Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

has been and will ever be proven in its supreme test, than those of other peoples, hence are no less desirous to the same fundamental right.

With best wishes, I am

Sincerely yours,

(Signed) JUAN T. BAYSA, President.

PHILIPPINE COUNCIL OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY,
San Diego, Calif., November 18, 1944.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES,

Chief, Nationals Division, Washington, D. C.:

DEAR MR. ADEVA: Received your telegram yesterday, and I inquired of some of the Filipinos who wish to be American citizens.

I enclose some of their signatures for your records. I could get some more, but I didn't have enough time to be in the mail to get there in time for the hearing on Wednesday.

With best wishes,

1. Barbara Norris

JOE GUZMAN, President, Philippine Council of San Diego.

2. Paul R. Guerrero, 3627 East Thirtythird Street

3. Alfredo Guevara (CCK), Corpus Christi, Tex., Naval Air Station 4. Felix Bamba (CST)

5. Felix J. Tobias, civil-service employee, United States Hospital

19. Dolmacio R. Garcia, 916 Eleventh
Street.

20. A. Frisco, 2088 Harriso Avenue.
21. A. Baltonado, U. S. S. Lenowee (A.

P. A. 195).

22. Hilanon C. Angel, U. S. S. Wyan-
dotte (AKA–92).

Naval 23. Salvador P. Prado, 540 Forty-fifth
Avenue, San Diego, Calif.

6. Abraham C. Ramos, commissioned

officers' mess

7. Emigdio A. Lansangan

8. Victor B. Barcelona

9. Federico Mascariñas

10. Leo R. Tabinga

11. Braulio R. Padna, civil-service employee, United States Naval Hospital

12. Millie C. Celestial

24. Paulino Pineda, 3012 Main Street,
San Diego, Calif.

25. Q. A. Antonio, 2665 L Street.
26. Marear Sola, United States Navy.
27. Calalino Apdechan, 538 Fourth Ave-
nue, San Diego, Calif.

28. Gene Cortado, United States Navy.
29. B. J. Estares, 245 Eighteenth Street,
San Diego, Calif.

13. Egmidio E. Baradi, growers and ship- 30. M. S. Satelo, United States Navy.

pers of produce.

14. Joe Gayman.

15. J. A. Pepito, 1975 Newton Avenue.

31. B. P. Alivio, steward, United States Naval Reserve.

16. J. P. Estabello, 342 Seventeenth 32. Demetrio N. Cacal. 33. Santo Barcena.

Street.

17. L. P. Gonzalo, United States Naval 34. Fermin B. Pagaling. Air Station.

35. Paulino M. de la Cruz. 18. A. Diador, United States Submarine 36. Albert C. Sabitona. Squadron 45. 37. S. Pinto.

EMIGRATION OF FILIPINOS

By Dr. D. M. Yap

The emigration of Filippinos to the United States, which is practically the only country to which they have gone, has been most recent. They are not distinguished in the reports of the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice. Some indication in their immigration, however, may be obtained from the census enumerations. In 1910, there were only 160 Filipinos in the United States; in 1920, 5,603; and in 1930, 45,208. This very rapid rate of increase is due almost solely to immigration and not to excess of births over deaths.

In 1930 there were 63,052 Filipinos in Hawaii where they comprised 17.1 percent of the total population. Two-thirds of the Filipinos in the United

States are in California (30,470). The only other States which have as many às 1,000 Filipinos are Washington (3,480), Illinois (2,011), New York (1,982), and Oregon (1,066). Though the Filipinos are small in number and an insignificant percentage of the total population, they have created a serious problem, especially along the Pacific coast. As Bruno Lasker states in his comprehensive and impartial discussion of the subject, the Filipino upsets the social equilibrium by settling in a relatively limited area, by competing in a relatively limited choice of occupations, and by causing hostility through his unwillingness to look upon himself as racially inferior to the white man, or indeed as anything other than a white man.

In the absence of Federal statistics on Filipino immigration an excellent substitute is provided in the report of the Industrial Relations Department of California (summary of this report is also compiled by the writer). During the 10 years, 1920 to 1929, 31,092 Filipinos were admitted into the State of California through the ports of San Francisco and Los Angeles. This influx began in the year 1923, when 2,426 Filipinos were admitted into the State. The largest number of arrivals came during the year 1929, when 5,795 were admitted. The movement was stimulated by the quota laws restricting European immigration. Of the total number of Filipinos who arrived in California during the 10 years covered by the industrial relations report, 35 percent came from the Philippines, 56 percent came from Hawaii and 9 percent from other ports, principally in China and Japan. Since 1920 there has been a constant increase in the numbers and proportions coming to California directly from the Philippines. Of the total number who came to California during the 10 years, 93.3 percent were males and 6.7 percent females, a ratio of 1,932 males for every 100 females admitted. The Filipinos also show a great preponderance of young people, more so than any other immigration group, with 84.3 percent of the arrivals under 30 years of age. The females are much younger than the males, over half of them being 22 years of age. About 75 percent of the Filipinos coming to California are single. Among the female arrivals the proportion married is twice as great as among the males. Only about 12 percent of the married Filipinos bring their wives with them to California.

