Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Filipinos in Nueva Espaã A: Filipino-Mexican Relations, Mestizaje, and Identity in Colonial and Contemporary Mexico
Filipinos in Nueva Espaã A: Filipino-Mexican Relations, Mestizaje, and Identity in Colonial and Contemporary Mexico
Luxury Goods, Silver Bullion, and Brown Bodies Across the Pacific
Between 1565 and 1815, numerous goods from Asia, the Philippines, and
other areas of the Pacific were highly coveted by the Spanish elite in the
Americas and Spain. Manila was the entrepôt from where all goods were
processed, readied, and shipped to Acapulco, Mexico (which was also
known as the “City of Kings”).7 Trade goods such as silks, porcelains, agri-
cultural produce, spices, teas, and other luxury and consumer merchandise
from China, the Philippines, Japan, India, Borneo, Cambodia, Malay, Siam
(Thailand), the Spice Islands (Moluccas, Java, and Ceylon), and other parts
of Asia and the Pacific were traded for silver to Chinese merchants.8 In
addition to silver, other goods shipped back to the Philippines included a
wide variety of agricultural goods, medicinal plants, and other items that
“covered the necessities of the island population.”9 This global exchange of
goods and silver transformed the material and cultural lives of merchants
and consumers in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
The Philippines provided key items in this transpacific endeavor.
Indeed, probably the greatest item produced/built and exported from
the Philippines were the galleons themselves. The majority of the vessels
were built in the shipyards of Cavite, but galleons were also constructed
in Acapulco, Natividad, Zihuantanejo, and other port towns in Mexico.10
In the Philippines, most of the workforce used to construct these mighty
vessels was managed through a forced system of labor called polo, which
Filipinos in Nueva España • guevarra • 391
Filipino indio women suffered other indignities. They were used as concu-
bines for Spanish nobles and other officials, who often times impregnated
and abandoned them once they reached port. This practice became such
a problem that the Spanish Crown wanted to avoid it altogether; thus a
decree was issued in 1608 to put an end to this custom: “One prominent
official had carried fifteen of these women with him on the voyage. Several
were delivered of children by him, while others left the ship at Acapulco
in a pregnant condition, ‘which made a great scandal.’”18
For Filipino indio men in the galleon trade, their fate had multiple
outcomes. As previously mentioned, there were thousands who served as
laborers in the building of galleons, both in the Philippines and Mexico. As
underpaid sailors and slave labor, Filipinos were also used to navigate the
galleons. The navigating prowess of the Filipino seamen and their knowl-
edge of the Pacific Ocean assured that many of the galleons touched port
in Acapulco. Their history of inter-island and long-voyage trading with
other Asian countries made them invaluable navigators. The experience
of these Filipino indios across Pacific waters forced the Spanish to rely
heavily on them. For most galleon crews, Filipino indios outnumbered the
Iberians by five to one.19 A Spaniard later praised these seamen as follows:
There is not an Indian in those islands who has not a remarkable
inclination for the sea, nor is there at present in all the world a people
more agile in manoeuvres [sic] on shipboard, or who learn so quickly
nautical terms and whatever a good mariner ought to know. . . . They
can teach many of the Spanish seamen who sail in those seas. . . . There
is hardly an Indian who has sailed the seas who does not understand
the mariner’s compass, and therefore on this trade route there are some
very skilful [sic] and dextrous [sic] helmsmen. . . . When placed upon a
ship from which they cannot escape, they fight with spirit and courage.20
them. The rations allowed to the Indios were about half that granted to
the Spaniards, and near the end of the voyage, when the provisions grew
scarce and foul, it was the fare of the native seamen that was most restricted
in amount and quality.”22
Moreover, when provisions ran out, “unnecessary cargo,” (for example,
indios) was “dumped overboard to prevent the starvation of the crew”
(Spanish crew members). In addition to these abuses, the Filipino seamen
were cheated out of their wages. Many were the victims of wage fraud of
most if not all of their pay.23 Filipino indios grew tired of the brutal treat-
ment and the long, arduous voyages. They responded by deserting once
they disembarked in Mexico. In Mexico, these deserters found freedom
in an atmosphere and with a people similar to their own who they could
intermarry with and blend into.
