For Over 50 Years, PAMANA Has Been the Glue that Has Kept the Filipino Community Together: Keeping Filipino Culture Alive (Part 2 of 2)
Above: Board members of PAMANA
Below: Rollie dela Cruz (l-r), Ernie Jamandre, Vhanie Teggatz, Mary Kerr, Omar Dumdum
by Jonathan Gramling
The term PAMANA has a duality of meaning for the Filipino organization that carries its name. PAMANA stands for Philippine-American Association of Madison and Neighboring Areas. But in the Tagalog language, the major Filipino language used in The Philippines, Pamana means heritage or legacy. And that is fitting given PAMANA’s mission to keep the Filipino culture alive for young people of Filipino descent who may not have the opportunity to spend time in The Philippines with relatives.
PAMANA got its start back in 1984.
PAMANA is a very culture oriented organization that focuses on the needs of its members in terms of education and carrying on the traditions.
“The children who were born here didn’t know the history of the Philippines,” said Ernie Jamandre who has been involved with PAMANA since its inception. “We taught them to do dances and Filipino songs and their cultural heritage. Not all of the children could go to The Philippines for the summer and stay with relatives. Right now, I think the organization is revitalizing the cultural aspect by doing the folk dances and the choir led by Omar and the ladies here. We normally do The Philippine Independence Dinner Dance every year, mostly at hotels or Monona Terrace. It depends on the administration if it wants a Philippine Independence Dinner Dance or a summer picnic.”
It is also important to maintain the connection to the homeland, The Philippines, and offer whatever assistance she needs.
“The Philippines is always hit by typhoons and storms,” Jamandre said. “We always think about our fellow Filipinos back home. The Philippines was devastated by flooding after a typhoon. And the community here raised some money to send over there. In fact, we sent one of our presidents, Janet Jordee, because we collected around $12,000 at that time with the help of the FASO students too. They had an operation for the fishermen and they gave a lot for basic needs like oil and rice. So we are also thinking about them during the calamities. There are, on average, 20 typhoons per year.”
It is increasingly important o members of PAMANA to be more visible in the community at large. Part of that involvement opens the door to fundraising.
“Our usual fundraising consists of volunteer activities like Brat Fest and Iron Man,” Oscar Dumdum said. “Christmas is pretty big for Filipinos and it’s the time of giving, so starting around 2010, it also became a fundraiser for the scholarships.”
It is important for the members that PAMANA and Filipinos make their presence known.
“One of our key areas is for us to be visible in the community so that people feel the presence of the Filipinos,” Rollie De la Cruz said. “We need to be involved in the community through different activities. We are representing the Filipino culture. The only way is for us to go out and be part of the greater community. And we are sharing our heritage and culture with the whole community. they are quite surprised that there is an organization for Filipinos in Madison, not just the Filipino community, but also the other Asian communities. So when we introduce ourselves, we tell people we’ve been here since 1984. We have been here for 40 years. And they say, ‘Really?’”
“We’re trying to reach out to the community and be part of events like the Willy Street Fair,” Vhanie Teggatz said. “We were involved in the parade. That’s the best way that we can reach people out there who are not really familiar with PAMANA. Being in the public, showing that we are here is one way of exposing our culture. One other idea I suggested is we should reach out to the community by being on TV. PAMANA is reaching out to TV stations. We encourage them to join us and inform them that we have events like the Christmas Party and Mother’s Day.”
PAMANA is self-conscious about having a presence beyond Madison’s borders. One vehicle for that has been Filipino American Awareness Month
“One program that we also focused on was the celebration of Filipino American History Month,” Dumdum said. “There was no organization that spearheaded that celebration here in Madison and it should be us. Last year, we decided that we should have some activities for October for Filipino American History Month. We set up an exhibit in two libraries, one in the central library and another one in Rock County in Edgerton. We’re not just the Madison area, so that is one way to also reach out to members outside of Dane County. There are a lot of Filipinos who came by and said, ‘Oh it’s good that you came to us.’”
There is no guarantee that the interests of the Filipino community will automatically be taken into consideration, so PAMANA feels that it must be visible in order to be heard.
“In the long term, I really want to know the history of Filipino migration in Wisconsin, De la Cruz said. “There are no records. There is nothing that has been written about that. UW-Madison has the expertise in Filipino history. You have Dr. Al McKoy here. We’ve been talking with Dr. Juan Fernandez, a new professor in history as well, who could help us with all of this stuff. Another issue we are focusing on right now is the termination of the Filipino Language Program at UW-Madison. It’s been offered for the past 50 years and just like that, it’s getting terminated. They don’t even know the history behind that. Why was there a Filipino Language Program 50 years ago? These are some of the issues we are grappling with right now. We have to let them know that there is a Filipino community here who are affected by some of their decisions. We have to be very proactive now in making ourselves visible here in Madison.”
With all of the things and events that are going on, one would think that it had a paid staff. But it is all volunteer driven.
“I just want to share that with all of the activities that we are doing, the board members volunteering their time, it’s actually our way of expanding the organization to the people who are not members, but are still volunteering their time,” Mary Kerr said. “We’re grateful that there is a lot of people who are really giving us their time, energy and financial contributions, but are not even recognized on the board. Some of them are doing everything. I want to thank everyone and we are grateful for that.
And even the success and growth that PAMANA has been experiencing has presented problems.
“One of the challenges that we faced when we are doing the Christmas Party is the venues that we previously used can no longer accommodate the number of attendees anymore,” Kerr said. “Fortunately, we found a venue that can accommodate us, but we need to find a place that can accommodate more this year. With all of the fundraising activities that we are doing, it’s not just about making money. It’s also to share and pass on the culture to the new generation.”
It is the people who make PAMANA what it is a cultural organization with heart.
