An infamous swear curse becomes a rallying cry of Filipino pride

Filipino American rapper Ruby Ibarra joins the PTI challenge.
Follow her work on her Instagram page.

My mom would have washed my mouth out with soap if I said the expletive, "Putang Ina," shorthand for "Putang Ina mo," (Literally, "Your mother is a whore," but when you spit it out, it is used in the same context as the English "mother f****r").

WHen Filipino tennis prodigy Alexandra Eala made history with her first-round victory in the US Open, it wasn't just her killer serve that set social media on fire. It was what some fans claim was a very spicy, split-second, post-point expression caught on camera.

We’re talking about a viral clip that has everyone hitting replay. After a heart-stopping rally in the third set against Denmark's Clara Tauson, the cameras zoomed in just as Eala appeared to mouth a word that sounded a lot like "Putang ina" or maybe even just the infamous "Puta".

The internet, naturally, has zero chill. The debate is raging harder than an Eala forehand: was it a genuine, heat-of-the-moment curse, a classic Filipino expression of surprise, or maybe just a misheard "muntik na" ("almost did")?

And get this—the drama has totally spilled over into the music scene in the Philippines and in the US! The clip is everywhere, with Filipino singers and even local hip-hop artists sampling the moment, creating memes, and giving the expletive a whole new meaning. Forget tennis commentary, we're talking about a new track inspired by a US Open hot mic moment!

The roots of the song began before Eala's historic US Open victory. “PTI” didn’t start off as the war cry for the people it is now. It started off as a swaggy, Filipino pride track," says Carl Angelo, a rapper based in Los Angeles.

The song became a collaboration among Filipino American hip-hop artists in California. Morobeats’ Miss A, Yamz, Talilo and David Ira, were brought in. Ruby Ibarra, fresh off her Little Desk tour for NPR, was brought in. The track pays homage to both Filipino and rap culture.

Then Eala won her match at the US Open and uttered the curse. It went viral and the song exploded all over social media. Eala isn't just making waves in tennis; she's officially gone mainstream cultural icon, one controversial syllable at a time. This is the kind of crossover content we live for!

Eala's US Open clip and the subsequent discussion have been widely shared on platforms like TikTok and Instagram by Filipino artists, media pages, and community groups, amplifying the conversation and leading to various interpretations and memes.

FYI: You can listen to the PTI track on Spotify

A number of Filipino and Filipino Amereican hip-hop artists and singers have notably commented on and even been inspired by the viral clip. The word in the clip, often shortened from "Putang Ina," has been reclaimed by some artists as a rallying cry for Filipino pride rather than a mere curse word.

Filipino American rapper Ruby Ibarra is featured on a track titled "PTI" (short for "Putang Ina"), which uses the expletive as a statement of pride, rage, and community for Filipinos across the world. The song's cover art even spotlights tennis prodigy  Eala, acknowledging the viral moment as the inspiration for its title.

Eala has never admitted to saying it but you don't have to be a lip reader to see Eala mouthed a "P", not an "M" in her spontaneous outburst of disbelief.

A snippet of Eala's soundbite even opens the track, and she is featured on the song's cover art. 

At least one independent artist, Ravenson Biason, was inspired to write a song titled "Vaporwave Hero" dedicated to Eala as a sign of support and national pride, though this was a direct tribute rather than a commentary on the "puta" moment specifically.
The incident has generally led to a broader cultural conversation among Filipino artists and the community about national pride and the various meanings and contexts of the Tagalog phrase.

FYI: The Carl Angelo PTI Challenge is an open-verse rap challenge started by Filipino American rapper Carl Angelo for his hit single "PTI," inviting artists (Filipino or not) to spit a verse over the instrumental, share it online, and tag him to get reposted, celebrating Filipino culture and Hip Hop while reclaiming a Filipino slang term as a rallying cry for artistry and identity.

Eala's authentic exclamation went viral, sparking a national conversation about authenticity, pressure, and just being human under the global spotlight.

Around the same time, the Philippines was rocked by major anti-corruption protests. The swear word is being used as a powerful and defiant rallying cry to express rage, frustration, and condemnation against government corruption, injustice, and political figures, most notably by Vice Ganda directed at the allegedly crooked politicians.