Thousands of Filipino indios deserted. In fact, according to historian
Edward Slack Jr., the overwhelming majority of Asians who came to Mexico
during the course of the 250-year galleon trade era were Filipino.24 Their
desertion freed them from forced servitude. However, Filipino indios knew
their ties would be completely severed from the Philippines and, more
important, their families and friends. One can only imagine what many
of them felt knowing they would never see their loved ones again if they
deserted. These actions thus give us insight into the cruelty and horrors
that these Filipino indios faced under Spanish colonialism, which led them
to desert in such mass numbers, never to return to the Philippines. Once
they deserted and were assimilated into Mexican communities, many of
them cohabitated and married local Mexican Indians and other mixed-
race women, starting their own familial and friendship networks. Some
remarried even though they had wives back in the Philippines.25 Once
they were settled, they invited other Filipino indios arriving to Acapulco to
also desert and join their multiethnic communities. Their ability to blend
among the local Mexican indio and mixed-race population illustrates the
shared racial, class, and, to a lesser extent, gender elements that channeled
them to these specific communities, where they would be accepted yet also
escape the clutches of their Spanish masters.26
The opportunities available to Filipino indios in Mexico also far
outweighed those in the Philippines. The cultural exchanges of food, agri-
394 • JAAS • 14:3
cultural products, language, and other influences that took place between
Filipino and Mexican indios and mestizos established the foundation for
their continued interrelationships. Though Spain colonized both Mexico
and the Philippines, it was Mexican and Filipino interaction on an intimate,
local level that initiated the transpacific cultural and human exchange as
it exists today, which has influenced both countries tremendously. Thus
the relationship between Mexico and the Philippines can help us to sub-
stantiate broader arguments and reconceptualize the people’s role in this
era of colonial globalization.
The competition with Castilian wine was so great that Spain was
willing to deport Filipino indios who made their wine back to the Philip-
pines. Mexican officials, however, permitted them to participate in the
local economies when their skills encouraged cooperation and the mutual
benefit to each other. The coconut wine that Filipino indios introduced
to Mexico is still produced today. In western Mexico, locals still use the
Tagalog word “tuba” to describe this popular spirit.30
The agricultural exchange between the Philippines and Mexico ex-
pands beyond the introduction of tuba wine to the Mexican population.
The use of nipa palm leaves by Filipino indios, who brought the coconut
palm trees with them, also introduced thatched roofs to Mexico. These
nipa huts were called palapa by Mexicans, and are also used to this day.31
Many other types of agricultural and medicinal products and seeds were
also exchanged. Mexico provided the Philippines with maize (corn), avo-
cado, guava, maguey, tobacco, and the cacao bean, from which chocolate
is derived. Other products through Mexico via the galleon trade included
pineapple, arrowroot, peanut, lima beans, yams, balimbing, cassava, chico,
papaya, zapote, tomato, and squash. Medicinal plants included tuberose,
spider lily, canna, Mexican poppy, camchile (for its tanbark), ipil-ipil,
various peppers, lantana, cactus, madre de cacao, periwinkle, campanella,
and an assortment of dye plants, including mimosa, indigo, and achuete.
From the Philippines, Mexico received coconuts, the mango de Ma-
nila, tamarind, rice, and various medicinal plants introduced by Filipino
indio mediquillos to the Spanish missionaries and, arguably so, to native
Mexicans once these herbs were brought overseas. Mexican culinary tradi-
tions were also influenced with the introduction of ceviche (kilawin), and
cultural forms of entertainment such as the spectacle of cockfighting also
have their origins in the Philippines.32 These are just some of the many
agricultural and cultural exchanges that both groups engaged in, which
had a lasting impact on both their countries.
396 • JAAS • 14:3
Linguistic Exchanges
Spain had its own cultural impact on both Mexicans and Filipinos for
over 300 years, which further solidified their common experiences.
These included language, food, religion, fiestas, music, and clothing. For
one, the Iberians introduced thousands of their words into the Tagalog
language, as well as Chavacano, another Filipino dialect.33 Spanish is also
the dominant language in Mexico. Even words that described the familial
and kinship ties that were created through God parenting were similar.
