Voting With Nica and Jian in Hiddenbrooke: Election Day, 11/3/20
Voting With Nica and Jian in Hiddenbrooke: Election Day, 11/3/20
Masks on, I Voted sticker in hand: the first election my two oldest voted with me, in the middle of the COVID pandemic. The system is not perfect. Always participate.
On 11/3/20, I voted at the Hiddenbrooke polling place near our home in Vallejo. It was the first election my two oldest voted with me. Nica was 20. Jian was 18.
That is me holding the I Voted sticker. Nica, in the middle, pulled her mask down under her chin for the photo. Jian and I kept ours on. This was the middle of the COVID pandemic.
Until the 26th Amendment was ratified on July 1, 1971, the voting age in the United States was 21. It dropped to 18 nationwide. Jian was 18 on Election Day 2020, so that amendment is why he could stand in that line.
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Halalan — ha-LA-lan
Election. Araw ng Halalan is Election Day. The root, halal, carries the sense of electing and being elected.
The System Is Not Perfect. Vote Anyway.
I love this country and I hold it accountable. Voting is one of the ways Filipino Americans do both. Vote in every election, not only the big ones, and bring your family with you.
2020: A Pandemic and a President
In my judgment, the president in 2020 failed to mitigate the pandemic. While COVID spread, he engaged in racist and xenophobic rants instead of leading. That is why I wanted my children standing in that line with me. I have written about leaving the Philippines in 1976 and watching authoritarianism rise again; this is the same argument at the kitchen-table level.
Tess passed away on 12/29/20 from COVID complications, before vaccines were available. I believe her death could have been prevented if a responsible, informed, real leader had been in the White House. That is my belief as her husband.
Vote Blue
I'm a Democrat and I'm not neutral about this: vote blue. If you already voted, text one person who hasn't.
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Founder & Editor
J.F.R. Perseveranda
J.F. (Jonjo) left the Philippines at age nine, spending a lifetime bridging the gap between his Marikina roots and his Chicago/Vallejo upbringing. A proud Hogan Spartan from East Vallejo and resident of LA/SF, he founded PinoyBuilt not just as a digital archive, but as a cultural compass for his three children to navigate their heritage, language, and identity with Pinoy Pride.
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