Group	Filipino people
Pop	103,000,000
Region1
Pop1	92,000,000
Region2
Pop2	3,053,179
Region3
Pop3	1,066,401
Region4
Pop4	636,544
Region5
Pop5	529,114
Region6
Pop6	410,695
Region7
Pop7	305,972
Region8
Pop8	203,035
Region9
Pop9	195,558
Region10
Pop10	139,802
Region11
Pop11	130,810
Region12
Pop12	129,400
Region13
Pop13	120,192
Region14
Pop14	63,464
Region15
Pop15	70,000
Region16
Pop16	40,000
Region17
Pop17	16,938
Region18
Pop18	16,000
Region19
Pop19	12,262
Region20
Pop20	12,000
Region21
Pop21	3,000
Languages	Philippine languages, English; Spanish, Arabic.
Religions	Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism), Islam, Buddhism, Traditional and folk religions and other religion.
Related	other Southeast Asians and Austronesian-speaking people. }}

The Filipino people are an ethnic group primarily located in the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines. Most Filipinos refer to themselves colloquially as ''"Pinoy"'' (feminine: ''"Pinay"''), which is a slang word formed by taking the last four letters of ''"Pilipino"'' and adding the diminutive suffix ''"-y"''. The lack of the letter ''"F"'' in the pre-1987 Philippine alphabet, Abakada, had caused the letter ''"F"'' to be substituted with ''"P"''. This is why, when the 28-letter modern Filipino alphabet was made official in 1987, the name ''Filipino'' was preferred over ''Pilipino''. The name ''Filipino'' was chosen by the Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, who named the islands "las Islas Filipinas" ("the Philippine Islands") after Philip II of Spain.

History

Pre - Colonial:

In 2010, a metatarsal from "Callao Man" discovered in 2007 was dated through uranium-series dating as being 67,000 years old. Prior to that, the earliest human remains found in the Philippines were thought to be the fossilized fragments of a skull and jawbone, discovered in the 1960s by Dr. Robert B. Fox, a North American anthropologist of the National Museum. Anthropologists who examined these remains agreed that they belonged to modern human beings. These include the ''homo sapiens'', as distinguished from the mid-Pleistocene ''homo erectus'' species. The Tabon man fossils are considered to have come from a third group of inhabitants, who worked the cave between 22,000 and 20,000 BCE. An earlier cave level lies so far below the level containing cooking fire assemblages that it must represent Upper Pleistocene dates like 45 or 50 thousand years ago. Researchers say this indicates that the human remains were pre-Mongoloid, from about 40,000 years ago. Mongoloid is the term which anthropologists applied to the ethnic group which migrated to Southeast Asia during the Holocene period and evolved into the Austronesian people (associated with the Haplogroup O1 (Y-DNA) genetic marker), a group of Malayo-Polynesian-speaking people including those from Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Malagasy, parts of Vietnam as well as the non-Han Chinese Taiwanese Aboriginals. Anthropologist F. Landa Jocano of the University of the Philippines, in 2001 postulates that the present indigenous Filipinos are products of the long process of evolution and movement of people.

Fluctuations in ancient shorelines between 150,000 BP and 17,000 BP connected to the Malay archipelago region with Maritime Southeast Asia and the Philippines. This may have enabled ancient migrations into the Philippines from Maritime Southeast Asia approximately 50,000 BP to 13,000 BP.

A January 2009 study of language phylogenies by R. D. Gray at UCLA published in Science (journal), suggests that the population expansion of Austronesian peoples was triggered by rising sea levels of the Sunda shelf at the end of the last ice age in a two-pronged expansion, which moved north through the Philippines and into Taiwan, while a second expansion prong spread east along the New Guinea coast and into Oceania and Polynesia.

The Negritos are likely descendants of the indigenous populations of the Sunda landmass and New Guinea, predating the Mongoloid peoples who later entered Southeast Asia. Multiple studies also show that Negritos from Southeast Asia to New Guinea share a closer cranial affinity with Australo-Melanesians. They were the ancestors of such tribes of the Philippines as the Aeta, Agta, Ayta, Ati, Dumagat and other tribes of the Philippines, today making up .03% of the total Philippine population.

The majority of present day Filipinos are a product of the long process of evolution and movement of people. After the mass migrations through land bridges, Migrations continue by boat during the maritime era of South East Asia. The Ancient races became homogenized into the Malayo-Polynesians which colonized the majority of the Philippine, Malaysian and Indonesian Archipelagos.

Since at least the 3rd century, various ethnic groups established several communities. These were formed by the assimilation of various native Philippine kingdoms. South Asian and East Asian people together with the people of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula, traded with Filipinos and introduced and passed Hinduism and Buddhism to the native tribes of the Philippines. Most of these people stayed in the Philippines where they were slowly absorbed into the local society.

Many of the ''barangay'' (tribal municipalities) were, to a varying extent, under the ''de-jure'' jurisprudence of one of several neighboring empires, among them the Malay Sri Vijaya, Javanese Majapahit, Brunei, Melaka, Indian Chola, Persia, Arabia, Seljuq/TurkishOttoman, Greece, Funan, Champa, and khmer empires, although ''de-facto'' had established their own independent system of rule. Trading links with Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Malay Peninsula, Indochina, China, India, Arabia, Japan and the Ryukyu Kingdom flourished during this era. A thalassocracy had thus emerged based on international trade.

Even scattered barangays, through the development of inter-island and international trade, became more culturally homogeneous by the 4th century.Hindu-Buddhist culture and religion flourished among the noblemen in this era.

In the period between the 7th to the beginning of the 15th centuries, numerous prosperous centers of trade had emerged, including the Kingdom of Namayan which flourished alongside Manila Bay, Cebu, Iloilo, Butuan, the Kingdom of Sanfotsi situated in Pangasinan, the Kingdom of Luzon now known as Pampanga which specialized in trade with China, Japan and the Kingdom of Ryukyu in Okinawa, and most of what is now known as South East Asia.

From the 9th century onwards, a large number of Arab traders from the Middle East settled in the Malay Archipelago and intermarried with the local Malay, Indonesian and Filipino populations.

In the years leading up to 1000 C.E., there were already several maritime societies existing in the islands but there was no unifying political state encompassing the entire Philippine archipelago. Instead, the region was dotted by numerous semi-autonomous ''barangays'' (settlements ranging is size from villages to city-states) under the sovereignty of competing thalassocracies ruled by datus, rajahs or sultans or by upland agricultural societies ruled by "petty plutocrats". States such as the Kingdom of Maynila and Namayan, the Dynasty of Tondo, the Confederation of Madyaas, the rajahnates of Butuan and Cebu and the sultanates of Maguindanao and Sulu existed alongside the highland societies of the Ifugao and Mangyan. Some of these regions were part of the Malayan empires of Srivijaya, Majapahit and Brunei.

