David Mercado Valderrama
David Mercado Valderrama (born February 1, 1933) is a Filipino-American politician from Maryland.He served as a Democratic member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1991 to 2003[1] and was the first Filipino-American elected to a state legislature on the mainland United States, as well as the first Asian American and first Filipino American elected to the Maryland General Assembly.[2][3][4] In December 1984, Valderrama was arrested during an anti-apartheid demonstration outside of the South African embassy in Washington, D.C.,[5] and in the following year he formed the Asian Americans Against Apartheid group to encourage community protests against the regime in South Africa and for the release of Nelson Mandela.Although his bid was unsuccessful, political observers were surprised with the force in which Philippine American voters turned out to support Valderrama.In 1986, Maryland governor Harry Hughes appointed Valderrama to serve on the Orphans' Court.