History of the Filipino

The idea of the Filipino goes much deeper then just simply a name or nationality; it is a sense of pride, longevity and ability to survive through virtually any circumstances. In the Philippines alone there are more than 90 million Filipinos but on the world wide scale there is a total of more than a 100 million Filipinos.

The term Filipino came about back in the days of Spanish colonization. It was not originally used for the indigenous population but rather by the Spaniards who considered themselves to be either Peninsulares, meaning they were born on the shores of the Spanish homeland, or Filipinos designating they were born in the Philippines. It would not be until the late 19th century that the term would be utilized to describe a citizen or a person who descended from a citizen of the Philippines. It was to be José Rizal who would coin the term and since then every citizen regardless of whether they were born in the Philippines or descended from a citizen would be known as a Filipino.

On the other hand, it is also important to keep in mind that the vast majorities of Filipino languages lack the sound which is created by the letter F and that is how the term Pinoy came about. The adopted use of this shortened version of Filipino was adapted utilizing the last four letters of the word followed by the letter Y which is a diminutive suffix in Filipino languages. Pinoy would be first used back in the 1920’s by Filipino Americans.

The heritage of the Filipino far out dates that of the Spanish colonies, and even that of Spain itself. While for quite some time there has been a well known misconception that the Filipino is descendant of the Malay race, this has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be far from the truth. In fact the Filipino is a descendant of the Austronesian people which migrated to the islands in the Philippines as far back as 5000 B.C. The vast majority of these migrating Austronesian came from either China or Taiwan.

The first Austronesian emigrants made landfall in the northern part of Luzon around 1000 A.D. and began intermingling with the Australo-Melanesian or Negrito people who had called the Philippines their home for more than 23,000 years. Within time this mix of what would someday be known purely as Filipino would spread across the many islands of the Philippines as well as Java, Maluku and even Sulawesi.

When the Spanish first arrived, the Philippines was not a single nation, but rather a division of tribal states known as barangays. This term can still bee heard today as a political division within the cities of the Philippines. As it was in the past, barangays still play an important role of what makes a Filipino who they are. There is a certain amount of pride when a Filipino announces which barangay he or she was born and raised in.

As time goes on, the Filipino will continue to remain for the willpower and determination that is breed into each one. Though in the past and even today many Filipinos have to deal with various hardships in life, their continued prevalence in light of hard and troubled times will surely mean that the Filipino will still be around in another 23,000 years.

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