neofinoy.info

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. --- James 4:17

Filipinos or the Filipino people are the citizens of the Philippines. The term (feminine: Filipina) may also refer to people of Philippine descent, regardless of citizenship. There are now over 100 million ethnic Filipinos worldwide.

Throughout the colonial era, the term "Filipino" originally referred to Spaniards born in the Philippines, also known as insulares, criollos or español filipino. This distinguished them from Spaniards born in Europe who were known as peninsulares. By the mid to late nineteenth century, however, the term "Filipino" had begun to refer to the indigenous population of the Philippines. According to historian Ambeth Ocampo, José Rizal was the first to call the native inhabitants "Filipinos". Today, Filipino is also used to signify the nationality and citizenship of one who is from the Philippines. This means that Filipino now may refer not only to the indigenous Austronesian majority, but also to those of other ethnic origins, such as American, Spanish, Indian, Japanese, and Chinese Filipinos.

Colloquially, Filipinos may refer to themselves as Pinoy (feminine: Pinay), which is formed by taking the last four letters of Pilipino and adding the diminutive suffix -y. The word was coined by expatriate Filipino Americans during the 1920s and was later adopted by Filipinos in the Philippines. (reference: wikipedia)