Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. Filipinos come from various
Austronesian peoples
The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melan ...
, all typically speaking
Filipino,
English, or other
Philippine languages
The Philippine languages or Philippinic are a proposed group by R. David Paul Zorc (1986) and Robert Blust (1991; 2005; 2019) that include all the languages of the Philippines and northern Sulawesi, Indonesia—except Sama–Bajaw (language ...
. Despite formerly being subject to
Spanish administration, less than 1% of Filipinos are fluent in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
. Currently, there are more than 185
ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines each with its own
language
Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...
, identity, culture, tradition, and history.
Names
The name ''Filipino'', as a
demonym
A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...
, was derived from the term , the name given to the archipelago in 1543 by the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
explorer and
Dominican priest
Ruy López de Villalobos, in honor of
Philip II of Spain.
During the
Spanish period, natives of the Philippine islands were usually known in the Philippines itself by the generic terms ''indio'' ("Indian (native of the
East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...
)") or ,
while the generic term ''chino'' ("Chinese"),
[ Seijas, Tatiana, Asian Slaves in Colonial Mexico (2014), Cambridge University Press.] short for "''indio chino"'' was used in
Spanish America
Spanish America refers to the Spanish territories in the Americas during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term "Spanish America" was specifically used during the territories' Spanish Empire, imperial era between 15th and 19th centur ...
to differentiate from the
Native American ''indios'' of the Spanish territories in the
Americas
The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...
and the
West Indies
The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
. The term ''Filipino'' was sometimes added by Spanish writers to distinguish the ''indio chino'' native of the Philippine archipelago from the ''indio'' of the Spanish territories in the Americas.
The term ''Indio Filipino'' appears as a term of self-identification beginning in the 18th century.
In 1955,
Agnes Newton Keith wrote that a 19th century edict prohibited the use of the word "Filipino" to refer to indios. This reflected popular belief, although no such edict has been found.
The idea that the term ''Filipino'' was not used to refer to ''indios'' until the 19th century has also been mentioned by historians such as Salah Jubair and
Renato Constantino
Renato Reyes Constantino Sr. (March 10, 1919 – September 15, 1999) was a Filipino historian known for being part of the leftist tradition of Philippine historiography. Apart from being a historian, Constantino was also engaged in foreign se ...
.
However, in a 1994 publication the historian
William Henry Scott identified instances in Spanish writing where "Filipino" did refer to "indio" natives.
Instances of such usage include the ''Relación de las Islas Filipinas'' (1604) of
Pedro Chirino, in which he wrote chapters entitled "Of the civilities, terms of courtesy, and good breeding among the Filipinos" (Chapter XVI), "Of the Letters of the Filipinos" (Chapter XVII), "Concerning the false heathen religion, idolatries, and superstitions of the Filipinos" (Chapter XXI), "Of marriages, dowries, and divorces among the Filipinos" (Chapter XXX), while also using the term "Filipino" to refer unequivocally to the non-Spaniard natives of the archipelago like in the following sentence:
In the ''Crónicas'' (1738) of Juan Francisco de San Antonio, the author devoted a chapter to "The Letters, languages and politeness of the Philippinos", while Francisco Antolín argued in 1789 that "the ancient wealth of the Philippinos is much like that which the Igorots have at present".
These examples prompted the historian
William Henry Scott to conclude that during the Spanish period:
While the Philippine-born Spaniards during the 19th century began to be called ''españoles filipinos'', logically contracted to just ''Filipino'', to distinguish them from the Spaniards born in Spain, they themselves resented the term, preferring to identify themselves as ''"hijo/s del país"'' ("sons of the country").
In the latter half of the 19th century, ''
ilustrado
The Ilustrados (, "erudite", "learned" or "enlightened ones") constituted the Filipino intelligentsia ( educated class) during the Spanish colonial period in the late 19th century. Elsewhere in New Spain (of which the Philippines were part), ...
s'', an educated class of ''
mestizos
( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to ...
'' (both
Spanish mestizos and
Sangley
Sangley (English plural: ''Sangleys''; Spanish plural: ''Sangleyes'') and Mestizo de Sangley (Sangley mestizo, ''mestisong Sangley'', ''chino mestizo'' or Chinese mestizo) are archaic terms used in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial ...
Chinese mestizos, especially Chinese mestizos) and ''indios'' arose whose writings are credited with building
Philippine nationalism. These writings are also credited with transforming the term ''Filipino'' to one which refers to everyone born in the Philippines,
especially during the
Philippine Revolution
The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...
and
American Colonial Era
The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen Colonies, Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 17 ...
and the term shifting from a geographic designation to a national one as a
citizenship nationality by law.
Historian
Ambeth Ocampo
Ambeth Raymundo Ocampo is a Filipino public historian, academic, cultural administrator, journalist, author, and independent curator. He is best known for his definitive writings about Philippines' national hero José Rizal and on topics in Ph ...
has suggested that the first documented use of the word ''Filipino'' to refer to Indios was the
Spanish-language
Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...
poem ''
A la juventud filipina'', published in 1879 by
José Rizal
José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is popularly considered a na ...
.
Writer and publisher
Nick Joaquin
Nicomedes "Nick" Marquez Joaquin (; May 4, 1917 – April 29, 2004) was a Filipino writer and journalist best known for his short story, short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila. Joaq ...
has asserted that
Luis Rodríguez Varela was the first to describe himself as ''Filipino'' in print. Apolinario Mabini (1896) used the term ''Filipino'' to refer to all inhabitants of the Philippines. Father Jose Burgos earlier called all natives of the archipelago as ''Filipinos''. In
Wenceslao Retaña's ''Diccionario de filipinismos'', he defined ''Filipinos'' as follows,
American authorities during the
American colonial era
The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen Colonies, Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 17 ...
also started to colloquially use the term ''Filipino'' to refer to the native inhabitants of the archipelago,
but despite this, it became the official term for all
citizens
Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state.
Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...
of the sovereign independent
Republic of the Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which ar ...
, including non-native inhabitants of the country as per the
Philippine nationality law
Philippine nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of the Philippines. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines and the 1939 Revised Natura ...
.
However, the term has been rejected as an identification in some instances by minorities who did not come under Spanish control, such as the
Igorot
The indigenous peoples of the Cordillera in northern Luzon, Philippines, often referred to by the exonym Igorot people, or more recently, as the Cordilleran peoples, are an ethnic group composed of nine main ethnolinguistic groups whose domains ...
and
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
Moros
In Greek mythology, Moros /ˈmɔːrɒs/ or Morus /ˈmɔːrəs/ (Ancient Greek: Μόρος means 'doom, fate') is the personified spirit of impending doom, who drives mortals to their deadly fate. It was also said that Moros gave people the abi ...
.
The lack of the letter "''F''" in the 1940–1987 standardized
Tagalog alphabet (
Abakada
The Abakada alphabet was an "indigenized" Latin script, Latin alphabet adopted for the Tagalog language, Tagalog-based ''Wikang Pambansa'' (now Filipino language, Filipino) in 1939.
The alphabet, which contains 20 Letter (alphabet), letters, was ...
) caused the letter "''P''" to be substituted for "''F''", though the alphabets or writing scripts of some non-Tagalog ethnic groups included the letter "F". Upon official adoption of the modern, 28-letter
Filipino alphabet in 1987, the term ''Filipino'' was preferred over ''Pilipino''. Locally, some still use "Filipino" to refer to the people and "Pilipino" to refer to the language, but in international use "Filipino" is the usual form for both.
A number of Filipinos refer to themselves colloquially as "''
Pinoy
''Pinoy'' ( or ) is a common informal self-reference used by Filipinos to refer to citizens of the Philippines and their culture as well as to overseas Filipinos in the Filipino diaspora. A Pinoy who has any non-Filipino foreign ancestry, ...
''" (feminine: "''Pinay''"), which is a slang word formed by taking the last four letters of "''Filipino''" and adding the
diminutive
A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...
suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...
"''-y''". Or the non-gender or gender fluid form Pinxy (seldom used in the country but used amongst
Filipino-American communities).