The word compadrazgo in Mexico, for example, was compadrinazgo in
the Philippines. Comadre and compadre in Mexico were kumadre and
kumpadre in the Philippines. Though they had spelling variations, their
meanings and use were the same.34 The use of language to describe par-
ticular foods was also prevalent. These included menudo, caldo de arroz,
paella, chicharones, asado, escabeche, pan de sal, empanadas, adobo, lechon,
chorizo, and many others.35
Similarly, Filipinos and Mexicans had a crossbreed of language with
many Mexican words, or “Mexicanismos,” making it into regional Philip-
pine dialects. Indigenous Mexican words from the Aztec Nahuatl language,
for example, made it into the Tagalog vocabulary. These include: achuete,
atole, avocado, cahuete, cacao, caimito, calabaza, camachile, camote, cala-
chuche, chico, chocolate, coyote, nana(y), tata(y), tinagui, tocayo, zacate,
and zapote among others. Words that were Nahuatl in origin that took
on a Filipino name include xicama-tl (singkamas), tianquiztli (tiyangge),
cachuatl (kawkaw, or chocolate), xoco-atl (tsokolate), tamalli (tamales),
chayohtli (sayote), tocaitl (tocayo), and chilli (sili), among others. From
the Philippines, Mexico got tuba (tuba fresca), ilang-ilang (hilanhilan),
and Parian. There were also other idioms and modes that were exchanged
between Mexicans and Filipinos. Language would thus be a significant
factor in facilitating their cultural and genetic blending.36
Religious and cultural fiestas among Mexicans and Filipinos also share
a Spanish influence. Spanish Catholicism played a pivotal role in the
conversion of many indigenous peoples in both Mexico and the Philip-
Filipinos in Nueva España • guevarra • 397
pines. Though not always successful, it was the means by which Iberian
conquistadors and clergy tried to wipe out the indigenous identity of those
they conquered. The newly converted indios were given Spanish surnames
during baptism.37 This not only showed their conversion to Catholicism
but was useful for Spain to keep census counts of their converts. As with
language, religion was brought to the Philippines via Mexico.
Mexico was so vital to Castilian control over the Philippines that
even their religious affairs were handled under the jurisdiction of its sister
colony, and not Spain.38 Mexico sent many clergy from various religious
orders to convert the indios in the Philippines. Due to the success of these
religious orders, it is estimated that 80 percent of the current population is
Catholic. Yet, in other parts of Asia, resistance and martyrdom met many
of these priest and friars. Thus, because of the success of Catholicism in the
Philippines, it is the only predominantly Catholic country in Asia. Spanish
influence is also evident in the myths in both the Philippines and Mexico,
such as the Aparecido, or apparition. Furthermore, devotion to La Virgen
de Guadalupe, an indigenous Mexican version of the Virgin Mary, can be
found in churches throughout the Philippines. Other religious images that
made their way from Mexico to the Philippines include La Virgen de la
Salud from Pátzcuaro, La Virgen de San Juan De Los Lagos from Zapopan,
La Virgen de Antipolo, and the Cristo Negro from Guiyapo, among others.39
Fiestas and other cultural activities were also very similar. For example,
the serenading of women was prevalent in both the Philippines (harana)
and Mexico (serenata). Musical devices, such as la bandurria, and other
stringed instruments were analogous.40 Both groups also share the celebra-
tion of certain religious holidays. In both Mexico and the Philippines, for
example, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated every first of
November. During the Christmas season, other festivities and religious
practices are comparable. Both groups traditionally attend Midnight
Mass and Las Posadas. Moreover, harvest festivals are also similar, such as
the maize festival in Oaxaca, Mexico, and the lutrina in the Philippines.41
Other cultural celebrations that both Mexicans and Filipinos share are the
coming of age ceremonies for young women. The Mexican quinceañera
and the Filipino debut are alike in tradition and significance. The Mexi-
can camisa guayabera (dress shirt) is another example. The shirt’s origins
come from Cuba, which was also influenced by long-term contact with
398 • JAAS • 14:3
the Philippines. The shirt’s designs and embroidery resembled the Filipino
barong Tagalog, which was based off of the Camisa de Chino worn by Chi-
nese and mestizos in Manila. In Southern Mexico, the camisa guayabera
is also known as the Filipinas. Indeed, volumes can be said regarding the
multiple similarities between Mexicans and Filipinos, which were shared
and blended over centuries.42
One of the most significant exchanges that took place because of the gal-
leon trade between the Philippines and Mexico involved people. Given
that the Philippines formed part of a colonial extension of Mexico, and
not Spain, this relationship facilitated the traveling of Filipinos to Mexico
and Mexicans to the Philippines.43 Thus began of the process of mestizaje,
or the racial and cultural blending of peoples between both countries.
The transpacific passage promoted the intermixing or amalgamation of
these two peoples and their cultures, and has been part of the historical
process that continues to this day between the Philippines and Mexico.44
As previously mentioned, these include the slaves, servants, and seamen,
as well as soldiers, clergy, administrators, and civilians. Within this con-
text, both Filipinos and Mexicans lived and married each other within the
local populations. When Miguel López de Legazpi traveled from Mexico
to the Philippines for example, it is estimated that over half of his crew
(300 out of 400 men) were Mexicans, which included creoles, mestizos,
and Mexican indios.45
Subsequent voyages to the Philippines introduced more Mexicans
to the local Filipino population. Although the exact numbers cannot be
determined, it is highly likely that thousands of Mexicans who made their
way to the Philippines deserted and blended into the local population.
