Do you know who was the first Filipino worker who went to Hawaii? This was sometime 1906 I was told.?

Question

I was told that sometime 1906 there was a batch of Filipinos who went to hawaii to work pineapple plantations there. I want to know who these workers were, what became of them. Do they still live there in hawaii?

Answer 1

Hi! Their names were: Simplicio Gironella and his sons Mariano, Vicente, Francisco and Antonio. Only 18-year old Francisco spoke English, so he was the interpreter of the group. Also in the group were two sets of brothers -- Mauricio and Celestino Cortez and Cecelio and Prudencio Sagun. The others were Martin de Jesus, Mariano Bello, Filomeno Rebolido, Apolonio Ramos, Emiliano Dasulla dn Julian Galmen.

They set sail for Honolulu on the SS Doric accompanied by Albert F. Judd, who was sent to the Philippines to recruit the new labor for Ola'a Sugar Plantation near Hilo, Hawaii. The Filipino laborers became known as Sakadas.

Today, over 15 percent of the Hawaiian populations is of Filipino Heritage. Among the most notable descendants are former governor Ben Cayetano, former Miss America 2001 Angela Perez Baraquio, Benny Agbayani, formerly of the New York Mets baseball teams, actress Tia Carrere and Jasmine Trias of "American Idol" fame.

While I doubt any of the original group of Sakadas are still alive in Hawaii, it's likely that many of their descendants remain.