An Taclobanon

The An Taclobanon Association of Southern
California was founded because of the
strong social ties among the Taclobanons in
Southern California, hoping to better help
each other, as well as their friends from their
former hometown, Tacloban.

It was in 1984 that a few good men and
women of Tacloban started planning to
establish the An Taclobanon Association of
Southern California. Their efforts came to
fruition in July 20, 1985 when the charter
officers were elected and they were: Edwin
Tiu, president; Ramon Duarte,
vice-president, Carlota Jaojoco-Sta. Ana,
secretary; Raffy Lagado, asst. secretary;
George Yu, treasurer; Henry Badar, auditor;
Eddie Ros, P.R.O.; Gindy Sydiongco and
Cesar Urbayan, protocol officers.

The members of the Board of Directors were:
Celing Aguinid, Baby Esperas-Cui, Guy
Engle, Emily Garcia, Nonie Jaojoco, Butch
Ollero, and Joe Salem.

The following year, with more or less a
hundred members, the Association started
out with its first project, which was the
celebration of the annual fiesta in honor of
Santo Niño. It was also in this occasion that
the first Mrs. An Taclobanon contest was held
with Baby Esperas-Cui winning the title.

The fiesta celebration in honor of Santo Niño
became an annual project of the Association.
But in 1989, the Association held the first Ms.
An Maglipayon contest with Rochelle
Romana Mesa winning the crown. The
Association focused on these annual events
as a way of preserving the unique cultural
heritage of Tacloban and to entice
Taclobanons to be actively involved.

In August 9, 1996, the Association received
its certificate as a non-profit Public Benefit
Corporation from the Secretary of State of
California. During the same year, it was
granted the tax-exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service and the California
Franchise Tax Board, making it a full-fledged
community-based charitable organization.

Part and parcel of what the Association was
then, and what it is now, are the past
presidents who are: Edwin Tiu (1985-1986),
Cesar Urbayan (1987-1988), Tating Zosa
(1989-1990), Ramon Duarte (1991-1992),
Henry de Guia (1993-1994), Raffy Lagado
(1995-1996) & (1997-1998), Eric Cordeta
(1999-2000), Nonong Agner (2001-2002),
and Susan Urbayan-David (2003-2004).

MISSION STATEMENT

The An Taclobanon Association of
Southern California is dedicated to
promote our community’s cultural,
economic, moral, religious and
social aspirations, and to protect
our members’ well-being, while
maintaining ties with the old
hometown of Tacloban.

VISION

To effectively harness the
resources of the Taclobanon
community in Southern California
towards the realization of our socio-
cultural and religious commitments

Our Values...

Accountability – being
responsible for meeting the
commitments we make, including
keeping ourselves, the members
informed, and compliance with
regulatory requirements.

Teamwork – to promote the goals
and objectives of the organization
by actively and faithfully supporting,
participating in the association’s
regular and special activities by our
time, talents, treasures, prayers
and service.

Respect – we are committed to
demonstrate and to treat one
another, our members and the
public with utmost respect.

Integrity – in all settings, we hold
ourselves to high levels of ethical
and professional standards; and
as promised, to abide by the
established rules, policies,
guidelines, Bylaws and the
Constitution of An Taclobanon
Association of So. California.

Financial responsibility – doing my
share in helping to meet budgetary
and strategic targets.

Synergy – to foster strength, unity
by combining our efforts so that
together, we are more than the
sum of our parts.

Our Beliefs & Principles

We believe the organization could
save a bundle in anxiety and reduce
the risk of embarrassment by
ensuring that its directors and
executive officers understand and
adhere to four basic principles:

One: Treat trust and credibility as
the association’s most vital and
valuable assets.

Two: Assume all critical facts will
eventually be known and make
decisions that support and
enhance trust.

Three: Avoid strategies that
obscure, conceal, distort,
misrepresent, mislead or
otherwise undermine trust.

Four: Fulfill the specific
responsibilities embodied in your
role with diligence, independent
professional judgment and, above
all, an unwavering commitment to
core ethical principles, such as:
honestly, responsibility, fairness
and good citizenship.

Adopted: December 2004