What is Filipino People?

Filipinos
Pictures of Filipinos
From left to right: An Ayta man, President Corazon Aquino, Bagobo chieftain Datu Attos, Muslim women's rights activist Yasmin Busran-Lao, President Sergio Osmeña, and actor Cesar Montano.
Total population
Philippines      91,077,287 (2007) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Significant overseas populations Note: No data available on number of Filipino descendants in Southeast Asia-Pacific, Latin America, China and Spain  United States 4,000,000 (2007) [USA]  Saudi Arabia 800,000 (2005) [SAU]  Malaysia 352,650 (2004) [1]  Canada 327,550 (2003) [CAN]  Japan 300,000 (2004) [JPN]  UAE 250,000 (2003) [ARE]  Taiwan 158,116 (2003) [TWN]  United Kingdom 100,000+ (2006) [UK]  Italy 147,000 (2004) [ITA]  Singapore 136,489 (2004) [1]  Hong Kong 130,810 (2005) [HKG]  Australia 129,400 (2007) [AUS]  Kuwait 91,789 (2004) [1]  Ireland 3,900 (2005) [IRL]  Indonesia 68,000 (2005)  Qatar 58,358 (2004) [1]  Germany 55,628 (2004) [1]  Guam 45,600 (2007) [GWM]  South Korea 41,000 (2004) [ROK]  Israel 37,155 (2004) [1]  Bahrain 36,718 (2004) [1]  France 32,085 (2004) [1]  Lebanon 30,000 (2006) [LBN]  Austria 25,973 (2004) [1]  Spain 25,292 (2004) [1]  Greece 25,146 (2004) [1]  Macau 18,447 (2004) [1]  New Zealand 16,938 (2006) [NZL]  Norway 5,000 (2005)
Languages
Filipino, Bikol, Cebuano, English, Hiligaynon, Ilokano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Tagalog, Tausug, Waray-Waray, and over 100 others
Religions
Predominantly Roman Catholic Various smaller Christian denominations Significant Muslim minority

Filipinos are the citizens of the Philippines, located in Southeast Asia. The term (feminine: Filipina) may also refer to people of Philippine descent, regardless of citizenship (i.e. Chinese Filipinos, Japanese Filipino, Filipino Americans, British Filipinos, Canadians of Filipino descent, etc.).

Throughout the colonial era, the term "Filipino" originally referred to Spaniards born in the Philippines, also known as insulares, criollos or español filipino. This distinguished them from Spaniards born in Europe who were known as peninsulares. By the mid to late nineteenth century, however, the term "Filipino" had begun to refer to the indigenous population of the Philippines. According to historian Ambeth Ocampo, José Rizal was the first to call the native inhabitants "Filipinos". Today, Filipino is also used to signify the nationality and citizenship of one who is from the Philippines. This means that not only Austronesian Malay population are included but also other ethnic groups such as the Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and American.

Colloquially, Filipinos may refer to themselves as Pinoy (feminine: Pinay), which is formed by taking the last four letters of Pilipino and adding the diminutive suffix -y. The word was coined by expatriate Filipino Americans during the 1920s and was later adopted by Filipinos in the Philippines.

In various Philippine languages, Filipino is translated to Pilipino. The use of /p/ is used since many lack /f/ as a phoneme.

History

Main article: History of the Philippines

American anthropologist H. Otley Beyer was the first to propose that Malays who came from Malaysia populated the Philippines in a handful of waves of migration. However, most contemporary anthropologists, linguists (Blust, Reid, Ross, Pawley), and archaeologists (Bellwood) propose the opposite to be true. The vast majority of Filipinos are said to be descended from Austronesian-speaking migrants who arrived in what is now the Philippines from Southern China and Taiwan during the Iron Age.

