Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services News

Jacinto Siquig Northside Community Center

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Post Date:05/26/2020

In 1975, Jacinto Siquig, along with many leaders of the local Filipino American community, lobbied and obtained funding from the City of San José to build a new community center after observing that their fellow elder Filipino American farmers needed a place to gather and socialize.

Upon opening, Northside Community Center served as the main resource of nutrition programs, case management, cultural activities and other social services to the area’s senior community nearby. After almost three decades, the community center blossomed into a busy hub of community meetings, activities and functions.

With its success, availability was limited and the center’s leadership council determined that the center needed to expand. Alongside the expansion was a petition to rename Northside Community Center to “Jacinto Siquig Northside Community Center” in honor of one of the founding fathers of the center.

Around the time of expansion, a senior housing was built right behind the community center called Mabuhay Court. Mabuhay in Tagalog literally translates to “long live” and is commonly used as “Welcome.”

Siquig was born in Urdaneta, Pangasinan, Philippines in 1905. During the Great Depression, he migrated to the United States where he became a farm worker and then a successful independent farm owner.

After retirement, Siquig was active in many civic roles and became a leader in the Filipino American community.As one of the individuals that founded the Filipino American Seniors Opportunities Development Council, where he served as president, Siquig and his fellow leaders used that platform to launch the campaign that led to the founding of Northside Community Center.

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