Ganda is a wildly popular and influential Filipino comedian, actor, singer, host, and entrepreneur, known for his flamboyant personality, hit movies and songs, and as a mainstay on the daytime variety show "It's Showtime". He is a major LGBTQ+ icon, a top-earning celebrity, and a powerful force in Philippine entertainment, often called "The Phenomenon" due to his massive success and cultural impact.

The song was always intended to be a "swaggy, Filipino pride track," but these moments solidified its purpose. It's about taking shared struggles and flipping them into collective strength. It unites the Filipino diaspora, from the streets of Manila to L.A. parking lots,  in an unapologetic stand against colonial and political forces who prefer to dilute the power of the people to challenge the powers-that-be.

In the US, the FilAm rappers are using their voices and in particular, "PTI," to tackle serious issues of identity and the challenges facing the Filipino American community through art. The chant is considered a bold and expressive way to challenge authority, as using such language in public discourse pushes boundaries and amplifies the protesters' message against those in power, against the status quo.

Angelo reflected on how real-world events, from Alex Eala’s historic US Open win to Vice Ganda’s fiery protest chant, gave new meaning to the song’s message. Even my mom might have agreed with that.

“We may not have started off as a war cry, but we ended it that way,” Angelo says in an Instagram post.

For Angelo, “PTI” represents every shade of being Filipino – whether you’re “a non-Tagalog speaking, super American Filipino kid” or “a modern-day, tattooed head-to-toe tribal warrior proud of your heritage,” he posts on social media.

“Nobody is more or less Filipino than anybody,” Angelo emphasized. “Once we realize AND accept that we’re all different, we’ll realize we’re actually in unison. We all come from different backgrounds and walks of life, but one thing is for sure — ‘Putang Ina’ means something to all of us.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

Online news outlets stumble on the question: Are Filipino Americans Asian enough?

R'Bonney Gabriel, a proud Filipino American, was crowned Miss Universe.

OPINION

I found it deeply troubling that major online news outlets don't consider Filipino Americans to be part of the Asian American community.

The question arises: Is R'Bonney Gabriel, a Filipino American who just won the Miss Universe title, Asian enough?

Apple News didn't think that the Filipino American Miss Universe was not worthy
to include under the Asian American banner (top). However, the story was the top story on
the search for Filipino American news (bottom).

I don't mean to be a nitpicker, but today (Jan. 19, 2022), I did online searches on Google News, Apple News and NBC under "Asian Americans" and there was no mention of R'Bonney Gabriel, the current Miss USA  also winning the title of Miss Universe Saturday night. It is odd because Gabriel made sure to mention her Filipino heritage in the interviews after winning the crown.

I checked the online news sources under "Filipino Americans" and Gabriel's historic feat of being the first Filipino American to be named Miss Universe was the top story for Google and Apple. I scrolled down to the bottom and  the Gabriel's accomplishment was not included at all.

Apparently NBC doesn't separate the different AANHPI communities. and include all of them under the title of "Asian America." However, NBC did include Gabriel's victory among its main news stories but, curiously, did not include the story in its "Asian America" page.

The Google News page for Filipino Americans had the Miss Universe winner as its top story (top photo) but the Asian American page (bottom) omitted the accomplishment entirely.

I'm not sure why, but Filipino Americans have always been difficult for East Asians to accept as Asian American because they often don't fit the East Asian stereotype: Filipinos are the second or third largest Asian subgroup in the United States, depending on your source; Filipino are predominantly Roman Catholic; English is practically a second national language; their government is modeled after the United States since it was US's only Asian colony.

And there has always been that annoying question: "Are Filipinos Asian or are they Pacific Islanders?"

I'm being generous because I'm the forgiving-sort-of-guy, but maybe its the weekend crews working during the Martin Luther King Holiday. The holiday shift has always been given to those with the least seniority. They might not be as sensitive or knowledgeable as the regular crew about the AANHPI communities and the groups that fall under that umbrella. 

Or, it could be the news editors over the weekend didn't think a pageant title is worthy of news coverage. Sure the Miss Universe contest is not life-changing or violent as some of the other news stories. I can understand that rationale, but it might not be worthy of being the top story, but it surely should be second or third. When an Asian American breaks a racial barrier, even if it's just a pageant title, the historic event deserves some attention.