In time, their historical memory and identity as Mexican was lost after
generations; thus they became Filipino. Their country of origin may have
been lost, but their cultural and linguistic remnants still exist.46 Mexicans
living in the Philippines at the time were called Guachinangos. This term
was most likely used to describe their mixed-race ancestry and social class.
In addition, there is a town called Mexico in the province of Pampanga in
the Philippines, arguably another testimony to this connection.47
Filipinos in Nueva España • guevarra • 399
As this letter suggests, Mexico not only saw the importance of aid-
ing the Filipinos in revolting against Spain but also wanted to continue
its economic, social and cultural relationship. The implications of this
message were evident fifty years prior to the Katipunan and their revo-
lution against Spain. Led by General Emilio Aguinaldo, the Philippines
declared its independence and established a republic. Filipinos however,
would have to fight against the United States, which had its own imperial
ambitions and ushered in another era of colonialism after the start of the
Philippine-American War of 1898.60 Although Philippine independence
from Spain did not occur as early as desired, just the thought of the type
of relationship between the two countries is enough to evoke excitement
and pride, since both recognized each other as allies. As Bishop Antonio
Joaquin Perez of Puebla, Mexico, wrote: “Never mind. In God’s own time,
the Filipinos will rise in arms against Spain and win their independence
like our people. Then, and only then, shall we be able to resume our ties
with the Philippines.”61
Bishop Antonio Joaquin Perez’s statement illustrated the welcom-
ing possibility in resuming their relationship as independent nations.
The opportunity, however, never materialized. By 1815 the galleon trade
finally came to an end. This resulted from both increased competition
with foreign traders after the Seven Year’s War with Britain, and Mexico’s
increasing activities toward full independence from Spain, which it finally
achieved in 1821. Although Mexico and the Philippines would not have
the same sort of constant connection of people, goods, and ideas as they
once did during the heyday of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade, they
did nonetheless recognize their shared history under Spanish colonial-
ism. In Acapulco, Mexico, for example, there are several museums, such
as the Museo Histórico de Acapulco, Fuerte de San Diego, and the Museo
Histórico Naval de Acapulco, which have extensive information on the
Manila-Acapulco galleon trade and the influences of these countries on
each other’s history and culture.62 Scholars from both the Philippines
and Mexico have also written about this intimate connection, which has
sparked a growing interest among new generations of academics who seek
Filipinos in Nueva España • guevarra • 403
Figure 1. Photo of the Lutong Pinoy, Calle Cinco de Mayo, Acapulco, Mexico.
Image provided by author, 2004.
their home away from home. They could converse freely in Tagalog with
each other and Gavino (who also speaks Spanish and English), while the
Filipino men flirted with the Mexican waitresses. In fact, several Filipinos
are involved with some of the waitresses and have children with them.68
These relationships, and the children born out of this experience, con-
tinue to forge this legacy of Filipino-Mexican relations and the shaping of
contemporary multiethnic identities. These workers, the significant others
they have in Acapulco, and those Filipinos who decide to stay in Mexico
are modern-day reminders of the relationships that were formed during
the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries.
I also had the good fortune of interviewing several Filipinos and
multiethnic Mexipinos in Acapulco.69 One was Jun Lacang, who works
as a singer at a local restaurant. A Philippine citizen, he worked as an
entertainer on one of the cruise ships that docked in Acapulco. He fell
in love with a local Mexican woman whom he met through her uncle,
his former employer in California. Needless to say, as he put it, “I fell in
love with a beautiful Mexican woman, and decided not to go back to the
Philippines.”70 He has been in Acapulco for over thirty years. He often
reminisces about the Philippines but mentions that he is happy living in
Mexico. As Jun keenly noted, in the United States he faced a lot of discrimi-
nation because he was Filipino, yet in Mexico he was accepted and found
a place to call home. He has a FM2 passport, which allows him to live in
Acapulco though he cannot vote. Jun and his wife own property, and his
children, who are multiethnic Mexipinos, hold dual citizenship with the
Philippines and Mexico. Jun, like many other Filipinos before him, made
Mexico his home, where he lives a happy life.71 For many Filipino men, the
reason they stayed in Acapulco was because they fell in love with a local
Mexican woman. As with Jun, Gavino also mentioned how he worked as
a chef on a cruise ship but fell in love with a local Mexican woman and
stayed in Acapulco. He decided to establish his roots there as well, raising
his Mexipino children.72
The identities of these multiethnic Mexipinos is worth noting. The
Mexipinos I spoke with in Acapulco were proud to call themselves Filipino
even though they were culturally raised as Mexican. Such is the case of
Araceli Tellechea, a Mexipina born and raised in Acapulco, Mexico. Her
406 • JAAS • 14:3
grandfather, who was Filipino, came to Acapulco during the late 1920s,
where he worked as a fisherman. According to Araceli, her grandfather met
and fell in love with her grandmother while he was working in Acapulco.