In 2020, the neologism ''Filipinx'' appeared; a demonym applied only to those of Filipino heritage in the diaspora and specifically referring to and coined by
Filipino Americans
Filipino Americans () are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Sp ...
imitating ''
Latinx'', itself a recently coined gender-inclusive alternative to ''Latino'' or ''Latina''. An online dictionary made an entry of the term, applying it to all Filipinos within the Philippines or in the diaspora. In actual practice, however, the term is unknown among and not applied to Filipinos living in the Philippines, and ''Filipino'' itself is already treated as gender-neutral. The dictionary entry resulted in confusion, backlash and ridicule from Filipinos residing in the Philippines who never identified themselves with the foreign term.
Native Filipinos were also called Manilamen (or Manila men) by English-speaking regions or Tagalas by Spanish-speakers during the colonial era. They were mostly sailors and pearl-divers and established communities in various ports around the world.
One of the notable settlements of Manilamen is the community of
Saint Malo, Louisiana
Saint Malo ( ) was a small fishing village that existed along the shore of Lake Borgne in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana as early as the mid-18th century until it was destroyed by the 1915 New Orleans hurricane. Located along Bayou Saint Malo ...
, founded at around 1763 to 1765 by escaped slaves and deserters from the
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...
.
There were also significant numbers of Manilamen in
Northern Australia
The unofficial geographic term Northern Australia includes those parts of Queensland and Western Australia north of latitude 26th parallel south, 26° and all of the Northern Territory. Those local government areas of Western Australia and Q ...
and the
Torres Strait Islands
The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their tot ...
in the late 1800s who were employed in the
pearl hunting
Pearl hunting, also known as pearl fishing or pearling, is the activity of recovering or attempting to recover pearls from wild molluscs, usually oysters or mussels, in the sea or freshwater. Pearl hunting was prevalent in India and Japan for tho ...
industries.
In
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
(especially in the Mexican states of
Guerrero
Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...
and
Colima
Colima, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima, is among the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima.
Colima is a small state of western Mexico on the cen ...
),
Filipino immigrants arriving to
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...
during the 16th and 17th centuries via the
Manila galleon
The Manila galleon (; ) refers to the Spain, Spanish trading Sailing ship, ships that linked the Philippines in the Spanish East Indies to Mexico (New Spain), across the Pacific Ocean. The ships made one or two round-trip voyages per year betwe ...
s were called ''chino'', which led to the confusion of early Filipino immigrants with that of the much later
Chinese immigrants to Mexico from the 1880s to the 1940s. A genetic study in 2018 has also revealed that around one-third of the population of Guerrero have 10% Filipino ancestry.
History
Prehistory
The oldest
archaic human
''Homo'' () is a genus of great ape (family Hominidae) that emerged from the genus ''Australopithecus'' and encompasses only a single extant species, ''Homo sapiens'' (modern humans), along with a number of extinct species (collectively called ...
remains in the Philippines are the "
Callao Man
''Homo luzonensis'', also known as Callao Man and locally called "Ubag" after a mythical caveman, is an extinct, possibly pygmy peoples, pygmy, species of archaic human from the Late Pleistocene of Luzon, the Philippines. Their remains, teeth a ...
" specimens discovered in 2007 in the
Callao Cave
Callao Cave () is one of 300 limestone caves located in the Barangays of Magdalo and Quibal in the municipality of Peñablanca, about northeast of Tuguegarao City, the capital of Cagayan province within the Peñablanca Protected Landscape a ...
in
Northern Luzon
Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
. They were dated in 2010 through
uranium-series dating to the
Late Pleistocene
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...
, c. 67,000 years old. The remains were initially identified as modern human, but after the discovery of more specimens in 2019, they have been reclassified as being members of a new species – ''
Homo luzonensis''.
The oldest indisputable modern human (''
Homo sapiens
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
'') remains in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
are the "
Tabon Man" fossils discovered in the
Tabon Caves in the 1960s by
Robert B. Fox, an
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
from the
National Museum
A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...
. These were dated to the
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
, at around 26,000 to 24,000 years ago. The Tabon Cave complex also indicates that the caves were inhabited by humans continuously from at least 47,000 ± 11,000 years ago to around 9,000 years ago.
The caves were also later used as a burial site by unrelated
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
and
Metal Age cultures in the area.

The Tabon Cave remains (along with the
Niah Cave remains of
Borneo
Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
and the
Tam Pa Ling remains of
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
) are part of the "First
Sundaland
Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of Southeast Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It inc ...
People", the earliest branch of
anatomically modern humans
Early modern human (EMH), or anatomically modern human (AMH), are terms used to distinguish ''Homo sapiens'' ( sometimes ''Homo sapiens sapiens'') that are anatomically consistent with the range of phenotypes seen in contemporary humans, from ...
to reach
Island Southeast Asia
Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor.
The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as Mari ...
at the time of lowered sea levels of
Sundaland
Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of Southeast Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It inc ...
, with only one 3km sea crossing. They entered the Philippines from Borneo via
Palawan
Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...
at around 50,000 to 40,000 years ago. Their descendants are collectively known as the
Negrito people, although they are highly genetically divergent from each other. Philippine Negritos show a high degree of
Denisovan Admixture, similar to
Papuans Papuans may refer to:
* Indonesian Papuans – the Native Indonesians of Papua-origin
* Papua New Guineans – the nationals of Papua New Guinea
* Indigenous people of New Guinea
The indigenous peoples of Western New Guinea in Indonesia and Pap ...
and
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
, in contrast to Malaysian and Andamanese Negritos (the
Orang Asli
The Orang Asli are a Homogeneity and heterogeneity, heterogeneous Indigenous peoples, indigenous population forming a national minority in Malaysia. They are the oldest inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia.
As of 2017, the Orang Asli accounted f ...
). This indicates that Philippine Negritos, Papuans, and Indigenous Australians share a common ancestor that admixed with
Denisovans
The Denisovans or Denisova hominins ( ) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower Paleolithic, Lower and Middle Paleolithic, and lived, based on current evidence, from 285 thousand to 25 thou ...
at around 44,000 years ago.
Negritos include ethnic groups like the
Aeta
Aeta (Ayta ), Agta and Dumagat, are collective terms for several indigenous peoples who live in various parts of Luzon islands in the Philippines. They are included in the wider Negrito grouping of the Philippines and the rest of Southeast A ...
(including the Agta, Arta, Dumagat, etc.) of Luzon, the
Ati of
Western Visayas
Western Visayas (; ; ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. The region comprises the islands of Panay and Guimaras Island, Guimaras. It consists of five Provinces of the ...
, the
Batak
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...
of
Palawan
Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...
, and the
Mamanwa
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous peoples in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially ado ...
of
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...
. Today they comprise just 0.03% of the total Philippine population.
After the Negritos, were two early Paleolithic migrations from East Asian (basal
Austric, an ethnic group which includes
Austroasiatics) people, they entered the Philippines at around 15,000 and 12,000 years ago, respectively. Like the Negritos, they entered the Philippines during the lowered sea levels during the
last ice age, when the only water crossings required were less than 3km wide (such as the
Sibutu strait).
They retain partial genetic signals among the
Manobo people
The Manobò (sometimes also spelled Menobò, Manuvù , Menuvù , or Minuvù) are an indigenous peoples from Mindanao in the Philippines, whose core lands cover most of the Mindanao island group, from Sarangani island into the Mindanao mainland in ...
and the
Sama-Bajau people
The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian people, Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are ...
of
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...
.
The last wave of prehistoric migrations to reach the Philippines was the
Austronesian expansion
The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesi ...
which started in the
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
at around 4,500 to 3,500 years ago, when a branch of
Austronesians
The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesi ...
from
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
(the ancestral
Malayo-Polynesian
The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeast ...
-speakers) migrated to the
Batanes Islands
Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes (; ilocano language, Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Batanes''; , ), is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley regions of the Philippines, region. It is the n ...
and
Luzon
Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
. They spread quickly throughout the rest of the islands of the Philippines and became the dominant ethnolinguistic group. They admixed with the earlier settlers, resulting in the modern Filipinos – which though predominantly genetically Austronesian still show varying genetic admixture with Negritos (and vice versa for Negrito ethnic groups which show significant Austronesian admixture).
