Filipino Mestizos
.jpg)   | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Official population numbers are unknown. | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Philippines | |
| Languages | |
| Filipino, other Philippine languages, Spanish, English, other European languages, and Chinese. | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (Predominantly Roman Catholic, with a minority of Protestants); and other religions. |
Filipino mestizo is a term used in the Philippines to denote Filipinos of mixed indigenous Filipino (Austronesian people/Malay/Malayo-Polynesian), and European and/or Chinese ancestry.
The word mestizo is of Spanish origin stemming from the Spanish colonial period, originally refering to those of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry.
Chinese immigration
Although there had been a pre-Hispanic interaction with and presence of people from what is today China, the arrival of the Spaniards to the Philippines attracted Chinese traders, and maritime trade flourished during the Spanish colonial period. The Spaniards restricted the activities of the Chinese and confined them to the Parián which was located near Intramuros. Most of the Chinese residents earned their livelihood as traders serving the colonial authorities.
Many of the Chinese who arrived during the Spanish period were Cantonese, who worked as stevedores and porters, but there were also Fujianese, who entered the retail trade. The Chinese resident in the islands were encouraged to intermarry with indigenous Filipinos, convert to Catholicism and adopt Hispanic surnames and customs.
During the American colonial period, the Chinese Exclusion Act[1] of the United States was also applied to the Philippines.
After World War II and the fall of the Chinese mainland to communism, many of the Chinese who opposed communism moved from the Fujian province in China to the Philippines. This group formed the bulk of the current population of Chinese Filipinos.[2] After the Philippines regained its independence in 1946, those Chinese became naturalized Filipino citizens; the children of these new citizens were born and raised in the Philippines and had Filipino citizenship from birth.[3]
Spanish rule
The Spanish conquest of 1565, prompted the colonization of the Philippine Islands that lasted for 333 years. The Roman Catholic Church played an important role in allowing Spain to gain a foothold in the Philippines. Spanish missionaries were quick to learn indigenous languages, and Catholic rituals were interpreted in accordance with indigenous Filipino (Austronesian/Malay/Malayo-Polynesian) beliefs and values. As a result, a folk Roman Catholicism developed in the Philippines.[4] The offspring of Spanish men and indigenous Filipino (Austronesian/Malay/Malayo-Polynesian) women may have adopted the culture of their fathers and grandparents, however only a few families of Spanish descent in the Philippines still speak Spanish among themselves; in addition, Chavacano (a creole language based largely on Spanish vocabulary) is spoken in Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte.
Colonial caste system
The history of racial mixture in the Philippines occurred mostly during the Spanish colonial period from the 16th to 19th century.
The same Spanish racial caste system enforced in Latin America existed in the Philippines, with a few major differences.
The indigenous Filipino population of the Philippines were referred to as Negritos or Indios.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Indio | person of pure Austronesian (Malay/Malayo-Polynesian) ancestry |
| Negrito | person of pure Aeta ancestry |
| Sangley | person of pure Chinese ancestry |
| Mestizo de Sangley | person of mixed Chinese, and Austronesian (Malay/Malayo-Polynesian) ancestry; also called chino mestizo |
| Mestizo de Español | person of mixed Spanish, and Austronesian (Malay/Malayo-Polynesian) ancestry |
| Tornatrás | person of mixed Spanish, Austronesian (Malay/Malayo-Polynesian), and Chinese ancestry |
| Filipino | person of pure Spanish descent born in the Philippines ("from Las Filipinas"); also called Insulares ("from the islands") or Criollos (Creoles) |
| Américano | person of Criollo, Castizo, or Mestizo descent born in Spanish America ("from the Americas") |
| Peninsulares | person of pure Spanish descent born in Spain ("from the peninsula") |
Persons classified as 'Blanco' (white) were the Filipino (person born in the Philippines of pure Spanish descent), peninsulares (persons born in Spain of pure Spanish descent), mestizos de español, and tornatras. Manila was racially segregated, with 'blancos' living in the walled city 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 territories. Only mestizos and mestizo de sangleys' were allowed to enter Intramuros to work for whites as servants and various occupations needed for the colony.
Indio was a general term applied to native Malay or Malayan, a Malayo-Polynesian speaking people known as the Austronesian inhabitants of the Philippine archipelago, but as a legal classification, it was only applied to Christianized Malayo-Polynesian who lived in proximity to the Spanish colonies.
Persons who lived outside of Manila, Cebu, and the major Spanish posts were classified as such: 'Naturales' were Christianized Austronesian/Malay/Malayo-Polynesian of the lowland and coastal towns. The un-Christianized Aetas and Austronesian/Malay/Malayo-Polynesian 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 Austronesian/Malay/Malayo-Polynesian) and Aetas 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 everyday life, as well as determining social class in the colony.[5]
Persons of pure Spanish descent, as well as many mestizos and castizos, living in the Philippines who were born in Spanish America were classfied as 'Américano'. A few mulato born in Spanish America living in the Philippines kept their legal classification as such, and sometimes came as indentured servants to the 'américanos'. The Philippine-born children of 'américanos' were classified as 'filipinos'. The Philippine-born children mulatos from Spanish America were classified based on patrilineal descent.
