INTRODUCTION

The ethnic Chinese have been active players in Philippine business for centuries. Until a few decades ago, however, other than the multinational corporations, large business establishments in the country mostly belonged to the elite families composed primarily of Spanish Filipinos and Chinese mestizos (Palanca 1977). Due to their economic and political power, for centuries this group of elites has had strong influence on public policy. In the Southeast Asian region where in most countries the ethnic Chinese have been the most dominant group in business, in the Philippines, the presence of a powerful non-Chinese group in business is a unique feature. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, there were a few successful businessmen, 2 but none of them could compare with the wealth of the propertied elite families. Nevertheless, even then, the Chinese had an established commercial network, although most were engaged in petty trading or small-scale manufacturing.

It was only since the liberalization of the naturalization process in the seventies when ethnicity distinction started to blur that we saw a significant expansion of the ethnic Chinese business. The rise in economic status of many ethnic Chinese, as well as their integration into the mainstream of Philippine society, has placed them in the same social and economic class as the traditional oligarchs, a class that has been able to influence policy- and decision-making of the government.

The rise of East Asian economies in the last few decades has again brought attention on Chinese culture as an explanation for entrepreneurial success. With Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan having gained the “newly industrialized” status, “Chineseness” as an explanation of business success regained focus. Hong Kong and Taiwan are part of what is called Greater China. Singapore is 80 per cent ethnic Chinese while Korea is very Confucian in its cultural orientation. The countries that followed suit in the pursuance of such export-driven growth are Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia wherein the major business players are the ethnic Chinese.