Austronesians possessed advanced sailing technologies and colonized the Philippines via sea-borne migration, in contrast to earlier groups.

Austronesians from the Philippines also later settled
Guam
Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
and the other islands of
Maritime Southeast Asia
Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor.
The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...
, and parts of
Mainland Southeast Asia
Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...
. From there, they colonized the rest of
Austronesia
The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesi ...
, which in modern times include
Micronesia
Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...
, coastal
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
,
Island Melanesia
Island Melanesia is a subregion of Melanesia in Oceania.
It is located east of New Guinea island, from the Bismarck Archipelago to New Caledonia.Steadman, 2006. ''Extinction & biogeography of tropical Pacific birds''
See also Archaeology a ...
,
Polynesia
Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...
, and
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
, in addition to Maritime Southeast Asia and Taiwan.
The connections between the various
Austronesian peoples
The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melan ...
have also been known since the American colonization of the Philippines, colonial era due to shared material culture and linguistic similarities of various peoples of the islands of the Indo-Pacific, leading to the designation of Austronesians as the "Malay race" (or the "Brown race") during the age of scientific racism by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach.
Due to the American colonial period of the Philippines, colonial American education system in the early 20th century, the term "Malay race" is still used incorrectly in the Philippines to refer to the Austronesian peoples, leading to Malayness, confusion with the non-indigenous Melayu people.
Archaic epoch (to 1565)
Since at least the 3rd century, various ethnic groups established several communities. These were formed by the assimilation of various native Philippine kingdoms.
South Asian and East Asian people together with the people of the Indonesian archipelago and the Malay Peninsula, traded with Filipinos and introduced Hinduism and Buddhism to the native tribes of the Philippines. Most of these people stayed in the Philippines where they were slowly absorbed into local societies.
Many of the ''barangay'' (tribal municipalities) were, to a varying extent, under the ''de jure'' jurisprudence of one of several neighboring empires, among them the Malays (ethnic group), Malay Srivijaya, Javanese Majapahit, Bruneian Empire, Brunei, Malacca Sultanate, Malacca, Tamil language, Tamil Chola, Champa and Khmer Empire, Khmer empires, although ''de facto'' had established their own independent system of rule. Trading links with Sumatra,
Borneo
Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
, Java, Cambodia, Malay Peninsula, Indochina, China, Japan, India and Arabian Peninsula, Arabia. A thalassocracy had thus emerged based on international trade.
Even scattered barangays, through the development of inter-island and international trade, became more culturally homogeneous by the 4th century. Hindus, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist culture and religion flourished among the noblemen in this era.
In the period between the 7th to the beginning of the 15th centuries, numerous prosperous centers of trade had emerged, including the Kingdom of Namayan which flourished alongside Manila Bay,
Cebu, Iloilo, Butuan, the Kingdom of Sanfotsi situated in Pangasinan, the Kingdom of Luzon now known as Pampanga which specialized in trade with most of what is now known as Southeast Asia and with China, Japan and the Kingdom of Ryukyu in Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa.
From the 9th century onwards, a large number of Arabs, Arab traders from the Middle East settled in the Malay Archipelago and intermarried with the local Malays (ethnic group), Malay, Bruneian, Malaysian, Indonesian and
Luzon
Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
and Visayas indigenous populations.
In the years leading up to 1000 AD, there were already several maritime societies existing in the islands but there was no unifying political Sovereign state, state encompassing the entire Philippine archipelago. Instead, the region was dotted by numerous semi-autonomous ''barangays'' (settlements ranging in size from villages to city-states) under the sovereignty of competing thalassocracy, thalassocracies ruled by datus, rajahs or sultans or by upland agricultural societies ruled by "petty plutocrats". Nations such as the Wangdoms of Caboloan, Pangasinan and Ma-i as well as Ma-i's subordinates, the Precolonial barangay, Barangay states of Pulilu and Sandao; the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Maynila, Maynila, Namayan, and Kingdom of Tondo, Tondo; the Madja-as, Kedatuans of Madja-as, Dapitan Kingdom, Dapitan, and Cainta (historical polity), Cainta; the Rajahnates of Rajahnate of Cebu, Cebu, Rajahnate of Butuan, Butuan and Sanmalan; and the Sultanates of Sultanate of Buayan, Buayan, Sultanate of Maguindanao, Maguindanao, Confederate States of Lanao, Lanao and Sulu Sultanate, Sulu; existed alongside the highland societies of the Ifugao people, Ifugao and Mangyan. Some of these regions were part of the Malayan empires of Srivijaya, Majapahit and Bruneian Empire, Brunei.
Naturales 4.png, Tagalog people, Tagalog ''maharlika'', c.1590 Boxer Codex
Naturales 5.png, Tagalog people, Tagalog ''maginoo'', c.1590 Boxer Codex
Visayans 3.png, Visayan people, Visayan ''kadatuan'', c.1590 Boxer Codex
Naturales 2.png, Native commoner women, c.1590 Boxer Codex
Visayans 2.png, Visayan people, Visayan ''timawa'', c.1590 Boxer Codex
Visayans 1.png, Visayan people, Visayan ''pintados'' (tattooed), c. 1590 Boxer Codex
Naturales 1.png, Visayan people, Visayan ''uripon'' (slaves), c. 1590 Boxer Codex
Native of Visayan origin.jpg, ''Binukot'' from Visayas, c. 1590 Boxer Codex
Historic caste systems
Datu – The
Tagalog ''maginoo'', the Kapampangan language, Kapampangan ''ginu'' and the Visayan languages, Visayan ''tumao'' were the nobility social class among various cultures of the pre-colonial Philippines. Among the Visayans, the tumao were further distinguished from the immediate royal families or a ruling class.
Timawa – The timawa class were free commoners of Luzon and the Visayas who could own their own land and who did not have to pay a regular tribute to a maginoo, though they would, from time to time, be obliged to work on a datu's land and help in community projects and events. They were free to change their allegiance to another datu if they married into another community or if they decided to move.
Maharlika – Members of the Tagalog warrior class known as maharlika had the same rights and responsibilities as the timawa, but in times of war they were bound to serve their datu in battle. They had to arm themselves at their own expense, but they did get to keep the loot they took. Although they were partly related to the nobility, the maharlikas were technically less free than the timawas because they could not leave a datu's service without first hosting a large public feast and paying the datu between 6 and 18 pesos in gold – a large sum in those days.
Alipin – Commonly described as "servant" or "slave". However, this is inaccurate. The concept of the alipin relied on a complex system of obligation and repayment through labor in ancient Philippine society, rather than on the actual purchase of a person as in Western and Islamic slavery. Members of the alipin class who owned their own houses were more accurately equivalent to medieval European serfs and commoners.
By the 15th century, Arab and Indian missionaries and traders from Malaysia and Indonesia brought Islam to the Philippines, where it both replaced and was practiced together with indigenous religions. Before that, indigenous tribes of the Philippines practiced a mixture of Animism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Native villages, called ''barangays'' were populated by locals called Timawa (Middle Class/freemen) and Alipin (servants and slaves). They were ruled by Rajahs, Datus and Sultans, a class called Maginoo (royals) and defended by the Maharlika (Lesser nobles, royal warriors and aristocrats).
These Royals and Nobles are descended from native Filipinos with varying degrees of Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan and Dravidian peoples, Dravidian, which is evident in today's DNA analysis among South East Asian Royals. This tradition continued among the Spanish and Portuguese people, Portuguese traders who also intermarried with the local populations.
Spanish period (1521–1898)
The first census in the Philippines was in 1591, based on tributes collected. The tributes counted the total founding population of the Spanish Philippines as 667,612 people. 20,000 were Chinese migrant traders, at different times: around 15,600 individuals were Latino soldier-colonists who were cumulatively sent from Peru and Mexico and they were shipped to the Philippines annually, 3,000 were Japanese residents, and 600 were pure Spaniards from Europe. There was a large but unknown number of Indian Filipinos, South Asian Filipinos, as the majority of the slaves imported into the archipelago were from Bengal and Southern India, adding Dravidian language, Dravidian speaking South Indians and Indo-European language, Indo-European speaking Bengalis into the ethnic mix.
