While raising the flag of the Philippines in downtown Aurora Friday was a historic moment, Abigail Tiu-Kemph had a history lesson of her own.
The woman of Filipino descent, who recently opened Leilani Asian Fusion restaurant in downtown Aurora, said there is a reason there are so many women from the Philippines who are nurses.
At one time, Americans came to the Philippines to train nurses there to treat American soldiers who would be stationed and fighting there. That was as far back as 1899, she said, and is the reason so many Filipinos have gone into nursing since then.
She said many nurses in hospitals that treated COVID-19 during the pandemic were Filipino.
“Many of them died for it,” Tiu-Kemph said.
That was one reason she called Friday’s flag-raising, a recognition of the Filipino-American community in Aurora and the Chicago area, “a very significant moment.”
“To actually be seen,” she said, at times breaking up during her speech. “We have done so much for the American culture.”
The flag-raising was the 14th Aurora has done for various communities in town, the last of the year, and the first time for Filipino-Americans. It was timed to be on Oct. 18, because it was on that day in 1587 that Filipinos first set foot on the American continent, in what today is Morro Bay, California.
As is always the case, Clayton Muhammad, a senior mayoral aide and chief communications officer at the city, stated the reason for the flag-raising in One Aurora Plaza in front of North Island Center.
“Because our cultural communities belong here,” he said.
The importance of Friday’s event was underscored by the people who attended.
Lou Ella Rose Cabalona, of Chicago’s premier Filipino folk fusion band SamaSama Project, flew in from New York City early Friday morning. She sang the Filipino national anthem, and presented Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin with a new CD from her group titled “The Great Filipino Songbook,” made up of songs from Filipino composers.
Also attending was Kayla Tejero, who grew up in Aurora but has gone on to become an international performer and model. She graduated from Aurora University with a degree in nursing, and was the winner of the first Aurora’s Got Talent program in 2012.
She sang the American national anthem at Friday’s event.
She was one of six recipients of the Pearl and Excellence Awards Irvin gave out during the event. The Pearl part of the awards is an acronym for Pinoy, Excellence, Aurora’s, Resilience and Leadership, and is a nod to the Philippines being known as the Pearl of the Pacific.
Also winning the Pearl awards were: Tiu-Kemph; Veronica Leighton, publisher and chief editor of VIA Times Newsmagazine in Chicago; Mark Taghap, the city of Aurora’s chief information security officer; Lynda White, owner of Dance Fuze Studios in Aurora whose mother is Filipino; and Rick Guzman, executive director of Aurora-based The Neighbor Project.
Guzman’s father also was singled out during the event, a longtime North Central College professor who came to America from the Philippines.
“This is for you, Dad,” Guzman said, holding his certificate aloft.
slord@tribpub.com