MALAYA: Pinoy is mayor of ‘City of the Silent’

By ANTHONY IAN CRUZ
Malaya

Claro “Larry” Formalejo, a Filipino who has become a naturalized US citizen, was elected mayor last November of Colma, California.

The city is known as “City of the Silent” because of the proliferation of cemeteries.

Formalejo, who was once the city’s vice mayor, will serve for one year.

Colma lies between Daly City and San Francisco. It had 1,280 residents in 2004, one-half of them Caucasians.

Colma’s official website says that 17 cemeteries, one of them exclusively for pets, cover about 73 percent of the 4.9 square-kilometer land area.

Its residents have adopted the motto “Happy to be alive.”

Newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, folk hero Wyatt Earp, and baseball icon Joe DiMaggio are among prominent figures buried in the city’s cemeteries.

According to a Philippine News report, Formalejo intends to devote his time to concerns of senior citizens and the youth, especially health care, housing and education.

His agenda includes improving senior citizens’ housing and offering classes to teach English as a second language for Colma’s rising immigrant population.

Formalejo ran for the city council in 2002 but lost by 30 votes. He again ran in 2004 and won, to the surprise of the Filipino-American community in Colma.

Prior to joining politics, he was active in community organizations including the Thomasian Group composed of alumni of the University of Santo Tomas, the Knights of Columbus, and the Colma Fil-Am Organization.

Formalejo was also a member of the Filipino American Democratic Caucus.

Born in Manila, Formalejo moved to the US in 1955. He has four children and five grandchildren.