Hilario Moncado

Hilario Camino Moncado (November 4, 1898 – April 9, 1956) was a Filipino religious and political leader.

Early life and education Moncado was born in Pondol, Balamban, Cebu, to a poor rural family. His parents were recorded in official biographies of the Filipino Federation of America as Gregorio Moncado and Filomena Moncado y Camino. The date of his birth in FFA sources is November 4, 1898. However, his official baptismal certificate show that he was actually born on November 3, 1895, and baptized on November 4, 1895, under the name Hilarion Camino Moncada. His name was legally changed to Hilario Camino Moncado around 1919, probably when he was living in San Francisco. The FFA had also acquired the approval of the HSPA and plantation owners, as Moncado discouraged vice and gambling among their members, and later officially denounced labor unions. FFA workers were even brought in to break a workers' strike in a pineapple plantation in Molokai in 1937.

After a brief return to the United States via the newly inaugurated Hawaii Clipper flying boat service, he returned to the Philippines in 1938. Moncado ran again for senator in Lanao against Tomas Cabili in 1938, which he also lost. They adopted two children, Mario and Luz.

Post-World War II and Death After the end of World War II, Moncado was conversely accused of treason and of collaboration with the Empire of Japan. This was partly due to Moncado's wealth. At the end of the war, court records show he still had an estimated gross annual income of $19,000 in addition to $18,000 in the bank and his real estate properties in Hawaii and California worth around $100,000 . The charges were dismissed in February 1948 after the January 1948 proclamation of full amnesty for all suspected collaborators.

The independence of the Philippines led to severe problems for the organization's members. The members who were trapped in the Philippines due to World War II were barred from returning to the United States due to newly imposed immigration quotas. Regardless, Moncadista colonies in the Philippines are independent from each other and are led by different leaders. In particular, cooked food is now allowed in most cases. It was also often criticized by the Filipino-American community for misrepresenting the image of Filipinos, as well as for exploiting Sakadas with "fakery". The first of such criticisms were published in 1930 in Los Angeles, in a pamphlet written by a Filipino government scholar Primo E. Quevado.

Another prominent early critic was the Filipino-American Methodist minister Nicolas C. Dizon, who published his criticism in Honolulu in 1931. Dizon characterized the FFA as "unethical" in promoting superstitious beliefs and practices.

FFA members were also often directly ridiculed by other Filipino-Americans. Despite this, the increasing ridicule and criticism against the FFA only reinforced the members' belief in the "Messianic" nature of the movement and the "Christ-like" image of Moncado. FFA preachers who were subjected to public ridicule were instructed to remain peaceful and avoid fighting back, accepting it as a form of "persecution".

Modern Moncadistas are also often derisively called "Bungkagistas", a portmanteau of (literally "disordered", in the context of "confused") and "Moncadista".