Mariano Nolasco Limjap
Mariano Nolasco Limjap is an example of a Chinese mestizo who identified simultaneously as “Hispanic,” “Catholic,” and “Chinese.” He was born in Manila on October 29, 1856. His Chinese father was born in Fujian and came to the Philippines as a young man, afterwards marrying a Chinese mestiza from Binondo. Like many upper-class Chinese mestizos, Mariano was indeed very Hispanicized and Catholic. He spoke Spanish and dressed up elegantly according to the latest fashion in Spain and in Europe. He and his wife were devotees of the Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage) in Antipolo, a town north of Manila.
Mariano, who later supported the revolution against Spain and helped in financing the Aguinaldo government, desired to be identified with the dominant culture and to be part of the upper crust of the society, which was then dominated by Spanish and Spanish mestizos. Beyond the realm of socio-cultural practices, he aspired to be legally identified as part “Spanish,” as seen in a court case brought against him in 1891. Charged with estafa (swindling), Mariano submitted a document to the Court of the First Instance of Binondo where he classified himself as a mestizo español (Spanish mestizo), leading the plaintiff’s lawyer to ridicule him for having the “audacity” to label himself “Spanish mestizo” when “his [Mariano’s] face tells us that he is of pure Chinese blood, his father Don Joaquin Limjap being pure Chinese, and his mother being mestizo Chinese.”[17]
However, Mariano was far from being estranged from his “Chineseness.” He spoke Hokkien, traveled to China, and had close ties with the Chinese community. Mariano had Chinese half-brothers whom he helped come to the Philippines and find work. When the Spanish government awarded Mariano the distinction of Caballero de la Real Orden Americana de Isabel la Católica, the Chinese community hailed this honor accorded to him.[18] Mariano Limjap’s life therefore did not fit the traditional discourse on Chinese mestizo identity, unlike Emilio Aguinaldo whose parents were both Chinese mestizos, or José Rizal who was fourth-generation Chinese mestizo. Furthermore, his case challenges the position that only “lower-class” Chinese mestizos were “reclaimed” by the Chinese community.
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[17] Mariano Limjap 1820-1895, Legajo 40, Varios Personajes, Record Management and Archives Office.
[18] National Historical Institute (NHI), Filipinos in History 1990-1996, Vol. 3, 153.