Journal 3: Betrayal, Class Fantasies, and the Filipino Nation in Daly City

This article discusses Philippine immigration and its effects on Filipinos and their culture. The article first introduces Daly City, the Philippine Capital of America. I was shocked to hear this, because I, being a Filipino immigrant, never heard of Daly City in my 11 years here. Based on the past readings and videos shown in class, I’m assuming Daly City Filipinos are much different compared to the ones that I’ve grown up around. Filipinos from Daly City are much more in touch with Urban styles, while Filipinos from SoCal are much more conforming to mainstream media. I think when people think of Filipinos who grew up in America, they would imagine someone from Daly City. This article describes the foundation and community that has been developed through the concentrated population of Filipino immigrants in Daly City, but goes on to describe the feeling of betrayal of these immigrants to their homeland.

There’s a sharp binary between the two beliefs of Filipinos towards others. There is a belief that

Filipino immigrants, who venture off to America to pursue a better life, are betraying their country by

putting their work in elsewhere. I have actually thought about this before. I used to wonder whether

the Philippine government was angry that so many of their people leave to different parts of the

world seeking a better life, rather than being content with the one their homeland is providing. This

article just shows that, not only am I the only to be thinking about this, but others are thinking of this

as betrayal. To me, I don’t really think it’s betrayal. Among countless others, my family and I moved

here hoping for better opportunities and I think we definitely did get that and I think that it’s

important for others immigrants, not just Filipinos, to have that chance as well. We always send back

as much financial support as we can back to our family in the Philippines and in a way I think that’s a

contribution to the Philippines as a whole. This act is outlined in the article as well and it’s just

interesting seeing things that I’ve grown up with and parts of my culture be taught in one of my

classes. That’s something I never really thought would happen.