First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest | January 19-February 1, 2016 | vol. 28 nos. 15-16 | It is well known that Pedro Paterno, a prominent leader of the Propaganda Movement of the 19th century, is a Chinese mestizo, just like many leaders and famous figures of the movement. Not as known is the […]
The famous Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigade was organized mainly because of two fires that almost devastated Chinatown in Manila – the 1962 fire in Divisoria and the 1968 fire that started on Ongpin Street. These made the Chinese community realize they had to rely on themselves and get organized to effectively fight the fires they […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino DigestSeptember 6-19, 2016, vol. 29, no. 7 What does Francisco Balagtas, the “Prince of Tagalog Poets,” have got to do with Binondo?Balagtas was a significant part of Binondo’s cultural history, according to a book by Fred Sevilla.Most historians refer to Binondo as the economic center of the Philippines during […]
China’s reformists and revolutionists had paid great attention and importance to the Philippine war for independence. This is attested by the fact that a book written by renowned propagandist Mariano Ponce is probably the first book by a Filipino translated into Chinese and published in China – not once, but twice. The first edition came […]
The book Himlayan, Pantiyon, Kampo Santo, Sementeryo: Exploring Philippine Cemeteries, edited by Grace Barretto-Tesoro (University of the Philippines Press, 2017), includes a chapter on the “History of the Manila Chinese Cemetery” written by Donna Mae N. Arriola and Eleanor Marie S. Lim. Arriola and Lim’s comprehensive research is part of the “Exploring Philippine Cemeteries: Alive […]
Balut is a popular delicacy among Filipinos. The late food critique, renowned Doreen Fernandez, considers balut as the Philippines’ national street food. But what are the origins of this delicious and nutritious street food in the Philippines? Margaret Magat, who did extensive research on balut for her master’s thesis, wrote: “Balut was introduced to the […]
Silver played a big role in the Galleon Trade between Manila and Acapulco, Mexico that lasted 250 years, from 1565 to 1815. The silver from Mexico and Peru not only sustained the Philippines’ economy through the Galleon Trade, but encouraged the trading of Chinese goods, mainly silk and porcelain. Silver was in great demand during […]
In this issue, allow me to reprint a lengthy excerpt from a speech delivered by known Chinese community leader Alfonso Zarata Sy Cip in Cebu in 1916. The speech, which opposed the extension of America’s Chinese Exclusion Act in the Philippines, is rare for a leading light of the Chinese community at the time, beside […]
People seldom pay attention to demography, even less appreciate its importance and social implication. From a newly acquired rare book, Our Island Empire by Charles Morris (1899), we came to know that in 1855, “among 525 Chinamen in the fortress of Manila (apparently, Intramuros—Ed), there were only two women and the 5,055 Chinamen in Binondo […]
There is a Chinese saying, “Kaijuan youyi (開卷有益).” It means reading is always profitable. Another, “Shali taojin (沙裡淘金),” means there are gold grains to be found in sand or the essential from a large mass of materials. The two sayings have long been our motto in our research on the Chinese in the Philippines. To […]