Question about Light-skinned Filipinos
Filo Phenderbender
Filipinos has spurred recent research into the causes. It is now highly
suspected that members of the Bilaan tribe in Mindanao discovered a
naturally occuring strain of RetinA late in the 13th century. The
RetinA-like elixer not only cleared the complexion but had side-effects that
lightened the skin.
One clue that lead the researches to make their discoveries was that the
skin tones did not follow family, or blood, lines. Rather it appears
primarily in young adults who's complexion mysteriously cleared just prior
to village fiestas.
Indications are that businessmen are now attempting to register patents
ante-dated back to 1257. Said one excited patent register:
"Mas maraming pera ito kaysa hweteng"
Subas Bala wrote in message <37262ec...@news.sprint.ca>...
>In Stanley Karnow's In Our Image there is this passage:
>
>"Before Pigafetta and his comrades returned to their ship, one of
>Humabon's nephews treated them to a diversion. He took them to his
>house to be entertained by an ensemble of young women, some topless
>and others totally nude, playing musical instruments and dancing. The
>performers were "very beautiful and almost as white as our girls,"
>Pigafetta recalled -- and there, out of discretion, his account of the
>evening ends."
>
>This was during Magellan's conquest of the Philippines. I've always
>thought that Spanish blood explains the light skin among Filipinos.
>So, where was that "whiteness" came from?
Subas Bala
Charles Portugues
and settlers who intermarried with the natives. When Yung Lo the Ming
emperor of China sent a Chinese fleet to the Philippines in order to gain
trading rights there he also attempted to rule over Luzon. He sent Ko Chalao
to be Luzon's new governor. When Chinese interests of colonialization in
Luzon came to an end with the death of Yung Lo in 1424 many Filipinos have
already adopted many Chinese aspects of culture. In addition to this there
were already many Chinese-Filipinos in Luzon (I even read somewhere...I
believe "The Little Brown Brother" Leon Wolff....that Emilio Aguinaldo was a
half Chinese-Filipino.)
Japanese traders, especially those from Nagasaki, frequently visited the
Philippines to conduct trades. Over time Japanese immigrants and shipwrecked
Japanese sailors created settlements all over Luzon and intermarried with
the natives. Spanish conquistadors documented numerous Japanese settlements
in Manila, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera region, Lingayen, Bataan, and
Catanduanes Island in 1571. The light complexion of the natives from Bontoc
as well as Banaue is most likely the result of Japanese intermarriage with
the peoples of Cordillera.
-Charles
Subas Bala wrote in message <37262ec...@news.sprint.ca>...
[Snipped...]
Charles Portugues
mother is as light skinned as some Chinese and Japanese but she is surely
pure Filipino...with no Chinese, Japanese, or Spanish blood what-so-ever...
Sorry I forgot to state that in my previous message...
-Charles
Charles Portugues
Thats true...didn't we adopt Islam from them? Does that make the native
surnames Indian then? I got a great source at
http://www.bibingka.com/names/default.htm Also has some Chinese derived
native surnames.
-Charles
Chris S.
lakis...@hotmail.com (Subas Bala) wrote:
> This was during Magellan's conquest of the Philippines. I've always
> thought that Spanish blood explains the light skin among Filipinos.
> So, where was that "whiteness" came from?
From China, most likely.... I understand that most come from a place that is
opposite Taiwan.... "Fujian" i believe.
--Chris
--
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Johnny Thor
Subas Bala wrote in message <37262ec...@news.sprint.ca>...
>
>I've always
>thought that Spanish blood explains the light skin among Filipinos.
>So, where was that "whiteness" came from?
-------------
Why from Skin-whitening agents, of course. Eskirol has been around for ages;
before Mayor Vi was even born.
--
Talk to me at
Johnn...@Hotmail.Com
DGallermo
> This was during Magellan's conquest of the Philippines. I've always
>> thought that Spanish blood explains the light skin among Filipinos.
>> So, where was that "whiteness" came from?
>
>From China, most likely.... I understand that most come from a place that is
>opposite Taiwan.... "Fujian" i believe.
>
However, the main emigration of the Fukienese Chinese came later, in the late
1700s and 1800s, such as Son Lac, the ancestor of the Lacson family. Many of
the other well-known Chinese-Filipino families date from this time, such as the
Locsin, etc. For some reason, these Chinese emigrants were known as Sangleys.