He decided to stay and raise a family, which is now in its fourth generation.
Though they are more culturally Mexican and have no ties to the Philip-
pines, Araceli is proud to be Filipina and acknowledges her multiethnic
identity through the connection she has with her Filipino grandfather.
The way she embraces both her ancestries illustrates her identity as be-
ing both Mexican and Filipina.73 Further research into this phenomenon
in Mexico will no doubt continue to add to the complexity of this story.
Conclusion
The 250 years that Filipinos and Mexicans initially came into contact
through Spanish colonialism and their involvement in the Manila-Aca-
pulco galleon trade laid the foundation for what would become a large,
cultural, religious, agricultural, and human exchange across the Pacific.
The descendants of those Mexicans living in the Philippines, and Filipinos
living in Mexico, are the remnants of this rich history. For Mexico, this
was more evident due to the larger numbers of Filipinos who migrated
and remained. Though most of the knowledge we have about Mexican
history overlooks the contributions of Filipinos and other Asians to the
region, their legacy has been well documented and celebrated in Acapulco.74
Although Filipinos and other Asians were a part of the complex pro-
cess of mestizaje that took place throughout the Americas, their presence
has been missing from the larger historical Mexican and Chicano narrative.
Yet as historian Evelyn Hu-DeHart has noted regarding the Asian pres-
ence in the Americas, “these histories are hidden in plain view.”75 Indeed,
places like Acapulco, with its rich history through the galleon trade, have
recognized and celebrated this cultural diversity. Recent scholarship has
also begun to unearth these narratives and include the Filipino presence
in the Asian and Pacific Islander diaspora to the Americas.76 Though time
has passed since the days of the galleon trade, the interconnectedness of
Mexicans and Filipinos has endured through contemporary times under
the guise of transnational tourism. Acapulco is still a haven for contem-
Filipinos in Nueva España • guevarra • 407
porary Filipinos who come to live among a people who are very similar
to their own. Moreover, individuals like Araceli, as well as the children of
Gavino, Jun, and other Filipinos who married or had relationships with
local Mexican women, are contemporary examples of this legacy. Filipinos
and Mexicans continue to have relationships and marry in Mexico, as well
as in the United States, another area where a growing multiethnic Mexipino
population is occurring. These stories illustrate a historical phenomenon
that has spanned time and place to create a multicultural experience that
is deeply Mexican yet also Filipino.
Notes
I would like to thank Marivel Danielson, Seline Szkupinski-Quiroga, Kelly
F. Jackson, and Django Paris for providing comments on earlier versions of
this essay. Many thanks as well to Evelyn Hu-DeHart and Edward R. Slack
Jr., who also provided insightful comments and additional sources to include
in later versions of this essay, which I am grateful for. All errors remain my
own.
1. Evelyn I. Rodriguez, “Primerang Bituin: Philippines-Mexico Relations at the
Dawn of the Pacific Rim Century,” Asia Pacific Perspectives 6, no. 1 (May
2006): 4.
2. The author would like to thank David Galbiso for his invaluable assistance in
gathering information for this article. He helped track down my interviewees
and assisted during the interview process. For more on Mexipino identity,
see Rudy P. Guevarra Jr., “Burritos and Bagoong: Mexipinos and Multiethnic
Identity in San Diego, California,” in Crossing Lines: Race and Mixed Race
Across the Geohistorical Divide, ed. Marc Coronado, Rudy P. Guevarra Jr., Jef-
frey Moniz, and Laura Furlan Szanto (Walnut Creek, Calif.: Alta Mira Press,
2005), 73–96.
3. Mexicans refer to those who have Asian features as looking “chino,” or “chinito”
(Chinese), a generic label that collectively includes Filipinos and other Asian
ethnic groups.
4. The name for this was often referred to as the Manila, Acapulco, or Manila-
Acapulco galleon trade, depending on who was writing about it and what
direction the ships were heading. For the purpose of this essay, I use the term
“Manila-Acapulco galleon trade” to highlight the connectedness of these
two locations in Spain’s global trading. See William Lytle Schurz, “Mexico,
Peru, and the Manila Galleon,” Hispanic American Historical Review 1, no.
