Progressive Youth of Morong in America: “Honoring a Legacy”… 100 years later
/
Progressive Youth of Morong in America Constituional Convention in 1958
On Saturday, August 15, 2026, Progressive Youth of Morong in America (PYMA) in San Francisco, California, will be celebrating its 100th Anniversary. The founders and early members of PYMA have passed on but their wisdom is ingrained and rooted in the landscape of today’s Morong Community in the United States. In this momentous occasion, descendants will be honored and introduced as a fitting tribute to their fathers, grandfathers, and uncles for their endearing and inspiring legacy.
I am honored to pay tribute to the founders and members of the PYMA who 100 hundred years ago had the vision to form this organization. With a profound sense of pride and humility, as stewards, my fellow officers and I carry their banner of what PYMA is all about: one revered organization that breathes and defines the true meaning of compassion, humility and generosity. History has been inscribed on when during the early 1920s, young men from Morong, Rizal, Philippines, migrated to the U.S. in response to the call for labor. Some worked on the farms of California, Oregon, and Arizona. Some worked in maritime, some joined the military, and a few pursued higher education. In the late forties, many of them settled in California where they raised their families, a few returned home to practice their professions.
Those who chose to work in the farms played a significant role in the growth of “bread baskets” in parts of northern, central, and southern California, particularly along Santa Barbara county, Delano, and Salinas Valley. Significantly, they were part of farm workers during the labor movement led by Cesar Chavez and Filipino labor leader Larry Itliong calling for improved working conditions, better pay and benefits. The gains from their sacrifice contributed to the cornerstone of the unifying farm labor movement that spread to spectrums of society.
As they built their families in the late forties, efforts were made to formally set the stage for recognition of PYMA as a viable organization: incorporated in the State of California in 1951 and can be considered one of the oldest Filipino organizations in California and in the U.S. Area branches were formed —San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Maria, and Guadalupe, including folks from Delano and Salinas; they held conventions with family picnics in Guadalupe during Labor Day weekend—chicken barbeque and tri tip worth ‘dying for’, cooked to perfection. Lots of vegetables and fruits for everyone to enjoy and take home. I remember fondly those times, summer picnics, and Christmas parties too, traditions embraced by generations of kababayans that followed.
These early kababayans left home but carried the imprint of the town. They visited home, gave back, sharing the fruits of their labor with their families, friends, schools, and the town, among them donations of schoolbooks, scholarships for deserving students. That music stand in the center of the Town of Morong, we all refer to as Glorietta, was donated by PYMA in 1928. The Glorietta is but a distant memory yet its iconic presence is embedded in the heart and soul of the Morong people everywhere, a symbol of unity and friendship among generations of Moronguenos, now invisible yet vivid in the memory of succeeding generations of Moronguenos.
Noteworthy is the organization’s progress from a male-dominated membership to accepting women for membership and leadership roles in the election of Mrs. Felicidad Evangelista as the first female president serving in 1997-1998, followed by several female officers and leaders.
As Filipinos, we take pride in the contributions of those early migrants who set the landscape for us to realize our dreams and aspirations away from our native land. In our journey let us honor their legacy together— shoulder-to-shoulder, heart-to-heart! ■
Normita Feliciano Fenn, PYMA president, studied journalism at UMASS-Amherst, graduated with MBA in Marketing at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, former president of GGU Alumni Assn. and volunteer editor of newsletters. She resides in Concord, California, email: normitafenn@gmail.com.
