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By Go Bon Juan
Editor’s note: The Sixth Dr. Jose P. Rizal
Awards for Excellence awarding ceremony will be held at 2 p.m., June
14, at the Kaisa-Angelo King Heritage Center on Anda and Cabildo
streets, Intramuros, Manila.
Most Chinese in the Philippines came from Fujian
province. But not many people know that a good number of the Chinese
in Jolo, especially those who arrived in the second half of the 19th
century, were actually from Singapore.
According to Chinos Jolo, 1878-1898, found at
the Philippine National Archives, 322 Chinese had migrated to Sulu
from Singapore between 1878 and 1887. Out of these, 292 had arrived
in 1886 and 1887 alone. All but 11 migrants listed their place of
origin as Amoy (Fujian).
James Warren, in his article “Sino-Sulu trade
in the late 18th and 19th centuries,” which appeared in Philippine
Studies (Volume 25, 1977), states that a new wave of immigrants from
Singapore assumed a more important role in the Sulu Sultanate’s
economy as political relations grew worse between Manila and Jolo
after 1845.
Warren also pointed out, “The newcomers were
seasoned traders when they arrived in Jolo. Mostly from Fukien [Fujian]
province, they came to Singapore and learned the Malay language,
gained experience in the marine jungle produce trade and in dealing
with Southeast Asian peoples, and adjusted to a tropical climate. In
short, Singapore was a training ground where the Chinese
experimented and perfected their talents as traders before
emigrating to places like Sulu. It was estimated that there were
several hundred Straits Chinese in Jolo in 1863; the number rose to
more than a thousand by 1871.”
What’s interesting here is not only the role
played by Singapore Chinese in the Jolo trade and the economy, but
also their impact on the demography of Chinese in Jolo as well as in
Mindanao.
According to Warren, trade [between Singapore
and Jolo estimated to be worth half a million dollars a year],
suffered a serious reverse in 1892 when steamers that plied the
Singapore and Jolo route were lost in a series of storms. Their
principals in Singapore, upon whom the Chinese in Jolo relied upon
for capital and credit, also lost so heavily as a result of this
calamity that they refused to meet further orders from Sulu unless
the order were paid for in cash.
This sudden reversal of fortune brought many
Chinese in Jolo to the verge of ruin. This, along with the fear of
increased taxation, was responsible for the departure from Jolo of
many Chinese after 1892. They headed to Maimbung and other parts of
the archipelago.
After 1892, trade had begun to flow anew along
different lines and at different rates when ports in Mindanao, such
as those in Zamboanga, Cotabato and Davao were linked by steamship
lines, and regular communication with other islands to the north was
established.
As Jolo lost its significance as a regional
entrepot, the Chinese began to migrate to more economically
attractive places.
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