Peter Aquino Aduja (19 October 1920 – 19 February 2007) was the first
Filipino American elected to public office in the United States. He was elected as a representative in the
Hawaii Legislature
The Hawaii State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state legislature is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Hawaii State House of Representatives, with 51 representatives, and an upper house, t ...
in 1954.
Born in the Philippines, Aduja emigrated to Hawaii in his youth, and then served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. After World War II, he worked as a teacher, before becoming one of the first
Filipino lawyers in Hawaii. After two years in elected office, he worked for the Hawaiian Department of Attorney General, and served two years as a judge, until being elected to the
Hawaii House of Representatives. Aduja died in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
in 2007.
Early life
Aduja was born in
Ilocos Sur
Ilocos Sur, officially the Province of Ilocos Sur ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Sur; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Sur), is a province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in Luzon. Located on the mouth of the Mestizo River is the capital o ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
and emigrated with his family at the age of eight to
Hilo, Hawaii
Hilo () is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaii. The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. It is the fourth-largest settlement i ...
.
He was raised in nearby
Hakalau, Hawaii
Hakalau is a small unincorporated community located along the Hamakua coast about north of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii at .
The Hakalau Stream flows from the slopes of Mauna Kea, in the area of and flows i ...
, while his father worked on a
sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
as a
sakada
Sakadas ( es, sacadas; krj, manga sakada; ilo, dagiti sakada; hil, mga sakada; roughly "imported ones") is a term for migrant workers in and from the Philippines, doing manual agricultural labor. Within the Philippines, sakadas work in province ...
. He attended
Hilo High, where he was the
student body president and an
Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...
,
graduating with the class of 1941 as
salutatorian
Salutatorian is an academic title given in the United States, Armenia, and the Philippines to the second-highest-ranked graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is tradi ...
.
After high school, he went on to the
University of Hawaii to
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
in government and history;
while attending university Aduja worked as a
timekeeper
A timekeeper is an instrument or person that measures the passage of time.
Person
A timekeeper is a person who measures time with the assistance of a clock or a stopwatch. In addition, a timekeeper records time, time taken, or time remaining duri ...
at
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
.
In 1944, he joined the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, and along with 50 other individuals volunteered for the
1st Filipino Infantry Regiment
The 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment was a Racial segregation in the United States, segregated United States Army infantry regiment made up of Filipino Americans from the continental United States and a few veterans of the Philippines campaign (1 ...
.
Following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
he married Melodie "Lesing" Cabalona (died 2002). He taught on the island of Hawaii, at Naalehu Intermediate School, before attending
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
, where he earned a law degree in 1951.
In 1953, along with
Ben Menor
Benjamin Menor (1922 – July 4, 1986)"Pioneer Menor is dead at 63", ''Hawaii Tribune-Herald'' (July 6, 1986), page 1. was a justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii from April 16, 1974, to December 30, 1981.
Biography
Born in the Philippines, Menor ...
(later a justice on
Hawaii's Supreme Court), Aduja took the bar examination, and both became Hawaii's first Filipino lawyers.
Political career
In 1954, Aduja was elected to the
Territorial
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
House of Representatives, becoming the first Filipino to be elected to public office in Hawaii and the United States.
He represented one of three seats of the island of
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
.
In 1956, he spoke on behalf of the Republican Party at the
ILWU
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is a labor union which primarily represents dock workers on the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii, and in British Columbia, Canada. The union was established in 1937 after the 1934 West ...
territorial convention in
Hilo
Hilo () is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Hawaii (island), Island of Hawaii. The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 United ...
. After a single term in office, he went on to work for the
Department of Attorney General.
In 1959, he ran for State Senate from Oahu, a year when fellow Republican
William F. Quinn
William Francis Quinn (July 13, 1919 – August 28, 2006) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 12th and last governor of the Territory of Hawaii from 1957 to 1959 and the first governor of the State of Hawaii from 1959 to 1 ...
was elected as the state's first governor, and lost.
From 1960 to 1962, he was a district court judge,
resigning from the bench in June 1962. After two years out of the public sector, in 1966, he was elected again to public office, this time as a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives.
His district included
Kailua
Kailua () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. It lies in the North Koolaupoko, Hawaii, Koolaupoko District of the island of Oahu, Oahu on the windward and leeward, windward coast at Kailua Bay. It is i ...
, the
North Shore, and
Kahuku
Kahuku () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. In the Hawaiian language, ''ka huku'' means "the projection", presumably a reference to Kahuku Point nearby, the northernmost point of land on the island of Oahu. As ...
.
While a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, he was a delegate at the
Hawaii State Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Hawaii ( haw, Kumukānāwai o Hawaiʻi) refers to various legal documents throughout the history of the Hawaiian Islands that defined the fundamental principles of authority and governance within its sphere of juri ...
's 1968 constitutional convention. Aduja departed the Hawaii House of Representatives in 1974,
and returned to the public sector in his final position as a member of the City of
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
's
Kaneohe
Kāneohe () is a census-designated place (CDP) included in the City and County of Honolulu and located in Hawaii state District of Koolaupoko on the island of Oahu. In the Hawaiian language, ''kāne ohe'' means "bamboo man". According to an a ...
Neighborhood Board, which he was on from 1986 until 1994.
Later years
In 1991, Professor Dan Boylan wrote that Aduja was one of three important Filipino politicians in Hawaii during the beginning era of Filipino politics in Hawaii.
[Alt URL]
/ref> Along with Alfred Laureta and Ben Menor, and a few others minor individuals, they were the few Filipinos in elected office or in significant public office in Hawaii in the mid-20th century. On 19 February 2007, he died while on vacation in Las Vegas. Governor Linda Lingle declared 29 March 2007 to be Peter A. Aduja Day. Aduja was survived by two children (one of whom is former Hawaii state senator Melodie Aduja) and two grandchildren.
See also
* List of Asian American jurists
*List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Hawaii
This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Hawaii. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions such as the first minority men in their state to ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aduja, Peter
1920 births
2007 deaths
Republican Party members of the Hawaii House of Representatives
Members of the Hawaii Territorial Legislature
20th-century American politicians
Hawaii state court judges
Hawaii politicians of Filipino descent
American politicians of Filipino descent
United States Army personnel of World War II
American military personnel of Filipino descent
Filipino emigrants to the United States
University of Hawaiʻi alumni
Boston University School of Law alumni
People from Vigan
People from Hilo, Hawaii
People from Hawaii (island)
20th-century American judges
United States Army officers
Asian-American people in Hawaii politics
Asian conservatism in the United States