This resolution honors the 120th anniversary of Filipino immigration to Hawaii, marking 1906 when 15 Filipino men, called Sakadas, arrived to work on sugar and pineapple plantations. By 1932, Filipinos made up 70 percent of plantation workers, though they endured harsh conditions, low wages, racial discrimination, and physical abuse while living in plantation camps. Despite these injustices, the Sakadas organized across ethnic lines and led labor strikes that improved wages and working conditions for generations, with notable leaders like Pablo Manlapit becoming Hawaii's first Filipino lawyer before his deportation in 1934. Many Sakadas settled permanently in Hawaii, establishing communities and raising families, and Filipino Americans eventually became the largest non-White and Asian-American group in the state, comprising about one-quarter of Hawaii's population. The resolution recognizes the Sakadas' lasting contributions to Hawaii's agriculture, education, tourism, health, cuisine, arts, and civic life, and notes that Hawaii observes Sakada Day annually on December 20th in their honor.
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