TheFilipino community in Hawai'i has begun organizing its next bigbirthday party two years in advance. Planners need that much time,especially when the celebrants number in the thousands and there are100 candles on the cake.

2006is the centennial year since Filipinos began arriving en masse to theIslands, joining eight earlier groups recruited as plantation labor andcreating Hawai'i's multi-ethnic society.

TheSS Doric docked here on Dec. 20, 1906, with 15 Ilocano men aboard. Theywere the first from the Philippines brought to work on the sugarplantations. However, the centennial launch is set for Dec. 15, 2005,tentatively at Blaisdell Center, said Amado Yoro, a member of theFilipino Centennial Celebration Commission.

Threedays later, he said, a monument will be unveiled on the Big Island at'Ola'a, the plantation where the 15 men started work, marking the spotwhere Filipinos joined the multicultural tapestry of Hawai'i.

Ahighlight of the year's events will be a global expo and trade fair,involving participants from the Philippines and Filipino-Americanorganizations. Belinda Aquino, who directs the University of Hawai'iCenter for Philippine Studies, is setting up the expo, which willshowcase Filipino culture and art, as well as panel discussions onFilipino-American issues.

Unlikethe just-completed Korean centennial, the celebration marks the firstsignificant immigration of Filipinos to Hawai'i but not to the UnitedStates. The first known settlement of Filipinos in the United States isbelieved to be in New Orleans, during the Spanish galleon trade fromthe Philippines. Sailors jumped ship there in the late 17th century,Aquino said.

Thefirst recorded appearance of Filipinos in Hawai'i was in 1853, withfive individuals scattered on different islands as cooks and musicians.

Themove toward mass emigration from the Philippines was initiated by thesugar industry, but at a difficult time for establishing businesscontacts: just after the Filipino-American War of 1899-1902, said DeanAlegado, chairman of the University of Hawai'i Ethnic StudiesDepartment.

Itwas very unstable, to say the least, Alegado said. The resentmenttoward the U.S. was still strong, and there was still guerrillafighting in the countryside.

Bythat time restrictions on immigration of other Asians were in place,and the Philippines was one available labor pool. But A.F. Judd, aSugar Planters Association representative, was able to securepermission for only 15 laborers to emigrate, at a time when Americanbusiness representatives were viewed with suspicion, he said.

Untilabout 1910 or so, passage to Hawai'i was paid as an inducement(Information about how lovely Hawai'i was hadn't spread around yet,Alegado said). After that point, immigrants were willing to pay theirown way, he said.

AlthoughFilipino immigration continues to this day, Yoro's research hasidentified the five major waves, ending in 1965. A lot of history meansmany people have stories to share and perspectives to contribute, hesaid.

Thecentennial commission has been active since last year, Yoro said, butanyone interested in getting involved can call commission chairmanElias Beniga at 291-5797.

Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.