When a Filipino nurse goes on strike, or a Filipino singer wins a Grammy, or a Filipino wins a Nobel Prize, or a Filipino American is elected California's Attorney General, or a Filipino wins the Miss Universe title; all of those stories should not be limited to Filipino Americans, and other Asian Americans should recognize the barrier-shattering significance of that accomplishment.

For those who make those news judgements, their definition of who are Asian Americans need to be expanded beyond East Asians. While Filipino Americans generally don't like being confused with other Asians, there is the political and social aspect of living as minorities in this country that should unite us with other Asian American ethnicities and nationalities. Filipino Americans are Americans, but they are Asian Americans, too. To think otherwise, is an insult.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Kamala Harris' vice president candidacy forces a new definition of what an American should look like

When Kamala Harris first appeared with Joe Biden as his running mate last Wednesday, she said: "Joe Biden had the audacity to choose a Black woman to be his running mate. How incredible is that?"

She could just as well have said Biden had the audacity to choose an Indian American woman.

Nevertheless, Asian Americans and Indian Americans, in particular, appear to be willing to let that faux pas slide because they are aware of the social and political forces that are playing out in front of the television cameras.

The daughter of a father from Jamaica and a mother from India, she is not shy in talking her Indian heritage. "I am the daughter of Shyamala  Gopalan," a single mother who raised Harris and her sister Maya.

Growing up in the black community of Oakland and Berkeley, California, Harris mother had the foresight to know that her daughters would be perceived as African Americans and prepared the two girls for that. In the summers, she often took her daughters to the southern Indian city of Chennai to spend time with her extended family. 

"I grew up with a great deal of pride and understanding about my Indian heritage and culture,"Harris said.

Kamala and Maya Harris grew up well indoctrinated in the trials and tribulations of being of mixed race. Often, they were described as half-Indian and half-Black. 

"My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters," Harris writes in her recently published autobiography, The Truths We Hold. "She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women."

People who grew up with mixed racial  or cultural identities were often forced to choose one over the other. In wasn't until the 1990 Census that people could check off more than one race.

Its a category that is rising the fastest, according to the U.S. Census. It shouldn't surprise anybody that 44% of infants in Hawaii are multiracial or multiethnic. Shares are also high in Oklahoma and Alaska (28%).

About 14% of newborns in the U.S. have one parent who is non-Hispanic white and another who is Asian.

In California, where Kamala and Maya Harris were born, one in five babies have parents of different races. Not scientific but by observation, I'd venture to guess that Berkeley and Oakland are hotbeds of interracial families.

Born in the Philippines but raised in the U.S., like many immigrants, I wasn't biracial, but I considered myself bicultural, a product of two cultures. Brown as I am, I chafe at the purists who say I'm "not Filipino enough," because I don't speak a Filipino dialect. Equally, my blood boils when a racist who says, "Go back to your country."

Through the years, I've arrived at a conclusion that ahs helped calm the struggle over self-identity. I am not half Filipino and half Filipino. I am the sum total of both worlds; not less, but more. All the love, traditions, superstitions, pigmentation, family and tribal history of one, PLUS, the ideas, dreams and possibilities, biases and opinions of another. 

I can draw from two worlds instead of one, therefore I'm richer and more complex because of that.

Golf star Tiger Woods may have been ahead of his time when in 1997 he was widely ridiculed for saying that he didn’t consider himself as Black but “cablinasian,” referring to the Caucasian, Black, Indian and Asian, that represents the entirety of his racial identity.

Harris, likewise, can draw from the African American and the Indian American experiences. Instead of weaving in and out of those worlds as if they are separate, she embodies both identities all the time.

Harris has grown up with people questioning her identity. When young people ask her about living with her duality, she told the New York Times, “I will say to them that you will often find that you are the only one who looks like you in the room, be it around the conference table or in a meeting or wherever you are,” she told reporter Lisa Lerer. “But the thing to remember is you are never in that room alone. We are all in that room with you, expecting that you will use your voice, and use it with pride and use it in a way that represents all of those who are in the room with you but not physically there.”

Harris' duality confuses people who insist that you be one or the other; not considering that someone can be both at the same time. Indian Americans and Blacks are right to claim her as "one of our own," but its wrong to erase the other part of her in order feel more comfortable.

It is easier for most people to identify Beyonce as a Black woman even though she sings about being Creole.