The Philippines was governed by the Spaniards. The arrival of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan () in 1521 began a period of European immigration. During the Spanish period, the Philippines was part of the Viceroyalty of
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...
, which was governed and administered from Mexico City. Early Spanish settlers were mostly explorers, soldiers, government officials and religious Friars in Spanish Philippines, missionaries born in Spain and Mexico. Most Spaniards who settled were of Basques, Basque ancestry, but there were also settlers of Andalusians, Andalusian, Catalans, Catalan, and Moors, Moorish descent. The ''Peninsulares'' (governors born in Spain), mostly of Castilians, Castilian ancestry, settled in the islands to govern their territory. Most settlers married the daughters of rajahs, datus, and sultans to reinforce the alliances of the islands. The ''Ginoo'' and ''Maharlika'' castes (royals and nobles) in the Philippines prior to the arrival of the Spaniards formed the privileged ''Principalía'' (nobility) during the early Spanish period.

The arrival of the Spaniards to the Philippines, especially through the commencement of the Manila galleon, Manila-Acapulco galleon trade that connected the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
through Manila to Acapulco in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, attracted new waves of immigrants from China, as Manila was already previously connected to the Maritime Silk Road and Philippine jade culture, Maritime Jade Road, as shown in the Selden Map, from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou in Southern Fujian to Manila, maritime trade flourished during the Spanish period, especially as Manila was connected to the ports of Minnan region, Southern Fujian, such as Yuegang (the old port of Haicheng, Fujian, Haicheng in Zhangzhou, Fujian). The Spaniards recruited thousands of Chinese migrant workers from "''Chinchew''" (Quanzhou), "''Chiõ Chiu''" (Zhangzhou), "''Canton''" (Guangzhou), and Macau called ''sangleys'' (from Philippine Hokkien, Hokkien ) to build the colonial infrastructure in the islands. Many Chinese immigrants converted to Christianity, intermarried with the locals, and adopted Hispanized names and customs and became assimilated, although the children of unions between Filipinos and Chinese that became assimilated continued to be designated in official records as ''Sangley, mestizos de sangley''. The Chinese mestizos were largely confined to the Binondo area until the 19th century. However, they eventually spread all over the islands and became traders, landowners and moneylenders. Today, their descendants still comprise a significant part of the Demographics of the Philippines, Philippine population especially its Bourgeoisie, bourgeois,
who during the late History of the Philippines (1565–1898), Spanish Era in the late 19th century, produced a major part of the ''
ilustrado
The Ilustrados (, "erudite", "learned" or "enlightened ones") constituted the Filipino intelligentsia ( educated class) during the Spanish colonial period in the late 19th century. Elsewhere in New Spain (of which the Philippines were part), ...
'' intelligentsia of the late Captaincy General of the Philippines, Spanish Philippines, that were very influential with the creation of Filipino nationalism and the sparking of the
Philippine Revolution
The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...
as part of the foundation of the First Philippine Republic and subsequent sovereign independent
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
.
Today, the bulk of the families in the List of political families in the Philippines, list of the political families in the Philippines have such family background. Meanwhile, the Spanish-era Sangley's pure ethnic Chinese descendants of which, replenished by later migrants in the 20th century, that preserved at least some of their Chinese Filipino#Society and culture, Chinese culture, integrated together with mainstream Culture of the Philippines, Filipino culture, are now in the form of the modern Chinese Filipino community, who currently play a leading role in the Philippine business sector and contribute a significant share of the Economy of the Philippines, Philippine economy today,
where most in the current list of the Philippines' richest each year comprise Tai-pan, Taipan billionaires of Chinese Filipino background, mostly of Philippine Hokkien, Hokkien descent, where most still trace their roots back to mostly Jinjiang, Fujian, Jinjiang or Nan'an, Fujian, Nan'an within Quanzhou or sometimes Xiamen (Amoy) or Zhangzhou, all within Southern Fujian, the Philippines' historical trade partner with Mainland China.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of Japanese people, Japanese traders also migrated to the Philippines and assimilated into the local population.
Many were assimilated throughout the centuries, especially through the tumultuous period of World War II. Today, there is a small growing Nikkeijin, Nikkei community of Japanese in the Philippines, Japanese Filipinos in Davao Region, Davao with roots to the old Japantown, Little Japan in Mintal or Calinan in Davao City during the History of the Philippines (1898–1946), American colonial period, where many had roots starting out in Abacá, Abaca plantations or from workers of the Benguet Road (Kennon Road) to Baguio.
British occupation of Manila, British forces occupied Manila between 1762 and 1764 as a part of the Seven Years' War. However, the only part of the Philippines which the British held was the Intramuros, Spanish capital of City of Manila, Manila and the principal naval port of Cavite, both of which are located by the Manila Bay. The war was ended by the Treaty of Paris (1763). At the end of the war the treaty signatories were not aware that Manila had been taken by the British and was being administered as a British colony. Consequently, no specific provision was made for the Philippines. Instead they fell under the general provision that all other lands not otherwise provided for be returned to the Spanish Empire. Many Indian people, Indian Sepoy troops and their British captains mutinied and were left in Manila and some parts of the Ilocos and Cagayan. The Indian Filipinos in Manila settled at Cainta, Rizal and the ones in the north settled in Isabela (province), Isabela. Most were assimilated into the local population. Even before the British invasion, there were already also a large but unknown number of Indian Filipinos as majority of the slaves imported into the archipelago were from Bengal or Southern India, adding Dravidian language, Dravidian speaking South Indians and Indo-European language, Indo-European speaking Demographics of Bangladesh, Bangladeshis into the ethnic mix.

A total of 110 Manila galleon, Manila-Acapulco galleons set sail between 1565 and 1815, during the Philippines trade with Mexico. Until 1593, three or more ships would set sail annually from each port bringing with them the riches of the archipelago to Spain. European ''criollos'', ''mestizos'' and Portuguese, French and Mexican descent from the Americas, mostly from Latin America came in contact with the Filipinos. Japanese people, Japanese, Indian people, Indian and Demographics of Cambodia, Cambodian Christians who fled from religious persecutions and killing fields also settled in the Philippines during the 17th until the 19th centuries. The Mexicans especially were a major source of military migration to the Philippines and during the Spanish period they were referred to as guachinangos
["Intercolonial Intimacies Relinking Latin/o America to the Philippines, 1898–1964 Paula C. Park" Page 100] and they readily intermarried and mixed with native Filipinos. Bernal, the author of the book "Mexico en Filipinas" contends, that they were middlemen, the guachinangos in contrast to the Spanish and criollos, known as Castila, that had positions in power and were isolated, the guachinangos in the meantime, had interacted with the natives of the Philippines, while in contrast, the exchanges between Castila and native were negligent. Following Bernal, these two groups—native Filipinos and the Castila—had been two "mutually unfamiliar castes" that had "no real contact." Between them, he clarifies however, were the Chinese traders and the guachinangos (Mexicans).
In the 1600s, Spain deployed thousands of Mexican and Peruvian soldiers across the many cities and presidios of the Philippines.
With the inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1867, Spain opened the Philippines for international trade. European investors of British, Dutch, German, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, and French nationality were among those who settled in the islands as business increased. More Spaniards and Chinese arrived during the next century. Many of these migrants intermarried with local ''mestizos'' and assimilated with the indigenous population.
