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After the state lifted capacity restrictions for large gatherings, bookings for weddings, graduations and conferences at the Filipino Community Center resumed, reinvigorating the venue as a gathering place not just for the Filipino community, but for all in Hawaii.
The revival comes as the FilCom Center, as it is known, approaches its 20th anniversary Saturday. Hundreds celebrated the grand opening of the 50,000-square-foot center, at the corner of Waipahu and Mokuola streets, on June 11, 2002.
This year a series of events will celebrate the milestone anniversary: the 20th Bayanihan Gala in July, the “Dream Musical” at the Hawaii Theatre Center in November and “Pasko Christmas” at the FilCom Center in December.
The Filipino Fiesta and Flores de Mayo was held at the center in May to kick off the jubilee. It was the first time the Filipino Fiesta was held at the FilCom Center in the event’s 30-year history, as it traditionally was held at Kapiolani Park.
Eddie Flores Jr., who started the annual fiesta to showcase Filipino culture, wants the center to be the permanent host for the event. “It’s the pride of the Filipino community,” Flores said of the center.
The series of celebratory events also serves as a fundraising campaign called “Aloha for Filcom,” with proceeds to be used to support the center and its programs.
Both Flores, founder of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, and Roland Casamina, owner of House of Finance, played key roles in generating support in the early 1990s from the community, businesses, government and nonprofit organizations to build the center.
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation donated $3 million toward construction, and government grants totaled $4.1 million, while Amfac/JMB donated 2 acres of land.
The three-story center, the largest Filipino community center outside of the Philippines, includes a ballroom and spacious courtyard. The Spanish-style building also houses commercial lease space occupied by a mix of tenants that include health clinics and physician, attorney and real estate offices.
In 2018 the center hit a snag when it filed for bankruptcy following a dispute with a catering and events management company, Creations in Catering, which had exclusive use of the center’s kitchen and managed all special events there under a seven-year contract that was to run through 2021.
Center leaders said the contract was intended to boost revenue for the building but that the opposite happened instead.
Board Chairman Edmund Aczon said the only way to regain control of center operations was to terminate the contract and file for bankruptcy. A federal bankruptcy judge ruled in March 2018 to sever the contract between the caterer and the center.
“It stopped the bleeding at that point,” Aczon said.
Reservations picked up at the FilCom Center thereafter. And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, resulting in cancellations of special events.
“It really hit us hard,” Aczon said.
The situation forced the center, which has a debt of $2.66 million, to reduce staff and defer maintenance.
Aczon said assistance from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, helped the center, including its tenants, weather the pandemic storm.
This past session, the state Legislature appropriated $360,000 for repairs and renovations and $250,000 for various community service programs.
The FilCom Center is now contracted with two catering companies, Cools in Catering by Sinublan and Bamboo Catering. Aczon said they are looking to add two more catering companies in an effort to provide options to the community when booking special events.
The center aims to bring back Filipino cultural events that were temporarily suspended due to the pandemic, as well as educational programs for youths and workshops to assist immigrants and business owners.
The Knights of Rizal-Aloha Chapter hosted a youth leadership conference at the FilCom Center on Saturday with approximately 40 to 50 participants. Raymund Liongson, retired professor of Philippine studies at Leeward Community College and Knights of Rizal area commander for Hawaii, organized the conference. He said the FilCom Center was the ideal location for the event.
“The FilCom Center to me is the living embodiment of the bayanihan (spirit of unity and cooperation) spirit we have,” Liongson said. “It is the heart.”
The Filipino population is the largest ethnic population in Hawaii, with more than 209,000 residents who identify as Filipino, according to the Census Bureau’s 2020 American Community Survey Data.
The first 15 Filipino plantation workers, also known as sakadas, arrived in Hawaii in December 1906 to work in the sugar plantation fields. Between 1906 and 1934 approximately 125,000 Filipino workers arrived.
The FilCom Center recognizes their contributions to Hawaii’s history and stands as a symbol of Filipinos’ achievements in the community through education, business, politics and culture.
But leaders point out the center was not solely built for Filipinos.
“The Filipino Community Center really has become everything we dreamed of and more by providing social, economic and educational services while promoting and perpetuating the Filipino culture and customs in Hawaii,” Aczon said.
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‘Aloha for FilCom’
Filipino Community Center’s 20th-anniversary events
>> 20th Bayanihan Gala, July 23, Hilton Hawaiian Village
>> “Dream Musical,” Nov. 11, Hawaii Theatre Center
>> “Pasko Christmas,” December, FilCom Center
The anniversary events serve as a fundraising campaign for the center and its programs, with the Consuelo Foundation to match each dollar raised. For more information, visit filcom.org/bayanihan-gala.
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