Daly City Councilor Ron Canepa
Daly City Councilor Mike Guingona
DALY CITY, California — The election for San Mateo County’s District 5 seat is not happening till June of 2016, but two incumbent Daly City council members are already positioning for the Filipino vote, including that of Daly City Mayor Ray Buenaventura.
Councilmembers David Canepa and Mike Guingona, both also former mayors of Daly City, are eyeing the post currently held by Supervisor Adrienne Tissier, whose four-year term ends next year.
Daly City, where more than 55 percent of residents are Asian, is one of the biggest Fil-Am enclaves in the United States. Along with Colma, Brisbane, unincorporated Broadmoor and a portion of South San Francisco, it is part of San Mateo County’s District 5.
On two separate occasions last week, Manila Mail had the opportunity to sit down with Canepa and Guingona, who have served together on the Daly City council for seven years but have known each other longer. Canepa was first elected as a councilmember in 2008, while Guingona became the first FilAm to be elected to the Daly City council in 1993 and the city’s first Filipino mayor three years later.
Asian face
As a favorite of the Fil-Am community, Guingona inspires dreams of finally having an Asian face on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.
A team of Fil-Am supporters joined Manila Mail’s meeting with Guingona. They were: Daly City’s Planning Commissioner Ray Satorre and Bradley Roxas, former library commissioner; Walter Batara, Association of Abuluguenos founder; Philippine News publisher Francis Espiritu; and Joseph Otayde, Jefferson School Board trustee.
“We are gathered here today to express our full support for Mike Guingona,” Satorre announced during an informal caucus January 28 at the Doughnut House in Daly City.
“If he gets elected, he’ll be the first Asian, not only Filipino (San Mateo County supervisor). It’s high time that we prepared for that. Mike is the only qualified and viable candidate.”
It’s not going to be an easy ride, however, because the Fil-Am community is divided on its politics.
“Daly City has elected two Filipinos (Guingona and Buenaventura) for the last 25 years and now they don’t even meet eye to eye. It’s unfortunate,” Satorre said.
The planning commissioner, who runs a staffing agency for healthcare professionals, hopes to reunite the community in order to ensure a sweeping victory for Guingona in the coming elections.
“We are the biggest ethnicity here in Daly City and we are not solid or united. We have to correct this malady. Some people are riding on this, especially those aiming for higher office. It is about time that we elect a Fil-Am for supervisor in our district that includes Daly City, our community. We cannot wait another 12 years to elect a Filipino.”
Despite the seemingly tense situation, Guingona dismisses rumors of animosity within the Daly City council.
“There’s no animosity,” he told Manila Mail. “I continue to do my job. I got passed up for the mayorship the last time and then passed up again. It’s clear to me that they don’t want me to lead in Daly City. I can’t speculate on why they did it. I just know they did it twice. [But] I have no animosity towards anyone on the council. You can check my record and see the way I operate. The problem that you might see as far as getting along is from other people. I’m on 22 years, I’ve dealt with a number of different people [but] I’ve never been treated this way.”
“There’s dirty politics happening in Daly City,” said Satorre, who was appointed by Guingona to join his cabinet twice. “But what’s coming up is very crucial for us. We fought for this. It is ingratitude really to be saying that Mr. Guingona hasn’t done anything for the Filipino community.”
Apart from Satorre, Guingona has appointed a two other Fil-Am leaders to various city positions including Buenaventura and Dorie Paniza.
For Otayde, it was time for the size of the Filipino population in San Mateo County to be recognized.
The sons and daughters of the immigrant generation have grown, he said. “They’ve gone to UC Berkeley, they’ve gone to UCLA – they are professionals, your lawyers, doctors, pharmacists. There’s no longer a need for us to get some kind of commission or anything like that. We can be the leaders of our own people – Filipinos leading Filipinos, one of the largest demographics in San Mateo County.”
Otayde challenged Filipino voters to take an activist stance.
“Do you just want to be a puppet? Or do you actually have a voice? Do you actually go against the grain and say, ‘hey, this districting you’re doing is wrong and as much as you badmouth us we’ll fight ‘cause we know what’s right.’ Sometimes you have to have an opposing view. Sometimes you have to fight. Sometimes you have to do what’s painful in order for people to see the truth. And now is the time while we have the momentum, while you have this generation, while you have these people. We’re willing to fight.”
Canepa: Fil-Am ties go far back
Meanwhile, Canepa was excited during the January 28 meetin, noting that supporters have raised $53,000 for his campaign.
