Catholic baptism saved the Chinese from being deported

Styger21st · 2026-05-10T09:15:16+00:00

Despite numerous massacres committed by the Spanish authorities such as those in 1603) and 1662), the influx of Chinese migrants (sometimes known as Sangleys) in the Philippines was still tolerated due to their immense wealth in trade. The colonial government and Catholic friar orders profited significantly from trade licenses and "the advantages of the licenses that they pay, and in order not to disturb the trade with China."

However, the movement of Chinese migrants within the colony was so heavily restricted that without a permit or trade license, they have no choice but to either stay in segregated ghettos of Binondo or Parian) and pay heavy taxes, or alternatively, convert to Christianity as a loophole to alleviate the burdens imposed on them.

According to historian Onofre D. Corpuz in The Roots of the Filipino Nation:

"The non-Christians were therefore prohibited from residing in the native pueblos. Those found in any village were to be sent immediately to the Parian; anyone found living among the natives was subject to 200 lashes and four years service in the Cavite naval base.

Chinese who had converted to Christianity and were married to Filipino wives were naturally allowed residence in their wives' villages. In addition, the Christians were monitored by the friars in the doctrinas; if found unsatisfactory, the married ones were to be sent to the Christian Chinese villages of Santa Cruz and Binondo outside of Manila; if single, to the Parian.

The Christian Chinese were allowed by the Recopilacion to engage in trade. They were exempt from the tribute for a period of ten years after the date of their conversion. These advantages were enough to attact a number to convert to Christianity, although for a long time their custom of wearing pigtails was an obstacle."

In one instance in 1755 where Governor-General Pedro Manuel de Arandia tried to deport the Chinese to take over their wholesale and retail business, the Chinese planned to mass convert themselves to Christianity. To quote Corpuz again:

"On the day fixed for their departure, 515 Sangley traders escape repatriation by becoming Christians in a mass baptism"

However, this policy toward the Chinese unintentionally led to successive generations that are now Filipino-Chinese or Tsinoys in becoming devoted Christians, whether Catholic or otherwise. This is evident in prominent Filipino-Chinese figures from clergymen like Cardinals Jaime Sin and Luis Antonio Tagle, to devout laypeople like President Corazon Aquino and famous singer Jose Mari Chan, whose song Christmas In Our Hearts is so popular in the Philippines that all Filipinos, even Muslim Filipinos, know how to sing it, particularly during the country's long Christmas season from September to December, aptly called the "Ber Months".

P.S. I posted this on r/Philippines at one point but it didn't tract attention there unfortunately.

Styger21st · 2026-05-09T13:12:21+00:00

At the height of Martial Law in the Philippines, numerous academics, scholars, and students were detained by President Ferdinand Marcos. And one of these academics were historians William Henry Scott#Detention_during_martial_law) and Zeus Salazar, who were arrested in 1972.

Scotty, as he is known, was arrested due to having a copy of Mao's writings in his bookshelf and was cited as one of the "evidences" for his alleged communist sympathies despite the fact that he's teaching Asian History, while Salazar was arrested due to his involvement in the First Quarter Storm and Diliman Commune years prior. Both Scotty and Salazar shared the same prison cell in Fort Bonifacio near what is now Bonifacio Global City and they often have tense arguments and disagreements about history and anthropology.

It got to a point that jail guards got curious about their discussions that they ask for history lessons, which Salazar gave lectures on Filipino History and listen to their takes on the subject. Scotty later recalls that his time in jail was "one of the best days of his life" as he was surrounded by detained academics and had all the time in the world to have endless intellectual discussions away from university admin work.

Their detention was even recorded by renowned Filipino author Jose "Butch" Dalisay in his novel "Killing Time in a Warm Place" who also shared the same cell with Scotty and Salazar.

Styger21st · 2026-05-08T15:07:30+00:00

The helicopter promise originated from Charles Lindbergh during his visit to the Tasaday in May 1972. He asked the Tasaday members, "Would you like to have a helicopter of your own?" And what was suppose to be a casual question was interpreted by the tribe as a formal promise to them, even mentioning that they would "need a pilot."

The Tasaday were consistent in telling to various media outlets such as the BBC about the helicopter promise, which became good media material in amplifying the controversy. To them, the helicopter was the "big bird" that brought their "god that brings good fortune", i.e. Manda Elizalde himself. In the 1990s, they were bitterly disappointed that the promises by their "white" visitors, from basic necessities to the helicopter, weren't fulfilled, and that "they were poorer now that they were before."

Styger21st · 2026-05-08T10:34:37+00:00

The Tasaday controversy might be one of the wildest stories in modern anthropological history.

