In 1948, a few years after the close of World War II, the number of the Chinese in the Philippines decreased in proportion to the country’s total population. Of the 121,702 Chinese in the Philippines, 2,126 were cooks and 963 were carpenters. Interestingly, there were 1,114 Chinese bankers, 1,669 domestic helpers, 181 family drivers, 99 …
In the minds of many people, there is a prevailing perception that most, if not all, the Chinese in our country are businessmen. But is it true? Based on the 1903 census, among the 41,035 Chinese in the Philippines, there were 2,931 cooks, 2,508 carpenters, 1,363 shoemakers, 1,355 messengers, 998 servants, 549 bakers, 495 blacksmiths, …
True or False: Most, if not all, Chinese in the Philippines are businessmen Read More »
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 27, no. 6 (August 19-September 8, 2014): 5-6. I was so happy and surprised to find a copy of History of Ilocos by Isabelo Florentino de los Reyes at a bookstore recently. Released this year by the UP Press, it is an English translation by Maria Elinora Peralta …
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 21, no. 7 (September 9, 2008): 5,13. The spectacular 2008 Olympic games in Beijing ended with astounding success. Chinese all over the world rejoiced over the momentous event, it being the first in China’s history. Not only did China host the event with flying colors, but the breadth …
Most people, including historians, think that there were no female Chinese immigrants in early Philippine history. Data from 1870 show there were only 193 female and 22,807 male Chinese in the Philippines. Early Chinese immigrants in the Philippines seem, logically, to be generally made up of Chinese males who went overseas to seek better livelihood …
The Chinese sari-sari (variety) store, popularly known among the Chinese as tsai-a-tiam (菜仔店), is a thing of the past. The younger generation of Chinese may not have the chance to see a Chinese sari-sari store anymore even in Chinatown or Chinese districts in Manila or the provinces. They may not have even heard of it …
There is a Chinese saying, “In a nest that falls, there are no eggs left unbroken (傾窼之下無完卵).” And when we say we are the same people in one country – mother Philippines – we always say we are in the same boat, and share the same fate. For Chinese in the Philippines, we always emphasize …
The Ateneo de Manila University Press recently released Michael Cullinane’s new book, Arenas of Conspiracy and Rebellion in the late Nineteenth-Century Philippines: The Case of the April 1898 Uprising in Cebu. According to the back cover blurb, Cullinane’s new title “explores various aspects of late 19th-century Philippine society in an effort to locate the major …
Ferdinand Blumentritt (1853-1913), best friend of our national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal, was one of the greatest experts on Philippine history, culture, language and geography in his day. He was an Austrian and had never been to the Philippines. Yet here we are referring to him in relation to the Chinese in the Philippines. …
A report that appeared in the Aug. 15, 1900 issue of Qing Yi Bao (清議報), a Chinese journal published in Tokyo, lauded Filipino revolutionaries who had refused to give up the fight even after America set up a military government in the Philippines at the turn of the 20th century. The report, “Recent Situation in …
