A LANDMARK study has revealed the complex shared origins, inter-relatedness, and genetic diversity of the Filipino people.
Taking advantage of the latest advances in genomics and computational biology, a team of researchers investigated into the Filipino’s DNA, and looked into 2.3 million molecular DNA markers that were known to differ between various populations. The markers from more than 1,000 individuals representing 115 Philippine cultural communities were comprehensively analyzed.
“This finally gives us a clearer picture of who we are as Filipinos, where we came from, and our sense of relatedness.” said Carlo Ebeo, Board of Trustee member of the National Museum involved in the study.
It was revealed that, through time, the Philippines was inhabited by at least 5 major waves of human migration - starting with Northern and Southern Negritos as the first Filipinos, then followed by Manobo, Sama, and Cordilleran-related populations.
The latter three major waves happened around 15 to 7 thousand years ago, coinciding with the major geographic changes in the region that was brought about by climate change. These include the inundation of the Sunda landmass as well as the loss land bridge between Taiwan and southern China.
It was previously thought that the search for new arable lands by expanding farmer populations was the main reason for driving population migrations, such as the dispersal Austronesian-speaking groups into the Philippines.
However, Dr. Maximilian Larena, a Filipino scientist based in Sweden who co-led the study, challenges this view and said: “Our findings suggest that instead of farming, climate change may have played a more important role in driving the mass movement of populations in various directions.”
The significant geographic changes may have prompted the migration of Manobo and Sama-related ancestral groups from Borneo into southern Philippines and Cordilleran-related ancestral groups from southern China-Taiwan area into the various islands of the Philippines.
The arrival of Manobo, Sama, and Cordilleran-related groups resulted in interbreeding with resident Negritos. Interestingly, some Cordillerans remained to be the only ethnic group in the Philippines who did not show evidence of historical interbreeding with Negritos; and consequently are the only population in the world who remained to be the unadmixed descendants of Basal East Asians.
According to Dr. Adrian Albano, a Kalanguya Cordilleran from Ifugao State University and co-author of the study: “This affirms that Cordillerans were isolated for quite some time, which is evident on the retention of distinct indigenous cultural practices and presence of immense linguistic diversity in the region.”
Additional minor genetic signal were also detected in some Filipino ethnic groups, including Papuan, South Asian, and European genetic ancestry.
The Papuan-related ancestry is found among the coastal ethnic groups of southeastern Philippines. This likely reflects a westward migration or gene flow of Papuan-related ancestry from Papua New Guinea or the Bismarck’s archipelago into eastern Indonesia and subsequently into southeastern Philippines.
The South Asian or Indian-related genetic signal was detected among the Sama Dilaut and other coastal Sama ethnic groups of southwestern Philippines. The signal was dated to 500 to 1000 years ago, coinciding with the time when there was increased maritime trading activity between Island Southeast Asia and India.
The European genetic signal was only detected in 1% of all individuals investigated, indicating a limited genetic legacy of the Spanish Colonial Period.
The study was made possible through the partnership between Uppsala University of Sweden led by Professor Mattias Jakobsson and Dr. Maximilian Larena, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines through the office of then NCCA chairperson Felipe Mendoza de Leon.
“This is a groundbreaking study that the commission heartily endorsed, and we should be thankful for this collaboration as it sheds some light on the longstanding question of our origins. It will certainly revise our understanding and appreciate that the story of the peopling of the Philippines from three waves of migration as proposed by Otley Beyer is not supported by archeological, genetic, or historical evidence,” says Prof Felipe Mendoza de Leon.
Aside from the extensive network of cultural workers provided by the NCCA, the scientific endeavor was also implemented in collaboration with indigenous cultural communities, local universities, local government units, non-governmental organizations, and or regional offices of the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples.
More importantly, the study is one of its kind in terms of the active involvement of the Indigenous Peoples, who some of them are also involved as co-authors, in recognition of their valuable contribution, indigenous knowledge, ownership and shared responsibility of the work.
“We are proud to be part of this historical research. It revealed how interconnected we are to each other after all, and that we share a common ancestry. Recognizing this fact will hopefully carry a message of unity and peace among various ethnic groups, regardless of beliefs,” said Waway Saway of the Talaandig ethnic group of Bukidnon who is involved in the study.
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