Chinese Filipino

Ethnic Han Chinese sailed around the Philippine Islands from the 9th century onward and frequently interacted with the local Austronesian people.[21] Chinese and Austronesian interactions initially commenced as bartering and items.[22] This is evidenced by a collection of Chinese artifacts found throughout Philippine waters, dating back to the 10th century.[22] Since Song dynasty times in China and precolonial times in the Philippines, evidence of trade contact can already be observed in the Chinese ceramics found in archaeological sites, like in Santa Ana, Manila.[22]

• Chinese (Sangley) in Precolonial/Early Spanish Philippines, c. 1590 via Boxer Codex
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  Chinese (Sangley) Couple Migrants in the Philippines, c. 1590
• 
  Chinese (Sangley) Couple Migrants in the Philippines, c. 1590
• 
  She or Hakka Chinese Merchant with Wife from Ming Dynasty China
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  Ming dynasty Chinese General with Attendant, c. 1590
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  Mandarin Bureaucrat with Wife from Ming dynasty, c. 1590
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  Chinese nobility from Ming Dynasty China, c. 1590

A Chinese mestiza in a photograph by Francisco Van Camp, c. 1875.

Sangleys of different social classes in the Spanish era, as depicted in the Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas (1734)

Mestizos Sangley y Chino (Sangley Chinese-Filipino Mestizos), c. 1841 Tipos del País Watercolor by Justiniano Asuncion

When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, there was already a significant population of migrants from China all of whom were male due to the relationship between the barangays (city-states) of the island of Luzon and the Ming dynasty.

The first encounter of the Spanish authorities with the Chinese occurred when several Chinese pirates under the leadership of Limahong attacked and besieged the newly established capital of Manila in 1574. The pirates tried to capture the city but were defeated by the combined Spanish and native forces under the leadership of Juan de Salcedo in 1575. Almost simultaneously, the Chinese imperial admiral Homolcong arrived in Manila where he was well received. On his departure he took with him two priests, who became the first Catholic missionaries in China sent from the Philippines. This visit was followed by the arrival of Chinese ships in Manila in May 1603 bearing Chinese officials with the seal of the Ming Empire. This led to suspicions that the Chinese had sent a fleet to try to conquer the islands. However, seeing the city's strong defenses, the Chinese made no hostile moves. They returned to China without showing any particular motive for the journey and without either side mentioning the apparent motive. Fortifications of Manila were started, with a Chinese settler in Manila named Engcang, who offered his services to the governor. He was refused and a plan to massacre the Spaniards quickly spread among the Chinese inhabitants of Manila. The revolt was quickly crushed by the Spaniards, ending in a large-scale massacre of the non-Catholic Sangley in Manila. Throughout the Spanish Colonial Period, the China citizens who were mostly of mixed Arab, Iranian and Tanka trader descent called Sangley outnumbered the Spanish colonizers by ten to one due to extensive intermarriage with the native Filipinos, and at least on two occasions tried to seize power, but their revolts were quickly put down by joint forces composed of indigenous Filipinos, Japanese and Spanish.[23]^: 138

Following the mostly unpleasant initial interaction with the Spaniards, most of the mixed raced Arab and Iranian Sangley in Manila and in the rest of the Philippines started to focus on retail trade and service industry in order to avoid massacres and forced deportations to China. The Spanish authorities started restricting the activities of the Chinese immigrants and confined them to the Parían near Intramuros. With low chances of employment and prohibited from owning land, most of them engaged in small businesses or acted as skilled artisans to the Spanish colonial authorities.

The Spanish authorities differentiated the Chinese immigrants into two groups: Parían (unconverted) and Binondo (converted). Many immigrants converted to Catholicism and due to the lack of Chinese women, intermarried with indigenous women and adopted Hispanized names and customs. The children of unions between indigenous Filipinos and Chinese were called Mestizos de Sangley or Chinese mestizos, while those between Spaniards and Chinese were called Tornatrás. The Chinese population originally occupied the Binondo area although eventually they spread all over the islands, and became traders, moneylenders and landowners.[24]

French Illustration of a Chinese mestizo couple c.1846 by Jean Mallat de Bassilan

During the Philippine Revolution of 1898, Mestizos de Sangley (Chinese mestizos) would eventually refer to themselves as Filipino, which during that time referred to Spaniards born in the Philippines. The Chinese mestizos would later fan the flames of the Philippine Revolution. Many leaders of the Philippine Revolution themselves have substantial Chinese ancestry. These include Emilio Aguinaldo, Andrés Bonifacio, Marcelo del Pilar, Antonio Luna, José Rizal and Manuel Tinio.[25]

Sometime in the year 1750, an adventurous young man named Wo Sing Lok, also known as "Sin Lok" arrived in Manila, Philippines. The 12-year-old traveler came from Amoy, the old name for Xiamen, an island known in ancient times as "Gateway to China"—near the mouth of Jiulong "Nine Dragon" River in the southern part of Fujian Province.

Earlier in Manila, immigrants from China were herded to stay in the Chinese trading center called "Parian". After the Sangley Revolt of 1603, this was destroyed and burned by the Spanish authorities. Three decades later, Chinese traders built a new and bigger Parian near Intramuros.

For fear of a Chinese uprising similar to that in Manila, the Spanish authorities implementing the royal decree of Gov. Gen. Juan de Vargas dated July 17, 1679, rounded up the Chinese in Iloilo and hamletted them in the parian (now Avanceña Street). It compelled all local unmarried Chinese to live in the Parian and all married Chinese to stay in Binondo. Similar Chinese enclaves or "Parian" were later established in Camarines Sur, Cebu and Iloilo.[26]

Sin Lok together with the progenitors of the Lacson, Sayson, Ditching, Layson, Ganzon, Sanson and other families who fled Southern China during the reign of the despotic Qing dynasty (1644–1912) in the 18th century and arrived in Maynilad; finally, decided to sail farther south and landed at the port of Batiano river to settle permanently in "Parian" near La Villa Rica de Arevalo in Iloilo.[27][28]

Binondo Church, the main church of the district of Binondo

During the American colonial period, the Chinese Exclusion Act in the United States was also put into effect in the Philippines.[29] Nevertheless, the Chinese were able to settle in the Philippines with the help of other Chinese Filipinos, despite strict American law enforcement, usually through "adopting" relatives from Mainland or by assuming entirely new identities with new names.

Ongpin St., Binondo, Manila (1949)

The privileged position of the Chinese as middlemen of the economy under Spanish colonial rule[30] quickly fell, as the Americans favored the principalía (educated elite) formed by Chinese mestizos and Spanish mestizos. As American rule in the Philippines started, events in Mainland China starting from the Taiping Rebellion, Chinese Civil War and Boxer Rebellion led to the fall of the Qing dynasty, which led thousands of Chinese from Fujian Province in China to migrate en masse to the Philippines to avoid poverty, worsening famine and political persecution. This group eventually formed the bulk of the current population of unmixed Chinese Filipinos.[25]

Arm-tag of the Wha-Chi Battalion or Squadron 48

Beginning in World War II, Chinese soldiers and guerrillas joined in the fight against the Japanese Imperial Forces during the Japanese Occupation in the Philippines (1941–1945). On April 9, 1942, many Chinese Filipino Prisoners of War were killed by Japanese Forces during the Bataan Death March after the fall of Bataan and Corregidor in 1942. Chinese Filipinos were integrated in the U.S. Armed Forces of the First & Second Filipino Infantry Regiments of the United States Army. After the Fall of Bataan and Corregidor in 1942, Chinese Filipinos joined as soldiers in a military unit of the Philippine Commonwealth Army under the U.S. military command as a ground arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) which started the battles between the Japanese Counter-Insurgencies and Allied Liberators from 1942 to 1945 to fight against the Japanese Imperial forces. Some Chinese Filipinos who joined as soldiers were integrated into the 11th, 14th, 15th, 66th & 121st Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Armed Forces in the Philippines – Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL) under the military unit of the Philippine Commonwealth Army started the Liberation in Northern Luzon and aided the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Abra, Mountain Province, Cagayan, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya in attacking Imperial Japanese forces. Many Chinese Filipinos joined the guerrilla movement of the Philippine-Chinese Anti-Japanese guerrilla resistance fighter unit or Wha-Chi Movement, the Ampaw Unit under Colonel Chua Sy Tiao and the Chinese Filipino 48th Squadron since 1942 to 1946 in attacking Japanese forces. Thousands of Chinese Filipino soldiers and guerrillas died of heroism in the Philippines from 1941 to 1945 during World War II. Thousands of Chinese Filipino veterans are interred in the Shrine of Martyr's Freedom of the Filipino Chinese in World War II located in Manila. The new-found unity between the ethnic Chinese migrants and the indigenous Filipinos against a common enemy – the Japanese, served as a catalyst in the formation of a Chinese Filipino identity who started to regard the Philippines as their home.[31]

Under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos, Chinese Filipinos called "lao cao" (Philippine Hokkien Chinese: 老猴; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lāu-kâu, meaning "old people" or literally, "old monkey" (a comedic reference to the Monkey King (Sun Wukong) from the old famous Chinese classical novel, Journey to the West)), i.e., Chinese in the Philippines who acquired citizenship, referred only to those who arrived in the country before World War II. Those who arrived after the war were called the "jiu qiao" (Mandarin simplified Chinese: 旧侨; traditional Chinese: 舊僑; pinyin: jiù qiáo; lit. 'old sojourner'). They were residents who came from China (also usually southern Fujian) via British Hong Kong, such as through North Point, Causeway Bay, or Kowloon Bay, between the 1950s to 1980s.[32]

Chinese schools in the Philippines, which were governed by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China (Taiwan), were transferred under the jurisdiction of the Philippine government's Department of Education. Virtually all Chinese schools were ordered closed or else to limit the time allotted for Chinese language, history and culture subjects from four hours to two hours and instead devote them to the study of Filipino languages and culture. Marcos' policies eventually led to the formal assimilation of the Chinese Filipinos into mainstream Filipino society,[33] the majority were granted citizenship, under the administration of Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos.[32]

Following the February 1986 People Power Revolution (EDSA 1), the Chinese Filipinos quickly gained national spotlight as Cory Aquino, a Tarlac Chinese mestiza from the influential Cojuangco family took up the Presidency.[34]

Corazon Aquino, of Sangley Chinese mestizo ancestry of Tarlac, is the third Philippine president to have ethnic Chinese ancestry through the Cojuangco family.

