Skip to main content
Watsonville is in the Heart: Community Digital Archive

Tony Baniaga interviewed by Markus Faye Portacio

Dublin Core

Title

Tony Baniaga interviewed by Markus Faye Portacio

Description

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.

Creator

Tony Baniaga
Markus Faye Portacio

Date

July 10, 2022

Rights

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.

Language

English

Type

Oral History

Oral History Item Type Metadata

Interviewer

Markus Faye Portacio

Interviewee

Tony Baniaga

Location

Zoom

Original Format

.m4a

Time Summary

1:35:41

URL

Link to audio recording on escholarship: Tony Baniaga interviewed by Markus Faye Portacio

Files

Tony Baniaga interviewed by Markus Faye Portacio.pdf

Citation

Tony Baniaga and Markus Faye Portacio, “Tony Baniaga interviewed by Markus Faye Portacio,” Watsonville is in the Heart: Community Digital Archive, accessed November 21, 2024, https://wiith-archive.ucsc.edu/items/show/1198.

Output Formats

Comments

Allowed tags: <p>, <a>, <em>, <strong>, <ul>, <ol>, <li>