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Filipinos as a whole are not very "Hispanic." However, what matters is the particular individual in question. I have met Filipinos (all of whose families are of partial Spanish descent), speak Spanish, and watch news and television programming in Spanish. I have also met Filipinos who speak no Spanish, know little about Latin culture, and identify only as Filipino or Filipino-American. The former are mostly certainly "Hispanic," the latter are not "Hispanic," and it has nothing to do with race or being "Asian."
Filipinos share a common origin with Taiwanese Aborigines (not the Han Chinese that dominate Taiwan today), Indonesians, Malaysians, and Pacific Islanders. They are collectively known as "Austronesians" which is the name of the language family that stretches from Madagascar to Easter Island:
You'd be surprised the amount of similar words that are shared by these groups. For example, the word for "eye" is:
Tagalog (Filipino): Mata
Hawaiian: Maka
Malay: Mata
Samoan: Mata
Malagasy (Madagascar): Maso
Maori (New Zealand): Mata
Tao (Taiwan): Mata
Today these groups are percieved as very different because centuries of outside influence. Filipinos, Indonesians, and Malaysians were heavily influenced by Mainland Asia while Polynesians, Micronesians, and Melanesians were not influenced by Asia and left to develop their own unique cultures. The people of Madagascar were influenced by Mainland Africa. So today, these groups are considered Asian, Pacific Islander, and African, respectively, even though they all have a similar origin & languages.
To add to that, the Philippines was the most European influenced country in the region. Yes other countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia were influenced by European colonizers, but not nearly to the extent as the Philippines. The Philippines came out with a whole new culture after Spanish colonization. So this is why Filipinos face this identity crisis today. So many outside influences. Nevertheless, most Filipinos today consider themselves Asian
Their Catholicism and historical connection to Spanish/Hispanic culture is irrelevant. Many Sengalese speak French. I don't consider them French or white. Many Indonesians are Muslim. I don't consider them Middle Eastern in any way.
^ I think "Oriental" is more for East Asia (Japan, Korea, China, and Vietnam to a lesser extent) Southeast Asia is pretty different, more Indian than Chinese influence (except in Vietnam)
°Philippine languages are replete with Spanish words
°Philippine cultures in general seem to be more "Latin" compared to other Asian nations.
The only reason why The Philippines people are "Latin" is because of cultural mixing. I still don't know why The Philippines uses pesos as money. And I still have no clue as to how latin america came from across the world into the Philippines and integrated itself into their culture. It's a mystery to me but I definitely DON'T consider them "Latin" by any means.
latino = from latin america so no, a french canadian would not be more "latino" than a mexican american that doesn't know how to speak spanish. france is not located in latin america so its not possible for french ppl to be latino (of course now if you have a haitian immigrant or any other immigrant from latin america in france thats a different story but you should understand what i'm saying).
hispanic = spanish speaking, so no, a filipino is not hispanic because they do not come from a spanish speaking country. they also would not be latino because the Philippines are not located in latin america.
a lot of ppl are confused about the terms hispanic and latino. one can be a latino but not hispanic, for example. and hispanic isn't a race.
°Philippine languages are replete with Spanish words
°Philippine cultures in general seem to be more "Latin" compared to other Asian nations.
As a Filipino-American, I don't consider myself in any way, shape, or form 'Latin'. First of all, I'm not Catholic but Muslim with my name being of Arabic origin except for my middle name, which is Spanish. Second of all, not ALL Philippine languages are replete with Spanish words and most Philippine languages are linguistically part of the same family as Bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Melayu (Malay). It depends how much contact that certain ethnic group had with the Spanish, and mine had very little until the 1870s when they were finally able to take over that part of the Philippines.
In fact, I don't know any Filipino or Filipino American who consider themselves Hispanics.
Even though on the surface, our culture seems to look a lot like Hispanic culture, there are still very many differences. Simply being part of the same empire doesn't mean that you have a lot in common. After all, India and the United States were both under the British Empire. Look how much the US has in common with India.
latino = from latin america so no, a french canadian would not be more "latino" than a mexican american that doesn't know how to speak spanish. france is not located in latin america so its not possible for french ppl to be latino (of course now if you have a haitian immigrant or any other immigrant from latin america in france thats a different story but you should understand what i'm saying).
hispanic = spanish speaking, so no, a filipino is not hispanic because they do not come from a spanish speaking country. they also would not be latino because the Philippines are not located in latin america.
a lot of ppl are confused about the terms hispanic and latino. one can be a latino but not hispanic, for example. and hispanic isn't a race.
Well there's a language in the Philippines called Chavacano, it's mostly Spanish words but native grammar:
°Philippine languages are replete with Spanish words
°Philippine cultures in general seem to be more "Latin" compared to other Asian nations.
Not at all.
I have known Latino peoples and I have known Filipinos and there is nothing of the Latino culture there even though they have had a strong Hispanic influence historically.
20yrsinBranson
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