Edgardo M. Calibjo

Edgardo M. Calibjo Bio

I was born in Tondo, Manila, Philippines on August 10, 1941, in Mary Johnson Hospital. My parents name are Cirilo P. Calibjo and Pacita Maravillas Calibjo. They were born in Lisub-A on the island of Panay, province of Antique. I have three siblings, Nancy Ann, Jane Marie and James(Jimmy).

I’m married to Veronica Roslinda Calibjo, of Santa Maria, California. We have three sons, Edward, Benjamin and Sean. We have two daughter-in-laws, Veronica Scharton, Fresno, California and Belinda Cooper from Adelaide, Australia. Veronica and I have been married for forty-four years. My in-laws are Venancio Gadia Roslinda, Sr and Sophie Curaza Roslinda of Santa Maria.

I came to the United States at the age of seven in San Francisco, California. My father came to Hawaii in 1923 where he worked in the plantation fields before he decided to come to the United States.

I did not know how to speak the English language when I arrived in the States. It was embarrassing not to understand the other students speaking. I finally learned to speak English after six months.

At the age of sixteen, my Uncle and I went to the State of Washington to visit relatives. A year later, my Uncle Sonny and I went to the State of Nevada to see what Las Vegas was all about. My first experience of prejudice was in Las Vegas, Nevada.We went to a restaurant to have lunch. We got was a glass of water and waited for about forty-five minutes before we realized that we were not going to be served, so I asked the waitress if we look strange to her, but all she did was smile. We figured that we were not going to be served so we left to go elsewhere.

When we got back to the motel, we told the manager about the incident since he was the one that told us to go to that restaurant to eat. After mentioning the incident to him, he said that there were still people that were prejudice about other ethnic groups.

My father was a merchant marine on board the ships, Fred C. Ainsworth, U.S.S. Hope, the U.S.N.S. Core, U.S.N.S. Barrett and many others. He was also involved in the atom bomb testing in Enewetok Attoll. He was gone for the period of three years at the time. I didn’t not see my father during war until I was five years old.

After arriving here in the States, I went to Elementary School at Raphael Weill. Attended Horace Mann Junior High School and graduated from Mission High School in 1959. Spend one year in City College of San Francisco.

After High School, I worked as a supervisor at the Navy Shipyward cafeteria in Hunter’s Point. I worked for the Navy Department for almost thirty years and retired from there in 1991 at the age of fifty.

My wife and I have been involved with the Reunions of the American Filipinos held in San Ramon, Santa Maria, San Jose and attended Reunions in Los Angeles, Stockton and Vallejo, where we met a lot of other Filipinos that were born in the United States, who have become life long friends.

My wife and I are also members of the FANHS (Filipino American National Historical Society) of the Central Coast in Santa Maria, California.

After living in the United States after fifty-six years, I finally went back home to visit relatives in January of 2005. I had no intentions of going back to the Philippines, but I was finally talked into going by my wife Veronica and sister Nancy and I was glad that I did go back to visit relatives.

My home is now the United States and my parents are buried here in Colma, California and this will always be home to me.

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