Tony Baniaga interviewed by Markus Faye Portacio

In this interview, originally conducted via Zoom, Tony Baniaga speaks with Markus Faye Portacio, a member of the Watsonville is in the Heart project team. Tony discusses his father Eusibio “Chevy” Margarin Baniaga’s migration history including his experience in Hawai‘i working in the sugarcane fields and working in the continental United States as a migrant farm laborer. He explains how Eusibio served in the Filipino Infantry Regiment during World War II. He also discusses his mother, Maxima “Sima” Vea Baniaga’s experience working in Pajaro Valley agricultural fields alongside Eusibio and her job at Watsonville Canning Company. Tony describes his experiences growing up in the Pajaro Valley including attending Pajaro Elementary and Watsonville High School and working in agricultural fields throughout his adolescence. Tony also reflects on his time in the navy from 1969 to 1975, his service during the Vietnam War, his experiences while he was stationed in the Philippines and racial dynamics in the US military. Throughout the interview, Tony discusses the various Pajaro Valley farms where his relatives worked, this included West Coast Farms, Crosetti Farms, Sears Brothers, and Driscoll.

Tony Baniaga

Markus Faye Portacio

July 10, 2022

Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH) is a community-driven public history initiative to preserve and uplift stories of Filipino migration and labor in the city of Watsonville and greater Pajaro Valley. All oral history interviews are donated to WIITH by the narrators. Copyright is held by WIITH. Oral history interview recordings and transcripts are available for unrestricted use and reproduction by educators and researchers. Please note that the recordings on this website are provided via Soundcloud. For access to oral history audio files, please contact the project director at wiith@ucsc.edu. If you are an oral history narrator and would like to remove your interview from the archive website, please contact the project director.

English

Oral History

Markus Faye Portacio

Tony Baniaga

Zoom

.m4a

1:35:41