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MA-YI THEATER COMPANY HISTORY • LITERATURE • THEATER

MAGNO RUBIO THE MUSICAL

A companion and study guide The Manongs, Carlos Bulosan, and the world behind the story.

A story of work, friendship, and the hope for a home. OCTOBER 2026

STUDY GUIDE

INSIDE THE GUIDE

Contents Read the history first. Then meet the writer and the musical.

The Philippines Under Spain

From Spain to the United States

The Philippine-American War

Who Are the Manongs?

The Philippines Under American Rule

California Work and Life

After 1930

Who Is Carlos Bulosan?

Who Is Magno Rubio?

Magno Rubio: The Musical

The Creative Team

Study guide and classroom activities

Deeper Dives

Sources and Image Credits

About this guide Magno Rubio dreams of a wife and a home. Around him, the men of his bunkhouse try to earn enough to eat, stay safe, and make a life in America. Their story grows from the history of Filipino workers who crossed the Pacific. The history chapters begin with Spanish rule and follow the struggle for independence, the Manongs’ arrival, and life in California. The literature and theater chapters follow. A dated timeline and classroom questions help connect the parts. The synopsis on pages 26–27 includes the ending.

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HISTORY • CHAPTER 1

The Philippines Under Spain 1565–1898 | Colonial rule

Birth, race, and wealth affected a person’s place in society. Spaniards had advantages that most local people did not. Some wealthy Filipino families gained influence and helped run towns. Many farmers and workers had little power.

Taxes, labor, and land Spain began a lasting colony in the Philippines in 1565. An expedition led by Miguel López de Legazpi settled in Cebu. In 1571, Spanish forces took Manila and made it their capital. Spanish rule lasted for more than 300 years. A colony is a place ruled by another country. Spain claimed the right to govern the islands and use their labor and resources. The people living there did not have the right to choose an independent national government.

Who held power? Spanish officials and Catholic religious orders held great power. Religious orders were groups of priests and brothers. Their members, often called friars, shaped schools, church life, and local affairs. The church and colonial government worked closely together.

The government collected tribute, a tax paid by many of the people it ruled. It also required men to do forced labor. They cut timber and built ships, roads, churches, and government buildings. This work could take them away from their farms and families. Large landowners, including religious orders, controlled estates in parts of the country. Many farmers worked land they did not own. Rent, taxes, and debt could leave families with little to live on. Growing trade made some people rich, but it did not make life easy for everyone.

A country that did not stop resisting Spanish control was never complete. Muslim communities in the south and many mountain communities resisted conquest. People in other regions also challenged Spanish rule. The islands had their own languages, skills, beliefs, and ways of life before Spain arrived. Colonial rule changed more than a country’s flag. It affected who owned land, who did the work, and who could make decisions.

Sources: A1–A4.

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THE PHILIPPINES UNDER SPAIN

The first journeys across the Pacific 1587 | Sailors before the Manongs

The first recorded landing On October 18, 1587, men from the Philippine islands came ashore near what is now Morro Bay, California. They traveled aboard a Spanish ship commanded by Pedro de Unamuno. Spanish records called them Luzones Indios, meaning people from Luzon. This is the earliest recorded Filipino landing in what is now the continental United States. It happened almost two centuries before the United States became a country.

Ships, trade, and workers These sailors were part of a world connected by the Pacific Ocean. Under Spanish rule, ships crossed between the Philippines and Mexico. The Manila galleon trade carried silver, silk and other goods. Filipino sailors and shipbuilders helped keep that trade moving. Their skills took them far beyond their home islands. The ships linked places controlled by Spain on both sides of the ocean. Goods crossed the Pacific, and workers crossed with them. This is one reason Filipino history in America reaches back into the Spanish colonial period.

A plaque in Morro Bay, California, commemorating the arrival of Filipinos in 1587, centuries before the existence of the U.S.A.

A landing is not a settlement The men who reached California in 1587 belonged to a different time from the Filipino fishing families who later settled in Louisiana. The farmworkers known as the Manongs came later still. Each group followed different routes and faced different conditions. A ship’s visit tells us that people reached a place. A settlement tells us that people stayed, built homes, and formed a community. Keeping that difference clear helps us understand the next part of the story.

The Morro Bay plaque The plaque marks the recorded Filipino landing of October 18, 1587. The California Central Coast Chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society dedicated it on October 21, 1995. View a photograph of the Morro Bay plaque

Sources: 1, 2.

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THE PHILIPPINES UNDER SPAIN

The Manilamen of Louisiana 1800s | Work, families, and a lasting home

Saint Malo in an illustration from Lafcadio Hearn’s 1883 account.

Louisiana’s coast is a world of bays, marshes and slow-moving waterways called bayous. Filipino sailors found work there as fishermen and seafood workers. Many were called Manilamen, even when they came from places outside Manila. By the first half of the 1800s, Filipino settlers had built Saint Malo on the southern shore of Lake Borgne. The site had earlier been home to Native people and people who had escaped slavery. Far from the main roads, the settlement stood close to rich fishing grounds.

Building over water The men built wooden houses on high posts above the wet ground. Boats linked homes, fishing grounds and markets. Fish had to be caught, cleaned, kept fresh and carried to buyers. This work helped supply the growing city of New Orleans.

Families and neighbors The Manilamen did not live apart from everyone around them. Filipino men married women from local communities. Their families included people of Isleño, Cajun, French, Irish and other backgrounds. Isleños were descended from settlers from the Canary Islands. Some Filipino men also married daughters of earlier Filipino settlers. These marriages built family ties across communities. Children grew up with several family traditions. A household could have Philippine roots and still be fully part of Louisiana life. Spanish, which some Filipino settlers knew under Spanish rule, also helped them build ties with Spanish-speaking neighbors. Some men stayed at fishing camps while their families lived elsewhere near New Orleans. Boats, markets, homes, and work camps formed a wider community. A picture of an all-male crew does not show every part of that family life.

Sources: 2, 3.

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THE PHILIPPINES UNDER SPAIN

Building a lasting community 1870–late 1800s | The Manilamen make a home

1870: Helping one another

Late 1800s: Manila Village

In 1870, Filipinos in New Orleans formed the Sociedad de Beneficencia de los Hispanos Filipinos. The society helped members in hard times and helped pay for burials. Shared funds offered support when a family faced a death or another crisis.

Another settlement, Manila Village, grew in Barataria Bay in the late 1800s. Filipino fishermen led by Quintin de la Cruz built shelters and work platforms there. The platforms gave workers space to spread shrimp out in the sun.

Members shared news, money, and care. Those ties could last even when a fishing season ended or workers moved.

1883: A record of Saint Malo Writer Lafcadio Hearn visited Saint Malo in 1883. He described a busy fishing community with large cypress buildings raised over the marsh. His published account and its drawings give us a view of the settlement before it was lost.

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Workers boiled and dried the shrimp, then moved their feet over them to loosen the shells. This process became known as the “shrimp dance.” It was skilled work. The dried shrimp could be packed, stored and shipped to distant markets. Saint Malo and Manila Village were separate places. Both helped build the Gulf Coast’s seafood trade. Their workers used knowledge brought from the Philippines and learned new skills from their neighbors.

José Rizal: writing against injustice 1863–1892 | Education and the call for reform

Schools existed before American rule

1891: El Filibusterismo

The Philippines already had schools under Spain. An 1863 law called for primary schools for boys and girls in each town. Access was uneven. Family income and where a child lived affected the chance to study. Still, Filipinos had teachers, students, and a growing reading public.

His second novel, El Filibusterismo, returned to that troubled society. It asked what could happen when leaders blocked change and people lost hope in reform. Both novels were written in Spanish. They helped readers imagine Filipinos as a people with a shared future.

Education gave some people new ways to question colonial power. A reform is a change meant to improve a system. Filipino reformers wanted fair treatment, a stronger voice in government, and an end to abuses.

1892: La Liga Filipina Rizal returned to Manila and formed La Liga Filipina. This group sought peaceful change and help for its members. Spanish authorities arrested him and sent him into exile in Dapitan, far from Manila.

A doctor who used words José Rizal was a Filipino doctor and writer. He studied in the Philippines and Europe. He used books and articles to expose injustice under Spanish rule. He wanted Filipinos to be treated with dignity and equal rights.

1887: Noli Me Tangere Rizal’s first novel, Noli Me Tangere, showed a society damaged by unfair power. Its story exposed abuses by officials and friars. Through fictional people and events, Rizal asked readers to look closely at the country around them.

