This
is my response to the query on my three most widely read articles from
my Hubpages Writing Account for StoryWorth. As of this writing date here
are the 3 articles with their Number of Page Views( Readers) and
Comments: In this article, I will published only excerpts from #2.
Excerpts from #1 and #3 will be in two separate articles.
1. My Bucket List -101 Things to Do before I Die, 9,701 page views and 10 comments.
2. Caste System and Discrimination in the Philippines -7,730 page views and 31 comments
3. Encounters with Aswangs, Nono's, and Ghost in the Philippines-5,207 page views and 20 comments
I
had stopped writing new articles for Hubpages two years ago. As of
today, I have 25 articles with a total page views of 31,584 and 182
readers' comments.
Here's an Excerpts from my most commented article -Caste System in the Philippines-Discrimination of Filipinos in the United States and my Pinoy Pride List
Caste System in the Philippines
There is a caste system between the poor and the rich and the educated and non educated Filipinos. The Overseas Filipino Workers( OFW's) are considered the modern economic heroes of the Philippines. Their remittances help uplift the economic woes of the country. Will the OFW's be another caste group of the future in the Philippines?
In this hub/article, I have also listed 20 Filipino and Filipino-Americans in my Pride List.
Is there a Caste System in the Philippines?
The Philippines is not India or Pakistan. But better believe it, there is a caste system in the Philippines. The caste system exits between the rich and the poor, between educated and uneducated, and to a lesser extent between the Filipino-mestizos and the “browned-skinned and flat-nosed” Filipinos.
Let me start with the clash between the rich and the poor. It is well known that the Philippines is not really a true democracy but an oligarchy. Oligarchy is defined by Webster as a form of government in which the supreme power is in the hands of a small exclusive class. This exclusive group are the rich. If you live in the Philippines, you know or have heard of a few families that run our country as well as our business. And what about the poor? They just suffer and accept what is handed to them, good or bad!
The second item is the clash between the educated and uneducated. The educated usually had comfortable lives, excellent social status, travels, eat in five-star restaurants and also send their children to excellent schools. The uneducated have lower social status, do the menial jobs and if lucky can get jobs as farming tenants, personal maids, or drivers of the rich and educated Filipinos. In Marinduque, there are hundreds of tenants who work for the rich landowners. These folks were raised as Roman Catholics, but only go to Church twice a year, during Christmas and Easter. When invited to your house in town, they will not enter your front door. They enter the back door. Entering the front door is bad manners. They will not eat at the same time with you, even though you invite them. They will wait until you are finished before they eat.
On the last item of heritage, Spanish mestizos versus brown skinned Filipinos. Today, this is not so blatant. But during my grandparents and parents time, the mestizos feel they are superior in terms of social standing and race. My grandparents speak fluent Spanish as well as local dialect (Tagalog or Ilonggo) and are the elites of society. The mestizos would look down on the non-mestizos or even the Chinese Filipinos. In Marinduque, a few decades ago, if you were Filipino-Chinese, you would not be invited or included in the social activities of the “socialites”, even though you are doing well as a businessman. It is only today that it is no longer a social taboo to invite the non-mestizos to your home for socializing. During my grandparents' time, it was also a taboo to marry outside your social class. Children of the rich are discouraged to associate with children of families that reside on the “other side of the river” (similar to American expression of the “other side of the railroad track”).
Discrimination of Filipinos in US in the 1930's
Filipinos Working in the Farms of Central California in the 1930's
Filipino Discrimination in the US in the 1930s and 1960s
The prejudice against Filipino immigrants in the US and specially in California in the 1920s to 1940s is well documented. One of the well-known books, America is in the Heart, documenting the life of the Filipino immigrants at that time period, was written by Carlos Bulosan. Mr Bulosan is my number one literary heroes of that time.
Like many Filipinos during that time, Bulosan left for America in July 1930 at age 17, in the hope of finding salvation from the economic depression of his home. He never again saw his Philippine homeland. No sooner had he arrived in Seattle, was he immediately met with the hostility of racism, forcing him to work in low paying jobs.
He worked as a farm worker, harvesting grapes, asparagus and other kinds of hard labor work in the fields of California. He also worked as a dishwasher with his brother, Lorenzo in the famous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. He was active in labor politics along the Pacific coast of the United States and edited the 1952 Yearbook for ILWU Local 37, a predominantly Filipino American cannery union based in Seattle.
Mr Bulosan died in 1956. To honor his memory, a Bulusan Memorial Exhibit located in Seattle's International District and in the Eastern Hotel features his literary works and manuscripts. One of his famous books, America is in the Heart based on his autobiography is now made into a Philippine movie.
One of the famous quotes from that book is timeless, as follows: "We in America understand the many imperfections of democracy and the malignant disease corroding its very heart. We must be united in the effort to make an America in which our people can find happiness. It is a great wrong that anyone in America, whether he be brown or white, should be illiterate or hungry or miserable."
