'Toy napigket nga daga
Pitpitenmi nga umuna
Danggayanmi't kankanta
Takkiagmi a napigsa
Kettang ken bannogmi
dikam igingina 

     Mannamili
     Ilokano Folk Song

PANEL PRESENTATION

TECHNICAL PAPER # 2 

Title of the Paper: The “Sakadas” Transforming A Better Life for Their Families and Descendants 

Introduction: 

      The first group of fifteen Filipino men who migrated to the Hawaiian Islands was called “sakadas” or contract workers. These first Filipinos arrived in Hawai`i on December 20, 1906. The sakadas left their families and their country to work in Hawaiian sugar plantations (Labez 1). Peasant farmers, they have been imported to become plantation laborers. 

      The sakadas  finally thought that they were  in the land of glory, but hoping that they would not be there very long. They were determined to return to the Philippines after saving enough money in order to have a better life there.  Those who went back to the Philippines to live were called “Hawaiianos.” 

      The sakadas signed the labor contracts in which they would be bound to work as laborers for three years in Hawai`i. This contract included a pay of $18 month, plus housing, water, fuel, and medical care. If they worked a total of 720 days, they would be given transportation back to the homeland. 

      The Hawaiian Sugar Planter’s Association (HSPA) was a voluntary organization of sugar plantation owners in the Hawaiian Islands. The HSPA’s objective was to promote mutual benefits between members and plantation owners, and the development of the sugar industry in Hawai`i. It conducted scientific studies and gathered accurate records about the sugar industry (Notes: Filipinos in the United States” 1). The HSPA introduced the welfare programs for the workers’ benefit. 

      The “lunas” or plantation bosses were usually Hawaiian, German, Portuguese, or Norweigan, which caused racial conflict as other ethnic groups could not achieve such a high position, and acquisition of agricultural knowledge and skills. In Ronald Takaki’s book entitled Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawai`i, he described the everyday life of a plantation worker and how badly the lunas treated them. Takaki explained that the workers would hear the last whistle at 4:30 in the afternoon after working hard all day under the blazing sun since 6:00 in the morning. They felt they had been worked “like horses, moving mechanically under the whipping hands of the Luna.” … “We worked like machines,” a laborer recalled. “For 200 of us workers, there were seven or eight lunas and above them was field of boss on a horse. We were watched constantly.” A plantation worked stated, “The only reason I’m doing this tough and painful holehole work  is fore the sake  of my wife and children who live back home” (Takaki 91).       

      To sustain constant demand for labor, the HSPA conducted a systematic, organized recruitment of Filipino laborers. Labor recruiters went to the Philippines and set up recruitment centers in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, and Cebu. In 1906 the first fifteen Filipino laborers came to Hawai`i to experience life in a foreign land, curious about the wild rumors of alleged animals roaming the islands and devouring the people. Recruitment campaigns persisted and the “success” stories of the first repatriated Filipino sugar workers or sakadas, called “Hawayanos” in the Philippines, eventually encouraged Filipino migration. (Labor Migration in Hawai`i)

Objectives: 

1. Identify the economic profile of the Sakadas in relation to their work and compensations.

2. Determine the extent of support of the descendants and families of the sakadas  in terms of:

1. Educational Assistance
2. Health/Medical Support
3. Allowances
4. Personal Gifts
5. Elderly Dependent Support
6. Family Financial Dependent Support
7. Other Forms of Support

The study settles on the identification of the improvement of the quality of life among the descendants of the sakadas.  Data are gathered through interviews and survey questionnaires from among the descendants used in the study.

Members of the Team for the Panel Discussion: 

Principal Researcher and Author:

Dr. Jimmy R. Soria
Vice President for Planning, Research and Extension
University of Northern Philippines, Vigan City 

Co- Presenters:

Nakem Centennial Conference Secretariat
E-mail: nakemconference@yahoo.com or precye@aol.com
Phone:  808-956-8405.  FAX:  808- 956-5978
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