California city names 3 streets after Filipinos

CALIFORNIA, USA – A city in California’s Bay Area has made history.

Alameda Councilmember Stewart Chen has announced that streets in the new housing development at the city’s Alameda Landing area have been named for building phases 1, 2, and 3.  Three of the streets will be named after Larry Itliong, (Itliong  Lane), Philip Vera Cruz (Vera Cruz Lane), and Bohol Circle, Inc (Bohol Lane).

“This is a ‘first’ in the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Councilmember Chen. “No other moment in history, but now, could this have been possible. Today, we have a Filipino American Assembly Member in our Assembly District 18, Rob Bonta, and two Filipinos in the Alameda City Council: Tony Daysog, a Filipino Japanese American and myself, a Chinese Filipino American. The Filipino community can count on us serving, supporting, and representing Alamedans.”  

This historic event will be the center of numerous celebrations in the Alameda Filipino Community in the following months, specially during Filipino American History Month in October.

The development may be traced back to April this year when John Knox White of the Alameda Planning Board issued an open invitation for Alamedans to participate in adding to a list of possible street names for new streets in Alameda that “honors (and) remembers folks from across the diverse communities of our city.”  

With some help from Alameda School Board Member Nielsen Tam, the call reached individuals in Alameda’s multicultural community.

“It is a matter of being inclusive. You know the history of your culture in Alameda and I want to honor it,” Tam said.

The names of Itliong, Vera Cruz, and Bohol made it to the short list of 16 proposed street names for Alameda Landing approved by the Planning Board on April 29 and submitted to the Historical Advisory Board who approved the list on June 5.

On September 4, Chen, who submitted the name of Bohol Circle and who is most ardent in his support for approval of  Filipino street names, made inquiries regarding names chosen for streets in Alameda Landing’s Phase 1, 2 , 3. He found out that Itliong Lane appeared on the completed Phase 1 Street map and Vera Cruz Lane appeared on the completed Phase 2 Street Map.

Meanwhile, Phase 3 had not yet been completed, with only two more streets to be named. It was at this point that the Councilmember requested that a street be named Bohol Lane. Immediately Bill Sadler of Tri Pointe Homes, one of the developers, gave the order to name one of the two remaining streets, Bohol Lane.

On September 22, the Alameda Landing Residential Developers (Catelllus and Tripointe Homes) went to the Planning Board with the last two names.

Ellie Luis – born, raised, and current resident of Alameda – wrote to the Historical Advisory Board: “Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz represented and fought for the rights of the farm laborers. In Alameda, the number of Filipino farm laborers was quite high – my father being only one – in the years prior to and after World War II, moving well into the 60s.” 

“Inviting city folks to participate in naming their city streets is a very enlightening process,” said Cynthia Bonta, who participated in submitting names that reflected Filipino history and culture. “The process is often rough sailing, but if we bear in mind that our world is diverse and respect that, we will be the richer for it.” – Rappler.com