As for earlier times, it's harder to tell. Nick Joaquin states in "Manila, My
Manila" that large-scale Chinese emigrations did not occur until the Spanish
era. There's very little evidence of a lot of Chinese influence in the
pre-Hispanic Philippines. Seemingly more prominent was the Indian influence.
Many words borrowed from Chinese deal with foods, such as siopao and siumai,
and might have come with the Sangleys. Meanwhile, a lot of the noble titles,
such as hari, lakan, lakambini, etc. came from Indian languages. Ties to Arab
and Indian traders was much stronger in the Philippines than Chinese presence.
Halong,
ManongDave
DGallermo
>
Well, Islam was not very widespread in India, except under the Moguls, perhaps,
and their time in India was later. Islam more probably arrived via Arab
traders, or else the Moslems who settled the Philippines were already Moslem by
the time they got there, since there were several Moslem empires in Indonesia
by that time.
Halong,
ManongD
Subas Bala
>
>"Before Pigafetta and his comrades returned to their ship, one of
>Humabon's nephews treated them to a diversion. He took them to his
>house to be entertained by an ensemble of young women, some topless
>and others totally nude, playing musical instruments and dancing. The
>performers were "very beautiful and almost as white as our girls,"
>Pigafetta recalled -- and there, out of discretion, his account of the
>evening ends."
>
>thought that Spanish blood explains the light skin among Filipinos.
>So, where was that "whiteness" came from?
Another point that could be deduced from this is that the concept of
beauty of Filipinos back then matches that of Europeans, assuming it
didn't deviate in our modern times. Wouldn't that mean Filipinos'
preferences concerning physical appearance were inherent and not
influenced by what we call "colonial mentality" after all?
Hmmm...gotta finish the book...
Nina
white face but a particularly brown colored arms. Gosh! I don't like those products.
Nina
Like me whose lightened skin can be attributed to Chinese blood running across my family's
blood-line. confusion sets in when i get mistaken for a japanese because of my eyes, but not
altogether because my nose is flat and my hair is curly coming from the Aetas. So then i usually
get myself tanned a bit so i'll give justice to the flat nose and curly hair, but i can't do much
about my eyes. In conclusion, where else can you see an "itang-intsik"? Only in the Philippines ;)
tansong isda
>
> In Stanley Karnow's In Our Image there is this passage:
>
> "Before Pigafetta and his comrades returned to their ship, one of
> Humabon's nephews treated them to a diversion. He took them to his
> house to be entertained by an ensemble of young women, some topless
> and others totally nude, playing musical instruments and dancing. The
> performers were "very beautiful and almost as white as our girls,"
> Pigafetta recalled -- and there, out of discretion, his account of the
> evening ends."
>
> thought that Spanish blood explains the light skin among Filipinos.
> So, where was that "whiteness" came from?
I read a translation of Pigafetta's book, and I
read this portion, I noticed Pigafetta's somewhat
fixation to human sexuality. And always mentioning
the naked women.
Anyway, with your question, there are light
skinned people in the PHilippines. Lighter than
Malays, mostly are from Indonesia. But still
darker than Europeans except when all clothing are
stripped (maputi ang mga singit?), then they are
almost the same.
tansong isda
>
> Quite possibly this lightness of skin came from Chinese and Japanese traders
> and settlers who intermarried with the natives. When Yung Lo the Ming
> emperor of China sent a Chinese fleet to the Philippines in order to gain
> trading rights there he also attempted to rule over Luzon. He sent Ko Chalao
> to be Luzon's new governor. When Chinese interests of colonialization in
> Luzon came to an end with the death of Yung Lo in 1424 many Filipinos have
> already adopted many Chinese aspects of culture. In addition to this there
> were already many Chinese-Filipinos in Luzon (I even read somewhere...I
> believe "The Little Brown Brother" Leon Wolff....that Emilio Aguinaldo was a
> half Chinese-Filipino.)
> Japanese traders, especially those from Nagasaki, frequently visited the
> Philippines to conduct trades. Over time Japanese immigrants and shipwrecked
> Japanese sailors created settlements all over Luzon and intermarried with
> the natives. Spanish conquistadors documented numerous Japanese settlements
> in Manila, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera region, Lingayen, Bataan, and
> Catanduanes Island in 1571. The light complexion of the natives from Bontoc
> as well as Banaue is most likely the result of Japanese intermarriage with
> the peoples of Cordillera.
