Last week , a Filipino co-worker asked me if I had ever encountered an official California document where Filipinos have to choose, identify and check their ethnicity off the following list: Asian, Pacific Islander, Filipino, Other. I said yes, I had, when I applied for a driver’s license, so Dennis, what’s wrong with it ? ” Look, Ren, aren’t we Asian ? ” ( By the way, Dennis is half Italian-American, half Filipino but identifies himself as Filipino. He was also born in the Philippines. )
Anyway, I was confused. I didn’t know what to make of it. I did some research about this issue, and what I learned surprised me. I do know about the Pacific Islander thing, but it’s never been an issue to me. But, why are Filipinos in a separate group ? Filipinos are Asians. To think otherwise is just so ignorant and stupid. Just look at the map.
Here’s something that I found on YouTube. Warning ! This video is highly inaccurate ( nevertheless , very informative ) because the person on the video delves more on Chinese heritage rather than the more accurate Indonesian -Malays who are actually the original settlers of the country. Heck, we cannot even tell a Malaysian, Indonesian, and Filipino apart… and yes, the Filipino language is very similar to Malaysian and Indonesian languages. Ex: Thank you is Salamat in Filipino and Selamat in Indonesian. ( Although about 40% of Filipino language is Spanish or has Spanish roots. Filipinos even tell time in Spanish .) Filipino historians say Filipinos are of Malay-Indo- Polynesian race. It’s true there was an extensive trading with the Chinese, and I’m sure there were intermixing of genes at one point. That’s a given. Heck, according to 23andMe ancestry, a part of my DNA belongs to Chinese Haplo-group.
Is it because of Filipino culture and its shared heritage , history and culture with Mexico ? Heck, both the Philippines and Mexico even call their money Pesos. In fact, at one point in Mexican and Philippine history, the Philippines was considered a province of Mexico. I was surprised to learn that the Filipino words for mother and father , Nanay and Tatay , tiangue/ palengke ( markets ) and which I’m sure all Filipinos consider pure unadulterated Filipino words, are actually Nathual in origin , an ancient Mexican language.
Anyway, I think I should write more about Filipino identity . There are more than 4 million Filipinos in the US, and this number does not even include half-Filipinos who identify their ethnicity as Filipino, like my co-worker Dennis, and Bruno Mars… or the wrestler Batista. Batista’s arm is tattoed with Philippine map, ha ha. That number is more than the population of Koreans, Vietnamese, and Japanese combined . Filipinos are not invisible here in the US, neither here nor there. Not all Asians look like Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese, you know . Look at Indians…they are Asians, too.
Okay, this is all for now from a pissed off Asian. Bye and peace.
Am a Molecular Microbiology student, love to read books, and I play the violin. 
dreamsending
renxkyoko
renxkyoko's space 
Posted by Washe Koda on May 8, 2019 at 4:00 pm
I was in the US Navy In ’76 with Filipinos and honored to to serve with supporters of the free world 🇺🇸 🇵🇭 I will never forget my buddies 😢 ‘Cats ass rats ass dirty old squawt We were US servicemen Who the #@&7 are them❓ (sorry for the refrained sailor language 😉 )
Posted by renxkyoko on May 8, 2019 at 4:15 pm
At one point, there were more Filipinos in the US Navy than Filipinos in Philippine Navy. Ha ha… And , correct me if I;m wrong , Filipinos are the only non-Americans who can join the US Navy.
Posted by Washe Koda on May 8, 2019 at 5:02 pm
I think a citizen from any country with reciprocity to the US 🇺🇸 can join the the armed forces. Arabs have been in the US 🇺🇸 Air Forse for 30 yrs that I know of 😉
Posted by renxkyoko on May 8, 2019 at 5:16 pm
I read about the Filipinos and US navy somewhere. There’s even a recruitment agency decades ago.
Posted by Washe Koda on May 8, 2019 at 5:08 pm
That was a bad deal long ago when Gen. MacArthur said he would return 😢
Posted by renxkyoko on May 8, 2019 at 5:23 pm
Well, the US were all over fighting it out …. and the truth is, it was the American government’s priority to liberate Europe first before those small group of islands in the Pacific, even if they were America’s territory. Sad.
