Parol on the roll with Planning

I took a day off from my work in order to lead another parol making workshop with the staff of the San Francisco Planning Department. It was initiated and coordinated by Carla de Mesa (she/her), Senior Community Development Specialist, Community Equity Division of San Francisco Planning.

For my opening remarks and introduction to the genesis of Parol Festival, I highlighted the connection of parol and community development and how SoMa Pilipinas became a Filipino Cultural Heritage District.

The participants are planners and staff of the San Francisco Planning and they could relate to what I was about to share.

I showed the first logo of the parol festival, and I was wearing our original hoodie with this logo: inside a parol is a house being carried by people.

Yes. This is a true story. When the Borja family sold their property, Delta Hotel, on the corner of Mission and Sixth, which was heavily damaged by a fire in 1997, one of their conditions was to rename it Bayanihan House, a four-floor affordable housing, and Bayanihan Community Center on the street and lower level.

For the rehabilitation of the former hotel into an affordable housing and a community center, public hearings were held to generate community and government support.

In one of those hearings, I remember vividly, when the word Bayanihan was used as an issue to oppose the project. The speaker pointed out that name is hard to pronounce, he does not know the meaning, and it is not in the English vocabulary, hence, it was unacceptable to have a building with Bayanihan name.

I was hired as consultant by the Filipino American Development Foundation (FADF) to develop the service plan, needs assessment, and business plan for the Center.

In 2003, Bernadette Sy, the Executive Director of FADF, daughter of the former owner of the Delta Hotel, Dr. Mario Borja, approached me for a plan to a have a "soft opening" in December for the funders, donors and supporters for the Center.

I broached the idea of a parol festival, and the late Msgr Fred Bitanga, pastor of St. Patrick's Church, a member of the Board, and a good friend of the Borja Family, gave the blessings for the parol event and have it connected to the Simbang Gabi/Misa de Gallo tradition of the Church.

Aha. This is making South of Market (SoMa) a plaza. A church, community centers, community rituals, and Bayanihan.

Bayanihan Community Center has become the corner stone of strengthening the community. Parol making and parol festival have become our expression of bayanihan; a community working together for a cause or project.

The words Bayanihan, Kapwa, Parol are now getting accepted, recognizable, and are included in the language of the people even in America.

Save the date: December 10, 2022 Parol Lantern Festival at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.