>
> -Charles
>
Luzon, they met some ships from Luzon, and
Pigafetta interviewed the sailors. Asking them of
their sexual habits and the contents of their
cargo.
The cargo contains ginger, cinnamon and anil (blue
dyestuff, indigo), textiles and fruits of various
kinds (soursop, nangka, bananas and others).
The Chinese and Japanese have been in Luzon at the
time and the Chinese failed in its excursion. But
a number remained as settlers. South Pacific
peoples are varied, the variety is great that it
symies academes in any effort to embrace the group
as a race, some people are short (very short) some
tall, some big (wide and tall) and some are lanky
and short, lanky and tall. Kinky hair to straight
hair, black to almost white...how do you define a
group like that?
Imagine a people that intermarries accross
religion, creed, races from the begining, even
before this "melting pot" idea is bantered about,
this is what Pigafetta found, a group of people
continually trading and warring, intrigues and
locals trying hard to get the Portuguese to fight
with the Spaniards (Magellan's crew), to get rid
of one or the other. So that one of them can
control the spice trade.
The story would make one hell of an epic story,
very interesting, I realized now that SEA
contributed much to the world's food supply and
the spices...wow!
tansong isda
Timur the lame made all his rajahs Muslims when he
converted to Islam, when he conquered India. While
the rest of India is Hindu, the ruling class is
Moslem. Islamic evangelists came to SEA and
through the spread of Madjapahit Empire spread the
word. Sri Vijayan Empire practices a combination
of animist and Hindu religion..the question of why
some Filipinos are white, can relate easily from
this. Notice that Pakistanis and Afghanis are
white, unlike the Hindus who are mixed, mostly
dark skinned.
Subas Bala
<mana...@fishbreath.com> wrote:
>I read a translation of Pigafetta's book, and I read this portion, I noticed
>Pigafetta's somewhat fixation to human sexuality. And always mentioning
>the naked women.
Karnow describes it as "clinical", "with the diligence of Masters and
Johnson" -- whatever that means.
Subas Bala
<kala...@redconnect.net> wrote:
>Quite possibly this lightness of skin came from Chinese and Japanese traders
>and settlers who intermarried with the natives. When Yung Lo the Ming
>emperor of China sent a Chinese fleet to the Philippines in order to gain
>trading rights there he also attempted to rule over Luzon. He sent Ko Chalao
>to be Luzon's new governor. When Chinese interests of colonialization in
>Luzon came to an end with the death of Yung Lo in 1424 many Filipinos have
>already adopted many Chinese aspects of culture. In addition to this there
>were already many Chinese-Filipinos in Luzon (I even read somewhere...I
>believe "The Little Brown Brother" Leon Wolff....that Emilio Aguinaldo was a
>half Chinese-Filipino.)
>Japanese traders, especially those from Nagasaki, frequently visited the
>Philippines to conduct trades. Over time Japanese immigrants and shipwrecked
>Japanese sailors created settlements all over Luzon and intermarried with
>the natives. Spanish conquistadors documented numerous Japanese settlements
>in Manila, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera region, Lingayen, Bataan, and
>Catanduanes Island in 1571. The light complexion of the natives from Bontoc
>as well as Banaue is most likely the result of Japanese intermarriage with
>the peoples of Cordillera.
>
>-Charles
Hmmm, this should explain the "whiteness" of some Filipinos then.
Subas Bala
>
>As for earlier times, it's harder to tell. Nick Joaquin states in "Manila, My
>Manila" that large-scale Chinese emigrations did not occur until the Spanish
>era. There's very little evidence of a lot of Chinese influence in the
Actually, the first book I came across to suggests just that. The
galleon trade with Mexico marked the beginning of great Chinese
immigration which substantially altered the ethnic composition of the
Philippines. The great demand for Chinese silk in Mexico for silver
may have motivated it. But the book was written in the late fifties,
so I really didn't put much weight on it when I came across Karnow's
reference to Pigaffeta's recount of what he saw the first time they
landed in the Philippines.
tansong isda
I thought that he must have been the first "I
wanna Filipina" white boy. Hehehehe...
skyrider
tansong isda wrote in message <37280F15...@fishbreath.com>...
