Are Filipinos Asian? – Part 2

      Share    March 06, 2009 | Culture

 



Part Two in the Series

This article is part two of my original article, Are Filipinos Asian?

Also, I had written another article, Yes, Filipinos Are Asian!, in response to a blogger who claimed that Filipinos are Asian-Wannabes, and was simply being hateful toward Filipinos, and obviously ignorant and mis-educated.

I feel that enough research is warranted to further prove that The Philippines is regarded as an Asian country and that Filipinos are in fact Asian (Southeast Asian to be exact).


Separating Fact from Fiction

I also think that many Filipino-Americans and those who’ve been raised outside of their homeland might have an identity crisis with regards to their ethnic origins. This, unfortunately can be fueled by those people out there who are critical or hateful of the Filipino people.

Thus, there are a few very distinct ideologies regarding the classification of the Filipino people, that has caused much confusion and dis-information. And it’s important that we get all the facts straight.

Reasons People Say Filipinos Aren’t Asian

  • 1. They consider Filipinos to be Pacific Islander.

  • 2. More Than 200 Years of Spanish Rule.

  • 3. Filipinos themselves not wanting to be regarded as Asian.

  • 4. The idea that only Far Eastern or East Asian peoples are considered true Asian.


An Update on the “Pacific Islander” Issue

Archaeologists Find Evidence of Origin of Pacific Islanders

A recent article discusses evidence found in China that explains that the Chinese were maritime travelers who sailed the Pacific Ocean as far back as 7,000 years ago…

…if anything, Pacific Islanders have their origins in Southeast China, Taiwan, and Northern Philippines. So, Pacific Islanders are descended from The Philippines and Asia, and not the other way around.

China had a sea-faring civilization as long as 7000 years ago. Archaeologist Tianlong Jiao says, one day, these mariners sailed their canoes into the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, and stayed. He points out, “Most scientists, archaeologists, historical linguists and human biologists agree that today’s southeast China, Taiwan and Northern Philippines, the whole region is the ultimate homeland of the Austronesian people.” The Austronesians include today’s Polynesian, Micronesian, Melanesian, and the indigenous people in Philippines, in the Southeast Asia archipelago, and in Taiwan.

Asian Studies at the Academic Level

I think enough dialogue has been expressed on the world wide web (by both Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike) to warrant further study into this matter and to rightly acknowledge that The Philippines is in fact a Southeast Asian country and has closer ties to Asia than many probably consider.

When I was taking courses at San Diego State University (and this was now decades ago) I at one time minored in Asian Studies and I took courses that studied Asia from a broader view, and also focused on specific countries, ethnicities, etc. Filipino Studies was always a part of the Asian Studies group.

Academic and Socio-Political Organizations

In fact, if you ignore Wikipedia.org (since a few people question its authenticity and reliability) and focus on various university and socio-political organizations, you will see that The Philippines has always been regarded as a Southeast Asian country.

UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies recognizes The Philippines as a Southeast Asian country.

The Southeast Asian Regional Exchange Program, whose offices can be found in both Quezon City, Philippines and Tokyo, Japan, acknowledge that The Philippines is a part of Asia.

The Council of Southeast Asia Studies at Yale University acknowledges that The Philippines is an Asian country.

ISEAS – Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, acknowledges The Philippines as a Southeast Asian country.

The U.S. Census Bureau classifies Filipinos as Asian

Another important fact is that the U.S. Census Bureau recognizes that The Philippines is a Southeast Asian country and that Filipinos are Asian.

The U.S. Census Bureau recognizes the following ethnicities to be Asian: Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, Pakistani, Thai, and Other.

Filipinos were not listed as other because of the fact that they are among the largest groups of Asians in the U.S. Presumably, Indonesians and Malaysians would fall under the “other” category simply because of population considerations with regards to the charts.

Here is another chart (above) that lists Filipinos as Asian.

And another U.S. Census Bureau chart that lists Filipinos as Asian and 3rd in regards to highest median family income in 1999.

In Summary

There are so many sources that acknowledge that The Philippines is an Asian country, and that Filipinos are indeed Asian.

The only reasoning Filipinos would be in denial of this fact is that they want to distance themselves from the “Asian” category, or they want to consider themselves as unique.

The fact is, we are ALL unique individuals already. And Filipinos are rightly a unique people, just as every person has a unique background, culture and ethnic origin.

Also, one of the main reasons to write articles like this, would be to educate and inform those critics of the Filipino people.

Another reason is that I see young Filipino kids out there who are confused and unsure of their identity. They may have heard or read negative remarks about their cultural heritage, and once again I write to set the record straight.

We may be unique Asians who’ve been under colonial rule by the Spanish, and then the United States. This may make us unique as an Asian country, but the fact remains that The Philippines is an Asian country and that Filipinos are indeed Asian.

Anyone who is in denial of all the facts presented needs to have a change of heart, and a change of mind…’

Posted by Randomguru | Comments (View Comments)

Tags: , , , , , , ,

  • Jane
    Wow, how interesting!