Jose Rizal Rizal was not the leader of the armed revolution. His main tools were writing, education, and reform. Yet his work inspired people who came to believe that Spain would never give them freedom. Rizal showed how a story could challenge people in power. Later, Carlos Bulosan would also use literature to make injustice visible.

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Andrés Bonifacio and the revolution 1892–1897 | Fighting to end Spanish rule

1892: A secret movement

December 30, 1896: Rizal is executed

Andrés Bonifacio had joined Rizal’s La Liga Filipina. After Rizal’s arrest, he helped build a different kind of movement. In July 1892, Bonifacio and other organizers founded the Katipunan, a secret group that sought independence from Spain.

Spanish authorities blamed Rizal for helping inspire the rebellion. A military court convicted him, even though he had not led the uprising. He was executed by a firing squad in Manila on December 30, 1896.

Bonifacio believed that requests for reform were not enough. Spain had to be driven out. Workers, farmers, and members of the middle class joined the movement. Members organized local groups and prepared for an armed struggle.

His death did not stop the movement. It deepened anger at Spanish rule and made him a powerful symbol of the struggle for freedom.

1896: The revolution begins In August 1896, Spanish authorities discovered the Katipunan. Bonifacio called on its members to rise up. The Philippine Revolution had begun. Its goal was not simply a kinder Spanish government. It was a country governed by its own people.

1897: A divided revolution The revolution also faced conflict within its own ranks. Bonifacio and Aguinaldo’s supporters fought over leadership. Aguinaldo’s forces arrested Bonifacio and his brother Procopio. After a trial, the brothers were executed on May 10, 1897. Later that year, Aguinaldo made a truce with Spanish authorities and went into exile in Hong Kong. The truce did not bring independence. The struggle resumed in 1898. Rizal and Bonifacio followed different paths. Rizal fought injustice mainly through words and reform. Bonifacio organized an armed revolution to end colonial rule.

Andres Bonifacio Bonifacio helped turn the Katipunan into a revolutionary government and army. Fighting spread, and local leaders organized forces in different areas. Emilio Aguinaldo became an important military leader in Cavite.

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HISTORY • CHAPTER 2

One colonial ruler replaces another 1898 | From Spain to the United States

Filipinos had been fighting Spain for nearly two years when the United States entered the war in 1898. Many revolutionaries hoped the Americans would help them win freedom. U.S. leaders had plans of their own.

April and May: America enters the war The United States went to war with Spain in April 1898. The conflict grew out of events in Cuba, another Spanish colony. But the fighting soon reached the Philippines. On May 1, U.S. warships led by Commodore George Dewey defeated Spain’s fleet in Manila Bay. Aguinaldo returned from Hong Kong later that month. Filipino forces renewed their attacks and took control of many towns.

June 12: Independence is declared Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence on June 12, 1898. Filipino forces had surrounded Spanish troops in Manila, while U.S. ships controlled the bay. Spain’s hold was collapsing. For Filipino revolutionaries, independence seemed close. But the United States did not recognize the declaration. Filipinos wanted their own government. American leaders were moving toward control of the islands.

August 13: Filipinos are kept out Spanish and American commanders secretly arranged the surrender of Manila. After a brief battle on August 13, Spanish forces handed the city to the Americans. U.S. troops kept Filipino forces out of the central city. The event is often called the “mock battle of Manila” because the commanders had planned the outcome. It was not harmless theater: people still died. The arrangement let Spain surrender to another foreign power instead of to Filipino revolutionaries.

December 10: A deal without the Filipinos Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. Spain agreed to hand over its claim to the Philippines. In return, the United States agreed to pay Spain $20 million. Filipino representatives had no say in the agreement. The deal treated the Philippines as something Spain could sell. The money went to Spain, not to the people whose country was being handed over. One colonial ruler was being replaced by another. Filipinos had fought for independence, not for a new foreign ruler. The treaty did not make them accept American control. The struggle soon became a war against the United States.

Sources: 6; A11–A13.

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HISTORY • CHAPTER 3

The Philippine-American War 1899 | A fight over independence

Udo J. Keppler, “It’s ‘up to’ them,” Puck, November 20, 1901. Uncle Sam offers a soldier or a teacher. The cartoon presents colonial control as a choice.

January: A republic takes shape

An unequal fight

The First Philippine Republic was inaugurated in Malolos on January 23, 1899, with Emilio Aguinaldo as president. Filipino leaders were building their own national government. The United States did not recognize its independence.

American troops had more weapons and supplies. U.S. ships controlled important waterways. Filipino forces first fought large battles, then increasingly used small, mobile groups. These groups attacked and moved away rather than holding a fixed battle line.

February 4: Fighting begins On February 4, 1899, fighting broke out between Filipino and American troops near Manila. Filipino forces defended the new republic. American forces sought control of the islands. Two days later, the U.S. Senate approved the Treaty of Paris. The war was not simply a local protest against an accepted government. Filipinos were fighting a foreign power that claimed the right to rule them. They had fought Spain for freedom. Now they fought the United States for the same goal.

The fighting spread into towns and rural communities. Homes, farms, and food supplies became part of the battlefield. Civilian families could not simply step outside the war. The Spanish-American War of 1898 and the Philippine-American War that began in 1899 were different wars. Winning against Spain did not bring Filipino independence.

Sources: 6, 25; A13, A14.

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AMERICAN RULE BEGINS

Schools, the Thomasites, and English 1901 | Education during the war

Louis Dalrymple, “School Begins,” Puck, January 25, 1899. This cartoon uses racist images to defend U.S. rule. It is not a neutral picture of a classroom.

While the Philippine-American War continued, the United States began building a colonial school system. The Philippines already had schools and teachers. American rule changed how many schools were run and which language they used.

January: A new school system In January 1901, the American government created a central public-school system under Act No. 74. Lessons used English and followed an American school model. Students studied reading, writing, math, practical skills, and ideas about government.

August: The Thomasites arrive That August, more than five hundred teachers arrived aboard the U.S. Army transport Thomas. They became known as the Thomasites. They helped expand schools and train teachers. Filipino teachers did much of the daily work of building and running the system.

A new language of power English gradually replaced Spanish in much of education, government, and business. It opened doors to some jobs and new kinds of writing. But most people still used Philippine languages in daily life, including Ilocano, Tagalog, Cebuano, and Hiligaynon. Schools spread American ideas about progress and democracy. At the same time, the United States was fighting Filipinos who wanted to govern themselves. Students could learn the meaning of freedom while seeing that their country did not have it. Filipino writers later used English for purposes of their own. They wrote poems, stories, and arguments that could question American power. Bulosan’s work is one example. He used the language of the ruling country to describe people its leaders often ignored.

Sources: 10, 17, 25.

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THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR

Not everyone supported an empire 1901 | Arguments over freedom

Mark Twain, whose writing challenged American rule in the Philippines. Portrait retained from the original guide.

Filipino resistance took many forms Some Filipinos fought U.S. troops. Others demanded independence through speeches, newspapers, and political groups. Still others worked with the new government. People did not all make the same choices. Their region, class, beliefs, and immediate needs shaped what they did. Working with an American-run school or office did not always mean giving up the wish for freedom. People could use new skills and still oppose the power that had introduced them.

Mark Twain speaks out Opposition also grew in the United States. The Anti-Imperialist League challenged the idea that America should rule other peoples. Mark Twain, the author of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, became a well-known critic of the occupation.

In his February 1901 essay “To the Person Sitting in Darkness,” Twain attacked the claim that powerful nations helped people by taking their land. He used sharp humor to show the gap between promises of freedom and the violence of empire. Other Americans opposed expansion for different reasons. Some objected to war and rule without consent. Others feared competition or did not want nonwhite people to become part of the nation. Opposing empire did not always mean supporting racial equality.

Who gets to tell the story? The cartoons in this guide picture Uncle Sam as a powerful adult and colonized people as children. That choice makes control look like guidance. Filipino demands for independence challenged the idea that they needed a foreign ruler to decide their future.

Sources: 6, 9, 25.

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THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR

Balangiga and the cost of war September 1901–July 1902

Uniformed men beside a church bell. Historical photograph retained from the original guide.

