{"id":7222,"date":"2021-05-08T07:10:59","date_gmt":"2021-05-08T17:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=7222"},"modified":"2021-05-09T03:03:12","modified_gmt":"2021-05-09T13:03:12","slug":"californias-new-attorney-general-the-filipino-american-with-the-golden-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2021\/05\/08\/californias-new-attorney-general-the-filipino-american-with-the-golden-story\/","title":{"rendered":"California\u2019s New Attorney General: The Filipino American with the Golden Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

by Emil Guillermo

<\/em>Rob Bonta?

People around the country better get to know Bonta who is now officially confirmed as the first Filipino American Attorney General of California.

Good timing, I\u2019d say. Just when the focus in the news has drifted from Atlanta to Boulder, to Indianapolis, here comes Bonta as California\u2019s top law enforcer, and example of impeccable timing. But that has always been part of Rob Bonta\u2019s story.

Of late, the post has become a lucky political steppingstone. Bonta replaces Xavier Becerra, who recently became the first Latino to head of the Department of Health and Human Services in the Biden Cabinet. And of course, Becerra replaced Kamala Harris, who went on to the U.S. Senate and then became the first woman of color to be the nation\u2019s vice president.

In politics, that AG spot in California is a good gig to get an even better big.

One of those \u201cfirst to be—\u201d gigs.

When Governor Gavin Newsom made the nomination a month ago, I said that Bonta, a highly qualified Asian American of Filipino descent, had been launched into a new political orbit.

If you know Bonta\u2019s story, you knew it was going to happen at some point.

The guy\u2019s got a golden story.

At the introduction of Bonta to the media, Newsom talked about how Bonta, 48, went from rural California to Yale, then Yale Law, forcing the governor to quip, \u201cYou sense the overachiever in him. I didn\u2019t even mention the year in Oxford, uh, not my path to this podium, his is very different but a remarkable journey.\u201d

Newsom has known Bonta for a long time from Bay Area politics (Bonta worked in the SF City Attorney\u2019s office before he ran for office). But Newsom may not have chosen Bonta were it not for a concerted community effort from a coalition of Filipino groups in the state, like Stockton\u2019s social justice group, Little Manila Rising.

Filipinos around the country also took note of the moment.

\u201cIt\u2019s a very big deal,\u201d said Mona Pasquil, a veteran Filipino American politician who served as the 47th and acting lieutenant governor of the state. \u201cHe\u2019s the top law enforcement position in the state, a constitutional office.\u201d

Theodore S. Gonzalves, former president of the Association for Asian American Studies, put an even finer point on the history of it all.

Gonzalves recalled the words of Filipino American author Carlos Bulosan, who once wrote: \u201cI feel like a criminal running away from a crime I did not commit. And the crime is that I am a Filipino in America.\u201d

\u201cFilipinos faced horrible living and working conditions, especially during the Great Depression, when Bulosan and many others from the Philippines arrived in the United States,\u201d said Gonzalves.

\u201cImagine what he\u2019d think about a Pinoy being named California\u2019s top law enforcer. Bonta\u2019s appointment as Attorney General is history-making. As he takes on the role, he should continue to take inspiration from generations of Filipino American activists, organizers, and workers who\u2019ve been working for peace and justice for decades.\u201d

All of that isn\u2019t lost on Bonta.

After Newsom\u2019s introduction from the podium at San Francisco\u2019s I-Hotel\/Manilatown Center, Bonta began with a sense humility.

\u201cI stand here because of so many people who come before me,\u201d he said.

Of course, he meant all those previous generations who paved the way for a guy like him, but he also meant his mother and father, Cynthia and Warren. His mother had been at the I-Hotel in 1977 to help organize tenants in their historic eviction battle.

But that\u2019s just part of what I call his \u201cgolden story.\u201d Bonta was born in the Philippines but his parents immigrated to America to escape the growing power of martial law dictator, Ferdinand Marcos.