Ethnic Chinese sailed down and frequently interacted and even created settlements including CALABARZON region such as Rizal in the northern regions of the Philippines, which carried on trade with the Arab merchants long before the Spanish colonization. This is evidenced by a collection of priceless Chinese artifacts found in the Philippines, dating to the 10th century.

By the 13th century, Arab and Indian Missionaries/Traders from present-day Malaysia and Indonesia brought Islam to the Philippines, where it both replaced and was practiced together with indigenous religions. Most indigenous tribes of the Philippines practiced a mixture of Animism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Native villages, called ''barangays'' were populated by locals called Timawa (Middle Class/ freemen) and Alipin (servants & slaves). They were ruled by Rajahs, Datus and Sultans, a class called Maginoo (royals) and defended by the Maharlika (Lesser nobles, royal warriors and aristocrats). It is scientifically proven that these Royals and Nobles are descended from Native Filipinos with varying degrees of Indo-aryan, East Asian, Dravidian, Arab and even Greek ancestry which is evident in today's DNA analysis among South East Asian Royals who mostly claim their ancestry from way back to the Alexandrian Era. This tradition continued among the Spanish and Portuguese traders who also intermarried with the local populations.

Colonial influence:

The arrival of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 began a period of European colonization. During the period of Spanish colonialism beginning in the 16th century, the Philippines was governed by Mexico City on behalf of the Spanish Empire. Early Spanish settlers were mostly explorers, soldiers, government officials and religious missionaries born in Spain and Mexico. Most Spaniards who settled were of Andalusian ancestry but there were also Catalonians, Moorish and Basques descents. The ''Peninsulares'' (governors born in Spain), mostly of Castilian ancestry, settled in the islands to govern their territory. Intermarriage between Spaniards and Filipinos occurred, but was not as common as in the Americas. Most settlers married the daughters of rajahs, datus and sultans (chieftains) to reinforce the colonization of the islands, while some married only other Spaniards. Today, there are still a few Filipino families who maintain a pure Spanish or European ancestry. Prehistoric evidence attest that most datus, rajahs and sultans or maharlikas (nobles and royals) in the Philippines prior to the arrival of the Spaniards were of mixed indigenous Filipino, Indo-Aryan and Chinese ancestry. They formed the privileged Principalia (nobility) during the Spanish period. In the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of Japanese traders also migrated to the Philippines and assimilated into the local population.

As a part of the Seven years war; the British conquest of the Spanish Philippines occurred between 1762 and 1764, although the only part of the Philippines which was under British control was actually occupied in the Spanish colonial capital of Manila with the principal Spanish naval port Cavite, both of whom are located in Manila Bay. The war was ended by the Treaty of Paris (1763). The treaty signatories were not aware that the Philippines had been taken by the British and was being administered as a British colony. Consequently no specific provision was made for the Philippines. Instead they fell under the general provision that all other lands not otherwise provided for be returned to the Spanish Empire. Many Indian Sepoy troops and their British captains mutinied and were left in Manila and some parts of the Ilocos and Cagayan. The ones in Manila settled at Cainta, Rizal and the ones at the north settled at Isabela. Most of which assimilated into the local population.

The arrival of the Spaniards to the Philippines attracted new waves of immigrants from China, and maritime trade flourished during the Spanish period. The Spanish recruited thousands of Chinese migrant workers called ''sangleys'' to build the colonial infrastructure in the islands. Most Chinese immigrants converted to Christianity, intermarried with the locals, and adopted Hispanized names and customs. The children of unions between Filipinos and Chinese were called Mestizos de Sangley or Chinese mestizos, while those between Spaniards and Chinese were called Tornatrás, and were grouped together with the mixed-race Filipinos of Spanish descent. The Chinese mestizos were largely confined to the Binondo area. However, they eventually spread all over the islands, and became traders, moneylenders and landowners.

A total of 110 Manila-Acapulco galleons set sail between 1565 to 1815, during the Philippines trade with Mexico. Until 1593, three or more ships would set sail annually from each port. European criollos, mestizos and mulattos of Spanish, Portuguese, French and Mexican descent from the Americas, mostly from Latin America came in contact with the Filipinos. Japanese, Korean and Cambodian Christians who fled from religious persecutions and killing fields also settled in the Philippines during the 17th until the 19th centuries.

With the inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1867, Spain opened the Philippines for international trade. European investors such as British, German, Portuguese, Italian and French were among those who settled in the islands as business increased. More Spaniards arrived during the next century. Many of these European migrants intermarried with local mestizos and some assimilated with the indigenous population. Their enterprises became the precursors of the current Chinese and oriental dominated major corporations and conglomerates of the country. After the defeat of Spain during the Spanish-American War in 1898, Filipino general, Emilio Aguinaldo declared independence on June 12 while general Wesley Merritt became the first American governors of the Philippines. On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris formally ended the war, with Spain ceding the Philippines and other colonies to the United States in exchange for $20 million dollars. After the Philippine–American War, the United States civil governance was established in 1901, with William Howard Taft as the first American Governor-General. A number of Americans settled in the islands and thousands of interracial marriages between Americans and Filipinos have taken place since then. Due to the strategic location of the Philippines, as many as 21 bases and 100,000 military personnel were stationed there since the United States first colonized the islands in 1898. These bases were decommissioned in 1992 after the end of the Cold War, but left behind thousands of Amerasian children. The country gained independence from the United States in 1946. The Pearl S. Buck International foundation estimates there are 52,000 Amerasians scattered throughout the Philippines. In addition, numerous Filipino men enlisted in the US Navy and made careers in it, often settling with their families in the United States. Some of their second or third generation-families returned to the country.

Following its independence, the Philippines has seen both small and large-scale immigration into the country, mostly involving Chinese, Americans, British, Europeans, Japanese. After WWII, South Asians continued to migrate into the islands. Most of which assimilated and avoided the local social stigma instilled by the early Spaniards against them by keeping a low profile and/or by trying to pass as Spanish mestizos. More recent migrations into the country by Koreans, Persians, Brazilians and other Southeast Asians have contributed to the enrichment of the country's ethnic landscape, language and culture. Centuries of migration, diaspora, assimilation, and cultural diversity made most Filipinos open-minded in embracing interracial marriage and multiculturalism. Philippine nationality law is currently based upon the principles of your place of birth or origin, and therefore descent from a parent who is a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines is the primary method of acquiring national citizenship. Birth in the Philippines to foreign parents does not in itself confer Philippine citizenship, although RA9139, the Administrative Naturalization Law of 2000, does provide a path for administrative naturalization of certain illegal citizens born in the Philippines.

Together, some of these recent foreign immigrants have intermarried with the Filipinos, as well as with the previous immigrant groups, giving rise to Filipinos of mixed racial and/or ethnic origins also known as mestizos.

