| Notable Filipinos of Spanish ancestry: José Rizal · Andrés Bonifacio · Manuel L. Quezon · Paulino Alcántara · Charlene Gonzales |
| Total population |
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| The official population of all types of mestizos (Asian, American, Hispanic, etc.) that reside inside and outside of the Philippines remains unknown, as the Philippine Statistics Department does not account for the racial background or ancestry of an individual. |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Philippines |
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Spanish, Filipino, English, Chabacano, and other local languages of the Philippines. |
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| Related ethnic groups |
Filipino people of Spanish ancestry are a Filipino ethnic group living in the Philippines whose ancestral make-up is either fully or partially from Spain. These Filipinos are mostly descendants of the migrants to the Philippines during the colonial period. A minority of these mixed blood individuals are either of Catalan, Andalusian or Basques origin, mixed together with other Filipino ethnic groups such as Tagalog or Cebuano, among others. Thereby, also former Spanish dominated Italian territories like the Kingdom of Naples are included, as Italian surnames like Aquino or Tolentino indicate.
Today, the official percentage of Filipinos with Spanish ancestry is unknown. The Philippine Statistics Department does not account for the racial background or ancestry of an individual. The official population of all types of mestizos (Asian, American, Hispanic, etc.) that reside inside and outside of the Philippines remains unknown. Although a study provided by Stanford University[1] claimed that around 3.6% of the population have White or Caucasian ancestries from both Spanish and American colonization, it only genotyped 28 individuals from the Philippines, a sample size far too small to draw conclusions on a population of over 90 million people.
In addition there are different estimates of this mixed descent, either by the parent side, it is calculated that some 3,500,000 to 5,000,000. In other cases it is also estimated with a proximity of 17,000,000 to 36,550,197 people of Hispanic descent. But none of these estimates are supported by genetic studies. [2]
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Admixture has been an ever present and pervading phenomenon in the Philippines as early as when the Philippines were originally settled by Australoid peoples called Negritos and admixture occurred between this earlier group and the mainstream Malayo-Polynesian population.[3]
Arab and Hindi traders also intermarried with the local population during the pre-Spanish history of the Philippines. The arrival of Spanish abruptly halted the spread of Islam further north into the Philippines and intermarriage with Spanish people later became more prevalent after the Philippines was colonized by the Spanish Empire.
A Chinese presence had been recorded in the Philippines since the 9th century that mixed extensively with the local population. During the Spanish colonial era, large-scale migrations of Chinese to the Philippines resulted in even more intermixing.
The Spanish colonization in 1565, prompted the establishment of Spanish rule over the Philippines that lasted for about 333 years. Spanish people came mainly from Mexico and Spain, and the Philippines was ruled as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, with its capital in Mexico City until Mexico's independence in 1821, when the Philippines started to be governed directly from Spain.
Early Spanish who were born in Spain (Peninsulares) and Mexican settlers (Criollos), the latter being mostly of either European or Mestizo heritage known as Americanos (Americans), were mostly explorers, soldiers, government officials, and religious missionaries, among others. Many of them settled in the islands and eventually married or inter-bred with the indigenous population.
In some provinces in Luzon, Mindanao and the Visayas, the Spanish government encouraged foreign merchants to trade with the indigenous population, but they were not given certain privileges such as ownership of land. From this contact, social intercourse between foreign merchants and Filipinos resulted in a new ethnic group. These group were called Filipino mestizos (mixed-race individuals). Some of their descendants, emerged later as an influential part of the Philippine society, such as the Principalía (Nobility).
Between 1565 and 1815, Hispanics from Mexico and Spain sailed to and from the Philippines as government officials, soldiers, priests, settlers, traders, sailors and adventurers in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon, assisting Spain in its trade between Europe and Latin America (Spanish America) and Latin America and the Philippines.
The opening of the Suez Canal made the trip between Europe and the Philippines much faster and affordable, and many Spaniards and some people from other parts of Europe took advantage and migrated to the islands via that route.
People of other ethnicities, such as Amerindians (Mexican Indians) and Africans, also settled in the Philippines after serving as members of the crew on Spanish ships. Some of these individuals married Filipinos of different ethnic groups and classes and integrated into Philippine society.
As opposed to the policies of other colonial powers such as the British or the Dutch, the Spanish colonies were devoid of any anti-miscegenation laws. Moreover, the Catholic Church not only never banned interracial marriage, but it even encouraged it. The fluid nature of racial integration in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period was recorded by many travelers and public figures at the time, who were favorably impressed by the lack of racial discrimination, as compared to the situation in other European colonies.
Among them was Sir John Bowring, Governor General of British Hong Kong and a well-seasoned traveler who had written several books about the different cultures in Asia, who described the situation as "admirable" during a visit to the Philippines in the 1870s.
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"The lines separating entire classes and races, appeared to me less marked than in the Oriental colonies. I have seen on the same table, Spaniards, Mestizos (Chinos cristianos) and Indios, priests and military. There is no doubt that having one Religion forms great bonding. And more so to the eyes of one that has been observing the repulsion and differences due to race in many parts of Asia. And from one (like myself) who knows that race is the great divider of society, the admirable contrast and exception to racial discrimination so markedly presented by the people of the Philippines is indeed admirable."[4] |
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Another foreign witness was English engineer, Frederic H. Sawyer, who had spent most of his life in different parts of Asia and lived in Luzon for fourteen years. His impression was that as far as racial integration and harmony was concerned, the situation in the Philippines was not equaled by any other colonial power:
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"... Spaniards and natives lived together in great harmony, and do not know where I could find a colony in which Europeans mixes as much socially with the natives. Not in Java, where a native of position must dismount to salute the humblest Dutchman. Not in British India, where the Englishwoman has now made the gulf between British and native into a bottomless pit."[5] |
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Most common languages spoken today are Tagalog (with many words borrowed from Spanish), and English, which is used in the public sphere. Many other Filipinos also speak other Philippine languages.
Today, only a minority of Filipinos speak Spanish, only some mestizos from older generations, those with links with Spain, America or other Spanish-speaking areas and recent immigrants, have preserved Spanish as a living spoken language,[6] although many Spanish cultural traits still remain, most notably the adoption of Christianity among the majority of Filipinos.
In addition, Chavacano (a creole language based largely on Spanish vocabulary) is spoken in the southern Philippines and forms one of the majority languages of Zamboanga Peninsula and Basilan. It is also spoken in some parts of Malaysia where it has been made official.
A large number of Filipinos of Spanish descent migrated to Spain, Latin America, Australia, the United States, etc. after the Spanish American War, World War II and during the later part of the 20th century. Filipinos of Spanish descent are found in all social spectrum, especially the upper and middle socio-economic classes. Many of them are very prominent in politics, commerce, arts, entertainment industry and professional sports. Many of the most recent ones today are those who's parents emigrated outside the Philippines and later on returned or settled down in another country.
Among the most notable Filipinos of Spanish ancestry are:
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