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Why are there so many Filipinos with Chinese descent?
busybee8
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Why are there so many Filipinos with Chinese descent?
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It dates back to ancient times, when Chinese merchants sailed to the Philippines to trade goods. Many of these Chinese merchants migrated to the Philippines, settled, married natives and started their own businesses. Life was good in the Philipines vs in China, so they proliferated. Good article from wikipedia: Chinese Filipino Perfect example of these successful “Merchants-Migrants” are: Henry Sy, the Philippines’ richest man. Born in Jinjian, China. His family migrated to the Philippines and in 1958, he started a shoe store in Quipo, Manila, after that the rest is history.George Ty, who’s worth $4B was born in Hong Kong and his family settled in Binondo, Manila. In 1962, he founded Metrobank which is now the 2nd largest bank in terms of assets and capital.Even with the political tension happening between the Philippines and China because of the West Philippine Sea, there’s still a constant stream of Chinese migration to the Philippines. I’ve been lucky to meet and work with some of these Chinese expats. Very nice people, I have to say.
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The Filipino identity, with its Austronesian roots, was developed with Chinese, Spanish and American influences. The Spanish recruited thousands of Chinese migrant workers called sangleys to build the colonial infrastructure in the islands. Many Chinese immigrants converted to Christianity, intermarried with the locals, and adopted Hispanized names and customs and became assimilated, although the children of unions between Filipinos and Chinese that became assimilated continued to be designated in official records as mestizos de sangley. The Chinese mestizos were largely confined to the Binondo area until the 19th century. However, they eventually spread all over the islands, and became traders, landowners, and moneylenders. Although before the Spaniards took over the country it’s already been noted that trade and treaties with local datus are already established.