    I stumbled across this thread when my son 'liked' 'Filipinos are Asians, NOT Pacific Islanders' on Facebook. I laughed at him because I had never heard of a Filipino refer to themself as P.I. It seems to be a strange idea thought up by some (but certainly not all) mis-informed Americans. I find this very sad and wonder if this was born out of prejudice in the U.S. Even sadder is that this myth seems to be perpetuated by some Fil-Americans. Is it because of some Americans narrow world-view of a stereo-typical Asian that Fil-Americans want to distance themselves from their own continent?
    By the way, I was born and raised in Australia, and am of mixed European descent. My husband was born and raised in Cebu, Philippines and moved to Aus in his teens. He considers himself Asian (specifically Filipino) as do all of our other Fil-Australian friends. Our other Asian family members and friends come from backgrounds such as Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, Timorese, Chinese etc and they all identify with Filipinos as being Asian without question. My sister's husband is Maori and I know he would find it quite laughable if my husband referred to himself as a Pacific Islander rather than Asian, as would any other Australian I know. Obviously due to our geographical location we have many SE and other Asians that live in Australia as well as many Pacific Islanders. They are quite clearly seen by Australians as two different groups, with Filipinos being considered SE Asian.
    My children are Australian born half-Filipinos and they often refer to themselves as half-Asian. My husband does have some Spanish blood in his Filipino heritage but this does not take away from the fact he is Filipino, and therefore Asian. It would be asurd for him to call himself European (due to his Spanish blood) as he was born in Asia and he has never ever thought of trying to call himself a P.I because he so clearly is not. We recently came back from a trip to Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines. I have also been to Indonesia in the past. While there are obvious American and Spanish influences in the Philippines, there are many more similarities with the other SE Asian countries I have visited. On our trip, my husband actually commented on how many Malaysians and Singaporeans could pass for Pinoys. As for the languages, my husband speaks Tagalog and Cebuano-Visayan and there are a lot of words shared with Bahasa Indonesian (which we both learnt at school in Aus) and Malaysian. When my mother-in-law speaks to me she often forgets to speak English and the reason I had basic understanding from the start was because of the words similar to Indonesian that are in her language. My son is now learning Indo at school and this is helping his understanding of Visayan.
    Also interesting is that I saw a couple of comments saying Pinoys must be Pacific Islanders because they have similarities with the people of Guam. I think this has less to do with Filipinos being Pacific Islanders than it has to do with the fact that Guam has also been colonised, fought over, bought and sold by the Americans as well as the Spaniards. As has Puerto Rico. Nobody is saying that Filipinos are Puerto Rican are they?
    I am intrigued by this strange argument and will be sure to ask around my friends and family in the Philippines and elsewhere if they identify themselves as Pacific Islanders. I think they will be confused by this as I know they refer to themselves asw Asian. They will probably think I've gone mad.
    hmmm I might ponder this some more after going to pick up some of my favourite Filipino snacks (Cebuano dried mango, mmmm) from my local Phil-ASIAN store.
  • Rei
    this is quite an interesting thread!

    i was in film class watching a student film with a filipino guy fighting someone in the street with 'martial arts', a student commented "wow he looks like he really knows what he‘s doing" and i sarcastically said "of course, all asians know martial arts right?". later the friend of the filipino guy told me he identifies himself as pacific islander and not asian, another girl said she has never met a filipino who considered themselves asian.

    i was very shocked, almost speechless. I felt as if my whole identity and belief system were in question, so i googled "are filipinos pacific islanders or asian?" hoping to learn how filipinos identify themselves and that is how I found this thread.

    my parents raised my brother and i to consider ourselves filipino first then asian second. i was born and spent the first six years of my life in the philippines, i have a dark skinned filipino mother with "slanted eyes" and a caucasian father and tagalog was my first language, i was raised in america and speak english fluently, i have always identified myself as half filipino/asian.

    while visiting the philippines i had commented about filipinos being asian to my cousins who were born and raised and still reside in the philippines and they said they considered themselves pacific islanders.

    ....so basically i'm all sorts of confused by this thread and my experiences with filipinos and filipino americans and non-filipinos. i was under the assumption that filipinos who live in america considered themselves asians whereas filipinos who live in the philippines consider themselves pacific islander. i grew up in america and all of my filipino friends have always considered themselves asians, my japanese, korean, indonesian, malaysian, vietnamese, thai, and indian friends have always considered filipinos as asian. i've only ever had the confusion with white and black americans, most of them equate filipino to spanish because of last names and spanish words in our vocabulary.

    do you think it may be a generational thing? maybe older filipinos (like my mother) consider themselves asians whereas younger genereations consider themselves pacific islander, regardless of whether they live or don't live in the philippines? and is it impossible to identify to both? maybe instead of trying to figure out if we are asian or pacific islander we should just be proud that we are filipino =)

    Again, very interesting thread, I’ve tried to read as many comments and wish I had the time to read them all.
  • I was just thinking that... well... Filipinos are in essence, a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic people. Why can't we be both Asian and Pacific Islander?

    Who says we can only be one or the other?

    Americans are multi-cultural and multi-ethnic. They are considered American because of their geographical location.

    And thus, Filipinos are Asian because of their geographical location as a part of Southeast Asia.

    Why do some people have a hard time understanding this?
  • ORGULLOSA A SER FILIPINA
    I'm a Filipina of Spanish-Mexican ancestry (1 of my grandma is pure Spanish & my other grandpa is Mexican Mestizo) born & raise in Philippines. Though I look more Latin & can speak conversant Spanish but I never consider myself as Hispanic. Many think of me as Latina than Filipino coz I don't have Malay looks & my nose is aquiline but for me I am always be a Filipino.