4 (November 1918): 389–402; Miguel Ángel Fernández, The China Galleon
(Monterrey, Mexico: Grupo Vitro, 1998); William Lytle Schurz, The Manila
Galleon: The Romantic History of the Spanish Galleons Trading Between Manila
and Acapulco (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1959).
408 • JAAS • 14:3
32. Ceviche is fish or shrimp that is chopped up and cooked by marinating it in the
acid of citrus fruits, such as lemons or limes. It is usually mixed with onions,
tomatoes, cilantro, and avocado, depending on the recipe. Filipinos have a
similar dish, kilawin. The process of making this Filipino dish was taught
to Mexican locals, since they previously did not have citrus fruits until the
galleon trade. See MEDI, “Contributions of New Spain to the Philippines”;
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, “The Man Who Would Have Been L.A.’s First
Filipino,” in Philippine Woman in America (Quezon City, Philippines: New
Day, 1991), 56; Eduardo Quisumbing, “Herbolario Drugstore: Medicinal
Plants Can Be Useful to Modern Doctors,” in Filipino Heritage, 3:692–693;
Mercene, “15 Generations of Filipinos,” A14; Agoncillo, History of the Filipino
People, 86–87; and Carlos Quirino, “The Mexican Connection: The Cultural
Cargo of the Manila-Acapulco Galleons,” (source unknown), 933–934, Manila
Galleons File, Filipino American National Historical Society, National Pinoy
Archives, Seattle, Wash. All subsequent citations will be referred to as FANHS
NPA.
33. MEDI, “Crossbreeding or Mestizaje,” Museo Histórico de Acapulco, Fuerte
de San Diego, Acapulco; Amalia R. Mamaed, “Distant Cousins,” Hispanic
(January/February 1994): 30–32.
34. For more on the concepts of compadrazgo and compadrinazgo, see Robert
R. Alvarez Jr., Familia: Migration and Adaptation in Baja and Alta California
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987); and Donn V. Hart, Com-
padrinazgo: Ritual Kinship in the Philippines (De Kalb: Northern Illinois
University Press, 1977).
35. Gilda Cordero-Fernando, “There’s a Spaniard in My Soup,” in Filipino Heri-
tage, 5:1152–1153; Mamaed, “Distant Cousins,” 33; Agoncillo, History of the
Filipino People, 87. Nahuatl words were verified by using Frances Karttunen,
An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
1983).
36. MEDI, “Crossbreeding or Mestizaje,” and “Influences,” Museo Histórico de
Acapulco, Fuerte de San Diego, Acapulco; Brainard, “L.A.’s First Filipino,” 56;
Cordero-Fernando, “There’s a Spaniard in My Soup,” 1153; Quirino, “Mexican
Connection,” 932.
37. According to writer Gutierre Tibon, a lot of Spanish surnames are actually
Mexican in origin, from the Nahuatl language. Some of these include Ayate,
Apan, Zacate, and Mecate, among others. See Gutierre Tibon, Diccionario
Etimólogica Comparado De Los Apellidos Españoles, Hispanos Americanos, y
Filipinos (México: Editorial Diana, 1988), xii–xiii.
38. MEDI, “Religious Life,” Museo Histórico de Acapulco, Fuerte de San Diego,
Acapulco; Quirino, “Mexican Connection,” 934.
39. MEDI, “Religious Life”; Agoncillo, History of the Filipino People, 86; John
W. Burton, “Myths Shared with Mexico,” in Filipino Heritage, 5:1276–1283;
Mamaed, “Distant Cousins,” 30.
