White House Celebrates Filipino American History Month - 2015

The White House Initiative on AAPIs and the White House Office of Public Engagement hosted the first-ever White House Celebration of Filipino American History Month

Billy Dec, member of the President’s Advisory Commission on AAPIs, moderated a panel with Filipino American trailblazers, which included Cristeta Comerford, the first Filipino American White House Executive Chef; Apl.de.ap, Co-Founder of the Black Eyed Peas; Cassie, singer; Geena Rocero, model and founder of Gender Proud; Jo Koy, comedian; and Ronnie del Carmen, Co-Director of Pixar Animation Studios. The speakers highlighted how they have blazed the trail in their respective fields, and recognized the role that their families – especially their mothers – played throughout their experiences.

From the White House blog:
The Celebration kicked off with remarks by Jason Tengco, Deputy Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), and Mel Orpilla, President of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), who highlighted FANHS’ efforts in 1991 to recognize October as Filipino American History Month for the first time. Jason then surprised Mel and FANHS Executive Director Dorothy Cordova with a special message from President Obama:

.@POTUS honors the struggles, contributions & victories of Filipino-Americans. #WhiteHouseFAHM pic.twitter.com/DKM10wRY59

— White House AAPI (@WhiteHouseAAPI) October 2, 2015

With the executive chef of the White House, Chef Comerford. Had a great time with @billydec @cassie @jokoy @reynosojess Ronnie Del Carmen for the #FilAm #WhiteHouseFAHM Thank you!

A photo posted by Apl.de.Ap (@apldeap) on Oct 4, 2015 at 7:52pm PDT

#FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth with team @apldeap @lianev and more! #FAHM2016 #WhiteHouseFAHM 🇵🇭🇺🇸 📷| @roslynnc

A photo posted by White House AAPI (@whitehouseaapi) on Oct 24, 2016 at 8:29am PDT