    As for Filipinos not being Asian, its obviously wrong. I don't get it why some would consider myself as P.I. Here in Phils., I never heard of anyone claiming to be P.I. Culture here is more Asian only there some Hispanic influences. In our family we practice purely Hispanic culture & I can tell you theres a lot of difference. For example, when we were kids, we used to receive presents during the Tres Reyes De Los Magos or Epiphany (w/c is part of Hispanic culture) & my other classmates would only stare at me funny coz Filipinos normally don't do this. Also the majority of Filipinos are "Pro-American" w/c is in contrast w/ Hispanics. And if you walk on the streets here, you will find many booths or stores selling Chinese dumplings (siomai, siopao, hong kong fried noodles, mongolian foods, etc.) Honestly I don't know anything about Malay culture but surely these Chinese influences are indeed ASIAN & exists heavily in every Southeast Asian country.

    Also I have Fil-Am cousins in Southern California (San Diego) & I never hear anything from them claiming they're P.I. or Hispanic (even if we have Hispanic heritage). We're just happy for what we are, to be FILIPINOS
  • I think it's unrealistic for Filipinos to distance themselves from their Asian neighbors. It just makes it seem like those Filipinos who don't want to be considered Asian are 1) in denial or 2) hateful toward other Asians.

    I belong to a community of Asians called Rice Bowl Journals. There are Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Malaysians, Indonesians, etc and they think nothing about Filipinos not being Asian. We're all in the same region of the world, though we all have our differences in culture and heritage. We share a common staple... rice.

    Yes, Filipinos like any other ethnicity, are UNIQUE. No denying that.

    But it's important to note that Filipinos SHOULD accept their place in the region of Southeast Asia. All I have to say is, your negative comments regarding Filipinos being Asian simply proves your bias.

    And for Filipinos to be denying their own government's website that acknowledges that the Philippines is in fact a part of Southeast Asia... I really don't know what to say to that.

    Now the Philippines being recognized as a Latin Country? That's denying our heritage and influences that the Chinese and other neighboring countries have had on us. Filipinos, like the Chinese, Malaysians and Indonesians, were all maritime traders. How could the Philippines be so isolated and not come into contact and not be influenced by other Asian countries? China, Taiwan and Malaysia are, in fact, only a few hundred miles away. The Latin American countries, Mexico and Spain are thousands of miles away.
  • This is stupid. I am a filipino and I do not care whether filipinos are recognized as asians. Anyway, I don't like being asian. Asians are... whatever.. I prefer Philippines being recognized as Latin country. And I love the western influence rather than asian cultures.

    THE PHILIPPINES DON'T NEED THE IDENTITY OF ASIANS. We are Filipino and we are unique.

    so do not impose arguments to support that Filipinos are asians! We don't need the hell asian identity!
  • albertbalbutin
    Randomguru, I commend your patience. I probably would have deleted all the negative comments from anonymous sources myself.

    In high schools across the US, there are student organizations for every ethnicity present at each school. In mine, Filipinos could be found in BOTH the Pacific Islander Union and the Asian Student Union.

    At that time I found this to be disconcerting, who are we? What was even worse was that I began to realize that I wasn't even TRULY Filipino, since I wasn't born in the Philippines and I didn't speak the national language of Filipino (Tagalog) or the dialect of my parents (Bisaya).

    Today, im still at odds about this, but it helps to hear different opinions such as those here in the forum you've created, albeit a fiery one!

    50 years from now, your children, my children, and the children of these trolls will be debating whether a Chinese Muslim or a Filipino atheist should be president of the newly created United States of Eurasia.

    That's a debate I really look forward too!
  • Keep in mind that any comments that fall into the realm of being hate mail WILL be deleted right away. These comments are moderated so, TROLLS, you are just wasting your time.
  • i think this is a stupid debate. Filipinos are Southeast asians, and we belong to the Asian continent. You all blew this out of proportion, wasting your precious time trying to convince the haters who obviously doesnt even know a thing to begin with. I would kindly ask you guys to stop fuel haters, and just accept the fact that they have poor reasoning to begin with.

    Im of filipino, and im an american born citizen. Therefore, I am american but with filipino descent. Honestly this discussion about classification is pointless since in the United States most are mixed to begin with and can claim 2 or more ethnicities, and they are entitled to which group they want to belong to.

    You guys have more important stuff to deal with rather than this pointless debate. What's the benefit? I'm smarter than thou? Pointless. You're all shooting blanks and getting nothing across.
  • jasoncarino
    The Philipines are part of Asia HOWEVER there is heavy Spanish influence in Filipino culture, Language, foods and religion. There are still some in the Philipines (over 1 million ) that still speak Spanish and Spanish was one of the official languages till 1987. Based on the facts I would consider Filipinos Asian with Latino influence hell had the Spanish American war not happened it would still be a Latin country
  • One
    Culture, language, food and religion?
    Have you ever been to other southeast asian countries? Their culture is just like filipinos. We have more oriental dishes than spanish or american.
    Our language tagalog has no english or spanish in it although todays modern filipinos add LOAN words in their daily vocabulary. Japanese people do it too.
    The only resemblance is religion, but there are muslims and buddhist in the Philippines too.
    We WERE heavily influenced by the spanish, but not anymore. Today we ARE heavily influenced by the USA, but does that mean we're american?
    Think logically.
  • Ignorance is Bliss
    I think a huge pattern, besides Filipino-Americans claiming and noticing the differences that makes them "not Asian", is that Fil-Ams are hugely oblivious to any of the other Asian nations history and culture.