40. Mamaed, “Distant Cousins,” 32.
412 • JAAS • 14:3
41. “Las Posadas” is the Spanish word for “inn” or “shelter.” Both Mexican and
Filipino Catholics traditionally celebrate the event. It is the reenactment of
Joseph and Mary’s flight from Nazareth and their search for shelter in Beth-
lehem. This tradition was brought to the Philippines, where it is celebrated
as Simbang Gabi. Mexican and Filipino Catholics also traditionally celebrate
Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, then go home to open presents. For more
on this, see Praveena Raman, “Las Posadas: A Latino Christmas Celebration,”
Tri-City Voice Online, December 22, 2005, http://www.tricityvoice.com/ar-
ticledisplay.php?a=1116. Dia de los Muertos, as it is known in Mexico, is called
Araw ng mga Patay in the Philippines. Known also as the “Day of the Dead,”
it is a celebration honoring loved ones who have died. The celebration has its
origins in Mexico, were indigenous groups such as the Aztecs were practicing
it for at least 3,000 years. Although the Spanish tried to eradicate this practice,
they were unsuccessful. Instead, the celebration took on a sort of fusion of
both Aztec cultural and Spanish Catholic elements. Spanish clergy moved it
to November, so it would coincide with the Catholic celebration of All Saints
Day. This celebration traveled across the Pacific during the sixteenth century,
making its way into the religious lives of newly converted Filipino Catholics,
where it is still celebrated. See Carlos Miller, “Indigenous People Wouldn’t
Let ‘Day of the Dead’ Die,” Arizona Republic Online, October 5, 2005, http://
www.azcentral/ent/dead/history/; and Friar Frank Wintz, O.F.M., “All Saints
Day in the Philippines Festive Celebrations Amid the Tombs,” American
Catholic.org, http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/fj102805.
asp. For more on the maize festival in Mexico and the lutrina festival in the
Philippines, see Jaime B. Veneracion, “Mexican Footprints,” Filipinas (July
1997): 20.
42. See Evelyn Ibatan Rodriguez, Comparing Filipina Debuts and Mexican
Quinceañeras, Mexican-Filipino American File, FANHS NPA. For more on
the camisa guayabera and barong Tagalog, see Lynn Pan, Sons of the Yellow
Emperor: A History of the Chinese Diaspora (New York: Kodansha Globe,
1994), 160; Jean Baptiste Mallat, The Philippines: History, Geography, Customs,
Agriculture, Industry and Commerce of the Spanish Colonies in Oceania, trans.
Pura Santillan-Castrence and Lisa S. Castrence (Manila: National Historical
Institute, 1983); Floro L. Mercene, Manila Men in the New World: Filipino
Migration to Mexico and the Americas from the Sixteenth Century (Quezon
City: University of the Philippines Press, 2007), 123–127; Quirino, “Mexican
Connection,” 934; Mamaed, “Distant Cousins,” 32; and Marcelino A. Foronda
Jr., “Vigan: A Study of Mexican Cultural Influences in the Philippines,” Journal
of Social History (Manila) 21, nos. 1–2 (January–December 1976): 1–12.
43. An example that novelist Cecilia Manguerra Brainard mentions are Cebuanos
who were sent to Mexico in 1565, and a group of 300 Mexicans who arrived in
Cebu in 1567. See Brainard, “L.A.’s First Filipino,” 55; and Quirino, “Mexican
Connection,” 933.
Filipinos in Nueva España • guevarra • 413
44. Although the Chinese and other Asians as well as Africans were a part of this
mestizaje collectively, for the purpose of this article I focus on Filipinos and
Mexicans. See MEDI, “Crossbreeding or Mestizaje,” and “Philippine Culture,”
Museo Histórico de Acapulco, Fuerte de San Diego, Acapulco. For more on
the term and process of mestizaje, see Arnoldo Carlos Vento, Mestizo: The
History, Culture, and Politics of the Mexican and Chicano (New York: University
Press of America, 1998); Suzanne Bost, Mulattas and Mestizas: Representing
Mixed Identities in the Americas, 1850–2000 (Athens: University of Georgia
Press, 2003); Marshall, “Birth of the Mestizo,” 161–184; and Gloria Anzaldúa,
Borlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books,
1987).
45. Schurz, Manila Galleon, 22; Carlos Quirino, “Mexican Connection,” 933–934.
46. Given that most of the Filipino indio crews usually deserted upon landing
in Acapulco, on the return voyages to the Philippines, Mexican indios and
mestizos comprised the bulk of the crew back to Manila. If their treatment
was similar to what Filipino indios endured, it is likely that they, too, jumped
ship when they landed in Manila and were absorbed into the local Filipino
populations. See MEDI, “Contributions of New Spain to the Philippines,” and
“Crossbreeding or Mestizaje”; Quirino, “Mexican Connection,” 933; Brainard,
“L.A.’s First Filipino,” 55–56; Greg B. Macabenta, “The Global Pinoy: The Ma-
nila-Acapulco Connection,” Manila Times Online, December 7, 2005, http://
www.manilatimes.net/national/2005/dec/07/yehey/opinion/20051207opi2.
html.
