Oral History Collaborations

In this interview, originally recorded over the phone, Gregorio "Greg" Dionisio Tabasa speaks with Watsonville is in the Heart team member, Una Lynch. Greg begins the interview by talking about his father, Jesus Torrente Tabasa, who immigrated from the Aklan Province in the Philippines to Hawai'i and eventually to the Pajaro Valley where he worked as a labor contractor. Gred also discusses his mother, Rosita "Rosie" Dionisio Tabasa-Estrada who also immigrated from Aklan and eventually owned and operated a restaurant in Watsonville. Her restaurant was first called Oriental Cafe and later Philippine Gardens. Greg explains the restaurant's significance to the Watsonville Filipino American community. He describes it as a "gathering place" for the Filipino community to connect and eat together. Greg also discusses his parents' roles as community leaders and their participation in organizations like the Caballeros de Dimas-Alang and the Filipino Women's Club of Watsonville. He also reflects on the personal impacts of his father's and how other Filipino men helped to raise him and his brother, Danny. He explains that after Jesus's death Rosie continued community and restaurant work through the 1980s. Greg closes the interview by reflecting on a housing and public art project titled Tabasa Gardens that honors his mother and her impact on the Filipino American community. Tabasa Gardens is an apartment community located on Freedom Boulevard in Watsonville. Half of the apartment units will be reserved for farmworkers. In addition to being named for the Tabasa family and their restaurant. The complex features a mosaic mural depicting Rosie Tabasa and her eldest son, Jess Tabasa.