    The Spanish example seems to be repeated time and time again, as if no other Asian nation...or specifically SE ASIAN nation has never been colonized. Let's look at one example: Vietnam was colonized by the French, their alphabet was changed to a Latin-based alphabet system, their foods influenced by the French in Vietnamese cuisine, there's also mixed Vietnamese, as well as Catholic Vietnamese. Are we going to now stress and question if Vietnamese are no longer "Asian"? just like all these Fil-Ams are trying very hard to see the differences, yet fail to see any other kind of history with other Asian nations?

    Countries like Singapore, also have English has one of their main languages, should Singapore now be considered as not "ASIAN"?

    If I received a dollar for every time a Fil-Am brings up the similarities between them and their "Mexican" friends, I would be a millionaire.
  • And that would have made the difference for sure. It's interesting how we categories people and countries. Are Canadians and Mexicans considered Americans, even though they ARE part of North America? In most (if not all) countries in South America, they are considered South Americans.

    It is this one reason of logic that Filipinos are Asian, simply because their country is located in Southeast Asia, the same area in which Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia belong. But there seems to be no problem calling those other nations Southeast Asian!
  • binoe5
    im from canada and most filipino say's their part chinese because like that and that whatever,and chinese people thinks their asskisser case majority of population here are chinese,nyways as far as i know filipino has a lot of mixes, but the native filipino,do they look like oriental,hell no!they are more similar with the islander not only in the pacific but some islander in panama i see it myself, i used to work in cruiseline by the way,regarding about japan and taiwan that they are located in pacific,theres no way they can be pacific islander, because they have colder climate, but still i have to put myself in asian category except for girls, i never mention anything of that asian word to girls,i only say im a filipino, lets face it asian dont have swag,they dont include us being asian cause we have stronger personality,specially here in canda where all of us are equal and most of the time we over power other asian, proud to be filipino, never call myself asian.my opinion!
  • m
    I don't know why all of you guys are getting worked out about something so silly. When I decided to read this article I had no idea it was going to be so contriversial! Wow! I am American (mixed race of European and Native American but don't really even know what but some of my ancestors came to the US in the 1700's from England) but my husband is Filipino (born and raised in Davao- he is still waiting for his visa to come to US as we spent the first 3 years of our marriage in Papua New guinea and Philippines) and is proud of being Filipino. I personally love Filipino food and culture and everything! Way to go Filipinos! My husband is awsome and the best lover in the world!!
  • itouch09
    LOL
  • itouch09
    of course they are asian, wtf, im from canada never seen such a thread lol.If you came to Canada and said the philippine people are not asian everyone would be like, dude wtf>? and stare at you funny." are you ok man, seems like you are bit off stop drinking. lol.
  • Akio: Thank you for your thoughts. :o)
  • Akio
    "6. 99.9% of filipinos around the world know that they’re oriental asian.
    0.01% happen to be mostly fil-ams in southern California."

    Hey Yan, make that 0.03% .. Fil-Ams in Hawaii and Northern California.
  • Yan
    No, still 0.01% of filipinos around the world.
    "0.01% HAPPEN to be mostly fil-ams in southern California." which means many can be from any other place in the world, but most are in southern California.
    There are around 2.8 million filipinos in the US. 70%+ reside in western states
    1 Million in California
    250,000 in Hawaii
    95 Million in the Philippines
    Aside from the US and Philippines, there are around 4.5 million filipinos scattered around the globe in various countries.

    US + Philippines + other countries =
    So basically the worldwide filipino population is est .102,550,000

    So let's do the math. Even if I give you 50% of California and Hawaii's filipino population(that think they're pacific islander) which is VERY VERY generous.

    So 50%(Hawaii + California) = 50%(1,000,000 + 125,000) = 625,000

    Then (pro pacific islander / worldwide filipino population)
    625,000 / 102,550,000 = 0.006

    Therefore my statement of 0.01% was already generous, but figures show that it's WAY less than that.
  • Akio_T
    Thanks for the info yan..I was kind of lost for a moment since you said "Southern California." I thought you didn't include known places that have fil-ams who are pro-pacific islander.

    - Akio
  • Yan
    Hi, I'm going to give many scientific facts why filipinos are oriental asian just like east asia and not hispanic or pacific islander or even african which some fil-ams mainly in southern california claim to be:

    1. Only 3% of the Philippines population has spanish blood.(333 years wasn't long enough compared to the thousands of years chinese were already there)
    1% arab, american, black, and other blood mix.

    2. Filipinos are more oriental looking than some fil-ams think. Many southern chinese, malaysians, japanese, look like filipinos.

    3. Oriental asian(east and southeast asia) has the dna gene haplogroup O dominant within their blood over 50% and not found anywhere else in the world.

    4. Spanish surnames were forced upon filipinos. Filipinos chose a surname out of a book called "Catálogo alfabético de apellidos" when spain invaded. Very few intercourses between spanish and filipinos occured which is why only 3% have spanish blood. It could range also with a filipino having only 10% spanish blood, because Philippines is no longer a spanish colony and no longer having intercourse with spaniards.