September 28, 1901: The attack

1902: Trials and an official end

Filipino fighters attacked Company C of the U.S. 9th Infantry in Balangiga, on the island of Samar. Dozens of American soldiers were killed. U.S. accounts called it the Balangiga Massacre. In the Philippines, it is also remembered as resistance to American occupation.

A military court convicted Smith of misconduct, and he was forced to retire. Major Littleton W. T. Waller was tried in a separate case and acquitted. The cases had different outcomes.

The American response American forces answered with a harsh campaign on Samar. Brigadier General Jacob H. Smith called for turning the island into a “howling wilderness.” His orders treated boys over ten as old enough to bear arms. Troops burned settlements and destroyed food supplies. The campaign punished whole communities. People who were not fighting lost homes, food, and safety. Burning a village could also destroy stored rice, tools, fishing gear, and a family’s way to earn a living. American troops also took three church bells from Balangiga. The bells became lasting symbols of occupation and loss.

The United States declared the war over on July 4, 1902. Armed resistance continued in parts of the country. An official announcement did not end every fight or heal the damage.

The human cost Across the war, U.S. forces burned villages, forced civilians into controlled areas, and used torture. Filipino forces also harmed prisoners and civilians accused of helping Americans. Hunger and disease spread as farming and trade broke down. The U.S. State Department estimates that as many as 200,000 Filipino civilians died from violence, hunger, and disease. More than 20,000 Filipino fighters and 4,200 Americans also died. These estimates show the war’s terrible cost, though the exact civilian toll is uncertain.

Sources: 6–8.

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HISTORY • CHAPTER 4

Who Are the Manongs? 1906–1920s | The generation that followed the crops

Manong is an Ilocano word used to show respect for an older brother or older man. In Filipino American history, the Manongs are the early migrants who came to work in fields, canneries and other jobs. Many arrived in the 1920s and 1930s. Most were young men when they came. They became the elders remembered by later generations.

1906: Recruited workers reach Hawai‘i On December 20, 1906, fifteen recruited Filipino workers arrived in Hawai‘i aboard the Doric. They were sent to the Ola‘a sugar plantation. They became the first group of recruited Filipino plantation workers known as sakadas. Many more followed.

Why leave home? Workers hoped to earn money, support relatives or save enough to return home. Some wanted an education or a fresh start. Many came from farming communities where money and land were hard to obtain. Recruiters offered jobs that sounded like a path to a better life. Some workers later moved from Hawai‘i to the mainland. Others traveled directly from the Philippines. In California, they followed crops from one town to another. A lettuce harvest might be followed by grapes, asparagus or other work. Some men traveled north for the salmon-canning season in Alaska.

U.S. nationals, not equal citizens Because the Philippines was under U.S. control, Filipinos generally entered the United States as U.S. nationals, not as foreign immigrants. They did not need the immigrant visas required of foreign citizens. They still had to pay for the trip and meet entry rules. Being a U.S. national was not the same as being a U.S. citizen. Most Filipino migrants could not vote in national elections or become citizens through the usual process. Their labor was welcome to many employers, but they faced racial barriers in housing, marriage and public life.

A mostly male generation Employers mainly recruited men, and travel was costly. Many workers lived far from wives, parents and children. Others were single and hoped to marry. Boardinghouses, clubs and shared meals helped them build new ties. These ties mattered in a life where the next job could take a man to another town. The musical takes place in 1930. Its characters live in the gap between being allowed into America and being treated as equals there. The immigration rules changed later, in 1934.

Sources: 1, 4, 5, 17.

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HISTORY • CHAPTER 5

The Philippines Under American Rule 1907–1920s | Government, culture, and daily life

1907: A voice in government An elected Philippine Assembly began meeting in 1907. Filipino leaders used elected offices, speeches, and newspapers to demand independence.

1915: A loss in Louisiana A hurricane destroyed Saint Malo in Louisiana in 1915. Families moved, but Filipino community life continued beyond the village.

1916: A promise, not yet freedom The Jones Act of 1916 promised eventual independence. But the United States still ruled the Philippines.

1919: Filipino stories on screen José Nepomuceno’s Dalagang Bukid, released in 1919, starred Atang de la Rama. It brought a popular sarsuwela, a play with songs, to the screen. Filipino stories remained important as cinema grew.

1922 and 1924: Words for a public audience Liwayway took that name in 1922 and became a major Tagalog magazine. Readers followed stories, poems, and news. In 1924, balagtasan, a form of debate in verse, became a public favorite. José Corazón de Jesús and Florentino Collantes were leading voices.

A Manila street during the period covered by the guide. Historical photograph retained from the original.

Music, movies, and new styles In the 1920s, American films, songs, and magazines offered pictures of romance and wealth. Movie stars showed audiences how to dress, dance, and imagine success. Bodabil, shaped by American vaudeville, mixed singing, dancing, comedy, and special acts. Performers such as Borromeo Lou and Katy de la Cruz made jazz and popular songs part of the local stage. The kundiman, a Filipino song form linked with love and longing, also remained popular. Filipino artists changed these forms for local audiences. Cities had more theaters. Rural audiences met new styles through visitors, travel, performers, and print. Enjoying American culture did not mean accepting American rule. A man could admire a movie star’s suit and still want independence. The America on screen could differ sharply from the low pay and racism migrants later met.

Sources: 2, 3, 6, 11, 12.

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HISTORY • CHAPTER 6

Beyond work: style and friendship 1920s | Making a life in America

Formal portrait from the Filipino American Community, Stockton, California Collection, Smithsonian Archives Center.

Dressed for the evening

Places to meet and help

After working in the fields, some Filipino men changed into tailored suits and polished shoes. They went to dance halls, took formal portraits and followed styles seen in movies. Clothes let them present themselves as more than the low-paid workers others expected to see.

Boardinghouses, clubs and social groups linked workers to news, jobs and friends. Shared meals helped stretch small wages. People pooled money when someone was hurt or needed help. Newspapers gave the community a public voice.

A fine suit did not mean that its owner had an easy life. A man might spend the day bent over crops and dress with great care at night. Both pictures belong to his story.

What the men chose to save The Smithsonian preserves clothing and photographs from steamer trunks found in Stockton. The trunks held the belongings of early Filipino migrants. Suits, letters and keepsakes show what they valued and what they chose to save.

1928–1930: A community newspaper Seattle’s Filipino Forum, published in 1928– 1930, recorded community news and debate. Such papers show migrants as readers, writers and citizens of a community, even when they lacked full legal rights. These communities gave workers more than help finding a job. They offered news, conversation, pleasure, and a sense of belonging. A man who moved with the harvest could still be part of a wider circle of friends. A fine suit did not erase a hard day in the fields. Work clothes and evening clothes belonged to the same person, with a life larger than his job.

Sources: 12, 16. MA-YI THEATER COMPANY

CALIFORNIA WORK AND LIFE

Long days and short pay 1920s–1930 | The world of the musical

The harvest decided where men went

The boss’s count

California growers needed many workers when crops were ready and fewer when the harvest ended. Filipino workers joined Mexican, Japanese, Chinese and other laborers in this system. A job could last for a season, a few weeks or less. Finding the next job was part of the work of staying alive.

In the musical, Kiko leads the crew. He deals with the foreman and tries to keep the men hired. Ikong keeps his own count of the work. The men fill the crates, but the boss decides which ones appear on the pay record. This turns a disagreement over numbers into a fight over power.

Travel took money and time. Workers needed rides, meals and a place to sleep. A day spent looking for work was a day without pay. Even a hard worker could have trouble building steady savings.

How workers were paid Some jobs paid by the hour. Others paid by the amount picked, cut or packed. This second system is called piecework. A worker’s pay might depend on the number of sacks, boxes or crates accepted by the employer. Wages changed by crop, town, employer, and year. Low rates became even harder to live on when work stopped, travel costs rose, or a boss rejected part of a worker’s output. Crew leaders and labor contractors often stood between workers and growers. They helped recruit men, arrange transport or find jobs. Their position also gave them power over people who needed the next day’s work.

The men know that the count is wrong. They also know that a protest could cost the whole crew its job. Magno wants to keep working because he is saving for a wedding. Amado wants the men to stand together. Kiko fears that another hungry crew will take their place.

The work did not end at sundown Someone still had to cook, wash clothes, mend shoes and keep the bunkhouse running. In the musical, Amado stretches the food so everyone gets a share. These tasks keep the crew alive, even though they do not appear in the boss’s record. The story makes work visible through movement and sound. Repeated cuts, lifts and counts show both the men’s skill and their exhaustion. The audience sees bodies doing the labor behind the food on other people’s tables.

