Filipino Mestizo is a term used in the Philippines, to designate Filipinos of mixed Native Filipino (Austronesian or Malay), and foreign ancestry. Mestizo (Portuguese: Mestiço; French: Métis; all from Late Latin Mixticius, meaning "mixed") is a Spanish term that was used in the Spanish Empire to designate people of mixed European (Spanish) and Amerindian ancestry living in the colonies. In the Philippines, the term Mestizo originally bore the connotation of mixed Spaniard and Native Filipino. Up to the 1980's, the “Diccionario de Filipinismos” of Wenceslao Retana defines “Mestizo” as individuals who are descendants of Chinos Christianos and their Native Filipino wives.^[1] Many Filipinos are probably Mestizos and most likely have Spanish blood. This is because some Filipinos have more European blood than others, and often, only those Filipinos are considered by most as Mestizos.^[2] There are no credible sources for the percentage of Philippine Mestizos residing in the Philippines, at the moment; this is due in part to the lack of government statistical study regarding ethnicity in the Philippines. The Philippine Statistics Department does not account for the Racial background or ancestry of an indivdual. The numer of Filipino Mestizos that reside outside the Philippines is also unknown. However, due to major historical factors, such as The Spanish Colonization, the American Occupation, and large scale Chinese immigration after WWII; most Filipino Mestizos that reside in the Philippines are now of Spanish, Chinese, and American descent. The Austronesian people are a population group in Oceania and Southeast Asia who speak or had ancestors who spoke one of the Austronesian languages. ...

Brief History of Major Filipino Mestizo Groups

Spanish Colonization

The return of the Spaniards in 1565 with Miguel Lopez de Legaspi prompted the colonization of the Philippines that lasted for more than 300 years.^[3] The Catholic Church played a critical role in allowing Spain to gain a foothold in the Philippines. Spanish missionaries were quick to learn local languages, and Catholic rituals were interpreted in accordance with Native Filipino beliefs and values. As a result, a kind of folk Catholicism developed in the Philippines.^[4] As with most of the Spanish colonies, marriage to Native Filipino women and Spaniard men was encouraged. However, few Spaniards ventured to the Philippines, which contributed to the dearth of Spanish-Native Filipino Mestizos. The voyage from Spain to the islands was considerably long. Before the construction of the Panama Canal, it involved going around the southern tip of Africa and across the Indian Ocean. According to de Mas, in some Philippine villages the friar and/or the mayor were the only Caucasian residents. Whatever the cause, the low incidence of race mixing in the Philippines effectively stopped that country from going down the path of Hispanicization. The offspring of Spaniard men and Native Filipino women may have adopted the culture of their fathers, a few mixed race families in the Philippines still speak Spanish among themselves^[5], in addition, Chavacano (a Spanish dialect) is widely spoken in the Zamboanga peninsula. Many Filipinos are Mestizos without even realizing it because of the social perception, and also because of the historical stigma associated with having Spanish blood out of marriage (las queridas), which was frequent in Spanish colonies. This would've urged many Filipinos to hide their Spanish ancestry in the past to avoid the social stigma of being a bastard child. It was usually only the officially recognized marriages between Spaniards and Native Filipino women that were recognized as Mestizos.^[2]

Chinese Immigration

The arrival of the Spaniards to the Philippines attracted Chinese traders from China, and maritime trade flourished during the Spanish colonial time. The Spanish restricted the activities of the Chinese. With low chances of employment and prohibited from owning land, most of the Chinese engage in trading and other businesses. Many of the Chinese who arrived during the Spanish period were Cantonese, who worked as stevedores and porters, but there were also Fujianese, who entered the retail trade. Most of the Chinese who came to the Philippines intermarried with Native Filipinos, Spanish Mestizos, or Spaniards. The children of unions between Native Filipinos and Chinese were called Chinese Mestizos, while those between Spaniards or Spanish Mestizos, and Chinese were called Tornatras and were classified as Spanish Mestizos, together with the Spanish Filipinos. There were three genocides conducted by the Spaniards against the Chinese, two of which were successful. During the American colonization, the Chinese Exclusion Act^[6] in the United States was also put into action in the Philippines. After World War II and the fall of the Chinese mainland to communism, many of the Chinese who opposed communism moved from the Fujian province in China to the Philippines. This group formed the bulk of the current population of Chinese Filipinos.^[7] After the Philippines regained its independence in 1946, those Chinese became naturalized Filipino citizens; the children of these new citizens were born and raised in the Philippines and had Filipino citizenship from birth.^[8]

American Occupation

Spain became $20 million richer when it sold the Philippines and a few other colonies to the United States.^[9] Civil government was established by the Americans in 1901, with William Howard Taft as the first American Governor-General of the Philippines. English was declared the official language. Six hundred American teachers were imported aboard the USS Thomas. Also, in order to subdue sporadic uprisings throughout the country, the U.S had to station American Troops on the islands. Many of the American (Caucasian or otherwise) Soldiers stationed on the islands had children with the local women. American culture became the dominant force on the islands, leading to the implementation of the American education system.^[10] While the Philippines was a Commonwealth of America, Filipinos were considered resident-aliens of the U.S., many Filipinos then migrated to the continental U.S. and Hawaii, and some married Americans (Caucasian or otherwise) and had Filipino American children. The bulk of Filipino American Mestizos come from the immigration of Filipinos to the United States of America.

External Links

• Espaniero
• Bahay Tsinoy
• Filipino American Heritage Institute

References