Why do Filipinos consider themselves as Pacific Islanders?

November wrote:

I live in Southern California and I live by a huge community of Filipinos. The ones I've encountered always identify themselves as Pacific Islanders. A few have been offended when I mentioned that I thought they would identify more by being Asian than their claim of being Pacific Islanders. Even the friends that I have had would say the same. I'm just wondering which one is it, or it's both? Maybe the ones I know are younger folks who don't speak the language or even know their heritage claiming which ever suits them best.

The term Pacific Islander are Polynesian, Micronesian, and Melanesian. The Philippines are none of these. You can verify this fact on the United States census website. I've heard some Filipinos say "it sounds more exotic or cool" to say they are Pacific Islander. Even at most Filipino events you will see them perform Polynesian dances and not their own. The Mall of Asia is in the Philippines. Also the Philippines is the founder of the ASEAN Association of South East Asian Nations. Filipinos have WAY more history with their South East Asian brothers. My people (I'm Polynesian) have stories and even songs about other Pacific Islands but not once have I heard anything about the Philippines. There seem to be a denial of being Asian with Filipinos in the United States. Why? I have my own speculations, but I can not say because I'm not Filipino. One thing for sure is more REAL Pacific Islanders find it pretty dumb some find it even irritating that Filipinos are trying to claim to be one of us. We Pacific Islanders have a common ancestral history. Sometimes someone tells me they have spoken to a Pacific Islander and was told about our culture but it ends up being that they spoke with a Filipino. This really irritates me because not only are they being misinformed but they tell someone and that someone tells someone and so on. Then the whole world becomes misinformed.

So what wrote:

<quoted text>
So GENIUS how did you define a P-A-C-I-F-I-C I-S-L-A-N-D-E-R?

Pacific Islander is defined as Polynesian, Melanesian, and Micronesian. Filipinos do not fit any of these.

They are in the pacific but they are not pacific islanders...they are their own...be proud of that!!

Filipinos are wannabes.

Only Filipino-Americans identify themselves as Pacific-Islanders. Filipinos in the Philippines consider themselves to be Asian. I'm pretty shocked at the comments made by Pacific Islanders here because Filipinos outside of Hawaii definitely don't fit the bill of stupid, lazy, welfare abusers. Not to sound racist, but I tend to find the Pacific Islanders here (California) that tend to be in lower wage jobs, welfare & gangs. It's just an observation made with the Pacific Islanders I've come across. I agree with you that Filipino Americans need to stop identifying themselves as Pacific Islanders because we Filipinos are Asian. Be proud of that.

I truly believe that Filipinoes suffer from the same hate of lighter skinned or darker skinned Filipino. Asian or pacífic islander. some filpinos feel that we are even spainish. True to a certain point. Forefathers were from Spain but that was over 400 years. Boils down to being a sell out Don (lighter skinned Boss) or uneducated field rice paddy. Aka field n#@$&:-(

Consider the people that cut down Filipinos. They are the fat, violent, lazy mud people from other Pacific locations. They are jealous of your beautiful women, they are jealous of your work ethic, they are jealous because you come to Hawaii and prosper within a generation, while they sit on their bloated asses waiting for a welfare check. They rely on stolen credit cards to buy gas for their bussup old ghetto Hondas that we've thrown away. Your grandparents fought side by side with us in the war, suffered terribly at the hands of the Japanese, but never gave up. Many many Filipinos still serve today. Meanwhile, the scrubs that hate you live off your scraps. Don't even worry about them. They don't even count, unless you're counting prison inmates.

anyone who thinks filipinos are pacific islanders are a stupid students made by stupid professor who hates filipinos ... study philippine history ,go to the philippines and do a research, study its culture and compare it to other asian countries you will see that filipinos are asians ... shame pacific islanders are a lot smarter than you idiots! i bet ya'll failed in your history subjects haha

Hey Filipinos are NOT Pacific islanders. Pacific Islanders are people like the Fijians, the Melanesians, the Micronesians, and the Polynesians. Japan is in the Pacific Ocean like the Philippines, but they do not consider themselves to be pacific islanders. Why should Filipinos or anyone else for that matter think otherwise?

Michelle Mallkin wrote:

Hey Filipinos are NOT Pacific islanders. Pacific Islanders are people like the Fijians, the Melanesians, the Micronesians, and the Polynesians. Japan is in the Pacific Ocean like the Philippines, but they do not consider themselves to be pacific islanders. Why should Filipinos or anyone else for that matter think otherwise?

Michelle, how dare you compare the filipinos with us Japanese. We both may be asian, but please do not think that you are in the same league as us. We have more per capita income and resources than you filipinos will ever have. Do you folks have a filipino nuclear physicist? Or even a filipino brain surgeon?

Michelle Mallkin wrote:

Hey Filipinos are NOT Pacific islanders. Pacific Islanders are people like the Fijians, the Melanesians, the Micronesians, and the Polynesians. Japan is in the Pacific Ocean like the Philippines, but they do not consider themselves to be pacific islanders. Why should Filipinos or anyone else for that matter think otherwise?

So why aren't they just called "Nesians?"
Polynesians.
Micronesians.
Melanesians.
Peloponnesians.

Oh. Maybe that's why...

District 1 wrote:

<quoted text>So why aren't they just called "Nesians?"
Polynesians.
Micronesians.
Melanesians.
Peloponnesians.
Oh. Maybe that's why...

you forgot the Amnesians