    5. Many filipinos retained their chinese last names like Sison, Chua, Ty, Sy, & Lacson, Ong, Go, Lee, and many others.
    Also many filipinos retained their malay last names like Abay, Inamarga, Payot, & Bornok.
    http://www.bibingka.com/names/

    6. 99.9% of filipinos around the world know that they're oriental asian.
    0.01% happen to be mostly fil-ams in southern California.

    7. Hundreds of thousands of chinese were already in the Philippines before the spaniards came in the 1500s and chinese were there for a millenia before that time. It just so happens that the Americans tried to cover this up stating that the Philippines was discovered by Magellan.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aPFaisFCW4

    8. Chinese is the 2nd most largest population, 3rd being korean shows that culture, trade, language, genetics have always been present in the Philippines for generations.

    9. Generally speaking, filipinos like other oriental asian eat rice everyday, almost every meal. Also have rice fields all over the country.

    10. A large percentages of filipinos are light-skinned and have slanted eyes

    11. Philippines is part of southeast asia and a member of ASEAN +3(Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Japan & South Korea) and all have acknowledged the Philippines as an oriental asian country. Also the US acknowledges this.

    12. Philippines has the 'mall of Asia' also many ads, billboards, commercials, media, and many others mention the fact that the Philippines is an asian country. There's also 'asian journal' a filipino newspaper.

    13. Aside from rice, the food resembles alot with other oriental asian countries, mostly from China: Lumpia(eggroll), pansit canton(chowmein), orange chicken(orange chicken), garlic chicken(garlic chicken), chopsuey (chinese mixed vegetables), pinakbet, sweet and sour chicken(sweet and sour chicken) and many others.

    14. The filipino writing system called alibata or baybayan was used before the spanish invasion and is related to many other southeast asian country writing systems.

    15. If filipinos are islanders, then would japanese, taiwanese, indonesians, malaysian, austrailians, and new zealanders be pacific islanders too? Geographically many of these countries are closer to the pacific than the Philippines.

    16. Not all pacific islanders look hawaiin or samoan. There are 20000-30000 islands in the Pacific Ocean and some have people that look like african and even hispanic.

    17. The Philippines is in the China sea. North is Taiwan. and west is Vietnam.

    18. There are many other southeast asians that have light skin and slanted eyes. Also many south chinese, vietnamese, japanese that are dark and don't have slanted eyes.

    19. Around 4000-2000 B.C. ancestors from Yunnan Plateau in China settled in what is now the Philippines by sailing using balangays coming from Taiwan. Most of these group primarily used the Philippines as a pit-stop to the to the Indonesian archipelago further south. Those who were left behind became the ancestors of the present-day Filipinos.

    20. Since 200 A.D. indigenous people of the what's now called the Philippines were in contact with southeast and east asian nations.
  • Thanks for your thoughts.
  • Jose
    You forgot something here. Asian Development Bank main headquarters is in the Philippines.
  • Malika
    I have to agree, Filipinos are definitely Asian. Asian is not an ethnic grouping nor is it a nationality, its a geographical term which is used to map where you are located, and by the looks of it the Phillippines is extremely close, and borders to neighbouring south-east asian countries.

    Also I think it's a bit offending how some Filipinos feel that using the past as a tool to make them qualify as being a Pacific Islander is rude. Until this day archaelogists and researchers still debate over who exactly settled the south pacific, so no one should be trying to claim direct lineage just because one theory states it is possible that it was populated by east asian people. Even if that was the case, I highly doubt it would have been directly from the Phillipines to the South Pacific otherwise Polynesians and Micronesians would still be one unified subgroup which they are not.

    At the end of the day I think people need to be proud of what they are, and stop trying to claim that they're something else just because of georgraphical terms or because of history. If you're Filipino be proud, and be proud to represent the continent in which you are associated with. I feel sorry for the Pacific Islanders who are being slandered in the process of people trying to find out whether or not they are Asian. They don't deserve, you don't hear Pacific Islanders wanting to be grouped with another distant continent or ethnic group.
  • Isao
    Yeah you make a good point. Filipinos definitely are Asian, and the coolest Asians I know at that
    I'm Japanese American, Japan is an Island in the Pacific too but if I called myself a "Pacific Islander" people would just laugh at me
  • humabon
    wow... So much ignorance. Only 5% of all filipinos have been confirmed to have spanish ancestry.

    Many people put Filipinos in another group because they have seen or come into contact with other south east asians beside filipinos. The Average Filipino looks very different from the Average East asian. However, the Average filipino does NOT look altogether that much different from the average South East Asian. Cambodians look more hispanic than filipinos, and they have no relation to the spanish empire.

