PinoyBuilt — Stories of Filipino America

Vallejo, CA • August 2026. Maligayang Bati, Mama Helen! HBD. mama helen birthday, elenita baluyut garcia, tess perseveranda family, valencia bukidnon, st basil vallejo, filipino grandmother tribute Mama Helen's Birthday • August 2026 Maligayang Bati, Mama Helen! HBD A birthday letter to my mother-in-law, Elenita "Mama Helen" Baluyut Garcia — and a 2007 photograph from Vallejo I still smile at every time I find it. Vallejo, CA, November 2007 — after Mass at St. Basil. Left to right: Mama Helen, Tess carrying Chesca, Bebot and Rowena. Standing in front, all smiles: Jian and Nica. Maligayang Bati po, Mama Helen! Happy birthday. Somewhere in Valencia, Bukidnon today, I'm guessing the table is full — most of your apo are there, and I know my three musketeers, Nica, Chesca, and Jian, wouldn't have missed it for anything. I wish I could've made the trip too. Since I couldn't, I wanted to give you this instead: a pa...

Marikina Philippines Chicago USA 1976. August 19 Filipino immigration anniversary. Northwest Orient Airlines Manila Chicago Filipino American migration story Perseveranda family OFW diaspora. DIASPORA MEMOIR • AUGUST 1976 August 19: The Day We Left the Philippines A nine-year-old boy, his Lola, and his sister walk across a Manila tarmac — toward Chicago, toward their parents, toward a new life. Fifty years later, the journey still shapes everything. Manila International Airport (MIA), August 19, 1976. Lola Rosita, Joy, and Jonjo — three generations, one tarmac, one leap of faith. Photo by Tito Sonny (Marciano Perseveranda Jr.), who had airport access through his work at PAGASA. Every August 19, I go back to that tarmac. I am nine years old. My Lola Rosita has our papers. My sister Joy is beside me, probably already calculating whether she would be carsick before we ever reached Chicago. And somewhere ahead of us is a Northwest Orient j...

Advance HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mama Helen! By J.F.R. Perseveranda This #OnThisDay flashback takes us to August 12, 2002 , when my eldest daughter Veronica — a proud second-generation Filipina-American born and raised in Vallejo, CA — just got home from cousin Ethan's birthday party in Fairfield, CA. Mama Helen was staying with us in Toni Ct. and would be celebrating her birthday in a few days. Advance HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mama Helen! Looking back, this photo is more than just an image — it’s a chapter in our family’s history. It’s a reminder that our stories are worth preserving, sharing, and celebrating, especially as Filipino-Americans raising the next generation. Do you have a family flashback photo to share? Join the Pinoybuilt.com community and keep our heritage alive online. For more reading: Asian Americans in the United States - Pew Research Center Vallejo Sister City Association ...

Mom & her eldest granddaughter July 20, 2004. Vallejo, CA, USA Nati & Nica Join us & help build a Fil-Am online community. Please leave a comment, and  click to follow our website  www.pinoybuilt.com. Join one of our sites in California: Los Angeles , Sacramento ,  San Diego , San Francisco ,  San Jose  or Vallejo . Click on a tag below to browse.  

Thanksgiving 2023 Benicia, CA. November 23, 2023. Mga apo ni Ronaldo at Lualhati. Grandkids. Please click to follow our website/blog PINOYBUILT.com .

The retired nurse & the granddaughter following in her footsteps Thanksgiving 2023. Benicia, CA. November 23, 2023. Nati is my mom's nickname. Her first name is Lualhati . Chesca's first name, Francesca, was chosen by her mom (which happened to be on my short list). Since I had given my first two kids three names (since I had three names JFR), Chesca's full name was supposed to be ' Natalia Joy Francesca .' Chesca was supposed to be my JF! 😁 Natalia was for my mom, and Joy was for my sister. But at the last second, I dropped the 'Joy' so it's not on her baptismal certificate. So Chesca, I named you after two nurses. And you're still my JF. That's why you're so awesome. 😂 Please click to follow our website/blog PINOYBUILT.com .

Family photo with my maternal grandmother Lola Amparo.   My parents' house in Vallejo, CA. Left to right: Ronnie, Joy, Lola Amparo, Nati, Jonjo

My guardian angel since July 23, 1978.

I got connected to a Baliwag cousin on Facebook recently. Jean Jimeno Villanueva and I are second cousins.  Our maternal grandmothers, Amparo and Consuelo , were Baliwag sisters.  Their parents, our great-grandparents pictured above, were Cristino Baliwag Sr. and Frisca Naval Enriquez . The funny thing was that I was already connected to Jean's mom, auntie Rory Villanueva , on Facebook.  She had added me a couple of years ago, but we had never chatted. To make it easier to connect to the Baliwag clan , I created a Facebook group of course since none existed.  It gets tricky when you go into the third and fourth generations down a family tree, and there are so many surnames to know. Uncle Renato Baliwag Jimeno Sr.  added me on Facebook in July 2019.  Here's the family tree he sent me last year in 2020 The Baliwag Clan: Cristino Baliwag Sr. married Fresca Naval Enriquez.  They had nine children. Jose Baliwag married Ellen Baliwag. Pilar Baliwag mar...

Flashback: Malate, Manila 1999 with my maternal grandmother This should be November 1999, either right before or right after Tess and I got married in Bukidnon.   Happy Birthday in heaven Lola Amparo!  Happy Valentines Day!