Posted by thelonelyauthorblog on May 8, 2019 at 5:38 pm
Great rant. Too much importance is put on labels.
Posted by renxkyoko on May 8, 2019 at 8:54 pm
I don’t either, but that’s reality here in the US, and if that’s the case, then some things should be corrected.
Posted by arlene on May 8, 2019 at 9:19 pm
I guess it’s because of the different cultures that we were born to that make Filipinos truly unique – Spanish, American etc. but we are Asians, right Ren?
Posted by renxkyoko on May 8, 2019 at 9:26 pm
I have a suspicion those who say Filipinos aren’t Asians are haters. These are Asians living in the US. I just read an article about this on San Francisco Chronicle.
Posted by Dracul Van Helsing on May 8, 2019 at 10:03 pm
As a student of history (I started out as a History major in University), I enjoyed all the history mentioned in this excellently written blog post.
I did not know that the Philippines was once considered a province of Mexico.
Or that a few Aztec Nahuatl words had entered the Filipino language.
It’s been my experience that government documents often show a vast ignorance of history.
What you say about California government documents seem to confirm this.
I find it frightening that government bureaucratic documents seem to be so concerned with a person’s racial/ethnic background.
The same was true of the bureaucracy in Hitler’s Third Reich.
Posted by renxkyoko on May 9, 2019 at 6:44 am
Re province of Mexico… Filipino historians are now revising the country’s history… at least the history textbooks. For example , for over a hundred years, the Philippines was ruled not directly from Spain, but via Mexico, until 1821 when Mexico got its independence from Spain. That was a significant part of history that was not in Philippine history books.
I;m sure there’s nothing sinister about knowing a citizen’s ethnicity. I hope…. >_< +_+
Hitler's Third Reich … ~_~
Posted by renxkyoko on May 9, 2019 at 7:04 am
Nahuatl is Aztec ?? The Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade started in late 1500’s , so I’m assuming there were Mexicans who could still speak the native language that sailed to the Philippines .
Did you watch the video ? especially the linguistic similarity between a Filipino dialect ( Cebuano ) and Pacific Islander s ?
Posted by Dracul Van Helsing on May 9, 2019 at 7:39 am
Yes, Nahuatl was the language of the Aztecs.
I haven’t watched the video yet.
I noticed it’s over 11 minutes.
I’ll watch it later.
Posted by renxkyoko on May 9, 2019 at 7:44 am
My original post was just that 11 minute video, and nothing else… but , well, I guess I talk too much, ha ha.
Posted by Dracul Van Helsing on May 9, 2019 at 7:55 am
I enjoyed what you had to say. 😃
Posted by Shoulael on May 9, 2019 at 1:11 am
I don’t know if this is true, but could “Filipino” being a separate category have something to do with the Philippines being a former colony/territory of the USA?
Posted by renxkyoko on May 9, 2019 at 6:46 am
That’s something to think about…… I don’t think that’s the reason…. but it’s a bit strange, isn’t it ?
Posted by Mage on September 3, 2020 at 11:41 pm
The Philippines was never a colony of the U.S., but may be considered to have been a territory. The U.S. used to have military bases dotted all around the Philippines, at one point the US just proposed that they become the 52nd state, but because Filipinos love their freedom as much as the Americans, they said no.
Posted by renxkyoko on September 6, 2020 at 6:26 pm
No, the Philippines was a colony of the USA… in fact, , the only colony the US ever had… all the rest, like the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico were US territories. I’m a little confused about the difference between a colony and a territory. Correct me if I’m wrong, but in a territory, the people choose one of their own as leader, but in a colony, the leader is chosen by the ruling country. That time, the US had an American governor general . Everything was done according to US laws, nothing could be done or built without approval of US Congress, even a simple bridge , like Jones Bridge in Manila. Even on t Philippine Peso ( money ) then was imprinted United States of America., and a US blad Eagle. ( We have these old coins in my parents’ collection. ) .