    You can't tell the difference between a South thai, Cambodian, Indonesian, malaysian and a Filipino. It's been proven genetically that we are all part of a similar southern Asian branch that includes han chinese. There's also no male lineage into the pacific islands, which suggests that those Polynesian island savages captured Austronesian woman and raped them.
  • okay, i'm accused of being fake, and that hurts.

    but, this article is based on facts, pretty much.

    not believing in factual things, like the sun always rises in the east, and sets in the west, well... don't know what you've been smoking, my friend.....
  • khoi
    oh back on topic lol the guy using the Austronesian malayo-blah blah as proof philipinos are not asian, I feel sorry for you. Being uneducated and contradicting your self must really hurt. you do know vietnam, thailand cambodia, malaysia taiwan whateva are of the Austronesian family while the other half are Austro-Asiatic which includes philipinos =] thats makes you as asian as I am, since that group comes from MAINLAND south east asia. and spread south n east to the Islands. Educate your self buddy. Asians have all types of looks, not just east asian(mongoloid) I bet if i showed you a picture of a vietnamese,cambodian,philipino and a cantonese person without tellin you there origins, you wouldnt be able to tell them apart.

    1.http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HYeBYxtWL-c/R8ZA37irzVI/AAAAAAAAAjI/Fsp_5wN-P3o/s400/leang-3.jpg
    2.http://lh3.ggpht.com/elaing.zhang/Ru4PUoyqVVI/AAAAAAAADHg/FKkFQQluNEY/s800/5208016_m_5208018_7870.jpg
    3.http://lh6.ggpht.com/elaing.zhang/Rz_YHpnsVfI/AAAAAAAAHB4/yHkPNJHtbzI/s800/6162755_m_6162757_1397.jpg

    kan you tell whos flip and whos east asian?? take a lucky guess since you claim you look so different...dont be ashame of our great history, we asian got a looooong history and made alot of achivements, dont let the west mind raped us into thinkin asians a nerdy, weak or not cool, them stereo types are just what they are stereotypes, ignorance man. Flipinos man your a great people, a mixed of alot of good things. And yeah being asian doesnt mean you got to look chinese lmao asia is a big place with many faces(races of asian) n your one of them!
  • khoi
    From Jessica: “Chinese Artifacts were found in the Philippines which were ranging from approximately 5000-6000 A.D. This included Kinari threads which were Buddhist jewelry.”

    lmao there no 5000-6000 years a.d.........
    oh and just FYI..I doubt "buddhist" kinari threads where found in 5000-6000 B.C in philipines..kuz buddhism is only 2000 years old hahaha oh and in 5000 B.C china was barely an organized tribal state, i doubt they'll be in P.I at the time, now the ming dynasty artifacts I beleive kuz thats during the 14th century when they actually trading with philipines.
  • Akio
    From Jessica: "Chinese Artifacts were found in the Philippines which were ranging from approximately 5000-6000 A.D. This included Kinari threads which were Buddhist jewelry."

    It's actually 5000-6000 B.C. ... ^_^

    They also found other Chinese artifacts from the Ming dynasty as well.
  • Granted, I am familiar with Filipino migration to Hawaii and California in the early part of the 20th century.

    I took a Filipino Studies course while studying at San Diego State and I learned about the 1st wave of immigrants coming to America. These Filipinos were primarily "rural folks" who weren't highly educated and used as workers in the fields because at the time The Philippines was a U.S. colony and it was just easier to get a cheap labor source. And they were used whenever the Japanese workers' labor unions went on strike for higher wages.

    Unfortunately, those Filipinos came from poor, rural backgrounds. It doesn't make them any lesser of human beings. Just more disadvantaged. But that can be said about any Asian, whether Chinese, Japanese or Filipino.

    Empress: you are straying off topic with this talk about uneducated Filipinos. There can be uneducated people in any ethnicity.

    The 2nd wave of Filipino immigrants were mostly men who came to America by joining the U.S. Navy. Some were educated at the college level but joined for the opportunity to come to America, like my father (who was university educated).

    The 3rd wave of immigration which began in the 1960s was mostly of professionals seeking better opportunities in the States, particularly the mainland. And I see this wave of Filipino immigrants coming here today.

    If you're trying to drive your point that Filipinos are mostly uneducated, and thus they aren't Asian, that is not a very good argument. There are uneducated people in all walks of life, and in all ethnicities, just as there are educated people.

    The only thing I am getting from you is that you are just here to put Filipinos in general down... and no, I'm not trying to sell my soul. I don't even know where you are coming from there.... that just sounds pretty irrational like everything else you've said so far.
  • Empress
    Like I said....This is a "one-way" discussion. It's not a stereotype. It's what I see. Filipinos are the one of the most uneducated in hawaii. Look at statistics..if youre into charts. Youre trying to sell your soul.
  • Empress: Keep in mind the following FACTS on my blog:

    1. I've let people (including yourself) express themselves freely, even if they have argued against what I have written.

    2. I HAVE deleted comments I thought were downright offense to me, contained what I thought were extreme racist remarks, or were just plain vulgar or mean-spirited.

    3. This is my personal site and blog, and is NOT a public forum for free expression. It is a fact that bloggers delete comments they don't want displayed, period. I'm not the first who's done this.

    4. I felt those previous articles I'd written concerning Filipinos being Asian had already contained enough arguments "for" and "against" what I had written. In other words, we were all just going round and round in circles and just repeating the same points.

    5. As webmaster and publisher and editor of my own site/blog, I reserve the right to edit or delete anything posted here. Again, it's not a free for all forum. Blogs are "publications" on the web, and publications reserve the right to delete or edit its content.

    So, don't call me a fake. Get your thinking straight, please. Know what blogs are. They are not forums. And even forums and discussion boards are subject to "moderation", which also means moderators of a particular forum can delete or edit what people write.

