- President Corazon Aquino, March 10, 1989
The scene was the 17th Biennial Convention of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Manila, where some 500 Filipino-Chinese businessmen, representing 57 trade and industrial associations and 115 regional and provincial chambers, greeted the president's remarks with thunderous applause.
When President Aquino spoke to the 16th Convention two years ago in Manila's Chinatown, she received an equally enthusiastic reception, made even warmer when she mentioned that her great-grandfather was a native of Fukien Province, and that 125 years earlier her grandfather had emigrated from there to Manila. But President Aquino's popularity among Filipino-Chinese is based more upon her government's positive policies than upon personal ethnic ties. Unfortunately, the government's treatment of Chinese in the Philippines has not always been so favorable.
Chinese settlement in the Philippines, according to historical records, can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms Period (222-265) in China, when businessmen from the maritime provinces sailed to Indochina in search of lucrative markets. Due to geography, the islands of the Philippines were a natural place to stop, and many Chinese traders decided to settle in the lush and lovely environment. Later, family members and others began emigrating from China's coastal provinces to the islands in larger numbers.
By the early 16th Century, when the Philippines were under Spanish rule (which lasted from 1521 to 1898), there was a Chinese settlement of approximately 30,000 residing in Parian, the Chinese quarter of Manila. Expanded emigration from China at the time was a direct result of the frequent political turbulance, concomitant economic depression, and poor quality of life that characterized the last years of the Ming Dynasty and the first years of the Ching Dynasty. Since Fukien Province is nearest the Philippines, many Fukienese came to the islands in search of a safer and more profitable existence. But the Spanish were suspicious of the Chinese. They restricted them to the Parian market area in Manila, and enforced other unfair and unpleasant restrictions on Chinese residents.
After the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded the Philippines to the U.S. in 1898. In the following year, the first Chinese consulate was set up in Manila by China's imperial court to provide services to the local Chinese community. Later, when the Philippines became independent in 1946, the ROC government was the first nation to recognize it.
For centuries, the Chinese intermarried freely with the native community, producing large numbers of citizens with Filipino-Chinese blood who were absorbed into the general population of the country. As in the case in almost all other foreign countries, the Chinese gradually became a significant force in local business circles because of their traditions of thrift and hard work.
But wealth does not always bring happiness, as the Chinese immigrants learned to their dismay. The ruling authorities were often fearful of the economic power wielded by resident Chinese. This was true even during the early periods of independence in the Philippines. Presidents Quirino, Magsaysay, and Garcia, who were in office between 1949 and 1961, promulgated quite a few bills directed against "foreigners," Chinese in particular.
These included nationalization of the rice and corn trades, and restrictive regulations concerning laborers, retailers, and schools. In spite of the measures taken against them, which also included occasional violence, the Chinese continued to retain their hold on local trade and industry. Many of them in fact played important roles in successful government industrialization projects.
After Ferdinand Marcos succeeded to the presidency in 1966, government policy towards Chinese took a turn for the better. In 1976, he issued an order to relax naturalization procedures, and he allowed the Chinese to be naturalized in groups. About 30,000 cases were approved within three years. This measure was much appreciated by Filipino-Chinese used to less friendly official treatment. In response, many Chinese organizations worked in support of the government in national development programs.
Today, it is estimated that there are less than 1 million Chinese and others of Chinese descent in the Philippines, which is no more than 1.7 percent of the total population. Despite their limited numbers, they form an active portion of the community. Chinese are especially prominent in the areas of trade, banking, insurance, restaurants, pharmacies, tourism, transportation, and real estate as well as in the iron, textile, construction, food processing industries.
Chinatown in Metro Manila is these days rather antiquated in appearance when compared with other newly developed areas of the city. Nevertheless, it remains one of the most prosperous areas of the city. "Ethnic Chinese today, just as their ancestors who came to settle here, still keep the traditions of hard work and thrift," says Hsiao Sui-yuan, who is president of Sanyo Electric (Philippines) Co., Ltd. "But, unlike former generations who made a living by their hands, the younger generation today relies on modern management strategy to create their future."
Hsiao's comments ring true, especially after a closer look at the bustling Chinatown atmosphere. In addition to the higher buildings, wider roads, and bigger shops, other transformations have come to Chinatown. Most of the Chinese residents have been thoroughly absorbed into the greater Filipino society. They have also accepted its culture, customs, and habits, with inevitable results: in Chinatown, fewer and fewer people can speak Chinese, and the culture of their parents and grandparents is fading away.
"I can speak and write in Chinese, but my daughters can't," Hsiao says. "It's now a common situation in the local Chinese community." His eldest daughter graduated last year from the University of the Philippines, and the other is in high school. "They don't speak Chinese with their friends," Hsiao adds. "And even though there are many Chinese newspapers and magazines at home, they never read them."
Johnny Cheng and his father, who founded the United Daily News in Manila, worry about the declining number of subscribers to their Chinese language paper.