Among the early arrivals an appreciable proportion were students who came to the mainland directly from the Philippines to complete their training for professional careers, many of them with expectations of entering the Government service. At the end of the World War a different type commenced to appear on the mainland. These were men who had been enlisted in Manila for service in the Navy and who had managed to secure their discharge in continental ports, some of them taking service in the navy yards, others finding employment in the mercantile marine, and still other finding their way into a variety of occupations. The main influx of Filipinos, which began in 1923, has brought laborers who have found employment mainly in aricultgure, domestic and personal service, in the fish canneries, and in common labor. Among the hotel, restaurant, and domestic occupations in which the Filipinos find work in California are the following: Bell boys, bus boys, cooks, dishwashers, doorboys, hall boys, house cleaners, janitors, kitchen helpers, and pantrymen. Many employers prefer Filipino to white workers because the former are considered steadier, more tractable, and more willing to put up with long hours, poor board, and worse lodging facilities. Filipinos are used extensively in agricultural occupations. A Filipino labor contractor acts as go-between for the employers and the laborers whom he hires. He also acts as intermediary between his laborers and the grocers and other tradesmen who extend credit on necessaries of life furnished by them to the laborers. Between five and six thousand Filipinos are employed in the harvesting of the California asparagus crop. In many occupations they are displacing native white workers. This is especially true in hotel, restaurant, and domestic occupations. In industries related to fruit and vegetable farming, such as box factories, the Filipinos are replacing white laborers to such an extent that in some cities they practically hold a monopoly on such type of labor.

In the past the displacing of white workers by Filipinos and the prevailing racial prejudice against them have led to anti-Filipino riots in California and Washington. The resentment years ago in the far West against Mexican and Filipino laborers who have met the expanding labor demands of intensive agriculture now has practically disappeared. The Filipinos, like all recent arrivals, begin with jobs at the bottom of the economic ladder, but later press into other fields. Already in the cities where Filipinos aspire to vocational choice which the social traditions of the community and a sharper competition for jobs refuse to grant them. Increased hostility to the presence of a group easily distinguish

able by differences in appearances is bound to arise in the course of time, as the group gains in versatility and secures surer economic footing.

A special problem has arisen due to the age composition and marital conditions of Filipino immigrants. The sex ratio among the Filipinos in the United States shows the greatest disproportion of any racial or nativity group, with 1,437.7 males per 100 females. Inevitably Filipino men looking for female companionship or marriage turn to white women. There appears to be little antipathy on the women's part but this attention has aroused the jealously and antagonism of white males. The attention of Filipinos to white girls have provided a point for attack, as at Watsonville, Calif., some years ago, where a riot occurred in a dance hall, although the American owners of the hall in question regarded the Filipinos' behavior as comparing very favorably with that of the whites. In several States, including Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon, Filipinos being classed as Mongolians, come under the laws prohibiting the intermarriage of Mongolian and Caucasians. A few marriages have taken place in States where it is permitted or through legal subterfuge where it is not, but more common have been the cases of extra-marital relationship.

CITIZENSHIP STATUS OF FILIPINOS

(By Dr. D. M. Yap)

When it came to providing, in accordance with the mandate of the Treaty of Paris, for the civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of the Philippine Islands, the Congress was confronted with a different problem than when dealing with Puerto Rico. Whereas the majority of persons in the latter Territory were of the white race, in the Philippine Islands the popula- ' tion consisted chiefly of persons of the brown race. It has long been the legislative policy of the United States not to provide for the naturalization of other than white persons and Negroes, as shown by the statute enacted on July 14, 1870, and amended on February 18, 1875, limiting naturalization as citizens of the United States to aliens being free white persons, and to aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent (sec. 2169, Rev. Stat. 1878; U. S. C., title 8, sec. 359).

