Importance to Filipino Community

Workers and Families at the P.I. Market.

The P.I. Market served as an important focal point to the Filipino Community. It was a social meeting place for the Filipino community members and acted as more than just your average town market. Filipinos could meet, chat and socialize with other members of the community without the risk of being discriminated against whilst shopping for necessities that one couldn’t find at a regular supermarket. Filipinos would come and go, meet with friends, and catch up on the latest news – all at their own leisure.

“In terms of the regional Filipino community it was definitely a day to day gathering spot for much, much older men with brown skin who had survived previous decades of social exclusion but who in their twilight years felt comfortable being themselves within the store’s confines.”

—Bing Aradanas

It truly was their home away from home.  The market helped them keep their Filipino identity alive by allowing them to connect to fellow Filipinos facing similar struggles in the United States. It also aided in preserving their culture during times when discrimination was rampant.

“It was also a regular pit stop for a younger generation of local Filipino American families getting on their feet, new immigrants who had arrived in a more tolerant America and whose children regularly transformed the store grounds into a wondrous playground.”

—Bing Aradanas

Ultimately, the P.I. Market brought pieces of the Filipino culture to the United States. Not only did they offer goods you cannot find in American markets, but they offered a place to speak the native tongue while engaging in Filipino customs. The P.I. Market represented a sense of subsistence and identity outside the Philippines. 

Full Statement of Bing Aradanas can be found here:

        Tim, Freid. PI Market Pismo Beach, CA. Pismo Beach: Historical Society and the Order of Minor Chapter, 2006. pages 134-135. Print.

See Bing's recollections in his essay, "The Philippine Islands Market in Pismo Beach," in SCHS's Heritage Press (Vol. 14, No. 25, Feb 2010, pp. 8-9): http://www.southcountyhistory.org/February2010.pdf