Despite getting better protections, crimes against Chinese Filipinos were still present, the same way as crimes against other ethnic groups in the Philippines, as the country was still battling the lingering economic effects of the Marcos regime.[35][36] All these led to the formation of the first Chinese Filipino organization, Kaisa Para Sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (Unity for Progress) by Teresita Ang-See[lower-alpha 2] which called for mutual understanding between the ethnic Chinese and the native Filipinos. Aquino encouraged free press and cultural harmony, a process which led to the burgeoning of the Chinese-language media[37] During this time, the third wave of Chinese migrants came. They are known as the "xin qiao" (Mandarin simplified Chinese: 新侨; traditional Chinese: 新僑; pinyin: xīn qiáo; lit. 'new sojourner'), tourists or temporary visitors with fake papers, fake permanent residencies or fake Philippine passports that started coming starting the 1990s during the administration of Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada.[32]

More Chinese Filipinos were given Philippine citizenship during the 21st century. Chinese influence in the country increased during the pro-China presidency of Gloria Arroyo.[38] Businesses by Chinese Filipinos were said to have improved under Benigno Aquino's presidency, while mainland Chinese migration into the Philippines decreased due to Aquino's pro-Filipino and pro-American approach in handling disputes with China.[39] "Xin qiao" Chinese migration from mainland China into the Philippines intensified from 2016 up to the present,[32] due to controversial pro-China policies by the Rodrigo Duterte presidency, prioritizing Chinese POGO businesses.[40]

The Chinese Filipino community have expressed concerns over the ongoing disputes between China and the Philippines, which majority preferring peaceful approaches to the dispute to safeguard their own private businesses.[32][41]

Chinese Filipinos who have roots as Hokkien people (福建人/閩南人) predominantly have ancestors who came from Southern Fujian and usually speak or at least have Philippine Hokkien as heritage language. They form the bulk of Chinese settlers in the Philippines during or after the Spanish Colonial Period, and settled or spread primarily from Metro Manila and key cities in Luzon such as Angeles City, Baguio, Dagupan, Ilagan, Laoag, Lucena, Tarlac and Vigan, as well as in major Visayan and Mindanao cities such as Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, Dumaguete, General Santos, Iligan, Metro Iloilo, Ormoc, Tacloban, Tagbilaran and Zamboanga.

Hokkien peoples, also known in English: Fukienese / Hokkienese / Fookienese / Fujianese or in Philippine Hokkien simplified Chinese: 咱人 / 福建人 / 闽南人; traditional Chinese: 咱儂 / 福建儂 / 閩南儂; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lán-nâng / Lán-lâng / Nán-nâng / Hok-kiàn-lâng / Bân-lâm-lâng or in Mandarin simplified Chinese: 福建人 / 闽南人; traditional Chinese: 福建人 / 閩南人; pinyin: Fújiànren / Mǐnnánrén, form 98.7% of all unmixed ethnic Chinese in the Philippines. Of the Hokkien peoples, about 75% are from Quanzhou Prefecture (especially around Jinjiang City), 23% are from Zhangzhou Prefecture and 2% are from Xiamen City.[42]

According to a study of around 30,000 gravestones in the Manila Chinese Cemetery which writes the birthplace or family ancestral origins of those buried there, 66.46% were from Jinjiang City (Quanzhou), 17.63% from Nan'an, Fujian (Quanzhou), 8.12% from Xiamen in general, 2.96% from Hui'an County (Quanzhou), 1.55% from Longxi County (now part of Longhai City, Zhangzhou), 1.24% from Enming (Siming District, Xiamen), 1.17% from Quanzhou in general, 1.12% from Tong'an District (Xiamen), 0.85% from Shishi City (Quanzhou), 0.58% from Yongchun County (Quanzhou) and 0.54% from Anxi County (Quanzhou).[43]

The Hokkien-descended Chinese Filipinos currently dominate the light industry and heavy industry, as well as the entrepreneurial and real estate sectors of the Philippine economy. Many younger Hokkien-descended Chinese Filipinos are also entering the fields of banking, computer science, engineering, finance and medicine.

To date, most emigrants and permanent residents from Mainland China, as well as the vast majority of Taiwanese people in the Philippines are also of Hokkien background.

Linguistically related to the Hokkien people are the Teochew (Philippine Hokkien Chinese: 潮州人; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tiô-chiu-lâng or in Mandarin Chinese: 潮州人; pinyin: Cháozhōurén).

They migrated in large numbers to the Philippines during the Spanish Period to the main Luzon island of the Philippines, such as the famed smuggler, Limahong (林阿鳳), and his followers who were originally from Raoping, Chaozhou,[44] but later on were eventually assimilated by intermarriage with the mainstream Hokkien.

The Teochews are often mistaken for being Hokkien.

Chinese Filipinos who have roots as Cantonese people (Cantonese Chinese: 廣府人; Cantonese Yale: Gwóng fú yàhn) have ancestors who came from Guangdong Province and speak or at least have Cantonese or Taishanese as heritage language. They settled down in Metro Manila, as well as in major cities of Luzon such as Baguio City, Angeles City, Naga and Olongapo. Many also settled in the provinces of Northern Luzon (e.g., Benguet, Cagayan, Ifugao, Ilocos Norte) especially around Baguio.[45]

The Cantonese people (Philippine Hokkien Chinese: 廣東人 / 鄉親; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kńg-tang-lâng / Hiong-chhin, Mandarin simplified Chinese: 广东人; traditional Chinese: 廣東人; pinyin: Guǎngdōngrén) form roughly 1.2% of the unmixed ethnic Chinese population of the Philippines, with large numbers of descendants originally from either Taishan, Kaiping,[45] Macau, Hong Kong, Canton (Guangzhou), or nearby areas transiting from either Macau,[45] Hong Kong,[46] Guangzhou (Canton). Many were/are not as economically prosperous as the Hokkien Chinese Filipinos.[45] Barred from owning land during the Spanish Colonial Period, most Cantonese were into the service industry, working as artisans, miners, househelpers, bakers, shoemakers, metal workers, barbers, herbal physicians, porters (cargadores / coulis), soap makers and tailors. They also intermarried with other local Filipinos during the Spanish Colonial Era and many of their descendants are now assimilated as Chinese mestizos. There are also those that came during the American Colonial Period before WW2 especially in Baguio as part of the 700 Chinese (Cantonese) coolie laborers recruited from British Hong Kong by the British managing the Manila Railroad Company for the construction of the Benguet Road (Kennon Road) along with the Japanese (who also later stayed to become Japanese Filipinos) and other lowland Filipinos. In Baguio, Cantonese Chinese were known for their carpentry, masonry, and culinary skills, where they were employed in hotels and places like Camp John Hay and they set up businesses like restaurants, grocery stores, bazaars, hardware stores, sari-sari stores and dried fish stalls. The logging, mining, and agribusiness industry during the 1930s in Baguio was also big among the Cantonese Chinese Filipinos there and it was only at such time during 1930s and after WW2 when Hokkien Chinese Filipinos started to establish themselves in Baguio.[46] Presently, they are into small-scale entrepreneurship and in education. There are also about 30 or so Filipino Cantonese associations in the Philippines, such as the Baguio Filipino Cantonese Association CAR (BFCA-CAR), which was merged from The Baguio Cantonese Association and the Brotherhood of Filipino-Cantonese Mestizos during 1999.[45] There are also schools such as Baguio Patriotic School and Manila Patriotic School.

There are also some ethnic Chinese from neighboring Asian countries and territories, most notably from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong who are naturalized Philippine citizens and have since formed part of the Chinese Filipino community. Many of them are also Hokkien speakers, with a sizeable number of Cantonese and Teochew speakers.

Temporary resident Chinese businessmen and envoys include people from Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities and provinces throughout China.

The Chinese Moro mestizos are of paternal Han Chinese descent who married Moro Muslim women from Tausug, Sama and Maguindanaon ethnicities and are not descendants of Hui Muslims. The Moros did not follow Sharia prohibitions on marriage of Muslim women to non-Muslims. So, Han Chinese men from the Straits Settlements and the Chinese mainland migrated to Mindanao (and the islands of Sulu) and founded families. These mestizos celebrated Chinese New Year and Chinese holidays including ones of pagan origin and practice Han cultural taboos; like the taboo against patrilineal cousin marriage. Hui in China practice marriage of patrilineal cousins of the same surname to each other, which the Han-descended Chinese Moro mestizos do not. Observant Hui Muslims also do not practice Chinese pagan holidays. The Han men continued practicing their own pagan religions and holidays when married to Moro Muslim women. As late as the 1970s, Professor Samuel Kong Tan said among the Chinese and Moros of Sulu, it was still normal for non-Muslim men to marry Muslim women. Non-Muslim Han Chinese in the Moro Sultanates have historically joined the Moro Muslims in fighting against the Spanish and the Japanese.

The Han who became part of the Chinese-Moro mestizo community are mostly of Minnan background, either directly from southern Fujian like Xiamen (Amoy) or the Peranakans who are descendants of Minnan speaking Han men and Malay women, with a small minority of them being descendants of other Han like one northern Han family who married into the Tausug. Some Han of either Hakka or Cantonese background in Sabah, Borneo married Tausug women there before World War II ended.

Famous Chinese Moro mestizos include Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Desdemona Abubakar Tan, her sisters Eleonora Rohaida Tan, Zenaida Tan and brothers Rauf and Daniel whose father Tuchay Tan was a Chinese mestizo with a non-Muslim Buddhist Han father and a Muslim Tausug Moro mother. Desdemona's mother Maimona Abubakar was of Arab descent. The family practiced both Chinese holidays and Ramadan and had a Buddhist shrine in the house for the grandfather. Other famous Chinese Moro mestizos include Konglam Teo and Saituan Tan who led Moro Muslim guerillas in fighting the Japanese, Desdemona's friend Madge Kho, Gumbay Piang and his father Datu Piang, the son of a non-Muslim Han father from Xiamen (Amoy) and a Maguindanao Moro Muslim mother, Samuel Kong Tan whose paternal family is one of the Tan families and his mother was a daughter of the non-Muslim Chinese man Kong Bu Wa from Xiamen (Amoy) and his Moro Tausug Muslim wife Latia Jaham, Sulu governor Absudakur Tan and his children Samier Tan, Shernee Tan and Sakur Tan who are of paternal Straits Chinese Peranakan descent from Malaya and Singapore with maternal Tausug ancestry.