When Kelsey Merritt was chosen as the first Filipina to model for Victoria Secrets, she was hit be critics because she wan't Filipina enough, she hit back. 

"I was born in the Philippines and I grew up in Pampanga. I finished my school in Manila before I moved to the US l... My blood is more Filipino than the 'pure' who have never set foot in the Philippines," Kelsey tweeted in Tagalog.

Because her mother is Filipino and father is white, Merritt had features that one can say are Caucasian but under a different light and different makeup, you can see her Filipino features come to the fore.

Any confusion about Senator Harris' identity is a problem Americans continue to struggle with. It is easy for journalists to label her one or the other, but that shouldn't be done by erasing the other part of Harris that completes her. 

Americans should get used to multiracial and/or multicultural people because that is what America is becoming. With immigrants coming from all over the world; the Asian American community is the fastest growing ethnic group and Whites will no longer be the majority race by 2040, predict demographers from the Census. 

As a Vice President candidate for the Democrats, Harris' complex heritage will force voters to grapple with who she is and that is a question that all Americans will have to face.

“There are people who will say, she isn’t Black enough. There are people who will say she’s not Indian enough,” the NY Times quotes Shekar Narasimhan, the chairman and founder of the AAPI Victory Fund, a group focused on empowering Asian American voters. “But she brings all that to the table, which is why I just think she’s a true American.”

The question about her dual heritage is not new to Harris. "So much so," she said, "that when I first ran for office that was one of the things that I struggled with, which is that you are forced through that process to define yourself in a way that you fit neatly into the compartment that other people have created," Harris said in a Washington Post interview.

"My point was: I am who I am. I'm good with it. You might need to figure it out, but I'm fine with it." 

For the US Census, Filipino Americans once again face that question of identity

DIOKNO

A Filipino American family with six generations reflects America.

OPINION

With the US Census mailing out their questionnaires this week to all US households (and even those without households), Filipino Americans will once again confront that recurring question of "what the heck am I?"

The US Census is taking place as required by the Constitution. Every ten years the government must count all the people living within its borders, citizens, greencard holders, those here on a special visa and those who here without proper documentation. Everyone!

One of the questions the Census is asking for is the respondent's race or ethnicity. That's a tougher question for some than for others.

Information on race is required for many Federal programs and is critical in making policy decisions, particularly for civil rights and voting rights. States use these data to meet legislative redistricting principles. Race data also are used to promote equal employment and educational opportunities and to assess racial disparities in health and environmental risks.Among Asians, Filipinos are probably the most racially fluid. Undoubtedly, some old-timers with Hispanic surnames will include themselves as Hispanic. Some super-patriotic ex-military-types will skip the question because they proudly think of themselves as "American."

For my fellow Filipino Americans and Filipinos living in the US, this year should be a no-brainer. The Census makes it easy for those questioning their identity, there's a box for "Filipino." Check it!

Since 1960, people were allowed to choose their own race. This year’s Census will have the same categories for people of Asian descent it used in 2010: “Chinese,” “Japanese,” “Filipino,” “Korean,” “Asian Indian,” “Vietnamese,” and “Other Asian.”

Personally, I go by the one-drop rule, but I leave that up to the individual for whatever you feel comfortable with. Hell, under my definition, even Hailee Steinfeld, who claims 1/16th Filipino heritage and has not yet played a Filipino in any of her movie roles, can mark down "Filipino." The more the merrier, I say. 

(That's not a knock on Hailee. For the record, she says she'd love to play a Filipino in honor of her grandfather, but she's never been offered a script that calls for her to play a Filipino.)

AM I REALLY FILIPINO?

Oh, I know there are those haughty purists out there who would reject my identity because I don't speak a Filipino dialect, or that I was raised in the US, or I speak English without an American accent.  They'd likely tell me, "You're not a real Filipino," whatever "real" means. 

To hell with them. That's their problem.

It took awhile, but growing up in the multi-cultural California,  decided long ago that I am a  Filipino. They don''t know about the slurs I suffered growing up.  They don't know the times I was left out, the times I was marginalized, forgotten, rejected, passed over or ignored ... all because of the color of my skin or my ethnicity.

Some years ago, a cousin immigrated to the US from Manila. College-educated, young, hip. After awhile, he joined a local Filipino folkdance group. 

