A Filipino is a nationality. A nationality consisting of the different ethnicities of
Philippines. Many of these ethnicities (a strong 95%-97%)trace their roots to the Austronesian people who immigrated out of Southern China into Taiwan as the Northern Mandarin ethnicity became the dominant culture of China.
The Austronesian people travelled well through out the Malay Archipelago (Indonesia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea) and many who have settled through out began migrating back-and-forth within the region and also back to mainland Asia. The varied migrations between the Malay Archepelago and the mainland created very ethnically mixed cultures through out the region (And this is before the Europeans came) which is why Filipinos and other "Malays" don't have a consistant racial appearance as opposed to the Chinese and those who are Pacific Islanders(who are in fact of the same blood but not mixed)
The Defining point between Pacific Islanders and Filipinos comes to the fact that once the Austronesian people reached Polynesia they lost all ties to Mainland Asia, unlike the cultures of the Malay Archipelago who would
eventually intermix with many of the people of Southern China and Indo-China. Both of these cultures
technically are Asian, but the ethnicities are divided by cultural connections with the mainland.
When it comes to the hispanicization of the
Philippines,
one has to realize that only a small minority of Filipinos actually have Spanish Blood. A Stanford Study has shown only 3% of Filipinos are actually mixed with either Chinese and/or Spanish blood. Much like African Slaves in Colonial America, who received "Christian"
Anglo-Saxon/Scots Irish/Irish Protestant names. Filipinos Recieved "Christian" Spanish names and prayed to a white Jesus much like every one else in the world who fell victim to colonialism.
The Colonial Mentality is very much apparent in the Filipino culture, where many will lie about the background claiming their Spanish roots when in fact they probably bleached their skin and got
plastic surgery on their nose. The Filipino Media adds on to the stigma against being brown by inundating the T.V. Screen and billboards of the city with White Meztiso Images.