I noticed that many people especially foreigners are still incorrectly referring to a citizen of the Philippines as a Philipino, Phillipino or Philippino. Because the spelling of Philippines begins with a “ph”, it is easily assumed that the term for a citizen must also be spelled with a “ph”. This is just like referring to someone from Portugal as Portuguese or from France as French. Well, no other country in the world begins with “ph” so this kind of confusion is unique to us. Actually, the proper term would be Filipino or Filipina (feminine).
If you are asking why Filipino instead of Philipino when the Philippines is spelled with a “ph”, the answer lies with the old name for Philippines. When the country was first colonized by Spain, they give the archipelago the name “Las Islas Filipinas” and its inhabitants “Filipinos”. When it was American’s turn to colonize the country, it was renamed “Philippines”. However, the term “Filipino” stuck.
Filipino also refers to the official language of the Philippines which is based on the Tagalog dialect.
As of the June 2009 national statistics, there are 92 million Filipinos living in the Philippines and about 11 million living outside of which 3 million are in the United States, with Saudi Arabia coming second with 1 million.
Filipinos usually refer to themselves informally as Pinoy or Pinay (feminine). A Filipino is also derogatorily called as a Flip. It has a negative connotation because flip is used to mean “crazy”.
Filipino is popularized in the song “Bebot” by Black Eyed Peas from the album “Monkey Business”. Member apl.de.ap (Allan Pineda Lindo in real life) who sang the song is a Filipino. Here’s the music video:
Here’s a short list of some famous Filipinos:
José P. Rizal -- National Hero
Dolphy (cinema)
Fernando Poe, Jr.(cinema)
Monique Lhuillier (fashion and design)
apl.de.ap (music)
Lea Salonga (music)
Charice Pempengco (music)
Billy Crawford (music)
Batista (professional wrestling) -- father is Filipino
“Paeng” Nepomuceno (bowling)
Brandon Vera (mixed martial arts)
Manny Pacquiao (boxing)
Erik Spoelstra (basketball) -- Miami Heat head coach, mother is Filipina
Efren “Bata” Reyes (billiards)
Henry Sy (business)
Tim Lincecum (baseball) -- San Francisco Giants pitcher, mother is Filipina
Vanessa Hudgens (acting) -- star of High School Musical, mother is Filipina
Lou Diamond Phillips (acting) -- mother is Filipina
Rob Schneider (acting) -- mother is Filipina
Reference: Wikipedia
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January 22nd, 2010 at 11:11 am
Thanks for this cool post. Anyway i found your blog on yahoo and find it very useful. I’ll be sure to come back again for more!
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January 24th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Be proud tehre are many talented Filipinos out there.
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ark Reply:
January 24th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Yes, despite the negative criticisms for our race, I am proud to be a Filipino.
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February 14th, 2010 at 3:49 am
Very interesting to read it
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June 7th, 2010 at 11:25 am
I really like Lea Salonga. I timed my visit to NYC to see my daughter so I could catch Ms. Salonga in her second shot at Le Miz. What a glorious voice she has, and so huge a voice from one so tiny is just amazing. I’ve never been to the Phillipines, but have had many friends from there. From what I have seen on the TV and from my friends, it is very hot, wet, and beautiful.
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