His complaint is echoed by Johnny Cheng, assistant general manager of the United Daily News, a Chinese-language newspaper based in Manila. "Whenever a subscriber stops the paper, we always try to find out the reason. In most cases, we learn that an old person has died and the younger generation can't read it," Cheng explains.
The United Daily News was founded in 1973 when Cheng's father combined two other newspapers. It currently has a circulation of nearly 30,000, the largest of its kind in the country. But Cheng is pessimistic about the future of his business. "I estimate it can last for only 10 years because of the decreasing numbers of readers." Similar situations are faced by minority ethnic groups in other countries, as young people no longer speak their "mother" language due to the process of cultural assimilation.
"When I was a student, I attended a Chinese high school in Chinatown," Cheng says. "At that time we received a fairly complete Chinese education. But the school curricula have been changed, and my children are weak in Chinese."
Co Bin, president of CKS College, is more optimistic about Chinese education because of a new trend "Chinese language fever."
Co Bin, vice president and principal of the Chiang Kai Shek College in Manila, says: "It's true that the academic level of students in 'Chinese' schools is quite low as far as Chinese courses are concerned. But this has resulted from government policy and changes in the Chinese community." The decline has come gradually.
The first Chinese school was set up in 1899 in Manila with American approval by Cheng Kang, the Chinese consul general appointed by the Ching emperor. Later, many other Chinese schools were established for the Chinese around the country.
In 1947, one year after the Philippines gained independence, the government signed its first external treaty with the ROC government, the Sino-Philippines Treaty of Amity. According to this treaty, China could legally set up Chinese schools in the Philippines to educate Chinese students. The Chiang Kai Shek College, founded on June 6, 1939, was legalized by this action.
"There were over 200 Chinese schools by 1973," Co says. "Then the new Constitution was enforced, which demanded the nationalization of all schools. Since then there have been no so-called Chinese schools." But the Chinese community negotiated with government education authorities in order to continue some Chinese courses. As a result, schools may provide two hours of Chinese courses everyday. "There are around 120 schools now that still have these courses," Co says. "The textbooks are of course approved by the education authorities. "
Assimilation well underway—Students at Chiang Kai Shek College in Manila are usually more enthusiastic about sports than their classes in Chinese language.
CKS College is actually a composite school, providing kindergarten, primary, secondary, and college education to over 6,300 students. The most serious problem these days is the lack of staff members who can teach in Chinese, a problem exacerbated by the low teacher salaries common in the Philippines. There are other problems as well. "Since young people have very few opportunities to speak Chinese, they are not very interested in learning Chinese language and culture," Co says. "To be frank, most of them are Filipinos with Chinese appearance-after all, they are naturalized Filipinos."
Many Filipino-Chinese community leaders are well aware of this problem and are doing their best to preserve at least a part of their rich Chinese heritage. One attempt to reverse the tide is the Filipino-Chinese Cultural and Educational Service, which was established in Chinatown in September 1986. The service provides "Chinese-related information and activities," according to its director, Lim Su-chan. Its facilities include an auditorium, library, reading room, and musical instruments. "The regular singing, folk dancing, movies, art exhibitions, and cultural seminars always attract a lot of people," Lim says.
The Filipino-Chinese Cultural & Economic Association also plays an active role in community affairs. According to Secretary General J.L. Tsay, the association promotes various exchanges between the two cultures. It offers special classes in Chinese language, calligraphy, painting, music, dancing, and even abacus. The association also provides extra training for Chinese language teachers, and makes arrangements for local cultural and artistic groups to perform in Taiwan.
Broader horizons are ahead for Chinese language study, according to the principal of CKS College. Co says there is a new trend emerging: "Chinese language fever." Because of the economic progress in Taiwan and Singapore, and the growing market in mainland China, many local businessmen have begun asking CKS College to set up "instant" Chinese classes so they can learn Chinese. They even encourage their children to study Chinese harder for the same reason. "I'm confident that Chinese language will be more and more widely learned and used," Co says. "What we need to do now is to improve our curricula to meet practical demands."
Taiwan's economic strength is indeed attractive to the Philippines in many ways. Now that the ROC has amassed foreign reserves exceeding US$75 billion, both the Filipino government and the private sector want to encourage investors and investment from Taiwan.
"The Philippines is currently saddled with a foreign debt of US$28.2 billion, and the budget deficit this year is projected to total US$960 million," says Fang Ting-liu, deputy representative of the Pacific Economic and Cultural Center (PECC) in Manila. PECC is an unofficial institute that was set up in July 1975, one month after Taipei broke diplomatic relations with Manila. Its goal is to continue economic, business, cultural, and tourist relations between the ROC and the Philippines. Its counterpart in Taipei is the Asian Exchange Center.
