Letters for Monday, May 10, 2010

• Do not diminish Filipino immigrants • Congratulations

Do not diminish Filipino immigrants

Although I appreciate and agree with Mr. Sina’s overall message that all Filipinos should not be lumped together and stereotyped as a homogenous population either here in Hawai‘i or the Philippines, I must express my concern that Mr. Sina has perhaps unintentionally grouped immigrant Filipinos into one singular stereotype in his attempt to distinguish local-born versus immigrant Filipinos. As an immigrant Filipino myself, I wish for our readers to know that those of us not “local-born” come from varied areas of the Philippines, for different reasons, and from different time periods. As immigrants, our experiences are shared but also individually unique. We are not merely one single population importing the same antiquated cultural practices, but we come from different regions that are clearly reflected in the diverse values, customs, and even physical features among Filipinos. Additionally, although Mr. Sina’s letter seems to imply that a distinguishing characteristic between local-born Filipinos and immigrant Filipinos is that the former are educated while the latter typically enters the service industry, I am proud to say that both groups consist of highly educated individuals.

Let me begin with a quick ethnological lesson on the Philippines. Although there is one national language, there are multiple regional dialects, and in the overwhelming majority of schools, English is the medium of instruction. Each region in the Philippines is uniquely set apart from the others through a dialect, distinct customs, and an ethnic heritage comprised of varying mixtures of European, Chinese, Muslim, and indigenous bloodlines. In the Ilocos regions for example, the regional dialect is Ilocano and the ethnicities of the people there draw from predominantly indigenous Filipino and Spanish ancestors. In the Visayan region by contrast, the dialect is Visayan and the people are predominantly of Spanish descent with a sprinkling of indigenous Filipino blood. In Manila, where my mother and I were born and where Tagalog is spoken, many families including my mother’s are predominantly Chinese with some Spanish. In southern Luzon, where my father was born, Spanish, Portuguese, and indigenous blood run through the population. In small pockets throughout the country one can also find populations descended from British and German ancestors. All of these nuances are charmingly reflected in the differing physical attributes that you can see among Filipinos.

As for immigration to the United States, it is also highly important to have knowledge of the different time periods in which Filipinos emigrated to the United States, because this relates directly back to educational trends. From the turn of the 20th century up until the last 1960s, many Filipinos arrived with blessedly nothing more than the American dream as a motivation. But from the 1970s until the late 1980s, a sense of urgency facilitated what historians refer to as the “Brain Drain,” the period in Philippine history during which thousands of educated professionals left the country because they no longer wished to live under the stifling and censoring Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship. My parents were in this group, and we arrived on Oahu in 1980 and have since become naturalized citizens. Their brothers and sisters and my cousins also emigrated, and we were all raised with the same strict educational values as our parents. I come from a long line of doctors, lawyers, health professionals, and educators on both sides of my family, which was obviously not the product of being local-born but rather had its roots since the 1800s in the Philippines. Their immigrant friends were also highly educated and they too highly valued education; as their children, there was never a moment in our lives where we did not know that we were expected to succeed. All of my childhood friends and classmates who came over as immigrants during the same time period I did have all gone on to complete graduate degrees and are highly successful in their fields.

I am of course aware of the stereotype of the immigrant Filipino janitor or groundskeeper and that the implication is meant to be derogatory, although I personally admire such hard workers because there are few who are willing to do it. I believe it is a credit to our race as a whole that Filipinos are known for sacrificing tremendously and do not blink at the thought of doing what many would call menial work. However, I must say I was very startled that Mr. Sina’s letter appeared to represent that all immigrant Filipinos do not share the same values in education that local-born Filipinos do. Almost all of our acquaintances who emigrated when my parents and I did are highly educated, and in fact they have found themselves bewildered at times at demeaning stereotypes of uneducated Filipinos.

I am confident that Mr. Sina had the best of intentions in attempting to shed some light on the uniqueness among Filipinos in Hawai‘i. I hope that I have been able to expand upon it and further highlight our rich and diverse origins from the same colorful and vibrant archipelago, and more importantly, it is my wish that all Filipinos-whether immigrant or local-can be proud of each other. Enough stereotyping of our race has already been done by outsiders; let’s not start stereotyping each other.

Rosa Flores, Lihu‘e

Congratulations

To all the Waimea High School students who participated in this year’s KIF sports games:

Whether you played baseball, basketball, track, tennis, girls softball, etc., we the Westside community are so proud of you. You tried your best and brought home some of the KIF titles. Win or lose you held your heads up high and played fair.

Your family, friends, relatives and classmates were there to cheer you on! Whether the games were in Waimea, Lihu‘e or Kapa‘a we were there to cheer and encourage you. If you were ever able to hear us in the stands we probably cheered the loudest for you win, lose or tie.  We even cheered on the opposing team when they made a good play.  For you senior participants: Best wishes and good luck in your future endeavors. Where ever you go do not forget where you came from. .

Waimea High School, home of the big blue Menehunes.

Rene Muraoka, Hanapepe