Each of us has our own identity, whether it is nationality, name, color, profession or culture. Each of us has our own identity that makes us different from other people. Filipinos have also their own identity. Filipinos are Asians who live in the Philippines. They originated from different ancestors. This makes Filipinos a mixture of Asian and Western races.

The first Filipino aborigines were the dark-skinned and small people called Negritos, followed by the Indonesians then the Malays. All these groups of people have something to do with the appearance of Filipinos but Filipinos resemble the Malays most. The characteristics that Filipinos have were inherited from the early aborigines. These groups of people came from the continent of Asia.

After so many years, the Philippines was rediscovered by Magellan, a Portuguese navigator. Many expeditions in the hope of conquering the rich island had followed after that until such time that the Spaniards colonized the Philippines for 333 years. That was too long and many Filipinos became a mixed blood of Asian and European.

The Americans soon arrived which made things better for the Filipinos. The Americans defeated the Spaniards and the Philippines became the colony of America for 47 years, until World War II. Next came the Hindu, the Arabs, Chinese and Japanese. All of these people contributed to what Filipinos are today.

This explains why Filipinos are very versatile and they could adapt to all kinds of environment. Today, the Filipinos have diversified and they are now all over the world spilling in all directions. To be frank, I am truly proud to be a Filipino because Filipinos are knowledgeable in many aspects in life.

Perhaps it's time that other nationalities should understand who the Filipinos are. The wrong notions about Filipinos should be erased from the minds of those who do not know us yet. When we try to see the real identity of the Filipinos we will come to know about how good they are in what they do and how they mingle with other races.

Filipinos are also known for being very close to one another especially their families. This was inherited from the Chinese people. This explains why when one Filipino goes to a certain country, more Filipinos will soon follow.

Filipinos are adventurers and they are fortune seekers. They are not content living in a place where they cannot have a comfortable life. If they fail in one place, they seek a better place to live. Filipinos are very resourceful and nobody could stop them once their minds are made up.

To conclude this article about the identity of Filipinos, it is right to say that Filipinos are Asians trying to seek a fortune elsewhere so they are now all over the world. The generations now are mixtures of all the races throughout the world and this makes the identity of Filipinos more complicated than it already is. But still, as Filipinos, we live to shout to the world that Filipinos still keep their identity being Filipinos even while they are living in other countries.

Learn more about this author, Felisa Daskeo.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about The question of Filipino identity answered?
We want to hear your view. Write now!