| Notable Filipino mestizos: Manuel L. Quezon · Andrés Bonifacio · José Rizal |
| Total population |
|---|
| Around 3.6%[1] of the population has White ancestries from Spanish and American colonization, while 20% of the population has part Chinese ancestry. |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Philippines, United States, and Spain |
| Languages |
|
Philippine languages, Spanish, English, other European languages, Chinese, or other languages. |
| Religion |
|
Christianity (Predominantly Roman Catholic, with a minority of Protestants), or other religions. |
| Related ethnic groups |
|
Other Filipino people |
Filipino mestizo is a term used in the Philippines to describe people of mixed Filipino and foreign ancestry.[2] The word mestizo is of Spanish origin, and was originally used in the Americas to only describe people of mixed European and Native American ancestry.[3]
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The Spanish expedition in 1565, prompted a period of Spanish colonization over the Philippines which lasted for 333 years. The Roman Catholic Church played an important role in allowing Spanish settlements in the Philippines. The Spanish government and religious missionaries were quick to learn native Filipino languages and Roman Catholic rituals were interpreted in accordance with Filipino beliefs and values. As a result, a folk Roman Catholicism developed in the Philippines.[4] A small number European settlers from Spain and Mexico immigrated and their offspring (of either Spanish, or Spanish and Filipino) may have adopted the culture of their parents and grandparents, however only a small amount of the population has White ancestries from Spanish and American colonization. Most Filipinos of Spanish descent in the Philippines are of mixed ancestries or are of pure European ancestry. Some individuals still speak Spanish in the country, in addition, Chavacano (a creole language based largely on the Spanish vocabulary) is widely spoken in the Southern Philippines, including the Zamboanga Peninsula and its neighbouring regions.
Even before Spanish arrived in the Philippines, the Chinese have traded with the natives of the Philippines. During the colonial period, there was an increase in the number of Chinese immigrants into the Philippines. 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.
Many of the Chinese who arrived during the Spanish period were Cantonese, who worked as labourers, but there were also Fujianese, who entered the retail trade. The Chinese resident in the islands were encouraged to intermarry with Filipinos, convert to Roman Catholicism and adopt Hispanic names, surnames and customs.
During the United States colonial period, the Chinese Exclusion Act of the United States was also applied to the Philippines.[5]
After World War II and the rise of communism in China, many of the Chinese refugees settled in the Philippines. This group formed the bulk of the current population of Chinese Filipinos.[6] After the Philippines regained its independence in 1946, they became naturalized Filipino citizens, the children of these new citizens were born and raised in the Philippines and had Filipino citizenship from birth.[7]
The history of racial mixture in the Philippines occurred on a smaller scale than other Spanish territories during the Spanish colonial period from the 16th to the 19th century. A caste system, like that used in the Americas (Spanish America), existed in the Philippines, with some major differences. The indigenous peoples of the Philippines were referred to as Indios and Negritos.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Negrito | person of pure Aeta ancestry |
| Indio | person of pure Austronesian ancestry |
| Sangley | person of pure Chinese ancestry |
| Mestizo de Sangley | person of mixed Chinese and Austronesian ancestry |
| Mestizo de Español | person of mixed Spanish and Austronesian ancestry |
| Tornatrás | person of mixed Spanish, Austronesian and Chinese ancestry |
| Insulares | person of pure Spanish descent born in the Philippines |
| Américano | person of Criollo (either pure Spanish blood, or mostly), Castizo (1/4 Native American, 3/4 Spanish) or Mestizo (1/2 Spanish, 1/2 Native American) descent born in Spanish America ("from the Americas") |
| Peninsulares | person of pure Spanish descent born in Spain ("from the Iberian peninsula") |