Come and Visit The Philippines!

"More than Usual"

This is what's great with blogs, you can even promote your own country. So to yo! don't believe everything you read in the newspaper, sometimes they tend to generalize everything and put clouds over those that are good (and pretty). As OPRAH said "DON'T BE SCARED".

I myself have never been to some of the beautiful places in my own country, but next year when I have my vacation, I want to go to Bohol to see the famous Chocolate Hills. By the way, the Chocolate Hills of bohol is nominated for the New 7 wonders of Nature, along with Mt.Mayon, The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, Taal Volcano and Tubattaha Reef. To Vote click HERE


Visit these websites for more information: Wow Philippines, Pinoy Travel Blog, Filipinas:El Paraiso Perdido and New 7 Wonders of the World

Chavacano de Cavite

Where are the Chavacano speakers of Cavite? What ever happened to this unique Creole language? Before we could answer this questions, we must first understand what is Chavacano. There are two types of Philippine Creole Spanish, the first one and most well known of the two, the Chavacano of Zamboanga. This particular variance is actually thriving, used in all types of media like Radio, Prints, Television and even in recorded songs. The Chavacano of Zamboanga is mostly Spanish words mixed with Visayan and moro words and set in Visayan Grammar. It was said that this particular Chavacano has more than 600,000 speakers, mostly in Zamboanga. Said to be one of the oldest Creole in the world and very far from dying.

But it was "Gone with the Wind" for the Chavacano of Cavite. Once flourishing in different parts of Cavite like Ternate, Maragondon and Cavite City and also some parts of Manila like Binondo and Sta.Cruz. This variance of Chavacano is a mixture of mostly Spanish Words and Tagalog words and set in Tagalog Grammar. We have this saying in English that "If you don't use it, you'll lose it", and that is what exactly happened to this Chavacano. I myself are from Cavite and i basically grew up in Cavite City. You see, Chavacano in Cavite was perceived as a language of the social elite, not just the people in Cavite but most of Filipinos, that if you speak this language its either you have Spanish blood in you or you are rich, so a lot of Non Chavacanos - Cavitenos really want to learn Chavacano even though this is not their language, so you would probably think it was doing great, right?, but in the midst of poverty?


During the late 70s a lot of people from other parts of the country most especially from the Central Visayan Region started migrating to Luzon particularly in Manila, seeking good paying jobs, most of these people ended up in the poor sections of Manila, while others ended up in the near by provinces with easy access to the city of Manila, like Cavite. While the outsiders grew in numbers, More than 70% of the original Cavite City's residence mostly Chavacano Speakers have already moved out of Cavite City, bringing with them their language. Some of them migrated in the United States and some to other places were there are less crime( where there's poverty usually there's crime). But there are still Chavacano Speakers left there, mostly old people.

Another culprit is it's proximity to Manila. Most people living near the City of Manila like those living in Cavite follows whatever new trends there are in manila and English is a new trend. Everything Spanish are old and everything American are new and trendy. The death of Chavacano in Cavite, or in fact, the Whole Spanish - Philippine culture, started dying when the U.S. won the Spanish - American war in 1898. Headed by Commodore George Dewey, the Americans killed Hundreds of Spaniards in Manila during that war. During the American Colonization of the Philippines, Americans built a base in the northern part of the Cavite City peninsula, where the old Spanish Fort San Felipe used to be (some parts of the old Spanish fort can still be seen and are intact) and called it Sangley Point, thus further killing the language. Presently, nothing has been done to help this dying language to recover. Even the remaining people who speaks Chavacano stops Speaking it and are not even teaching it to their children. I think the only solution to this is to at least create a Chavacano learning Center wherein Cavitenos can study and learn Chavacano language and culture. To the local government of Cavite, please do something before it's too late.

To read more about the Chavacano of Cavite and Chabacano in General, Click these Links Habla Chabacano, Herencia Espanola, Chavacanos de la Cuidad de Cavite and Chabacano/Spanish and the Philippines Linguistic Identity by John M. Lipski, The Pennsylvania State University. Thanks to TVE(Television Espanola) and Salita Blog. To listen to Chavacano de Zamboanga, click HERE.

Mi Abuelita

Her name was Felisa Sayas Cabrera, my Grand Mother. We used to call her "Inang", it's a Tagalog word but really, I don't know what it means, all I know is that you only use that word for a very old woman, just like my Inang. That's it!, Inang means an old woman. I took this photograph of her sleeping on a bench, her favorite place to have her siesta, and so I decided to call this Photo, Siesta, Taken in the early 1990s, a few years before her death.

She was born in Imus, Cavite, just a few years after the Philippines gained its independence from Spain around 1905. She had 7 children, my father Felipe was 2nd to the youngest. My Grand Father Francisco Cabrera, died much earlier, exactly the same time when my Grand Mother was pregnant with her youngest, who she eventually named Felix, my uncle but I call him "Kuya" in Tagalog (or Brother in English) because he's the youngest of all his siblings. He now lives in the United States with his family.

It would take a strong and courageous woman to raise all 7 children alone and my Inang was all that and more. She died more than 15 years ago at the age of 88 (i think). She died a happy and complete woman. We all miss you so much. Inang, where ever you are, I love you.

