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Governor David Ige has appointed Bennette Misalucha to fill the late Senator Breene Harimoto\u2019s state Senate District 16 seat. Sen. Harimoto died while in office on June 18, 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Misalucha will be overseeing Senate District 16 which includes Pearl City, Momilani, Pearlridge, \u2018Aiea, Royal Summit, \u2018Aiea Heights, Newtown, Waimalu, Halawa and Pearl Harbour.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honor and privilege to be appointed by Gov. Ige. I\u2019m still trying to process it, but I am excited,\u201d said Misalucha. \u201cMy great desire is to continue the meaningful work that Sen. Harimoto has started.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Misalucha said her parents would have been so proud especially her father, a political science major, who passed away in 2005.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen the call came from the Governor\u2019s office, he was my first thought,\u201d Misalucha shared. \u201cI thought this would have been such an honor for him. He would\u2019ve been so proud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Misalucha will represent Senate District 13 until a new senator is elected in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI look forward to serving the people and constituents of Senate District 16 until November 3rd,\u201d she said. \u201cFrom that point on, I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen. I\u2019m still trying to decide whether I would put in my name for the election.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During her swearing-in ceremony, Misalucha admits that she got teary-eyed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wish my papa was alive. He was the one who told us to aim high. The sky is the limit, he used to say,\u201d she shared. \u201c[I can\u2019t believe] how a girl from Mapagkalinga street can be seated as a State Senator. God is good and American dreams do come true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Misalucha is a community leader in Hawaii with executive experience in banking, marketing, public policy and community outreach. She has owned a business strategy and communications company since 2008. She was the Executive Director of Hawai\u2019i Crop Improvement Association, Vice President and Regional Director for Government and Community Relations for Actus Lend Lease and also a former Senior Vice President and Senior Manager at Central Pacific Bank.\u00a0She was also a television reporter and news producer for KHON Channel 2 News and in the Philippines early in her career.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, she is the Chair of the Filipino Complete Count Committee, Director of Chaminade University Board of Regents, Director of Oahu Transit Services, Director of Hawaii Filipino Chamber of Commerce, Director of Filipino Community Center and President of Congress of Visayan Organizations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She also volunteered as a member at Hawai\u2019i Public Radio\u2019s Community Advisory Board, Director of Friends of East West Center, Director of Oahu Arts Center, Chair of Girl Scout of Hawaii, Director of Hawaii Chamber of Commerce, Co-Chair of Hawai\u2019i Summit Initiative and Director of Catholic Charities: Community & Immigrant Services Board.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With her deep involvement in the community, she earned numerous distinctions such as \u201cWoman of Distinction\u201d from the Girl Scouts of Hawaii, \u201cProgress Awards in Baking and Finance\u201d from the United Filipino Community Council, \u201cState Mother of the Year\u201d from American Mothers Inc., \u201cWoman of the Year: Advocate for Higher Education\u201d from Filipino Women\u2019s Civic Club and one of top \u201cTen Women Volunteers in Hawai\u2019i\u201d from Pacific Business News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She graduated from University of Hawaii and the BIA Graduate School of Retail Banking at University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also attended the University of Washington Pacific Coast Banking School.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born in Manila and raised in Davao and Cebu, Misalucha is a daughter of a schoolteacher, Avelina Espineli, and an insurance executive, Benjamin Robledo. She has two adult children, Christian and Danielle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Jim Bea Sampaga Governor David Ige has appointed Bennette Misalucha to fill the late…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,11],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?fit=875%2C505",875,505,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?resize=150%2C150",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?fit=300%2C173",300,173,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?fit=640%2C369",640,369,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?fit=640%2C369",640,369,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?fit=875%2C505",875,505,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?fit=875%2C505",875,505,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?resize=875%2C505",875,505,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?resize=870%2C505",870,505,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?resize=600%2C505",600,505,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?resize=600%2C505",600,505,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?resize=875%2C505",875,505,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?resize=800%2C500",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?fit=875%2C505",875,505,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?resize=540%2C285",540,285,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?resize=375%2C250",375,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Features<\/a> Hawaii - Filipino<\/a>","tag_info":"Hawaii - Filipino","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BMISALUCHA-FAM.jpg?fit=875%2C505","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2894"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2894"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2897,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2894\/revisions\/2897"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}