Sources: 13, 14, 22.

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CALIFORNIA WORK AND LIFE

Racism beyond the fields 1930 | Watsonville and daily exclusion

January 1930: Watsonville In January 1930, white mobs attacked Filipinos in Watsonville, California. The violence lasted for days. Farmworker Fermin Tobera was shot and killed. Filipino homes, gathering places and workers became targets. Racist anger focused in part on Filipino men dancing with white women. But the men’s dancing did not cause the violence. The attackers wanted to control who could work, gather in public and form relationships. Fear spread beyond Watsonville to other Filipino communities. Filipinos also faced daily forms of exclusion. Hotels and restaurants could refuse to serve them. Signs told them that they were not welcome. Employers could want their labor while communities denied them ordinary respect.

Marriage and a place to belong For many men, finding a partner was difficult. Few Filipina women had migrated compared with the number of men. Relationships with white women could bring threats and barriers at a marriagelicense office.

“Positively No Filipinos Allowed.” The sign shows that exclusion reached beyond the fields.

Lives bigger than the barriers The Manongs still built friendships, fell in love, went dancing and planned futures. These were not small matters. They were parts of a full human life. Bulosan wrote about people who were often treated only as labor. The musical also asks us to see the whole person: pride, fear, humor, desire, mistakes and care for others. Racism did not begin or end with a riot. It also shaped ordinary choices about work, housing, marriage, and where a person could go.

In the musical, the men discuss going to Mexico because the clerk in their California town will not give them a marriage license. The story takes place in 1930. A later statewide legal change, discussed in the next chapter, came in 1933. Sources: 14, 15, 22.

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HISTORY • CHAPTER 7

After 1930: organizing and independence 1933–1946 | What happened after the musical’s story

The musical ends in 1930, but the workers’ struggles did not. The events below happened later. They help us see what changed and what remained unfair.

1933: Unions and marriage laws Filipino cannery workers formed a union in Seattle in 1933. It challenged unfair hiring and sought better pay and working conditions. Filipino farmworkers also organized strikes, including major lettuceworker actions in Salinas in 1933 and 1934. A 1933 Salinas dispute involved pay of twenty cents an hour. Organizing was risky. A worker could lose a job, face violence, or be refused work elsewhere. Workers could agree that pay was unfair and still disagree about when to act. In 1933, a California court ruled in Roldan v. Los Angeles County that the state’s existing marriage ban did not cover Filipinos under the racial category then used to deny licenses. Lawmakers responded by adding a category that did include Filipinos.

1934: A new immigration limit The Tydings-McDuffie Act set a path toward Philippine independence. At the same time, it treated Filipinos as foreigners for immigration purposes and limited mainland immigration to fifty people a year. Hawai‘i had separate labor rules.

1935: The Commonwealth The Philippines became a Commonwealth in 1935. It had its own elected government, but the United States still held final authority in important areas. The country was not yet fully independent.

1941–1945: Another war and occupation Japan invaded the Philippines during World War II and occupied much of the country. Filipinos fought the occupation, including through guerrilla resistance. The war brought enormous destruction before Japanese rule ended in 1945.

July 4, 1946: Independence from the United States The United States formally recognized Philippine independence on July 4, 1946, and gave up its claim to rule the country. This followed the Filipino struggle that had begun long before the American takeover. June 12, 1898, marks the Filipino declaration of independence from Spain. July 4, 1946, marks the end of formal U.S. colonial rule. These are different events.

Sources: 5, 6, 13, 15, 16; A15, A16.

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AFTER 1930

The struggle and the memory continue 1965–2018 | Labor rights and community history

A historical marker for Saint Malo. Community records help preserve places that no longer stand.

September 1965: The Delano grape strike Filipino workers helped begin the Delano grape strike in California in September 1965. Mexican American workers joined them. Leaders such as Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz helped build a movement that changed farmworker history.

December 2018: The Balangiga bells return American troops had taken three church bells after the fighting at Balangiga in 1901. Two later stood at a military base in Wyoming. The third was kept at a U.S. base in South Korea.

The Manongs were not only people who endured hardship. They made culture, cared for friends, and fought for a fairer life. Later generations inherited the results of that work.

The bells returned to the Philippines in December 2018 after years of work by people on both sides of the Pacific. For many Filipinos, their return recognized a painful history that had not been forgotten.

1965: Manila Village is destroyed

Keeping history alive

Hurricane Betsy destroyed Manila Village in Louisiana in 1965. Saint Malo had already been lost in 1915. The buildings disappeared, but families carried their stories, photographs, and traditions to new homes.

October is Filipino American History Month because of the recorded Filipino landing in California in October 1587. Families, teachers, artists, and historians continue to uncover and share the stories of those who followed.

Descendants helped preserve records of these communities. The PhilippineLouisiana Historical Society helped place markers for Saint Malo, Manila Village, and Clark Cheniere, another fishing settlement.

Historical records do more than name famous leaders. A photograph, a letter, a suit, or a church bell can also help us ask whose work and whose losses belong in the story.

Sources: 1–3, 8, 16.

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LITERATURE • CHAPTER 8

Who Is Carlos Bulosan? A worker becomes a writer

Carlos Bulosan grew up in a farming family in Pangasinan, in the Philippines. He knew rural poverty from childhood. In 1930, he arrived in Seattle and began a new life in the United States. He worked and traveled through the West during the Great Depression. America did not offer the easy future many migrants had imagined. Bulosan faced hunger, racism and unstable work. Serious illness also shaped his life. He spent long periods in hospitals while continuing to read and write.

Finding his voice in English English was not Bulosan’s first language. He developed his writing through close reading, practice and help from other writers. Books gave him new ways to describe the lives of poor workers and the rules that held them down. He did not build his career alone. Friends, writers and labor activists shared books, encouragement and support. Dorothy and Sanora Babb visited him during his long hospital stay in Los Angeles in the 1930s. These friendships helped him survive and keep working.

Carlos Bulosan. Portrait retained from the original guide.

Writing and organizing Bulosan saw writing as part of the struggle for a better life. He wrote about farmworkers, poor families and people treated as outsiders. He also worked with labor organizers and later served as publicity director for a Seattle cannery workers’ union. His success did not end his money problems or poor health. He returned to Seattle in the early 1950s and continued writing with support from friends. He died there on September 11, 1956. The University of Washington preserves his papers, including letters and manuscripts. His work lives on because people saved it, published it and taught it to new readers. Bulosan helped make Filipino workers part of American literature, not as background figures, but as people who could speak for themselves.

Sources: 17.

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WHO IS CARLOS BULOSAN?

Books that changed what readers saw 1942–1946 | Stories, essays, and a personal history

Cover art for America Is in the Heart and The Laughter of My Father.

1942: Stories in The New Yorker

1946: America Is in the Heart

Bulosan’s stories reached readers of The New Yorker. “The Laughter of My Father” appeared in its December 19, 1942 issue. “My Father Goes to Court” followed on November 13, 1943.

Published in 1946, America Is in the Heart: A Personal History became his best-known book. It draws on his life while using fiction to tell a larger story. The narrator moves from a poor childhood in the Philippines to work and struggle in the American West.

1943: “Freedom from Want” In 1943, The Saturday Evening Post published Bulosan’s essay “Freedom from Want” beside Norman Rockwell’s painting of a family meal. Bulosan wrote about workers and people left out of the nation’s comfort. He asked readers to think about whose labor made that comfort possible.

1944: The Laughter of My Father His 1944 collection, The Laughter of My Father, brought comic stories of Philippine village life to a wider audience. People with money and status can look foolish, while poor people use wit to defend themselves. A story can make readers laugh and still challenge unfair treatment.

He meets cruelty, racism, and hunger. He also finds books, friendship, and people willing to fight for change. The book does not give a simple picture of America as either a dream or a trap. It asks whether the country can live up to the freedom it promises. The book became a central work of Filipino American and Asian American literature. It helped later writers make room for stories that had been pushed aside.

A title heard in the musical The musical’s final song is called “America Is in the Heart.” Its new lyrics are by Ralph B. Peña, with music by Fabian Obispo. The song places Bulosan’s larger question in the voices of the men sharing the bunkhouse.

Sources: 18, 19, 22.