Samuel Kong Tan wrote an article about the families descended from non-Muslim Chinese men who mixed with Tausug Moro Muslim people like his ancestor Latia Jaham, "The Tans and Kongs of Sulu: An Analysis into the Nature and Extent of Chinese Integration in Sulu Society".[47][48] Madaris, private schoools and public schools were attended by Chinese children in Sulu.[49][50][51][52][53][54][55]

The Chinese families among the Tausug include the Kho, Lim, Teo, Kong and multiple families with the surname Tan, including the family of Tuchay Tan and Hadji Suug Tan. These families maintain the Chinese practice of not permitting marriages in the same paternal families with the same surname, and even though the Tans are multiple families, they still adhere to the rule of avoiding marriage to each other believing they were related far in the past. Eleonora or Leonora (Chinese Hokkien name: So Guat) and Desdemona were among the daughters of Tuchay Tan. The Abubakar family of Jolo are part Arab part Tausug and the woman Maimona Abubakar married the Chinese Tuchay Tan of the Kia Tan family of Siasi.[56][57] The Chinese mestizo businessman and politician Tuchay Tan had a Chinese father and Tausug mother and he practiced Islam. His wife, Maimona Abubakar was a "pure Muslim".[58] Tuchay Tan also had a son, Ping Hong.[59]

A bookstore in Jolo named Serendipity was owned by Eleonora Rohaida (Roida) Tan. Mao Zedong's picture was in the bookstore. Desdemona was advised to go to Jolo by Professor Cesar Majul and to leave Manila during martial law. Zenaida was the youngest sister of Desdemonna and Roida was the eldest. Their father Tuchay Tan was involved in bulk oil distribution, gas stations, trade and pawn shops.[60]

Desdemona Tan's father was a rich Chinese businessman, Tuchay Tan and she was called "mother of Bangsamoro jihad fi-sabilillah" by the MNLF.[61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][70][71][72][73] According to Hsiao Shi-ching, Tuchay Tan's Chinese name was written as (陳豬屎).[74][75]

Desdemona Tan married Nur Misuari[76][77]

Shernee Tan is a member of the Kusug Tausug party.[78] Nur Misuari met with Abdusakur Tan in 2012 discussing potential for another war against the Philipinnes if the MNLF demands were not met.[79][80][81] He also met with him in 2004.[82] Samier Tan, Shernee Tan-Tambut and Sakur Tan II are the children of Abdusakur Tan and all are involved in politics in Sulu.[83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91]

Sulu 1st district Congressman Habib Tupay Loong, said “As a proof to that, a long time ago Sulu has been populated by a Chinese minority, and they are the ones who introduced business into our area. We learned doing business through the Chinese. In Sulu, for example, a lot of the Chinese became rich, “Even in barter trading, it is between Tausugs, Chinese, and Malaysians,There are only two types of foreigners who went to Sulu who did not wage war against the Moros – it is the Chinese and the Arabs, the Chinese entered Sulu through business ventures.” [92][93]

Desdemona Abubakar Tan's younger sister Hajja Zenaida Tan Lim wrote an article in 2001 about their family, mentioning a Buddhist shrine in their home that was kept by their non-Muslim Chinese paternal grandfather and how the family celebrated both Islamic holidays and Chinese holidays. Their mother was Arab and their father was a "Chinese-mestizo", his own father was a non-Muslim Chinese while his mother was a Muslim Tausug Moro. The sisters went to Catholic school and Zenaida led the Zamboanga city based Sarang Bangun foundation (dedicated after Desdemona).[94] War widows and orphan children are the beneficiaries of the Sarang Bangun Foundation NGO.[95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102]

The assimilation and intermarriages between the local Muslim Moro Tausug and Sama in Sulu and the Han Chinese immigrants, in contrast to Chinese living in Filipino Catholic areas, was facilitated by the good relations throughout history between China and Sulu.[103][104]

The Chinese mestizo descendants of Han Chinese men and Moro Muslim Tausug and Sama women are integrating and dissolving into the Tausug and Sama population as they lose practice of Chinese culture except celebrating some festivals and their Chinese names.[105][106][107][108][109]

A non-Muslim Chinese man named Kong Bu Wa came from Amoy in China to Siasi and married a Tausug Moro Muslim woman named Latia Jaham from the native landowning elite and fathered 10 sons and a daughter with her, who married a member of the Tan family, forming the Kong Tan.[110][111] Latia Jaham was a pure Tausug Moro and she could marry a non-Muslim Chinese man because all the Moros except the Maranao allowed their people to marry non-Muslims like the Chinese regardless of gender for hundreds of years despite it being against Islamic rules.[112] Kong Bu Wa had three other daughters from his first Chinese wife who lived in China[113] Chinese women almost never came to the Philippines so Chinese men like Kong Bu Wa married local native women like Moro Tausug Muslims and the children of the non-Muslim Chinese men and Tausug-Sama Muslim Moro women assimialted to various degrees, some maintaning Chinese cultural aspects while others practicing Tausug-Sama culture only.[114]

Kong Bu Wa was skilled in fighting with a Chinese bladed sword like the Angkun or barung used by the Tausug. There are also multiple mixed Chinese Tan families in Tausug society.[115] One of Kong Bu Wa's sons, Kim Hin took charge of the family when Latia Jaham had dementia. He could name his relative's children and achieved the rank of tauke due to the vast amount of lands and wealthy he held including his inherited farm in Malanta.[116]

In 1908 Kong Bu Wa fought off a robbery attempt at his store by the Sama pirate Jikiri in hand to hand fighting, leaving a scar on Kong's face.[117][118][119][120] Samuel Kong Tan was descended from this family.[121][122][123][124]

Since at least 1790 Jolo city in Sulu has a Chinese temple for Pun Thao Kong is found.[125]

Filipino Christian settlers were massacred by Moros under Djimbanan, his brother Datu Ali and Datu Piang in September and December 1899.[126] Only the Chinese were not harmed.[127][128][129][130]

"The Moros then looted the town, although apparently the Chinese residents, with whom they were always friendly, were not molested - only the Filipinos"[131][132][133][134][135]

The Americans initiated a homestead system and encouraged settlers with lobbying by corporate interest groups eager for plantations by heavy political opposition by anti-imperialists led to restrictions on the amount of land acquired per person.[136][137][138][139][140]

A US military report mentioned "Sah Bee, a woman who is half Chinese and half Moro".[141][142][143][144][145][146][147]

Muslim Moros like Datu Piang, and the families with the Kong and Tan surnames are the results of non-Muslim Chinese merchants marrying Moros and converting to Islam.[148][149] The Chinese merchant Tuya Tan of Amoy was the father of the Moro leader Datu Piang who was born to a Maguindanaon Moro woman.[150][151]

Bian Lay Lim (Arnaib Hajal) was chairman of the Lupah Sug State Revolutonary Council.[152] led the MNLF against the Philippine military during the battle of Jolo.[153][154] He was also Chairman for Economic Affairs.[155] Bian Lay Lim was among the first group of students who joined the MNLF in Pulao Pangkor, Malaysia in January 1969. He was later among the MNLF provincial chairmen with Jolo as his area of command.[156][157][158]

A joint attack on 3 September against Philippine military forces was planned by Hadji Isacah Tahir of Tawi-Tawi, Sikal Sahidbad, Alvarez Isnadji and Bin Lay Lim of Sulu, Davao, Cotabato, Lanao, BAsilan, Zamboanga city and Palawan.[159][160]

A barbed wire ringed prison, transport vehicles, fuel barrels were all available on the Tambisan cantonment which was commanded by Bian Lay Lim and Dr. Salih Long in eastern coastal Sabah.[161]

Bian Lay Lim became part of the central committee of the MNLF after 21 September 1972 when martial law was declared.[162][163][164][165][166][167][168] Southern Jolo was the area of command for Bian Lay Lim.[169]

The MNLF denounced Japan, America, Spain and the Philippines as evil colonizers of the Moros[170] while praising China as the friend of the Moros.[171][172] The MNLF spokesman threatened that the MNLF would support China if the Philippines and America went to war against China.[173][174]

The Moro Sulu Sultanate wanted to be incorporated with China as a protectorate to defend them against the Spanish, but ethnic Manchus like the Kangxi emperor were against fighting Spain and rejected it. Han Chinese threatened to invade the Spanish Philippines, killing Spanish governor generals including Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas and his son Luis Pérez Dasmariñas, Han southern Ming commander Koxinga and his son Zheng Jing threatened to invade the Spanish Philippines forcing Spain to lose their Maluku colony forever and with forcing Spain to withdraw from Mindanao's Zamboanga for decades. 4,000 Han joined the Moros to fight against the Spanish in the 18th century with Han merchants shipping guns to the Moros to fight against Spain in the late 19th century. Kangxi also rejected war against the Dutch East India company and he and many Manchus wanted to abandon Taiwan to the Dutch which was overruled by Han officials.

Manchus like the Qianlong emperor also refused to aid Javanese Muslims and Han Chinese Peranakan who were fighting against the Dutch East India company in the Java War (1741–1743). Han were selling rifles to Batak chiefs fighting against Dutch rule in the late 19th and early 20th century

Despite Koxinga's death stopping his planned invasion of the Spanish Philippines, Koxinga's son Zheng Jing forced Spain to pay tribute to him in Taiwan and forced Spain to grant him extrajudicial rights over the Chinese community in Manila and forbade the Spanish to proselytise their religion to Chinese, with the Spanish Governor General Manuel de León and Queen-Regent Mariana helpless and unable to resist his demands as Zheng Jing prepared his own invasion against the Spanish.[175] Zheng Jing also ridiculed and insulted Manchu religious practices.[176][177]

The Spanish garrison in Manila were in terrible condition and both the English and Dutch East India companies said that if Zheng Jing followed threw with his planned invasion in 1671 after monsoon season, he would have won.[178]

The Spanish declared that all Moros (Muslims), Armenian Oriental Orthodox Christians and pagan Chinese were enemies of the Holy (Catholic) faith and forced them to reside in the Parián ghetto in Manila.

