Son of a Dress Maker
Life and Struggle of a Foreign Medical Graduate in USA
by
Book Details
About the Book
ABOUT THE BOOK
History of the Filipino-American communities in St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay area,how they manage to organized a long lasting bond with one another that lasted from 1975 to the present time.
By joining the St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society (SPIFFS) in 1975 which consisted of several nations, we were able to show the world our culture, beliefs and our good fellowship amongs each other.
In 1993, the Philippine Cultural Foundation was incorporated and serve as an umbrella organization of various Filipino groups. The culmination of our dreams came to light when we received a grant from the state of Florida to built the Bayanihan Arts Center which is the only one build by the efforts of the Filipinos in St, Petersburg and Tampa Bay area - the only one in the United States!
About the Author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  1964 GRADUATE OF UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY MANILA, PHILIPPINES. A BOARD CERTIFIED GENERAL SURGEON AND HAND SURGEON. PRACTICED IN ST. PETERSBURG FLORIDA FROM 1973 TO 1999. RELOCATED IN TEXAS 1999 TO 2004. FOUNDER:  1975 -
THE FILIPINO-AMERICAN CLUB OF PINELLAS COUNTY, ST. PETERSBURG FLORIDA.
1978 - THE PHILIPPINE MEDICAL SOCIETY WEST COAST CHAPTER, ST. PETERSBURG FLORIDA.
CO-FOUNDER:  
1976 - THE ST. PETERSBURG INTERNATIONAL FOLK FAIR SOCIETY (SPIFFS) ST. PETERSBURG FLORIDA.
1976 RECIPIENT - KEY TO THE CITY OF ST. PETERSBURG.
1993 - THE PHILIPPINE CULTURAL FOUNDATION, INC., (BAYANIHAN ARTS CENTER) OLDSMAR, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FLORIDA.
TITLE HOLDING COMPANY
Various organizations in Tampa Bay area bundled together to form a group
PCFI INCORPORATION
ABUNDANCE
1) Grant money from the state
2) Purchase of 10 acres land
3)Building of Village and BAC
4)Apprecedented Phil-Fest Success
5) Rental Income from Bayanihan Arts Center
6) Income from various Fund Raising Events
ULTRA-CONSERVATISM
Because of the above successes, the Board of Directors starting to resist change
and becomes overly cautious.
Because of these attitudes they enter the next stage which is :
COMPLACENCY
Which they become self satisfied and contentedly comfident of their ability to govern
and resist a change of
"status quo" because of these attitudes, the next stage sets in:
APATHY
Which is lack of interest or concern to govern effectively because of self satisfaction
(Complacent)
DEPENDENCE
As years go by, the organization will depend on few sources of revenue which mainly the rental income
from the Bayanihan Arts Center and Phil-Fest. The attendance to the Phil-fest will start dwindling down and remain to:
STRUGGLE
This will continue for years and most of the original Board will be gone and only few will be alive. The second
generation of Filipino-Americans will continue the legacy and will past it on to the third generation.
This scenario is happening now with the St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society , their second
generation is in question because of the cultural diversity of its members from around the world.
SOLUTIONS TO PROLONG THE LEGACY
1) Pay-Off the Mortgage as soon as possible while we are still in the high in our
income bracket bacause
nothing will last forever.
2)Let the Second Generation take over the Organization while some of the originalv
Board Members are
still alive to guide them. The earlier the better. Do not undestimate them, they are
better than us. They use their
heads rather than their emotions. The Filipino children are well educated just like
their parents.
3) Lastly, we need endowment from deceased members to keep the organization well financed in the next Century.
4) Don't be afraid to change the status quo may it be radical or not, just change for the good of everybody.
Carlos Cruz Soriano,MD. FACAS (RET.)