Genetic studies

The Philippine Government has never conducted any recent genetic study of great statistical significance about the ancestry of the various Philippine ethnic groups, there have been some studies, based upon very small samples of the population, which provide clues as to their origins. The affordability of DNA testing kits for Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroup verification has spurred the proliferation of public DNA databases such as those hosted by genetic genealogy companies. A Stanford University study conducted during 2001 revealed that Haplogroup O3-M122 (labeled as "Haplogroup L" in this study) is the most common Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup found among Filipinos. This particular haplogroup is also predominant among Chinese, Koreans, and Vietnamese. Another haplogroup, Haplogroup O1a-M119 (labeled as "Haplogroup H" in this study), is also found among Filipinos. The rates of Haplogroup O1a are highest among the Taiwanese aborigines, and Chamic-speaking people. Genetic data found among a sampling of Filipinos may indicate some relation to the Ami tribe of Taiwan.

A 2008 genetic study showed no evidence of a large-scale Taiwanese migration into the Philippine Islands. A study by Leeds University and published in Molecular Biology and Evolution, showed that mitochondrial DNA lineages have been evolving within Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) since modern humans arrived approximately 50,000 years ago. Population dispersals occurred at the same time as sea levels rose, which resulted in migrations from the Philippine Islands into Taiwan within the last 10,000 years.

A 2002 China Medical University study indicated that some Filipinos shared genetic chromosome that is found among Asian people, such as Taiwanese aborigines, Indonesians, Thais, and Chinese.

A variety of research study by the University of the Philippines, genetic chromosome were found in Filipinos which are shared by people from different parts of East Asia, and Southeast Asia. The predominant genotype detected was SC, the Southeast Asian genotype.

''Sinodonty'' and ''Sundadonty'' are two patterns, identified by anthropologist Christy Turner, for East Asia, within the "Mongoloid dental complex". The latter is regarded as having a more generalised, Australoid morphology and having a longer ancestry than its offspring, ''Sinodonty''. He found the ''Sundadont'' pattern in the Jōmon of Japan, Taiwanese aborigines, Filipinos, Indonesians, Thais, Borneans, Laotians, and Malaysians, and the ''Sinodont'' pattern in the inhabitants of China, Mongolia, eastern Siberia, Native Americans, and the Yayoi. Both of patterns are common among indigenous Filipino tribes. Other dental patterns are also found among City dwellers as a result of mixed racial ancestry.

These indigenous elements in the Filipino's genetic makeup serve as clues to the patterns of migration throughout Philippine history. After the 16th century, of course, the colonial period saw the influx of genetic influence from Europeans. During the above mentioned study conducted by Stanford University Asia-Pacific Research Center, it was stated that 3.6% European introgression out of 28 samples was evident in the Philippines.

Languages

Austronesian languages have been spoken in the Philippines for thousands of years with many adopted words from Sanskrit, Arabic, Mandarin, Mon–Khmer and other Asian languages. Starting in the second half of the 16th century, Spanish was the official language of the country for the more than three centuries that the islands were governed through Mexico City on behalf of the Spanish Empire. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Spanish and Tagalog were the preferred languages among ''Ilustrados'' and educated Filipinos in general. Significant disagreement exists, however, on the extent Spanish use beyond that. It has been argued that the Philippines were less hispanized than Canaries and America, with Spanish only being adopted by the ruling class involved in civil and judicial administration and culture. Spanish was the language of only approximately ten percent of the Philippine population when Spanish rule ended in 1898. As a lingua franca or creole language of Filipinos, major languages of the country like Pangasinan, Chavacano, Cebuano, Tagalog, Kapampangan, Bicolano, Hiligaynon, and Ilocano assimilated many different words and expressions from Castilian Spanish.

In sharp contrast, another view is that the ratio of the population which spoke Spanish as their ''mother tongue'' in the last decade of Spanish rule was 10% or 14%. An additional 60% is said to have spoken Spanish as a second language until World War II. Various sources reported the widespread use of Spanish by the Philippine population, among them the secretary of education during the period of US rule, as well as Henry Ford, who reported what he observed and the Filipino speech that he heard in his travels through the archipelago, sixteen of whose provinces where said to be Spanish-speaking in 1906.

In 1863 a Spanish decree introduced universal education, creating free public schooling in Spanish. It was also the language of the Philippine Revolution, and the 1899 Malolos Constitution proclaimed it as the "official language" of the First Philippine Republic. Following the American occupation of the Philippines and the imposition of English, the overall use of Spanish declined gradually, especially after the 1940s. According to Ethnologue, there are about 180 languages spoken in the Philippines. The Constitution of the Philippines designates Filipino (which is based on Tagalog) as the national language and designates both Filipino and English as official languages. Regional languages are designated as auxiliary official languages. The constitution also provides that Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis.

Other Philippine languages in the country with at least 320,000 native speakers include Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Waray-Waray, Kapampangan, Chavacano (Spanish creole), Northern Bicol, Pangasinan, Southern Bicol, Maranao, Maguindanao, Kinaray-a, Tausug, Surigaonon, Masbatenyo, Aklanon, and Ibanag. The 28-letter modern Filipino alphabet, adopted in 1987, is the official writing system.

Diaspora

Filipinos form a minority ethnic group in the Americas, Europe, Oceania, the Middle East, and other countries in the world.

There are an estimated four million Americans of Filipino ancestry in the United States, and more than 300,000 American citizens in the Philippines.

Filipinos make up about half of the entire population of the Northern Marianas Islands, an American territory in the North Pacific Ocean, and a large proportion of the populations of Guam, Palau, and the Malaysian state of Sabah.

See also

Demographics of the Philippines

Ethnic groups in the Philippines

Filipino psychology

Filipino value system

List of Filipinos

List of Filipino athletes

Publications

. ISBN 9789711002268. ARE - . AUS - . CAN - . GWM - . HKG - IRL - ITA - . JPN - . LBN - . NZL - . ROK - . SAU - . TWN - Alien Workers in Taiwan-Fukien Area by Industry and Nationality (JPG and PDF format), 2006 February, CLA, Taiwan.

USA

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References

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Category:Filipino people

ar:فلبينيون ceb:Pilipino es:Pueblo filipino ilo:Tattao a Filipino pl:Filipińczycy pt:Filipinos ru:Филиппинцы sah:Пилиппиннэр (норуот) sk:Filipínci tl:Lahing Pilipino yo:Àwọn Filipínò

name	Mikey Bustos
background	solo_singer
birth name	Michael John Pestano Bustos
born	June 23, 1981Weston, Ontario
instrument	Vocals
genre	Pop, R&B;
occupation	Singer-songwriter
years active	2003–present
website	Official site
notable instruments	}}

Mikey Bustos (born June 23, 1981) is a Filipino-Canadian singer who appeared on the reality television show ''Canadian Idol''. He was known for his signature blue contact lenses.

Early life

Bustos is from the Weston neighbourhood of Toronto. Before ''Canadian Idol'', he worked as a temp at the Bank of Montreal.

