The FilCom Center is preparing for its signature event of the year: the 2026 Bayanihan Gala, set for October 10, which will bring together the local community to celebrate Filipino cultural heritage while raising support for future programming. Organizers describe it as the center's largest annual fundraiser, dedicated to honoring leaders who made a lasting impact and supporting the FilCom Center.
Event organizers said the gathering embodies the traditional Filipino concept of bayanihan, according to Hawaii News Now. This year's gala will honor University of Hawaiʻi Professor Patricia Espiritu Halagao as a Steward of Hope, recognizing her contributions to K-12 education and her role in helping launch a statewide course with the student-led Filipino Curriculum Project, according to the UH Mānoa College of Education. Halagao previously served on the Hawaii State Board of Education, where she helped shape cultural and linguistic education policies.
The gala raises funds to support the FilCom Center and its future programming, bringing the local community together for the event.
A Community Hub Built From Nearly a Decade of Fundraising
The FilCom Center itself has deep roots in Oʻahu's Filipino community. The three-story, 50,000-square-foot facility was formally inaugurated in June 2002, after costing more than $14 million to construct on a two-acre parcel gifted by the AmFac Corporation, according to a history compiled on Wikipedia. It stands as the largest Filipino community center outside the Philippines.
That scale did not happen by accident. The project was co-founded by Roland Casamina of House of Finance and Eddie Flores Jr. of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, who spent nearly a decade in the 1990s raising funds, as reported by Hawaii Business Magazine. The pair designed the facility with commercial rental space built in specifically to cover ongoing maintenance, so the center wouldn't have to rely solely on donations to survive.
Today, the center functions as a multipurpose focal point for education, business development, health resources, meetings, and major cultural gatherings, serving communities across Oʻahu. Beyond the gala, the FilCom Center hosts recurring community celebrations throughout the year, including the annual Flores de Mayo and Filipino Fiesta each May, and Pasko at FilCom each December, per Hawaii News Now's report.
A Century of Migration, a Quarter of the State's Population
The gala's cultural framing connects to a much longer history. Filipino migration to Hawaiʻi is closely tied to sugar plantation labor, including workers known as sakadas, according to the FilCom Center. That labor history is part of the cultural legacy the center celebrates today.
The community those laborers helped build has since become one of the largest ethnic groups in the state. About a quarter of Hawaiʻi’s 1.4 million residents are Filipinx and/or Filipino American, according to UC Berkeley News. Hawaii has the highest percentage of Filipino residents of any U.S. state, a fact that helps explain why community leaders have said the FilCom Center symbolizes what the Filipino community can achieve through unified action and shared purpose.
Leadership, Space, and State Support Behind the Scenes
Jeannie Lum was named executive director of the FilCom Center in 2022, tasked with reviving community programs affected by the pandemic, according to Hawaii Public Radio. The center's community work extends beyond a single annual celebration.
That work happens inside a facility built for scale. The FilCom Center provides about 26,000 square feet of usable space within its 50,000-square-foot building.
The center's mission also extends into public health. Through its FilCom CARES project, the FilCom Center provides COVID-19 outreach, education, testing and vaccination opportunities throughout Hawaiʻi. The FilCom Center maintains filcom.org as an information website, along with Facebook and Instagram accounts, where it provides details on the gala, ticketing, and its year-round programs.