In the Spanish Philippines, on July 27, 1713, the tribunal, acting in a legislative capacity, decreed that within thirty days “all Moros, Armenians, Malabars, Chinese and other enemies of the Holy Faith" should be lodged in the Parián when visiting Manila, or when living there temporarily for purposes of visit or trade. Penalties were also prescribed for the infraction of the above law.[179][180][181][182][183][184]

Chinese-Spanish friction began with the Chinese rebellion of P'an Ho Wu in 1593. In part the Ming Annals say:

In the eighth moon of the twenty-first year of the reign of] Wan Li (1593), when the chieftain Lei Pi Li Mi Lao (Don Pérez Gómez Dasmariñas) undertook a raid on the Moluccas, he employed 250 Chinese to assist him in the combat. P'an Ho Wu was their lieutenant. The eavages (i. e., the Spaniards) lay down drowsy in the daytime and commanded the Chinese to row the galley: As they were somewhat lazy, they were suddenly beaten with a whip 80 severely that several of them died. Whereupon Ho Wu stirred up the fighting spirit of the Chinese in the following language: “Lot us revolt and die that way. Should we submit to being flogged to death or suffer any other such ignominious death? Should we not rather die in battle? Let us stab this chieftain to death and save our lives. If we are victorious, let us hoist the sails and return to our country. If we should succumb to be fettered, it will be time enough then to die." 11

After the assassination of the chieftain, the Chinese crew took possession of the ship and its valuables and proceeded to Annan. Lei Mao Lin (Don Luis Pérez Dasmariñas), the son of the deceased chieftain, immediately went to China to ask for indemnity for the murder of his father, but was disappointed.[185][186][187][188]

"In 1603 three Chinese mandarins arrived at Manila. They said they were sent by the emperor to investigate the report of a mountain of gold in Cavite. The Spaniards were distrustful. They suspected that these men had come to spy out the situation and fortifications of the city, and that the story of the mountain of gold was merely an excuse. So alarmed were the government officials that after the departure of the mandarins they took measures to improve the defenses. These preparations in turn aroused suspicion on the part of the Chinese in Manila, who feared that the Spaniards were about to massacre them. They rose in revolt. In Tondo and Quiapo they set fire to buildings and made terrible massacres. To put down the revolt, one hundred and thirty Spaniards under Luis Dasmariñas marched against the rebels, but were defeated and nearly all killed. Then the Chinese stormed the Walled City, but here they were repulsed and driven to San Pablo del Monte. At this place they were attacked by a large force of Spaniards and Filipinos, and twenty-three thousand of them perished in the fight."[189] "The Three Mandarins.-A strange thing happened in the year 1603, when Acuña was governor. 1 Three Chinese mandarins, as the great men of China are called, arrived in Manila. They wished to see if a mountain of gold existed in Cavite, as they had been told was the case. Acuña showed them that this was an idle tale so they went away. The Spaniards could not believe that the search for a mountain of gold was the real purpose of the mandarins. They thought these men wished to see if Manila could be captured. The Chinese in Manila now began to act strangely. Many of them went back and forth between the city and the country. The Spaniards fearing a plot began to threaten them. Then the Chinese became alarmed and planned to destroy the Spaniards. Chinese Revolt of 1603.—On the night of October 3, 1603, the entire Chinese population of Manila, nearly 25,000 in number, rose in revolt. They burned many houses in Quiapo, and killed many natives. There were few Spaniards in Manila. A force of one hundred and fifty men attacked the Chinese. All but four of the Spaniards were killed. At dawn, October 5th, the rebels attacked the walled city. The fight lasted several days. Every Spaniard, including the friars, armed himself and fought. It is said that Father Flores sat all day in a boat near the wall, firing two arquebuses, and killed many Chinese. Defeat of the Chinese.—Finally the Spaniards, with the aid of some Japanese and Pampangans, drove away the Chinese. They fled to the moun tains of San Pablo. Here a large force of Spaniards and Filipinos surrounded and besieged them. Hunger and attacks of the natives, who hated the Chinese, caused the death of about 23,000."[190][191][192][193][194][195][196][197][198]

A Threatened Invasion of the Philippines.— Exalted by his success against European arms, Koxinga resolved upon the conquest of the Philippines. He summoned to his service the Italian Dominican missionary, Ricci, who had been living in the province of Fukien, and in the spring of 1662 dispatched him as an ambassador to the governor of the Philippines to demand the submission of 'the archipelago.

Manila was thrown into a terrible panic by this demand, and indeed no such danger had threatened the Spanish in the Philippines since the invasion of Limahong. The Chinese conqueror had an innumerable army, and his armament, stores, and navy had been greatly augmented by the surrender of the Dutch. The Spaniards, however, were united on resistance. The governor, Don Sabiano Manrique de Lara, returned a defiant answer to Koxinga, and the most radical measures were adopted to place the colony in a state of defense.

More than all this, the Moluccas were forsaken, never again to be recovered by Spaniards; and the presidios of Zamboanga and Cuyo, which served as a kind of bridle on the Moros of Jolo and Mindanao, were abandoned. All Spanish troops were concentrated in Manila, fortifications were rebuilt, and the population waited anxiously for the attack. But the blow never fell.[199][200][201][202]

Koxinga, unable to communicate with the mainland of the Empire, turned his attention to the conquest of Formosa Island, at the time in the possession of the Dutch. According to Dutch accounts, the European settlers numbered about 600, with a garrison of 2,200. The Dutch artillery, stores and merchandise were valued at $8,000,000, and the Chinese, who attacked them under Koxinga, were about 100,000 strong. The settlement surrendered to the invaders' superior numbers, and Koxinga established himself as King of the Island. Koxinga had become acquainted with an Italian Dominican missionary named Vittorio Riccio, whom he created a Mandarin, and sent him as Ambussador to the Governor of the Philippines. Riccio therefore arrived in Manila in 1662, the bearer of Koxinga's despatches calling upon the Governor to pay tribute, under threat of the Colony being attacked by Koxinga if his demand were refused.

The position of Riccio as an European Friar and Ambassador of a Mongol adventurer was as awkward as it was novel. He was received with great honour in Manila, where he disembarked, and rode to the Government House in the full uniform of a Chinese envoy, through lines of troops drawn up to salute him as he passed. At the same time, letters from Formosa had also been received by the Chinese in Manila, and the Government at once accused them of conniving at rebellion.. All available forces were concentrated in the capital ; and to increase the garrison, the Governor published a Decree, dated 6 May 1662, ordering the demolition of the forts of Zamboanga, Yligan (Mindanao Island), Calamianes and Ternate' (Moluccas).

The only provincial fort preserved was that of Surigao (then called Caraga), consequently in the south the Mussulmans became complete masters on land and at sea for half a year.

The troops in Manila numbered 100 cavalry and 8,000 infantry. Fortifications were raised, and redoubts were constructed in which to secrete the Treasury funds. When all the armament was in readiness, the Spaniards incited the Chinese to rebel, to afford a pretext for their massacre.

Two junk masters were seized, and the Chinese population was menaced; therefore they prepared for their own defence, and then opened the affray, for which the Government was secretly longing, by killing a Spaniard in the market place. Suddenly artillery fire was opened out on the Parian, and many of the peaceful Chinese traders, in their terror, harged themselves ; many were drowned in the attempt to reach the canoes in which to get away to sea ; some few did safely arrive in Formosa Island and joined Koxinga's camp, whilst others took to the mountains. Some 8,000 to 9,000 Chinese remained quiet, but ready for any event, when they were suddenly attacked by Spaniards and natives. The confusion was general, and the Chinese seemed to be gaining ground, therefore the Governor sent the Ambassador Riccio and a certain Fray Joseph de Madrid to parley with them. The Chinese accepted the terms offered by Riccio, who returned to the Governor, leaving Fray Joseph with the rebels, but when Riccio went back with a general pardon and a promise to restore the two junk masters, he found that they had beheaded the priest. A general carnage of the Mougols followed, and Juan de la Concepcion says that the original intention of the Spaniards was to kill every Chinaman, but that they desisted in view of the inconvenience which would have ensued from the want of tradesmen and mechanics. Therefore they made a virtue of a necessity, and graciously pardoned in the name of His Catholic Majesty all who laid down their arms.

From this date the Molucca Islands were definitely evacuated and abandoned by the Spaniards, although as many men and as much material and money had been employed in garrisons and conveyance of subsidies there as in the whole Philippine Colony up to that period.[203][204][205][206][207][208]

The Sulu kingdoms were tributaries to the Ming dynasty and one Sulu king died in China during a tribute mission. After Spanish persecution against Chinese in Luzon, thousands of Chinese fled to Sulu and Sulu's Sultan Israel (1773-1778) was backed by 4,000 Chinese against the Spanish. Chinese participated in Sulu's war against western colonialists like the 5 March 1775 attack against the Balambagan British outpost which was led y the Chinese merchant Datu Teteng, and at the 19 December 1726 treaty between Spain and Sulu, the representative was the Chinese Ki Kuan. Many Chinese assimilated into Tausug-Sama people and Chinese surnames are found among them.[209][210][211][212][213][214][215][216][217][218][219][220] "About the time that Maj. Pitcairn heard at Lixing-ton-Concord the shot that was also heard around the world, an Englishman named Brun, with 4,000 Chinese who had been, by the British, expelled from Manila, joined the Jolo Moros under Datto Tetenz, and ravaged Cebu, harassing the oast as it had never been before."[221] " In 1642 Generals Corcuero and Almonte made peace with Corralat, but piratical depredations by the Moros continued; Chinese rebellions embarrassed the Spaniards, who evacuated many places, and many fights were chronicled betwen the Moro fleets of Praus and the Spanish fleets. The priests egged on the Spanish, and the Spanish King re-established, and then abandoned, many stations in Mindoro, Basilan Mindanao and Jolo. Treaties were made and unmade. Expeditions intended to be punitive were undertaken. The Tawi-Tawi Moros nearly captured Zamboanga. Engagements were constant with varying success until 1737. King Philip V. of Spain, pestered the Sultans of Jolo and Tomantaca (Mindanao) about not being Christians, but expeditions were as frequent as baptisms."[222][223][224][225][226][227][228][229]