Canadian Idol

He placed seventh runner-up in the finals of ''Canadian Idol'' Season One in August 2003, despite ''Chart'' magazine's prediction: "If we were to lay our bets today, ChartAttack’s money would be on Toronto contestant Mikey Bustos, a slightly strange looking young man with a shaved head and the voice of an angel." From his very first audition where he floored the four judges, he won the hearts of millions, establishing the largest fan base early in the competition, and made headlines all over the country.

Mikey recorded with BMG Canada/Vik Recordings for the Canadian Idol Compilation album, which hit GOLD status on the Soundscan Billboard charts on second day of release, and ranked in the Top 5 best selling Canadian albums in its debut week, selling over 60,000 units nationwide.

Post ''Idol''

Post Idol, Mikey began performing throughout Canada and the US at countless events and showcases at top venues. Mikey also had special guest appearances and interviews at numerous radio stations including CHUM FM, CFMT, Z 103.5 FM, Flow 93.5 FM, Mix 99.9 FM, AM 680 News, CHIN Ottawa FM, CKMS 100.3 FM Waterloo, and has several times appeared on CTV (Etalk Daily/ Canada AM Live), CBC Quebec, and local stations like Omni1 and Rogers (Daytime Toronto).

Career

In 2004, Mikey recorded, performed, and mastered his craft in New York City residing in Queens and Manhattan, collaborating and recording with acclaimed producer Glenn Swan (Madonna/Mariah Carey/Tupac Shakur/Notorious B.I.G./Jodeci) of the renowned Chung King studios.

In 2005, Mikey finally released his debut EP record entitled "Love Me Again" on May the 7th produced by Brent Bodrug (Alanis Morissette/Jack Soul/Sugar Jones) of B-Group Music, available at all HMV locations across Canada.

In 2006, Mikey continued to bring his music into the U.S. performing in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas. He also began to take his music into the international market, traveling to the Philippines, where he was front act for the Pussycat Dolls. Mikey also had a series of guest appearances, interviews, and live performances on popular Philippine TV shows including TFC's ASAP '06, and GMA's Eat Bulaga, Star Talk, SOP, S-Files, Unang Hirit, SIS, MTV Philippines, and even the country's first Philippine Idol. Mikey's radio performances and mall performance at Eastwood City in Manila were also highlights.

In 2007 Mikey was featured in a commercial for MTV Canada & was front act for Christina Aguilera in Philippines July 6. Mikey's new music video released in the summer of 2008 of the single "IF IT FEELS GOOD THEN WE SHOULD" from his debut solo album "MEMOIRS OF A SUPERHERO", which was released on December 23, 2008.

In 2009, Mikey's single "If It Feels Good Then We Should" reached Top 20 for multiple weeks on Canadian mainstream radio, as well as Top 2 Music Video on the California Music Channel in the US. His epic music video single "All I Need Is Me" also played at Footlocker Stores nationwide. Mikey under Bustos Entertainment Inc signed with Universal Music/North Fontana Distribution in May 2009.

In 2010, Mikey was nominated for a Toronto Independent Music Award for Best Adult Contemporary category. His most popular song "Everytime My Heart Beats" from his debut album "Memoirs of a Superhero" since its release has become a Youtube phenomenon. He is currently working on his second album. Mikey was also involved in musical theater projects including a star role in the Summerworks production of "Prison Dancer: The Musical".

Mikey continues to tour the world performing and making guest appearances on TV, radio, and internet. His second album is scheduled for release in 2011.

Mikey is also the co-founder, creator, and co-owner of a store providing formicariums (ant farms) and ant keeping products to enthusiasts worldwide.

Youtube videos

Bustos was known because of his videos uploaded in YouTube about Filipino tutorials, Like Eating Balut (an egg with a chick inside), Filipino dining, Filipino courting, Filipino CR and others. He was known also in his parody: Pinoy This Way by himself, Which is Born This Way - Lady Gaga parody. He was shown in Philippines in TV Patrol and Bandila, news shows in ABS-CBN and 24 Oras and Saksi in GMA.

References

External links

Mikey Bustos official site

Mikey Bustos on ''Canadian Idol''

The AntsCanada Ants Store

Category:Canadian Idol participants Category:Canadian people of Filipino descent Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian musicians of Asian descent Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

Group	Filipino American
Popplace	California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Washington, Texas, Florida, and other areas
Langs	American English, Philippine English, Filipino, Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Ilonggo, Bicolano, Waray, Kapampangan, Pangasinanes, and others.
Rels	Predominantly Roman Catholic; minorities of Protestantism, Aglipayan, Islam, and others. }}

Filipino Americans are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipino Americans, often shortened to "Fil-Ams", or "Pinoy", reside mainly in the continental United States and form significant populations in California, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Washington, Florida, Virginia, Alaska, Guam, and Northern Marianas.

Filipino Americans are a large ethnicity amongst Asian Americans. Filipino Americans are the largest group of Overseas Filipinos, and the majority were born overseas; at the same time more than seventy three (73) percent are United States Citizens. One in five are Multiracial Americans. Multiple languages are spoken by Filipino Americans, and the majority are Roman Catholic. Filipino Americans had the second highest median family income amongst Asian Americans, and also had a high level of educational achievement.

Filipinos in what is now the United States were first documented in the 16th century, with small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until the early 20th Century when the Philippines was ceded by Spain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris. The Philippines' independence recognized by the United States on July 4, 1946. Immigration was reduced significantly during the 1930s, except for those who served in the United States Navy, and increased following immigration reform in the 1960s.

Demographics

Population

The Filipino American community is a large Asian American group in the United States. Filipino Americans are also the largest subgroup of Overseas Filipinos.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the 2007 American Community Survey, identified approximately 3.1 million persons as "Filipino alone or in any combination." The census also found that about 80% of the Filipino-American community are United States citizens. Also in 2011, the U.S. State Department estimated the size of the Filipino American community at 4 million or 1.5% of the United States population. There are no official records of Filipinos who hold dual citizenship; however, during the 2000 Census data indicated that Filipino Americans had the lowest percentage of non-citizens amongst Asian Americans, at twenty six (26) percent.

Intermarriage among Filipinos is not uncommon, as they have the largest number of interracial marriages among Asian immigrant groups, as documented in California. It is also noted that 21.8% of Filipino Americans are multiracial, second among Asian Americans.

Settlement

Historical

The earliest recorded presence of Filipinos in what is today the United States is when in October 1587 mariners under Spanish command landed in Morro Bay, California. The earliest permanent Filipino American residents arrived in the Americans in 1763, later creating settlements such as Saint Malo, Manila Village in Barataria Bay, and four others in Plaquemines and Jefferson Parishes. These early settlements were composed of formerly pressed sailors escaping from duty aboard Spanish galleons and were "discovered" by a ''Harper's Weekly'' journalist in 1883. The last of these, Manila Village, survived until 1965 when it was destroyed by Hurricane Betsy.