Posted by D K Powell on May 9, 2019 at 2:09 pm
For me this is a no-brainer – of course you’re Asian! I think you come across different stereotypes though. Your line about indians are Asian too made me smile. In the UK, we think of indians and Pakistanis as Asian first THEN think of Japanese, Filipinos, Indonesians etc!
However, the term ‘Asian’ is a bit hopeless. If covers 60% of the planet, and cultures vastly different. From Russia (yes, considered geographically Asia) to India to Indonesia and right across Iraq and through to Turkey. There’s very little in common in religion, tongue, looks, dress or anything! 😂
Posted by renxkyoko on September 6, 2020 at 6:29 pm
That’s true ! Ha ha I was surprised that Asia included Russia , and I couldn’t believe that Iran and Israel were included. So, Jesus Christ was Asian?????
Posted by Becky on May 9, 2019 at 11:21 pm
That is interesting. I thought Filipinos were Asian. 🤔
Posted by renxkyoko on May 11, 2019 at 4:39 pm
Becky ! ! ! ! Filipinos are Asians ! ! ~_~
Posted by Becky on May 11, 2019 at 5:27 pm
Oh my gulay! 🥰 yea!
Posted by usfman on May 10, 2019 at 11:37 pm
I would not despair over this unfortunate action as many nationalities are being tracked wrongly under our racist immigration policy of “you no who.”
Posted by renxkyoko on May 11, 2019 at 4:17 pm
I did a few readings , and I must say, it’s mostly the Filipinos’ fault. Living in the US made majority of Filipinos ambivalent towards their real identity. The older generation and first generation Filipino Americans were confused … they couldn’t relate to other Asians due to cultural differences ( could relate more to Latino countries because of religion, language, and shared history) . They were caught in between, hence, the separate category.. It’s weird.
Posted by The Hook on May 11, 2019 at 3:21 pm
Thank you so much for the education, my lovely friend.
Posted by Nickelinho on May 11, 2019 at 6:49 pm
People love to categorize don’t they!? There is some discussion for some places.
Mauritius for example, is technically in Africa, but the majority of people there are of Indian ancestry.
When a white South African guy moves to the USA, is he now an African-American?
But I think most people would agree the Philippines is in Asia and Filipinos are asian.
Posted by soullfire on May 12, 2019 at 11:01 am
Just a guess but perhaps the goal was to distinguish Asians from geographic locations under heavy American influence like having major base stations as opposed to the Asian countries that don’t, or give the inhabitants of those places an opportunity to identify with their local region.
Posted by macalder02 on May 12, 2019 at 12:56 pm
Of all your anger, which is reasonable that you have it, I have learned everything related to your country in a more exact way than looking for it in Google. For example I had no idea of the number of you in Usa. I found it a highly instructive article. Thank you for sharing your nationalist ideas and feelings.
Posted by renxkyoko on May 12, 2019 at 1:07 pm
There is a backstory to justify my annoyance. Or maybe I’m just overthinking. I guess I need to write about that backstory.
Posted by macalder02 on May 12, 2019 at 5:05 pm
So is. You have to take everything out and feel more tranquility inside of you. You do the best
Posted by brokenradius on May 13, 2019 at 7:28 am
Hi Renxkyoko, German language also uses a couple of Aztek loan words, like Tomate (from tomatl) or Schokolade (from chocolātl). And do you know that the word “robot” (a loan word in many languages) has slavic origin (from a Czech novel by author Karel Capek). I would not draw too wide conclusions from single words. To which ethnicity someone belongs is very often the starting point of discrimination, be it a suppresive one or a positive one (“affirmative action”). All in all, mankind all origined from east-Afrika. Of course one can ask if the Philippines geographically belong to Asia or to Polynesia or maybe to Antarctica (Don’t laugh please, the highest mountain in Swizerland, peak Matterhorn, is a fragment of the African continental plate).
