Total population | |
---|---|
1,200 Filipino nationals residing in Mexico | |
Regions with significant populations | |
New Immigrants: Guadalajara, Tapachula, Coatzacoalcos and Mexico City. Descendants: Coastal regions of Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Isthmus of Tehuantepec and Colima | |
Languages | |
Mexican Spanish, Tagalog, English and other Philippine languages | |
Religion | |
Roman Catholicism minority of Islam and Irreligion. | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Overseas Filipino, Asian Mexicans |
Filipino Mexicans (Spanish : Mexicanos Filipinos) are Mexican citizens who are descendants of Filipino ancestry. [1] There are approximately 1,200 Filipino nationals residing in Mexico. [2] In addition, genetic studies indicate that about a third of people sampled from Guerrero have Asian ancestry with genetic markers matching those of the populations of the Philippines. [3]
Filipinos first arrived in Mexico during the Spanish colonial period via the Manila-Acapulco Galleon. For two and a half centuries, between 1565 and 1815, many Filipinos and Mexicans sailed to and from Mexico and the Philippines as sailors, crews, slaves, prisoners, adventurers and soldiers in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon assisting Spain in its trade between Asia and the Americas. [4] The majority of the Asian migrants to Mexico during this period were Filipinos, and to a smaller extent, other Asian slaves bought from the Portuguese or captured through war. [5] [6] [7] [8]
During the early period of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, Spaniards took advantage of the indigenous alipin (bonded serf) system in the Philippines to circumvent the Leyes de las Indias and acquire Filipino slaves for the voyage back to New Spain. Though the numbers are unknown, it was so prevalent that slaves brought on ships were restricted to one per person (except persons of rank) in the "Laws Regarding Navigation and Commerce" (1611–1635) to avoid exhausting ship provisions. They were also taxed heavily upon arrival in Acapulco in an effort to reduce slave traffic. Traffic in Filipina women as slaves, servants, and mistresses of government officials, crew, and passengers, also caused scandals in the 17th century. Women comprised around 20 percent of the migrants from the Philippines. [4] [5]
Filipinos were also pressed into service as sailors, due to the native maritime culture of the Philippine Islands. By 1619, the crew of the Manila galleons were composed almost entirely of native sailors, many of whom died during the voyages due to harsh treatment and dangerous conditions. Many of the galleons were also old, overloaded, and poorly repaired. A law passed in 1608 restricted the gear of Filipino sailors to "ropa necesaria" which consisted of a single pair of breeches, further causing a great number of deaths of Filipino sailors through exposure. These conditions prompted King Philip III to sign a law in 1620 forcing merchants to issue proper clothing to native crews. During this period, many Filipino sailors deserted as soon as they reached Acapulco. Sebastian de Piñeda, the captain of the galleon Espiritu Santo complained to the king in 1619 that of the 75 Filipino crewmen aboard the ship, only 5 remained for the return voyage. The rest had deserted. These sailors settled in Mexico and married locals (even though some may have been previously married in the Philippines), particularly since they were also in high demand by wine-merchants in Colima for their skills in the production of tubâ (palm wine). [5] [9]
Christianized Filipinos comprised the majority of free Asian immigrants (chino libre) and could own property and have rights that even Native Americans did not have, including the right to carry a sword and dagger for personal protection. [4] They often owned coconut plantations in Colima, an example from 1619 was Andrés Rosales who owned twenty-eight coconut palms. Others were merchants, like Tomás Pangasinan, a native of Pampanga, who was recorded to have paid thirteen pesos in taxes for the purchase of Chinese silks from the Manila galleons in the 17th century. The cities of Mexico, Puebla, and Guadalajara had enough Filipino neighborhoods that they formed segregated markets of Asian goods called Parián (named after similar markets in the Philippines). [4]