Anda took what precautions were available to restrain the Moro pirates, but great difficulties arose in his way. Ali-Mudin, whom the English had restored to his sway in Joló, and his son Israel (in whose favor the father had abdicated) were friendly to the Spaniards, with many of their dattos; but another faction, led by Zalicaya, the commander of the Joloan armadas, favored the English, who had established themselves (1762) on the islet of Balambangan" in the Joló archipelago, which they had induced Bantilan to grant them; and the English were accused of endeavoring to incite the Joloans against the Spaniards by intrigue and bribery. Anda decided to send an expedition to make protest to the English against their occupation of this island, as being part of the Spanish territory, and entrusted this mission to an Italian officer named Giovanni Cencelly, who was then in command of one of the infantry regiments stationed at Manila; the latter sailed from Zamboanga December 30, 1773, bearing careful instructions as to his mode of procedure, and to avoid any hostilities with the English and maintain friendship with the Joloans. But Cencelly seems to have been quite destitute of tact or judgment, and even of loyalty to his governor; for he disobeyed his instructions, angered the Joloans, o who could hardly be restrained by Ali-Mudin from massacring the Spaniards, and at the end of three weeks was obliged to return to Zamboanga. He was on bad terms with the commandant there (Raimundo Español), and refused to render him any account of his proceedings at Joló; and he even tried to stir up a sedition among the Spanish troops against Español. The English gladly availed themselves of this unfortunate affair to strengthen their own position in Joló, stirring up the islanders against Spain and erecting new forts. Later, however, the English at Balambangan showed so much harshness and contempt for the Moro dattos (even putting one in the pillory) that the latter plotted to surprise and kill the intruders; and on March 5, 1775, this was accomplished, the English being all slain except the commandant and five others, who managed to escape to their ship in the harbor. The fort was seized by the Moros, who thus acquired great quantities of military supplies, arms, money, and food, with several vessels. Among this spoil were forty-five cannons and $24,000 in silver. Elated by this success, Tenteng, the chief mover of the enterprise, tried to secure Zamboanga by similar means; but the new commandant there, Juan Bayot, was on his guard, and the Moros were baffled. Teteng then went to Cebú, where he committed horrible ravages; and other raids of this sort were committed, the Spaniards being unable to check them for a long time. A letter written to the king by Anda in 1773 had asked for money to construct light armed vessels, and a royal order of January 27, 1776, commanded that 50,000 pesos be sent to Filipinas for this purpose. This money was employed by Anda's temporary successor, Pedro Sarrio, in the construction of a squadron of vintas, “vessels which, on account of their swiftness and exceedingly light draft, were more suitable for the pursuit of the pirates than the very heavy galleys; they were, besides, to carry pilots of the royal fleet to reconnoiter the coasts, draw plans of the ports, indicate the shoals and reefs, take soundings in the sea, etc." “The Datos at once feared the vengeance of the English, and declared Tenteng unworthy of the rights of a Joloan and an outlaw from the kingdom with all his followers. The Sultan wrote to the governor of Zamboanga, assuring him that neither himself nor the Datos had taken part in this transgression; and he asked the governor to send him the Curia filipica and the Empresas políticas of Saavedra, in order that he might be able to answer the charges which the English would make against him. (This sultan Israel had studied in the college of San José at Manila.)" Tenteng repaired to Joló with his booty and the captured English vessel ; "these were arguments in his favor so convincing that he was at once admitted." He surrendered to the sultan all the military supplies, besides $2,000 in money, and divided the spoils with the other datos; they received him with the utmost enthusiasm, and raised the ban from his head. “About the year 1803, in which the squadron of General Alava returned to the Peninsula, the English again took possession of the island of Balanbangan; and it appears that they made endeavors to establish themselves in Joló, and were instigating the sultan and datos to go out and plunder the Visayas, telling the Joloans that they themselves only cared to seize Manila and the Acapulko galleon.

When the Chinese were expelled from Manila in 1758, many of them went to reside in Joló, where some 4,000 were found at the time of Cencelly's expedition; these took sides with the Joloans (Tausug Moros) against the Spaniards, and organized an armed troop to fight the latter.[230][231][232][233][234]

Han Chinese-Moro Tausug mestizos participated in World War II against the Japanese, such as Teo Konglam (Zhang Guanglin) and Tan Saituan (Chen Saiduan).

The Japanese killed Suluk women and children in British north Borneo at a mosque.[235][236][237][238][239] Bajau-Suluk participated in a violent revolt against the Japanese.[240]

Wong Mu Sing was a Chinese resistance fighter in British Borneo during World War II.[241][242][243][244][245][246][247][248][249] Wong Mu Sing was married to a Suluk Tausug Muslim woman, Halima bint Amat.

97% of the Japanese soldiers occupying Jolo were slaughtered by Moro Muslim Tausug guerillas according to Japanese soldier Fujioka Akiyoshi, who was one of the few who remained alive by the end of the war.[250][251] Fujioka described the Moros as brutal and recalled how the Moros sliced the livers and gold teeth off Japanaese soldiers who in one month slaughtered 1,000 Japanese after they came to the island.[252][253] Fujioka and his fellow Japanese soldiers were overjoyed when they finally reached an American base to surrender to since they knew their only other fate was being butchered by Moro Muslims or starvation.[254][255] Injured Japanese were slaughtered by Moros with their their kris daggers as the Moros constantly attacked and charged and butchered Japanese soldiers.[256]

Fujioka Akiyoshi (藤岡 明義) wrote a published diary of his war experiences on Jolo called (Haisen no ki ~ gyokusai chi Horo tō no kiroku )(敗戦の記～玉砕地ホロ島の記録 or 敗残の記: 玉砕地ホロ島の記錄) and a private account "Uijin no ki" (初陣の記).[257][255] His diary mentioned the majority of Japanese on Jolo were slaughtered, succumbing to malaria and to Moro attacks. Japanese corpses littered the ground, decaying, infested with maggots and smelling horrendous. Fukao and other Japanese survivors surrendered to the Americans to avoid being slaughtered by the Moro Muslims and after they were in American custody a group of Moros grasping their daggers saw them and wanted to slaughter them. One Moro mentioned how his 12 year old son was eaten by Japanese soldiers at a mountain and he was slaughtering all Japanese soldiers from that area and Fujioka saw he was wearing the wristwatch of Japanese Sergeant Fukao.[258][259][260][261][262]

The most-anti Japanese place in Southeast Asia was the Moro region as they engaged in juramentado suicide attacks against the Japanese.[263]

Since most Chinese Filipinos in the Philippines trace their ancestry to Southern Fujian in Fujian Province of Mainland China, the Hokkien language, specifically the Philippine Hokkien dialect, is the heritage language of most Chinese Filipinos. Currently, it is typically the elderly and those of the older generations, such as the Silent Generation, the Baby boomer generation and part of Generation X, who speak Philippine Hokkien as their first or second language, especially as first- or second-generation Chinese Filipinos. The younger generations, such as part of Generation X and most Millennials and Generation Z youth, sparsely use Hokkien as a second or third language and even more seldom as a first language. This is due to Hokkien nowadays only being used and heard within family households and no longer being taught at schools. As a result, most of the youth can either only understand Hokkien by ear or do not know it at all, using instead English, Filipino (Tagalog) and in some cases one or more other Philippine languages.

The variant of Hokkien spoken in the Philippines, Philippine Hokkien, is locally called Lannang-ue (Philippine Hokkien Chinese: 咱儂話 / 咱人话; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lán-nâng-ōe / Lán-lâng-ōe / Nán-nâng-ōe; lit. 'Our People's Language'). Philippine Hokkien is mutually intelligible to a certain degree with other Hokkien variants in mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, etc. and is particularly close to the variant spoken in Quanzhou, especially around Jinjiang. Its unique features include its conservative nature that preserves old vocabulary and pronunciations, the presence of a few loanwords from Philippine Spanish and Filipino and frequent code-switching with Philippine English, Filipino/Tagalog and other Philippine languages (such as Visayan languages), excessive use of shortenings and colloquial words (e.g., "pīⁿ-chhù" [病厝]: literally, "sick-house", instead of the Taiwanese Hokkien term "pīⁿ-īⁿ" [病院] to refer to "hospital" or "chhia-thâu" [車頭]: literally, "car-head", instead of the Taiwanese Hokkien term "su-ki" [司機] to refer to a "driver") and use of vocabulary terms from various variants of Hokkien, such as from the Quanzhou, Amoy (Xiamen) and Zhangzhou dialects of the Hokkien language.

Spanish Dominican Catholic missionaries like Francisco Varo who visited 17th century Fujian (late Ming and early Qing) learned both local Min Chinese and the official Ming dynasty Mandarin Chinese (guanhua) and they explicitly noted that Mandarin was regarded as an elegant, "elevated" language by the local Fujianese Chinese while their own local Min speech were regarded as "coarse speech". They noted Mandarin Guanhua was solemn and used by the educated Fujianese literati and officials while it was the rural villagers and women who only spoke the local Min patois (xiangtan) since they didn't speak Mandarin.[271] Jesuits in Ming dynasty China like Matteo Ricci generally focused on studying the official and prestigious Mandarin while Dominicans studied vernacular Hokkien dialects in Fujian. The Chinese Sangley community in the Philippines spoke a mix of different Hokkien dialects (Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Amoy (Xiamen) merged together.[272][273]

Mandarin is currently the subject and medium of instruction for teaching Standard Chinese (Mandarin) class subjects in Chinese Filipino schools in the Philippines. However, since the language is rarely used outside of the classroom besides jobs and interactions related to Mainland China and Taiwan, most Chinese Filipinos would be hard-pressed to converse in Mandarin.

As a result of longstanding influence from the ROC Ministry of Education of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Council of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since the early 1900s up to 2000, the Mandarin variant (known in many schools in Hokkien Chinese: 國語; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kok-gí) taught and spoken in many older Chinese Filipino schools in the Philippines closely mirrors that of Taiwanese Mandarin, using Traditional Chinese characters and the Zhuyin phonetic system (known in many schools in Hokkien Chinese: 國音; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kok-im) being taught, though in recent decades Simplified Chinese characters and the Pinyin phonetic system were also introduced from China and Singapore. Some Chinese Filipino schools now also teach Mandarin in Simplified characters with the Pinyin system, modeled after those in China and Singapore. Some schools teach both or either of the systems.

Currently, there are still a few minority Cantonese Chinese Filipino families that still privately speak Cantonese or Taishanese at home or in their circles,[45] but many who still interact with the overall Chinese Filipino community have also learned to speak Philippine Hokkien for business purposes[45] due to Hokkien's status as a community lingua franca within the Chinese Filipino community. Due to the relatively small population of Chinese Filipinos who are or claim to be of Cantonese ancestry, most Filipinos of Cantonese ancestry, such as Spanish-colonial-era Chinese mestizos (Mestizos de Sangley) that originally trace back to Macau or Canton (Guangzhou), especially the younger generations thereof, do not speak Cantonese or Taishanese anymore and can only speak the local languages, such as Filipino (Tagalog), English and other Philippine languages such as Ilocano, Cebuano, etc. Some families of Cantonese ancestry within the Chinese Filipino community also speak Philippine Hokkien with their family, especially those that intermarried with Chinese Filipinos of Hokkien ancestry. There may also be some Chinese Filipino families of Hokkien ancestry that speak Cantonese due to a family history of having lived in Hong Kong, such as around the districts of North Point (Chinese: 北角; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Pak-kak), Kowloon Bay or Causeway Bay, during the Cold War period, when many families fled the communist advance to British Hong Kong and then later to countries in Southeast Asia such as the Philippines or Indonesia.

