SENATE RULES COMMITTEE SR 120
Office of Senate Floor Analyses
(916) 651-4171
THIRD READING
Bill No: SR 120
Author: Cabaldon (D)
Introduced: 6/18/26
Vote: Majority
SUBJECT: Filipino American History Month
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This resolution recognizes the month of October 2026 as Filipino
American History Month.
ANALYSIS: This resolution makes the following legislative findings:
1) Filipinos and Filipino Americans have been contributing to California and the
United States for hundreds of years, ever since October 18, 1587, when the first
“Indios Luzones” set foot in Morro Bay, California, on board the Nuestra
Señora de Buena Esperanza, a Manila-built galleon ship captained by Pedro de
Unamuno of Spain.
2) During World War II, approximately 200,000 Filipino soldiers battled under the
command of the United States Armed Forces to defend the United States and
the Philippines against the aggression of the Japanese occupation.
3) The history of labor rights in California intersects inextricably with Filipinos,
where in the first decades of the 20th century, thousands of Filipinos worked in
agricultural fields throughout California. They worked in cities and regions
such as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the central coast, the City of Salinas,
the Imperial Valley, the County of Orange, the Inland Empire, the Cities of
Delano and Bakersfield, the Coachella Valley, and the San Francisco Bay area.
They played a vital role in California’s growth and economy, often facing tough
working conditions and low wages. Despite these struggles, they demonstrated
resilience and built a legacy of mutual support, organization, and strikes to
establish farmworker union rights.
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4) Filipinos have long stood on the front lines of labor and civil rights struggles,
demanding to be recognized as human beings, not second-class labor. These
moments show that history is not written by presidents or lawmakers alone. It is
built from the ground up by workers, veterans, and communities who refuse to
be silent.
5) The Filipino American population is currently the second largest Asian
American and Pacific Islander group in California and the third largest Asian
American and Pacific Islander group in the United States.
6) Like other immigrant groups, Filipino American immigrants have transformed
the United States through social justice, health care, education, technology, arts,
and community care. Filipino American immigrants have also contributed
significantly to building communities, strengthening the United States
economy, enriching the nation’s cultural fabric, and advancing movements for
labor rights, racial justice, and immigrant equity.
This resolution recognizes the month of October 2026 as Filipino American
History Month.
Related/Prior Legislation
HR 65 (Caloza, 2025) – Adopted in Assembly.
HR 102 (Caloza, 2026) – In Assembly Rules Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 6/23/26)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified 6/23/26)
None received
Prepared by: Hunter Flynn / SFA / (916) 651-4171
6/24/26 14:17:34
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