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LITERATURE • CHAPTER 9

Who Is Magno Rubio? The short story

Magno Rubio is a fictional Filipino farmworker created by Carlos Bulosan. He works in California’s fields during the Depression. He is small in stature, poor and unable to read or write. He is also a man with a large dream of love.

A romance carried by letters Magno finds Clarabelle, a white woman in Arkansas, through a lonely-hearts advertisement. Such ads helped people seek partners by mail. A photograph and an address give him the beginning of a future he can imagine. Because he cannot read or write, Magno needs help with his letters. Other workers become part of the courtship. They read, write, advise, tease and warn him. The letters carry promises of marriage, a home and a better life. Magno sends money and gifts to a woman he has not met. The cost is real even while the relationship is built at a distance. Each payment comes from labor that is already badly paid. The more he gives, the more he has invested in believing that the romance will succeed.

The meeting with Clarabelle does not bring the marriage he has imagined. The story brings his hope face to face with class, race and money. Its humor does not remove the hurt. Readers are left to think about both the world that limits Magno and the choices he makes within it.

More than a lesson about being fooled Magno’s dream can seem unwise. It can also seem deeply human. He wants a life larger than work, a bunk and the next meal. The story asks why a poor worker should be expected to stop wanting love just because his chances are small. At the same time, wanting something badly does not make every choice fair or harmless. Magno’s decisions draw other people into his plans. His story makes room for sympathy without asking readers to excuse everything he does.

The story’s dates Bulosan wrote “The Romance of Magno Rubio” in the 1940s. It first appeared in print after his death, in Amerasia Journal, volume 6, number 1, in 1979, pages 33–50. Its later publication helped bring the story to readers, scholars and theater artists who would give it new life.

Sources: 20, 21.

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WHO IS MAGNO RUBIO?

Finding a copy and choosing a text A short story, a play, and a musical

Carlos Bulosan’s original story Ask a school or public librarian for “The Romance of Magno Rubio” by Carlos Bulosan in Amerasia Journal, volume 6, number 1, published in 1979. The story is on pages 33–50. A library may have the journal or be able to request a copy from another library. The story also appears in Fiction by Filipinos in America, edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard. The U.S. edition was published by PALH in 2020. Its ISBN is 9781953716057. Giving a librarian or bookseller that number can help locate the right edition.

Lonnie Carter’s play The Romance of Magno Rubio by Lonnie Carter is a stage adaptation of Bulosan’s story. Ma-Yi first produced it in 2002, directed by Loy Arcenas. The published play is available through Broadway Play Publishing. The play uses rhythm, movement, spoken language and music to bring the story into a shared space. Readers can compare what a narrator tells us on a page with what actors show through action.

Peña and Obispo’s musical Magno Rubio: The Musical is a new adaptation with a book and lyrics by Ralph B. Peña and music by Fabian Obispo.

It is loosely based on Bulosan’s story. The book of a musical means its script: the scenes and dialogue that work together with the songs. The musical gives a larger role to the bunkhouse community. It develops seven men with different needs and views. It also makes a clear difference between Clarabelle as the men imagine her and Clarabelle as a woman who speaks for herself.

Reading across the versions An adaptation is a new work made from an earlier one. It can keep a central event while changing characters, scenes, language or the ending. A story, a play and a musical do not have to tell the same events in exactly the same way. For a class comparison, read the short story first. Then choose a scene from the play or musical. Notice who tells the story, who gets to speak and what changes when a private thought becomes a song or an action. Keep the author and title with your notes. Bulosan’s short story, Carter’s play and Peña and Obispo’s musical are three different texts. Each can be read on its own and beside the others.

Sources: 20–22.

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THEATER • CHAPTER 10

Magno Rubio: The Musical Twenty-four years in the making

Production artwork for Magno Rubio: The Musical.

The first Ma-Yi production In 2002, Ma-Yi Theater Company first staged Lonnie Carter’s The Romance of Magno Rubio, directed by Loy Arcenas. Ralph B. Peña wrote its original Filipino text, and Fabian Obispo wrote its music. The production joined fast-moving language, music and physical storytelling. In 2003, eight Obie Awards recognized the production’s artists. The published play’s press material quotes The New York Times calling it “one of the best off-Broadway plays of the season.” The production brought Bulosan’s workers to a wider theater audience.

Finding a new form Peña and Obispo kept returning to the story. Across twenty-four years, they tried to make it into a full musical. Some versions did not work. They set ideas aside, began again and kept looking for the right shape. In 2026, they reached a version they wanted to share.

That process was not simply a matter of adding songs to the earlier play. A musical has to decide when speaking is no longer enough. A song can make a promise, test a friendship, organize a group or turn a hope into a public act. The new work gives the men of the bunkhouse more room. Magno’s romance remains central, but his dream now presses against the needs of six companions. Their hunger, debts, work and fears are part of the same story.

A community, not just a romance The musical asks what people owe one another when none of them has much to give. One man wants a wedding. Another needs money to escape danger. A cook needs food for the group. A crew leader wants everyone to stay employed. Their goals can bring them together or pull them apart. The show uses the sounds of work, the joy of dance and the freedom of fantasy. It keeps returning to a plain question: how do people build a life when their labor is needed but their full humanity is denied?

Sources: 21, 22. MA-YI THEATER COMPANY

MAGNO RUBIO: THE MUSICAL

The story: seven men in California Synopsis | Includes the ending

California, 1930. Seven Filipino men follow the crops, first working in Salinas and then near Fresno. They share crowded sleeping quarters and live with the threat of losing their jobs. Peping, who has some college education and the strongest English, tells the story.

Amado urges them to speak together. Kiko fears that a protest will get them replaced. Magno wants to keep earning for Clarabelle. Peping has the words to argue with the boss but struggles to take the risk. A union leaflet passes between the men and becomes a quiet challenge.

A bride in a magazine

Tasio needs help

Magno has found Clarabelle in a lonelyhearts magazine. She lives in Arkansas. He sends money and dreams of a home and marriage. Tasio has written letters for him, charging by the word. Peping begins helping too. Together, their words make a future that Magno cannot yet provide.

After a night out, Tasio returns hurt. He owes two hundred dollars to dangerous lenders. The men empty their pockets, but they cannot raise enough. Tasio asks Magno for help. Magno refuses to put his savings at risk or delay the wedding.

Kiko leads the crew and speaks with the bosses. Amado cooks. Berto is quick to anger. Ikong, the youngest, keeps careful records. Tasio jokes, gambles and takes risks. The men tease Magno, but they also understand his loneliness.

The work costs more than it pays The boss raises the quota, then pays for fewer crates than the men filled. Later, in the onion fields, sacks disappear from the pay record even though they are loaded onto the truck. The men want fair pay, but they disagree about how to get it.

That night, Tasio approaches Magno’s bag. Magno stops him before he takes the money. Tasio decides to leave. Before going, he gives Magno his treasured tie and asks him to give him a reason to return. In the morning, his bunk is empty.

Clarabelle is coming A letter and telegram announce Clarabelle’s arrival. Peping reads the good news aloud, but hides the second page of her letter. The bunkhouse bursts into activity. The men lend Magno a coat, chain, shoes, comb and Tasio’s tie. They help him practice what to say. For a moment, his hope belongs to all of them.

Sources: 22.

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MAGNO RUBIO: THE MUSICAL

The story: the woman behind the letters Synopsis | Includes the ending

At the train station, Magno gives Peping his life savings to hold. He wants Clarabelle to see him before she sees his money. He has waited for this meeting, but the woman who arrives is not the grand figure built by his dreams.

A choice that is his own

Clarabelle speaks for herself

The act can mean more than one thing. It may be generous, proud, painful or all three. The story does not ask the audience to forget that he refused to help Tasio. Both choices remain part of the man we have watched.

Clarabelle is tired from travel and needs a safe place to stay. The Spanish in Magno’s letters made her expect a different man. The promises made her expect a home. Instead, she finds a worker who has no ring ready and offers a bunk in a room with six other men. She also explains that she had asked to meet before agreeing to a wedding. Those words were on the page Peping hid. Magno has been preparing for an event that she did not agree to in the same way. Clarabelle says she came because life in Arkansas had become hard. His letters promised another chance. She needs a room, a fare and a door that leads somewhere. Her song, “After Starts Now,” sets those immediate needs against Magno’s dream of a future home.

Clarabelle asks for fifty dollars so she can leave. Magno gives her all his savings. She tries to hand back the extra money. He refuses it. She tells him that this does not make her his wife. He knows.

