NONFICTION - June 29, 1986

THE PILIPINOS IN AMERICA: MACRO/MICRO DIMENSIONS OF IMMIGRATION AND INTEGRATION by Antonio J. A. Pido, Ph.D. (Center for Migration Studies of New York; $17.50, hardcover; $12.95, paperback). An Asian people with a European Roman Catholic heritage in a WASP culture: These are the elements that shape the experience of the approximately 750,000 Filipinos now living in the United States, of whom nearly a third are in the Los Angeles Basin. The author explains how cultural patterns in the Philippines affected the immigrants, both the older group that came during American rule in the early decades of the century and those who arrived after the immigration law changes of the 1960s.

Since the emphasis is on the immigration process “rather than the people involved,” the personal drama implicit in the topic is largely absent. Nevertheless, the academic specialists in sociology and related fields for whom this study is intended as an adjunct text will find Prof. Antonio Pido’s tables, charts and summary analyses useful and instructive. They should benefit in particular from his explanation of such things as the “barangay syndrome,” the Filipino tendency toward small-group fractionalism which weakens attempts to organize large numbers of immigrants for social improvements--and which helped Marcos stay in power as long as he did. Less repetition and summary of his main points might have allowed the author to develop more fully his interesting comparisons with other Asian minorities, especially the Japanese.