As Filipino American History Month winds down, ABC 10News is sharing the story of the Valerio family and how they're using their bakery to celebrate their heritage.
A line of customers waits patiently at Valerio's Bakeshop in National City, eager to get their hands on freshly baked goods. But for many of these customers, this bread is more than just a tasty treat: It's a taste of home.
"I feel like I traveled back to the Philippines, so I'm not going to be homesick anymore," said Ruben Limentang.
Philip Santos is the owner of Valerio's Bakeshop. He says that's exactly what his grandparents had envisioned when they started their bakery business.
"My grandparents, Victor and Milagros Valerio, started the bakery in Cavite in the Philippines in the 1950s. They came to the US in the 1970s, wanting to share their love of baking and their dream of creating something to bring people together," Santos said.
Through food, the family didn't just fill people's stomachs — it filled their souls.
"Filipinos have this deep, profound love for their family, and a lot of that is also said with food," Santos said.
The Valerio family legacy comes to life in the back of the bakery, where family recipes handed down for generations are used to create their signature items.
One of their specialties is pandesal, a traditional Filipino roll. Santos brought this bread to the international stage at the 2025 edition of the World Bread Awards — USA, the largest baking competition in the Western Hemisphere.
"I submitted our traditional pandesal, which took home a win. This is a momentous occasion for Filipino representation on the global stage because it shows that Filipino bread can stand with the best breads and bakers from around the globe," Santos said.
Throughout the years, as the Valerio family grew, they opened more bakeries in San Diego County and even expanded to other parts of the country.
While Santos' grandparents are no longer around, he says each loaf they bake represents the love his grandparents had for their Filipino heritage and sharing it with their community.
"This is more than just bread. It's family, it's culture, it's tradition, it's history," Santos said.
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