>Subas Bala wrote:
>>
>> In Stanley Karnow's In Our Image there is this passage:
<SNIP>
>> performers were "very beautiful and almost as white as our girls,"
<SNIP>
I think we might recall a couple of things, Spainish woman can be rather
dark as compared to say English or German.
And *Almost* covers a *lot* (personally, I am almost Filipino ;^) )
>I read a translation of Pigafetta's book, and I
>read this portion, I noticed Pigafetta's somewhat
>fixation to human sexuality. And always mentioning
>the naked women.
<SNIP>
Hey, how many months was he on the boat getting there? Sound rather *normal*
to me!
Regards,
gary
DGallermo
>I thought that he must have been the first "I
>wanna Filipina" white boy. Hehehehe...
>
Perhaps...he certainly wasn't the last one to claim he was in it just for
"research" hehehehe.
Halong,
ManongDave
tansong isda
Yeah, but I always thought that he was a man of
the cloth...I could be wrong.
Subas Bala
>
>To suggest that (1) significant numbers of the Filipinos are/were
>"white" and
No one's suggesting that, Norman. In my case, I was just wondering why
those girls whom Pigafetta saw were light-skinned when the general
knowledge is that the Chinese didn't settle in the islands until
during the Hispanization period.
>(2) this came from a supposed Indian connection, is ludicrous.
>There are some interesting questions that may be raised by Pigafetta's
>original statement, but most of them center around what this
>16th-century Italian thought he was seeing (besides "wanna
>Filipina"?!). I would note first that he only described these
>particular dancing girls as "white," presumably in contrast to all the
>*other* Filipina/os he had already seen. And the explanation for this
You are correct. It is clear that Pigafetta was surprised to what he
saw. Which means he was only referring to those dancing girls in
contrast to the other natives he first came in contact with who were
mostly brown-skinned.
>might be something as simple as, for example, (1) that they were
>deliberately kept out of the sun, which would have the effect of making
>their complexion lighter [note that both in Europe and China upper-class
>women took great pains to *avoid* anything like a "tan," which was
>associated with the outdoors and therefore with commoners] or
Such contention negates the theory that some of the first Chinese
settlers, who are light-skinned, may have blended with the natives
long before the Spanish came. Believe me, if you were genetically born
dark, no amount of avoidance from the sun will make you any lighter.
:-)
>(2) that they were slaves from some other society entirely, as we know that the
>Philippines was part of a regional slave trade that stretched as far as
>the Indian Ocean. I'm not vouching for either of these theories, merely
>noting that they are more plausible than some explanation which assumes
>that Filipinos in general were "light-skinned," which is not what Pigafetta says.
>
>Norman G. Owen
>ngo...@hku.hk
For now, the only source I could cite is Karnow's which is already
stated in another post: "Successive migrations populated the
islands...One of the earliest, some fifteen thousand years ago,
consisted of Mongoloid tribes driven south from the interior of China
by the Han Chinese...Following them came groups from southern China
and Vietnam...The settlements, mostly located on the sea or along
accessible rivers, had long lured Chinese merchants. With the rise of
the Sung dynasty in the tenth century, however, China forged permanent
trade ties with the islands...In 1405, the dynamic Ming emperor Yung
Lo sought to impose China's supremacy over the Philippines by
arbitrarily appointing a "governor" of Luzon -- the name of the island
having earlier been derived from the Chinese characters "Liu Sung," a
transliteration from Tagalog meaning "land of rice mortars."...The
project crumbled with Yung Lo's death, but the Chinese continued to
deal with the Philippines. In the late sixteenth century, when the
Spanish first reach the village that was to become Manila, they found
a small community of Chinese merchants already functioning there.
To me, these theories are not hard to accept. Common sense tells me
that any one of those islands -- pre-hispanic period -- do not belong
to, or controlled by, any strong group of early Filipinos who had the
capability to deter any foreign invasion. Hence, the islands were
simply there for anybody interested to settle in. Unlike the
Spaniards, the early Chinese, as Asians themselves, didn't find the
need to impose their rules, customs and traditions. They were simply
interested in trading with the present inhabitants. Thus, their
settlements were not as controversial as the Spaniards'.