Just like most other Filipinos, the vast majority of Chinese Filipinos who grew up in the Philippines are fluent in English, especially Philippine English (which descends from American English) as taught in schools in the Philippines. They are usually natively bilingual or even multilingual since both English and Filipino are required subjects in all grades of all schools in the Philippines, as English serves as an important formal prestige language in Philippine society. Due to this, around 30% of all Chinese Filipinos, mostly those belonging to the younger generations, use English as their preferred first language. Others have it as their second language or third language, being natively bilingual or multilingual together with Filipino and sometimes one or more other Philippine languages.[269]

The majority of Chinese Filipinos who were born, were raised, or have lived long enough in the Philippines are at least natively bilingual or multilingual. Along with English, Chinese Filipinos typically speak Filipino (Tagalog) and, in non-Tagalog regions, the dominant regional Philippine language(s), such as the Visayan languages (Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, etc.) spoken in the Visayas and Mindanao.[269]

Many Chinese Filipinos, especially those living in the provinces, speak the regional language(s) of their province as their first language(s), if not English or Filipino. Just like most other Filipinos, Chinese Filipinos frequently code-switch either with Filipino or Tagalog and English, known as Taglish, or with other regional provincial languages, such as Cebuano and English, known as Bislish. This frequent code-switching has produced a trilingual mix with the above Philippine Hokkien, known as Hokaglish, which mixes Hokkien, Tagalog and English. However, in provinces where Tagalog is not a native language, the equivalent dominant regional language(s) may be mixed instead of Tagalog or along with Tagalog in a mix of four or more languages due to the normalcy of code-switching and multilingualism as part of Philippine society.[269]

During the Spanish colonial period and subsequent few decades before its replacement by English, Spanish used to be the formal prestige language of Philippine society and hence, Sangley Chinese (Spanish-era unmixed Chinese), Chinese mestizos (Spanish-era mixed Chinese Filipinos) and Tornatras mestizos (Spanish-era mixed Chinese-Spanish or Chinese-Spanish-native Filipinos) also learned to speak Spanish throughout the Spanish colonial period to the early to mid 20th century when its role was eventually eclipsed by English and later largely dissipated from mainstream Philippine society. Most of the elites of Philippine society during the Spanish colonial era and American colonial era were Spanish mestizos or Chinese mestizos, which later intermixed together to an unknown degree and now frequently treated as one group known as Filipino mestizos. Due to this history in the Philippines, many of the older generation Chinese Filipinos (mainly those born before WWII), whether pure or mixed, can also understand some Spanish, due to its importance in commerce and industry. The Chinese community of the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era used to also speak a sort of Spanish pidgin variety known as "Caló Chino Español" or "Kastilang tindahan". This was especially the case with the local Sangley Chinese that intermarried during Spanish colonial times. They brought forth Spanish-speaking Chinese Mestizos of varying proficiency, from the accented pidgin Spanish of the new Chinese immigrants to the fluent Spanish of Sangley Chinese old-timers.[274]

The majority (70%) of Christian Chinese Filipinos are Catholic.[268] Many Catholic Chinese Filipinos still tend to practice the traditional Chinese religions alongside Catholicism, due to the recent openness of the Church in accommodating Chinese beliefs such as ancestor veneration.

Unique to the Catholicism of Chinese Filipinos is the religious syncretism that is found in Chinese Filipino homes. Many have altars bearing Catholic images such as the Santo Niño (Child Jesus) as well as statues of the Buddha and Taoist gods. It is not unheard of to venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary, saints, or the dead using joss sticks and otherwise traditional offerings, much as one would have done for Guan Yin or Mazu.[275]

St. Stephen's Church in Manila in 1923, an Anglican church and school for Chinese Filipinos

Approximately 13% of all Christian Chinese Filipinos are Protestants.[276]

Many Chinese Filipino schools are founded by Protestant missionaries and churches.

Chinese Filipinos comprise a large percentage of membership in some of the largest evangelical churches in the Philippines, many of which are also founded by Chinese Filipinos, such as the Christian Gospel Center, Christ's Commission Fellowship, United Evangelical Church of the Philippines and the Youth Gospel Center.[277]

In contrast to Roman Catholicism, Protestantism forbids traditional Chinese practices such as ancestor veneration, but allows the use of meaning or context substitution for some practices that are not directly contradicted in the Bible (e.g., celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival with moon cakes denoting the moon as God's creation and the unity of families, rather than the traditional Chinese belief in Chang'e). Many also had ancestors already practicing Protestantism while still in China.

Unlike native and mestizo Filipino-dominated Protestant churches in the Philippines which have very close ties with North American organizations, most Protestant Chinese Filipino churches instead sought alliance and membership with the Chinese Congress on World Evangelization, an organization of Overseas Chinese Christian churches throughout Asia.[278]

A small number of Chinese Filipinos (2%) continue to practise traditional Chinese religions solely.[279] Mahayana Buddhism, specifically, Chinese Pure Land Buddhism,[280] Taoism[281] and ancestral worship (including Confucianism)[282] are the traditional Chinese beliefs that continue to have adherents among the Chinese Filipino.

Buddhist and Taoist temples can be found where the Chinese live, especially in urban areas like Manila.[lower-alpha 3] Veneration of the Guanyin (觀音), known locally as Kuan-im either in its pure form or seen a representation of the Virgin Mary is practised by many Chinese Filipinos. The Chinese Filipino community also established indigenous religious denominations like Bell Church (钟教), which is a syncretic religion with ecumenical and interfaith in orientation.[283] There are several prominent Chinese temples like Seng Guan Temple (Buddhist) in Manila, Cebu Taoist Temple in Cebu City and Lon Wa Buddhist Temple in Davao City.

Around half (40%) of all Chinese Filipinos regardless of religion still claim to practise ancestral worship.[268] The Chinese, especially the older generations, have the tendency to go to pay respects to their ancestors at least once a year, either by going to the temple, or going to the Chinese burial grounds, often burning incense and bringing offerings like fruits and accessories made from paper.

There are very few Chinese Filipino Muslims, most of whom live in either Mindanao or the Sulu Archipelago and have intermarried or assimilated with their Moro neighbors. Many of them have attained prominent positions as political leaders. They include Datu Piang, Abdusakur Tan and Michael Mastura, among such others.

Others are also members of the Iglesia ni Cristo, Jehovah's Witnesses or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some younger generations of Chinese Filipinos also profess to be atheists.

The first school founded specifically for the Chinese in the Philippines, the Anglo-Chinese School (now known as Tiong Se Academy) was opened in 1899 on the Qing Dynasty Chinese Embassy grounds. The first curriculum called for rote memorization of the four major Confucian texts (the Four Books and Five Classics) along with Western science and technology. This was followed suit in the establishment of other Chinese schools, such as Hua Siong College of Iloilo, established in Iloilo in 1912, the Chinese Patriotic School, established in Manila in 1912 (the first school for the Cantonese Chinese), Saint Stephen's High School, established in Manila in 1915 (the first sectarian school for the Chinese), and the Chinese National School, established in Cebu in 1915.[284]

Burgeoning of Chinese schools throughout the Philippines, including in Manila, occurred from the 1920s until the 1970s, with a brief interlude during World War II, when all Chinese schools were ordered closed by the Japanese and their students were forcibly integrated into Japanese-sponsored Philippine public education. After World War II, the Third Republic of the Philippines and the Republic of China (ROC) signed the Sino-Philippine Treaty of Amity, which provided for the direct control of Chinese schools throughout the archipelago by the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s Ministry of Education. In the late 20th century, despite Mandarin taking the place of Amoy Hokkien as the usual Chinese course taught in Chinese schools, some schools still tried to teach Hokkien as well, deeming it more practical in the Philippine-Chinese setting.[287]

Such a situation continued until 1973, when amendments made during the Marcos Era to the Philippine Constitution effectively transferred all Chinese schools to the authority of the Republic of the Philippines' Department of Education (DepEd).[284] With this, the medium of instruction for teaching Standard Chinese (Mandarin) was shifted from Amoy Hokkien Chinese to Mandarin Chinese (or in some schools to English). Teaching hours relegated to Chinese language and arts, which featured prominently in the pre-1973 Chinese schools, were reduced. Lessons in Chinese geography and history, which were previously subjects in their own right, were incorporated into the Chinese language subject(s), whereas Filipino (Tagalog) and Philippine history, civics and culture became newly required subjects.

The changes in Chinese education initiated with the 1973 Philippine Constitution led to a large shifting of mother tongues, reflecting the assimilation of the Chinese Filipinos into general Philippine society. The older generation of Chinese Filipinos, who were educated in the old curriculum, typically use Philippine Hokkien at home, while most younger-generation Chinese Filipinos are more comfortable conversing in English, Filipino (Tagalog), and/or other Philippine languages like Cebuano, including their code-switching forms like Taglish and Bislish, which are sometimes varyingly admixed with Philippine Hokkien to make Hokaglish.

Chinese Filipino schools typically feature curriculum prescribed by the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd). The limited time spent in Chinese instruction consists largely of language arts.

The three core Chinese subjects are "Chinese Grammar" (simplified Chinese: 华语; traditional Chinese: 華語; pinyin: Huáyǔ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hoâ-gí; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄩˇ; lit. 'Chinese Language'), "Chinese Composition" (Chinese: 綜合; pinyin: Zònghé; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chong-ha̍p; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄗㄨㄥˋ ㄏㄜˊ; lit. 'Composition'), and "Chinese Mathematics" (Chinese: 數學; pinyin: Shùxué; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sò͘-ha̍k; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄨˋ ㄒㄩㄝˊ; lit. 'Mathematics'). Other schools may add other subjects such as "Chinese Calligraphy" (Chinese: 毛筆; pinyin: Máobǐ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Mô͘-pit; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄇㄠˊ ㄅㄧˇ; lit. 'Calligraphy Brush'). Chinese history, geography and culture are also integrated in all the three core Chinese subjects – they stood as independent subjects of their own before 1973. Many schools currently teach at least just one Chinese subject, known simply as just "Chinese" (simplified Chinese: 华语; traditional Chinese: 華語; pinyin: Huáyǔ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hoâ-gí; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄩˇ; lit. 'Chinese Language'). It also varies per school if either or both Traditional Chinese with Zhuyin (known in many schools in Hokkien Chinese: 國音; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kok-im) and/or Simplified Chinese with Pinyin is taught. Currently, all Chinese class subjects are taught in Mandarin Chinese (known in many schools in Hokkien Chinese: 國語; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kok-gí) and in some schools, students are prohibited from speaking any other language, such as English, Filipino (Tagalog), other regional Philippine languages, or even Hokkien during Chinese classes, when decades before, there were no such restrictions.

Many Chinese Filipino schools are sectarian, being founded by either Roman Catholic or Chinese Protestant Christian missions. These include Grace Christian College (Protestant-Baptist), Hope Christian High School (Protestant-Evangelical), Immaculate Conception Academy (Roman Catholic-Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception), Jubilee Christian Academy (Protestant-Evangelical), LIGHT Christian Academy (Protestant-Evangelical), Makati Hope Academy (Protestant-Evangelical), MGC-New Life Christian Academy (Protestant-Evangelical), Saint Peter the Apostle School (Roman Catholic-Archdiocese of Manila), Saint Jude Catholic School (Roman Catholic-Society of the Divine Word), Saint Stephen's High School (Protestant-Episcopalian), Ateneo de Iloilo, Ateneo de Cebu and Xavier School (Roman Catholic-Society of Jesus).