Returning to the bunkhouse After Clarabelle leaves, Magno asks Peping for the second page. They return without a bride. Magno gives back the borrowed clothes. He tears pages from the lonelyhearts magazine and uses them to cover the table for a shared meal. The work is still waiting. With Tasio gone, fewer hands must meet the same quota. Peping puts the union leaflet on the wall. Kiko warns that it could get them fired, but he leaves it there. The men eat together. Their final song is “America Is in the Heart.” They have not won fair pay or escaped racism. Yet they remain together, with a new sign on the wall and a choice still ahead of them. The ending leaves room for grief, anger and hope.

Sources: 22.

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THEATER • CHAPTER 11

The creative team The writers and the choreographer

Ralph B. Peña (left) and Fabian Obispo (right).

Ralph B. Peña

Orlando Pabotoy

Book and lyrics; director

Choreography

Ralph B. Peña is a Filipino American playwright and director. He has led Ma-Yi Theater Company as artistic director since 1996. His directing work includes The Chinese Lady, Felix Starro and Among the Dead. He wrote the original Filipino text for the 2002 The Romance of Magno Rubio and received an Obie Award for that work. For the new musical, he writes the scenes and lyrics and directs the production.

Orlando Pabotoy is an actor, director, choreographer and teacher. He received an Obie for the original Magno Rubio and created and performed Sesar for Ma-Yi. His work includes movement for NAATCO’s Henry VI. In 2023, he received a Callaway Award for the choreography of The HalfGod of Rainfall. He uses the body, rhythm and physical action to help tell a story.

Fabian Obispo

The book gives the story its scenes. Lyrics are the words that are sung. Music shapes their sound and pace. Direction brings the parts together, while choreography shapes movement and dance. In a musical about physical labor, a repeated step or a shared beat can carry as much meaning as a speech.

Music Fabian Obispo is a composer whose work includes musicals, choral music and sound for the stage. A longtime Ma-Yi collaborator, he wrote music for the original The Romance of Magno Rubio and composed Felix Starro. His work has been heard at theaters in New York and across the country. For the new musical, his score gives sound to the workers’ hopes, conflicts and shared life.

What these jobs bring to the stage

Sources: 21–23.

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THE CREATIVE TEAM

Music and design The people who shape what we hear and see

Tom Myron

Mika Eubanks

Orchestrations

Costume design

Tom Myron is a composer and arranger who works in symphonic, chamber and popular music. His arrangements have been performed in major concert halls. His collaborators include Le Vent du Nord. An orchestrator decides how the written music is shared among instruments and how their sounds work together.

Mika Eubanks is a costume designer whose work includes Flex at Lincoln Center Theater, Metamorphoses at Folger Theatre and The XIXth at The Old Globe. Eubanks has also designed for Baltimore Center Stage. Costumes help show a character’s work, taste, age and place in the world.

Ian Miller

Lighting design

Musical direction Ian Miller is a New York-based music director, pianist, arranger and orchestrator. His credits include Ma-Yi’s Felix Starro and productions of The Frogs and The Caucasian Chalk Circle at Juilliard. He works across classical music, jazz, gospel and musical theater. A music director helps singers and musicians learn and perform the score.

Riw Rakkulchon Scenic design Riw Rakkulchon is a scenic and production designer from Bangkok. Design credits include Mexodus and Cellino v. Barnes, with Broadway associate-design work on Parade and & Juliet. Rakkulchon trained at Ithaca College and Yale School of Drama. Scenic design creates the spaces and structures in which the story takes place.

Paul Whitaker Paul Whitaker designs lighting for theater, dance and opera. His work includes productions at The Public Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, the Guthrie and other theaters. He also works with Schuler Shook. Lighting guides the audience’s attention and can change a shared room into a memory, dream or place of danger.

Daniel Baker Sound design Daniel Baker is a sound designer and composer. His Broadway credits include Eclipsed and The Parisian Woman. Other work includes Toni Stone and The Great Leap. He earned an MFA at Yale School of Drama. Sound design shapes how voices, music and effects reach the audience.

Sources: 23.

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CLASSROOM • CHAPTER 12

Before you read or see the show Questions to carry into the theater

Use this guide in history, English, or theater class. Read the history chapters before the performance. Save the synopsis and questions about the ending until afterward.

Start with a question What makes a place feel like home? Why might someone leave home even when the journey is costly? What is the difference between being allowed into a country and being treated as an equal there? Write a short answer and keep it to read again after the show.

Words to know Colony: a place ruled by another country. Empire: several lands or peoples controlled by one power. Independence: the right of a country to govern itself. Reform: a change meant to improve a system. Revolution: a struggle to replace a government or system of power. Treaty: a formal agreement between countries. Katipunan: the secret movement that organized the revolution against Spanish rule. Tribute: a tax paid to a ruling power. Friar: a member of a Catholic religious order.

Manong: an Ilocano term of respect for an older brother or man. It also names an early generation of Filipino migrants. Migrant worker: a person who moves from place to place for work. Piecework: work paid by the amount completed rather than by time. Quota: a set amount, such as a work target or an immigration limit. U.S. national: a person legally connected to the United States who may not have full citizenship. Union: workers who act together for better pay and conditions. Solidarity: supporting one another through shared action. Adaptation: a new work based on an earlier one. Book: the scenes and dialogue of a musical. Lyrics: the words of a song.

While you watch Choose one object to follow: a tie, a tin, a letter, a sack, or the magazine. Notice who holds it and when it changes hands. Listen for a song that changes a person’s mind or a group’s behavior. Bring those details to the discussion.

Sources: original study guide; additional history sources A1–A16.

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STUDY GUIDE

Timeline: Spain, revolution, and takeover 1565–1899

1565 Spain begins a lasting colony in Cebu under Miguel López de Legazpi. 1571 Spanish forces take Manila and make it their capital. 1587 On October 18, sailors from the Philippines land near today’s Morro Bay, California. First half of the 1800s Filipino settlers build Saint Malo in Louisiana. 1863 A Spanish decree calls for primary schools for boys and girls in Philippine towns. 1870 Filipinos in New Orleans form a society to help members in hard times. 1883 Lafcadio Hearn records life in Saint Malo. Manila Village develops later in the century. 1887 Rizal publishes Noli Me Tangere. 1891 Rizal publishes El Filibusterismo. 1892 Rizal forms La Liga Filipina and is exiled. Bonifacio and others found the Katipunan.

August 1896 Bonifacio and the Katipunan launch the Philippine Revolution. December 30, 1896 Spanish authorities execute Rizal. May 10, 1897 Bonifacio and his brother Procopio are executed by rival revolutionaries. Late 1897 Aguinaldo makes a truce with Spain and goes into exile in Hong Kong. April–May 1898 The United States goes to war with Spain. Dewey defeats the Spanish fleet on May 1. Aguinaldo returns in May. June 12, 1898 Aguinaldo declares Philippine independence. August 13, 1898 Spain surrenders Manila to U.S. forces. Filipino forces are kept out of the central city. December 10, 1898 Spain and the United States sign the Treaty of Paris. The United States agrees to pay Spain $20 million for its claim to the Philippines. January–February 1899 The First Philippine Republic is inaugurated on January 23. War with the United States begins on February 4.

Sources: 1–3, 6, 10; A1–A14.

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STUDY GUIDE

Timeline: the Manongs and their legacy 1901–2026

1901 A U.S.-run school system is created in January. Twain’s essay appears in February. The Thomasites arrive in August. The Balangiga attack takes place on September 28. July 4, 1902 The United States declares the war over. Resistance continues in parts of the country. December 20, 1906 The first recruited Filipino sakadas arrive in Hawai‘i. 1907 An elected Philippine Assembly begins meeting. 1915–1916 A hurricane destroys Saint Malo in 1915. The Jones Act promises eventual Philippine independence in 1916. 1919–1924 Dalagang Bukid is released in 1919. Liwayway takes its name in 1922. Balagtasan becomes popular in 1924. 1930 White mobs attack Filipinos in Watsonville. Bulosan reaches Seattle. The musical’s fictional story takes place this year. 1933–1934 Filipino workers organize in canneries and fields. Salinas lettuce workers strike. California expands its marriage ban in 1933. 1934–1935 The Tydings-McDuffie Act limits immigration and sets a path to independence. The Philippine Commonwealth begins in 1935.

