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Over chilled glasses of their favorite Jollibee halo-halo and lukewarm taho, they came to drown their sorrows.
Three days after the US presidential election, these Filipino immigrants gathered on Friday afternoon at Eagle Rock Mall just northeast of this city to express dread at the object of their newfound fear: Donald Trump.
Inside this mall where a cluster of Filipino-brand businesses dot the landscape, these immigrants—now naturalized American citizens—discussed how a resurgent Trump will impact their lives in America.
Trump’s improbable comeback to become the 47th president of the United States last Tuesday came as a shock to these Filipino-Americans who passionately supported Vice President Kamala Harris, regarding her as California’s own for serving as their senator and attorney general in the past.
“Sobrang bastos pero marami pa rin ang bomoto sa kanya (He [Trump] is so vulgar and offensive yet so many voted for him),” said Ramon Geronimo, a security guard at this mall here. He migrated to the United States in 2016 after retiring from the Department of the Interior and Local Government in Manila.
“Kakainis, talo manok namin (It’s so disappointing that our bet lost),” caregiver Magdalena Palomares, 73, said, referring to Harris, the Democratic candidate who lost the popular vote by almost 4 million and garnered only 226 votes in the Electoral College against Trump’s 301 votes.
“Our friends voted for Trump. That is what we do not understand,” said Rebecca de Jesus, also a caregiver whose family originally came from Divisoria in Manila.