One might also ask from where the ancestors of present Filipinos came (usually a mixture of several ways). But to classify someone as belonging to this or that usually leads to nothing good. I know that in some countries the passport mentions “ethnicity” (or even race) of its holder. I dont know what this should be good for. I hope that one day people wont ask this any more, and judge people more by their tallents and personality.
best greetings, Michael
Posted by allenjambalaya on May 27, 2019 at 1:04 pm
Hello Ren. Long time no visit. Right now, I am staying here in Fiji, a Pacifican Island country or Melanesian to be precise. As much as Pacificans (Micronesians, Melanesians, and Polynesians) and Filipinos have traits in common, we Pinoys are truly South East Asians. Thais tell me I look Thai. I was mistaken as a Vietnamese once and someone guessed I am from Indonesia. Cambodians and Myanmar friends look Pinoy to me. Malaysian Bahasa and Filipino languages (Cebuano, Hiligaynon, and Tagalog) have a lot in common. I know an Indonesian who learned Tagalog and Ilocano easily. I knew a Filipina who mastered Indonesian Bahasa though she is in jail. Facial features, filial piety, and language is what makes South East Asians alike. We have Hispanic traits simply because of Spanish colonization. Aside from China, Japan even has trading ties with Manila way back centuries ago and we even have Japanese village here more than a century ago in Manila (there is a Japanese statue in Paco in honor of Takayama Ukon). Some Japanese expressions have Filipino equivalent (e.g. kuuki no yomu is pakikiramdam or simply reading between the lines). Ethnic Formosans (now known as Taiwan) look like Pinoys from the Northern Luzon. Frequent travels and friendship with fellow Asians informed me these first-hand.
Posted by renxkyoko on May 27, 2019 at 3:09 pm
Kuya Allen ( can I call you Kuya, ha ha.) I have another reason why I made a post about this, I notice that a Asian character in a movie is always, always, always represented by a Japanese, Korean, or Chinese. I read an article about how Filipino wanna be Hollywood actors/actresses are told they are not Asian -looking enough. There are other jobs where “Asians ” are needed , but Filipinos don’t get them because they are told they need Asians who look like Chinese.
Yes, I know about the people who inhabited Taiwan before the Chinese from the mainland came. They looked like Southeast Asians.
Posted by allenjambalaya on May 27, 2019 at 8:52 pm
Sure! You can call me Kuya or just Allen. Fijians can even tell we are Filipinos by our looks because they love watching old Filipino dramas. They even borrowed the “palo-palo” in washing their clothes by just watching it done on TV. At least Ned, the best friend of Peter Parker, is a Filipino. John Wick had a Filipino enemy on the film. Martial Artists in US at least know about Kali, a Filipino martial art. Samuel Jackson loves Durian. I had an American classmates who loves eating Lumpia and adobo and knows we love basketball. If film makers don’t know about Filipinos being Asian, then they know nothing about South East Asia at all. We also have our own version of crazy rich Asian Filipinos here and most of them are in politics, show business, and real estate. Discrimination sometimes happen because of plain ignorance.
Posted by Karen on July 5, 2019 at 4:30 pm
I think we can call ourselves “South East Asian” to be specific because I believe there are Western Asia and South Asia as well. Regarding the idea of having a separate ethnicity in a document you are filling up is kind of weird. Could there be a huge crowd of Filipino community in the business area?
Posted by simplymesmc on August 18, 2019 at 1:53 am
Go Pinoys! I love it that you are very Pinoy despite living in the US.
Posted by renxkyoko on August 18, 2019 at 1:25 pm
My two older siblings are not as passionate … it’s funny because I’ve lived here in the US so much longer than my ate and kuya, in fact, since I was 6 years old. Maybe I am more ” history oriented” , and therefore more interested in my own history and heritage.
Posted by jmsabbagh on April 25, 2021 at 4:58 pm
Thank you for stopping by .At Our Catholic Church we have a community of Filipino they are very active and loving people many of them are our friends , we like Filipino cuisine .Best regards.
Posted by renxkyoko on April 25, 2021 at 5:15 pm
Thank you , and best regards.