The Philippines
The
Philippines was named after the Crown Prince Philip II of
Spain. He was reputed to be an extreme introvert, austere, humorless, and
unpopular. Dubbed the "Spider of the Escorial" because he seldom left his
palace, Philip II reigned over the vast Spanish empire handed down by his
father, Charles V, and was a leading patron of Catholicism. He was
elegant and slender and, in his youth, good-looking. Philip's reign,
however, marked the decline of Spanish power, leading one historian to
describe him as essentially mediocre and paralyzed by indecision. (From
Bong Barrameda's Pinoy Trivia
Vol. 2, Anvil Publishing, 1993).
Related article: What's in an
Infamous Name?
The Filipino
The term Filipino originally referred to Spaniards and Spanish
mestizos born in the Philippines. Espanoles-Filipinos was the
term that these people called themselves. Later, the native
indios and Chinese mestizos also called themselves Filipinos in
the belief that education and wealth gave them the cloak of Spanish
culture. (From Bong Barrameda's Pinoy Trivia Vol. 1, Anvil
Publishing, 1993).
Pinoy
It is believed that the term Pinoy to mean Filipino originated from the
early Filipinos who came to the United States. The Manongs (uncles) as
the "oldtimers" were also known called themselves Pinoys to distinguish
themselves from Filipinos living in the Philippines.
(Contributed partly by Dawn Bohulano Mabalon whose
family has been using the terms Pinoy/Pinay since the 1920's.)
Flip
No one is certain where Flip came from to mean Filipino. Continuing
discussions in soc.culture..filipino,
soc.culture.asian.american and
in the Pinoy-L mailing list make it certain
that flip was originally a derogatory word for a Filipino similar to
gook, kike and chink. Some pundits say flip came from
either 'fucking little island people' or 'funny little island people' or 'flippin' little
island people' or 'funky little island people'. In early to middle 1980's
young Pilipino-Americans (as opposed to Filipino-Americans) began to use the term for
themselves to make known their identity as Pilipino-Americans (the use of Pilipino
instead of Filipino seems to be also another identity issue). Flip thus became
an empowering word of identity. However, many are against owning the word because of
its derogatory origins.
Go to the next page ...
Go back to the Philippine
History Page