47. In her article, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard lists Cebuanos being sent from the
Philippines to Mexico under Fray Urdaneta’s expedition back to Acapulco in
1565. Mexicans were also sent to the Philippines from Mexico, including 300
in 1567 and another 200 in 1570. Although Brainard claims the term “Guachi-
nango” means “one who dwells in the forests and jungles,” the word in fact is
used to describe the red snapper fish. Given that Mexicans in the Philippines
were soldiers of Indian and/or mixed-race ancestry, the term may have been
used to describe their character as someone from the lower social classes in
the Philippines. These Mexicans were eventually assimilated into Philippine
society by the nineteenth century. See Brainard, “L.A.’s First Filipino,” 55–56;
Mercene, Manila Men in the New World, 134; and “guachinango,” Oxford
Spanish Dictionary (2005), http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.
asp?spen=guachinango. Some of the descendents from Mexico, Pampanga
in the Philippines, include both Filipinos and Filipino Americans, who have
an organization called Circulo Mexicano in the Bay Area of California. See
Danny Galang, “Circulo Mexicano’s Twin Events,” Philippine News, February
26–March 3, 1997, 15, Circulo Mexicano File, FANHS NPA.
48. Although Floro Mercene claims that 60,000 Filipinos deserted and remained
in Mexico, Edward R. Slack Jr. notes that 75,000 is a more reliable estimate
given the fact that 75 percent of all chinos were actually Filipino indios. This
number is also based on the number of ships (not just galleons) that made
414 • JAAS • 14:3
the journey from the Philippines to Mexico and the numbers of total Asian
immigrants who came to Acapulco, which Slack notes: “(100,000) would be
within the bounds of probability.” See Mercene, “15 Generations of Filipinos,”
A1; Edward Slack Jr., email correspondence with author, January 3, 2011;
Edward Slack Jr., “Orientalizing New Spain: Perspectives on Asian Influence
in Colonial Mexico,” APMA symposium series paper (provided courtesy of
Edward R. Slack Jr.), 2, 6; and Slack, “Chinos in New Spain,” 37.
49. El camino de Chino (the Chinese road or path) included what Edward R.
Slack Jr. called “the arteries” that connected Acapulco to these other sites in
Mexico. Given the geographical disbursement of Filipinos, they most likely
took this path along with other Chinese and Asian deserters and settlers. See
Slack, “Chinos in New Spain,” 37–38; and Mercene, Manila Men in the New
World, 81–90.
50. Veneracion, “Mexican Footprints,” 20.
51. MEDI, “Philippine Culture,” and “Crossbreeding or Mestizaje.”
52. See Mercene, “15 Generations of Filipinos,” A1, A14
53. Araceli Tellechea, interview by author, Acapulco, Mexico, November 11, 2004.
54. Floro Mercene quotes Mexican scholar Ricardo Pinzon on this estimate. See
Floro L. Mercene, “Central America: Filipinos in Mexican History,” Ezilon
Infobase, January 28, 2005, http://www.elizon.com/information/printer_476.
html; Mercene, “15 Generations of Filipinos,” A1, A14; and Veneracion,
“Mexican Footprints,” 20.
55. Veneracion, “Mexican Footprints,” 21.
56. According to Ricardo Pinzon, these two Filipino soldiers—Francisco Mongoy
and Isidoro Montes de Oca—were so distinguished in battle that they are
regarded as folk heroes in Mexico. General Vicente Guerrero later became the
first president of Mexico of African decent. See Floro L. Mercene, “Central
America: Filipinos in Mexican History,” Ezilon Infobase, January 28, 2005,
http://www.elizon.com/information/printer_476.html.
57. Brainard, “L.A.’s First Filipino,” 55; Veneracion, “Mexican Footprints,” 21.
58. Veneracion, “Mexican Footprints,” 21–22; Cordero-Fernando, “There’s a
Spaniard in My Soup,” 1153.
59. Veneracion, “Mexican Footprints,” 22.
60. For more on the Katipunan and the Philippine-American War, see Agoncillo,
History of the Filipino People, 149–212; Federal Research Division, Philippines:
A Country Study (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Library of Congress, 1991), 20–21;
and Paul A. Kramer, The Blood of Government: Race, Empire, the United States
and the Philippines (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006).
61. Federal Research Division, Philippines, 22.
62. In November 2004, I visited both museums while conducting research for
my dissertation. The Museo Histórico de Acapulco, Fuerte de San Diego, was
the old Spanish fort that once guarded the inner harbor of Acapulco and
the sailing galleons from pirates. It has since been renovated into a museum
with numerous artifacts and a wealth of historical information and publi-
Filipinos in Nueva España • guevarra • 415
76. For more on recent scholarship documenting the Filipino presence in Mexico,
see Slack, “Sinifying New Spain,” 5–27; Slack, “Chinos in New Spain,” 35–67;
and Mercene, Manila Men in the New World.