SAN FRANCISCO - The mayor of Daly City in California, US walks into a room of news reporters dressed in a modern Filipiniana and boots. She is a proud Filipina.

Juslyn Manalo, while born and raised in California, tells reporters that her parents hailed from Batangas and Laguna. Aside from her, two other members of their city council are Filipinos.

Daly City hosts one of the highest concentrations of Filipinos across the United States. Thirty-four percent of the population in San Francisco Bay Area is Filipino.

The Filipino community leaders from the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) and the Filipino Community Center (FCC) say that the huge volume of Filipinos in the area made it easy for Filipino-Americans to connect with their roots in the country, and get seats in the local government.

Manalo has frequently visited the Philippines, as Daly City is also the sister city of Quezon City. For Filipinos residing in the city, it wouldn't be too hard locating the Daly City Hall as there is a "Quezon City" marker.

Aside from that, Manalo has also taken a cultural tour in different sites in Mindanao to experience the rich heritage of what she calls her home country.

In an interview with Filipino reporters, Manalo shared that they have agreements with Quezon City to share best practices such as technology in firefighting.

"We'll be showing firefighting apparatus, they're very open to that saying there have been a lot of fires [in the city]," Manalo said.

The mayor recalls meeting Quezon City Vice Mayor Gian Sotto in the Philippines last year during a brief visit.

"I met him [Sotto], so we got to talk about his work and they showed me the museum of presidential cars," she shared.

Manalo said they are planning to re-launch the QC Friendship Festival held in Daly City.

"While I was growing up in Daly City, there was Quezon City Friendship City Festival, it was huge. The elder generation held that huge festival, so maybe one day we're gonna have that resurgence happen and bring back that festival," she said.

"That's where we got to learn our culture, our dances," she added.

As mayor, Manalo said she was focused on addressing economic stability in the area, such as providing affordable housing.

"We're looking for ways to support our immigrant communities, in rental assistance," Manalo said.

Like other states, homelessness is an issue in California. The executive director of the Filipino Community Center said they handle at least seven homeless Filipinos in the area.

"Some of the land that is city-owned will go to this affordable housing. In San Mateo county, we have a large housing project in the bayshore area, we have 500 units," she added.

Manalo said she wished to host Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte in Daly City.

"We're looking to that collaboration and hopefully one day we'll visit the mayor," she added.