Major non-sectarian schools include Chiang Kai Shek College, Manila Patriotic School, Philippine Chen Kuang High School, Philippine Chung Hua School, Philippine Cultural College – the oldest Chinese Filipino secondary school in the Philippines, and Tiong Se Academy – the oldest Chinese Filipino school in the Philippines.

Chiang Kai Shek College is the only college in the Philippines accredited by both the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) Ministry of Education.

Most Chinese Filipinos attend Chinese Filipino schools until Secondary level and then transfer to non-Chinese colleges and universities to complete their tertiary degree, due to the dearth of Chinese language tertiary institutions.

Chinese Filipinos whose ancestors came to the Philippines from 1898 onward usually have monosyllabic Chinese surnames. On the other hand, most Chinese ancestors came to the Philippines prior to 1898 usually have multisyllabic surnames such as Gokongwei, Ongpin, Pempengco, Yuchengco, Teehankee and Yaptinchay among such others. These were originally full Chinese names which were transliterated in Spanish orthography and adopted as surnames.

Common Chinese Filipino surnames are: Tan/Chan (陳/陈), Dy/Dee/Lee/Li (李), Sy/See/Siy/Sze (施), Lim/Lam (林), Chua/Choa/Choi (蔡), Yap/Ip (葉/叶), Co/Ko/Kho (許/许), Ko/Gao/Caw (高), Ho/Haw/Hau/Caw (侯), Cua/Kua/Co/Kho/Ko (柯), Coo/Khoo/Cu/Kuh (邱), Go/Ngo/Wu (吳/吴), Ong/Wong (王), Ang/Hong/Hung (洪), Lao (劉/刘), Tiu/Chang (張/张), Yu/Young/Yana (楊/杨), Auyong/Awyoung (歐陽/欧阳), Ng/Uy/Wee/Hong/Wong/Huang (黃), Tiu/Chiu/Chio/Chu (趙/赵), Chu/Chiu/Chow (周), King (龔), Chan (曾), Ty/Tee (鄭/郑), Ching/Cheng/Chong (莊/庄), Que/Cue/Kwok (郭), Leong/Liong/Leung (梁), etc.

On the other hand, most Chinese Filipinos whose ancestors came to the Philippines prior to 1898 use a Hispanicized surname (see below). Many Filipinos who have Hispanicized Chinese surnames are no longer pure Chinese, but are Chinese mestizos.

Chinese Filipinos and Chinese mestizos usually have multisyllabic surnames such as Angseeco (from ang/see/co/kho) Aliangan (from liang/gan), Angkeko, Apego (from ang/ke/co/go/kho), Chuacuco, Chuatoco, Chuateco, Ciacho (from Sia), Cinco (from Go), Cojuangco, Corong, Cuyegkeng, Dioquino, Dytoc, Dy-Cok, Dypiangco, Dysangco, Dytioco, Gueco, Gokongwei, Gundayao, Kimpo/Quimpo, King/Quing, Landicho, Lanting, Limcuando, Ongpin, Pempengco, Quebengco, Siopongco, Sycip, Tambengco, Tambunting, Tanbonliong, Tantoco, Tiolengco, Yuchengco, Tanciangco, Yuipco, Yupangco, Licauco, Limcaco, Ongpauco, Tancangco, Tanchanco, Teehankee, Uytengsu and Yaptinchay among such others. These were originally full Hokkien Chinese names which were transliterated in Latin letters with Spanish orthography and adopted as Hispanicized surnames.[288]

There are also multisyllabic Chinese surnames that are Spanish transliterations of Hokkien words. Surnames like Tuazon (Eldest Grandchild, 大孫, Tuā-sun),[289] Tiongson/Tiongzon (Eldest Grandchild, 長孫, Tióng-sun)[290]/(Second/Middle Grandchild, 仲孫, Tiōng-sun),[291] Sioson (Youngest Grandchild, 小孫, Sió-sun), Echon/Ichon/Itchon/Etchon/Ychon (First Grandchild, 一孫, It-sun), Dizon (Second Grandchild, 二孫, Dī-sun), Samson/Sanson (Third Grandchild, 三孫, Sam-sun), Sison (Fourth Grandchild, 四孫, Sì-sun), Gozon/Goson/Gozum (Fifth Grandchild, 五孫, Gǒ͘-sun), Lacson (Sixth Grandchild, 六孫, La̍k-sun), Sitchon/Sichon (Seventh Grandchild, 七孫, Tshit-sun), Pueson (Eighth Grandchild, 八孫, Pueh-sun), Causon/Cauzon (Ninth Grandchild, 九孫, Káu-sun), are examples of transliterations of designations that use the Hokkien suffix -son/-zon/-chon (Hokkien Chinese: 孫; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sun; lit. 'Grandchild') used as surnames for some Chinese Filipinos who trace their ancestry from Chinese immigrants to the Philippines during the Spanish Colonial Period. The surnames 孫, 仲孫, 長孫 are listed in the classic Chinese text Hundred Family Surnames, perhaps shedding light on the Hokkien suffix -son/-zon/-chon used here as a surname alongside some sort of accompanying enumeration scheme.

The Chinese who survived the massacre in Manila in the 1700s fled to other parts of the Philippines and to hide their identity, some also adopted two-syllable surnames ending in "son" or "zon" and "co" such as: Yanson = Yan = 燕孫, Ganzon = Gan = 颜孫(Hokkien), Guanzon = Guan/Kwan = 关孫 (Cantonese), Tiongson/Tiongzon = Tiong = 仲孫 (Hokkien), Cuayson/Cuayzon = 邱孫 (Hokkien), Yuson = Yu = 余孫, Tingson/Tingzon = Ting = 陈孫 (Hokchew), Siason = Sia = 谢孫 (Hokkien).[292]

Many also took on Spanish or native Filipino surnames (e.g. Alonzo, Alcaraz, Bautista, De la Cruz, De la Rosa, De los Santos, Garcia, Gatchalian, Mercado, Palanca, Robredo, Sanchez, Tagle, Torres, etc.) upon naturalization. Today, it can be difficult to identify who are Chinese Filipino based on surnames alone.

A phenomenon common among Chinese migrants in the Philippines dating from the 1900s would be to purchase their surname, particularly during the American Colonial Period, when the Chinese Exclusion Act was applied to the Philippines. Such law led new Chinese migrants to purchase the Hispanic or native surnames of native and mestizo Filipinos and thus pass off as long-time Filipino residents of Chinese descent or as native or mestizo Filipinos. Many also purchased the Alien Landing Certificates of other Chinese who have gone back to China and assumed his surname and/or identity. Sometimes, younger Chinese migrants would circumvent the Act through adoption – wherein a Chinese with Philippine nationality adopts a relative or a stranger as his own children, thereby giving the adoptee automatic Filipino citizenship – and a new surname.

The Chinese Filipino are mostly business owners and their life centers mostly in the family business. These mostly small or medium enterprises play a significant role in the Philippine economy. A handful of these entrepreneurs run large companies and are respected as some of the most prominent business tycoons in the Philippines.

Chinese Filipinos attribute their success in business to frugality and hard work, Confucian values and their traditional Chinese customs and traditions. They are very business-minded and entrepreneurship is highly valued and encouraged among the young. Most Chinese Filipinos are urban dwellers. An estimated 50% of the Chinese Filipino live within Metro Manila, with the rest in the other major cities of the Philippines. In contrast with the Chinese mestizos, few Chinese are plantation owners. This is partly due to the fact that until recently when the Chinese Filipino became Filipino citizens, the law prohibited the non-citizens, which most Chinese were, from owning land.

As with other Southeast Asian nations, the Chinese community in the Philippines has become a repository of traditional Chinese culture common to unassimilated ethnic minorities throughout the world. Whereas in mainland China many cultural traditions and customs were suppressed or destroyed during the Cultural Revolution or simply regarded as old-fashioned nowadays, these traditions have remained largely preserved in the Philippines.

Many new cultural twists have evolved within the Chinese community in the Philippines, distinguishing it from other overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. These cultural variations are highly evident during festivals such as Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival. The Chinese Filipino have developed unique customs pertaining to weddings, birthdays and funerary rituals.

Wedding traditions of Chinese Filipinos, regardless of religious persuasion, usually involve identification of the dates of supplication or pamamanhikan (kiu-hun), engagement (ting-hun) and wedding (kan-chhiu) adopted from Filipino customs. In addition, feng shui based on the birthdates of the couple, as well as of their parents and grandparents may also be considered. Certain customs found among Chinese Filipinos include during supplication (kiu-hun) also include a solemn tea ceremony within the house of the bridegroom ensues where the couple will be served tea, egg noodles (misua) and given red packets or envelopes containing money, commonly referred to as an ang-pao.

During the supplication ceremony, pregnant women and recently engaged couples are forbidden from attending the ceremony. Engagement (ting-hun) quickly follows, where the bride enters the ceremonial room walking backward and turned three times before being allowed to see the groom. A welcome drink consisting of red-colored juice is given to the couple, quickly followed by the exchange of gifts for both families and the wedding tea ceremony, where the bride serves the groom's family and vice versa. The engagement reception consists of sweet tea soup and misua, both of which symbolizes long-lasting relationship.

Before the wedding, the groom is expected to provide the matrimonial bed in the future couple's new home. A baby born under the Chinese sign of the Dragon may be placed in the bed to ensure fertility. He is also tasked to deliver the wedding gown to his bride on the day prior to the wedding to the sister of the bride, as it is considered ill fortune for the groom to see the bride on that day. For the bride, she prepares an initial batch of personal belongings (ke-chheng) to the new home, all wrapped and labeled with the Chinese characters for sang-hi. On the wedding date, the bride wears a red robe emblazoned with the emblem of a dragon prior to wearing the bridal gown, to which a pair of sang-hi (English: marital happiness) coin is sewn. Before leaving her home, the bride then throws a fan bearing the Chinese characters for sang-hi toward her mother to preserve harmony within the bride's family upon her departure. Most of the wedding ceremony then follows Catholic or Protestant traditions.

Post-wedding rituals include the two single brothers or relatives of the bride giving the couple a wa-hoe set, which is a bouquet of flowers with umbrella and sewing kit, for which the bride gives an ang-pao in return. After three days, the couple then visits the bride's family, upon which a pair of sugar cane branch is given, which is a symbol of good luck and vitality among Hokkien people.[293]

Birthday traditions of Chinese Filipinos involve large banquet receptions, always featuring noodles[294] and round-shaped desserts. All the relatives of the birthday celebrant are expected to wear red clothing which symbolize respect for the celebrant. Wearing clothes with a darker hue is forbidden and considered bad luck. During the reception, relatives offer ang paos (red packets containing money) to the birthday celebrant, especially if he is still unmarried. For older celebrants, boxes of egg noodles (misua) and eggs on which red paper is placed are given.

