60 Years Later - 1965 Grape Strikes – Delano Manongs: They Set the Stage For Everything
“Many of them died unmarried, childless and alone.
And when they were buried, they took with them a labor legacy that was scratched out of the vineyards of the Coachella Valley.
They were the Filipino grape pickers who 40 years ago called a strike against vineyard owners that spread north to Delano and helped spark the national farm-labor movement.
"They set the stage for everything," said Paul Chavez, son of the late Cesar Chavez, founder of what became the United Farm Workers. "Nobody showed the kind of conviction these men did."
-September 4, 2005 | Press-Enterprise, The (Riverside, CA) | LEEZEL TANGLAO | Page A01
That was the lede to a story I wrote in 2005.
Larry Itliong. Philip Vera Cruz. Pete Velasco.
The stories of the Manongs are even more relevant than ever.
This is the story that keeps giving.
Twenty years ago, I was looking to do a story about Filipinos in the Inland Empire.
As a rookie reporter in the early 2000s at the Press-Enterprise, I wanted to go beyond a story about a cultural fair or day. I wanted to report something deeper than that.
After taking Asian American Studies classes as an undergraduate at Loyola Marymount University and being exposed to the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), I knew the community had some history in the IE that hasn’t been reported widely.
Thanks to a tip from then UCR History PhD candidate Christian Trajano, I followed up on the story of the Filipino farm workers who went on strike in the Coachella Valley in 1965 which later sparked and set the stage for the Delano Grape Strike which led to the formation of the United Farm Workers union and a national labor movement.
I’m thankful to my editors at the Press-Enterprise back then who gave me the time and support to report this A1 enterprise story out for at least 6 months. As a metro reporter, I couldn’t just drop everything to do this one story since I still had to cover school board, city council and planning commission meetings on a daily and weekly basis. So I worked on this story little by little and aimed to have it published Labor Day weekend in a prime Sunday front page centerpiece spot.
I took several trips down to La Paz and Delano and had the opportunity to speak to Manang Dolores Velasco, wife of Pete Velasco and also interview Paul Chavez, the son of Cesar Chavez. Thank you Marissa Pulido and Mark Pulido for letting me tag along with you during one of these trips to Agbayani Village and 40 Acres.
Mark Pulido, Gloria Pulido, myself and Mark Calaguas at Philippine Weekend festival in Delano, California on October 19, 2024.
Lonnie Patubo, Marissa Pulido and myself at “Bold Step: A Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Delano Grape Strike” on Sept. 6, 2025 in Delano, California.
I collaborated with my then Press-Enterprise colleague Lys Mendez to interview Maria Serrano in Spanish, a Latina farmworker who worked the fields with the Filipinos during that time.
I wished I had saved the metrics of the story when it was published but the impact of this story still continues year after year especially during milestone anniversaries like today.
I still remember the Latina elementary school student who wrote me a snail mail letter asking for more information about the Filipino farm workers as she was working on a report on Cesar Chavez but wanted to include them in her report but couldn’t find much information about them.
The story also won first place for best cultural/diversity 2005 story over 50,000 circulation award from the Society of Professional Journalists Inland Southern California Chapter.
And I just found out recently that this short film by Joe Virata is based on parts of my article:
Joe Virata and I at “Bold Step: A Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Delano Grape Strike” on Sept. 6, 2025 in Delano, California.
Serendipitous Connections Keep Happening
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go back to Delano for the 60th anniversary of the strikes. The actual day the Filipinos went on strike was today, September 8, 1965.
It was a good complement to this trip with 2024’s milestone anniversary for the 50th anniversary of the building of Agbayani Village. It’s where I also reconnected with two people I interviewed, Paul Chavez and Doug Adair.
I reconnected with Paul Chavez at Philippine Weekend festival in Delano, California on October 19, 2024. It was also the 50th anniversary of the Agbayani Village. I interviewed Paul in 2005.
I reconnected with Doug Adair at Philippine Weekend festival in Delano, California on October 19, 2024. It was also the 50th anniversary of the Agbayani Village. I interviewed Doug via phone in 2005. So this was the first time I met him in person.
A few months later, Mark Calaguas and I also ran into one of the speakers during another completely different trip in Seattle at Tai Tung restaurant. Chris Braga helped to build the Agbayani village, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in October 2024.
He told us more stories and gave us a poster of the manongs - prints he had intended to leave at the local union but happened to be closed that day - which in turn, really meant for us.
Had we made it in the area earlier, we would not have gone into Tai Tung and would not have reconnected Chris in the most Filipino way - not wasting food and sharing - because sayang.
Christian Paiz and I at “Bold Step: A Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Delano Grape Strike” on Sept. 6, 2025 in Delano, California.
And this weekend, I met Christian Paiz, who is an assistant professor of comparative ethnic studies at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of “The Strikers of Coachella: A Rank-And-File History of the UFW Movement.”
A few months ago, I discovered this book and ordered a copy. I haven’t had a chance to read it fully but I was glad to see more passages about the Filipinos involved in the Coachella strikes.
As we spoke during lunch on Saturday, he asked if I knew Maria Serrano - the same Maria Serrano in my 2005 story. He also interviewed her for his book and informed me she recently passed away at 95.
Full Circle Moments Continue
Today, I currently work at the news organization, The Dallas Morning News - which used to own the Press Enterprise – The A.H. Belo corp, now Dallas Morning News corp. It’s truly full circle.
This story reminds me why stories like this matter and even more so today.
I’m so glad to see so many more multimedia stories from Marissa Aroy’s Delano Manongs to Larry the Musical are tackling telling the stories of the manongs.
Stream Delano Manongs: https://www.pbs.org/video/kvie-viewfinder-delano-manongs/
Larry the Musical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CgJDQOgRn8
But our work here is not done. There are so many stories left to tell about this lost generation who sacrificed so much for a better future and life.
Being around the places where these historic events took place only confirmed to me why we need to keep telling these stories to the next generation so the memories of Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, Pete Velasco and all the other manongs involved do not fade away.
Lastly, I'll quote Christian Paiz from his book’s introduction:
“History often sits among forgotten peoples.”
It is up to us to make sure they are not forgotten.
We can do that by continuing to tell their stories - yesterday, today, everyday.
Makibaka!
Dare to struggle!
Huwag matakot!
Without Fear!