In the late 1700s to early 1800s, Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga, an Augustinian Friar, in his Two Volume Book: "Estadismo de las islas Filipinas"
compiled a census of the Spanish-Philippines based on the tribute counts (Which represented an average family of seven to ten children and two parents, per tribute)
and came upon the following statistics:
[ESTADISMO DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS TOMO PRIMERO By Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga (Original Spanish)](_blank)
/ref>[ESTADISMO DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS TOMO SEGUNDO By Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga (Original Spanish)](_blank)
/ref>
The Spanish-Filipino population as a proportion of the provinces widely varied; with as high as 19% of the population of Tondo province (The most populous province and former name of Manila), to Pampanga 13.7%, Cavite at 13%, Laguna 2.28%, Batangas 3%, Bulacan 10.79%, Bataan 16.72%, Ilocos 1.38%, Pangasinan 3.49%, Albay 1.16%, Cebu 2.17%, Samar 3.27%,
Iloilo 1%, Capiz 1%, Bicol region, Bicol 20%, and Zamboanga Peninsula, Zamboanga 40%. According to the data, in the Archdiocese of Manila which administers much of Luzon under it, about 10% of the population was Spanish-Filipino. Across the whole Philippines, as estimated, the total ratio of Spanish Filipino tributes amount to 5% of the totality.
In the 1860s to 1890s, in the urban areas of the Philippines, especially at Manila, according to burial statistics, as much as 3.3% of the population were pure European Spaniards and the pure Chinese were as high as 9.9%. The Spanish Filipino and Chinese Filipino Mestizo populations also fluctuated. Eventually, many families belonging to the non-native categories from centuries ago beyond the late 19th century diminished because their descendants intermarried enough and were assimilated into and chose to self-identify as Filipinos while forgetting their ancestor's roots since during the Philippine Revolution to modern times, the term "Filipino" was expanded to include everyone born in the Philippines coming from any race, as per the Philippine nationality law
Philippine nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of the Philippines. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines and the 1939 Revised Natura ...
. That would explain the abrupt drop of otherwise high Chinese, Spanish and mestizo, percentages across the country by the time of the first American census in 1903. By the 20th century, the remaining ethnic Spaniards and ethnic Chinese, replenished by further Chinese migrants in the 20th century, now later came to compose the modern Spanish Filipino community and Chinese Filipino community respectively, where families of such background contribute a significant share of the Economy of the Philippines, Philippine economy today, where most in the current list of the Philippines' richest each year comprise billionaires of either Chinese Filipino background or the old elite families of Spanish Filipino background.
Late modern
After the defeat of Spain during the Spanish–American War in 1898, Filipino general, Emilio Aguinaldo declared Philippine Declaration of Independence, independence on June 12 while General Wesley Merritt became the first American Governor-General of the Philippines#United States Military Government (1898–1901), governor of the Philippines. On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris (1898), Treaty of Paris formally ended the war, with Spain ceding the Philippines and other territories to the United States in exchange for $20 million.
The Philippine–American War resulted in the deaths of at least 200,000 Filipino civilians. Some estimates for total civilian dead reach up to 1,000,000. After the Philippine–American War, the United States civil governance was established in 1901, with William Howard Taft as the first American Governor-General of the Philippines#United States Colonial Government (1901-1935), Governor-General. A number of Americans settled in the islands and thousands of interracial marriages between Americans and Filipinos have taken place since then. Owing to the strategic location of the Philippines, as many as 21 bases and 100,000 military personnel were stationed there since the United States first colonized the islands in 1898. These bases were decommissioned in 1992 after the end of the Cold War, but left behind thousands of Amerasian children. The country gained independence from the United States in 1946. The Green Hills Farm, Pearl S. Buck International Foundation estimates there are 52,000 Amerasians scattered throughout the Philippines. However, according to the center of Amerasian Research, there might be as many as 250,000 Amerasians scattered across the cities of New Clark City, Clark, Angeles City, Manila, and Olongapo. In addition, numerous Filipino men enlisted in the US Navy and made careers in it, often settling with their families in the United States. Some of their second- or third-generation families returned to the country.
Following its independence, the Philippines has seen both small and large-scale immigration into the country, mostly involving American, European, Chinese and Japanese peoples. After World War II, Desi, South Asians continued to migrate into the islands, most of which assimilated and avoided the local social stigma instilled by the early Spaniards against them by keeping a low profile or by trying to pass as Spanish mestizos. This was also true for the Arab and Chinese immigrants, many of whom are also post WWII arrivals. More recent migrations into the country by Koreans, Persians, Brazilians, and other Southeast Asians have contributed to the enrichment of the country's ethnic landscape, language and culture. Centuries of Human migration, migration, diaspora, Cultural assimilation, assimilation, and cultural diversity made most Filipinos accepting of interracial marriage and multiculturalism.
Philippine nationality law
Philippine nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of the Philippines. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines and the 1939 Revised Natura ...
is currently based upon the principle of ''jus sanguinis'' and, therefore, descent from a parent who is a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines is the primary method of acquiring national citizenship. Birth in the Philippines to foreign parents does not in itself confer Philippine citizenship, although RA9139, the Administrative Naturalization Law of 2000, does provide a path for administrative naturalization of certain aliens born in the Philippines. Since many of the above historical groups came to the Philippines before its establishment as an independent state, many have also gained citizenship before the founding of either the First Philippine Republic, First Philippines Republic or History of the Philippines (1946–1965), Third Republic of the Philippines. For example, many Cold War, Cold-War-era Overseas Chinese, Chinese migrants who had relatives in the Philippines attain Philippine nationality law, Filipino citizenship for their children through marriage with Chinese Filipino families that trace back to either the late History of the Philippines (1565–1898), Spanish Era or American Colonial Era
The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen Colonies, Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 17 ...
. Likewise, many other modern expatriates from various countries, such as the United States, US, often come to the Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
to marry with a Philippine nationality law, Filipino citizen, ensuring their future children attain Philippine nationality law, Filipino citizenship and their Filipino spouses ensure Ownership, property ownership.
Social classifications
During the History of the Philippines (1565–1898), Spanish period, Spaniards from Spain and Hispanic America mainly referred to Spanish Filipino, Spaniards born in the Philippines (Spanish Filipinos) in in relation to those born in Hispanic America called in , whereas the Spaniards born in the Philippines themselves called the Spaniards from Spain as "''wikt:peninsular#Spanish, Peninsular/es''" with themselves also referred to as "''wikt:insular#Spanish, Insular/es''". Meanwhile, the caste system hierarchy and taxation system during the Spanish Times dictated that those of mixed descent were known as "''wikt:mestizo#Spanish, Mestizo/s''" (''m'') / "''wikt:mestiza#Spanish, Mestiza/s''" (''f''), specifically those of mixed Spanish Filipino, Spanish and Ethnic groups in the Philippines, native Filipino descent were known as "''Filipino Mestizos, Mestizo/s de Spanish Filipino, Español''" (Filipino Mestizos, Spanish Mestizos), whereas those of mixed Chinese Filipino, Chinese and Ethnic groups in the Philippines, native Filipino descent were known as "''Filipino Mestizos, Mestizo/s de Sangley
Sangley (English plural: ''Sangleys''; Spanish plural: ''Sangleyes'') and Mestizo de Sangley (Sangley mestizo, ''mestisong Sangley'', ''chino mestizo'' or Chinese mestizo) are archaic terms used in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial ...
''" (Filipino Mestizos, Chinese Mestizos) and the mix of all of the above or a mix of Spanish Filipino, Spanish and Chinese Filipino, Chinese were known as "''Torna atrás, Tornatrás''". Meanwhile, the Han Chinese, ethnic Chinese migrants (Chinese Filipinos) were historically referred to as "''Sangley, Sangley/es''" (from Philippine Hokkien, Hokkien ), while the Ethnic groups in the Philippines, natives of the Philippine islands were usually known by the generic term "''wikt:indio#Spanish, Indio/s''" (lit. "Spanish East Indies, Indian, native of the East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...
").
Filipinos of mixed ethnic origins are still referred today as ''Filipino mestizo, mestizos''. However, in common popular parlance, mestizos usually refer to Filipinos mixed with Spanish or any other European ancestry. Filipinos mixed with any other foreign ethnicities are named depending on the non-Filipino part. Historically though, it was the ''Filipino Mestizos, Mestizo de Sangley
Sangley (English plural: ''Sangleys''; Spanish plural: ''Sangleyes'') and Mestizo de Sangley (Sangley mestizo, ''mestisong Sangley'', ''chino mestizo'' or Chinese mestizo) are archaic terms used in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial ...
