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September 10, 2026 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA - SOMA Pilipinas, The New Community Leadership Foundation (NCLF) and Lynx Insights & Investigations, Inc. (Lynx), today announced a major milestone in the ongoing effort to reconnect individuals and families impacted by redevelopment in San Francisco’s South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood. Approximately 120,000 pages of former San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (RDA) records related to the Yerba Buena Center (YBC) redevelopment area have been transcribed, organized, and entered into an interactive dataset. This announcement was made at the public unveiling of the first Filipino cultural marker in Yerba Buena - the Philippine Sun (13°N, 122°E,) located across from the SF Moma.

These records, spanning 1959 to 1982, document thousands of individuals and households affected during the redevelopment process. Redevelopment in the South of Market “Yerba Buena Center” area resulted in the displacement of over 3,500 residents including elders, retirees, Filipinos, and other working class people, the demolition of over 4,000 units of housing, and the displacement of more than 700 businesses.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, September 1, 2026 — “Philippine Sun (13°N, 122°E),” a luminous new sculpture honoring San Francisco’s Filipino community set amid the fountains of the Crepe Myrtle Garden in Yerba Buena, will be unveiled at a community celebration on Sept. 4 adding to the vast collection of public art in the Yerba Buena arts district.

Filipino artist collective mumu created the Philippine Sun (13°N, 122°E) a vibrant glowing orb atop a mirrored pedestal that evokes a radiant sun. Its day and nighttime illumination is uniquely choreographed to match the real-time sunrise and sunset in the Philippine archipelago, the homeland of many generations of Bay Area Filipinos.

On Sunday, August 2nd, 2026, the Golden State Valkyries and PG&E, honored SOMA Pilipinas Director, Raquel Redondiez, as a Power Forward Honoree, during halftime of the Golden State Valkyries vs. Toronto Tempo game at Chase Center. The Power Forward initiative aims to celebrate and amplify the vital work being done by community leaders like Redondiez, stating “Redondiez’ dedication, leadership, and impactful contributions within the Bay Area community are truly commendable and serve as an inspiration to us all.”

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 24, 2026 — SOMA Pilipinas, the City and State recognized Filipino Cultural Heritage District, marks a landmark ten years of community building, cultural preservation, and placemaking in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. Under the banner of Dekada: Continuing a Decade of Community Arts, Activism, and Cultural Impact—SOMA Pilipinas reflects on ten years of hard-won victories while sounding the alarm on deepening threats of displacement and defunding that put the district’s future at risk.

APRIL 2, 2026, SAN FRANCISCO, CA - On Thursday, April 23, from 6-8 PM, SOMA Pilipinas, the City and State recognized Filipino Cultural Heritage District, will present “Gunitaan ng Pagtutuwid ng Kasaysayan - Site of Reclaiming and Rectifying History”, a free, outdoor performance at the Dewey Monument in Union Square. The procession begins at 6:30 PM at the East Entrance of Union Square Plaza, on the corner of Geary and Stockton. This performance is part of the San Francisco Arts Commission's Shaping Legacy Project, an initiative to critically examine and re-imagine the monuments and memorials in the city's Civic Art Collection. It has been developed with guidance from community historian MC Canlas and in partnership with the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS-SF Chapter), the League of Filipino Students at San Francisco State University, Anakbayan at City College, and the San Francisco Chapter of Malaya Movement.