KAHULUI - Aiming to deal with issues of concern to the Filipino community on Maui, the Filipino Community Sponsored Candidate Forum on Wednesday posed questions about cockfighting and chicken-raising along with more typical issues about highways, domestic violence and health care, The Maui News reported today.

In attending the forum emphasizing cultural concerns, the candidates made a point of their ethnic ties and knowledge.

State Sen. J. Kalani English wore an ivory Barong, a traditional Filipino man's shirt, a detail that did not go unnoticed.

"It means he appreciates the Filipino culture," said attorney Tony Ramil. "We like it when people appreciate our culture."

Maui County Council Member Gladys Baisa pointed out that her husband is half Filipino. She said she's learned the ways of the Filipino people, once winning a cooking contest.

"I make a mean pinakbet," she said, referring to a popular Filipino vegetable dish.

Although East Maui Council candidate Lucienne de Naie did not have a direct Filipino connection, she emphasized her background as a descendant of immigrants.

"My grandparents were immigrants just like yours," she said.

Many candidates threw out common phrases in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines - "mabuhay" a wish to live long and well, and "salamat" or thank you.

"It impresses us," Ramil said. "We know they mean well."

The three-and-a-half-hour forum held at the Binhi At Ani Maui Filipino Community Center drew a little more than 100 people.

One question candidates said they expected was whether they could support cockfighting as a cultural activity in Hawaii, much the way firecrackers are burned on New Year's Eve and for other celebrations as a cultural practice.

Democratic state Rep. Angus McKelvey of West Maui and Republican challenger Ramon Madden responded in similar fashion, saying they would support the idea of legalizing cockfighting as a change in the Hawaii Constitution - which would require a Constitutional Convention and approval by the state electorate.

McKelvey noted that the one bill addressing cockfighting in his freshman year as a legislator did not get a hearing in Honolulu because there didn't seem to be any interest in the topic.

"I'm willing to have this discussion," McKelvey said, adding that it would take the community and perhaps support of recognized Filipino groups to bring it forward.

Madden expressed the same thoughts as McKelvey.

"Culture is one of those important things you have," Madden said. "Let the community speak for themselves."

Candidates were also questioned about whether they were for or against raising chickens on Maui - another cultural practice associated with Filipinos.

Don Couch, an executive assistant to former Mayor Alan Arakawa, said he supported raising chickens in rural and agricultural areas of the island, but not in urban or commercial locations. A candidate for the South Maui County Council seat currently held by Council Member Michelle Anderson, Couch said chickens would be OK, but he hesitated about supporting raising roosters.

Longtime Council Member Wayne Nishiki, who faces Couch and Norman Vares in the race for his former South Maui residency seat on the council, said he believed raising chickens has to do with tolerance in the community.

Nishiki said he believed lawmakers did not need to legislate cultural activities to make them acceptable.

"I think people need to tolerate each other and accept each other," he said.

Like Couch, Vares said he would support raising chickens in rural areas including his north Kihei neighborhood

Attorney Gil Keith-Agaran, a panelist representing the Maui Filipino Community Council, said he only asked the question about cockfighting because he was asked to do so.

Keith-Agaran said he was more interested in hearing candidate positions on health care, public education and domestic violence. As expected, all the state candidates responded positively in support of increasing the number of Filipino cabinet appointees when asked by Keith-Agaran about legislative consent power.

County Council candidates from Lanai, scene of a recent murder-suicide involving an estranged husband and wife, all emphasized their belief that domestic violence is not unique to Filipinos.

The candidates also all agreed that more programs emphasizing family and unity would be beneficial to their community and help to prevent incidents of abuse in the home.

On Thursday, Keith-Agaran said he was interested in hearing the candidates talk about solutions in preventing domestic violence, particularly this year when there have been a number of murder-suicide incidents in Hawaii in which victims and perpetrators have been of Filipino ancestry.

"Perhaps it's a coincidence, but it's something we have to take note of and we should not be sweeping it under the rug," Keith-Agaran said.

Another forum panelist, Amy Agbayani, said she was interested in getting candidates on record about their stances on issues. Agbayani asked about their interests in legislation supporting family caregivers and increasing language courses including Tagalog and Ilokano in both high schools and at the University of Hawaii.

"I found they had thoughtful responses," said Agbayani, administrator of Student Equity Excellence and Diversity at UH Manoa.

Panelist CJ Ancheta, a Napili resident who works for ABC Stores and is publisher of the Fil-Am Observer, said he wasn't satisfied by answers to questions about the long-awaited Lahaina bypass road.

As a motorist who travels regularly on the two-lane highway in and out of West Maui, Ancheta had hoped for more specifics on what legislators would do to speed up a project that has been on the books for more than 40 years now.

He said, in fairness to the candidates, they only had 40 seconds to answer any of the questions posed by the panelists.

Ancheta said what most impressed him was how cordial candidates were to each other. He compared it to the televised Honolulu mayoral debate, which featured personal jabs by the candidates. Maui candidates really seemed to refrain from personal attacks, he said.

Former Maui County Council Member Vince Bagoyo Jr., who handled media relations for the Filipino forum, said organizers accomplished their goal to educate and inform people about the candidates.

Bagoyo said the forum gave him a chance to identify what might be the races to watch such as Hawaiian pastor Tasha Kama challenging veteran state Rep. Joe Souki, a former speaker of the House.

"They're both very good candidates," Bagoyo said.

He said he also found it "interesting" to watch Nishiki, his former colleague, go up against other candidates.

"I believe that race is going to be something to watch," Bagoyo said.

The Filipino Community Sponsored Candidate Forum was a joint undertaking of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, the Maui Filipino Community Council and the Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce.

According to the 2007 edition of the Maui County Data Book, Filipinos make up more than 17 percent of the county's population.

There is no breakdown on ethnicity among voters. Agbayani, however, pointed out that there are currently 23 Filipino Americans in elected positions statewide. That figure is higher than the the number of Republicans in office, she said.

Ancheta said he will be recommending a similar forum in two years when Filipinos and the rest of the state will be voting for a new governor.

* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.