Births of babies are not celebrated and they are usually given pet names, which he keeps until he reaches first year of age. The Philippine custom of circumcision is widely practiced within the Chinese Filipino community regardless of religion, albeit at a lesser rate as compared to native Filipinos. First birthdays are celebrated with much pomp and pageantry, and grand receptions are hosted by the child's paternal grandparents.

Funerary traditions of Chinese Filipinos mirror those found in Southern Fujian. A unique tradition of many Chinese Filipino families is the hiring of professional mourners which is alleged to hasten the ascent of a dead relative's soul into Heaven. This belief particularly mirrors the merger of traditional Chinese beliefs with the Catholic religion.[295]

Most of the Chinese mestizos, especially the landed gentry trace their ancestry to the Spanish era. They are the "First Chinese" or Sangley whose descendants nowadays are mostly integrated into Philippine society. Most are from Zhangzhou, Fujian province in China, with a minority coming from Guangdong. They have embraced a Hispanized Filipino culture since the 17th century. After the end of Spanish rule, their descendants, the Chinese mestizos, managed to invent a cosmopolitan mestizo culture coupled with an extravagant Mestizo de Sangley lifestyle, intermarrying either with native Filipinos or with Spanish mestizos.

The largest group of Chinese in the Philippines are the "Second Chinese," who are descendants of migrants in the first half of the 20th century, between the anti-Qing 1911 Revolution in China and the Chinese Civil War. This group accounts for most of the "full-blooded" Chinese. They are almost entirely from Fujian Province.

The "Third Chinese" are the second largest group of Chinese, the recent immigrants from Mainland China, after the Chinese economic reform of the 1980s. Generally, the "Third Chinese" are the most entrepreneurial and have not totally lost their Chinese identity in its purest form and seen by some "Second Chinese" as a business threat. Meanwhile, continuing immigration from Mainland China further enlarge this group[296]

Don Enrique T. Yuchengco Hall at De La Salle University.

Aside from their family businesses, Chinese Filipinos are active in Chinese-oriented civic organizations related to education, health care, public safety, social welfare and public charity. As most Chinese Filipinos are reluctant to participate in politics and government, they have instead turned to civic organizations as their primary means of contributing to the general welfare of the Chinese community. Beyond the traditional family and clan associations, Chinese Filipinos tend to be active members of numerous alumni associations holding annual reunions for the benefit of their Chinese-Filipino secondary schools.[297] Outside of secondary schools catering to Chinese Filipinos, some Chinese Filipinos businessmen have established charitable foundations that aim to help others and at the same time minimize tax liabilities. Notable ones include the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, Metrobank Foundation, Tan Yan Kee Foundation, Angelo King Foundation, Jollibee Foundation, Alfonso Yuchengco Foundation, Cityland Foundation, etc. Some Chinese-Filipino benefactors have also contributed to the creation of several centers of scholarship in prestigious Philippine Universities, including the John Gokongwei School of Management at Ateneo de Manila, the Yuchengco Center at De La Salle University, and the Ricardo Leong Center of Chinese Studies at Ateneo de Manila. Coincidentally, both Ateneo and La Salle enroll a large number of Chinese-Filipino students. In health care, Chinese Filipinos were instrumental in establishing and building medical centers that cater for the Chinese community such as the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center, the Metropolitan Medical Center, Chong Hua Hospital and the St. Luke's Medical Center, Inc., one of Asia's leading health care institutions. In public safety, Teresita Ang See's Kaisa, a Chinese-Filipino civil rights group, organized the Citizens Action Against Crime and the Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order at the height of a wave of anti-Chinese kidnapping incidents in the early 1990s.[298] In addition to fighting crime against Chinese, Chinese Filipinos have organized volunteer fire brigades all over the country, reportedly the best in the nation.[299] that cater to the Chinese community. In the arts and culture, the Bahay Tsinoy and the Yuchengco Museum were established by Chinese Filipinos to showcase the arts, culture and history of the Chinese.[300]

Non-Chinese Filipinos were initially referred to as huan-á (番仔) by ethnic Chinese Filipinos in the Philippines. It is also used in other Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia by Hokkien-speaking ethnic Chinese to refer to peoples of Malay ancestry.[301] In Taiwan, it was also used but it has become a taboo term with negative stigma since it was used to refer to indigenous Taiwanese aboriginals[302] and the Japanese during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan.[303] The term itself in mainland China originally just meant "foreigner" but at times may also have been considered derogatory[301] since it could negatively connote to "barbarian/outsider" by some who had negative views on certain neighboring non-Chinese peoples that certain groups historically lived with since for centuries this was the term predominantly used to refer to non-Chinese people, but today, it does not necessarily carry its original connotations, depending on the speaker's perceptions and culture of how they grew up to learn to perceive the term, since in the Philippines, its present usage now mostly just plainly refers to any non-Chinese Filipinos, especially native Filipinos.[304] When speaking Hokkien, most older Chinese Filipinos still use the term, while younger Chinese Filipinos may sometimes instead use the term Hui-li̍p-pin lâng (菲律賓儂), which directly means, "Philippine person" or simply "Filipino". This itself brings complications though as Chinese Filipinos themselves are Filipinos too, born and raised in the Philippines often with families of multiple generations carrying Filipino citizenship.

Some Chinese Filipinos perceive the government and authorities to be unsympathetic to the plight of the ethnic Chinese, especially in terms of frequent kidnapping for ransom during the late 1990s.[305] Currently, most of the third or fourth generation Chinese Filipinos generally view the non-Chinese Filipino people and government positively, and have largely forgotten about the historical oppression of the ethnic Chinese. They are also most likely to consider themselves as just being "Filipino" and focus on the Philippines, rather than on just being "Chinese" and being associated with China (PRC) or Taiwan (ROC).

Some Chinese Filipinos believe racism still exists toward their community among a minority of non-Chinese Filipinos, who the Chinese Filipinos refer to as "pâi-huâ" (排華) in Philippine Hokkien. Organizations belonging to this category include the Laspip Movement, headed by Adolfo Abadeza, as well as the Kadugong Liping Pilipino, founded by Armando "Jun" Ducat Jr. that stirred tensions around the late 1990s.[306][307][308][309] Also due in part to racial or chauvinistic views from Mainland Chinese towards native Filipinos or Filipinos in general in the 1980's after Filipinos became in demand in the international work force, some racial tendencies of Mainland Chinese brought about by Han chauvinism against native Filipinos have intensified in the 21st century, where many Mainland Chinese from mainland China have branded the Philippines as a "gullible nation of maids and banana sellers", amidst disputes in the South China Sea.[310] Due to such racist remarks against native Filipinos, racism against Mainland Chinese in mainland China and by extension, ethnic-Chinese in general such as Chinese Filipinos, later developed among certain native or mestizo Filipino communities as a form of backlash.[311] During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, some Chinese Filipinos have also voiced concerns about Sinophobic sentiments that some non-Chinese Filipinos may carry against any ethnic Chinese, especially those from mainland China due to being the site of the first coronavirus outbreak, that may sometimes extend and generalize on Chinese Filipinos.[312] Chinese Filipino organizations have discouraged the mainstream Filipino public from being discriminatory, particularly against Chinese nationals amid the global spread of COVID-19.[313]

Assimilation is defined as the adoption of the cultural norms of the dominant or host culture, while integration is defined as the adoption of the cultural norms of the dominant or host culture while maintaining their culture of origin.

As of the present day, due to the effects of globalization in the Philippines, there has been a marked tendency to assimilate to Filipino lifestyles influenced by the US, among ethnic Chinese. This is especially true for younger Chinese Filipino living in Metro Manila[399] who are gradually shifting to English as their preferred language, thus identifying more with Western culture, at the same time speaking Chinese among themselves. Similarly, as the cultural divide between Chinese Filipino and other Filipinos erode, there is a steady increase of intermarriages with native and mestizo Filipinos, with their children completely identifying with the Filipino culture and way of life. Assimilation is gradually taking place in the Philippines, albeit at a slower rate as compared to Thailand.[400]

On the other hand, the largest Chinese Filipino organization, the Kaisa Para Sa Kaunlaran openly espouses eventual integration but not assimilation of the Chinese Filipino with the rest of Philippine society and clamors for maintaining Chinese language education and traditions.

Meanwhile, the general Philippine public is largely neutral regarding the role of the Chinese Filipino in the Philippines, and many have embraced Chinese Filipino as fellow Filipino citizens and even encouraged them to assimilate and participate in the formation of the Philippines' destiny.

Separation is defined as the rejection of the dominant or host culture in favor of preserving their culture of origin, often characterized by the presence of ethnic enclaves.

The recent rapid economic growth of both China and Taiwan as well as the successful business acumen of Overseas Chinese have fueled among many Chinese Filipino a sense of pride through immersion and regaining interest in Chinese culture, customs, values and language while remaining in the Philippines.

Despite the community's inherent ethnocentrism – there are no active proponents for political separation, such as autonomy or even independence, from the Philippines, partly due to the small size of the community relative to the general Philippine population, and the scattered distribution of the community throughout the archipelago, with only half residing in Metro Manila.

Many Chinese-Filipino entrepreneurs and professionals have flocked to their ancestral homeland to partake of business and employment opportunities opened up by China's emergence as a global economic superpower.[401]

As above, the fast economic growth of China and the increasing popularity of Chinese culture has also helped fan pro-China patriotism among a majority of Chinese Filipino who espouse 愛國愛鄉 (ài guó ài xiāng) sentiments (love of ancestral country and hometown). Some Chinese Filipino, especially those belonging to the older generation, still demonstrate ài guó ài xiāng by donating money to fund clan halls, school buildings, Buddhist temples and parks in their hometowns in China.

During the 1990s to the early 2000s, Philippine economic difficulties and more liberal immigration policies in destination countries have led to well-to-do Chinese Filipino families to acquire North American or Australasian passports and send their children abroad to attend prestigious North America or Australasian Universities.[402] Many of these children are opting to remain after graduation to start professional careers in North America or Australasia, like their Chinese brethren from other parts of Asia.

Many Philippine-educated Chinese Filipino from middle-class families are also migrating to North America and Australasia for economic advantages. Those who have family businesses regularly commute between North America (or Australasia) and the Philippines. In this way, they follow the well-known pattern of other Chinese immigrants to North America who lead "astronaut" lifestyles: family in North America, business in Asia.[403]

With the increase in political stability and economic growth in Asia, this trend is becoming significantly less popular for Chinese Filipino.