The descendants of these early migrants mostly settled in the regions near the terminal ports of the Manila galleons. These include Acapulco, Barra de Navidad, and San Blas, Nayarit, as well as numerous smaller intermediate settlements along the way. They also settled the regions of Colima and Jalisco before the 17th century, which were seriously depopulated of Native American settlements during that period due to the Cocoliztli epidemics and Spanish forced labor. [5] They also settled in signiciant numbers in the barrio San Juan of Mexico City, although in modern times, the area has become more associated with later Chinese migrants. [4] A notably large settlement of Filipinos during the colonial era is Coyuca de Benítez along the Costa Grande of Guerrero, which at one point in history was called "Filipino town". [10]
The Filipinos introduced many cultural practices to Mexico, such as the method of making palm wine, called "tubâ", [11] [12] [13] the mantón de Manila , [14] [15] [16] the chamoy , [17] and possibly the guayabera (called filipina in Veracruz and the Yucatán Peninsula). [18] Distillation technology for the production of tequila and mezcal was also introduced by Filipino migrants in the late 16th century, via the adaptation of the stills used in the production of Philippine palm liquor ( lambanog ) which were introduced to Colima with tubâ. [19] [20]
Filipino words also entered Mexican vernacular, such as the word for palapa (originally meaning "coconut palm leaf petiole" in Tagalog), which became applied to a type of thatching using coconut leaves that resembles the Filipino nipa hut. [4]
Various crops were also introduced from the Philippines, including coconuts, [21] the Ataulfo and Manilita mangoes, [22] [23] abacá, rice, and bananas.
A genetic study in 2018 found that around a third of the population of Guerrero have 10% Filipino ancestry. [3]
Colonial-era Filipino immigrants to Mexico are difficult to trace in historical records because of several factors. The most significant factor being the use of the terms indio and chino. In the Philippines, natives were known as indios, but they lost that classification when they reached the Americas, since the term in New Spain referred to Native Americans. Instead they were called chinos, leading to the modern confusion of early Filipino immigrants with the much later Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Intermarriage and assimilation into Native American communities also buried the true extent of Filipino immigration, as they became indistinguishable from the bulk of the peasantry. [5] [24]
Another factor is the pre-colonial Filipino (and Southeast Asian) tradition of not having last names. Filipinos and Filipino migrants acquired Spanish surnames, either after conversion to Christianity or enforced by the Catálogo alfabético de apellidos during the mid-19th century. This makes it very difficult to trace Filipino immigrants in colonial records. [5]
Palm wine, known by several local names, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees such as the palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and is common in various parts of Africa, the Caribbean, South America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Micronesia.
The Manila galleon refers to the Spanish trading ships that linked the Philippines in the Spanish East Indies to Mexico, across the Pacific Ocean. The ships made one or two round-trip voyages per year between the ports of Manila and Acapulco from the late 16th to early 19th century. The term "Manila galleon" can also refer to the trade route itself between Manila and Acapulco that was operational from 1565 to 1815.
Chinese Peruvians, also known as tusán, are Peruvian citizens whose ancestors came from China.
Sangley and Mestizo de Sangley are archaic terms used in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era to describe respectively a person of pure overseas Chinese ancestry and a person of mixed Chinese and native Filipino ancestry. The Sangley Chinese were ancestors to both modern Chinese Filipinos and modern Filipino mestizo descendants of the Mestizos de Sangley, also known as Chinese mestizos, which are mixed descendants of Sangley Chinese and native Filipinos. Chinese mestizos were mestizos in the Spanish Empire, classified together with other Filipino mestizos.
Immigration to Mexico has been important in shaping the country's demographics. Since the early 16th century, with the arrival of the Spanish, Mexico has received immigrants from Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia. Today, millions of their Indigenous mixed descendants still live in Mexico and can be found working in different professions and industries.
Ginataan, alternatively spelled guinataan, is a Filipino term which refers to food cooked with gatâ. Literally translated, ginataan means "done with coconut milk". Due to the general nature of the term, it can refer to a number of different dishes, each called ginataan, but distinct from one another.
