U.S. Rep. Ed Case introduced a resolution in Congress yesterday to mark the centennial of the first Filipino immigrants to the United States.

Emigration from the Philippines began in 1906 when the first group of 15 farmworkers came to the Big Island to work in the sugar-cane fields.

Case said in a news release that the resolution will formally recognize 100 years of sustained immigration to the U.S.

Hawai'i's population includes more than 275,000 Filipino-Americans, second only to California, where more than 1 million live.

Meanwhile, Gov. Linda Lingle, the honorary chairwoman of the Filipino Centennial Celebration, is slated to hold a news conference today to announce key events being planned for yearlong festivities in 2006.