Founded on December 27, 1925 in Los Angeles by Hilario Camino Moncado, the Filipino Federation of America (FFA) was one of the country’s first and largest Filipino organizations[1][6]. It was a mutual aid society as well as a “quasi-religious” organization with strong mystical symbolism that was derived from Filipino folk beliefs and practices[1]. This “misterioso” organization was guided by the mystical principle of doce doce (Spanish for twelve twelve). Following this principle, the Federation was organized around the number twelve: it had 12 divisions, 12 lodges in each division and 12 members in each lodge. Membership in the Federation demanded the renunciation of “all vices” in order to become a “Moncadista”. This meant that members did not drink, gamble, smoke and patronize taxi dance halls advocating clean living in accordance with the principles from strict morality. Members believed that Moncado possessed a divine persona and viewed him as the Filipino “brown Christ” who, when the time came, would deliver his followers into paradise. They practiced spiritual initiation such as reciting prayers to obtain power and protection from all dangers and temptations as well as underwent sacrifices such as fasting, abstinence and trekking. These were ways in which members responded to challenges and problems of surviving and adapting to a foreign land. Santa Maria resident and Central Coast FANHS president Rosalie Marquez remembers the FFA's presence in this area: When I was around ten years old in 1955, I recalled my parents, Santiago and Mary Salutan, speaking about a gathering to meet Hilario Moncado at a home on the Nipomo mesa off of Highway 1 about a couple of miles south of the oil refinery. Moncado to my father was his leader, healer, and a prophet with supernatural powers. My parents believed that he would be able to heal my mother from her illness. I remembered the house would be packed with people standing around listening to their leader. I noticed on the wall a large photo of Moncado. The children were not allowed to enter the house, but in my curiosity I would stand by the doorway to peek in and I felt nervous and scared. This meeting was very strange to me. My parents instructed me to remain outside and watch my three brothers (Paul, Jimmy and Eddie), making sure they were playing nearby and not allowing them to go towards the roadway. A Filipina lady who was the owner of the house would come out to check on all the children running around and screaming. I remembered her with dark eyebrows and thick red lips, and in her thick Filipino accent she would call us “Darlings.” I was amazed at all the people being present and all their cars parked up on the hill near the house and down by the highway--I would guess around fifty cars. We would asked my father, “Who is that man?” and he would answer, “He is a good man and a healer.” I knew my father praised him and was his follower."