[3] Pilipō was ordained in 1864 at the Mokuaikaua Church at Kailua-Kona and worked there for seven years as the assistant of Reverend Asa Thurston, who came to Hawaii with the first company of ABCFM missionaries in 1820.

During the 1874 election, following the death of Lunalilo, Pilipō, although not serving on the legislature at the time, actively supported and campaigned for the candidacy of Queen Emma of Hawaii against Kalākaua.

[10] After the controversial election, Pilipō became a member of the Queen Emma Party and joined with Representative Joseph Nāwahī of Hilo in forming the native opposition against Kalākaua.

[11][12] In 1876, he and Nāwahī led the opposition to the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875, which they viewed as a step towards American annexation and only beneficial to the elite number of Euro-American businessmen at the expense of Native Hawaiian subsistence farmers.

[15] In the election of 1886, Kalākaua personally journeyed to the districts of Pilipō and Nāwahī, on Hawaii, and John William Kalua, on Maui, to sway the vote against these three politicians.