Significant immigration to the United States began in the 1900s, after the Spanish-American War when the Philippines became an overseas territory of the United States, and the population became United States nationals. Unlike other Asians, who were unable to immigrate to the United States due to immigrations laws of the time, Filipinos as U.S. nationals were exempt. Filipinos, many agricultural laborers, settled primarily in the then Territory of Hawaii and California; during this wave of migration Filipino men outnumbered women by about 15 to 1. This migration was reduced to 50 persons a year following the Tydings-McDuffie Act which classified Filipinos as aliens, but was offset by the United States Navy's recruitment of Filipinos, who were exempt from the aforementioned quota.

The War Brides Act of 1945, and subsequent Alien Fiancées and Fiancés Act of 1946, allowed veterans, to return back to the Philippines to bring back fiancées, wives, and children. In the years following the war, some sixteen thousand Filipinas entered the United States as war brides. These new immigrants enabled the formation of a second generation of Filipino Americans that added to the Filipino American communities, providing nuclear families Immigration levels would also be impacted by the independence of the Philippines from the United States, which would occur on July 4, 1946. The quota of non-naval immigration increased slightly to 100 due to the passage of the Luce–Celler Act of 1946. Thus Filipino American communities developed around United States Navy bases, whose impact can still be seen today. Filipino American communities were also settled near Army and Air Force bases. In 1946 the Filipino Naturalization Act allowed for naturalization, and citizenship for Filipinos who had arrived before March, 1943.

Like other immigrant groups, Filipino immigrants clustered together both out of a sense of community and in response to prejudice against them. This created the first Little Manilas in urban areas. As time passed, immigration policies changed, and prejudice diminished, leading to a decline in the presence of Little Manilas. Following this Filipino immigrants trended to settle in major metropitan areas, and in the West. Filipino Americans had a tendency to settle in a more dispersed fashion, and to intermarry more than other Asian Americans.

Population concentrations

California

As of 2008, one out of every four Filipino Americans make their home in Southern California, numbering over 1 million.

Greater Los Angeles is the metropolitan area home to the most Filipino Americans, with the population numbering around 370,000. Los Angeles County alone accounts for over 262,000 Filipinos, the most of any single county in the U.S. The City of Los Angeles designated a section of Westlake as Historic Filipinotown. Orange County also has a sizable and growing Filipino population.

, the greater San Francisco Bay Area is home to approximately 320,000 residents of Filipino descent, with the largest concentration living in Santa Clara county.

San Diego County has the second largest Filipino American population of any county in the nation, with over 145 Thousand Filipinos, alone or in combination, in 2000, with later claims of that number being higher. In addition, San Diego is the only metropolitan area in the U.S. where Filipinos constitute the largest Asian American nationality, has historically been a popular destination for Filipino immigrants, and has contributed to the growth of its population. A portion of California State Route 54 in San Diego is officially named the "Filipino-American Highway", in honor of the Filipino American Community.

Elsewhere

In Census 2000, the state of Hawaii had a Filipino population of over 275,000. Furthermore, Filipinos make up the third largest ethnicity amongst Asian Pacific Americans, while making up the majorities of the populations of Kauai and Maui counties. In June 2002, representatives from the Arroyo Administration and local leaders presided over the grand opening and dedication of the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu, Hawaii.

The New York metropolitan area is home to 215,000 Filipinos. It annually hosts the Philippine Independence Day Parade, which is traditionally held on the first Sunday of June at Madison Avenue.

Illinois, specifically the Chicago metropolitan area, has 95,928 Filipino as of 2000 and amongst immigrant groups have the highest proportion of foreign born (61%), with a large concentration residing in the North and Northwest sides. Filipino migration to the Chicago area began in the early 20th century, and was predominately men with a significant number of them marrying non-Filipinos, mainly Eastern or Southern European women. At one point 300 of these early Chicago Filipinos worked for the Pullman Company, and overall trended to be more educated then most men of their same age in Chicago. By the 1970s, Filipinas outnumbered Filipinos, with 9,497 total Filipinos in the Chicago Area.

Another area that has a significant Filipino American population is the Southern United States, which contains about 11% of the country's Filipinos. This region includes the Hampton Roads metropolitan area where there are, as of 2000 44,576 Filipino Americans, who make up one quarter of all foreign born residents of the area.

Metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Washington, D.C.. Philadelphia and Seattle are also seeing dramatic growth in their Filipino populations.

Culture

Background

The background of the most Filipino people is Austronesians who originated from eastern Taiwan and settled the Philippines. But there are also Japanese, Chinese and Spanish ethnic elements from colonizations and various settlements as well. The history of American rule and contact with merchants and traders culminated in a unique blend of Eastern and Western cultures, both in the appearance and culture of the people of the Philippines.

The largest ethnic minority now is the mainland Asians (called Chinese), who have played an important role in commerce for many centuries since they first came to the islands to trade. Arabs and Indians also traveled and traded in the Philippines in the first and early second millennium. As a result of intermarriage, many Filipinos have some Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, American, Arab, or Indian ancestry.

Culturally, the Philippines is a country of diverse ethnicities in Asia/Pacific. Reflecting its 333 years of Spanish rule, many Filipinos were given Hispanic surnames, have numerous occasions titled 'fiestas', and the enfused practice of the Catholic religion representing close to 90% of the entire archipelago. Some Filipinos still retain native surnames, which are characterized by repeating syllables (e.g., Cayubyub) or more frequently multi-syllabic (e.g., Lingayan). The other major religion, Islam, is prevalent in the Southern Philippines (Mindanao) and represents nearly 5% of the total Philippine population. Many Filipinos speak American English due to American colonial influence in the country's education system.

In the United States

In areas with sparse Filipino populations, Filipino Americans often form loosely-knit social organizations aimed at maintaining a "sense of family", which is a key feature of Filipino culture. Such organizations generally arrange social events, especially of a charitable nature, and keep members up-to-date with local events. Organizations are often organized on shared regional associations, rather than based on a national identity. The associations are a small part of Filipino American life. Filipino Americans also have formed close-knit neighborhoods of their own, notably in California and Hawaii. A few communities have established "Little Manilas", civic and business districts tailored for the Filipino American community.

Language

Filipino Americans speak Tagalog, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Visayan languages, Bicolano, and other Philippine languages at home. However, an overwhelming majority of Filipino Americans are fluent in English, since it is one of the official languages in the Philippines and many Filipino American parents urge their children to enhance their English-language skills.

Tagalog is the fifth most-spoken language in the United States, with 1.262 million speakers. Many Filipino American civic organizations and Philippine consulates offer Tagalog language courses. Many of California's public announcements and correspondences are translated into Tagalog due to the large constituency of Filipino Americans in the Golden State. Tagalog is also taught in public schools as a foreign language course, as well as in higher education. Another significant Filipino language is Ilokano, which is taught in school as a foreign language course.

