Conclusion: The Global Filipino

You have seen how your lives have always been tied to global processes. These
connections have become more pronounced in recent years. Today, the Philippine economy
depends largely on incomes from jobs with global connections. The first is migrant labor. In 2015,
the Department of Labor and Employment reported that the number of Filipinos leaving the country
to work overseas rose from 4,018 in 2010 to 6,092 in 2015, a 51% increase in a span of five years.
In 2016, there were 2.4 million Filipinos leaving and/or working outside of the country. They sent
back $25.8 billion in 2015, roughly 8.5% of the country's gross domestic product. The second is
business process outsourcing (BPO), which the Philippines provides for foreign clients. In 2015,
BPO operations yielded $24 billion. Combined, these two economic activities have plowed over
$51 billion into the country's national coffers.

The third source of national income is comprised of exports. The Philippines exports
machinery, semiconductors, wood, cars, export crops and fruits, minerals (gold copper), ships,
and vehicles to other Asian countries, Europe, and North America. In 2016, these exports earned
$56.3 billion. The fourth largest source of income is tourism, which reached about $6.05 billion by
the end of 2016. Added to the $51 billion from OFW and BPO earnings, the total revenue of
$113.35 billion makes the Philippines the 36th largest economy in the world.

Again, if you take these export products from the equation, only rice is left in the Philippines.
While it is the 8th largest rice producer in the world, the country is also one of the largest importers
of this basic staple.

Politically, there has never been a time in the long life of the Philippines that it existed in
isolation from the Asian region as well as the world. Historians have shown that communities in
the islands of the archipelago were engaged in extensive trade with China and maritime Southeast
Asia in the pre-colonial period. The Philippines became a colony of two empires-the Spanish and
then the American--existing in a region where other Western powers and Japan had extended
their reach. When the Philippines became independent, it took sides in a global Cold War between
the capitalist United States and the communist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In the 1960s,
when the United States intervened in the civil war in Vietnam, the Philippines helped form the anti-
communist regional body, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), created by the
American hegemon to "contain" the alleged spread of communism in the region. Even the informal
economy of the country survived because of its regional and global connections. Guns, drugs,
merchandise, and illegal immigrants flowed among the Philippines, Borneo, Sabah, Singapore,
and southern China. Colonial powers and postwar republics tried to contain these illegal networks
but failed. These networks persist to this day.

Finally, despite passionate nationalist warnings about the corrupting influence of Western
culture, Filipinos continue to hold the West in high regard. English is now the other largely spoken
lingua franca of the country, and American popular culture-from basketball to fashion to hip-hop--
remains the model of modernity. The 2014 Pew Research Center survey, for instance, showed
that 92% of Filipinos are pro-American.

Nevertheless, the cultures imported to the Philippine shores are not just American. 'The
country has adopted Japanese, Korean, and even Mexican popular culture, notable in teenage
boy/girl bands as well as the now ubiquitous telenovelas. Returning OFWs or migrant families also
bring back some of the practices and customs of the countries they have lived in. Filipinas working
in Japan alter their clothing styles to look and act more like the Japanese. Oddly, it is in the

DO NOT REPRODUCE WITHOUT PERMISSION

REFERENCE: Claudio and Abinales. (2022) The Contemporary World. C & E Publishing, Inc.
diaspora that there is a greater attempt to preserve" Filipino culture. Filipino-American artists, for
example, have "revived" the use of the kulintang, an instrument associated with the Moros of
Mindanao. This peculiar “preservation" of "tribal (sic) Pilipino arts" indicates a "reverse flow" in
which the local is now transposed overseas. Again, these are indicative of global connections.

Filipinos, as a country and a people, have little choice but to accept this globalized state.
Globalization's influence has been unequal, and it typically does not benefit the majority of
Filipinos. However, if the Philippines at the end of the twentieth century is examined, it can be
seen that there is some movement and progress. Part of this is due to Philippine government
leaders' decisions, right or wrong, to open up the country to the rest of the world. The next step is
to ensure that the benefits of globalization are distributed fairly, allowing more Filipinos to live
better lives.

DO NOT REPRODUCE WITHOUT PERMISSION

REFERENCE: Claudio and Abinales. (2022) The Contemporary World. C & E Publishing, Inc.