Happy Chinese New Year

A group of journalists interviewed Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII) President Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong, ...

Hokkien and Cantonese are like Ilonggo and Ilocano, while Mandarin for the Chinese nation is like Tagalog or Filipino to the Philippines. Our ethnic Chinese minority has for generations become an integral part of the Filipino nation, like the originally Chinese foods of lumpia and pancit have become accepted as Filipino foods already. In Hokkien or south Fujian province language used by most members of the ethnic Chinese minority in the Philippines, also in Singapore, Taiwan or Penang and other parts of Malaysia, we greet with "Kiong Hee Huat Chay". We believe this is really the golden age of Asia economic renaissance and the Philippines is right smack in the middle of this world's most economically dynamic region. I have talked to many entrepreneurs on the ground among our 170 Filipino Chinese chambers of commerce nationwide from Aparri to Tawi Tawi, and we are generally optimistic about the positive socio-economic and demographic fundamentals of the Philippines plus the big good news of decisive reopening of the world's No. This is one reason I urge our Senators to expedite approval of the the Philippines' participation in the RCEP, which we at FFCCCII and all other business Chambers including foreign Chambers like European Chamber, American Chamber, etc. We Filipino Chinese entrepreneurs have a keen sense of the situation on the ground. The Chinese people have a strong sense of history and they remember it was the parents of President Marcos, the late President Ferdinand E. It would be a tragic mistake to have an adversarial relationship with our neighbor, traditional friend and the world's rising economic superpower China just because of some disagreements on a few issues. It is the oldest and one of the largest events of its kind outside of Asia, and one of the largest Asian cultural events in North America with hundreds of thousands of spectators. The Philippines has been a traditional friend and ally of China for over a thousand years, even during the late 19th century to early 20th century Philippine Revolution against the Spanish and American colonizers when Chinese nationalist revolutionary hero Dr. Of course, making it a holiday also recognizes and signifies acceptance of our ethnic Chinese minority as integral part of the Filipino nation.