by Rose Cruz Churma
On December 21, 2024, “Sakada Day” was commemorated at the Hawai‘i Plantation Village to honor the Filipino plantation workers who were brought to Hawai‘i to work in the sugar and pineapple plantations.
In 2015, former Governor David Ige declared December 20 as “Sakada Day” to memorialize the date that the first 15 Filipinos set foot on Hawaiian soil in 1906, the anniversary of the arrival of the first OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers).
The Filipino Curriculum Project used this year’s commemoration to showcase the artistic and literary creations of the social studies classes at various Hawai‘i high schools that were first introduced to the Filipino curriculum, where they explored the Sakada legacy and its relevance to today’s issues.
The event was presented by the Philippine Celebrations Coordinating Committee (PCCCH) chaired by Gladys Menor in collaboration with the Filipino Curriculum Project and the University of Hawai‘i’s Center for Philippine Studies (CPS).
It is just fitting to revisit Virgilio Menor Felipe’s book, Hawai‘i A Pilipino Dream, the memoir of Bonipasyo, a Filipino sakada who arrived on the islands in 1924.
As a graduate student in history at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa (UHM), Felipe decided to do an oral history project for his master’s degree thesis, influenced no doubt by the context of the times when UHM’s Ethnic Studies was being established in the 1970s.
During those years, Hawai‘i’s economic progress was fueled by the Vietnam War and tourism which caused rapid urbanization and threatened the old natural Hawai‘i and the eviction of local-style communities.
Felipe also notes in his introduction: “There was a lack of literature and written history about Filipinos, therefore making my choice obvious… to find a regular person to interview—someone from the lot of the little people.”
It took him a long time to find his subject, but through chance and a series of coincidences he found Bonipasyo, a single elderly male living in a converted garage in Waimanalo.
Armed with a tape recorder, he recorded their conversations as they went holo-holo around Waikiki or in Chinatown, or when they parked the car in the middle of the cane fields in Waialua, Waipahu, and Ewa plantations.
He listened and took notes as Lilo Bonipasyo (Lilo means Grandpa) weeded his vegetable garden or washed the dishes after a meal. One night, they even went to Club Hubba Hubba on Hotel Street, watching the burlesque dancers do their thing as they talked story by the bar.
Bonipasyo spoke mostly in Ilokano, pidgin English sprinkled with Hawaiian words which the author translated and edited into standard English.
But there are segments in the book where Bonipasyo’s dialogue was retained as it sounded to maintain the tone of his conversations. The vignettes were then arranged in sequence to follow Bonipasyo’s life story.
What emerged is a fascinating story of a Filipino contract worker who experienced Spanish colonization and American rule in the Philippines before arriving in Hawaii in 1925 to work first at the Naalehu Plantation on the Big Island and in other plantations around the state. He never went back home.
The first four chapters—about half of the book describe his life in the countryside of Ilocos Norte, covering his childhood during the last phases of Spanish rule (Chapter I) to the arrival of the Americans (Chapter II).
Chapter III expands on growing up Ilokano during the early 1900s while Chapter IV describes his early years as a young man and his experience working on a sugar plantation in the Philippines (mostly in Pampanga).
That experience and the anecdotes of relatives who had returned from Hawai’i encouraged him to sign up because they said, “Kasla glorya ti Hawai‘i.”
Chapter V describes in detail the ocean journey to Hawai’i. When the ship arrived in Honolulu Harbor:
“…there was a band of Kanakas playing. We disembarked alphabetically, and as we came down the gangplank they asked us where we were going, and we shouted the plantation of our destiny…I shouted Naalehu, Hawaii and they lei’d me with a yellow paper lei with Hilo on it.”
In Chapter VI, he reminisces about his first days and years working in a sugar plantation, while in Chapter VII “Lucky-Lucky Life in Hawai‘i” he confesses participating in “koboy-koboy” when “you just took out a woman. Even if you had to tie up the husband if he happened to be there, you took her for a ride like a cowboy.”
He reflects on the number of religious groups conning them to pay dues, and his views on the unions and labor commissioners (like Ligot who he describes with colorful curse words).
Chapter VIII depicts the islands during the war years where “Pilipinos were suddenly looked upon with prestige” unlike the Japanese. Chapter IX “Nowadays” is a reflection of his life during the postwar era as plantations slowly shut down.
In the epilogue titled “Up to You,” Felipe retains Bonipasyo’s pidgin English. One has to read it aloud to get the gist of what he’s saying.
But like the previous chapters, his unvarnished descriptions of life in the Philippines or the plantation days in Hawai’i is candid and graphic.
His vivid recollections document the struggles and harsh realities that the sakadas experienced, but also the relationships they forged that enabled them to survive—even thrive in their adopted land.
The author, Virgilio Menor Felipe, was born in the Philippines but immigrated to Hawai‘i at age 12.
He and his family lived at Mill Camp 8 at Waialua Plantation. He attended Castle High School in Kaneohe but graduated from Kailua High School. He received his M.A. in History from UHM where he helped establish the Ethnic Studies Department and Operation Manong (now renamed Office of Multicultural Students and Services).
His scholarly background is tempered with his experiences as a yardman and community organizer. He also taught at all school levels including stints teaching at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and at the University of California in Berkeley.
The book includes photographs from the Hawai‘i State Archives and the Kauai Museum (cover photo) with illustrations from Mario Orbito.
The late Emme Tomimbang, in her commentary on the book reflects that the story of Bonipasyo: “…helps us to understand ourselves, our own Filipino identity and what our lives in America and Hawai‘i is all about.”
For those curious about life in rural Philippines especially the Ilocos region in the early part of the 19th century, or our history as Filipinos of Hawai‘i—this book is a must-read.
ROSE CRUZ CHURMA established Kalamansi Books & Things three decades ago. It has evolved from a mail-order bookstore into an online advocacy with the intent of helping global Pinoys discover their heritage by promoting books of value from the Philippines and those written by Filipinos in the Diaspora. We can be reached at kalamansibooks@gmail.com.
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