This November, Robert Bulatao (he/him) could make history as the first Filipino American to be elected to the City Council of San Leandro, California. The millennial husband and father of two is engaged in his community as the President of the Garfield Elementary Parent Teacher Organization, a member of the Executive Board at Generation Music & Arts Academy, and a leader with Urban Habitat's Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute. His progressive platform includes supporting voting equity, housing stability, and public safety. A longtime community activist, Bulatao is committed to making a change in District 6. We spoke to him about his influences, getting out of his comfort zone, and his vision for San Leandro.
You're a husband and a father of two young children. How does your family feel about you entering politics? Have they helped out with the campaign?
My wife has been very supportive of my run. She knows that I’ve given a lot of my own time from career building in order to raise our children so seeing something that I’m passionate about has been good. Now that she’s been watching what I’ve been doing and what I’ve been talking about in regards to systemic racism firsthand hand she has a better understanding of why I’ve been so vocal about so many of these issues. My kids on the other hand aren’t too interested. They’re only 10 and 12 right now so they aren’t ready to grasp the scope of what I’m aiming to achieve especially because they’ve lived in relative stability all their lives. Once they’re a bit older and able to volunteer in the capacity that I do then they’ll be ready to receive that life lesson. My kids have helped a little bit with preparing canvassing materials and knocking on doors with me sometimes.
I try not to ask my wife to help out because she’s already working all day most of the week so I want to make sure she has time to decompress but she agreed to let me use some of our money to start the campaign which helps a lot because I’m horrible with fundraising. I really don’t like asking people for money especially because so many of the people I know are already struggling.
In your June interview with YourCoolNinang, you shared that you were diagnosed with cancer at the age of 26 after going to the doctor for the first time in years because being able to get a checkup was "kind of luxurious at the time." Healthcare in the U.S. obviously needs a lot of reform. What do you think needs to change?
We need to do away with for-profit healthcare. If we want to be a civilized society then health and safety should never be commodified. The private healthcare system creates an unnecessary middleman in the healthcare system so we really need to move towards a single-payer healthcare system like other countries with strong healthcare systems. Everyone in America knows someone directly or indirectly who has had to create a GoFundMe because of an illness or injury and that shouldn’t be normalized at all. On a federal level we should be introducing caps on how much pharmaceutical companies can charge for their medications. Yes, they should be able to profit but not at excessive amounts that end up killing the people that they’re healing through almost inescapable debt. That replaces one death sentence with another.
You also spoke with YourCoolNinang about the power of tsismis. Tsismis is often criticized as either malicious gossip or dismissed as the pastime of busybodies, but one could argue that it's part of a long oral tradition in the Philippines and a cornerstone of community building. If you could spread one bit of tsismis about your campaign what would it be?
Brown folks love our tsismis. Whether it’s Filipinos with our tsismis or Hispanic & Latino folks with their chismosas, it’s part of our culture. We don’t have to allow it to have that negative connotation. We love to talk. We love to tell stories. We love to communicate. Those are not bad traits and they should be seen as great traits for bonding and community building. Tsismis is all about communication and that’s what I believe our representatives should be strong with. We have to be able to communicate with our communities. Reach out to them to see what their concerns are in order to offer solutions and address their needs. I don’t view tsismis in a negative light when we NEED tsismis to understand what’s wrong with our neighborhoods and to be able to dismantle propaganda.
You study Filipino martial arts. How did you get into it? How has it impacted your connection to your heritage?
Back around 2000 some of my family was finally able to move here to the USA after decades of petitioning and processing. One of my uncles was a karate grandmaster in the Philippines and he offered to teach me and my friends arnis. I never knew we had our own martial arts style so I was excited to learn. My uncle would teach us on the weekends in the early morning sometimes and so we’d practice while we could. This was back before we had the access to digital recording that we have nowadays so we had to learn fast and try to retain as much as possible. After I studied massage therapy I had to stop training due to the risk of wrist injury. Then when I got diagnosed with Leukemia I had to stop training due to illness.
I stopped treatment in 2019 and thankfully my bloodwork has been negative since then. I signed up my kids for karate classes at a local Filipino-owned studio in 2023 and found out that they offer an arnis class so I started back up again. It’s been great getting back into it and embracing this part of our culture that I’ve always had an affinity towards. This has led me to meeting more of our kababayan, as well as others who embrace our culture, and helping them connect with our roots. It really feels meditative and gives me that connection to the warriors of our past.
You've taken a bit of an unconventional path to politics. You were a massage therapist before your cancer diagnosis, then became a stay-at-home dad. The model minority myth stereotypes Asian Americans as being wealthy, privileged, and working in high-paying careers, but this obviously isn't the case for everyone. What do you think are some of the biggest challenges facing the Asian American community?
I believe that some of the challenges that we face in the AAPI community are directly related to the model minority myth. With politics they always want our votes but never our voices. Every time I talk to a Filipino voter they’re always amazed by my courage to run because we always see discrimination through gaslighting, direct violence, and indirect violence. I’m very qualified to run and represent our community yet some of the old establishment say things like, “being a volunteer and nice person doesn’t qualify someone” and those same people are quick to call me a loose cannon. I’ve been told by other kababayan that my signs have been taken from their front yards and businesses as a way to say, “How DARE you seek representation.” This has also happened at AAPI businesses that support me so it’s not just a Filipino problem. Again it’s a way of saying that they’ll seek us for support, labor, and money but we’re not allowed to hold leadership.
There's a large Filipino community in California, and there are thousands in San Leandro, yet, if elected, you'll be the first FilAm on the San Leandro City Council. What are the barriers to entering politics for Filipino Americans, and how do you think we can work together as a community to overcome them?
