruction in the state of Washington; and 22
SENATE RESOLUTION
8635
By Senators King, Fortunato, Hasegawa, and Torres
p. 1 8635
WHEREAS, Washington state is the home of legendary educators 1
of Filipino ancestry, including Dr. Manuel Rustia, Dr. Roy 2
Flores, Dr. Fred and Dorothy Cordova, Val Laigo, Professor Rose 3
DeGracia, Cesar DeGracia, Peter Bacho, Dr. Pio DeCano II, Andres 4
Tangalan, Judith Savedra, Robert Flor, Zenaida Crisostomo-Slemp, 5
Lee Noble, Zavic Batarao, Dr. Third Andresen, Devin Cabinilla, 6
Benjamin Dar, Dr. Michael Castillano, Genevieve Fernandez, Dr. 7
Anthony Ogilvie, Robert Sotelo, Rick Baldoz, Evelyn Velasco, and 8
many others. They represent teaching excellence in the fields of 9
business, K-12 and higher education instruction, nursing, arts 10
and literature, educational administration, and Filipino 11
American Ethnic Studies; 12
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Senate of the state 13
of Washington hereby recognize and urge the citizens of the 14
state of Washington to celebrate the valued contribution of 15
Filipino-American Educators to the state of Washington during 16
Filipino-American History Month in October of 2025, and 17
thereafter; and 18
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution shall 19
be forwarded to Rey Pascua, Emeritus Commissioner of CAPAA, to 20
Maricres Castro, Immigration Committee of the City of Tacoma, to 21
the National Office of the Filipino American Historical Society, 22
and to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for distribution 23
to public schools and libraries, to historical societies and 24
civic organizations, and to Asian and Pacific American 25
Communities. 26
I, Sarah Bannister, Secretary of the Senate, 27
do hereby certify that this is a true and 28
correct copy of Senate Resolution 8635, 29
adopted by the Senate 30
March 26, 2025 31
SARAH BANNISTER 32
Secretary of the Senate 33
p. 2 8635