'' (Chinese Filipino, Chinese Filipino Mestizos, Mestizo) that numbered the most among ''mestizos
( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to ...
'', though the ''Filipino Mestizos, Mestizos de Spanish Filipino, Español'' (Spanish Filipino, Spanish Filipino Mestizos, Mestizos) carried more Reputation, social prestige due to the Caste, caste system hierarchy that usually elevated Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
blood and Christianization, Christianized natives to the peak, while most descendants of the ''Filipino Mestizos, Mestizo de Sangley
Sangley (English plural: ''Sangleys''; Spanish plural: ''Sangleyes'') and Mestizo de Sangley (Sangley mestizo, ''mestisong Sangley'', ''chino mestizo'' or Chinese mestizo) are archaic terms used in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial ...
'' (Chinese Filipino, Chinese Filipino Mestizos, Mestizo), despite assuming many of the important roles in the economic, social and political life of the nation, would readily assimilate into the fabric of Philippine society or sometimes falsely claim Spanish descent due to this situation.
People classified as 'blancos' (whites) were the insulares or "Filipinos" (a person born in the Philippines of pure Spanish descent), peninsulares (a person born in Spain of pure Spanish descent), Español mestizos (a person born in the Philippines of mixed Austronesian and Spanish ancestry) and tornatrás (a person born in the Philippines of mixed Austronesian, Chinese and Spanish ancestry). Manila was racially segregated, with blancos living in the walled city of Intramuros, un-Christianized sangleys in Parían, Christianized sangleys and mestizos de sangley in Binondo and the rest of the 7,000 islands for the indios, with the exception of Cebu and several other Spanish posts. Only mestizos de sangley were allowed to enter Intramuros to work for whites (including mestizos de español) as servants and various occupations needed for the colony. Indio were native Austronesians, but as a legal classification, Indio were those who embraced Roman Catholicism and Austronesians who lived in proximity to the Spanish colonies.
People who lived outside Manila, Cebu City, Cebu and the major Spanish posts were classified as such: 'Naturales' were Catholic Austronesians of the lowland and coastal towns. The un-Catholic Negritos and Austronesians
The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesi ...
who lived in the towns were classified as 'salvajes' (savages) or 'infieles' (the unfaithful). 'Remontados' (Spanish for 'situated in the mountains') and 'tulisanes' (bandits) were indigenous people, indigenous Austronesians and Negritos who refused to live in towns and took to the hills, all of whom were considered to live outside the social order as Catholicism was a driving force in Spanish everyday life, as well as determining social class in the territory. People of pure Spanish descent living in the Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
who were born in Spanish America were classified as 'americanos'. Mestizos and africanos born in Spanish America living in the Philippines kept their legal classification as such and usually came as indentured servants to the 'americanos'. The Philippine-born children of 'americanos' were classified as 'Ins'. The Philippine-born children of mestizos and Africanos from Spanish America were classified based on patrilineal descent.
The term ''negrito'' was coined by the Spaniards based on their appearance. The word 'negrito' would be misinterpreted and used by future European scholars as an ethnoracial term in and of itself. Both Christianized negritos who lived in the archipelago and un-Christianized negritos who lived in tribes outside were classified as 'negritos'. Christianized negritos who lived in Manila were not allowed to enter Intramuros and lived in areas designated for indios.
A person of mixed Negrito and Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ancestry were classified based on patrilineal descent; the father's ancestry determined a child's legal classification. If the father was 'negrito' and the mother was 'India' (Austronesian), the child was classified as 'negrito'. If the father was 'indio' and the mother was 'negrita', the child was classified as 'indio'. Persons of Negrito descent were viewed as being outside the social order as they usually lived in tribes outside and resisted conversion to Christianity.
This legal system of racial classification based on patrilineal descent had no parallel anywhere in the Spanish-ruled territories in the Americas. In general, a son born of a sangley male and an indio or mestizo de sangley female was classified as mestizo de sangley; all subsequent male descendants were mestizos de sangley regardless of whether they married an India or a mestiza de sangley. A daughter born in such a manner, however, acquired the legal classification of her husband, i.e., she became an India if she married an indio but remained a mestiza de sangley if she married a mestizo de sangley or a sangley. In this way, a chino mestizo male descendant of a paternal sangley ancestor never lost his legal status as a mestizo de sangley no matter how little percentage of Chinese blood he had in his veins or how many generations had passed since his first Chinese ancestor; he was thus a mestizo de sangley in perpetuity.
However, a 'mestiza de sangley' who married a blanco ('Filipino', 'mestizo de español', 'peninsular' or 'americano') kept her status as 'mestiza de sangley'. But her children were classified as tornatrás. An 'India' who married a blanco also kept her status as India, but her children were classified as mestizo de español. A mestiza de español who married another blanco would keep her status as mestiza, but her status will never change from mestiza de español if she married a mestizo de español, Filipino or peninsular. In contrast, a mestizo (de sangley or español) man's status stayed the same regardless of whom he married. If a mestizo (de sangley or español) married a filipina (woman of pure Spanish descent), she would lose her status as a 'filipina' and would acquire the legal status of her husband and become a mestiza de español or sangley. If a 'filipina' married an 'indio', her legal status would change to 'India', despite being of pure Spanish descent.
The ''de facto'' social stratification system based on class that continues to this day in the country had its beginnings in the Spanish area with a discriminating caste system.
The Insulares, who already saw their distinct identity from the peninsulares adopted the term ''Filipino'' to refer to themselves. And among these Insulares Luis Rodriguez y Varela was the first to use it. The use of the term was later adopted by the Spanish and Chinese mestizos or those born of mixed Chinese-indio or Spanish-indio descent. Late in the 19th century, José Rizal
José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is popularly considered a na ...
popularized the use of the term ''Filipino'' to refer to all those born in the Philippines, including the Indios. When ordered to sign the notification of his death sentence, which described him as a Chinese mestizo, Rizal refused. He went to his death saying that he was ''indio puro''.
After the Philippines' independence from Spain in 1898 and the word Filipino "officially" became a nationality that includes the entire population of the Philippines regardless of racial ancestry, as per the Philippine nationality law
Philippine nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of the Philippines. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines and the 1939 Revised Natura ...
and as described by Wenceslao Retana's ''Diccionario de filipinismos'', where he defined ''Filipinos'' as follows,
File:Indios, detail from Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas 1734.jpg, Native Visayan Filipinos as illustrated in the ''Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas'' (1734)
File:A Spaniard, a Criollo, Aetas, and a cockfight, detail from Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas (1734).jpg, A Spaniard and Criollo talking, while Natives are cockfight. Aetas also in the background. detail from Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas(1734).
File:Filipinos Mestizos Mardica And Japanese in the Philippines.jpg, Filipino Mestizos, Mestizos (Left), Mardicans and Filipino Mestizos#Ethnic groups in colonial Philippines, Japanese (Right) inhabitants of the Philippines. from Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas(1734)
File:万国来朝图 Philippines Luzon island (吕宋国) delegates in Peking in 1761.jpg, Qing dynasty painting. Depicting Luzon
Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
delegates from the late 1750s, visiting the Qianlong Emperor in the Forbidden city in Beijing.
File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu - 041.jpg, Depiction of the Luzon Filipinos in 1700s from the Chinese book Huang Qing Zhigong Tu 1769. The Chinese called them Lu Song whom they recognized as a prosperous and powerful "kingdom" under the Spanish Empire.