Fluency in Tagalog, Kapampangan, Visayan and in the other languages of the Philippines tend to be lost among second- and third-generation Filipino Americans. This has sometimes created a language barrier between older and younger generations.

Religion

Following the discovery of the Philippine Islands on March 16, 1521 by the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, the Philippines was evangelized by Spanish friars, eventually becoming a predominantly Catholic nation and "the cradle of Christianity" in East Asia. Filipino American religious beliefs and values are rooted in their Christian heritage. This is caused by the introduction, and subsequent adoption, of Catholicism and Christian values by Filipinos as a result of 333 years of Spanish colonial rule.

In New York, the first-ever Church for Filipinos, San Lorenzo Ruiz Church, is hosted by the city. It is named after the first saint from the Philippines, San Lorenzo Ruiz. This is officially designated as the Church for Filipinos in July 2005, the first in the United States, and the second in the world, after a church in Rome.

There are other religious faiths with smaller numbers of Filipino American adherents, including various Protestant denominations, Wiccanism, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism. Atheism and Agnosticism also exist.

Socioeconomic

Economics

Much of the Filipino-American community is strongly middle class. The representation of Filipino Americans is high in service-oriented professions such as healthcare. When compared to other Asian American groups (other than Indian Americans), Filipino Americans had a strong median household income.

+ Median Household Income: 2004.
Ethnicity	Household Income

Among Overseas Filipinos, Filipino Americans are the largest senders of US dollars to the Philippines. In 2005, their combined dollar remittances reached a record-high of almost $6.5 billion dollars. In 2006, Filipino Americans sent more than $8 billion, which represents 57% of the total amount received by the Philippines.

Many Filipino Americans own restaurants, while others are in the medical, dental, and optical fields. Several are in the telemarketing business. Over 125,000 businesses are Filipino-owned, according to the 2002 US Economic Census. These firms employ more than 132,000 people and generate an almost $14.2 billion in revenue. Of these businesses, 38.6% are health care and social assistance oriented and produces 39.3% of the collective Filipino-owned business revenue. California had the most number of these businesses followed by Hawaii, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Florida, and Texas.

Education

Filipino Americans have some of the highest educational attainment rates in the United States with 47.9% of all Filipino Americans over the age of 25 having a Bachelor's degree, which correlates with rates observed in other Asian American subgroups. — part of the American Community Survey (ACS) report series based on responses to the 2004 ACS question on race, which asked all respondents to report one or more races.|name=ACS-05}} The recent wave of Filipino professionals filling the education, healthcare, and information technology shortages in the United States also accounts for the high educational attainment rates.

+ Educational Attainment: 2004 (Percent of Population 25 and Older)
Ethnicity	High School Graduation Rate	Bachelor's Degree or More

In California, Filipino Americans are more likely to graduate from college than their Asian American counterparts. Due to the strong American influence in the Philippine education system, first generation Filipino immigrants are also at advantage in gaining professional licensure in the United States. According to a study conducted by the American Medical Association, Philippine-trained physicians comprise the second largest group of foreign-trained physicians in the United States (20,861 or 8.7% of all practicing international medical graduates in the U.S.). In addition, Filipino American dentists who have received training in the Philippines comprise the second largest group of foreign-trained dentists in the United States. An article from the Journal of American Dental Association asserts that 11% of all foreign-trained dentists licensed in the U.S. are from the Philippines; India is ranked first with 25.8% of all foreign dentists. The familiar trend of Filipino Americans and Filipino immigrants entering health care jobs is well observed in other allied health professional such as nursing, physical therapy, radiologic technology and medical technology.

Similarities in quality and structure of the nursing curriculum in the Philippines and the United States had led to the migration of thousands of nurses from the Philippines to fill the shortfall of RNs in the United States. Since the 1970s and through the 1980s, the Philippines have been a source of medical professionals for U.S. medical facilities. The Vietnam War and AIDS epidemic of the 70s and 80s, signaled the need of the American health care system for more foreign trained professionals. In articles published in health/medical policy journals, Filipino nurses comprise the largest block of foreign trained nurses working and entering the United States, from 75% of all foreign nurses in the 1980s to 43% in 2000. Still, Philippine-trained nurses make up 52% of all foreigners taking the U.S. nursing licensure exam, well above the Canadian-trained nurses at 12%.

The significant drop in the percentage of Filipino nurses from the 1980s to 2000 is due to the increase in the number of countries recruiting Filipino nurses (European Union, the Middle East, Japan), as well as the increase in number of countries sending nurses to the United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, 60,000 Filipino nationals migrated to the United States every year in the 1990s to take advantage of such professional opportunities. Other Filipino nationals come to the United States for a college or university education, return to the Philippines and end up migrating to the United States to settle.

American schools have also considered the highly-calibrated Filipino teachers and instructors. More US states have been looking to the Philippines to recruit and fill in the need of their respective schools, particularly North Carolina, Kansas, and Virginia.

History

Filipinos in what is now the United States were first documented in the 16th century, with small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration didn't begin until the early 20th century, and for a period the History of the Philippines merged with that of the United States. After the independence of the Philippines from the United States, Filipino Americans continued to grow in population and had events that are associated to them.

Politics

Filipino Americans have traditionally been socially conservative. In the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election Republican president George W. Bush won the Filipino American vote over John Kerry by nearly a two-to-one ratio, which followed strong support in the 2000 election. However, during the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, Filipino Americans voted majority Democratic, with 58% of the community voting for President Barack Obama and 42% voting for Senator John McCain. The 2008 election marked the first time when a majority of Filipino Americans voted for a Democrat presidential candidate.

At the national level Filipino Americans have increased their visibility over the past few decades. Ben Cayetano, former governor of Hawaii, became the first governor of Filipino descent in the United States. The number of Congress-members of Filipino descent doubled to numbers not reached since 1937, two when the Philippine Islands were represented by non-voting Resident Commissioners, due to the 2000 Senatorial Election. In 2009 there were three Congress-members who claim to have at least one-eighth Filipino ethnicity; the largest number of Filipino Americans in Congress. Since the resignation of Senator John Ensign, the only Filipino American to have been a member of the Senate, in May 2011 there remains only two Representatives who are Filipino American; they are, in order of election to the legislative body:

Representative Robert C. Scott of Virginia, a Democrat

Representative Steve Austria of Ohio, a Republican

Community challenges

Cuisine

The number of Filipino restaurants does not coincide with the size of the population. Due to the colonial period American cuisine has influenced Philippine cuisine, yet it has been described by non-Filipinos in a negative light. Even on Oahu where there is a significant Filipino American population, Philippine cuisine is not as noticeable as other Asian cuisine. Within television programing, Philippine cuisine has been portrayed in a negative light, such as on ''Fear Factor'', and positive light, such as on ''Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations''.

