Peerlessly Pinoy
These days it seems that Filipinos have their hand in just about every pie --
American and otherwise be it from the pop culture sector to the historical to
the just plain quirky. Name a recent celebrity and there's bound to be a Pinoy
or Pinay lurking in his or her background, whether you're thinking of Versace or
Princess Diana, President Clinton or Elizabeth Taylor.
This occurred to me as I was trying to play the game 6 Degrees of Separation,
with the object of finding the six degrees between Filipinos and various other
celebrities or historical phenomena.
First to come to mind by sheer virtue of infamy of course was Gianni Versace's
half-Pinoy killer, Andrew Cunanan (with a name like that, how could he be
anything but Pinoy?). I remember a friend of mine wringing his hands at the time
over how shamelessly Cunanan's father gave an interview to CNN while wearing
nothing more than a kamiseta and slippers. Andrew's face was splashed across all
major news magazines and newspapers, and he's now
the subject of a book by one of the chief reporters on the case.
Next in line on a more benign level was Princess Diana's long-time nanny, a
Cebuana, if I remember correctly, who had many kind words to say about the
Princess's generosity and warmth. She has fortunately evaded the clutches of
biographers hoping to make a quick buck, and though everyone and his brother who
had enjoyed any contact with the late Princess has since written about
it, the nanny's lips remain sealed.
Likewise, some years ago I met the former valet of Mohammed Al-Fayed's brother
(Mohammed being the father of Princes Di's alleged beau) over high tea in
Harrod's coffee shop. The good man was Ilonggo and had struck up an
acquaintance with my mother, who visited him regularly while she lived in
London. Slyly passing us additional plates of smoked salmon, clotted cream, and
fruit tarts gratis, the man explained that he had eventually tired of
the constant traveling and elected to become Maitre d' at the chi-chi eatery.
It's rumored in the UCLA hospital (whose emergency room has treated the likes of
Nicole Kidman) that Elizabeth Taylor refuses to be attended specifically by
Filipina nurses, presumably because they are such huge gossips. On the other
hand, President Clinton himself has no qualms about seeking medical advice from
his personal physician, a Filipina doctor by the name of Eleanor Connie
Concepcion Mariano, the youngest captain in the U.S. Navy.
On the lower rungs of the political pecking order, we've had a couple of
Filipinos: Virginia Representative Robert Cortez-Scott, a Harvard alumnus; and
Rep. Velma Veloria, who once worked with the U.S.-based opposition group, KDP.
Carlos P. Romulo must have begun the trend, having been the first Asian
Secretary General of the United Nations. The Pinoy presence now extends from sea
to shining sea: in the largely Filipino Daly City where the leading contenders
for Mayor in the last election were both Filipino-Americans. And according to
American Demographics Magazine, Filipino-Americans are the
largest Asian minority group in the US today, surpassing the Chinese in their
ability to procreate.
In the private sector, a Filipina by the name of Loida Nicolas Lewis was named
one of the 200 most influential women in America in last year's Vanity Fair, for
having turned around an immense food and consumer goods conglomerate after her
husband's death. As CEO Ms. Lewis fired all her freeloading in-laws, streamlined
operations, and raised the company's stock value by 500%.
Returning to the realm of Hollywood, it might surprise people to learn that long
before Don Johnson donned designer suits and T-shirts on Miami Vice, he was
unsuccessfully wooing Nora Aunor in the 70s flick Lollipops and Roses.
While that movie never went beyond Manila screens, Techie Agbayani gained a
small bit of Hollywood exposure by appearing in The Money Pit.
She later gained much more exposure by lounging around naked by a pool for a
German Playboy photo layout. By then of course, she was known as the more exotic
Techa, and had tanned to a deeper brown, all the better to entice
her pasty-faced readers.
Of course, her success has been superseded by such part-Pinoy actors as Phoebe
Cates, Lou Diamond Phillips (who actually produced a documentary on his Filipino
heritage), and Rob Schneider, erstwhile male gigolo. Schneider first made his
mark as a comedian in
ôSaturday Night Live and has in various articles noted his pride in having a
Pinay mother.
