Faithfully Sino-Filipino

Sino-Filipinos or Chinese Filipinos are Filipinos of Chinese descent. They are typically Filipinos who are born and raised in the Philippines but with ancestry mainly from Fujian. Between the 19th and 16th centuries when the galleon trades were lucrative, Chinese immigration to the Philippines was significantly extensive and during this era, they were known as the Hokkien-speaking people who later on became the dominant group among Filipino-Chinese communities, making our long history as a people go as far back as the Qing dynasty where roots were first established.

Needless to say, and despite all the tensions between China and the Philippines today caused by territorial disputes, as Filipinos with Chinese roots that date back to many generations, our Sino-Filipino relations have become a much larger consideration in terms of our relations with China. In case anyone has forgotten, the first and oldest Chinatown is found in Binondo, where a stretch of very close interactions and relationships between people can never be denied. 

It has been said that roughly, there are a little more than 22 million Filipinos of Chinese descent living in the country but in China, there is also an ethnic group so distinct as its lineage can be traced back to the province of Sulu. Such a group is identified as the descendants of Sultan Paduka Batara, who is the first Philippine king to have a tomb in China. 

I was fortunate to have been invited to visit the tomb and to have met a fourth generation descendant of the Sultan. I was so honored to have been able to share a moment as heritage-wise, many Filipinos such as myself have intertwined bloodlines; in my case, a Filipino-Spaniard with Chinese roots from the Lim family line that can be traced back to China. 

The Sultan of Sulu was the ruler of one of the three kingdoms of Sulu. In 1417, Paduka Batara, the king of the Eastern kingdom of Sulu, traveled to China with his queen and children to pay tribute to the emperor. It was said that both the sultan and Emperor Yong Le became very close friends and sadly, while journeying back to Sulu, the sultan died in Dezhou, Shandong province and was buried there. In the sultan’s honor, a mausoleum was built in Dezhou to honor him and, more importantly, this act became a testament to the relationship between China and the Sultanate of Sulu. 

Historically, the bond between the Sultanate of Sulu and China as well as Guangzhou, is deeply rooted in cultural exchange and trade. The Sultan of Sulu, also known as the Paduka Pahala, was the first king of the Philippines to ever be buried in China and his descendants became citizens of Dezhou, China. In the end, one could say that ancient ties between the two countries became immortalized in a mausoleum found in Dezhou, Shandong province where it formed not only a symbol of friendship but also a deep reminder of a connection shared between two cultures that can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty, where a Philippine king braved rough seas from Sulu to Beijing, marking a tributary relationship that also symbolized enduring strength and security between two leaders of different nations. 

It is in this instance that, as Sino-Filipinos, we are reminded of the importance of sincere relationships that are traced from ages past and passed down through generations. If one would talk about people-to-people exchanges as we often do, especially in the area of diplomacy, the example of the Sultan of Sulu and Emperor Yong Le is a very good way of describing such, as even in those days, these exchanges were already very much in place. 

Chinese and Filipinos have lived side by side for centuries; in fact, when we celebrate Chinese New Year, we affirm  the harmonious relationship between Filipino and Chinese cultures, making it a cultural fusion of sorts, if one can put it that way. Decades of exchanges between both countries continue to provide us with the opportunity to share experiences and perspectives while nurturing our ties, proving to be an avenue for shared understanding and mutual respect. 

The enduring legacy of the Sino-Filipino people is very much alive today and we must continue to promote understanding between the two peoples, where a shared humanity will always prevail, even through the test of time.