Sacramento region is a magnet for Filipinos

By Stephen Magagnini and Phillip Reese
Last weekend, the Kapit Bahay Association celebrated its grand opening in true Filipino style.
A Filipino priest, the Rev. Vic Teneza, blessed the club's new headquarters inside Seafood City, a mega-shopping center on Mack Road in south Sacramento that draws 3,000 customers daily.
They feast at Filipino fast-food giants Jollibee, Chowking and Red Ribbon or the Filipino grill inside the gleaming Seafood City supermarket. They buy plane tickets at Mango Tours, send money home through Filipino banks and consume stacks of free Filipino American newspapers.
Framed by an American flag, more than 25 Filipino community leaders feasted on roast pork, pancit (thread-thin noodles) and bibinka (flour rice cakes), and capped off the celebration with "My Way," "Let Me Be There" and other karaoke classics.
They hope that Kapit Bahay, which translates as "Neighbor's House," can become an umbrella for the more than 60 local organizations spawned from Sacramento's surging Filipino population.
At 41,500, Filipinos are now Sacramento County's largest Asian ethnic group. Drawn by the region's burgeoning health care industry and relatively affordable housing, they have arrived by the thousands over the last decade, eclipsing the region's 39,000 Chinese. Another 15,000 mixed-race residents identify as part-Filipino.
Generally affluent and well-educated, Filipino immigrants have flowed seamlessly into Sacramento and its suburbs. They're making their mark on the region's churches and hospitals, and have added Filipino flavor to the local food scene.
Many come with nursing degrees, cash for homes and cars, a strong Catholic faith, and a desire to share their culture and good fortune.
Ingrained in the culture is the Tagalog principle of bayanihan, or "being a hero to someone else," explained Joseph Monteagudo, an Elk Grove businessman who works to fight poverty in the Philippines. "We strive to be good neighbors, and to know all of our neighbors."
Teneza, who is pastor at St. Paul Catholic Church in south Sacramento, said his parish is now 80 percent Filipino. "They're the biggest donors," he said. "They share because they can."
The newcomers are well-educated – roughly 40 percent of the region's Filipino adults have at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 30 percent of all area residents, according to U.S. census data. The area's full-time Filipino workers earn about $45,000 a year. A quarter are health care workers, and 8 percent are registered nurses who make an average of $95,000 a year.
Many are transplants from the Bay Area or Los Angeles who bought in the area's newer neighborhoods in North Natomas, Elk Grove and Rancho Cordova. About 4,700 Filipinos, two-thirds of them from the Bay Area, moved to the region in 2005, at the height of the housing boom.
"We buy elephant homes, cameras, cellphones, cars – all the latest version," said Mena Domondon, a Filipina finance manager for the state Department of Motor Vehicles. "We came here to enjoy life but also to make money. We strive very hard."

Nursing is family affair

Their biggest impact is in health care – especially nursing, a signature profession in the Philippines. About a third of Sacramento's nurses are Filipino, said Zenei Cortez, co-president of the California Nurses Association. "A lot of them go into nursing because somebody in their family's a nurse," said Cortez, a Filipina who followed in her aunt's footsteps.
Sacramento also has Filipino doctors, licensed vocational nurses, nursing assistants and lift teams to move patients.
You can find plenty of Filipinos working on 4-East, the medical-surgical floor at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Sacramento. Among them are registered nurses Rey Chatto and his wife, Ivy, both 34.
The couple and their 8-year-old daughter, Renee, epitomize Sacramento's new wave of Pinoys, or Filipino immigrants.
In 2007 they moved from Los Angeles to Elk Grove, where Filipino immigrants now make up 8 percent of the population. After bunking with a Filipino nurse for a few months, they bought a 3,700-square-foot, five-bedroom home in Elk Grove for $530,000.
They plan to host relatives, "and some time in the near future, brothers and sisters from the Philippines can stay with us," said Rey, who has the pool table ready.
Their typical summer day revolves around the medical center, where Ivy, clad in pink scrubs, works a 6:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. shift in urology. At 3 p.m. Rey arrives, hands off Renee, puts on his blue scrubs and works as an orthopedic nurse until 11 p.m.
The secret to Filipino nursing success, Rey said, "is you have to be patient. And I don't know how you could be a nurse if you don't have a genuine love for people."
Ivy and Rey were afraid they would be bored and lonely in Sacramento. "But we were wrong. We love the outdoors, and Sacramentans are more polite than Los Angelenos, especially behind the wheel," Rey said.
Both grew up on tropical southern islands in the Philippines. Rey met his wife in nursing school on the island of Bohol, where he was raised. Ivy is from Cotabato on the island of Mindanao. "People walk a lot faster in Manila," Rey said.
"We couldn't afford Spam or fresh milk. We all drank powdered milk," Ivy said. "Here, we eat steak."
"And she cooks a mean chicken adobo when she feels like it," Rey added.

