Spanish influence on Filipino culture

TheSpanish influence on Filipino cultureoriginated from theSpanish East Indies, which was ruled fromMexico CityandMadrid. A variety of aspects of the customs and traditions in thePhilippinestoday can be traced back to Spanish and Novohispanic (Mexican) influence.
Spanish settlement in the Philippines first took place in the 1500s, during the Spanish colonial period of the islands, which were ruled as a territory ofNew Spain(Mexico), until the independence of theMexican empirein 1821; thereafter they were ruled from Spain itself. The conquistadorMiguel López de Legazpileft New Spain and founded the first Spanish settlement inCebuin 1565 and later established Manila as the capital of theSpanish East Indiesin 1571. The Philippine Islands are named afterKing Philip.Spaniards are referred to by Filipinos as "Kastila" (Castilian) named after the formerKingdom of Castile, now a region of Spain. The small population of Filipinos which have Spanish ancestry are descendants of people from Spain and New Spain (Mexico) who came during the colonial era.Another term for them isSpanish Filipino.
Some of the societies scattered in the islands remained isolated but many evolved into states that developed substantial trade and contacts with the peoples of Eastern and Southern Asia, including those fromIndia,China,Japanand otherAustronesianislands (TheMalay Archipelago).
The 1st millennium saw the rise of the harbor principalities and their growth into maritime states composed of autonomousbarangaysindependent of, or allied with larger nations which were either Malaythalassocracies, led by Datus or Indianized kingdoms governed byRajahs.
Philippine Spanish(Spanish: Español Filipino, Castellano Filipino) is a variant of standard Spanish spoken in the Philippines. It is aSpanish dialectof theSpanish language.
Chavacano, a Spanish-basedcreole, is spoken in theZamboanga Peninsula(where it is an official language),Davao, andCotabatoinMindanao, andCaviteinLuzon.
In addition to English, Filipinos today speak a variety oflanguagesincludingCebuano,Tagalog,Ilocano,Ilonggo, andBikolano, all of which are 90% Austronesian languages, and contain several Spanish loanwords. Despite years of colonial rule, the Philippines retained its culture and various languages.
The most common languages spoken in the Philippines today are English andFilipino, the national language that is a standardised form of Tagalog. Spanish was an official language of the country until immediately after thePeople Power Revolutionin February 1986 and the subsequent ratification of the1987 Constitution. The new charter dropped Spanish as an official language and today it is very rare to find a native Spanish speaker, less than 0.1% of the population.
However, the government ofGloria Macapagal Arroyo, thefourteenthpresident of the Philippinesand a Hispanophone, reintroduced the study of Spanish into the state school system.
The name of the Philippines comes from the king of SpainPhilip II. It was given by the Spanish explorerRuy López de Villaloboswho named the islands ofSamarandLeyte"Las Islas Felipinas" (The Philippine Islands), during his expedition in 1543. Throughout the colonial period, the name Felipinas (Philippines) was used, and became the official name of the Philippines.
There are many provinces in the Philippines with Spanish names, such asNueva Vizcaya, Nueva Écija (Nueva Ecija),Laguna,Isabela,Quirino,Aurora, La Unión (La Union),Marinduque,Antique,Negros Occidental,Negros Oriental,Nueva SegoviaandValle de Compostela.
Many cities and towns are also named in Spanish, such asMedellin,La Libertad,Naga, Camarines Sur(prior to 1919 was known asNueva Cáceres),Las Piñas,Prosperidad,Isabela,Sierra Bullones,Angeles,La Paz,Esperanza,Buenavista,Pilar,La Trinidad,Garcia Hernandez,Trece Martires,Los Baños, and many more. There are numerous other towns and cities named after saints, such asSan Fernando,Santa Rosa,San Isidro,San José,San JuanandSan Pablo, as well as after Spanish places likeMadrid,Santander,Toledo,Cádiz,Valencia,Murcia,Lucena, andPamplona.
Other native Filipino names are spelled using Spanish orthography, such asCagayán de Oro,Parañaque, andCebú.
A Spanish or Latin-sounding surname does not necessarily denote Spanish ancestry in the Philippines. The names were adopted when a Spanish naming system was implemented.
After the Spanish conquest of the Philippine islands, many early Christianized Filipinos assumed surnames based on religious instruments or the names of saints. This resulted in many people surnamed "de Los Santos" ("of the Saints"), "de la Cruz"("of the Cross"), "del Rosario" ("of the Rosary"), "Bautista" ("Baptist"), and "de Jesus" ("of Jesus").
On November 21, 1849, the Spanish Governor-General of the Philippine Islands,Narciso Clavería, decreed the systematic distribution of surnames and the implementation of theSpanish naming systemfor the Filipinos. This produced theCatálogo alfabético de apellidos("Alphabetical Catalogue of Surnames") listing HispanicizedChineseandFilipinowords, names, and numbers. Surnames of Spanish nobility and several colonial administrators, which include the prepositiondeas anobiliary particle, were explicitly prohibited. Many names which resulted are not common to the Hispanophone world, because they were Hispanicized from the original Filipino or Chinese. This new naming system also did away with the Filipino custom of siblings taking different surnames.
The Philippines is one of two predominantlyChristiancountries in Asia, the other beingEast Timor. About 81% of the population isCatholic, 11% belong to Protestant or other Christian denominations, 5.6% areMuslim, and about 2% practice other religions or are irreligious.
Filipinos at home set up altars in the Hispanic tradition adorned with Catholic images, flowers, and candles. During fiestas, most communities organise church services and religious processions in honor of apatron saint, hold funfairs and concerts, and feast with a variety of Filipino foods.
All majorChristianholidays are observed as official national holidays in the Philippines.Spanishculture and Christianity has influenced the customs and traditions of the Philippines.
Every year on the 3rd Sunday of January, the Philippines celebrates the festival of the "Santo Niño" (Holy Child Jesus), the largest being held in Cebu City.
Hispanic influence is based on Indigenous, and European tradition.Folk dance, music and literature have remained intact in the 21st century. These were introduced from Spain in the 16th century and can be regarded as largely Hispanic in the constitution, which has remained in the Philippines for centuries.
The cuisine in the Philippines reflects the influences ofSpanish,MexicanandAsiancuisine.
They include:
In the business community, thePhilippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry(PCCI) plays an integral role in the economic, political and social development of the nation. Historically, the chamber can be traced back as early as the 1890s with the inauguration of theCámara de Comercio de Filipinas. This organisation was composed mainly of Spanish companies such as theCompañia General de Tabacos de Filipinas, Fábrica de CervezaSan Miguel, and Elizalde y Cía, among other Spanish, and Philippine companies.
During the first half of the 20th-century commerce, and industrial trades with other Hispanic countries declined due to the United States administration of the Philippines and the Second World War. However, the resurgence of trade between Spain andLatin Americannations had risen toward the closing of the century. 1998 marked the centennial celebration of Philippine independence and opened a new opportunity for both Hispanic and Filipino businesses to reconnect their historic ties as trade partners.