    Anyway, I don't know what can convince you that Filipinos are hardworking people who value a higher education like many other Asians. Many fellow Filipinos I know are highly-educated professionals who are doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants and nurses.

    To assume that Filipinos are ONLY maids or fast food cashiers is a obviously stereo-typically bigoted statement. Sure, there are many people who work hard who are maids and fast food workers, regardless of ethnicity. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with those occupations. Any job that needs to be done is a noble one.

    The income charts I've posted are directly from the U.S. Census Bureau.

    Anyway, I feel your thinking of Filipinos is so skewed based on where you are from. From what I have seen, many of the Filipino immigrants I've met coming into the States have professional experience as nurses, doctors, etc. Many nurses here in the States ARE Filipina women and you and I should know nursing is a high-paying career, and there is a shortage.

    And I don't feel I've been belittling anyone here. I feel I've been very fair. But, if you are going to present an argument to me and are pretty condescending to me, you're going to get the same right back. That's only fair. Please re-read all the comments you made about me and Filipinos.

    This article (the most recent one in this series) is still open for comments.

    But, I do reserve the right to delete anything I find inappropriate. This is, after all, my site and my publishing medium.
  • Empress
    Be ware! When the Randomguru disagrees with you he will close the forum. He doesnt promote "free speaking." This is not a forum but a "one way discussion" ......trying to trick people into believing that filipinos are asians. What does a income bracket have to do with being asian. It is posted to make filipinos look larger than they are. 1999? Where's the income for 2008-2009?

    Besides when you look at the details. It will tell you otherwise. In hawaii filipino household usually have 10+ or more people living in the same roof on average. When you have 10+ factory worker/maids/ fast food cashiers/rare white collar working and contributing to one household...it does make for a high income. Randomguru...you never talk about details. That's why you will never find out the truth that filipinos are not asian. You only pubish superficial income charts to distract the reader.

    Randomguru is fake and only promotes what he agrees with. THere should be no forum if he belittles all the naysayers.
  • Jessica: Thank you for your thoughts on this issue. You've mentioned what I think are excellent points, especially the whole issue of last names.

    And when I was visiting The Philippines last year, the whole experience reinforced the whole misconception of Filipinos as Pacific Islander. The Philippines, with its customs, emphasis on the extended family, its Southeast Asian climate, the endless rice fields, and its status as a central hub and crossroads to other Asian nations, drove the point home that it was more an Asian country than a Pacific Island nation.
  • *Just A World of Caution*

    I welcome positive feedback and sincere comments that are beneficial or supportive of this article. And negative feedback will be accepted too, but if there's going to be hatred spewed here against Filipinos I'm going to delete it....

    Just so you know..... vulgar language, profanity, and racist, bigoted comments may be deleted...
  • Jessica
    *Correct me if any of my information was slightly off
  • Jessica
    Thank you for distinguishing the differences between Pacific Islanders and Asians. I am Filipino-American myself but I am not the typical ignorant ones you would see frolicking around here in America. My parents, born and raised in the Philippines, have always told me that Filipinos are Asian. They know who they are, what they are talking about, and had never fret of telling me so. They even told me that before they came here in America, this problem was never encountered. Not only that, in the Philippines, they are basically taught that they are Asian. The only people to really rely on about the history and culture are the people born and raised in the Philippines. Not once have I ever claimed myself as a Pacific Islander.

    Honestly, I get really heated with this issue. Arguing with friends, strangers, and even with teachers. People are ignorant and are clueless about the values and culture of the Philippines. Many people here in America consider Asians only as Chinese, Koreans, or Japanese people... because those are the only Asian countries they know of! Little do they know about South East Asia including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. As for East Asians having similarities with traditions and culture, so does South East Asia; which many are influenced by the Indian culture. I have asked a couple of people to name at least 10 different Asian countries, not including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, but none of them had successfully completed the task.

    As for people who say," Filipinos are more Hispanic because of their last names." It's like saying African-Americans are Caucasian because they have white last names. African-Americans were brought to America from the slave trade. They were forced to changed their last names because they were owned like property by the whites. This relates to the history in the Philippines. Filipinos were controlled by the Spaniards for 300 years, names like "Perez", "Reyes", and what not are only their surnames. Also, The Philippines isn't the only country that has had been dictated in the past. France conquered Indochina which consisted of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Portugal controlled East Timor. Great Britain maintained authority in India, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and many more.

    For people who state," Filipinos don't look Asian." That's completely and utterly due to ignorance. Do all Asians have to have a certain look? Many people think I am Korean. Even other Filipinos do not believe that I am Filipino. People should stop stereotyping.

    - The Mall of Asia is in Bay City, Pasay City, Philippines.
    - The Philippines are part of the South East Asian Nations.
    - There are only a few percent of Filipinos with solid Hispanic heritage.
    - The United States Census considers Filipinos as Asians.
    - Studies had shown that Philippine ancestry was tied from Taiwan.
    - Chams were an Asian tribe which traveled down southward. Vietnamese, Thai, Malay, and YES, Philippines, have a number of people of this tribe in their population.
    - Chinese Artifacts were found in the Philippines which were ranging from approximately 5000-6000 A.D. This included Kinari threads which were Buddhist jewelry.