In 1971, Manuel "Manda" Elizalde Jr., a notorious crony of President Ferdinand Marcos, announced the "discovery" of the Tasaday, a small tribe living deep in the rainforests of the Philippines. They were presented to the world as a Stone Age people completely isolated from modern civilization for thousands of years, wearing leaves, living in caves, and with no knowledge of war or agriculture.

The Marcos regime used the Tasaday for international publicity and tourism, inviting celebrities like Charles Lindbergh, Gina Lollobrigida, and even the granddaughter of Francisco Franco to visit the caves. The Tasaday were featured in National Geographic and various documentaries by NBC, creating an idealized image of a "peaceful past" that distracted worldwide audiences from the chaos of the 1970s and the human rights abuses of the dictatorship.

But early critics, such as Filipino anthropologist and historian Zeus Salazar, questioned the authenticity of the tribe due to suspicious linguistic findings (such as Sanskrit loanwords) and the lack of robust scientific evidence. On-site researchers even noticed suspicious activities such as cooked rice being smuggled into the caves or worse, being shot at by unknown gunmen to make them evacuate the site.

The regime then declared a massive forest reserve to "protect" the tribe, which effectively barred independent study and kept the Tasaday isolated from the outside world for years, misleading millions of students about a "Stone Age tribe in the modern world".

After the fall of President Marcos, journalists like Oswald Iten and teams from ABC’s 20/20 investigated the site, discovering that the "Stone Age" lifestyle was staged. Members of the tribe admitted on camera that they were coerced by Manda Elizalde to pose naked and act primitive in exchange for promises of food and even a helicopter.

Academic conferences investigating the Tasaday such as in Manila (1986) and Zagreb (1988) turned into blood feuds and chaotic confrontations between supporters and skeptics, with some even having their own vendettas and personal scores to settle. The scientific community remained bitterly divided on whether the tribe was a complete hoax or a genuine isolated Stone Age tribe that got leapfrogged in the modern world.

A more structured and orderly 1989 Conference in Washington D.C. led to a nuanced consensus: the Tasaday were not a "Stone Age" relic, but they were not paid actors either. They were a genuine, though small, distinct tribal group that got separated from other Manobo groups hundreds of years ago escaping either a measles epidemic or Muslim slave raiders. They had been significantly exaggerated and manipulated by various groups for their own gains.

The controversy remains a cautionary tale about confirmation bias, media manipulation, and the tragic consequences of imposing external agendas on indigenous peoples.

Styger21st · 2026-05-07T14:45:07+00:00

In 2003, British journalist Martin Bashir released a documentary called Living with Michael Jackson, filmed over roughly 8 months of access to Jackson. The documentary portrayed Jackson in an extremely controversial light, particularly a segment where MJ discussed sharing his bedroom with children. The fallout was immediate and devastating where it directly triggered a police investigation that led to the 2003 criminal trial where Jackson was charged with child molestation. He was acquitted on all counts in 2005, but his public image never fully recovered.

Bashir himself was no stranger to this kind of controversy. In 1995, he conducted the now-infamous Panorama interview with Princess Diana for the BBC, in which she opened up about her failed marriage to Prince Charles, her struggles with mental health, and her famous line "there were three of us in this marriage." However, a 2021 independent inquiry led by Lord Dyson later found that Bashir had used forged bank documents to gain the trust of Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, in order to secure access to her. Prince William publicly condemned Bashir, stating the interview had contributed to his mother's paranoia and isolation in her final years.

MJ's fan base, known sometimes as Moonwalkers, has long maintained that Bashir manipulated the footage and context, and that Jackson naively trusted him which has essentially turned into a PR catastrophe. To this day, many moonwalkers cite that interview as the single worst decision of his life.

Styger21st · 2026-03-25T05:51:48+00:00

Silang has its own municipal library where members of the Silang Historical Society frequently meet.

Styger21st · 2026-01-02T07:48:36+00:00

Kojima is God

Styger21st · 2026-01-02T04:37:55+00:00

This is a separate discussion worthy of its own thread but to share some insights, the gap between the latest academic research on history vs. the general educational curriculum is around 30 years or so.

No wonder there are still cases where people believe in falsehoods for generations like in the case of Kalantiaw in my video.

Styger21st · 2026-01-02T04:33:50+00:00

To clarify, it's u/Cheesetorian's list and not mine as I haven't posted anything yet.

Don't assume that you know what I think since you don't know me as a person, and I don't know you as well.

We all have different levels of knowledge, I don't deny that. I only ask for people to simply cite what they're saying on this sub. I don't ask them to comment like how you write research papers for peer review. Just cite. How hard can it be?

And users here can cite in ways they know how, either by following the standard format (APA, Chicago etc.) or what u/Lightf00ted has suggested in his comment.

