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Arab traders have been visiting the Philippines for about 2,000 years, playing a prominent role in the trade networks of the time. They used Southeast Asia for stopovers and trading posts. Since the 14th century, Arab travelers such as Makhdun Karim are known to have reached the Philippines and brought Islam to the region. They moved from the southern islands such as Mindanao and traveled towards the north and converted the Filipinos to Islam, many of these early Arabs married Filipina women.

That same century Syrian Arabs also brought Christianity to the region along with pre-Islamic belief systems An estimated 2% of the population of the Philippines, about 2.2 million people, could claim partial Arab ancestry.

History

Arab traders have been visiting Philippines for nearly 2,000 years. Since the 14th century Arab travelers had traded extensively with local chiefs, datos and rajahs. During the advent of Islam into Southeast Asia, Makhdum Karim, the first Islamic missionary to reach the Sulu Archipelago, brought Islam to what is now the Philippines, first arriving in Tawi-Tawi.

Arab and Persian traders passed by the Philippines, on their way to Guangzhou, China. Subsequent visits of Arab Muslim missionaries strengthened the Islamic faith in the Philippines, concentrating in the south and reaching as far north as Manila. According to the Syrian Consulate in Makati, the first Orthodox Christians on the islands were Syrian and Lebanese merchants and sailors, who arrived in Manila after the city was opened to international trade. Many of the Lebanese sailors married local women and their descendants have since become Philippine citizens.

Political and economic relations were enhanced in the 1970s between the Philippines and Arab nations, this was during the period of oil shocks and political instability in the Middle East. This led to closer collaboration between the countries and led to an increase in Philippine laborers working in the Middle East.

In recent times, another wave of Arabs to arrive in the Philippines were refugees from war-torn nations, such as Lebanon (undergoing civil war in the 1980s) and Arab other nations involved in the Gulf War in 1991. While other Arabs were entrepreneurs who intend to set up businesses. Filipinos with Arab descent live primarily in Mindanao, while the more recent immigrants live in Manila.

Cesar Majul

Filipino author Cesar Adib Majul, the son of a Greek Orthodox Christian immigrant from Syria, converted to Islam in his late adulthood. He became a prominent historian on the Muslim Moro people and the history of Islam in the Philippines and wrote many books about Moros and Islam.

Notable people

Movie and TV celebrities

• Charlie Davao (real name: Carlos Wahib Valdez Davao: Jordanian from maternal grandmother's side)
• Dawn Zulueta (real name: Rachel Marie Salman Taleon; Palestinian from maternal grandfather's side),
• Kuh Ledesma (of Lebanese lineage)
• Ana Roces (real name: Marinella Adad; Lebanese),
• Uma Khouny (Palestinian),
• Yasmien Kurdi (Lebanese),
• Jessy Mendiola (real name: Jessica Mendiola Tawile; Lebanese)
• Mona Louise Rey (real name: Mona Marbella Al-Alawi; Moroccan) – child actress and model
• Ivana Alawi (real name: Mariam Marbella Al-Alawi; Moroccan) – actress, model, YouTuber; older sister of Mona Louise Rey

Beauty pageant titleholders

• Mary Jean Lastimosa (real name: Mary Jean Ramirez Lastimosa; Saudi Arabian) – Binibining Pilipinas Miss Universe Philippines 2014 and Miss Universe 2014 Top 10 semifinalist
• Zahra Bianca Saldua (real name: Zahra Bianca Saldua; Palestinian) – Miss Philippines Earth 2018 Miss Philippines Earth Air 2018 (1st Runner-Up)
• Sharifa Akeel (real name: Sharifa Mangatong Areef Mohammad Omar Akeel; Qatari) – Mutya ng Pilipinas 2018 Mutya ng Pilipinas Asia Pacific 2018 and Miss Asia Pacific International 2018 Winner and A Politician
• Gazini Ganados (real name: Gazini Christiana Jordi Acopiado Ganados; Palestinian) – Binibining Pilipinas Miss Universe Philippines 2019 and Miss Universe 2019 Top 20 semifinalist

World War II guerrillas

• Maj. Khalil Khodr (Syrian) – Mining engineer in Agusan Province, regimental commander of 110th Division, 10th Military District of the US Forces in the Philippines (USFIP) guerrillas in Mindanao, naturalized as Filipino citizen by a Congressional Act in 1962.

YouTube personalities

• Zeinab Harake (Lebanese)
• The Hungry Syrian Wanderer (real name: Basel Manadil, Syrian)

See also

• Arab diaspora
• Arab Christians
• Islam in the Philippines
• Philippine Orthodox Church

References

1. Arab world's ancient links to Philippines forged through trade, migration and Islam By Saeb Rawashdeh
2. ^ "Arab world's ancient links to Philippines forged through trade, migration and Islam — ambassador". Jordan Times. 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
3. ^ Quiling, Mucha Shim (2016-11-07). "Tawi-tawi celebrates Karim'ul Makhdum Day". MindaNews. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
4. "Arab world's ancient links to Philippines forged through trade, migration and Islam — ambassador". Jordan Times. 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
5. Artchil Daug (2012). Thoughts from the Mountaintop: Essays on Philippine History and other Magical Realisms. Lulu.com. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-105-66059-7.
6. Leon Ma. Guerrero (2012). The First Filipino: The Award-Winning Biography of Jose Rizal. BookBaby. p. 400. ISBN 978-1-62309-293-1.
7. ABS-CBN Interactive
8. Daily Star: Star Life Archived September 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
9. "Papers of Colonel Clyde C. Childress, USA". MacArthur Memorial. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
10. "Republic Act No. 3455 - An Act granting Filipino Citizenship to Khalil Khodr". Supreme Court E-Library. Congress of the Philippines. Retrieved 9 October 2023.

• Clarence-Smith, William Gervase (2004). "Middle Eastern Migrants in the Philippines: Entrepreneurs and Cultural Brokers". Asian Journal of Social Science. 32 (3). Brill: 425–457. JSTOR 2365453.

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