Celebrating 100 years of the Filipino community in Hawai'i officially began yesterday at the Hawai'i Convention Center, as hundreds of Filipino-Americans paid tribute to the December 1906 arrival of the first 15 sakadas, or Filipino plantation workers, aboard the ship Doric.

Some at the gathering were old enough to recall the players in that early drama. Frank Mamalias, 73, of Kalihi, knew about their struggle.

Mamalias' dad, Pedro Mamalias, came to Hawai'i from the Visayan island group in the Philippines after the original 15, and for most of the rest of his life, he labored on the plantations of Kaua'i. The work was backbreaking and unmerciful, according to Frank Mamalias.

"My dad suffered," he said. "It was worse than hard. When they were working, they were making less than a dollar. I used to go part time from school and help him, and we were getting paid 10 cents an hour."

As an adult, Frank Mamalias also spent many years as a plantation laborer on Kaua'i and O'ahu. The job was physically grueling, the money poor and the prospects dim.

But Mamalias lived by a motto that's fitting of the entire Filipino-American culture: "Never give up hope."

In time, Mamalias moved to operating heavy equipment on the plantation, which paid better. Then he got a shot at being a manager. And being a plantation boss paid far better than being a worker, he said.

As time passed, Mamalias was able to prosper.

"You always try to improve," he said.

The focal point of the morning's festivities was a historical tableau that began with the arrival of the first sakadas and continued through the beginning experiences of what became the making of the Filipino-American community in the Islands.

The moving time line took place on a banquet room's stage featuring numerous Filipino-Americans in period dress enacting moments of the history. The platform was backed by a large screen on which flashed black-and-white images of the Filipino community's plantation past.

A rousing soundtrack augmented the show.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said he had never seen anything like it.

"I really hadn't anticipated what it would be like," Abercrombie said. "When you actually started putting three dimensions on these first 15 guys who came over — how scared they must have been — it was really something.

"This wasn't an adventure. It was like being cast to the edge of the Earth.

"What guts and determination it must have taken."

It paid off. According to the most recent Census figures, more than 22 percent of the state's residents identify themselves as Filipino or part-Filipino, making them one of the largest ethnic groups in Hawai'i.

Mamalias, who plays the Filipino mandolin, was part of a five-man instrumental group, the Julian Yorong Rondalla (string band), that performed traditional music in the convention center's lobby yesterday.

Among those watching was state Rep. Michael Magaoay, D-46th (Kahuku, North Shore, Schofield), who spent his childhood in plantation house No. 9 on Niho Street in the Waialua Sugar Mill's camp.

"I worked in the sugar mill part time as a kid, and I also used to pick pineapple, too," said Magaoay, who is acutely aware that his generation of Filipino-Americans is the last of the plantation era. The Waialua mill closed on Oct. 4, 1996.

"We can remember the past, show pictures of it, write about it," Magaoay said. "But my kids, and the future generations, will never experience it."

Elias Beniga, centennial commission chairman, said the yearlong celebration seeks to keep the memories of the struggle alive. At the same time, he said, it's vital that others outside the Filipino-American community are included in the process.

"What's important for our non-Filipino friends throughout the state and those who are traveling here to know is that we have a richness and culture heritage in Hawai'i that we want to share with everyone," he said.

Beniga characterized Filipino values as hard work, humility, generosity and fierce loyalty.

"This is the culmination of 100 years of influence in Hawai'i," said state Sen. Willie Espero D-20th ('Ewa Beach, Waipahu).

"And the Filipino community is very proud of being a part of the history and culture of this state."

Then he made a comment that reflected Mamalias' feelings about a heritage of hope.

"The best," Espero said, "is yet to come."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.