Maraming Salamat Po, Manny Ramirez

Manny Ramirez, a Filipino-American community advocate whose photography is well known to residents of Chula Vista, California, has announced his intention to move back to the Philippines, possibly to Chula Vista's sister city Cebu City.

"While healthy, my remaining volunteering time should be dedicated to my beloved motherland," he said in an e-mail bulletin to the many contacts he has amassed over many years spent volunteering in libraries, museums, schools, home owners associations community group forums, festivals, chambers of commerce, the New Hope Community Church and aviation clubs since he moved to Chula Vista from the San Francisco Bay Area in 1995. He first moved to the USA in 1972.

"I have devoted much time in volunteer works and have had fun with it," he said. "And guess what? When you visit the islands, you will have a Chula Vistan as your tourist guide."

Aside from the many hours he has given to the community, he somehow found time to hold down a regular job that enabled him to support a family in the U.S. and relatives in the Philippines.

But Ramirez' passion has always been arial photography. And at local events he took photographs that he donated freely to community newspapers.

In the present election, Ramirez calls upon Filipino Americans to act as a solid political group and re-elect Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla. From the vast amount of time Ramirez has spent listening, reading, digging through library materal and as a guest in the homes of well known Chula Vistans he feels he has been able to form an opinion of who leads best in the service of Chula Vista residents. "I found that in Mayor Steve Padilla. but NOT in the present Chula Vista Elementary School District board."

Ramirez is calling attention to the way the district's only Filipino-American principal was fired from Heritage Elementary School "without reasonable explanation and no input from the parents and community." Presumably there was no serious misconduct if San Diego School District was happy to hire him immediately afterwards.

At Glen Abbey Memorial Park, Bonita, Nov. 1, 2006, Ramirez (right) and a friend visited the grave of Ernie Flores Jr., the beloved Filipino-American journalist who, for 18 years, was editor and publisher of the Filipino Press until he died at age 71 on Jan. 7, 2006, after a massive heart attack.

Campaigners for the re-election of incumbent Bob Filner (Rep-D) show their support for Padilla.

Chula Vista Fil-Ams For the Re-election of Mayor Steve Padilla assembled at the historic El Primero Hotel, Chula Vista.

Placards for some of the candidates running against incumbent board members of Chula Vista Elementary School District.

A delegation from Odawara, Japan celebrated 25 years as Chula Vista's sister city, Oct. 30, 2006.