References
(1) Carlos Bulosan, America Is in the Heart, 1946
(2) The Delano Manongs:Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers-a Video by mediafactory.tv/2008/01
My top 20 Filipino American Pride List
I have always wanted to publish my own Filipino-American Pride List. The 20 names (BOTH LIVING AND DEAD) below are not listed in order of importance. This is my personal list and you are welcome to suggest any names that could be added in this list. My only requirement is that they have excelled in their field of expertise ( entertainment, sports, science, medicine, literature, arts, law and politics). I have personally meet Olivera, Comiso, Cabaldon, Pasquil, and Nicolas-Lewis. Cabaldon and Pasquil are associates and friends of my daughter, Ditas Katague ( Number 8). And last but not least, Number 14 in this list is my oldest son, Dodie Katague, Writer and Lawyer. Pure Filipinos like Manny Pacquiao, Dr Fe Del Mundo, Lea Salonga or Charice Pempengco are not included in this list. They belong to the Filipino Pride list.
1. Baldomero Olivera, Ph.D. – Distinguished Professor of Biology, University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah; first Fil-Am member of the United States National Academy of Science. Research: neurotoxins from venoms of predatory cone snails
2. Emil Guillermo – award winning journalist, writer, and broadcaster. First Filipino American to anchor a regularly scheduled national news program, NPR "All Things Considered," May 1989. Winner of American Book Award, 2000.
3. Jose Antonio Vargas – 2008 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Journalism for his work with the Washington Post; DREAM Act advocate; "illegal alien"
4. Carlos Bulosan – Author, America Is in the Heart. Discrimination of Filipinos in the 1930s.
5.Loida Nicolas-Lewis – Chairman and CEO, TLC Beatrice International Holdings, Inc. Active on Filipino American politics and policy
6. Cristeta Comerford – First woman executive chef at the White House.
7. Josefino Comiso, Ph.D. – physics expert at NASA. My contemporary at PAASE, Research on arctic melt and global warming
8.Ditas Katague was appointed by Governor Brown in March 2011 as Commissioner Sandoval’s Chief of Staff, California Public Utilities Commission. Ditas has more than 20 years of experience at federal, state and local government agencies as well as in private and non-profit sectors. Prior to coming to the CPUC, Ditas was Chief Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Corporations. She also served in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research as Director of Census 2010-2020 and is an expert in civic engagement and public participation. She was also Assistant Secretary for Transportation at the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. Ditas has a B.A. in Social Sciences and Practice of Art (double major) from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Masters in Public Administration (Intergovernmental Management and Organization Development) from the University of Southern California. Ditas was just recently appointed as a member of the US Census Bureau Advisory Board for Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations. Ditas is my youngest daughter.
9. Eleanor Mariano – Rear Admiral (Lower Half), U.S. Navy, retired. First Filipino American to be promoted to a flag officer rank; former White House physician
10. Mona Pasquil Rogers- in November 2009, became the first woman to serve as acting lieutenant governor of California, Friend and associate of my daughter, Ditas
11. Steve Austria - Republican congressman from Beavercreek, Ohio.
12. Rozita Villanueva Lee – daughter of Eugenio Villanueva, who emigrated from Pangasinan to Hawaii as part of the recruited labor force for the Hawaii plantations, has been described as one of the top ten successful Filipinos abroad. She has served as National Vice Chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations and in a number of other prominent positions of responsibility. On September 16, 2010, the White House announced her appointment as a member of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
13. Christopher Cabaldon – Mayor of West Sacramento, California, born in 1965. Openly gay activist. Have attended fun raising activities for his political activities.
14. Dodie Diosdado Katague- author of Cloyne Court and Prosecuting Attorney,Contra Costa, California. Here's a summary of his first novel Cloyne Court" In 1946, the "real" all male "Animal House" was born when Cloyne Court become a student co-op. But the real story begins when Cloyne Court went co-ed in 1972 with the arrival of sixty-two women. Katague's sexy, reveal-all memoir takes place in the late 70s, soon after the women moved in. All it takes is one kiss to transform animals into horny princes.
15. Enrique Iglesias – a Spanish pop music singer-songwriter. Is now mainstream US singer
16. Christine Gambito – an American Internet personality, actress, and comedian; she maintains one of the most-subscribed-to channels on YouTube. Also appointed Ambassador of Philippine tourism
17. Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye was born on October 19, 1959). She is a Filipino-American jurist, and is the 28th Chief Justice of California. She was nominated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for California's highest judicial office on July 22, 2010, and retained in office by California voters on November 2, 2010, and was sworn in on January 3, 2011. Her Hawaiian-born father, Clarence, was of Filipino and Portuguese ancestry, while her mother, Mary Gorre, was Filipino. She was a classmate of my oldest son ( Dodie) in Law School at UC Davis.
18. Alex S. Fabros, Jr. – Historian, professor, retired U.S. Army officer; Documentaries: “Filipino Americans: Discovering their Past for the Future”, "Unsung Heroes"; historian, "Filipinas Magazine"; Historian and Guest Curator, National Steinbeck Center's "Filipino Voices: Past and Present."; and winner of New American Media's "Ethnic Pulitzer Prize".
19. Cheryl Burke- Professional Dancer, Trophy Winner-ABC Dancing with the Stars
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