In the United States there are many Filipino American chefs who cook in fine dining restaurants and other places of culinary esteem, including Cristeta Comerford who is the executive chef in the White House, many do not serve Philippine cuisine in their restaurants. Multiple reasons are given for the lack of Philippine cuisine in the U.S., including a colonial mentality, lack of a clear identity, a preference for cooking at home, and a further preference of Filipino Americans for cuisines other than their own.

Cultural dissociation

In Hawaii it has been documented that Filipino Americans have a low cultural identification with their heritage, and it has been documented that many disclaim their ethnicity. This may be due to the "colonial mentality", or the idea that Western ideals and physical characteristics are viewed more positively than their own. Furthermore, although categorized as Asian Americans, they have not fully embraced as being part of this racial category due to being marginalized or victimized by more culturally manifested mainstream Asian American groups. This has led to a struggle within observed groups of Filipino Americans to be American and something else, possibly due to Filipino Americans lacking their own defined culture. It has been documented that within the Filipino American community itself there is a divide between culturally aware members of the community and those termed as "white-washed", which has created difficulty for those seeking to learn about the culture of the Philippines. For those who disclaim their ethnicity, it removes the positive adjustment to outcomes that are found in those who have a strong, or positive, ethnic identity.

Dual citizenship

As a result of the passage by the Philippine Congress of the Citizenship Retention and Re-Acquisition Act of 2003 (Republic Act No. 9225), Filipino Americans became eligible for dual citizenship in both the United States and the Philippines. Overseas suffrage was first employed in the May 2004 elections in which Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was reelected to a second term.

By 2005, about 6,000 people became dual citizens of the Philippines and the United States. This act encourages many Filipino Americans to invest in the Philippines, buy land (only Filipino citizens and, with some limitations, former Philippine citizens are allowed to purchase land in the Philippines), vote in Philippine elections, retire in the Philippines, and participate in representing the Philippine flag.

Many dual citizens have been recruited to participate in international sports events such as the Olympic Games in Athens 2004, the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in Manila, the 15th Asian Games in 2006 and the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008.

In addition, the Philippine government actively encourages Filipino Americans to visit or return permanently to the Philippines via the "Balikbayan" program and to invest in the country. Philippine consulates facilitate this process in various areas of the United States. These are located in Chicago; Honolulu; Los Angeles; New York; Saipan; and San Francisco while honorary consulates are also available in Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Majuro, Miami and New Orleans.

Immigration

Filipinos remain one of the largest immigrant groups to date with over Forty Thousand being admitted annually since 1979. migrating per annum. About 75% consist of family sponsorship or immediate relatives of American citizens while the remainder is employment-oriented. A majority of this number prefer to live in California, followed by Hawaii, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Washington, Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Colorado, Nevada, Alaska, Maryland and Virginia.

Filipinos experience the same long-waiting periods of visa issuance experienced by immigrants of all other nationalities. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has a preference system for issuing visas to noncitizen family members of U.S. citizens, with preference based generally on the closeness of familial relation, and some noncitizen relatives of U.S. citizens can spend long periods on immigration waiting lists. Petitions for immigrant visas, particularly for siblings of previously naturalized Filipinos that date all the way back to 1984, were granted in 2006. Many visa petitions by Filipino Americans for their relatives are on hold or backlogged and as many 1.4 million petitions are affected causing delay to the reunification of Filipino families.

Illegal immigration

In 2009, the Department of Homeland Security estimated that there were two hundred seventy thousand (270,000) Filipinos "unauthorized immigrants"; they are the fifth largest nationality of illegal immigrants behind Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras

"Invisible minority"

Of the ten largest groups of immigrants to the United States, Filipino Americans have the highest rate of assimilation, with exception to the cuisine; furthermore, Filipino Americans have been described as the most "Americanized" of the Asian American ethnicities. However, even though Filipino Americans are the second largest ethnicity amongst Asian Americans, and the aforementioned assimilation, many Filipino American community activist have described the ethnicity as "invisible" as circumstances encountered by the ethnicity are virtually unknown to American public, and even within their own ethnicity.

This description has also been used as a description of the ethnicity in the political arena. In the mid 90s it was estimated that there were about one hundred Filipino Americans elected and appointed to public office. This lack of political representation contributes to the perception that Filipino Americans are an "invisible minority".

The concept is also used to describe how the ethnicity has blended in, as in the previously referenced assimilation, and adapted to the "White norm" and "not identify with a minorit(ized) identity"; this has led to the ethnicity to be considered as "liminal people of color" thus making them "invisible" in institutions of higher education. This assimilation is eased due to several factors such as Filipino immigrants being predominantly Christian, being fluent in English, as well as many being well educated and middle class. The concept is also written as something that occurred in the past, using it to describe how there was not a continuous and stable community from the pre-1965 waves of immigration, and that post-1965 population that came due to the immigration reforms of that time.

The term has also been used to describe Asian Americans as a whole, in multiple fields of study, as well as the concept of Asian Americans being a "model minority".

World War II veteran benefits

During World War II, over 250,000 to over 400,000 Filipinos served with the United States Military. They served in multiple groups, including but not limited, to the Philippine Scouts, Philippine Commonwealth Army under US Command, and recognized guerrillas during the Japanese Occupation. The U.S. government promised all of the benefits afforded to those serving in the Military of the United States. However, in 1946, the United States Congress passed the Rescission Act of 1946 which stripped Filipino veterans who served during WWII of the benefits as promised. It is estimated that monies due to these veterans for back pay and other benefits may be in excess of One Billion Dollars (1,000,000,000). Of the sixty-six countries allied with the United States during the war, the Philippines is the only country that did not receive military benefits from the United States.

Since the passage of the Rescission Act, many Filipino veterans have traveled to the United States to lobby Congress for the benefits promised to them for their service and sacrifice. In the late 1980s the first successful efforts towards reinstating benefits occurred with the incorporation of Filipino veteran naturalization in the Immigration Act of 1990. Over 30,000 of such veterans had come to live in the United States, with most being American citizens, receiving benefits relating to their service. The phrase "Second Class Veterans" has been used to describe the plight of these Filipino Americans.

Since 1993, numerous bills have been introduced in Congress to return the benefits taken away from these veterans, and have all died in committee. In the 110th Congress, the "full equity" bills were S. 57 in the Senate, and H.R. 760 in the House of Representatives. These two bills also did not pass at the end of the 110th US Congress, and have been reintroduced in the 111th US Congress. Similar language to those bills was inserted by the Senate into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which was signed into law, providing a one time payment of at least 9,000 USD to eligible non-US Citizens, and 15,000 USD to eligible US Citizens. However these payments are only provided to those recognized as being soldiers or recognized guerrilla members by the United States or their surviving spouse. Those listed as eligible by the US Government is smaller than the list of World War II veterans recognized by the Philippines. , forty two (42) percent of all claims under this legislation has been rejected; furthermore, the claimant must waive the right to claim any future lifelong benefits.