The Congress, acting in accordance with its duty of providing for the civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of the Philippines, enacted on July 1, 1902, a statute which was very similar to the act of April 12, 1900, relating to Puerto Rico (22 Stat. 691, as amended; U. S. C., title 48, sec. 1002). By the provisions of this act of 1902 all inhabitants of the Philippine Islands who were Spanish subjects on April 11, 1899, and who resided in the Philippines on that date and had continued to reside therein, and their children born subsequent to that date, were declared to be citizens of the Philippine Islands and as such entitled to the protection of the United States, with the excepion of such persons as had retained their allegiance to Spain in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Paris, and protocols relating thereto (the protocol of agreement between Spain and the United States, signed March 29, 1900, and proclaimed April 28, 1900, extended, as to the Philippine Islands, the period during which certain Spanish subjects might declare their intention to retain their Spanish nationality for 6 months beginning April 11, 1900; 31 Stat. 1882), and with the further exception of such inhabitants as might have become citizens of some other country in the meantime (sec. 4, 32 Stat. 692, as amended; U. S. C., title 48, sec. 1002). On March 23, 1912, an amendment was made to this law that authorized the Philippine Legislature to provide by law for the acquisition of Philippine citizenship by those natives of the Philippine Islands not previously allowed the privilege, as well as natives of other insular possessions of the United States, and such other persons residing in the Philippine Islands as might be eligible to acquire United States citizenship if they were residing in the United States (37 Stat. 77, as amended; U. S. C., title 48, sec. 1002). It is to be noted that this provision was obviously designed for the purpose of preventing the acquisition of Philippine citizenship through naturalization by persons who would be racially ineligible to United States citizenship.

The citizenship provisions of the act of July 1, 1902, as amended, were reenacted with several changes on August 29, 1916 (sec. 2, 39 Stat. 546; U. S. C., title 48, sec. 1002). The class of Philippine citizens was enlarged to include all inhabitants of the Philippine Islands who were Spanish subjects on April 11, 1899, and were then residing in the islands, and their children born subsequent to

that date, regardless of whether those persons had continued to reside in the Philippine Islands. There were still excepted those inhabitants who had retained allegiance to Spain, or those who had become citizens of some other country. The authority given to the Philippine Legislature to provide by law for the acquisition of Philippine citizenship was changed, and the new authority allowed the acquisition of Philippine citizenship by natives of the Philippines not otherwise provided for, the natives of the insular possessions of the United States, and such other persons residing in the Philippine Islands as were citizens of the United States, or who could become citizens of the United States under the laws of the United States if they were residing in the United States.

Such was the state of the law governing Philippine citizenship prior to March 24, 1934. On that date the Congress adopted an act captioned "An act to provide for the complete independence of the Philippine Islands, to provide for the adoption of a constitution and a form of government for the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes" (48 Stat. 456; U. S. C., title 48, sec. 1232). This act was amended on August 7, 1939 (Public, No. 300, 76th Cong.). Under the provisions of the act of March 24, 1934, which became effective on May 1, 1934, the Philippine Islands may eventually be granted their independence. Pending the final and complete withdrawal of the sovereignty of the United States over the islands, however, the act provided that all citizens of the islands should owe allegiance to the United States (48 Sta, 456: U. S. C., title 48, sec. 2 (a) (1)). The amendment of August 7, 1939, contained a provision which states that, "pending the final and complete withdrawal of the sovereignty of the United States over the Philippine Islands, except as otherwise provided by this Act, citizens and corporations of the Philippine Islands shall enjoy in the United States and all places subject to its jurisdiction all of the rights and privileges which they respectively shall have enjoyed therein under the laws of the United States in force at the time of the inauguration of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands." This provision of the act is vitally important in considering the present citizenship status of the inhabitants of the Philippines, as compared with the status which they occupied prior to the act of March 24, 1934, as amended.

Prior to the act in question, the Supreme Court of the United States had held that the citizens of the Philippine Islands were not aliens but that they were persons owing allegiance to the United States (Toyota v. United States, 1925; 268 U. S. 402). It would appear, therefore, that the act of March 24, 1934, will not change the relationship of the citizens of the Philippines to the United States, insofar as allegiance is concerned. The act further provided that every officer of the new government of the Philippine Commonwealth shall, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, subscribe to an oath of allegiance to the United States (sec. 2 (a) (2); 48 Stat. 456; U. S. C., title 48, sec. 1232). The law providing for the acquisition of Philippine citizenship was unchanged by the act of 1934, since it is provided that the laws in force in the Philippine Islands on the date of the act or thereafter should continue in force until altered, amended, or repealed by the Legislature of the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands known as the Philippine National Assembly, or by the Congress of the United States, with the exception of those laws specifically affected by the act of March 24, 1934 (sec. 15, 48 Stat. 456; U. S. C., title 48, sec. 1245). The national assembly enacted a Revised Naturalization Law for the acquisition of Philippine citizenship, approved June 17, 1939 (Commonwealth Act No. 473, second national assembly, 1st sess.).

