Why Filipinos are being called Malay?

Answer 1

Answer:

As far as I know, it's because Philippine schools teach Filipinos that they are Malays which is very bogus and a complete misconception. Filipinos and Malays have the same origin that is, but Malays follow a completely different culture. Also, note that only Filipinos call themselves Malays. An American anthropologist would not be calling Filipinos Malays. Here are the reasons why Filipinos think that they are Malays.

"ETHNIC" MALAYS vs MALAY "RACE"

Also, "Malays" as an ethnicity and "Malays" as a race are commonly mistaken to be the same thing. The ethnic Malays, are an ethnic group from Southeast Asia who speak the Malay language or Malay dialect/creole as a native toungue. The Malay race is the ENTIRE region of Austronesia, meaning all the way from the African island of Madagascar to Hawaii's easternmost tip. Meaning that Samoans, Tongans, Fijians, Filipinos, Hawaiians and Madagascar Africans are all "Malays" by "race". So, "Malay race" is just a generic term for the Austronesian race so to speak.

MISCONCEPTION OF MALAY AND FILIPINO ORIGIN

Now, a common and generally old misconception about Malays is that (especially with Filipinos), they came from Indonesia and Malaysia and sailed up north to the Philippines. Then they populated travelled up north and populated the Philippines making the Filipino dance party alive. There's pretty much one word I'd use to describe this, "bogus". This lie also explains why many Filipinos refer to themselves as Malays, whether it be the ethnicity or the race. It's actually the other way around, Malays actually were from an origin in Taiwan who reached the Philippines and then later Borneo, Sulawesi and Sumatra. As well as Peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand.

MALAY CUlTURE AND INFLUENCE

Also some of the culture of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia share some things in common because all three countries share Malay backgrounds. Which is why Filipinos often refer to themselves as Malays. Filipinos and Malays both eat with their hands as a tradition and rice is served with nearly EVERY Malay/Filipino meal. This even goes into politics. For Malaysia/Indonesia and Philippines have different definitions of a Malay. In Malaysia and Indonesia, a Malay must speak Malay as a mother language and follows Islam. In Philippines, a Malay is a native to the Philippines, as neighboring countries south, Indonesia, Malaysia and southern Thailand. But remember, we sometimes mean "Malay" background by "sailing race", or the Austronesian race. You HAVE to always pay attention to which definition of "Malay" you refer to. So now we know, that ethnic Malays did NOT come to the Philippines from Indonesia/Malaysia, even though Filipino schools still continue to preach this bogus lie. However, there was A LOT of ancient historical and cultural interaction between Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. The Malays did come to the Philippines to rule the country prior to the Spanish colonization. But the Malays and indegenous groups of the Philippines were already seperate ethnic groups by this time.

SO ARE FILIPINOS ETHNIC MALAYS OR NOT!??

No, Filipinos are not ethnic Malays. They weren't Malays before, they are not Malays now. Filipinos are of "Malay stock" and this simply means that they share the same general physical and cultural traits with Malays. Sure, the Malays did govern parts of central and southern Philippines. But only the rulers and kings/sultans themselves were ethnic Malays, not the indegenous peoples of the Philippines. Ethnic Malays speak Malay (in any form or dialect) as a native language, and they follow the Islamic religion. Filipinos speak their own dialects, they don't even speak Malay as second language. They speak Tagalog as a second language. Even in Indonesian. They speak Malay (as Bahasa Indonesia) and most Indonesians aren't Malays they are Javanese. They are much closer to Malays than Filipinos, but they aren't called ethnic Malays and they don't have a problem with that. Most Filipinos are also Catholics, not Muslims. Although when it comes to Malay as a "race", yes Filipinos do belong to those.

SO ARE THERE ETHNIC MALAYS IN THE PHILIPPINES?

No there aren't. None at all. Islam is still a minority religion in the southern Philippines. Even the Filipino Muslims aren't ethnic Malays. Malays do not make a population in the Philippines at all. Most Filipinos aren't even closely related to ethnic Malays. Filipinos are closely related to the Chamarros from Micronesia, much more close than they are to ethnic Malays. In fact, Filipinos and Malays are simply cousins. The ONLYrelated ethnic group to Malays that exists in the Philippines are the Tausugs. Even in the Sulu Archipelago (a small island chain between southwestern Mindanao in Philippines and northeastern Sabah in Malaysia) there are no Malays. Malaysians from Sabah don't even consider themselves ethnic Malays. The Muslims from Mindanao don't even consider themselves Malays. In Indonesia, there a much close ethnic groups such as the Javanese, Balinese, Sunadnese and such. They all speak Malay, both the standard versions and the Indonesian register. But even they aren't considered Malays, and they don't call themselves Malays. They don't have a problem with that.

Answer 2

Filipinos are called Malay because the majority of the population in the Philippines is descended from Austronesian tribes, who are part of the larger ethnic Malay race. The term "Malay" is used to describe a broad ethnic group that includes people from various Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines. Additionally, the Malay language is one of the official languages of the Philippines.