Filipino American National Historical Society – Metro New York Awardees 2025 | Photo by Troi Santos
NEW YORK — The Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) Metro New York Chapter held its annual awards ceremony on Sunday afternoon at the Queens Museum, celebrating extraordinary Filipino Americans whose work in education, the arts, health, and community leadership continues to shape Filipino American history. The event marked Filipino American History Month under the national theme “From Colonists to Communities: Filipino American Migration and Movement.”
Ninety years ago, the 1935 Philippine Repatriation Act tried to erase Filipinos in America, offering “free” one-way tickets back to the Philippines during the Great Depression. But only if they promised never to return. The Manong and Manang generation resisted. They organized, spoke the truth, and fought back, and the act failed. Thirty years later, the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act broke racist quotas, opening the doors for Filipinos and other Asians to migrate, reunite with family, and build the vibrant multigenerational communities celebrated today.
These intertwined histories remind us that when the Filipino American community comes together, it does not merely survive—it transforms the future and reshapes nations.
2025 Outstanding Artist Award
The Outstanding Artist Award was presented to Abang-Guard, the Filipino artist duo Maureen Catbagan and Jevijoe Vitug. Their multidisciplinary practice explores immigration, labor, and visibility. Their solo exhibition Makibaka at the Queens Museum, on view through January 18, 2026, reimagines the 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair pavilions to reflect on Filipino American labor history and the spirit of Makibaka, meaning “to struggle together for change.”
“Our collaborative name Avant Garde is simultaneously a play on avant-garde and the Tagalog word ‘abanté,’ which translates as waiting or watchful.”
“We met as security guards in a metropolitan museum, and we used our occupation and our art practice as one.”
“Being physically present and standing guard at sites like the Memorial of Queens and Stockton is a way to honor our manongs and families, to witness and hold them in perspective of their struggles.”
2025 Distinguished Young Professional Award
The Distinguished Young Professional Award went to Clifford Robin Temprosa Li, founder and CEO of Dare Change Consulting, a firm supporting Asian-led nonprofits. Robbins’ father, Richmond Robbin, accepted the award on his behalf, sharing that his son has continued his community-building work in the Philippines.
“He’s been in the Philippines since July, he likes it there now.”
“I came here in the early 2000s. I was 19. You know the feeling of coming here to work hard for your children to have a better life, only to find out he wants to stay there.”
“He’s helping NGOs there now, and it’s his birthday tomorrow, so this award is definitive of his birthday, which actually he’s celebrating today in Poblacion.”
2025 Bayani (Hero) Award
The Bayani Award honored Potri Ranka Manis, a Filipino-American artist, tradition-bearer, and activist from Mindanao, descended from the Maranao Sultanate. She is the founder of New York’s Kinding Sindaw Heritage Foundation and a resident artist at La Mama ETC, where she fuses ancestral storytelling and dance with contemporary performance. A NYFA/NYSCA Folk Art Fellow, nurse, and healer, she created R.A.N.K.A. (Resilient Ancestral Nurturing Knowledge and Arts) and led the #ILOVEYOURENYMASK campaign. After surviving an anti-Asian hate crime, she joined the NYC Mayor’s Asian Affairs Advisory Council.
“Receiving this award is not just a personal honor, it is a call to action.”
“In the 1980s, I had to leave the Philippines fast because I was in the newspaper that I was wanted. I finished nursing while being guarded to go to school.”
“We didn’t come here for nothing. Our country is one of the richest in the world. But why do we have to find an economic solution outside our country and suffer?”
2025 Contributions to Excellence Award
Originally from Cebu City, Philippines, Rena O. Pedaria migrated to the U.S. in 2004 as part of a cohort of Filipino teachers recruited by the NYC Department of Education. A former biostatistician with degrees from the University of the Philippines and City College of New York, she now teaches mathematics. She serves as president of the Association of Fil-Am Teachers of America (AFTA). Through programs like Paaralan sa Konsulado, Balikturo, and Adopt-a-School, she empowers Filipino-American youth and educators while promoting cultural pride, education, and community service.
“This honor is not mine alone. It belongs to all who serve with compassion, teach with purpose, and uplift others through quiet acts of love.”
“Our story as Filipino Americans is one of courage, of those who left the Philippines in search of better lives, carrying dreams in their hearts and values in their souls.”
“To be a servant leader means to lead by example, to listen, to give, and to shine hope when it’s needed most.”
2025 Contributions to Excellence Award
Lisa Angulo Reid is the co-founder and CEO of Dear Flor, the first Filipina-owned cannabis company producing vegan gummies inspired by Filipino flavors like ube, calamansi, and buko pandan. A former marketing executive, she also created 100 Ways to Filipino, a platform celebrating Filipino creativity and identity worldwide. Through her work, she champions cultural pride, representation, and generational impact.
“Culture without knowledge of history is just an artifice. Culture without history reduces our people to a mere trend.”
“Filipinos first came to this country in 1587, created the first settlement in Louisiana before the U.S. was even a country.”
“Because of FANHS, I know that my kids and the next generation of Filipino Americans will know where we came from and where we’re going.”
2025 Contributions to Excellence Award
Dr. Michael Menor Salgarolo is an award-winning historian with a PhD from NYU, specializing in Asian/Pacific/American Studies, particularly early Filipino American communities. He publishes academic research and adapts it for K–12 students through the NYC DOE’s AAPI curriculum, Hidden Voices. He also founded Unassimilated, a walking tour company focused on Asian American history, co-founded the Filipino pop-up restaurant Greenhills Diner, and performs in the Banana Ketchup Comedy Show.
“I didn’t want to just write it into scholarly articles. I said, why not turn this into a walking tour?”
“I really had no idea if people were going to show up on a Saturday morning to hear about Filipino history on the Brooklyn waterfront.”
“By telling this history, I hope it gives us inspiration to fight for dignity, for an end to imperialist violence, and toward the downfall of corrupt autocratic rulers everywhere in the world.”
2025 Lifetime Achievement Award
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Noel Pangilinan, a leading educator, writer, and editor advancing Filipino and Filipino American studies in the U.S. He directs the Philippine Studies Minor Program at the University of Mount Saint Vincent and serves as a senior editor at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. A Columbia Journalism Fellow and Jack R. Howard Fellow, he has taught at top universities, developed the first Filipino course for healthcare students, and organized major cultural commemorations championing Filipino heritage and community empowerment across the Filipino diaspora.
“It is a great honor to be recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award by such a prestigious and highly respected institution.”
“Those who do not look back at where they came from will never reach their destination. We must keep on looking back to our past so that we can build a better future.”
“This award is not just about me. It is a recognition of the urgent need for us to act as cultural bridges linking our Filipino legacy to the present and future generations.”
This October, FANHS Metro New York reminds us:
We don’t just celebrate culture, we honor history.
We honor the organizers, laborers, caregivers, activists, storytellers, and survivors whose courage built the foundations we now stand upon.
We honor their fight, their dignity, their victories.
Because their struggle is our strength.
Because their story is our story.
Because their fight gave us a future.