While the Congress extended United States citizenship to some Puerto Ricans and established in Puerto Rico a court with the power of naturalizing aliens, no such provision has been made for the Philippine Islands, and there have been established there no courts exercising jurisdiction to naturalize aliens as citizens of the United States. In accordance with the authority granted to it by the Congress of the United States, the Philippine Legislature enacted a basic naturalization law on March 26, 1920, providing for the acquisition of Philippine citizenship (15 Public Laws, Philippine Islands, 267-271). This act, however, is superseded by the act of the national assembly, Commonwealth Act No. 300, approved on June 17, 1939, as indicated above. By the provisions of this law the acquisition of Philippine citizenship by naturalization was limited to those natives of the Philippines who are not citizens thereof under the act of August 29, 1916 (39 Stat. 546; U. S. C., title 48, sec. 1002); natives of other insular possessions of the United States, and citizens of the United States, or foreigners who under the laws of the United States might become citizens of the United States if residing in the United States.

Filipinos as a race, with one exception, are not eligible to United States citizenship, since they are neither white nor of African nativity or descent (Toyota v. United States, supra). The sole exception is in the case of a Filipino who has enlisted or may enlist in the United States Navy or Marine Corps or the Naval Auxiliary Service, and who, after service of not less than 3 years, may be honorably discharged therefrom, or who may receive an ordinary discharge with recommendation for reenlistment. Such a Filipino may, on presentation of the required declaration of intention, petition for naturalization and may be naturalized without complying with the requirements of residence within the United States and within the country. (Seventh subdivision, sec. 4, act of June 29, 1906, 34 Stat. 596, as amended; 40 Stat. 542; U. S. C., title 8, sec. 388.) Citizens of the Philippine Islands may become naturalized as citizens of the United States, provided such citizens are persons of a race eligible to United States citizenship. Such a person is one owing permanent allegiance to the United States; he is not an alien and may be naturalized under all the applicable provisions of the naturalization law. He need not renounce allegiance to any foreign government.

The Philippine Islands have not been incorporated into the United States (Dorr v. United States, 1904; 195 U. S. 138). The Federal Constitution as a whole does not extend to unincorporated territory. The provisions of the fourteenth amendment relating to citzenship by birth do not extend to the Philippines, and birth in those islands does not confer American citizenship.

RE FILPINO IMMIGRATION INTO CALIFORNIA

(By Dr. Diosdado M. Yap)

In response to numerous inquiries received by the Department of Industrial Relations of the State of California on the subject of Filipino immigration into California, a study was made on this subject by Will J. French, director of the department of industrial relations. The findings of this investigation which was printed as a special bulletin, No. 3, reveal some interesting facts and figures about Filipino immigration. Some of the pertinent points which the investigation attempted to solve were

(1) How many Filipinos have been coming into California each year since 1920?

(2) Do they come from the Hawaiian Islands, from the Philippine Islands, or from other places?

(3) What is the age distribution of the incoming Philippine Islanders? (4) What is the marital condition of these immigrants?

(5) In what occupations are they employed, and at what wages do they work? and

(6) What were the causes of the anti-Filipino riots in California?

The salient facts presented in this investigation may be briefly summarized as follows:

1. During the 10 years from 1920 to 1929, 31,092 Filipinos were admitted into the State of California through the ports of San Francisco and Los Angeles. Of this total 25,579, or 82.3 percent were admitted at San Francisco and 5,513, or 17.7 percent were admitted at Los Angeles.

2. About 85 percent of these Filipinos were brought to California from the Philippine and Hawaiian Islands in vessels operated by two California steamship companies.

3. The influx of Filipinos into California began in the year 1923, when 2,426 Filipinos were admitted into the State. During the 3 preceding years the total number of Filipino arrivals was only 1,855, or on an average 618 per year. During the 7 years 1923-29, the average annual number of arrivals was 4,177. 4. The largest number of Filipino arrivals into California was during the year 1929, when as many as 5,795 were admitted, an increase of 139 percent over the number admitted in 1923, when the Filipino invasion began.

5. Of the total number of Filipino arrivals into California during the 10 years covered by the investigation, 35 percent came from the Philippines, 56 percent came from Hawaii, and 9 percent came from other ports, principally from Hongkong and Shanghai in China, and Kobe and Yokohama in Japan.

6. Since 1920 there has been a constant increase in the numbers and proportions of Filipinos coming to California directly from the Philippine Islands. Thus, of the 2,426 Filipinos who arrived in California in 1923, only 218, or 9 percent came from Manila and 2,053, or 84.6 percent, came from Honolulu,

« ÎnapoiContinuă »