Overseas Filipino

easily. Me, I seem to only scratch the surface of who I am. First of all, I can say that my race is somewhat stereotypical. I am Filipino and some of the stereotypes can be annoying. Usually, when I tell them that I’m Filipino, the question would eventually come to say “Do you eat dog?”Accordingly, I disliked that question ever since people started telling me that Filipinos eat dog. What I want to say is…

Have you ever been to a place that left an impact on you? A place that was so exceptional and special to you that it nested itself into your mind? A place that you just could not forget because it was almost too fascinating to seem real? Well, for me that place is Hawaii. As a kid, my parents brought my siblings and I to Hawaii for a vacation, and to this day it remains the most pleasurable place I have ever visited. Although there are so many things that have stuck in my mind about Hawaii, the…

Different Country Same Language Growing up and understanding one language was never an issue, but when the day comes from when you have to move to a different country, where in that country the language you known primarily is not the main language. How the experience of having a language barrier among the people around you can cause such difficulty. From America to the Philippines was the realization of the importance of communication. When I was growing up my parents always speak to me in…

In Howard Ramos’s article “It Was Always There? Looking for Identity in All the (Not) So Obvious Places,” Ramos explores identity and to what extent his own cultural identity is defined by himself as well as by others. As a first generation Filipino-American with immigrant parents, I can relate to Ramos’s questioning of his and his father’s heritage and how it can affect the ways people label them. Especially in the modern age of technology where people are able to judge others’ images, faces,…

the Spaniards and the Americans for centuries, and these two cultures have had a significant impact on the Filipino culture and their identity. Martin and Nakayama note Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck research on cultural values claims that, “Values are the most deeply felt beliefs shared by a cultural group; they reflect a shared perception of what ought to be, and not what is” (p. 99). The Filipinos culture has had influences from civilization prior to the Spanish occupation, Spanish colonization,…

During the rapid-research I choose to research about the Filipino Community in Los Angeles because I lived close to Chinatown. I was very involved with the Chinatown Business District and participated in many cultural events. The continued efforts to display and promote Chinese culture within the Chinese community serves as a constant reminder of their origins and identity. Historic Filipino-town district in Los Angeles, California was officially established by the city on August 2, 2002. The…

Evidently, Filipino veteranos are World War II veterans who did not received their benefits as promised by the U.S. In particular, this denial largely affected the Filipino American community, as many of the younger generation see themselves as second-class citizens who are not respected in…

ISANG TIKBALANG KA LANG: A CRITIQUE PAPER By: Izelle Josef Li of ABM 11 This paper critiques the short story, titled “Isang Tikbalang Ka Lang,” from the book “Wag Lang Di Makaraos” by Filipino writer, Eros S. Atalia. Atalia grew up in Cavite City. He got his Bachelor’s Degree on Secondary Education major in Filipino at the Philippine Normal University in 1996 and got his Master’s Degree on Arts in Language and Literature at De La Salle University – Manila in 2008. His poem “Maririing Tusok…

Ceremony By: Leslie Marmon Silko Ceremony is set after World War II but the stories within the book come from mythical past to the 1920. The stories set in the United States on a Laguna Reservation and the myths told are somewhere in the Philippines. Ceremony is written in third person limited and you are limited to Tayo’s emotions. However, the poems incorporated in the novel are first person. Which make the reader have to elaborate on what the others feel. The use of poems in the other…

Historic Filipinotown in Los Angeles is considered a cultural hub for Filipino Americans, officially delineated by Hoover Street from the west, Glendale Boulevard from the east, Temple Street from the North, and Beverly Boulevard from the South. Its very existence is political, more so than other ethnic enclaves because those who identify as Filipino only make up a small part of the resident population compared to the Mexicans and Central Americans. Former councilmember, now Mayor Eric Garcetti,…