Filipinos are sometimes said to be part of a "Malay race"; however, modern anthropologists contend that the classification has little taxonomic validity. The Malay race was a term coined in 1795 by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach to refer to the brown-skinned inhabitants of the Indian (Malay) archipelago, Oceania, Melanesia, and Australia. It was one of five other categories which Blumenbach created for classifying humans, including what he called the black race and the yellow race. Since then, anthropologists have debunked this concept, citing the complexities of human races being unable to fit into a handful of oversimplified categories. Genetically, there are no distinct units of human population and all human beings are genetically related. ^[3]

The term Malay is also considered misleading because it gives the impression that the route for the populating of the Philippines was via Malaysia, when actually, according to current theory, the Malays who presently inhabit the rest of the Malay Archipelago and mainland Malaysia are the descendants of Austronesian-speaking immigrants who first went to the Philippines before venturing further south into what is now Malaysia, Indonesia, and East Timor, as well as to the other Pacific Islands.

There were also pre-existing aboriginal inhabitants of the Philippines--the Negrito groups. Their ancestors arrived thousands of years prior to the Austronesian-speaking migrants arrival. Their descendants, the Aetas, constitute a very small minority of the population.

The Philippines, prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521, was not ruled or united as a single nation. Instead, the inhabitants were mostly divided into ethnolinguistic tribal states, or barangays, with some acquiring cultural sophistication, including caste systems (Maharlika).

By the mid-to-late sixteenth century, the archipelago was included in the Spanish East Indies and was referred to as Filipinas (Philippines) by the Spaniards in honor of King Philip II of Spain. During the 333 years of Spanish rule, through New Spain (Mexico), the term Filipino referred to the Spaniards who were born in the archipelago. Indigenous Filipinos were usually referred to as "indios" as a result of an earlier misnomer made by Spaniards on the indigenous peoples of the Americas when they first reach that continent, believing they had arrived in India. By the time the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines the term "indio" had become synonymous with "indigenous", and so was applied in that context.

Following the revolution, the Spanish-American War in 1898, and the Philippine-American War, the native indios were left searching for a national identity. The native revolutionaries then called themselves Filipinos, taking ownership of the term that had earlier been utilized by the Philippine-born Spaniards. General Emilio Aguinaldo was among the first to apply "Filipino" as the national designation for the indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines, as well as all other persons born in the country. This act was intended to help unite the population and establish nationalism in the 1900s against the U.S. presence and occupation of the islands. The term indio, however, was still being used well into the mid part of the twentieth century, as evidenced by Roman Catholic baptismal records.

Ancestry

While there has not yet been a genetic study of great statistical significance about the ancestry of the various Austronesian Philippine ethnic groups, there have been some studies, based upon very small samples of the population, which provide clues as to their origins.

For example, a Stanford University study conducted during 2001 revealed that Haplogroup O3-M122 (labeled as "Haplogroup L" in this study) predominates among Filipinos. This particular haplogroup is also common among the Chinese and Koreans. Another haplogroup, Haplogroup O1a-M119 (labeled as "Haplogroup H" in this study) is also found among Filipinos. The rates of Haplogroup O1a are highest among the Taiwanese Aborigines. Overall, the genetic frequencies found among Filipinos points to the Ami tribe of Taiwan as their nearest genetic relative.^[4]

A 2002 China Medical University study indicated that certain Filipinos shared a particular gene marker that is also found among Taiwanese aborigines and Indonesians.^[5]

Furthermore, a 2003 University of the Philippines study based on 50 participants each from the islands of Luzon and Cebu provided some insight into the various places of origin of early Filipinos; some rare genetic markers were found that are shared by people from parts of Asia.^[6]

Cultural spectrum

Main articles: Culture of the Philippines and Religion in the Philippines

Filipino culture is primarily based on the cultures of the various native groups, and has influence from Spanish and Mexican, as well Chinese and Indian cultures. The customs and traditions of the Roman Catholic faith are Spain's lasting legacy.