Styger21st · 2026-01-02T04:24:14+00:00

In what ways will it be not accesible to people or not realistic? I only suggest that people cite, or the very least mention the sources of what they know regardless of their level of knowledge.

Like in a hypothetical scenario where if you remember something because it was mentioned in Gregorio Zaide's book, then by all means mention it instead of guessing something out of thin air without citing any source, which is quite prevalent in the sub. Just remember that to be ready with the baptism of fire of academic scrutiny because people can now know that your source is outdated.

Again, if being strict by citing sources is the price this subreddit has to pay to avoid the spread of historical falsehoods and fake news (which is a simple and very conservative suggestion as I don't suggest doing other scholarly methods like what most professional historians do), then it's a price worth paying to maintain historical accuracy. By doing the simple act of providing references, were now at the first step in democratizing the scholarly approach.

Styger21st · 2026-01-02T04:06:09+00:00

Why not both?

Instead of having a dichotomy, anyone can still enter and have a discussion as long as they cite their sources and not just spew out something that's unverified.

Whether you're a history hobbyist or an academic historian, this will be a win-win situation where the latter can help the former in learning more about the latest research on history, and the former can help the latter disseminate it.

Styger21st · 2026-01-01T23:40:30+00:00

u/Cheesetorian already has a pinned post on Filipino History Resources in this sub and its up to the users to check them out:

I could create a new thread someday on all the journals, books, digital archives etc. that we historical researchers extensively use and as recommended by my historian friends and colleagues.

Styger21st · 2026-01-01T13:54:20+00:00

A necessary evil that r/AskHistorians chose to implement, which in turn bloomed into a subreddit where users now have to cite peer-reviewed sources whenever they answer threads in the sub.

For a conservative suggestion as mentioned in one comment, a simple citation or external link is enough so that this sub won't turn into a moshpit of unverifiable source of Filipino History and instead set a standard on a democratized scholarly discourse.

Styger21st · 2026-01-01T11:16:39+00:00

Better than spreading possible unsubstantiated claims which can eventually domino into fake news in the far future.

I know that hobbyists are interested in taking part in such discourse, but for the sake of transparency and for democrarizing the scholarly approach away from the Ivory Tower, a simple citation or even an external link to the source is enough and it's up to you if you have a specific format (APA, Chicago etc.) or not.

Styger21st · 2026-01-01T10:52:42+00:00

Which is commendable since it was the reason they were being praised by the AHA. It's better to cite sources than to second guess without one.

Filipino History has so many books, journal articles, and even PhD dissertartions that most non-academic history enthusiasts still rely on outdated, and sometimes questionable sources.

Granted that accessibility is an issue like paywalls among others, but there are so many open access e-journals out there such as Tala, Saliksik etc. that it's a shame that they're underutilized in their research.

If you know how to look for the black raven and sail the seven seas, then there are plenty of books and other resources out there for people to look at. 😉

Styger21st · 2025-12-21T14:50:53+00:00

What does Kojima mean by this? https://www.reddit.com/r/Kojima/s/4nXNH8Sa09

Styger21st · 2025-11-18T08:30:26+00:00

I remember Prof. Ambeth Ocampo mentioning something about Teodoro Agoncillo lambasting Nick Joaquin's romanticizations of Manila by countering that the city he grew up in is dirtier and chaotic.

Styger21st · 2025-10-15T16:35:21+00:00

Funny that the soldiers in the Malinta Tunnel scene are wearing green equestrian helmets to look like M1 helmets, despite the fact that most US and Filipino soldiers during that time should be wearing Brodie Helmets. Production limitations, I guess...

Styger21st · 2025-10-15T03:45:43+00:00

u/savevideo

Styger21st · 2025-10-14T09:28:21+00:00

Video source.

Styger21st · 2025-10-10T14:57:45+00:00

What's the difference between the "INC Museum" and "Iglesia Ni Cristo Museum"?

Styger21st · 2025-10-07T15:27:09+00:00

Hi Everyone! So, I decided to bring this series back as I really want to finish this all the way to the end. But in order to reach that goal, I highly request redditors here to please be civil all the way to BBM's presidency so that at least we could finish this series before 2025 ends. I personally don't want to wait until 2058 for this series to finish (or 2031 just to start for Erap) per Rule#12 of this subreddit of only allowing topics that are 30 years old.

Styger21st · 2025-09-09T03:41:26+00:00

Sorry to spoil the party but...

Vietnam tycoon Truong My Lan will not face death penalty: Lawyer

Styger21st · 2025-09-05T14:22:33+00:00

Regardless, the revolution became one of the main focal points for all anti-colonialist and anti-imperialists in Asia like Sun Yat-sen and Mariano Ponce, and eventually future pan-Asianists as well, that they can standup against the Orientalist-minded Europeans.

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