Who is filipino

A small but significant minority profess Islam, particularly in the southern Philippines. The people of the Philippines are known as Filipinos. Throughout the colonial era the term "Filipino" originally referred to only the Spanish and Spanish-mestizo minority. The definition, however, was later changed to include the entire population of the Philippines regardless of ethnic origin. They are called ethnic Filipinos. The aborigines of the Philippines, called as Aeta, who are descended from Negritos of the Andaman Islands, now constitute only 0.

Significant foreign minorities include the ethnic Chinese, Americans, and the South Asians mostly Sindh and Pakistani. Various degrees of intermarriage between ethnic groups have resulted in the formation of a new vibrant class of peoples, collectively known as Filipino Mestizos. According to a Stanford University small-n study, only about 3. Languages A total of one hundred seventy-two native languages and dialects are spoken, all belonging to the Austronesian linguistic family.

Since , in an effort to develop national unity, the government has promoted the use of the official national language, Tagalog. Visayan also pronounced Bisayan is widely spoken throughtout the middle islands known as the Visayans and in many areas of Mindanao. English is the predominant non-native language. Other foreign languages spoken are Chinese Hokkien and Cantonese Chinese, among the Chinese and Chinese-mestizo population; Arabic and Malay among some members of the Muslim population; and Spanish preserved and spoken by some families within the Spanish-mestizo minority.

Most Filipinos speak at least two languages. Many speak three or more fluently. The waters around the islands abound in a wide variety of fish.

If the fishing industry were better organized, it could provide a sure and varied source of food for the local population and an important export. The Philippines is one country in the Far East which, as a whole, does not have a population problem. The islands could easily support several times the present population of nearly 18,, people. But while there is much good agricultural land still untouched, certain areas are already crowded.

Among these are parts of Luzon—the northwest coast, the Cagayan Valley in the north, and the central plains—Cebu, and the narrow coastal plains of some of the other islands.

In small part, the reason for this poorly balanced agricultural development is the existence of large estates owned by either wealthy landlords, whose families have held the lands since pre-Spanish days, or by church orders, which amassed great wealth during Spanish rule.

Most of these are located near urban centers like Manila, or along fertile coasts or river valleys where the land and natural transportation facilities favored early agricultural development. Moreover, many of them inherited the debts of those forefathers and are therefore almost slaves to the land. The lack of good roads, sanitary facilities, and other improvements has also prevented the development of many other good agricultural areas.

However, the Philippines have never known famine. They had never known widespread hunger until the Japanese came. But this little land of sunshine and plenty has had an unhappy history. Peace-loving peoples of the world face a tremendous job today in trying to ensure that that history shall not be repeated in the Philippines or anywhere else. GI Roundtable Series. Corey Prize Raymond J. Cunningham Prize John H.

Klein Prize Waldo G. Marraro Prize George L. Mosse Prize John E. Palmegiano Prize James A. The Filipino People. Home Transparency.

Back Bids and Awards Notice of Bidding. The Philippines. READ: Coming home. Is the Filipino really just the kayumanggi person who goes to Catholic mass every Sunday and eats adobo? What does it mean to be Filipino when most of Philippine history is a construct of colonialism? Not everyone might agree but I'm off the sentiment that being Filipino is a choice. As humans, we have the liberty to choose how we define ourselves.

We might not completely be free from the ties that bind — heritage, appearance, upbringing, etc, - but that does not mean we cannot build our identities around them.