1941–1945 Japan invades and occupies the Philippines during World War II. 1942–1944 Bulosan’s stories and essays reach national readers. The Laughter of My Father is published as a book in 1944. 1946 America Is in the Heart is published. On July 4, the United States recognizes Philippine independence. 1956 Bulosan dies in Seattle on September 11. 1965 Filipino workers help start the Delano grape strike. Hurricane Betsy destroys Manila Village. 1979 “The Romance of Magno Rubio” appears in Amerasia Journal after Bulosan’s death. 2002–2003 Ma-Yi stages Lonnie Carter’s play in 2002. Eight Obie Awards recognize its artists in 2003. 2018 The Balangiga bells return to the Philippines in December. 2026 Peña and Obispo share a new musical version after years of development.

Sources: 2–22; A15, A16. MA-YI THEATER COMPANY

STUDY GUIDE

Questions about Spain and the revolution Use facts from the history chapters

Life under Spain

The American takeover

1. What is a colony? Name two decisions that people in a colony may not be free to make for themselves.

8. Put these events in order: the Treaty of Paris, the start of the revolution, the U.S. victory in Manila Bay, and the declaration of Philippine independence.

2. How could tribute, forced labor, and rent affect a farming family? Explain how one of these demands might affect another. 3. Why is it misleading to describe all people in the Philippines as having the same experience under Spain? Think about wealth, region, and resistance.

Rizal and Bonifacio 4. What problems did Rizal expose through writing? Why might a government see a novel as a threat? 5. How was Rizal’s work different from Bonifacio’s? What goal did their efforts share? 6. Why did Bonifacio and other organizers decide that reform was not enough? What did the Katipunan want to change? 7. What happened after Rizal’s execution? Why did killing a writer fail to silence the ideas linked to his work?

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9. Why did Spain surrender Manila to the Americans rather than to Filipino revolutionaries? Who was kept out of the agreement? 10. What did the $20 million payment buy, according to the treaty? Why did Filipino revolutionaries reject the idea that Spain could decide their future? 11. Explain why the Philippine-American War was a continuation of the Filipino struggle for independence, even though the foreign opponent had changed.

Write a short response Explain the sentence “One colonial ruler was replaced by another.” Use three events from 1896 to 1899. Then explain what Filipinos wanted instead. Write two clear paragraphs.

STUDY GUIDE

The Manongs and American rule Connect the history across the Pacific

The Manongs and the Manilamen 1. What does manong mean? Why do later generations use this word when they remember early Filipino workers? 2. What happened near Morro Bay in 1587? How is a ship’s landing different from a family building a permanent home? 3. Why were Louisiana’s bayous useful to Filipino fishermen? Give two examples of how their homes or work methods fit the place. 4. How did marriage connect Filipino settlers with other Louisiana communities? What does this show about who counts as a “local” person? 5. How did families keep their community history alive after the storms destroyed Saint Malo and Manila Village? 6. Why did many young men leave the Philippines for Hawai‘i or California? What did they hope to gain? What did they leave behind?

War, schools and culture 7. Why did Filipinos fight the United States after fighting Spain? What future were they trying to protect?

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8. What happened at Balangiga? How did the American campaign that followed affect civilians on Samar? 9. Look at the cartoon titled “It’s ‘up to’ them”. What does Uncle Sam offer? Is that a fair choice? Use a detail from the image to explain your answer. 10. Who were the Thomasites? How did English change schools and access to jobs? Which languages continued to be used at home? 11. Choose two forms of entertainment from “The Philippines Under American Rule”. Which came from outside the Philippines, and how did Filipino artists make them their own? 12. Why could many Filipinos enter the United States without immigrant visas before 1934 but still lack the rights of citizens?

Write a short response Explain how a person could enjoy American music or films and still oppose American rule. Use one historical fact and one example of your own. Aim for two clear paragraphs.

STUDY GUIDE

Questions about Bulosan and California work Use details rather than general answers

Carlos Bulosan 1. How did poverty, migration and illness shape Bulosan’s life? Why are these parts of his story important to understanding his writing? 2. English was not his first language. What helped him become a published writer? Include the role of books and other people. 3. What did publication in The New Yorker allow Bulosan to do? Whose lives could his readers encounter in those stories? 4. Read “My Father Goes to Court.” Who has money? Who has wit? How does the ending challenge the rich man’s power?

8. What is piecework? Why does it matter who counts and records the finished crates or sacks? 9. In the musical, why does Ikong keep his own count? Why is a correct record not enough by itself to force the boss to pay? 10. Why might a worker be afraid to join a strike? What might happen if nobody ever challenges the employer? 11. Look at the entrance sign in “Racism beyond the fields” and the formal portrait in “Beyond work: style and friendship”. What does each image tell us about life outside work?

5. Read a passage from America Is in the Heart. What does the narrator expect from America? What happens that supports or challenges that hope?

12. How did shared meals, clubs, newspapers and unions help workers? Which needs could a person not easily meet alone?

6. What do you think “freedom from want” means? What would a worker need in order to have that kind of freedom?

Make a comparison

The world of work 7. Why could a person work hard all season and still have little money? Include travel, days without work or other costs in your answer.

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Find one detail in Bulosan’s writing and one detail in the musical that show the difference between a person’s worth and the wage that person receives. Explain the connection in about 200 words.

STUDY GUIDE

Questions about the musical Love, labor, friendship, and choices

Love, language and trust 1. What does Magno want from Clarabelle besides marriage? What does his dream tell us about the life he has now? 2. How does Peping help Magno? When does that help become control over what Magno can say or know? 3. Why does the second page of Clarabelle’s letter matter? How does Peping’s choice change what happens at the station?

Life in the bunkhouse 4. Compare Kiko and Amado during the argument about the boss. What is each man trying to protect? 5. Why does Magno refuse to help Tasio? How does that refusal affect your view of him? 6. Why does Tasio leave his tie with Magno? What does the tie mean when Magno wears it to meet Clarabelle?

Dreams meet real people 7. How is the imagined Clarabelle different from the woman who arrives? What do we learn when she speaks for herself?

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8. Why does Clarabelle need a room, money and a way to leave? How are her needs different from Magno’s plans? 9. Magno gives Clarabelle all his savings. Give two possible reasons for his choice. Which one is better supported by what he says and does?

Songs, objects and the ending 10. Choose one song. What changes during it? Does someone make a choice, persuade another person, practice an action or challenge the group? 11. Why does Magno use pages from the magazine to cover the table? How has the meaning of that object changed? 12. What remains wrong at the end? What has changed? Decide whether the ending is hopeful and explain your answer with two details. For discussion: listen to a different answer before defending your own. Two people may read the same scene differently and still use strong evidence.

STUDY GUIDE

Classroom activities Work with numbers, images, objects, and scenes

1. Work out a week’s pay For this exercise, use twenty cents an hour, a rate involved in a 1933 Salinas labor dispute. Imagine a worker is paid for ten hours a day, six days a week. How much does he earn? Now remove two workdays. How much does he lose? What share of the planned week’s pay is gone? Next, list the costs that must come out of the remaining pay, such as food, a bed and travel. You do not need to invent prices. Explain why steady work matters as much as a daily wage. Show your math and write a short conclusion.

2. Follow an object Choose the tie, the magazine, a letter, the communal tin or the union leaflet. Make a list of three moments when it appears. Name the person who controls it in each moment. Write 200–300 words explaining how its meaning changes. You may draw the object beside your writing. Give the page a title that names its main role in the story, such as “A Tie That Keeps a Promise.”

Write a new caption of no more than fifty words that explains the cartoon’s view of empire. Follow it with a paragraph that challenges that view using facts from the history chapters.

4. Turn a moment into a scene In pairs, write a two-page scene in which one person asks another to help write an important message. Give each person a different goal. At some point, the helper changes or leaves out something. Show what happens when that choice is discovered. Read the scene aloud. Try it once with a pause before the change and once without the pause. Discuss how that small performance choice changes the audience’s view of the helper.

A final reflection Return to the question you answered before the show. What would you add or change now? Name a historical fact, a scene and a song that affected your thinking. Your answer can be a page of writing or a short class presentation.

3. Read a political cartoon Study either cartoon titled “It’s ‘up to’ them” or “School Begins”. First, describe what you see. Then identify the message. Who appears powerful? Who is made to look weak or childish? What do the labels, size of the figures and facial expressions ask viewers to believe? Sources: 13, 22, 25.