File:Gaspard Duché De Vancy - The costumes of the inhabitants of Manila - WGA06828.jpg, Inhabitants of Manila 1787 by Gaspard Duché de Vancy
File:Ravenet-Mestizos.jpg, Mestizos of Manila circa 1790s
File:Man of the Island of Luzon 1820 by John Crawfurd.jpg, A Filipino in 1820 by John Crawfurd
File:Spanish mestizo costume.jpg, Spanish Mestizo Filipinos by Jean Mallat de Basilan 1800's
File:Damian domingo.png, Damián Domingo, A mestizo de Sangley
Sangley (English plural: ''Sangleys''; Spanish plural: ''Sangleyes'') and Mestizo de Sangley (Sangley mestizo, ''mestisong Sangley'', ''chino mestizo'' or Chinese mestizo) are archaic terms used in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial ...
soldier and artist.
File:Mestizo de luto by José Honorato Lozano.jpg, "''Mestizo de luto''" (A Native Filipino Mestizo) by José Honorato Lozano
File:Indio A Caballo by José Honorato Lozano.jpg, Native riding a horse by José Honorato Lozano
File:Cuadrillero by José Honorato Lozano.jpg, Cuadrillero by José Honorato Lozano
File:Gobernadorcillo de Naturales by José Honorato Lozano.jpg, A Gobernadorcillo, mostly of Indio descent. Painting by José Honorato Lozano
File:Guardia de Vino in Philippines 1841.jpg, Vine Guard 1841
File:A family belonging to the Principalia.JPG, Typical Fashion and clothing in the Philippines, costume of a ''Principalía'' family Barong tagalog and Baro't saya.
File:India A Caballo by José Honorato Lozano.jpg, Native woman riding a horse.
Origins and genetic studies
The aboriginal settlers of the Philippines were primarily Negrito groups. Negritos today comprise a small minority of the nation's overall population, and received significant geneflow from Austronesian groups, as well as an even earlier "Basal-East Asian" group, while the modern Austronesian-speaking majority population does not, or only marginally show evidence for admixture, and cluster closely with other East Asian people, East/Southeast Asian people. There were also immigrations from Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic, Papuan languages, Papuan, and South Asia, South Asian peoples.
The majority population of Filipinos are Austronesian people, Austronesians, a linguistic and genetic group whose historical ties lay in Maritime Southeast Asia
Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor.
The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...
and southern East Asia, but through ancient migrations can be found as indigenous peoples stretching as far east as the List of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands and as far west as Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
off the coast of Africa. The current predominant theory on Austronesian expansion holds that Austronesians settled the Philippine islands through successive southward and eastward seaborne migrations from the Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
Taiwanese aborigines, Austronesian populations of Taiwan.
Other hypotheses have also been put forward based on linguistic, archeological, and genetic studies. These include an origin from mainland Northern and southern China, southern China (linking them to the Liangzhu culture and the Tapengkeng culture, later displaced or assimilated by the expansion of speakers of Sino-Tibetan languages); an ''in situ'' origin from the Sundaland
Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of Southeast Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It inc ...
continental shelf prior to the sea level rise at the end of the last glacial period (c. 10,000 BC); or a combination of the two (the Nusantao Maritime Trading and Communication Network hypothesis) which advocates cultural diffusion rather than a series of linear migrations.
Genetics
The results of a massive DNA study conducted by the National Geographic (magazine), National Geographic's, "The Genographic Project", based on genetic testings of 80,000 Filipino people by the National Geographic in 2008–2009, found that the average Filipino's genes are around 53% Southeast Asia and Oceania, 36% East Asian, 5% Southern European, 3% South Asian and 2% Native American.
According to a genetic study done by the Kaiser Permanente (KP) Research Program on Genes, Environment, and Health (RPGEH), most self-identified Filipinos sampled, have "modest" amounts of European ancestry consistent with older admixture.[ Subsection: (Discussion) "For the non-Hispanic white individuals, we see a broad spectrum of genetic ancestry ranging from northern Europe to southern Europe and the Middle East. Within that large group, with the exception of Ashkenazi Jews, we see little evidence of distinct clusters. This is consistent with considerable exogamy within this group. By comparison, we do see structure in the East Asian population, correlated with nationality, reflecting continuing endogamy for these nationalities and also recent immigration. On the other hand, we did observe a substantial number of individuals who are admixed between East Asian and European ancestry, reflecting ~10% of all those reporting East Asian race/ethnicity. The majority of these reflected individuals with one East Asian and one European parent or one East Asian and three European grandparents. In addition, we noted that for self-reported Filipinos, a substantial proportion have modest levels of European genetic ancestry reflecting older admixture."]
Dental morphology
Dentition, Dental morphology provides clues to prehistoric migration patterns of the Philippines, with Sinodont dental patterns occurring in East Asia, Central Asia, North Asia, and the Americas. Sundadont patterns occur in Southeast Asia as well as the bulk of Oceania. Filipinos exhibit Sinodonty and Sundadonty, Sundadonty, and are regarded as having a more generalised dental morphology and having a longer ancestry than its offspring, Sinodonty.
Historic reports
Published in 1849, The ''Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos'' contains 141 pages of surnames with both Spanish and Hispanicized indigenous roots.
Authored by Spanish Governor-General Narciso Claveria y Zaldua and Domingo Abella, the catalog was created in response to the Decree of November 21, 1849, which gave every Filipino a surname from the book. The decree in the Philippines was created to fulfill a Spanish colonial decree that sought to address colonial subjects who did not have a last name. This explains why most Filipinos share the same surnames as many Hispanics today, without having Spanish ancestry.
Augustinian Friar, Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga, in the 1800s, measured varying ratios of Spanish-Mestizos as percentages of the populations of the various provinces, with ranges such as: 19.5% of the population of Tondo (The most populous province), to Pampanga (13.7%), Cavite (13%) and Bulacan (10.8%) to as low as 5% in Cebu, and non-existent in the isolated provinces. Overall the whole Philippines, even including the provinces with no Spanish settlement, as summed up, the average percentage of Spanish Filipino tributes amount to 5% of the total population. The book, "Intercolonial Intimacies Relinking Latin/o America to the Philippines, 1898–1964 By Paula C. Park" citing "Forzados y reclutas: los criollos novohispanos en Asia (1756-1808)" gave the number of later Mexican soldier-immigrants to the Philippines, pegging the number at 35,000 immigrants in the 1700s,["Intercolonial Intimacies Relinking Latin/o America to the Philippines, 1898–1964 Paula C. Park" Page 100] in a Philippine population which was only around 1.5 Million, thus the Latin Americans formed 2.33% of the population.
In relation to this, a population survey conducted by German ethnographer Fedor Jagor concluded that 1/3rd of Luzon which holds half of the Philippines' population had varying degrees of Spanish and Mexican ancestry.
Meanwhile, according to older records held by the Senate of the Philippines, there were approximately 1.35 million Han Chinese, ethnic (or pure) Overseas Chinese, Chinese within the Philippine population, while Filipinos with any Sangley, Chinese descent comprised 22.8 million of the population.
Current immigration
Recent studies during 2015, record around 220,000 to 600,000 American citizens living in the country. There are also 250,000 Amerasians across Angeles City, Manila, New Clark City, Clark and Olongapo.
Languages
Austronesian languages have been spoken in the Philippines for thousands of years. According to a 2014 study by Mark Donohue of the Australian National University and Tim Denham of Monash University, there is no linguistic evidence for an orderly north-to-south dispersal of the Austronesian languages from Taiwan through the Philippines and into Island Southeast Asia (ISEA). Many adopted words from Sanskrit and Tamil were incorporated during the strong wave of Hinduism in the Philippines, Indian (Hindu-Buddhist) cultural influence starting from the 5th century BC, in common with its Southeast Asian neighbors. Chinese languages were also commonly spoken among the traders of the archipelago. However, with the advent of Islam, Arabic and Persian language, Persian soon came to supplant Sanskrit and Tamil as holy languages. Starting in the second half of the 16th century, Spanish was the official language of the country for the more than three centuries that the islands were governed through Mexico City on behalf of the Spanish Empire. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Spanish was the preferred language among ''Ilustrados'' and educated Filipinos in general. Significant disagreements exist, however, on the extent Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
use beyond that. It has been argued that the Philippines were less hispanized than Canary Islands, Canaries and Spanish Empire, America, with Spanish only being adopted by the ruling class involved in civil and judicial administration and culture. Spanish was the language of only approximately ten percent of the Philippine population when Spanish rule ended in 1898. As a lingua franca or creole language of Filipinos, major languages of the country like Chavacano, Cebuano language, Cebuano, Tagalog, Kapampangan language, Kapampangan, Pangasinan language, Pangasinan, Bikol languages, Bikol, Hiligaynon language, Hiligaynon, Waray-Waray language, Waray-Waray, and Ilokano language, Ilocano assimilated many different words and expressions from Castilian Spanish.