Bonta\u2019s family moved to California\u2019s Central Valley, where they lived in a trailer in rural Keene, near Bakersfield, close to one of the trailers Cesar Chavez lived in. Bonta\u2019s mom and dad were UFW organizers who worked alongside with Chavez. Bonta acknowledged that his upbringing among those involved in the farmworkers\u2019 fight for justice sparked his dream to become a lawyer.

And now here he is, the top lawyer in the biggest state with the most Asian Americans in the country.

It\u2019s a \u201cSi Se Puede\u201d story with a Filipino glaze in the golden state. But his accomplishments in the last 12 years as a no-nonsense, for the people, legislator have also been noteworthy, mostly in terms of making the criminal justice system fairer for everyone.\u201cMy fight is your fight,\u201d Bonta said at the announcement event.

Bonta said he promised to use the power of his office, and the bully pulpit it signifies, when it comes to hate crimes against Asian Americans.\u201cOne of the most hateful things about the hate crimes against the API community is that they had seemed to be swept under the rug. No one cared that those lives and those people weren\u2019t valued. I valued them. I see them,\u201d said Bonta.

\u201cThe rhetoric we use as leaders is critical. Just look at what the rhetoric of the former occupant of the White House with the biggest megaphone in the planet did. It led to the murders of API people, the reductionist devaluing of Asian Americans throughout this nation is using words like \u2018Kung Flu\u2019 and \u2018Wuhan Virus\u2019 and \u2018China Virus.\u2019\u201d

So just as the whole country is discovering its lack of knowledge about Asian Americans and our history, here comes Bonta to make some of his own.\u201cAs we see the tragic and horrific rise in hate crimes against our API siblings throughout the nation, I can\u2019t help but think about a photograph of a sign from a hotel lobby in 1920s Stockton that I have in my office,\u201d Bonta said.

\u201cIt says, \u2018Positively No Filipinos Allowed.\u2019 Throughout California history so many of us have felt the sting of hate and discrimination. I have. I know many of you have as well. Too many of you, Asian, Latino, Black, Native American, LGBTQ, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, so many of us have been targeted and attacked because of who we are, where we\u2019re from, and who we love. But that hate has not defined who we are or what we can achieve.\u201d

If it sounds like he\u2019s revving up his golden story for a campaign, it\u2019s because there\u2019s only a year before he has to think about the next election.

But as California\u2019s AG, he\u2019s in the political sweet spot of the day.

It reminded me a little of 2010, when then San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris chose to run for attorney general. Look what\u2019s happened 11 years later.

In 11 years, Bonta will be only 59. Having been born in the Philippines may limit his options, but his future seems bright. And if he continues as he\u2019s done in his no-nonsense way, who knows how far he could go.

Filipinos nationwide have been looking for someone to emerge since Ben Cayetano was governor in Hawaii. Keep your eyes on Bonta.

He\u2019s a young Asian American politico ready to lead the fight for justice in the most Asian state in the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n


EMIL GUILLERMO<\/strong> is a journalist and commentator.\u00a0 In Hawaii, he was a columnist at the Star Bulletin and on the editorial board of the Advertiser. He vlogs at <\/em>www.amok.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n


Read more from Emil Guillermo:<\/strong>
<\/em>Asian American Filipinos United Against Hate?<\/a>
Biden Shines a Light on Filipino Asian American Fears; What Took Everyone So Long to Notice?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Emil Guillermo Rob Bonta? People around the country better get to know Bonta who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[29,20],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?fit=731%2C1024",731,1024,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?resize=150%2C150",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?fit=214%2C300",214,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?fit=640%2C897",640,897,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?fit=640%2C897",640,897,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?fit=731%2C1024",731,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?fit=731%2C1024",731,1024,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?resize=731%2C800",731,800,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?resize=731%2C570",731,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?resize=600%2C900",600,900,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?resize=600%2C600",600,600,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?resize=512%2C715",512,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?resize=407%2C500",407,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?fit=731%2C1024",731,1024,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?resize=540%2C285",540,285,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?resize=375%2C250",375,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Candid Perspectives<\/a> Featured<\/a>","tag_info":"Featured","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Rob-Bonta.jpeg?fit=731%2C1024","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7222"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7223,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7222\/revisions\/7223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}