by Akemi Tamanaha, AsAmNews Associate Editor
New highway signs in California’s Bay Area will honor Filipina civil rights leader “Tita” Alice Bulos. The signs were unveiled at a brief ceremony Saturday afternoon.
Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) introduced a resolution in 2020 called ACR 165, which would name a portion of State Route 35 in Daly City as the Alice Peña Bulos Memorial Highway. The California legislature promptly approved the resolution.
According to a press release from Assemblymember Ting’s office, Bulos was born in the Philippines on March 31, 1930. She graduated from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and worked as a professor of sociology. She moved to California in 1972.
After moving to California, Bulos began encouraging generations of young Filpino Americans to become politically active. She served on the Filipino American Caucus for the California Democratic Party, the National Filipino Women’s Network, and the National Asian Pacific Democratic Council. President Bill Clinton also appointed her to the National Council on Aging in the 1990s, making her the first Fil-Am selected by a sitting president to serve on a federal post.
Assemblymember Ting said at the sign unveiling that Bulos supported him every time he ran for office. Her support was never superficial, and she worked hard to uplift the community.
“We are all here because of Tita Alice,” Ting said as he spoke about how Bulos supported him and other city leaders present at the unveiling. “So when the council asked me to do ACR 165, I jumped at it.”
Bulos passed in 2016 but her legacy continues to live on.
“We have these amazing Titãs who really are leading, have led our communities, really taken care of our communities,” Ting said. “But now it’s our turn for the next generation to make sure we follow Tita Alice’s example. That we remember everything she did not for us individually but for us as a community.”
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