See more of my Photography at CAMERA NI CABRERA

Tijuana (still) on My Mind

I can still remember that day when I first set foot in Tijuana. It was a bit scary on my part and even though I was with a Chicano friend (Aron Sanchez Quintero, from Mazatlan), I still feel alone, knowing that if something happened to me, none of my relatives would know about it... Yes, I did not tell them that I will cross the border, and yes, it was foolish of me not to. Hey, it was going be one of the greatest adventures of my life (in my mind) and I knew my cousin will not let me go there, so why would I? I was 23 years old then and at that age, I was still so naive. You see, I could probably could go as far as Antipolo or Batangas or maybe even Nueva Ecija in the Philippines alone, but not in Baja California, Mexico. They are so protective of me because I'm an only child. But that will not stop me from having fun. Will it? So I told myself, "Pepe, enough with all your inhibitions, we came here to party and that is what we're going to do!"

It was already evening when we arrived in Tijuana from San Ysidro, U.S.A.. We were starving, so we went to the nearest Taco Restaurant and we ordered five Tacos each. Aron ate like a starving horse and I can't even finish mine. After we finished eating, Calle Revolucion awaits.

Avenida or Calle Revolucion is a long stip of road dotted with bars, discotecas and night clubs. It has that Fiesta atmosphere there. A lot of Americans go there to party and to have fun because to them it's cheaper, wilder and just across the border. Then we went inside one of the many establishments around and we ordered our first round of Tequila and Cerveza Corona, then after an hour we transfered to another Discoteca, ordered some more and danced some more. Oh yes, I can still hear "Macarena" playing. Like professional bar hoppers, we went from one bar to another. At around 3:00 am, we were so intoxicated, we walked around Calle Revolution to 2nd street and 1st street looking for a cheap hotel for us to sleep in.

We were so drunk, we slept until 11am, then I noticed that I lost my coat somewhere, it was December so it was very cold especially in the morning. We headed downtown after we checked out of the hotel. It was amazing there, you'll see vendors selling anything from Pomegranates to Cacti (a delicacy in Mexico) to English-Spanish tapes, for those who want to learn both languages. Everything was so new to me yet so familiar. I remember seing a huge poster of the film "Desperado" featuring Antonio Banderas while we walked downtown. Then I saw a record shop and there I bought a double CD of Luis Miguel as a souvenir, just to remind me of Mexico. Neither of us have camera that time, so for me a CD is enough. Then we went inside the Centro Cultural de Tijuana, the admission fee was 5 pesos per person, I think?. It was amazing there, I bought a couple of post cards too and send one to my friend in the Philippines.

I really enjoyed Tijuana but we had to go back to San Diego that afternoon. I will never forget my trip and all my experiences there, it was amazing. Tijuana will always be on my mind.

"El Metro " (Spain) TV Commercial with Filipinos

A TV commercial of The Metro in Spain with Filipino actors.

Related: Traveling In Spain


(If you want to watch more Videos. I've got a fine collection of Videos on my website. Just click HERE and go to my Video Player, Enjoy!!!.)

Accepting Filipinos In A Much Wider Latino World?

Does Latin America accept Filipinos as part of a much wider Latino world? But first, What is Latino? Do they need to speak Spanish to be part of this world? Do they need to be a son or a daughter of a Mexican or a Puerto Rican perhaps, but do not know how to speak the language?

The Colonial History of the Philippines is as colorful as our Currency, the Philippine "PESO". When Ferdinand Magellan discovered our country on March 16,1521, it was the rise of a new era. Since then most of the Filipino people became Catholics. Spanish and Mexican dishes became part of our lives ( Tamales, Arroz Caldo, Chicharones, Leche Flan, etc.)

Celebrations and events like El Dia de todos los Santos, El Dia de los Muertos, where we go to the cemetery and offer candles and flowers to the dead, Three Kings (signaling the end of Christmas season where we give gifts), and the Fiestas of the Saints, like in my place we celebrate the Fiesta of San Isidro Labrador every May 15; Fiesta de San Juan, where we celebrate it by splashing waters at passers by.

For almost 400 years of Spanish rule in the Philippines,even our language was not spared with what I call semi-hispanizations. To begin with, The Philippines have more than 80 languages, 7 of them are considered major languages. Tagalog, Hiligaynon, Cebuano, Ilocano, Pangasinense, Waray and Kapampangan, each of these languages are sprinkled with Spanish verbs, nouns and adjectives. And we are not yet finished with that, we also have the Chavacano, the Philippine Creole Spanish, being spoken by more than 600,000 Filipinos in Mindanao mostly in Zamboanga, and in the north in Cavite province and said to be one of the oldest Creole in the world.

Lastly, the People. Some Filipinos living today have Mexican or Spanish Ancestry (try researching on this). Nowadays, most Filipinos consider themselves just Asians probably because of our location. There's nothing wrong about that it's also true. What is wrong is that they have forgotten history and heritage, or maybe they just don't care about it anymore. The word Filipino itself is Spanish, after FELIPE or King Philip ll of Spain whom the Philippines is named after (FILIPINAS in Spanish). I'm just curious. Going back to the question, Does Latin America accept FIlipinos as part of a much wider and bigger Latino world?  What do you think? VIVA FILIPINAS!, VIVA HISPANOS DEL MUNDO!

Try these links: The Missing Latinos in America , With One's Past's Post- "Soy Latina tambien", Ever tried dancing in a Karakol?, Mexicans of Filipino Descent, The Spanish Settlement in the Philippines, Antonio Miranda Rodriguez, the Filipino who founded Los Angeles and Que Queda de Espana en Filipinas?