In Manila Chinatown, two streets are named after 16th century Spanish priests: Salazar Street after Domingo de Salazar and Benavides Street after Miguel de Benavides. Benavides Street is perpendicular to Salazar Street, which in turn is perpendicular to Ongpin Street. The two streets were named after Salazar and Benavides who were pioneers in the Christianization […]
Metro Manila is so urbanized today that only a few people know or can imagine that its capital, Manila, was once surrounded by a “Metropolitan Garden Ring.” When we talk of the metropolis’ vegetable supplies, what almost always comes to mind is the produce transported from the provinces, especially Baguio. But just a century or […]
The three-year British occupation of Manila (1762-1764) had extensive repercussions on the Chinese community. No doubt, the almost complete expulsion of the Chinese in the Philippines by the Spanish colonial regime was a retaliation for their sympathy with the British. In Essays in Colonial Cavite, 1616-1898, Recoletos Ingleses y la joyagaditana (De La Salle University-Dasmariñas, […]
In April 1434, Ming Emperor Zhu Zhan Ji (朱瞻基, 1426-1436) accompanied the Empress Dowager to the Chang Mausoleum (長陵) and Xian Mausoleum (獻陵) to pay homage. On their way home, when they reached the suburb of Chang Ping (昌平), Zhu saw common people along the roadside tilling the fields. He got off the horse and made […]
When the Americans occupied the Philippines in 1898, they also encountered the Chinese problem. To know the situation of the Chinese in the Philippines and help it formulate policies toward the Chinese, the first Philippine Commission created by US President William McKinley conducted a series of hearings to which it invited resource persons to share […]
It so happened that we chose Silang, Cavite, with the consent of its city council, to put up in 1989 the monument of the only full-blooded Chinese in Philippine revolution, Gen. Jose Ignacio Paua. And now, we are happy to discover a lot of informative materials about the Chinese in Silang during the 19th century […]
Not until we read Francisco R. Liongson IV’s 2017 work, Letran: An Untold History, vol.1: 1620-1872, did we know that the first Catholic bishop in China, Gregorio Luo Wenzao (羅文藻, 1616-1691), OP, was a product of the Philippines who came to Manila three times and studied theology at the University of Santo Tomas. Luo was […]
During our research on old names of places in the Philippines mentioned in ancient Chinese records, we encountered a pair of names – 沙瑶 (Sayao) and 呐嗶嘽 (Dapitan). 呐嗶嘽 is easy to locate because Dapitan is pronounced almost exactly like Na-pi-tan in Hokkien or Na Bi Dan in Mandarin. This Zamboanga del Norte city is […]
Catholicism and the Catholic church in the Philippines have been important factors in effecting the integration of the Chinese in the Philippines into the mainstream society since the early Spanish period in the 16th century. The Spanish friars were eager not only to Christianize the local Chinese but also further evangelize and convert the Chinese […]
This saga all started from the name of a special mami and siopao restaurant along C. M. Recto Avenue near Avenida – Pinsec House. Pinsec sounds Chinese. But what does it mean? What is its Chinese origin? Is it related somehow to pansit, the popular Filipino dish? After consulting with a local-born Tsinoy who is […]