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Bohol Circle Inc. is the first and oldest Filipino-American organization in the United States. Founded on September 21st,1936, Bohol Circle Inc. was created with the goal of helping Filipinos in the San Francisco Bay Area obtain a respectful burial after immigrating to the United States. After the death of TelofiloTorregosa, a young Filipino man, in 1935, 7 Filipinos: Roman Torregosa, Carl Caaganan, Dal Jayag, Gaudencio Guyot, Victor Cainia, Antonio Deloso, and Eleuterio Caagaanan, felt that the best way to help Filipino immigrants was to build an organization that can serve as a financial safety net in the form of mutual aid should emergencies such as death occur. The organization was named after the island of Bohol, a Visayan island in the Philippines, from which all of the founders came. The "circle" symbolized their struggles by manifesting their bonds as within a circle.
Bohol Circle found its home on 1815 Union St. in Alameda in 1965 after pooling membership money to buy land and have a physical space for Filipino Americans to serve as a cultural and familial mecca for families who recently immigrated to the United States. Written in the Jubilee (50th) Anniversary of Bohol Circle, "Being located in the beautiful island CIty of Alameda, the clubs' first fifty years of its existence is a golden token to the unbreakable ties and friendship between Filipinos and the city of Alameda. The City of Alameda has always been kind to the various causes that Bohol Circle Inc. stands for. So it is a great honor to recognize and to express to the City of Alameda: you are our host city, and we (BCI Members) are so proud and honored to assist and entertain our fellow Filipinos from all over the San Francisco Bay Area and the city of Tagbilaran, Province of Bohol, Philippines in Alameda.
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