Filipino-Americans may be on the verge of becoming the largest Asian-American ethnic group in Hawai'i, but they are far from being a single-minded monolithic entity.

As reported in a recent series of pieces by Advertiser writers Catherine Toth and Zenaida Serrano, it's a complex community. But it's also one that's bottom-weighted by enduring socioeconomic issues that will have to be addressed by the entire state in the years to come.

One-hundred years after the first Filipinos arrived in the state as plantation workers, the group still suffers statistically in terms of overall achievement, with many still languishing in service jobs.

Much of that is because the community has been built on waves of immigration. Just as one wave of Filipinos assimilates and advances, a new group of even more Filipino immigrants comes in that seemingly negates the progress of the previous wave.

With each cycle, the numbers tend to stack up, resulting in a group that can appear to be mired in low-paying jobs. But while the statistical evidence is there, generations of immigrants have also produced business, educational, sports and political successes and a governor — Ben Cayetano. That level of complexity makes Hawai'i's Filipino American community an exemplary group from a national perspective.

Nationwide, the 2000 Census put Filipinos at 1.8 million, second only to Chinese-Americans. And yet, few on the Mainland realize the size and scope of the group. Unlike the visible and vibrant Chinatowns in many major cities, few cities boast Manilatowns.

In that sense, the whole state of Hawai'i can be viewed as a kind of Manilatown. Certainly, from a standpoint of population and achievement, no other Filipino-American community can claim a former governor, a state Supreme Court justice, mayors, numerous state legislators and county council members.

The level of participation by Filipino-Americans in positions of real power is unparalleled anywhere in the nation.

But that's part of what makes Hawai'i's community arguably the most vital Filipino-American community in the nation, and a far greater force than imagined for the next 100 years.