Ethnic Chinese are people with some measurable degree of Chinese parentage, who can speak and understand at least one Chinese dialect, who have received a minimum of Chinese-language education, and who have retained some Chinese customs and traditions enough to consider themselves and be considered by their neighbors as Chinese.
Philippine Chinese refers to the community or the people in general, i.e. the Philippine Chinese history, Philippine Chinese culture, etc.
Filipino-Chinese refers to the traditional or older Chinese who are predominantly Chinese in identity but Filipino in citizenship. When used in names of organizations, it means that these groups have members who are either Chinese or Filipino citizens, i.e. Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce, Filipino-Chinese Fire Prevention Association, etc.
Chinese Filipino refers to the young, mostly native-born ethnic Chinese who identify themselves as Filipinos first, but still maintain their Chinese cultural identity.
Alien Chinese are the Chinese who are not Filipino citizens, especially those from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, etc.
The Ethnic Chinese number from 750,000 to one million, or roughly between 1.2% and 1.5% of the Philippine population. Of this number 90% are native-born and belong to either the second, third, or fourth generation.
The Chinese from Metro Manila make up about 52% of the total ethnic Chinese population in the country. The Alien Chinese (those who are not Filipino citizens) number from 30,000 to 40,000. Native Filipinos with Chinese blood comprise about 10% of the Philippine population. This means that one out of every ten Filipinos have Chinese blood in them.
At Kaisa, we learn to be discriminate in the use of terminologies. We refer to the ethnic Chinese community as Hua-din sia-hue (地穦 ), Chinese schools as hua-hao (地 ), Chinese language and subjects as hua gi and hua bun (地粂/地ゅ) Using the old terminology Hua Kiaos (地勾) or sojourners in referring to the Ethnic Chinese shows an ignorance of history.
Hua Kiaos or sojourners mean China is still "home" and they are only temporarily sojourning in the Philippines, their second home.
In the 50s and 60s, a number of Chinese opted to apply for Filipino citizenship. A new breed of Filipino-Chinese thus came about; they are still Chinese in every sense of the word, although they are of Filipino citizenship. New organizations that sprung up dropped the words Lu Fei (滇) and Hua Kiao (地勾) and called themselves Filipino-Chinese; e.g. Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce (FFCCC). This means that these organizations are made up both of Chinese citizens as well as naturalized Filipinos.
Most of the new generation (those born after the Pacific War) have the Philippines as their birthplace. Thus, these second and third generation Chinese were raised here, learned to speak both the native language and Chinese almost simultaneously, and attended local schools and universities. To them, the Philippines is their only home. They are now called Hua-din (地) or Chinese Filipinos. The noun is Filipino, suggesting that the fundamental identity is Filipino, while Chinese is a modifying adjective that indicates Chinese heritage. Therefore, using the term Filipino-Chinese in referring to the Ethnic Chinese in the Philippines is wrong. Grammatically, the modifier always comes before the noun. Literally and etymologically, using the term Filipino-Chinese is also wrong as it refers to two separate people: the Filipinos and Chinese.
From Hua Kiaos to Hua-din. From mere sojourners to one who considers himself a Filipino of Chinese descent. From Filipino-Chinese to Chinese Filipino. This is the story of the Ethnic Chinese community in the Philippines.
Now we have added a new term: Tsinoy or Tsinong Pinoy. It is Tsinoy that is truly reflective of the Kaisa credo.
At present membership in Chinese organizations are mostly confined to the older generation Chinese, although there are efforts to promote youth groups in order to encourage the young Chinese to participate. The prominent institutions can be roughly categorized into the following:
Business organizations. These include the different chambers of commerce and trade groups of the Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry. They number 150 in all. There are a few trade associations which are not members of the Federation, like the Iloilo Chinese Chambers of Commerce. The earliest trade association is the Manila Chinese Chamber of Commerce established in 1904. This group backed out of the Federation in 1988 and changed its name to Filipino-Chinese General Chamber of Commerce.
Educational Institutions. There are 129 schools which offer Chinese language and culture subjects as part of the curriculum. Total student population in these schools is roughly 50,000 in both elementary and high school levels.
Family Associations. These are organized according to family surnames tracing a common ancestry. They number 38 in all. They provide scholarships for both honor students and to children of indigent members. Mutual help is the essence for which these associations are formed. Ancestor worship is the focus of their activities. They are grouped together under the grand Family Associations. Some family associations have split into two groups due to differences.
Hometown Associations: These are formed according to hometown origins, some broken down into even smaller units like village origins. They number 200 in all and are like social clubs where members can exchange information about their families, businesses, and news about their hometowns in China.
Charitable Institutions: The oldest Chinese institution in the Philippines is the Chinese Charitable Association founded in 1870. It oversees the Chinese cemetary and the Chinese General Hospital. Other charitable agencies are the numerous medical free clinics run by various civic and religious organizations in the Chinese community.
Fire Prevention Associations: There are nearly 100 of these neighborhood fire prevention groups organized in response to an actual need in the Chinese community. They have reached out even to the Filipino community and are much welcome because of their prompt response to fire alarms anywhere.