He told me, "in the Philippines I never would have joined such a group. I never would have learned to dance the tinikling," or consider joining a folk dance troupe. He had always took for granted being Filipino. In the Philippines, he never had to think about or choosing to be Filipino.

So, like me, he arrived at the moment where he had to define himself in this new land. Our journeys may have taken different paths but we both arrived at the same conclusion: Instead of being ashamed or rejecting his heritage, he chose to embrace being Filipino.

During the 70s when the Asian American civil rights movement was in its infancy, the question always arose: Are Filipinos Asian or Pacific Islander?

Geographically and if you trace the DNA of Polynesians, Filipinos can identify as both. At some point during an ice age, the Philippines was connected to main land mass of Asia when the adventurous found their way there.

There are also recent studies from the University of Adelaide that says the Philippines could be the ancestral homeland of the Polynesians, whose forebears colonized the Pacific about 3,200 years ago. 

The Census doesn't take into account the polyglot nature of Filipinos. Three hundred years of Spanish rule and a half-century being told that America is the gold standard for civilization. Because of its geographical location along ocean trade routes, there has been a steady stream of Chinese immigrant traders and merchants, South Asians have been going to the Philippines just as long, remnants of the Vietnamese refugees and Japanese military and economic incursions. And you can't discount the back-and-forth from Indonesia and Borneo seafarers who for centuries have been crossing the oceans like forever to visit relatives irrespective of political boundaries.

That's been a recurring theme in Philippine history: Take what the newcomer brings to the table, give it a local twist and the adaptive process changes both groups of people -- the immigrant and the indigenous folk -- culturally, linguistically, gastronomically or physically. 

In this respect, Filipinos and the Philippines are a lot like Americans and the US. With the waves of immigrants from around the world, the default image of an American should no longer be the white American male. Like Americans (should see themselves), the Filipino is the sum total of all these influences.

TWITTER

Actress Hailee Steinfeld, left, and her mother Cheri Doomain-Steinfeld.

HOW TO ANSWER IF YOU'RE OF MIXED HERITAGE

It gets a bit more complicated if you're of more than one racial heritage, ie the aforementioned Hailee, but the same question also faces Filipino American celebrities such as Darren Criss, H.E.R., Asia Jackson, Lou Diamond Phillips, Dave Bautista, Vanessa Hudgens, Jordan Clarkson, Sharon Leal, Enrique Iglesias and Bruno Mars among others. 

The Census allows you to check more than one box. And if your racial heritage doesn't have a box. you can write in the missing ethnicity or race. The Census Bureau projects that the US's multiracial population will triple by 2060. In other words, about 1 in 5 Americans will identify themselves as multiracial so don't think you're alone if you're uncertain.

The Census allows the responder to self-identify. Here is what the Census has to say for those with multiple racial or ethnic origins:

An individual’s response to the race question is based upon self-identification. The Census Bureau does not tell individuals which boxes to mark or what heritage to write in. For the first time in Census 2000, individuals were presented with the option to self-identify with more than one race and this continues with the 2010 Census. People who identify with more than one race may choose to provide multiple races in response to the race question. For example, if a respondent identifies as "Asian" and "White," they may respond to the question on race by checking the appropriate boxes that describe their racial identities and/or writing in these identities on the spaces provided.

Unfortunately, there are full-blooded Filipinos on Guam and Hawaii who will mark down Chamorro or Hawaiian. Nothing wrong with that if that's how you identify, but don't forget to include to write in Filipino, too.

The question on race and ethnicity appears in the 2020 Census questionnaire.

Getting an accurate count is important for political purposes, for health data, economic and educational opportunities and representation in the general culture. We're here and we want acknowledgement of our presence and our needs.

Just to be clear, when the US Census asks what ethnicity you are, if you have any trace of Filipino blood in you, please check "Filipino." Do NOT Check "Other" or write in "Pacific Islander."

Though my family's roots are from the Philippines, our relatives in the US extend through a multitude of races and runs the spectrum of all shades of beige, black and brown. That talent of adaptation and transformation is America, but Filipinos have been doing it longer.

In a 2019 interview, Haliee said, “I have Filipino blood in me and I’m so proud of that." So Hailee, which box will you check?

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter or at his blog Views From the Edge.