The Spanish legally classified the Aetas as 'negritos' 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 Aetas who lived in the colony and un-Christianized Aetas who lived in tribes outside of the colony were classified as 'negritos'. Christianized Aetas who lived in Manila were not allowed to enter Intramuros and lived in areas designated for Indios.
Persons of mixed Aeta and Austronesian/Malay/Malayo-Polynesian ancestry were classified based on patrilineal descent; the father's ancestry determined a child's legal classification. If the father was 'negrito' (Aeta) and the mother was 'india' (Austronesian/Malayo-Polynesian), the child was classified as 'negrito'. If the father was 'indio' and the mother was 'negrita', the child was classified as 'indio'. Persons of Aeta descent were viewed as being outside of the social order as they usually lived in tribes outside of the colony and resisted conversion to Christianity.
This legal system of racial classification based on patrilineal descent had no parallel anywhere in the Spanish colonies 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 much percentage of Chinese ancestry the person possessed.
However, a 'mestiza de sangley' who married a "blanco" ('mestizo de espanol', 'peninsular', or 'américano') 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 espanol.
A mestiza de espanol who married another blanco would keep her status as mestiza, but became an india if she married an indio (which would force her to pay the indio tax rate). Unlike in the Americas, where Amerindian ancestry was permitted in Criollos, and subsequently - with 'Limpieza de Sangre' - back to "pure Spanish", Asian ancestry was not. The status of a filipina mestizo will never change from mestiza de espanol if she married a mestizo de espanol, filipino, or peninsular.
On the contrast, a mestizo (de sangley or espanol) man's status stayed the same regardless of who he married. If a mestizo (de sangley or espanol) married a filipino woman of pure Spanish descent, she would lose her status as a 'filipina' (in the original sense, pure Spanish) and would acquire the legal status of her husband and become a mestiza de espanol or sangley. If a 'filipina' married an 'indio', her legal status would change to 'india', despite being of pure Spanish descent.
The social stratification system based on class that continues to this day in the Philippines has its beginnings in the Spanish colonial area with this caste system.
The system was used for tax purposes. Indios paid a base tax, mestizos de sangley paid twice the base tax, sangleys paid four times the base tax, and the blancos or whites (comprised of 'filipinos' or peninsulares) paid no tax. Negritos who lived within the colony paid the same tax rate as the indios.
The Spanish colonial caste system based on race was abolished after the Philippines' independence from Spain in 1898, and the word 'Filipino' expanded to include the entire population of the Philippines regardless of racial ancestry.
See also
Publications
1. http://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/bitstream/1808/1129/1/CEAS.1964.n10.pdf Wickberg, Edgar. (March 1964) The Chinese Mestizo in Philippine History. The Journal Southeast Asian History, 5(1), 62-100. Lawrence, Kansas: The University of Kansas, CEAS.
2. http://www.analitica.com/Bitblio/emily_monroy/race_mixing.asp Monroy, Emily. (23 August 2002) Race Mixing and Westernization in Latin America and the Philippines. analitica.com. Caracas, Venezuela.
3. Gambe, Annabelle R. (2000) Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurship and Capitalist Development in Southeast Asia. Münster, Hamburg and Berlin: LIT Verlag.
4. http://www.public-conversations.org.za/_pdfs/anderson_12.pdf Anderson, Benedict. (1988) Cacique Democracy in the Philippines: Origins and Dreams.
5. Weightman, George H. (February 1960) The Philippine Chinese: A Cultural History of A Marginal Trading Company. Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI Dissertation Information Service.
6. Tettoni, Luca Invernizzi and Sosrowardoyo, Tara. (1997). Filipino Style. Periplus Editions Ltd. Hong Kong, China.
7. Tan, Hock Beng. (1994). Tropical Architecture and Interiors. Page One Publishing Pte Ltd. Singapore.
8. http://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/502rev.pdf (1999) Advisory Body Evaluation. UNESCO World Heritage Site.
9. http://www.xeniaeditrice.it/lens.pdf Medina, Elizabeth. (1999) Thru the Lens of Latin America: A Wide-Angle View of the Philippine Colonial Experience. Santiago, Chile.
10. http://www.seacex.es/documentos/imag_colonial_13_identidad.pdf (2006) The Colonial Imaginary. Photography in the Philippines during the Spanish Period 1860-1898. Casa Asia: Centro Cultural Conde Duque. Madrid, Spain.
11. http://www.fullbooks.com/History-of-the-Philippine-Islands-Vols-1-and1.html Blair, E. H. and Robertson, J.A. (editors). (1907) History of the Philippine Islands Vols. 1 and 2 by Dr. Antonio de Morga (Translated and Annotated in English). The Arthur H. Clark Company. Cleveland, Ohio.
12. http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=SdMMBza_e38C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Austin+Craig&hl=en#PPP1,M1 Craig, Austin. (2004). Lineage, Life and Labors of Jose Rizal, Philippine Patriot. Kessinger Publishing. Whitefish, Montana.