Is the Philippines an Asian Country?
There is a number of reasons why a Westerner who visits the Philippines is likely going to ask himself: “is this Asia?”
The very first reason why this question arises is because of its geography: the Philippines is not part of mainland Asia and it lies between the Asian mainland and Oceania and it is closer to Australia than to much of Asia.
Also, the Philippines have a very strong Western veneer and this is the very first thing a Western traveller notices the first time he lands in Manila.
The Ninoy Aquino International Airport or N.A.I.A. is very close to the Roxas Boulevard, a very long stretch of road that is filled with all kinds of trappings that can be found in any modern Western city: shopping malls (like “The Mall of Asia”), huge billboards, fast-food chains, skyscrapers, you name it.
Nothing special about that because most modern Asian cities have more or less similar characteristics.
Malls, skyscrapers, billboards and the like can be found in Kuala Lumpur, in Jakarta and in a lot of other places in Asia.
Spanish vibes
But Manila has something that other places in Asia don’t have: Spanish architecture and Catholic churches.
This is due to the fact that, as the saying goes, “Filipinos lived for 300 years in a convent”, in the sense that they experienced 300 years of Spanish colonization and the Spanish heavyhandedly introduced Catholicism.
So, is the Philippines some sort of Latin American enclave in Asia because of its Spanish colonial heritage?
50 Years in Hollywood
Not really: because the slogans written on the huge billboards that dot the landscape, the street signs, newspapers etc are written in English, the Philippines also has a strong American veneer, and all the more so because the Philippines is full of people who are more than fluent in English, many TV programs are broadcast in English, public officials talk to you in English and English is the language of universities and higher education in general in the Philippines.
My Filipina wife and my mother-in-law are both college graduates and they communicate in English more than they communicate in Tagalog.
This is due to the fact that, after 300 years of Spanish colonization, the Philippines went through some 50 years of American colonization.
It has been said that, in addition to having lived for “300 years in a convent”, Filipinos have also lived for “50 years in Hollywood”
But the Philippines is not even just an Asian country that has been molded by its Spanish and American colonizers.
Filipinos are “Chinese in Business”
Long before the Spanish and the American set foot in the Philippines the Philippines had been exposed to other cultures.
Between the 10th and the 16th century, the Chinese made their way to the archipelago bringing large amounts of porcelain and silk.
The Chinese trade has been so extensive that, to this very day, the Philippines is known as a place that is “Chinese in business”, in addition to being “Spanish in love and American in ambition”.
But the Chinese did not just limit themselves to doing business in the Philippines.
They heavily influenced the cuisine, the family structure and even, to some extent, the local language.
Food in the Philippines is one of those things that get a foreign visitor to ask himself: “where am I?”.
Although the American fast-food culture is very strong in the Philippines, and although many dishes like tsitsaron or empanadas are clearly part of the Spanish heritage, the Chinese have played a major role in shaping the Filipino cuisine and things like noodles, spring rolls (called “lumpya” in the Philippines), rice cakes, along with many culinary methods that comprise the use of kawali or wok to prepare a variety of sauteed dishes are an integral part of the Filipino culture and life style.
Islam in the Philippines
In the 14th century the Arabs reached the shores of the Philippines and started spreading Islam and, to this day, the Southernmost part of the island of Mindanao is predominantly Muslim.
Malay in Family
The first people in the archipelago was a Negroid-pygmy group known as Aeta who, apparently, came to the Philippines across land bridges from mainland Asia
Later migrations from mainland Asia were by water, as sea levels increased and land bridges dropped.
Another reason why Filipinos are Malay in family is because the Philippine languages (not just Tagalog) belong to the family of Malayo-Polinesian languages, languages that are spoken both in parts of mainland Asia and in parts of Polinesia.
Austronesian languages are highly agglutinative and Filipino or Tagalog is filled with nouns, adjectives and verbs that are formed by combining different morphems, like ka-ganda-han, makapag-imbita, nakapag-papatibay and many many others.
The Spanish Period
The first visit by Europeans was the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan.
He landed in Samar in 1521 and, few decades later, the Spanish period officially began with the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi’s in 1565, from Mexico.
He created the first permanent settlement in Cebu.
Much of the archipelago came under Spanish rule, creating what is known today as the Philippines, named after King Felipe of Spain.
In addition to introducing Catholicism, or better yet, a version of Catholicism that was suited to the pre-existing pagan rituals, the Spanish heavily influenced the architecture and, to this very day such places as Vigan or the Intramuros in Manila give the Philippines a Latin American vibe (and all the more so because the Philippines was originally not directly ruled from Madrid but rather through Mexico).
The American Period
Spanish rule ended in 1898 because, after defeating the Spanish in the Spanish–American War, the Philippines became a U.S. territory.
After a brief Japanese occupation during World War II, the Philippines eventually became an independent republic in 1946.
So, due to its geography and its history, the Philippines is kind of suspended between Asia, Polinesia and the West.
It is a combination of Asia and Polinesia as far as the landscape is concerned and, in terms of its people and culture the expression that encapsulates rather nicely what the Philippines looks like is: Filipinos are Malay in family, Chinese in business, Spanish in love and American in ambition.
What a unique part of the world!
If you haven’t been to the Philippines, I suggest that you consider including this unique archipelago in your bucket list.
source https://meantforeachotherforever.wordpress.com/2020/12/11/the-philippines-have-a-very-strong-western-veneer-and-this-is-the-very-first-thing-a-western-traveler-notices-the-first-time-he-lands-in-manila-filipines/
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