Unlike its Muslim majority neighbors, Malaysia and Indonesia, the Philippines is an overwhelmingly Christian country. As a result of Spanish colonization and evangelization spanning just over three centuries, most contemporary Filipinos, regardless of native ethnic group, are Christians; over 83% are Roman Catholic with various smaller Christian denominations. However, a significant minority of Filipinos (the majority in Mindanao and most of the Sulu Archipelago) are to this day still adherents of Islam. Filipino Muslims constitute 5% of the population.^[7] While the rest of the population confess to Buddhism mostly (2.5%), Hinduism and others, accounting for 3% of the population.

Languages

Main article: Languages of the Philippines

According to Ethnologue, there are more than 170 languages spoken in the country. Tagalog is often confused with the Filipino language because it was heavily based off of it with only minor contributions from the other dialects in the country. Although Filipino and English are used as the national lingua franca, many of the other major regional languages also serve as working languages where English or Filipino is not as entrenched. Ilokano, for example, is widely spoken as a second language in Northern Luzon and Cebuano is considered the lingua franca of Visayas and Mindanao.

It is to be noted that the Filipino language is ever expanding, assimilating terminologies from various sources both national and foreign. Terms only used by, say, the Bisaya (from southern Bicol, the Visayas island group, and north Mindanao) which were not used 20 years ago have suddenly found themselves being used in the everyday Filipino lexicon.

Others major languages include Hiligaynon, Waray, Kapampangan, Bikol, Pangasinan, Tausug, Maguindanao, Maranao, Chabacano, Kinaray-a and many others. There's also a unique (if not largely uncharted) "language" called "gay lingo" which, as the name suggests, was coined by Filipino male homosexuals. While not actually considered a language or dialect, this lingo has gained large popularity with their large role in comedy. Expressions like "chuva", "chuvaness", "eklavoo", "cheness" (all of which really don't have a specific translation, the closest being, quite literally, "whatever") are now used not only by homosexuals but even by the general population.

Diaspora

Main article: Overseas Filipino

Filipinos form the largest ethnic group in the Northern Marianas Islands, the second largest in both Palau and Guam, and the second largest Asian American group in the United States. They also form significant minorities in Canada, Australia, Japan, Israel, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Spain, France and Germany.

Filipinos in the Americas

The arrival of Filipinos in the Americas began during the Spanish colonial era. At that time, many Filipino men were hired as sailors to man ships bound for the "New World". Upon arrival, many sailors mutinied, others settled there after marrying locals.

However, Filipino migration only began in the mid-1800s, beginning with the United States. In 1903, "pensionados" arrived there as students in colleges and universities. Starting in 1906, Filipinos were hired as laborers for plantations, farms, salmon canneries, and the like. In the post-World War II era, Filipino nurses and other health care workers began immigrating. Filipinas comprise a large portion of women who come to the U.S. via international marriage agencies^[8].

There is also a significant population of Filipinos in Canada.

Filipinos in Oceania

Filipinos have been settled in the islands of Oceania, particularly in Micronesia. Also, the vast majority of Filipino exiled patriots were sent to Oceania. As a result, they now form the largest ethnic group in the Northern Marianas Islands, as well as the second largest in both Palau and Guam.

Subsequent immigrations of Filipinos also ensued. To this day, about five in ten Northern Marianas islanders have a direct Filipino ancestor.

See also

Filipino mestizo Chinese Filipino Filipinos of Japanese descent Filipinos of Spanish descent Bangsamoro Ibanag people

Overseas Filipino Filipino American Filipino Australian Filipino British Filipino Canadian Filipinos in Hong Kong Philippine nationality law Pinoy Role of women in the Philippines

References

External links

•  • [ e] Ethnic groups in the Philippines
Filipinos | Overseas Filipinos Indigenous groups Bicolano Ibanag Ilocano Ivatan Kapampangan Moro Pangasinan Sambal Tagalog Visayan Tribal groups Non-indigenous groups American Arab Chinese Desi Japanese Jewish Korean Mexican Spanish