Chinese Immigrants in the Philippines

Copyright © 2010 by Chester B Cabalza. All Rights Reserved.

It was during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) that Philippine-Chinese friendship reached its peak. In one of the accounts of Sino-Sulu relations narrated in the Ming Annals, it is recorded that the Sultan of Sulu, Paduka Patara, visited China in 1417 where he was royally received by the Chinese emperor. On his way home after a 27-day visit, the Sultan was stricken ill and died in the city of Dezhou in Shandong province. The emperor honored the Muslim king with the title of Kong Ting (brother) and ordered the building of a handsome mausoleum to mark the tomb of his Filipino friend – the only tomb of a foreign monarch in honor of the 15th century Sulu Sultan (Salvador: 2000).

In one of the murals at the National Defense College of the Philippines, it narrates that the Chinese in the Philippines have always been partners of the Filipino people in the struggle for freedom. During the Spanish occupation, the Chinese rebelled against the oppressive colonial rule. Filipino historians referred to these rebellions as the Chinese Uprisings. In one particular instance, in 1953, Chinese rebels led by P’an Ho Wu killed Governor Luis Perez Dasmariñas. The ilustrado or bourgeois class, which led the Reform Movement and the Philippine Revolution against the Spaniards and the Americans, was basically a Chinese-Filipino mestizo class. Worth mentioning was Jose Ignacio Paua, the full-blooded Chinese general in the revolutionary army. He was responsible for building a munitions factory in Imus, Cavite. He was the revolutionary army’s main fundraiser, and led many battles against the Spaniards. In the war of resistance against the Japanese, the local Chinese organized eight guerilla groups to fight side by side with the Filipino guerillas. Most notable was the Philippine-Chinese Anti-Japanese Guerilla Force, popularly known by its Chinese name Wha Chi or Squadron 48. The group, composed mainly of Chinese blue-collar workers, linked-up with the Hukbalahap. Even in modern times, many of Chinese lineages who are strongly assimilated to Filipino culture have triumphantly succeeded in leading the different sectors of Philippine society. Indeed, the Chinese in the Philippines or Tsinoys are partners of Filipino people in the fight for freedom.


Significance of the Research

With the emerging rise of China as a major power in the region and its possible military prowess in the world, it has posed certain credit to foreign policies of all Southeast Asian states particularly, the Philippines. To take into consideration China’s past glories, in fact, according to Schilling (2001: 75-76) he admits that Asia has enjoyed technological leadership in the past, especially in China, which was the world's most advanced country a thousand years ago. The Chinese invented paper around 105 CE. Government Service exams were established in 154 BCE. As for her technological innovations, the compass came about 1100 CE, gunpowder around 1000 CE, block printing about the same time, and silk by 1300 CE. Chinese porcelain of unrivaled quality was discovered by Europeans in 1709. He also admires the Song dynasty (960-1279), and in that period, great technological, cultural, economic levels were achieved. At the peak of its power, during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Chinese rulers decided that China had achieved superior culture among other civilizations and so foreign culture were neither needed nor welcome.

Today, this unprecedented rise of China, maligned by perceptions of its neighbors whether it will exercise its power as a threat or benign?

Only by fleshing out issues and accounts could we understand features and trends in Sino-Filipino security relation then and now. In the past, Chinese influence throughout Southeast had been vast, reaching even as far as the island of the Philippines. Prior to the coming of western colonial powers of Spain and the United States to the country, Chinese traders had been exchanging goods to the archipelago and even coined the beautiful Philippine islands as Mai. Now that the real giant dragon of the East has been awoken, it is therefore necessary for the Philippines to look East and forge bilateral agreements with China, particularly on security issues that may impede each other’s friendship and cooperation.

Given that China stood for its former glory and now reshaping history by transforming itself as a renaissance mighty state in Asia, the question is, how would the Philippines ride to the fast-paced escalation of China’s strength and confront its security issues with the East’s ultimate dragon which may ultimately achieve a great power status in the region?

This is an exploratory paper that shall highlight Chinese achievements prior to western superiority in China and the Sino-Filipino relations prior to and during the rise of western colonialism in the Philippines as written in my introduction. However, the main flow and artery of the paper shall discuss current issues and problems affecting the status of Chinese immigrants in the Philippines. First, the waves of migration of many Chinese to the Philippines encompassing issues created and brought by these immigrants like human smuggling, transnational crimes, and conflicts within Chinese community to the host country.


Chinese Immigrants and Its Threats to Philippine National Security

Many of Chinese descent in the Philippines originated from Fujian and other southern coastal provinces of China. There are two waves of Chinese migration in the Philippines. The Diaspora started in pre-war and followed in post-war. Many who fled China (Ang See: 2005) to developing Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines entered as “undocumented” and “illegal”. As the migration trend went on, in fact, in 1940’s no new immigration allowed in the Philippines except as investors, students and tourists. But in 1980’s due to economic reform in China, numerous Chinese migrated to all parts of the world and many of those went to developed countries of Southeast Asia as popular destinations. Fortunately, some who have come to the Philippines became billionaires and wealthiest taipans in the country.

According to Teresita Ang See’s report (2005) she deems that earlier reasons of Chinese diaspora increased with the bright desire to improve their lives due to reasons of poverty. New Chinese immigrants into third world countries of Southeast Asia like the Philippines at that time came here which was poorer than People’s Republic of China (PRC) And even with China’s phenomenal economic success, its citizens still bent on leaving the country for good. Unfortunately, Chinese immigrants in the Philippines have created threats to Philippine National Security or an entirely new problematic situation for the host country. The problems created by Chinese immigrants are:

1) Human Smuggling – undocumented immigrants to the Philippines pay huge amounts and these aliens become vulnerable to extortion. But all these happen with the connivance of corrupt immigration officials who allow aliens to stay even if they are aware that the residency is obtained fraudulently.

2) Criminal Syndicates – Chinese syndicates have turned to criminal activities like kidnapping, illegal drugs and white slavery. Furthermore, Chinese nationals own 100% of illegal drugs laboratories raided by the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency. Of cases filed in court, drugs of 100 kilos and above, 90% involved Chinese nationals. An alarmist report on “China’s Weaponless War” compiled by the Office of the National Intelligence Agency, submitted to Congress and distributed to selected organizations report that illegal drugs trade worldwide is a deliberate ploy to undermine other countries like the Philippines. Although, some information culled from biased internet sources cite that immigrant Chinese are said to have caused the menace of illegal drugs in the Philippines involving mostly Chinese nationals, from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, thus, this perception still persists signifying decadence among Chinese community in the country.

3) Conflict with host country – looking at some Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, it has suffered severe political and economic repression and persecutions from host countries, but in the Philippines, the case is indeed different in which they are assimilated to the mainstream culture. But the problem is, conflict arises also within immigrant Chinese communities. Teresita Ang see says that, the “new Chinese immigrants” xinyimin came to the Philippines late 1970s to the present. In the Philippines, the terms xinqiao refer to the new immigrants (after the 1970s) and jiuqiao (old immigrants) are the earlier immigrants (before the 1970s). Xinqiao is often referred to as TDK (acronym for “mainlanders” in Hokkien), not without derogatory or pejorative connotations. While it is a convenient excuse to blame the corruption in the immigration for illegal aliens, China and the Chinese immigrants must also bear responsibility for the resurrection of old problems brought about by these immigrants. These problems that existed centuries ago have since recurred in new forms and dimensions.

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