“I come to you today extremely excited. For the past year, as many of you know, we’ve been running for the Board of Supervisors. So far we’ve raised – and no one else has opened up a campaign committee, I know there’s been a speculation about candidates running – to date we’ve raised $53K. We have over 60 endorsements,” he told Manila Mail.
Like Guingona, Canepa has not officially announced his candidacy yet.
“We’re still fundraising. I am running for the Board of Supervisors. We’re going to do an official kickoff party, but I am a declared candidate.”
Ethnicity aside, what would make Canepa worthy of the Filipino vote?
“Mayor Buenaventura and I were instrumental in making sure that the Filipino flag (was raised] at City Hall for the celebration of Philippine Independence Day [June 12 last year). This happened for the first time in the history of Daly City,” he said.
“Deputy Consul General Jaime Ascalon of the Philippine consulate and I put it together. I thought it was extremely important since Daly City is the home of the Filipino community.”
Canepa considers the endorsement of Buenaventura crucial to his campaign.
“Mayor Buenaventura’s endorsement is extremely important. When Ray won the city council race, he was the top vote-getter. It talks about not only his strength in the Filipino community but within the Daly City community in general.”
When asked to comment on the rumored hostility among councilmembers, he answered: “Whenever I look [into] an issue, it’s not on personality. It’s always on what’s best for the city. I don’t have anger towards anyone. But I look at what do we do on issues that are important to move this city forward. So to any sort of reference that there’s animosity, no, I respect them because they earned their positions. If you look at the council on issues, 99 percent of the time, we agree. I try not to get in the weeds ‘cause when I do that, I’m not serving our community. Two, I get into some negative headspace.”
He went on to praise Guingona, whom he described as very gentlemanly, and emphasized his goodwill: “I’m not a divider, I’m a uniter. I got nothing but love for this council.”
Why is the Filipino vote important to him?
“As many of you know, the Filipino culture has been with me for a very long time. My cousins are half-Caucasian, half-Filipino. My mom’s two brothers married Filipinas. I grew up on pancit and balot. My relationship with the Filipino community is not just predicated on yesterday, five years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, having snacks such as lumpia – it goes far back indeed.
“Why is the Filipino community so important here in Daly City? The community service they give. When we rally around causes such as PBRC (Pilipino Bayanihan Resource Center) for typhoons, when we do those fundraising efforts, when we come together collectively, those are the things that make this community strong and united.
“As an elected official, that sort of commitment gives me inspiration. It [makes me] realize that anything is possible. Daly City has the largest population of Filipinos, second to Honolulu. A lot of people don’t realize there are different events that take place within the Filipino community that are so impactful.”
Ibarrientos, who serves as PBRC chair apart from the planning commission, is one of Canepa’s supporters. “When David asked me to support him, I said yes. I will make true to my promise,” she told Manila Mail.
Aspirations
If elected to San Mateo County’s Board of Supervisors, Guingona promises to tackle redistricting issues.
“The birthplace for this thought of [district] elections, must be really specific, it’s the north county, the Daly City is the Filipino community. That’s who came up with this idea that needs more representation. I’m uniquely aware of the efforts for district elections. As you all know, I spoke in favor of district elections. After Measure B, we fought to draw the right lines. They still didn’t give us the lines that we wanted. We learned a lot from that lesson: we need to get our voices out there to be heard,” he said.
Canepa, on the other hand, intends to have a FilAm on staff.
“Let me tell you what I’m going to do. Day one, when elected to the board of supervisors, I will have several staff positions and you’ll be guaranteed a Filipino American on that staff. That’s for sure, and you could put that on the record.”
Canepa counts the opening of Sprouts supermarket and the Top of the Hill street re-design project as among his achievements so far. He also represents Daly City on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and sits as vice-chair on the transportation authority.
“I think my regional service prepares me for this [Board of Supervisors] job. I just got elected to the BAAQMD. We handle all the air quality issues [including the] Spare the Air days [program]. That sort of regionalism – that gets me started on day one.”
But the biggest hurdle to Canepa’s election might just be the color of his skin. As a minority, Guingona is likely to win many sympathy votes.
To which, Canepa said: “I think Martin Luther King Jr. said it best: Judge me by the content of my character, not by the color of my skin.”
“I will tell you because I know this community – whether you’re Filipino, Latino, Irish, Italian, African American, this community is one of the most diverse communities in Northern California. And I believe that they’re going to make their decision based on the words of Martin Luther King.”