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Register for The Filipino Forum - Year 2 Members: $40 Non-members: $50 When: Saturday, October 10, 2026 Where: Naylor Theater, MAPA, Wailuku Time: 4 to 8 p.m. Light refreshments will be available. | The Filipino Forum brings our community together for an evening of honest conversation, inspiring stories, food, and action. Hear from Filipino leaders, entrepreneurs, workforce voices, and changemakers who are challenging the status quo, taking risks, creating opportunities, and making a difference in their communities. |
Year 2: In celebration of Filipino American History Month, this forum returns to bring together community leaders, and changemakers for an evening of meaningful conversation and connection.
We’ll explore pressing issues—from civic engagement, cost of living and global opportunities.
As we honor 120 years of the Sakada, we’ll look beyond survival to the opportunities, ideas, and actions that can shape our next chapter.
EVENT SCHEDULE Doors open at 4 p.m. Guests may enjoy refreshments in the lobby, networking PANEL 1| 4:30 - 5:20 p.m. THE MODERN SAKADA: 120 Years of Work, Migration & Opportunity
From the sugar plantations to today’s workforce, the Sakada journey in Hawaiʻi has always been shaped by work, migration, sacrifice and opportunity. What has changed—and what hasn’t? This panel brings together descendants to reflect on the challenges Filipinos continue to face, the new opportunities emerging for the next generation, and what it means to be a Sakada in Hawaiʻi today.
KEYNOTE| 5:30 -6:15 p.m.
Suka (Vinegar): The Flavor of Change A Filipino Food Week cooking demonstration Our special guest chef will assemble a fresh Filipino dish using suka as the agent of change, transforming simple ingredients into something bold and unexpected. As our chef and guests enjoy the dish together, we’ll talk story about the pivotal moments, risks, setbacks, and milestones that shaped his career—and the moments that changed everything. Interview by Sharon Banaag and Jorge Tirona | PANEL 2| 6:20 - 7:15 p.m. MAKING MOVES: Refusing to Accept the Status Quo Change doesn’t happen by waiting for someone else to make the first move. This conversation brings together Filipino leaders who have challenged the way things are done, taken risks, and turned bold ideas into real results. From business and housing to healthcare and public policy, hear from Filipinos who saw a problem, made a move, and helped create something different.
ROUNDTABLE| 7:15 - 7:45 p.m. The Change Circle: Our Commitment Moderated by Maui Filipino Chamber’s President Grace Sales. Take a moment to reflect on tonight’s conversations. On your card, answer one question: What inspired you? What needs to change? Or what challenge are you willing to take on? At the close of the evening, share your response on camera. Video responses may be featured on Maui Filipino Chamber’s social media. Participation in the video is completely optional.
8 p.m. CLOSING GROUP PHOTO | End of Event |
SPEAKER BIOS
- GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Retired Senator
Maui-born and raised, Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran’s roots are in Pā‘ia and Kahului, where he experienced the final years of the plantation era. He graduated from Maui High School’s new campus and went on to earn a BA from Yale College and a JD from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.
Gov. Ben Cayetano appointed Keith-Agaran to several state leadership positions, including First Deputy of the Department of Land and Natural Resources (1995–1998) and Chair (2000–2002), Deputy Director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (1999–2000), and Director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (2000). Mayor Alan Arakawa later named him Director of Public Works and Environmental Management.
Keith-Agaran served in the Hawai‘i State House and Senate for fourteen years, chairing the Judiciary committees in both chambers (House, 2011–2012; Senate, 2015–2017) and serving as Vice Chair of Senate Ways and Means, with responsibility for the capital improvements budget (2018–2023). He resigned and retired from legislative service in 2023.
He has practiced law in Wailuku for nearly 30 years and remains active in the Maui community.
- Lucy Peros (Sakada Offspring columnist, The FilAm Voice)
Lucy Peros is a retired educator who spent 11 years teaching at St. Anthony Grade School and 20 years at Waiheʻe Elementary School before retiring in 2005. Her late parents, Elpidio Cachero Cabalo, a 1946 Sakada, and Alejandra Cabudoy Cabalo, both worked and retired from Maui Land and Pine Company.
Since retirement, Peros enjoys staying active through the Department of Aging’s Enhance Fitness Program, which she participates in three times a week. Whenever possible, she also joins fellow Waiheʻe School retirees in volunteering to help at the school.
Peros devotes time to her faith community as a lector and choir member at both Christ the King Catholic Church in Kahului and St. Ann Catholic Church in Waiheʻe. In her spare time, she enjoys writing, reading, and gardening.
She also writes for the Fil-Am Voice, a Filipino newspaper, where her column, “Sakada Offspring,” features the children and descendants of Sakadas and highlights their accomplishments. Through the column, Peros honors the Sakada generation who came to Hawaiʻi to work in the pineapple and sugarcane plantations in search of better lives for themselves and their families.
- Dr. Virginia “Virgie” Cantorna
Dr. Virginia “Virgie” Cantorna was born to Catholic Filipino immigrants. Her parents, Ramon and Valeriana Dagdag, spoke the Ilocano dialect at home but were adamant that she and her sisters learn “good English.” She is the author of Dark on the Inside, an emotionally gripping World War II thriller.
Cantorna is a registered nurse and licensed clinical psychologist. She has served as a nursing and therapy instructor and as Director of Nursing at Maui Memorial Hospital. Today, she offers culturally sensitive counseling and consultation through her busy private practice. She is frequently invited to speak on topics including racism and discrimination, relationship repair, and suicide prevention.
A community organizer and activist, Cantorna advocates for social justice, human rights, women’s rights, and equality. She and three other prominent Filipina women founded the Maui Filipino Working Group.
Cantorna has also enjoyed a long connection with the performing arts. She has performed on stage with the Maui Academy of Performing Arts, where she currently serves as President of the Board of Directors. Among her favorite musical theater performances are Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Evita, Jekyll & Hyde, and Into the Woods. She has studied opera and performed with the Maui Symphony Orchestra.
Outside of her professional and community work, Cantorna enjoys writing, painting, singing, and participating in musical theater. She resides in Maui with her husband of nearly 40 years. Her daughter, grandson, and cats add sparkle to her life.
... more bios coming