A palapa is an open-sided dwelling with a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves. It is very useful in hot weather and, therefore, very common on Mexican beaches and deserts.
Mexican settlement in the Philippines comprises a multilingual Filipino ethnic group composed of Philippine citizens with Mexican ancestry. The immigration of Mexicans to the Philippines dates back to the Spanish period.
Lambanóg is a traditional Filipino distilled palm liquor. It is an alcoholic liquor made from the distillation of naturally fermented sap (tubâ) from palm trees such as sugar palm, coconut, or nipa. Lambanog is well-known for having a strong alcohol concentration and can be used as a base liquor for various flavored spirits and cocktail creations. The most popular variety is the coconut lambanog which is commonly described as "coconut vodka" due to its clear to milky white color and high alcohol content. It originates from Luzon and the Visayas Islands. During the Spanish colonial period, it was also known as vino de coco in Spanish. It is particularly potent, having a typical alcohol content of 80 to 90 proof after a single distillation; this may go as high as 166 proof after the second distillation.
Asian Peruvians, primarily referring to those of Chinese and Japanese descent. Around 36,000 constitute some 0.16% of Peru's population as per the 2017 Census in Peru. In the 2017 Census in Peru, only 14,223 people self-reported tusán or Chinese ancestry, while only 22,534 people self-reported nikkei or Japanese ancestry. However, according to the 2009 census, it was estimated that 5% of the 29 million Peruvians in 2009 had Chinese roots and ancestry, while 160,000 Peruvians in 2015 had Japanese roots and ancestry. Today it is believed that the Asian population in Peru would be from 3 to 10% of the population.
The history of the Philippines from 1565 to 1898 is known as the Spanish colonial period, during which the Philippine Islands were ruled as the Captaincy General of the Philippines within the Spanish East Indies, initially under the Viceroyalty of New Spain, based in Mexico City, until the independence of the Mexican Empire from Spain in 1821. This resulted in direct Spanish control during a period of governmental instability there.
Filipino Cubans are Cubans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos have been settling in Cuba since the 16th century and they are one of the earliest Asian communities in the country.
The Pacific Coast of Mexico or West Coast of Mexico stretches along the coasts of western Mexico at the Pacific Ocean and its Gulf of California.
Mexico–Philippines relations are the bilateral relations of Mexico and the Philippines. Mexico and the Philippines share a common history dating from when the Viceroyalty of New Spain ruled the Spanish East Indies for the Spanish Crown. Formal relations between the modern countries were established in 1953. Both nations are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Forum of East Asia–Latin America Cooperation and the United Nations.
Cuba and the Philippines were both former Spanish colonies. Spanish rule on both countries was ended by the victory of the United States in the Spanish–American War as provisions of the Treaty of Paris giving Cuba independence and the Philippines becoming a new possession of the United States.
Asian Mexicans are Mexicans of Asian descent. Asians are considered cuarta raíz of Mexico in conjunction with the two main roots: Native and European, and the third African root.
Latin American Asians are Asian people of full or partial Latin American descent.
Spanish slavery was introduced to the Philippines through the encomienda system which was instituted throughout the Indies by Nicolás de Ovando, governor of the Indies from 1502 to 1509.
Peru–Philippines relations refers to the bilateral relations between the Republic of Peru and the Republic of the Philippines. Both countries are predominantly Roman Catholic and were ruled by the Spanish Empire for centuries. Neither country has a resident ambassador. The Philippines has a non-resident ambassador in Chile and Peru has a non-resident ambassador in Thailand.
Tubâ is a traditional Filipino palm wine made from the naturally fermented sap of various species of palm trees. During the Spanish colonial period, tubâ was introduced to Guam, the Marianas, and Mexico via the Manila galleons. It remains popular in Mexico, especially in the states of Colima, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Guerrero. Tubâ was also introduced to the Torres Strait Islands of Australia in the mid-19th century by Filipino immigrant workers in the pearling industry.