The biggest barriers to running are money and racism which go hand in hand. The racism for San Leandro comes in two forms: lowkey racist intimidation and our voting policy. Our voting system, which violates the California Voting Rights Act, is racist and classist as hell. We have six districts in San Leandro and we should be doing district-site elections which is where you would only campaign in your district and vote for people in your district. Rather than doing that we’re doing at-large elections for these district seats which means that we have the whole city voting on who represents each district. This creates a huge barrier to running because now you have to campaign across the whole city of 90,000 people instead of the 15,000 people in your district which means that you need thousands of more dollars and manpower in order to reach those voters who will likely never meet you.
The door is opened for big money candidates to have a huge advantage in these races due to that violation of the CA Voting Rights Act. This creates a barrier for those who are strong in their community and their needs from running. Now we see those with the connections to the rich and powerful having a strong leg up which is one reason why we see the same factions of people running for office. Small town elections should be about representation, not money. This is why my top priority is getting big money influences out of our local politics by lowering campaign contributions from $5,500 to $500 per entity and conforming to the CA Voting Rights Act. We must connect with people heart to heart, street by street, and block by block in order to do what’s best for our community’s needs and further our representation.
We may not have many Filipino Americans in politics, but there's no shortage of Filipino American leaders. From labor organizer and activist Larry Itliong to Thelma Buchholdt, the first female Filipino American state legislator, Filipino Americans have helped shape this country for generations. Who are some of your FilAm role models?
It’s corny as hell to say but my mom is one of my FilAm role models. My parents got divorced when I was a toddler and my mom held it together with me and my three older siblings. She has also been a great moral compass for me. One time we went to Denny’s and after we had paid our bill she realized the cashier had given us extra money back on accident. Mom and I went back in and she did the right thing by giving that money back to the cashier so their til wouldn’t be short. She might not remember doing this because her memory isn’t the best but I remember it. Doing the right thing instead of walking away is what we should remember. This is one of the reasons I want to run for council. I can sit back and do nothing OR I could help shape the city by addressing systemic issues that hurt our communities.
How has being Filipino American shaped your political views?
Understanding our own history with America shaped my political views a lot.
Understanding how we were promised freedom during the Spanish-American War by the Americans only to be bought by the Americans from Spain opens the eyes. Our delegates were left out of the Treaty of Paris talks because, like I said earlier, they always want our support but never our voices. Then learning more about the Philippine-American War, which we’re never taught about even though we’re a significant population of the Bay Area, and the genocide that was committed.
Understanding that Western medical schools were created in the Philippines so that nurses could be trained to treat our oppressors then be used as a form of cheap labor in order to be exported to other countries clears things up. Poverty was created and the escape from poverty into another form of exploitation were both created by the same forces.
Understanding America’s history of destabilizing regions and installing puppets also makes you side-eye how America “gave” us independence yet our country’s politics have been overrun with corruption for decades.
Being Filipino American has shaped my political views by making me less trusting of others who downplay the effects this country has had in our country’s current state. I can’t fix what’s going on in the homeland but I can fix what’s going on here by trusting my gut on knowing when to be skeptical.
Running a campaign isn't easy, let alone a grassroots campaign. What are some of the challenges you've faced as you've embarked on your political career?
Getting out of my comfort zone was one of the biggest challenges but I’ve been able to do that in most instances. I don’t want to be a politician who pressures people into support or to put a lawn sign up. After I talk with people I tell them, “No pressure. Please read up a bit more about me on my website or socials and if you’re comfortable with a lawn sign then please shoot me an email.” It seems to be a good strategy because I’ve gotten 250 of the 270 signs that I ordered out to households and businesses.
The other challenge was at the beginning because trying to find people to guide you through the process is difficult without the capital to pay them. We have no shortage of supporters and thankfully we were able to find a couple who were able to step into the key roles of campaign manager, treasurer, co-treasurer, event coordinator, and volunteer coordinator. It’s difficult as hell to do these things alone but with the right people with the right hearts you can create a manageable load.
It's been a busy year for you! What are your post-election plans?
After the election it’s back to work for me.
I’m going to be helping the middle school get their PTA up and running, coordinating ways to deal with traffic, working with the community to address our needs in the parks, continuing educating myself, creating a San Leandro Filipino Democratic Club, creating a Filipino Chamber of Commerce, and begin planning for a Filipino Festival in October of next year.
It’ll be a little bit easier without having to knock on every door of the city. Maybe I’ll throw in a karaoke night or two.
Speaking of the future, what do you hope your local Filipino community looks like in the next 20 years?
I picture us having strong connections to each other, with events, businesses, and political power to support other minorities & allies running for office.
I picture vibrancy, laughter, kinship, and a communal embrace of our culture.
I picture more of our San Leandro kababayan that move out of the area following in my footsteps of community building which is why I want to keep things as replicable as possible.
I want a blueprint for our people and other communities who seek representation.
I want this to be for everyone that sees a problem that isn’t being addressed who feels that they have the heart required to educate themselves on how to fix problems and understand the power of their voice.
What advice would you give to aspiring Filipino leaders?
Know your roots. Educate yourself constantly. Be open to unlearning and relearning. Always have that open mind. You have a powerful community that wants to see you succeed even though there are those few with crab mentality.
I came into this with no political connections so I went out there and made those connections.
You can do it and all you have to do is be authentic, be coachable, be confident but not egotistical, and be willing to talk to & understand where people are coming from.
To learn more about Robert Bulatao, visit his campaign website and follow him on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.