Strong Catholic ties

They shop at Seafood City, which makes Sacramento feel just like home. The giant supermarket anchors the Filipino-friendly mall.The market overflows with Asian delicacies – exotic fruits like durian, jackfruit, rambutan and custard apples. There are plenty of oysters and giant tables of fresh fish. The Chattos stock up on pompano, tilapia and milkfish, Renee's favorite.
They each send $300 a month to relatives back home.
BPI Express, one of the remittance companies in Seafood City, funnels $8 million a year to the Philippines from Sacramento, said manager Mary Mastrili.
The couple also gives at St. Joseph's Church in Elk Grove, where they have befriended other Filipino families.
About 85 percent of Filipinos are Catholic, and Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto recently met with 100 area Filipinos, asking them to assume a greater leadership role in the Sacramento diocese.
"I came here in 2007 and was quite frankly startled by the size of the Filipino community and how involved they were," said Soto. "They're very talented, skilled people."
Soto encouraged them to engage in local charities and to find ways to keep youth involved in the church through volunteer work.
"I need them to step up in these areas, and I know they can do it because I hear stories of what they do back home," said Soto.
More than half a dozen area churches are heavily Filipino, including 65 percent of the 4,000 families at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Elk Grove. Divine Mercy in Natomas is 80 percent Pinoy.
"We have two Tagalog masses – one at Divine Mercy and one at St. Clair," said the Rev. Cesar Ageas, Filipino liaison for the Sacramento diocese. Tagalog is the most widely spoken of more than 100 dialects spread across the Philippines' 7,107 islands.
Filipino clergy are playing a critical role in the future of a church struggling to find new priests. There are 36 Filipino priests in the diocese, out of 220. And 17 of the 36 seminarians are Filipino.
"The support from the family to become a priest or nun is very strong," said the Rev. Paul Gumapo, Sacramento's first Filipino priest. "It's a joy, a blessing and a point of pride. There's sort of a competition among families."

'One heart, one mind'

As their numbers grow, Filipinos are looking to unite their many island groups and strengthen their collective influence. California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon are among Filipino Americans who have risen to positions of power."Filipinos are now coming out in politics. Politics is the bread of life right now," said Violet Sykes of the Filipino-American Association of Greater Roseville.
At the Kapit Bahay Association's coming-out party in Seafood City, Teneza told the group that Filipinos will better serve themselves – and the rest of Sacramento – "if we learn to unite and be of one heart and one mind."
Kapit Bahay will allow them to join forces to provide job training, wellness seminars and other services, said Lilia Rivera, president of the Filipino Community of Sacramento.
To start raising money for a community center, they auctioned off the prized head of a roast pig. Then they heated up the karaoke machine.
Rick Pasolo, who with his wife, Margie, runs a DJ and karaoke business, sang a soulful rendition of "After The Lovin' " and "Damdamin," which means "Feelings" in Tagalog.
"Filipinos love karaoke. Give them a microphone and they'll never give it up," Rivera said.
"Filipinos love everything," Pasolo corrected.