The Life and Works of Jose Rizal

Metacognitive Reading Report # 1

Title of the Article: The Chinese Mestizo in Philippine History

Name: Sablay, Kenneth Bryan M. Date: May 30, 2020

1. Three (3) Things that I significantly learned from the readings

I had learned that the Chinese Mestizos are as prevalent as the Spaniards and the Spanish
mestizos themselves, as they went to Manila for trading purposes. This trade had been too
valuable and monopolized, it came to a point that Spaniards relied on the Chinese,
making them an essential part of the economy. I had learned that the Mestizos would be
so powerful, that more often than not, the government would just approve to their
bidding. And personally, a very interesting discovery, is that Rizal himself might be
considered a fifth generation Chinese mestizo, but was labeled as an “indio” in the end.

2. Three (3) Things that are still unclear to me

One thing that is still unclear to me is the relationship of the Chinese and Spaniards
besides being trade partners. The other unclear thing for me is the idea that “indios” are
practically slaves to our colonizers, and to the extent of our control to our own country.
Lastly, while being partners in commerce, I couldn’t understand much their pursuit of
power over the other.

3. I used to think that….

… Filipino culture and tradition is its own. Although a lot different because of
globalization and its impact, our culture had mostly been lost, ever since the Spaniards
and the Chinese influenced us on their own culture. Even in our blood, almost none of us
can be called a pure Filipino because of numerous invasions that had occurred, along
with globalization.

4. Three (3) questions that I want to ask about the readings

With all these history on the Philippines being colonized by numerous countries, at what
extent is the importance of “indios” to our colonizers back in the day? And for another,
with that kind of a history, how much do we Filipinos have in control of our own
government? And lastly, besides money and brute military force, how did we end up in
that position in the first place, being colonized to that extent?