Gong Xi Fa Cai: Tsinoys in Philippine Law and History

As a third-generation Chinese-Filipino, I have no recollection of suffering racial discrimination in my chushengdi (country of birth), the Philippines. Perhaps, it is a testament to the Filipino people – who are known for hospitality and a positive attitude that made Philippines one of the “happiest” countries in the world. 

As a lawyer, an amateur history buff and a part-time kibitzer, I am not oblivious to Philippine history, including Philippine legal history, and current events that are replete with incidents and controversies involving the so-called “Sons of the Yellow Emperor.”

In recent times, as the country found itself amidst a territorial dispute, skepticism toward Chinese investments, the influx of undocumented Chinese workers, and the involvement of aliens in nefarious activities, the Chinese-Filipino community has found itself the focus of attention – perhaps, as scapegoats and the ones to blame for the misery of others.

But in the joyous occasion of the Chinese New Year, the familiar greeting of Gong Xi Fa Cai (well-wishes of prosperity), the ubiquitous Chinese ornaments of the season, and the lauriats among family members and friends, are the ultimate depiction of Chinese-Filipinos having been an integral part of Philippine society throughout the country’s history of growth, struggles and learnings that make us one nation.

Legal history

While it may seem notable that Manila’s Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in the world (established at the turn of the 16th century), the settlement of ethnic Chinese in Binondo was the result of sinophobia (fear of the Chinese) in the aftermath of Chinese pirate Limahong’s attempt to conquer Manila.

In 1581, the Spanish colonial government adopted a policy of isolating the Chinese. Governor-General Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa ordered that the Chinese be contained in the Southern bank of the Pasig River.  In 1679, a royal decree compelled local unmarried Chinese to live in the Parian, and all married Chinese in Binondo.

When the Philippines’ became a protectorate of the United States, the Chinese Exclusion Act (enacted in 1882 and repealed in 1943), which prohibited Chinese immigrants in America, was enforced in the Philippine Islands.

And as if race was a factor in determining the guilt of a person or the private rights of parties, early cases of the Supreme Court made express references in its decisions to the race of the “Chinamen.”  (People v. Sy Pio, 94 Phil. 94 (1954)). 

In 1921, the Philippine Legislature enacted Act 2972, otherwise known as the Chinese Bookkeeping Law, and prohibited the keeping of accounting books in any language other than English, Spanish or any local dialect.  Violations were punished with a fine, or imprisonment for not more than two years, or both. Chinese merchant Yu Cong Eng was arrested for keeping books in Chinese. He questioned the constitutionality of the Chinese Bookkeeping Law before the Supreme Court but his case was dismissed (Yu Cong Eng v. Trinidad, G.R. No. L-20479, February 6, 1925).

In 1954, the Third Congress of the Philippines passed Republic Act 1180, otherwise known as the Retail Trade Nationalization Act, which prohibited foreign nationals from engaging in the retail trade business when sari-sari stores were run by Chinese merchants.

In 1973, Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Presidential Decree 176 which phased out all alien schools in four years. This resulted in schools reducing the number of hours devoted to the Chinese curriculum in Chinese schools to a maximum 120 minutes per day for all levels.

Ethnic Chinese in the Philippines

Despite odds, Philippine history has seen a myriad of ethnic Chinese personalities and characters alongside Filipinos in their struggles and milestones. 

Jose Ignacio Paua, a Chinese immigrant from Fujian, China, joined the Katipunan, and later on, served in the Philippine Revolutionary Army under President Emilio Aguinaldo.  In World War II, ethnic Chinese fought alongside Filipino guerrillas and American soldiers against atrocious Japanese invaders.  For example, the ethnic Chinese formed Wa Chi, a resistance unit that at some point had 700 members, to counter the Japanese abuse.

In business, ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs have become pillars and captains of industries, including retail (Henry Sy, Sr.), fast food (Tony Tan Caktiong), banking (George Ty), real estate (Andrew Gotianun), airlines (Lucio Tan and Lance Gokongwei), gaming and real estate (Andrew Tan), and agriculture (Henry Lim Bon Liong), to name a few.  The late Albino SyCip, co-founder of China Bank, is considered the “dean of Philippine banking,” and his children, Washington and Alexander founded what became the country’s leading accounting and law firms, SGV & Co. and SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, respectively.

In the community, the philanthropy and civic-mindedness of the ethnic Chinese in the Philippines are known and well-respected.  Chinese volunteer brigades have been known to be the first to arrive in disasters and calamities.  In the 90s, when fire struck St. Joseph Hall of De La Salle on Taft Avenue, I remember our professor joking upon our return to the classroom, “I can’t distinguish the firemen from the engineering students in Velasco Hall.” 

Key figures in Philippine history are known to be of Chinese descent, including National Hero Jose Rizal, President Sergio Osmeña, Supreme Court Justice Claudio Teehankee, Sr., and President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, to name a few.

As if the contributions to economy and industry are not enough to endear the ethnic Chinese to Filipinos in mainstream society, the “King of Comedy,” the late Rodolfo V. Quizon, popularly known as Dolphy, started his career mimicking the Chinese accent in Philippine cinema under the Chinese-sounding screen name “Go Lay.” And in every Christmas season in the Philippines, the longest in the world, how would Filipinos celebrate without carols by crooner Jose Mari Chan?

Resiliency and mutual respect

The history of the ethnic Chinese in the Philippines is one of resilience amidst adversaries and challenges.

While the Chinese Exclusion Act is one of the darkest moments in the country that purports to be a haven of democracy and the land of opportunity, in the Philippines, the ethnic Chinese of that era managed to settle in the Philippines with the help of Chinese-Filipinos, usually through “adoption" by relatives and friends or by assuming entirely new identities with new names. Thus, the story behind my late grandfather Lo Bun To, of Pili, Camarines Sur, having a Taipan-sounding two-syllable name, Leoncio Yu Chang, and my uncle Que Hu Ban, of Pio Duran and Legazpi, Albay, bearing the haciendero-sounding name, Antonio Vera.

When the Retail Trade Nationalization Act was enacted, ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs either pursued opportunities and prospered in other areas, such as manufacturing, banking and finance, among others, or pursued retail trading with their Filipino spouses and relatives.  

Today, second or third generation Chinese-Filipinos, who are Filipino citizens, have maintained their interests in the retail trading industry and are now market leaders, and in an ironic twist of fate, may even oppose the absolute removal of foreign-ownership restrictions in retail trading.

When Chinese schools were forced to limit the subject matters taught in Chinese, and the enrollment of aliens, the “former” Chinese schools, such as the Jesuit-run Xavier School (formerly, Kuang Chi School), St. Jude Catholic School, Sacred Heart School for Boys in Cebu, Chiang Kai Shek College, etc., adapted and have established strong reputations among the best educational institutions in the country.

Lawyers often cite a Latin maxim, “Res Ipsa Loquitur” (the thing speaks for itself).  The history of the Chinese-Filipino community speaks for itself and cannot be changed even by an icon of literature or a prominent economist and commentator. 

For the very few who will refuse to partake of tikoy out of misplaced patriotism, we must realize that the multi-colored sapin-sapin is actually the localized version of the Southern Chinese delicacy and may be considered a symbol of the diverse and multi-cultural Philippine society.

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Albert Y. Yu Chang holds Juris Doctor degrees from Ateneo de Manila University School of Law and Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, Illinois.  He is a partner at Gatmaytan Yap Patacsil Gutierrez and Protacio, also known as C&G Law.