Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia

27. The Indian Community in Metro Manila: Continuities, Changes, and Effects of Rising India

499 27 THE INDIAN COMMUNITY IN METRO MANILA: CONTINUITIES, CHANGES, AND THE EFFECTS OF RISING INDIA Lorraine Carlos Salazar INTRODUCTION While฀ newspapers฀ and฀ magazines฀ talk฀ excitedly฀ about฀ the฀ rise฀ of฀ India฀ —฀ whether฀ it฀ be฀ the฀ spread฀ of฀ Bollywood,฀ its฀ foremost฀ status฀ in฀ the฀ information฀ technology฀ (IT)฀ and฀ Business฀ Process฀ Outsourcing฀ (BPO)฀ sectors,฀corporate฀takeovers฀by฀Non-Resident฀Indians฀of฀top฀companies,฀or฀ its฀ 400฀ million฀ middle฀ class฀ —฀ in฀ the฀ mind฀ of฀ most฀ ordinary฀ Filipinos,฀ Indians฀ are฀ Bombays1 ฀ who฀ lend฀ money฀ and฀ have฀ now฀ penetrated฀ almost฀ every฀ town฀ and฀ city.฀This฀ dissonance฀ points฀ to฀ how฀ India฀ and฀ its฀ rise฀ is฀ perceived฀by฀different฀people,฀as฀well฀as฀the฀asymmetrical฀effect฀it฀has฀on฀ various฀emigrant฀Indian฀communities. Unlike฀ its฀ neighbours฀ Malaysia,฀ Singapore฀ and฀ Myanmar,฀ Indian฀ migration฀to฀the฀Philippines฀has฀traditionally฀been฀minimal,฀due฀to฀trajectories฀ of฀colonial฀history.฀Thus,฀because฀of฀their฀small฀size,฀the฀Indian฀communities฀ in฀the฀Philippines฀are฀under-studied.฀Yet฀with฀the฀so-called฀“rise฀of฀India”,฀a฀ great฀many฀things฀are฀changing. This฀chapter฀examines฀the฀continuities฀and฀changes฀in฀the฀socio-economic฀ conditions฀of฀the฀Indian฀communities฀in฀Metro฀Manila฀and฀focuses฀on฀the฀ 27฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀499 8/20/08฀฀฀3:19:33฀PM 500 Lorraine Carlos Salazar effects฀of฀“rising฀India”,฀if฀any,฀on฀them.฀The฀chapter฀first฀provides฀a฀brief฀ historical฀background฀before฀it฀examines฀the฀established฀Indian฀communities฀ in฀Manila,฀identifying฀who฀they฀are,฀what฀social฀organizations฀they฀have฀ created,฀what฀economic฀and฀social฀activities฀they฀are฀involved฀in,฀and฀how฀they฀ are฀faring.฀Next,฀it฀examines฀changes฀that฀the฀new฀wave฀of฀Indian฀movement฀ to฀Metro฀Manila฀implies,฀especially฀those฀in฀the฀knowledge฀economy฀such฀as฀ IT฀professionals,฀engineers,฀businessmen,฀and฀bankers.฀A฀third฀section฀explores฀ the฀official฀relations฀between฀the฀two฀countries฀and฀efforts฀being฀undertaken฀at฀ both฀the฀government฀and฀private฀sector฀level฀to฀improve฀Indian฀and฀Filipino฀ relations.฀Finally,฀the฀fourth฀section฀concludes฀and฀considers฀the฀challenges฀ and฀issues฀faced฀by฀Indians฀in฀Metro฀Manila.฀ HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Pre-colonial฀contacts฀between฀the฀Philippines฀and฀India฀are฀evident฀in฀Indian฀ influences฀in฀Philippine฀languages฀and฀literature.฀The฀alibata,฀the฀ancient฀ written฀Filipino฀alphabet,฀is฀Sanskrit-based.฀Meanwhile฀Sanskrit฀and฀Tamil฀ influences฀are฀manifest฀in฀the฀various฀Filipino฀languages.฀In฀folklore,฀the฀ epic฀story฀Darangan฀of฀the฀Maranaw,฀the฀Manubo฀Ango฀legend฀of฀Agusan฀ Province,฀the฀Ilokano฀poems฀of฀Lam-ang,฀and฀Batiluk฀of฀the฀Ifugaos฀are฀ narrated฀incidents฀that฀follow฀the฀pattern฀of฀the฀Mahabharata.฀Finally,฀various฀ versions฀and฀local฀adaptations฀of฀the฀Ramayana฀are฀popular฀in฀the฀country฀and฀ continue฀to฀be฀staged฀as฀plays฀and฀musicals.2 ฀The฀consensus฀among฀scholars฀ of฀Philippine฀history฀is฀that฀Indian฀influences฀reached฀the฀Philippines฀through฀ the฀intervening฀cultures฀of฀Java,฀Sumatra,฀Borneo,฀and฀mainland฀Southeast฀ Asia฀during฀pre-colonial฀times.3 Due฀to฀Spanish฀and฀American฀colonisation,฀and฀in฀contrast฀to฀its฀ immediate฀neighbours฀Indonesia,฀Malaysia฀and฀Singapore,฀the฀Philippines฀ did฀not฀become฀a฀major฀destination฀of฀Indian฀migrants฀during฀the฀eighteenth฀ and฀nineteenth฀centuries.฀The฀British฀tried฀to฀gain฀a฀foothold฀into฀the฀Manila฀ trade,฀but฀without฀success.฀Instead,฀they฀had฀to฀engage฀in฀illegal฀trade฀by฀ sending฀their฀goods฀through฀Armenian,฀Muslim,฀Hindu,฀or฀Parsi฀ships฀to฀ be฀able฀to฀enter฀Manila.฀Because฀of฀this,฀the฀Philippines฀was฀the฀only฀place฀ in฀Southeast฀Asia฀where฀there฀was฀no฀settled฀Indian฀community฀by฀the฀mid1900s .฀Yet,฀because฀of฀colonial฀developments,฀most฀of฀the฀Indians฀who฀went฀ to฀Manila฀starting฀in฀the฀late฀nineteenth฀century฀emigrated฀voluntarily,฀in฀ contrast฀to฀those฀hired฀as฀contractual฀or฀indentured฀labour฀or฀sent฀for฀penal฀ settlements.4 ฀ The฀change฀in฀colonial฀rule฀from฀Spanish฀to฀American฀created฀more฀ opportunities฀for฀British฀merchants฀to฀enter฀the฀Manila฀market.฀It฀was฀during฀ 27฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀500 8/20/08฀฀฀3:19:33฀PM The Indian Community in Metro Manila 501 this฀time฀that฀the฀earliest฀Indians฀arrived฀in฀the฀Philippines.฀While฀Chettiars฀ and฀Tamil฀Muslims฀were฀the฀predominant฀Indian฀migrants฀to฀Southeast฀Asia,฀ the฀earliest฀Indians฀who฀went฀to฀the฀Manila฀during฀the฀late฀nineteenth฀century฀ were฀Sindhis,฀followed฀by฀Punjabis฀during฀the฀early฀twentieth฀century.5 ฀ The฀first฀Sindhis฀to฀arrive฀in฀Manila฀were฀the฀Genomal฀family,฀led฀by฀ Verhomal฀Lilaram฀in฀1895.฀In฀1922,฀he฀brought฀his฀son,฀Genomal฀Verhomal,฀ to฀Manila.฀Together,฀they฀established฀V.฀Lilaram฀and฀Co,฀a฀trading฀company,฀ in฀1925.฀V.฀Lilaram฀and฀Co฀grew฀to฀become฀one฀of฀the...