    Jograd, you are simply irrational. Obviously you do not know who YOU are. Have you ever took the time to ask your parents if you were Asian? Have you ever learned much deeper into the Philippines? The Philippines is geographically and ethnically considered Asian. Read some books Fil-Ams. You can pick one up from your local library. Maybe you'll learn something! Stop taking excessive pride in something you know so little about. It is not a choice to consider yourself Asian or Pacific Islander. It is simply a fact that we are Asian. So deal with it :) Good job Randomguru; keep up your intelligent teachings!
  • CaliStunna818
    Jograd aka Professor Dick.

    You just contradicted yourself you racist piece of shit. Filipinos have a right to claim Pacific Islander? So tell me what part of the Philippines is claiming Pacific Islander? is it the Mall of Asia or the Mall of "Pacific Islanders"? tell me is it the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or the Association of Pacific Islanders?

    Hmmmm...the only people who I keep seeing trying to argue that Filipinos are not Asian are usually those ignorant Fil-Ams who have their own identity crisis. Are you going to protest ASIANjournal so they can rename it to PACIFICISLANDERjournal? lmao!

    "Have you heard of austronesian or the term Malayo-Polynesian? That encompasses the whole Pacific Ocean, Indonesia, Malaysia and Madagascar." You said it yourself those include both Indonesia and Malaysia meaning there are also ASIANS that are AUSTRONESIAN.

    Austronesian constitutes the dominant ethnic group in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, the Pattani region of Thailand, and East Timor inside the Malay Archipelago, in Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia inside Oceania, in Madagascar, and in the Cham areas of Vietnam (the remnants of the Champa kingdom which covered central and southern Vietnam) , Cambodia, and China and the Moken of Myanmar and Thailand.

    In essence, Austronesian can be seen as one of the many ethnicities/linguistic/cultures found throughout Asia. So using the Austronesian background as a reason to justify not being Asian is invalid. This can be seen as a example as to how stereotypes and ignorance has crippled the identity of a particular group.

    "Pacific Islander" doesn't include all "AUSTRONESIANS. So look that up you ignorant piece of shit.

    It's funny how you're telling people to go to ASIA and say compare the Philippines to other ASIAN countries and you used the AUSTRONESIAN background as an excuse when you clearly stated BOTH INDONESIA and MALAYSIA...and guess where Indonesia and Malaysia is considered as a part of? ASIA! LMAO! And what do u think the Philippines also has a heavy influence from? The MALAY!

    So Professor Dick, seems like you haven't been to ASIA and you keep proving the point that it's you ignorant Fil-Ams who suffer from a identity crisis that don't know jack. Why does he need to just call himself FILIPINO? Plenty of people only refer to themselves as Ilocano, Visayan, or even just TAGALOG! Learn about that one!
  • Jograd: I'm insisting on the Asian title simply because many reliable sources consider The Philippines to be part of Southeast Asia! It's simply fact.

    Apparently you didn't read my article all the way through, otherwise you would have caught on to all the facts presented.

    And why so hostile? Of course, I myself consider myself Filipino (even though I'd been accused by other Filipinos for not being Filipino enough!)

    You can call yourself a Pacific Islander if you wish. And archaeologists are saying that true Pacific Islanders are descended from Austronesians who's origins are from Southeast China, Taiwan and the Philippines.... which I mentioned in this article.

    And I've been to The Philippines several times throughout the years, and from personal experience it truly looks like a Southeast Asian country to me, and aside from the Spanish influence the culture seems to be actually closer to Southeast Asian than true Pacific Islander.
  • Jograd
    They are damn right! they can keep their asian title and their small dicks. Why are you so insistent with the asian title anyway? so what if we're not accepted? we have the right to claim also as PAcific islanders - Have you heard of austronesian or the term Malayo-Polynesian? That encompasses the whole Pacific Ocean, Indonesia, Malaysia and Madagascar. So if you dont know this try reeducating yourself also - Do some in-depth research, go to the Philippines, find your roots, live the culture. Then go to another Asian country and try to compare if we really are asians. Then go to a Pacific Island nation and to South America. I am more relieved if we are not called Asians. Dont let others dictate who we are because we know who we are. We are asian, Pacific islanders and hispanic. Or if you are still confused, try calling yourself Filipino.
  • Greg
    Ignorant. ASIA is the largest continent. People need to understand that ASia is not just the "Yellow" people who have squinty eyes where the majority live in CHina, Japan, Korea etc. If you look at different peoples all over ASia you will see differences in how they look and their culture.I have met many people from other southeast asian countries like cambodia who say they get mistaken for people from oceania all the time. SO people need to stop being so ignorant and take time to study different cultures before the make assumptions.
  • LLEESSLLIIEE1
    you are asian
  • Let's keep in mind who are considered Asian... Indians, Tibetans, Cambodians, Indonesians, Filipinos, etc....
  • Akio: thanks for your thoughts on this.

    what you said is in fact reflective of many young Filipinos out there who are suffering from an "identity crisis", and that is the reason for the articles i've written.

    and i'm also addressing those who accuse Filipinos of being wannabe Asians.

    hopefully, those people will be open-minded enough to re-educate themselves.
  • Akio
    These facts really back up on what we really are. But sadly, some Fil-Ams I know of don't buy these facts. I hope those ignorant Fil-Ams and other people can get these facts into their minds and change their thoughts on who we are.
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