PinoyBuilt — Stories of Filipino America

Philippines • June 2026. Maharlika, Pacific Islander, or Asian? The Decolonization of Filipino Identity. maharlika meaning, filipino pacific islander, filipino identity, ferdinand marcos maharlika, mount pinatubo anniversary, austronesian filipino, decolonization philippines. IDENTITY • PHILIPPINES • JUNE 2026 Maharlika, Pacific Islander, or Asian? The Decolonization of Filipino Identity Thirty-five years ago today, Mount Pinatubo reshaped the islands. Today, two debates — Asian or Pacific Islander, Philippines or Maharlika — are reshaping the global Filipino identity. The truth is harder, and more beautiful, than either side admits. Thirty-five years ago today, on June 15, 1991, Mount Pinatubo released the second-largest volcanic eruption of the twentieth century. The blast injected so much sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere that it cooled the global climate by roughly half a degree Celsius for two years. It...

Three thousand years ago, the greatest sailors in the world voyaged across the vast Pacific , discovering the many islands of Oceania . But then, for a millennium, their voyages stopped – and no one knows why. From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “ Moana ,” a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana (voice of Auli’i Cravalho) meets the once-mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), who guides her in her quest to become a master wayfinder. Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity. Directed by the renowned filmmaking team of Ron Clements and John Musker (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “The Princess & the Frog”) and produced by Osnat Shurer (“Lifted,” “One M...