Efforts continue to overturn the Rescission Act of 1946 in the 112th, and current, Congress as new legislation has been introduced by Representative Speier. , the bill has thirty one cosponsors, and no action has been taken since being referred to committee. There is also a lawsuit to be filed by The Justice for Filipino-American Veterans against the Department of Veterans Affairs. there are ten thousand surviving Filipino American veterans of World War II in the United States, and a further forty thousand in the Philippines, with some estimates stating there are eighteen thousand or fewer surviving veterans.

Celebrations

A reflection of their cultural heritage's deep-rooted fondness of hospitality, Filipino Americans are fond to celebrate events, both personal and community-wide. It is not unusual for a family (and extended families) to host perhaps a dozen occasions a year (e.g., baptisms, birthdays, funerals, holidays, showers, weddings). Filipino American cultural traditions often revolve around meals shared in groups, marked by the ubiquitous handcarved, oversized, wooden spoon and fork wall decorations in Fil-Am households. No celebration in Filipino American customs is without a hearty meal (almost to the point of a groaning table), and so celebrations are highlighted by large buffets of traditional Filipino foods including but not limited to adobo (savory soy sauce and vinegar stewed beef, pork or chicken), lumpia (egg rolls), pancit (noodles), lechon (pronounced leh-chon, whole roasted pig featuring a crisped skin and tender, succulent meat), and grilled fish, often bangus (pronounced bawng-oos, a fresh water fish known commonly as "milkfish" characterized by sweet flesh with a large quantity of thin bones).

Filipino American cultural fondness for festivities has led to the establishment of community-wide festivals celebrating the Filipino culture. These usually take the form of fiestas, street fairs, and parades. Most festivals occur in May during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which includes ''Flores de Mayo'', a Roman Catholic harvest feast in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Congress has established the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May to commemorate Filipino American and Asian American culture in the United States. Upon becoming the largest Asian American group in California, Filipino American History Month was established in October. This is to acknowledge the first landing of Filipinos on October 18, 1587 in Morro Bay, California and is widely celebrated by Fil-Ams in the United States.

Several events commemorating the Philippine Declaration of Independence occur mostly in June since it is one of the most important events for the community. Examples of these are the Philippine Independence Day Parade in New York City, the largest Filipino celebration in the country, as well as Philippine Fiesta in Meadowlands Exposition Center, Secaucus, New Jersey, the largest indoor gathering of Filipino Americans on the East Coast.

+Major & Regional Celebrations in the United States
Date !! Name !! Region
January	Winter Sinulog	Philadelphia, PA
April	PhilFest
May	Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
May	Asian Heritage Festival
May	Filipino Fiesta and Parade
May	FAAPI Mother's Day
May	Flores de Mayo
June	Philippine Independence Day Parade
June	Philippine Festival
June	Philippine Day Parade
June	Pista Sa Nayon
June	New York Filipino Film Festival at The ImaginAsian Theatre
June	Empire State Building commemorates Philippine Independence		New York, NY
June	Philippine–American Friendship Day>Philippine–American Friendship Day Parade
June 12	Fiesta Filipina
June 12	Philippine Declaration of Independence>Philippine Independence Day
June 19	Jose Rizal's Birthday
June	Festál at Seattle Center#Philippines: Pagdiriwang Philippine Festival>Pagdiriwang
July	Fil-Am Friendship Day
July	Pista sa Nayon
July	Philippine Weekend		Delano, CA
August 15 to 16	Philippine American Exposition
August 15 to 16	Annual Philippine Fiesta		Secaucus, NJ
August	Summer Sinulog
August	Historic Filipinotown Festival
August	Pistahan Fesitval and Parade
September 25	Filipino Pride Day
September	Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (FPAC)
September	AdoboFest
October	Filipino American History Month
October	Filipino American Arts and Culture Festival (FilAmFest)
November	Chicago Filipino American Film Festival (CFAFF)
December 16 to 24	Christmas in the Philippines#Misa de Gallo/Simbang Gabi>Simbang Gabi Christmas Dawn Masses
December 25	Pasko Christmas Feast

Notable people

See also

Balikbayan box

Filipino-American Friendship Day

Filipinos of American descent

Flip (slang)

Hyphenated American

Philippine cuisine

References

Further reading

Carl L. Bankston III, "Filipino Americans," in Pyong Gap Min (ed.), ''Asian Americans: Contemporary Trends and Issues'' ISBN 1-4129-0556-7

Bautista, Veltisezar. ''The Filipino Americans from 1763 to the Present: Their History, Culture, and Traditions'', ISBN 0-931613-17-5

Crisostomom Isabelo T. ''Filipino Achievers in the U.S.A. & Canada: Profiles in Excellence'', ISBN 0-931613-11-6

Isaac, Allan Punzalan. ''American Tropics: articulating Filipino America'' ISBN 978-0-8166-4274-8

A. Tiongson, E. Gutierrez, R. Gutierrez, eds. ''Positively No Filipinos Allowed,'' ISBN 1-59213-122-0

Filipino American Lives by Yen Le Espiritu, ISBN 1-56639-317-5

Filipinos in Chicago (Images of America) by Estrella Ravelo Alamar, Willi Red Buhay ISBN 0-7385-1880-8

"The Filipinos in America: Macro/Micro Dimensions of Immigration and Integration" by Antonio J. A. Pido ISBN 0-913256-83-8

External links

Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program

Filipino American Community Builder news and articles relevant to the Filipino American community

BakitWhy - Filipino American Lifestyle

Filipino American Library

Americans of Filipino Descent - FAQs

Filipino American Centennial Commemoration from Smithsonian

Famous Kababayans

Filipino Recipes

Filipino American News Talks

Fil Am Arts

Filipino American Organizations and Businesses

Did Philippine indios really land in Morro Bay? by Hector Santos

Manilamen: The Filipino Roots in America

Filipino Founding Father of Los Angeles

The Manila Galleon Trade, 1565-1815

Chronology of Filipinos in America Pre-1898

Filipino Veterans of War of 1812 and American Civil War

Pinoy Recipe

TheFilipino.com

FilipinoUS.com

History of Filipino Americans in Seattle

History of Filipino Americans in Chicago

Filipino American Organizations Directory in Asians in America Magazine

Census 2000 Brief: The Asian Population: 2000

Archives

Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers Union, Local 7 Records, 1915–1985; Predominantly 1933-1982. 46.31 cubic feet. At the Labor Archives of Washington State, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Carlos Bulosan Papers, 1914-1976. 4.65 cubic feet, 17 microfilm reels. At the Labor Archives of Washington State, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Chris D. Mensalvas Papers, 1935-1974. .25 cubic feet, 1 sound cassette. At the Labor Archives of Washington State, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Chris D. Mensalvas Photograph Collection, 1937-1956. 1 folder of photographic prints. At the Labor Archives of Washington State, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Trinidad Rojo Papers, 1923-1991. 2.81 cubic feet. At the Labor Archives of Washington State, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Category:American people of Asian descent Category:Ethnic groups in the United States Category:Filipino American history American

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