🇵🇭 BE THE STORY — Announcing Fil-Am CAG’s 141-Day Campaign for Independence Day Through Filipino-American History Month
Hampton Roads, VA — June 12, 2026. One hundred twenty-eight years ago today, in a balcony in Kawit, Cavite, Emilio Aguinaldo unfurled the Philippine flag for the first time and declared the Philippines free. Today, in Hampton Roads, we unfurl that same flag — and we declare something else.
BE THE STORY
128 Years. Your Chapter Starts Here.
Why this campaign. Why now. Why Hampton Roads.
Filipinos didn’t arrive in America. We’ve been here.
In 1587 — 33 years before the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock — Filipino sailors stepped off the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Esperanza onto a beach at Morro Bay, California. They were the first documented Asians to set foot in what would become the United States. Our story in America didn’t begin in 1965, or 1898, or even 1898. It began in 1587.
And nowhere in America is that story being lived more powerfully right now than in Hampton Roads. The Council of United Filipino Organizations of Tidewater estimates that the majority of the 40,000–45,000 Filipino-Americans in Hampton Roads can trace their family directly to a Filipino sailor who served in the United States Navy. That makes our community the second-largest Filipino population on the East Coast — and the most concentrated convergence of Filipino identity, military service, and civic life anywhere in America.
This is not a footnote in someone else’s history. This is a chapter in the founding of this nation — and Hampton Roads is where that chapter is being written, by us, right now.
What is BE THE STORY?
BE THE STORY is a 141-day campaign from the Fil-Am Community Action Group, running from Philippine Independence Day (June 12, 2026) through the close of Filipino-American History Month (October 31, 2026). It is both a celebration and an invitation:
- A celebration — of 128 years of Philippine independence, of 439 years of Filipinos in America, of the everyday lives of our kababayan in Hampton Roads.
- An invitation — for every Filipino, every Filipino-American, every family member, friend, and ally to step forward and become the story.
Each week we’ll bring you a different rhythm of storytelling:
- 🧓 Monday — Kuwentong Kapitbahay: A featured Hampton Roads neighbor. The lola who runs the lumpia stand. The Navy chief who came over in 1985. The 17-year-old artist painting her abuela’s village. Every Monday, one of us takes the stage.
- 📸 Tuesday Throwbacks: Family photos from “the old country” — submitted by you, captioned by you. The black-and-white wedding portrait. The first apartment in Norfolk. The barong worn at a son’s promotion.
- 📚 Wednesday — What They Don’t Teach You: Filipino and Filipino-American history that didn’t make it into your textbook. 1587 Morro Bay. The Manila Galleons. Saint Malo, Louisiana, 1763. Larry Itliong and the Delano Grape Strike. Telesforo Trinidad, the only Filipino-born Medal of Honor recipient. Every Wednesday, we reclaim a chapter.
- 🤝 Thursday Bayanihan: Bayanihan is the spirit of community lifting each other. Every Thursday we spotlight a local need, a volunteer call, a neighbor who could use a hand. Including continued support for our Mindanao Earthquake Mission of Mercy.
- 📖 Friday Feature: The deep-dive story of the week, published right here at filamcag.org/news.
- 🎬 Saturday: Live event coverage, photos, and recap reels.
- 🙏 Sunday Reflection: A scripture, a Filipino proverb, a moment to breathe.
10 Community Moments You Won’t Want to Miss
The storytelling lives online. The community lives together. Mark your calendars for our 10 tentpole gatherings:
- 🇵🇭 Fri, June 12 — Campaign Launch + Flag Raising (today!)
- 🌳 Sat, June 20 — Independence Day Picnic
- 🎆 Sat, July 4 — “Two Independences” Cookout
- 🤝 Sun, July 19 — Fil-Am Friendship Day (commemorating the 1946 Treaty of Manila)
- 🧹 Sat, August 15 — Bayanihan Service Day
- 🎙️ Sat, September 12 — Kuwentuhan Night (community storytelling event)
- 🗳️ Sat, September 26 — Voter Registration Drive
- 🎉 Thu, October 1 — FAHM Launch Gala
- ✊ Sat, October 18 — Larry Itliong Day (labor & civil rights program)
- 🌅 Sat, October 31 — Campaign Closing Ceremony
RSVP and details for each event will go up at filamcag.org/events as we get closer.
How to BE THE STORY
This campaign only works if you’re in it. Here are five ways to step forward today:
1. Become a Fil-Am CAG member
Membership is the single most powerful thing you can do. It gives you a voice, a vote, a seat at the table, and a community that has your back. If you’ve been thinking about it — this is the moment.
2. Share your story
Have a kuwento (story) to share? A family photo from the old country? A lola whose voice deserves to be heard? Email us at hello@filamcag.org with the subject line “Be The Story” — we’d love to feature you.
3. Nominate a neighbor
Know a Hampton Roads Filipino who quietly makes our community better? Nominate them for Kuwentong Kapitbahay. Send their name and why you nominated them to hello@filamcag.org.
4. Volunteer
Ten tentpole events. Daily content. A voter registration drive. We need our community to make this happen. Sign up to volunteer →
5. Donate
Permits, printed materials, event venues, and our continuing Mindanao Mission of Mercy all take resources. If you’d like to fuel the campaign — or send relief to Mindanao — give here.
Follow the campaign
Daily content drops here at filamcag.org, on our Facebook page, on Instagram, and in your inbox. Use #BeTheStory and tag @filamcag when you share — we’ll feature the best community posts every week.
For 128 years we have been free.
For 439 years we have been here.
And the next chapter? That’s yours to write.
Be the story.
— Angelo Reyes, Chairman
Fil-Am Community Action Group
Hampton Roads, Virginia
🇵🇭 Mabuhay ang Pilipinas. Mabuhay ang Pilipinong Amerikano. Mabuhay ang Hampton Roads.