Chloe B Babauta

Pacific Daily News

During its gala Saturday night, the Filipino Community of Guam announced it will donate to various local causes, including $150,000 to the Guam Museum and $50,000 to the University of Guam.

The organization’s president, Nita Baldovino, said the donations are a way of saying “thank you” to Guam for embracing Filipino immigrants who now call the island home.

“This money came from the generosity of the people of Guam,” Baldovino said. “Why keep it?”

After 62 years of flourishing on Guam, it’s fitting the organization gives this “mega gift” to the community, Baldovino added.

A majority of the funds came from selling the FCG’s clubhouse in Dededo, combined with fundraising. Filipino Community of Guam members can now hold their meetings at the museum.

“We may be going back and forth between here and the Philippines, but at the end of the day, we come back home to Guam,” Baldovino said.

Opinion: Guam Museum is new home for Guam’s history

Intertwined histories

The Filipino Community of Guam wants to have Filipinos' shared history with Guam reflected in the museum, Baldovino said.

The museum’s director, Dominica Tolentino, said there won’t be exhibits dedicated to the Filipinos' part of Guam’s history during its opening. However, the Filipino connections will be shown in the next exhibit, in Chamorro stories. Chamorro and Filipino histories are interconnected, which reflects in their stories, Tolentino said.

Baldovino said Filipino and Chamorro cultures are similar because of their shared influence from Spanish colonization. Explorer Ferdinand Magellan landed on Guam less than two weeks before he went to the Philippines.

The initial plan for the donated money is to equip storage spaces for the collections of artifacts, Tolentino said. Storing the artifacts and moving them from the DNA Building to the museum has been costly, she said.

“I think it’s an important donation,” Tolentino said. “We’re just starting up, and we’d really like to become self-sustaining, and having community support is important to us.” Tolentino said she hopes other organizations in the community would be interested in supporting the museum, if not monetarily, then through other opportunities.

The Filipino Community will continue to donate to the museum, Baldovino said.

The museum has an agreement with the Filipino Community of Guam to allow it to use the facilities over the next decade, Tolentino said. The initial gift affords it the opportunity to use the museum for monthly meetings, but the organization will host an annual fundraiser for the museum to maintain its access and relationship.

Strong Filipino presence at UOG

The FCG wants to donate to the university to thank it for educating so many Filipinos on Guam, Baldovino said.

Forty percent of students at the University of Guam are Filipino, according to President Robert Underwood.

“These are the children of taxi drivers, accountants, cooks, builders, and skilled workers who migrated to Guam many years ago, and are now part of the community because of the University of Guam,” Baldovino said.

The university hasn’t issued an official statement yet, but Baldovino said the contribution will go toward adopting an educational room at the university under the organization’s name.

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The Filipino Community of Guam is also adopting a pavilion at Gov. Joseph Flores Memorial Park for $9,600 to support Guam’s main industry, tourism. Baldovino said not only will tourists benefit from this pavilion, but also the many local residents who visit Ypao every weekend for parties and picnics.

In addition, the nonprofit is donating $5,000 for the Red Cross centennial celebration and $5,000 for Guam Memorial Hospital volunteers.