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DEEPER DIVES

Fiction, poetry, and plays More voices to read

José Rizal

Lysley Tenorio

Noli Me Tangere El Filibusterismo

Monstress The Son of Good Fortune

Carlos Bulosan

Ninotchka Rosca

America Is in the Heart The Laughter of My Father The Romance of Magno Rubio The Cry and the Dedication

The Monsoon Collection State of War Twice Blessed Stories of a Bitter Country

Jessica Hagedorn

Elaine Castillo

Dogeaters The Gangster of Love Dream Jungle Toxicology Danger and Beauty

America Is Not the Heart How to Read Now Moderation

Gina Apostol Bibliolepsy The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata Gun Dealers’ Daughter Insurrecto La Tercera

Han Ong Fixer Chao The Disinherited

Randy Ribay Patron Saints of Nothing After the Shot Drops Everything We Never Had

Patrick Rosal My American Kundiman Boneshepherds Brooklyn Antediluvian The Last Thing: New & Selected Poems

Lonnie Carter The Romance of Magno Rubio

Reading list from the original guide, with Rizal’s novels added.

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DEEPER DIVES

History, art, and performance Follow a question beyond this guide

Sarita Echavez See

Dorothy B. Fujita-Rony

The Decolonized Eye: Filipino American Art and Performance The Filipino Primitive: Accumulation and Resistance in the American Museum

American Workers, Colonial Power: Philippine Seattle and the Transpacific West, 1919–1941

Lucy Mae San Pablo Burns

Home Bound: Filipino American Lives across Cultures, Communities, and Countries

Puro Arte: Filipinos on the Stages of Empire

Joi Barrios To Be a Woman Is to Live at a Time of War Bulaklak sa Tubig: Mga Tula ng Pag-ibig at Himagsik Savage Stage: Plays by Ma-Yi Theater Company (editor)

Rick Baldoz The Third Asiatic Invasion: Empire and Migration in Filipino America, 1898–1946

Yen Le Espiritu

Catherine Ceniza Choy Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History

Randy Gonzales Settling St. Malo

Mark Twain To the Person Sitting in Darkness

José de Olivares; William S. Bryan, editor Our Islands and Their People as Seen with Camera and Pencil

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REFERENCE

Sources Entries 1–15

1. Filipino American National Historical Society. “October Marks Filipino American History Month.” The recorded landing of October 18, 1587. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, “Manila Galleon: From Asia to the Americas,” exhibition announcement, November 15, 2023. 2. Randy Gonzales. “Filipinos.” 64 Parishes, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. Philippine-Louisiana Historical Society, historical markers for Saint Malo, Manila Village and Clark Cheniere. 3. New Orleans Public Library, City Archives. “Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month,” 2026. Lafcadio Hearn. “Saint Malo: A Lacustrine Village in Louisiana,” Harper’s Weekly, 1883. Philippine-Louisiana Historical Society, settlement histories. 4. University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu, Center for Labor Education and Research. Hawai‘i Labor History Timeline, entry for December 20, 1906. 5. U.S. National Archives. “Immigration from Asia and the Pacific, 1870s to 1950s.” Philippine Independence Act (TydingsMcDuffie Act), 1934. 6. U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. “The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902.” 7. National Historical Commission of the Philippines. “Balangiga Massacre,” historical marker. “He Served on Samar,” Proceedings, U.S. Naval Institute, November 1979. 8. U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. “Historic Church Bells Return to the Philippines,” December 18, 2018.

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9. Mark Twain. “To the Person Sitting in Darkness.” The North American Review, February 1901. Text also published by Project Gutenberg. 10. Department of Education, Philippines. “Historical Perspective of the Philippine Educational System.” National Historical Commission of the Philippines, “In Memoriam Thomasites.” 11. National Commission for Culture and the Arts, accounts of bodabil and balagtasan. Film Development Council of the Philippines, “Great Beginnings: A Contemporary Showcase.” Philippine News Agency, history of Liwayway. 12. Ethan Johanson. “Filipino Men’s Fashion: Farmworkers in Three-Piece Suits.” Smithsonian National Museum of American History, December 22, 2025. Filipino American Community, Stockton, California Collection, Archives Center, AC1515. 13. UC Davis, Welga Archive / Bulosan Center. Filipino American Farmworker History Timeline and Filipino History Timeline. 14. UC Santa Cruz and The Tobera Project. Watsonville Is in the Heart, historical background and community-history resources. 15. Roldan v. Los Angeles County, 129 Cal. App. 267, 18 P.2d 706, January 27, 1933. Welga Archive, account of the later marriage-law amendment.

REFERENCE

Sources Entries 16–25

16. National Park Service. “Philip Vera Cruz.” University of Washington, Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, Filipino Forum study. UW Libraries, history of Filipino cannery worker organizing. 17. University of Washington Libraries. Author, Poet, and Worker: The World of Carlos Bulosan. Biography, immigration, union organizing and final-years sections; Bulosan Papers, Special Collections. UW, “Archiving History.” 18. Carlos Bulosan. “The Laughter of My Father,” The New Yorker, December 19, 1942; “My Father Goes to Court,” November 13, 1943. The Laughter of My Father, 1944. “Freedom from Want,” The Saturday Evening Post, 1943. 19. Carlos Bulosan. America Is in the Heart: A Personal History, 1946. University of Washington Press edition with an introduction by Marilyn C. Alquizola and Lane Ryo Hirabayashi. 20. Carlos Bulosan. “The Romance of Magno Rubio.” Amerasia Journal 6, no. 1 (1979): 33–50. Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, editor. Fiction by Filipinos in America, U.S. edition. PALH, 2020. ISBN 9781953716057. Sarita Echavez See, The Filipino Primitive, chapter 3.

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21. Ma-Yi Theater Company. The Romance of Magno Rubio, production history. Kenneth Jones, Playbill, May 28, 2004. Broadway Play Publishing, The Romance of Magno Rubio, play description and press quotations. 22. Ralph B. Peña and Fabian Obispo. Magno Rubio: The Musical, rehearsal manuscript dated October 13, 2026. Development history and production credits provided by the creators. Ma-Yi, “Discover Magno Rubio: The Musical.” 23. Artist biographies: Ma-Yi Theater Company; The Actors Center; Navona Records; Ian Miller; Riw Rakkulchon; Folger Shakespeare Library; Schuler Shook; PlayMakers Repertory Company. 24. Reading-list bibliographies: Jessica Hagedorn; Penguin Random House; Johns Hopkins University; Artbooks.ph; University of Minnesota Press; NYU Press; UC Berkeley; Academy of American Poets; University of Washington Press; Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. 25. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Udo J. Keppler, It’s “up to” them, Puck, November 20, 1901, LCDIG-ppmsca-25583. Louis Dalrymple, School Begins, Puck, January 25, 1899, LCDIG-ppmsca-28668.

REFERENCE

Additional historical sources A1–A8 | Spain, colonial rule, and reform

These sources support the added material on Spain, Rizal, Bonifacio, the 1898 takeover, and the later transition to independence. The numbered sources on the preceding pages are retained from the supplied guide. A1. Vicente L. Rafael. “Colonial Contractions: The Making of the Modern Philippines, 1565–1946.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History. Spanish rule, forced labor, religious power, land, and resistance. A2. Guampedia. “Miguel López de Legazpi.” The 1565 expedition and the beginning of Spanish colonization. Intramuros Administration. “Welcome to Fort Santiago!” The conquest of Manila in 1571. A3. Bruce Cruikshank. “A Puzzle about Padrones: Tribute in the EighteenthCentury Spanish Philippines.” Philippine Studies 59, no. 2 (2011). Tribute and colonial records.

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A4. Library of Congress. “Philippine Perspective.” World of 1898. Colonial inequality, reform, revolution, and the 1897 truce. A5. Department of Education, Philippines, Region VIII. “History.” The 1863 school decree and Act No. 74 of 1901. A6. Intramuros Administration / National Historical Commission of the Philippines. “Museo ni Rizal.” Rizal’s writings, trial, execution, and legacy. A7. University of Michigan Library. “Rizal’s Noli and Fili.” Translation and Memory: The Literary Worlds of the Spanish Philippines. The novels, publication dates, and language. A8. Library of Congress. “Andrés Bonifacio.” World of 1898. Bonifacio, La Liga Filipina, the Katipunan, and the leadership conflict.

Magno Rubio Study Guide