[Photograph of Hilario Camino Moncado]

n.p. 1981. 8x10 inch photograph, reprinting a much earlier group shot taken by Bataan Photo Studio in San Francisco. The verso is dated April 1981, with the Sharpshot logo.

Hilario Camino Moncado established the Filipino Federation of America in 1925 in Los Angeles, California. It was also known at various times as the Filipino World Federation and the Filipino Crusaders World Army. As one of the fraternal organizations appealing to the small but growing Filipino immigrant community, the FFA distinguished itself from competitors by accentuating "clean living" and rules of moral conduct. Moncado earned a law degree and sought to portray the immigrant community as responsible and healthy, in contrast to the then-prevalent depictions of uneducated gamblers. Much less publicly, the FFA developed a set of religious teachings that held Moncado to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ by way of José Rizal, the Filipino patriot executed in the waning days of Spanish rule. (Moncado's birthday was changed to make him appear to have been born after Rizal's death, so that his identity as Rizal's reincarnation would be more plausible).

Cat.No: 339466

Price: $25.00