"Ever since President Aquino took office in 1986, her government has been trying its best to improve the domestic economy, and with encouraging results. Since the ROC has huge foreign reserves, the local Chinese community hopes that our government and people will make investments here to help accelerate the economy," Fang explains.
ROC businessmen were the biggest foreign investors in the Philippines last year. Although there are no diplomatic relations between Taipei and Manila, President Aquino urged further investment ties in her March 10 speech to the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry:
"I urge you to encourage your Taiwanese counterparts to invest here and avail themselves of duty- and tariff-free privileges that the Philippines enjoy under the U.S. Generaliled System of Preferences. With Taiwan's having graduated from the U.S. Generaliled System of Preferences privileges, our country's duty-free privileges should present the best incentive for Taiwanese investors to manufacture GSP-covered items in the Philippines."
More business on the way—ROC investment in the Philippines totaled US$109.3 million in 1988, and this year will be even higher.
Aquino also mentioned that Taiwan is currently one of the Philippines' most important investors, with a total of US$109.3 million in investments in 1988, comprising 22.8 percent of total foreign investments. Investment figures are expected to increase by 50 percent this year. To assist this process, Aquino mentioned that the Philippines will set up "a one-stop shop investment center in Taiwan" to offer services that will help Taiwan businessmen save time. The center will provide information, counselling, pre-processing, and other coordination services.
Local businessmen are quick to point out the possibilities for cooperation between the two countries. "When the ROC government was in its most difficult time, the Chinese in the Philippines first gave their helping hands to Taiwan," says Ramon Bun Khiok Chua, vice president of Milwaukee International Marketing in Metro Manila. "Now that the Philippine economy is not so good, the Chinese community unavoidably is affected. We hope the ROC government can help the Chinese community in the Philippines. The ROC government should put more emphasis on its relations with the ASEAN countries, especially with its nearest neighbor."
Chua's point is well taken. In August 1950, the year after the ROC government moved from the mainland to Taiwan as a result of the Communist rebellion, the first overseas Chinese delegation of over 30 representatives came to Taipei from the Philippines, showing the support of local Chinese community to the ROC government. Recently, the ROC has in fact taken measures to strengthen its economic relations with the Philippines.
In February of this year, the ROC Board of Foreign Trade (BOFT) announced that the Ministry of Economic Affairs will emphasize exports to Southeast Asian countries as a major part of its market diversification strategy. Moreover, in its fiscal 1990 trade expansion plan, starting this month BOFT officials plan to increase exports to the Southeast Asian region by 20 percent, and also strengthen substantive economic relations with these countries through technical assistance and other projects.
The BOFT will help manufacturers in Taiwan develop their Southeast Asian markets by participating in trade fairs, and senior officials are expected to lead trade and investment missions to various countries in the region to enhance bilateral economic development. According to the plan, the US$1 billion Overseas Economic Cooperation and Development Fund, established last November, will also be used to help Southeast Asian countries invest in public construction and economic development projects.
In April this year, ROC Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Li-an indicated that the ministry is assisting local manufacturers invest overseas. In line with this, the Industrial Development and Investment Center has already submitted to the ministry a draft program discussing strategies for promoting local business investment abroad. Measures include working actively toward the signing of investment guarantee agreements with the Philippines and other ASEAN countries.
In addition to government efforts in this area, Taiwan's businessmen have long undertaken personal business ventures in the Philippines. These activities were further enhanced in February of this year when a delegation of over 200 Taiwan businessmen attended the Fifth Joint Meeting of the Philippine-Chinese Business Council and Chinese-Philippine Business Council in Manila. The two councils were organized years ago to promote mutual business cooperation.
Yet another group of Taiwan businessmen residing in the Philippines has formed the Chinese Association in the Philippines with similar goals in mind. According to Hung Chi-chuan, president of the association, this 8-year-old group now has more than 500 members.
Hung, who is currently assistant treasurer in the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, came to Manila 22 years ago to work for the ADB. He reports that during the past five years, the number of people coming from Taiwan has increased rapidly as a result of their economic affluence. They have found that the Philippines is a "suitable investment environment due to the wage level, labor force, and government preferences," Hung says.
Domingo Lee, appointed by President Aquino as ambassador at large, is also president of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He is optimistic about the role his organization can play in promoting business development between the two countries. "Relations between Taiwan and the Philippines will definitely be strengthened," Lee says, especially if the Senate passes the pending Philippine-Taiwan Beneficial Relations Act, which is copied from the Taiwan Relations Act with the United States.
Vicente S. Tan, director and secretary general of the Federation, says it has been operating since 1954 to unite the various trade, business, industrial, and financial institutions in the Filipino-Chinese community. "Over the three decades of its existence, the Federation has undertaken various activities calculated to help improve the quality of life in our part of the world," Tan says. It can be expected that just as Filipino-Chinese have been successfully integrated into the business structure of the Philippines, they will also assist their adopted country in developing international ties that will further strengthen the national development of the Philippines.