Years before him, a Pinoy comedic duo racked in the yuks by performing as the
Reycards. The duet appeared in Las Vegas for several years, creating humorous
routines for gamblers to laugh over as they shelled out ever-larger
amounts on losing bets.
Years before Lea Salonga began chortling, a Filipino act called the Rocky
Fellers of Manila landed a hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in the 1960s.
They were followed by The Artist Formerly Known as Prince (who has
some Filipino blood), Jaya, Foxy Brown, and Josephine Roberto aka Banig.
Banig actually beat Latina-American pop star Christina Aguilera during an
International Star Search talent competition years before Aguilera hit the big
time. In an MTV interview last year, Aguilera griped that competing
against someone of Banig's age was not fair.
Directly related to an international entertainer across the Atlantic is Isabel
Preysler, formerly married to Julio Iglesias and mother to the latest Latin
sensation, Enrique Iglesias. A bank colleague of my father's in Madrid told us
over some tapas that he was married to Isabel's first cousin and that during one
concert in Manila, Julio had invited the entire family backstage for a visit and
given them the best seats in the house. As for
Isabel, the man grimaced: Malandi lang.
He also claimed his own wife was far prettier. Preysler, who appears regularly
on the pages of Hola magazine and increases her social stock with each marriage,
was at last count a Marchioness, and rising.
In the realm of mass media, Filipino journalists followed Carlos P. Romulo's
Pulitzer with their own awards 56 years after the first one. Both Alex Tizon and
Byron Acohido (who is part Korean) were working for the Seattle
Times when they won their Pulitzers.
Pinoys making waves in the field of technology and science include a Filipino
who invented the all-important (to park enthusiasts and construction workers)
Porta-john. Presumably this arose from his need to avoid urinating against the
walls or in the bushes.
Just as crucial to modern civilization as we know it is the invention of the
karaoke. A Filipino (whose name now escapes me) recently won a multi-million
dollar suit against Sony Corporation, by proving that the company had stolen his
patent for the karaoke machine. And where would tourists be without the one-chip
video camera? Sightseers worldwide owe their home videos to Marc
Loinaz, a Filipino inventor in New Jersey.
This native intelligence is clear even in younger Pinoys. Some years ago, a
Filipino-American dancer from California scored a perfect 1600 on the Standard
Achievement Test (SAT). Moreover, Kiwi Danao, a son of two Pinoy doctors scored
over 700 in the verbal portion of the same test before the tender age of 13.
Perhaps these youngsters will go on to developing more useful gadgets or aids to
modern life, such as the drug erythromycin (whose brand name is Ilosone, after
Iloilo), which is effective in neutralizing a wide variety of
bacteria. Or maybe they will illuminate our lives, as did Agapito Flores of
Bantayan Island, who invented the fluorescent lamp. The lamp's name is derived
from his surname, in case people forget.
Lest you think Pinoys are simply academic nerds, note that the first
international chess grandmaster from Asia was Filipino Eugene Torres. And the
reigning billiards champ is also Pinoy.
Moving on to American history, Filipinos who founded Manilatown in New Orleans
several centuries ago also established its dried shrimp industry. Additionally,
there are still unconfirmed rumors that they created the music genre of Jazz
since like the residents of New Orleans, Filipinos have long had the habit of
partying and playing music during wakes and funerals.
For those interested in more superlatives, the Philippines is the third-largest
English-speaking population in the world, after the United States and the United
Kingdom. It is also, after Canada, the largest
importer of American books. In the area of ecology, the Philippines surpasses
even the Amazon in its vast range of native plant and animal life, containing
35% of the world's biodiversity in a fraction of the Amazon's
space.
Such facts should console Pinoys who, when reading about victims of hate crimes
like mailman Ileto -- gunned down by a white extremist who had earlier attacked
a Jewish day care center -- wonder if there is any point to
living in the United States. We've brightened their lives, enabled them to
record it on video, made them laugh, cry, and groove to our tunes -- why we've
even helped them go to the potty.
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By Marivi Soliven Blanco
About the Author
Marivi Soliven Blanco has written numerous books for children, some of which won
the Palanca. She is currently based in the U.S.