Chavacano is the only Spanish-based creole language in Asia. Its vocabulary is 90 percent Spanish, and the remaining 10 percent is a mixture of predominantly Portuguese language, Portuguese, Hiligaynon language, Hiligaynon, and some English. Chavacano is considered by the Instituto Cervantes to be a Spanish-based language.
In sharp contrast, another view is that the ratio of the population which spoke Spanish as their ''mother tongue'' in the last decade of Spanish rule was 10% or 14%.[ "Los censos norteamericanos de 1903 y 1905, dicen de soslayo que los Hispano-hablantes de este archipiélago nunca han rebasado, en su número, a más del diez por ciento (10%) de la población durante la última década de los mil ochocientos (1800s). Esto quiere decir que ''900,000 Filipinos, el diez porciento'' de los dados nueve millones citados por el Fray Manuel Arellano Remondo, ''tenían al idioma español como su primera y única lengua''." (Emphasis added.) The same author writes: "Por otro lado, unos recientes estudios por el Dr. Rafael Rodríguez Ponga señalan, sin embargo, que los Filipinos de habla española, al liquidarse la presencia peninsular en este archipiélago, llegaban al ''catorce (14%) por ciento de la población de la década 1891–1900''. Es decir, el 14% de una población de nueve millones (9,000,000), que serían un millón (1,260,000) y dos cientos sesenta mil de Filipinos que ''eran primordialmente de habla hispana''. (Vea Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos, enero de 2003)".]
La persecución del uso oficial del idioma español en Filipinas
. Retrieved July 8, 2010.) An additional 60% is said to have spoken Spanish as a second language until World War II, but this is also disputed as to whether this percentage spoke "kitchen Spanish", which was used as marketplace lingua compared to those who were actual fluent Spanish speakers.[
In 1863 a Spanish decree introduced universal education, creating free public schooling in Spanish, yet it was never implemented, even before the advent of American annexation. It was also the language of the ]Philippine Revolution
The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...
, and the 1899 Malolos Constitution proclaimed it as the "official language" of the First Philippine Republic, albeit a temporary official language. Spanish continued to be the predominant lingua franca used in the islands by the elite class before and during the American colonial regime. Following the American occupation of the Philippines and the imposition of English, the overall use of Spanish declined gradually, especially after the 1940s.
According to ''Ethnologue'', there are about 180 languages spoken in the Philippines. The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines imposed the Filipino language as the national language and designates it, along with the Philippine English, English language, as one of the official languages. Philippine languages, Regional languages are designated as Minority language, auxiliary official languages. The constitution also provides that Spanish and Arabic language, Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis.
Other Philippine languages in the country with at least 1,000,000 native and indigenous speakers include Cebuano language, Cebuano, Ilocano language, Ilocano, Hiligaynon language, Hiligaynon, Waray language, Waray, Central Bikol language, Central Bikol, Kapampangan language, Kapampangan, Pangasinan language, Pangasinan, Chavacano (Spanish-based creole), Albay Bikol language, Albay Bikol, Maranao language, Maranao, Maguindanao language, Maguindanao, Kinaray-a language, Kinaray-a, Tausug language, Tausug, Surigaonon language, Surigaonon, Masbateño language, Masbateño, Aklan language, Aklanon and Ibanag language, Ibanag. The 28-letter modern Filipino alphabet, adopted in 1987, is the official writing system. In addition, each ethnicity's language has their own writing scripts and set of alphabets, many of which are no longer used.
However, there has been a resurgence of these ancient scripts, and initiatives to push the government for standardization. The most prominent script, Baybayin, is a writing system native to the Philippines, with the word ‘baybay’ meaning “to spell” in Tagalog (Bielenberg, 2018). Due to Spanish colonization, this script was replaced with the Latin alphabet which became the standard of the Philippines. In recent times, there has been a large interest in revitalizing Baybayin, with scholars spreading awareness and education online, and artists interpreting this script into their work.
Religion
According to then Philippine Statistics Authority, National Statistics Office (NSO) as of 2010, over 92% of the population were Christianity in the Philippines, Christians, with 80.6% professing Roman Catholicism in the Philippines, Roman Catholicism. The latter was introduced by the Spanish beginning in 1521, and during their more than 330-year Spanish colonization of the Philippines, colonization of the islands, they managed to convert a vast majority of Filipinos, resulting in the Philippines becoming the largest predominantly catholic country in Asia. There are also large groups of Protestantism in the Philippines, Protestant denominations, which either grew or were founded following the Secular state, disestablishment of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines, Catholic Church during the American Colonial Period (Philippines), American Colonial period. The homegrown Iglesia ni Cristo is currently the single largest church whose headquarters is in the Philippines, followed by United Church of Christ in the Philippines. The Iglesia Filipina Independiente (also known as the Aglipayan Church) was an earlier development, and is a national church directly resulting from the Philippine Revolution, 1898 Philippine Revolution. Other Christian groups such as the Victory Christian Fellowship, Victory Church, Eddie Villanueva-founded and led Jesus Is Lord Church, Jesus Miracle Crusade, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines, Mormonism, Philippine Orthodox Church, Orthodoxy, and the Jehovah's Witnesses have a visible presence in the country.
The second largest religion in the country is Islam, estimated to account for 5% to 8% of the population. Islam in the Philippines is mostly concentrated in southwestern Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...
and the Sulu Archipelago which, though part of the Philippines, are very close to the neighboring Muslim world, Islamic countries of Malaysia and Indonesia. The Muslims call themselves ''Moros'', a Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish word that refers to the Moors (albeit the two groups have little cultural connection other than Islam).
Historically, ancient Filipinos held animist religions that were influenced by Hinduism in the Philippines, Hinduism and Buddhism in the Philippines, Buddhism, which were brought by traders from neighbouring Asian states. These indigenous Philippine folk religions continue to be present among the populace, with some communities, such as the Aeta, Igorot, and Lumad, having some strong adherents and some who mix beliefs originating from the indigenous religions with beliefs from Christianity or Islam. There are temples also for Sikhism, also located in the provinces and in the cities, sometimes located near Hindu temples.
, religious groups together constituting less than five percent of the population included Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Seventh-day Adventists, United Church of Christ, United Methodists, the Episcopal Church in the Philippines, Assemblies of God, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and Philippine (Southern) Southern Baptist Convention, Baptists; and the following domestically established churches: Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan), Members Church of God International, Jesus Is Lord Church, and Kingdom of Jesus Christ (church), The Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Name Above Every Name. In addition, there are Lumad, who are indigenous peoples of various animistic and syncretic religions.
Diaspora
There are currently more than 10 million Filipinos who live overseas. Filipinos form a minority ethnic group in the Americas, Europe, Oceania, the Middle East, and other regions of the world.
There are an estimated four million Filipino American, Americans of Filipino ancestry in the United States, and more than 300,000 American citizens in the Philippines. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, immigrants from the Philippines made up the second largest group after Mexico that sought family reunification.[Castles, Stephen and Mark J. Miller. (July 2009).]
Migration in the Asia-Pacific Region
". ''Migration Information Source''. Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
Filipinos make up over a third of the entire population of the Northern Marianas Islands, an American territory in the North Pacific Ocean, and a large proportion of the populations of Guam
Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
, Palau, the British Indian Ocean Territory, and Sabah.
See also
* Japanese Filipino
* Indian Filipino
* Spanish Filipino
* Chinese Filipino
* Filipino Americans
Filipino Americans () are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Sp ...
Notes
References
Publications
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Filipino People
Filipino people,
Ethnic groups in the Philippines