Editor’s note: Yesterday, Lem Satterfield of Boxing Scene published an interesting interview with Bob Arum where the Top Rank promoter talked about the difference between boxing champions Nonito Donaire and Manny Pacquiao, and the difference between Filipino-Americans and Filipinos. I emailed Powerade Tigers center Rob Reyes about his thoughts on the issue, and he wrote back with this thoughtful take on the divide between Filipinos from both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Where do I start? The Fil-Am discussion is quite a big one, especially for me being a Fil-Am. The word itself bothers me sometimes, mostly because growing up in the States, Americans didn’t refer to me as “American” – I was always the Filipino kid. They called me Filipino once I made it clear that I wasn’t Hispanic, since there were many Hispanics in Florida. I guess some Filipinos feel strongly about the issue. There are a few things I think about when people get into this Fil-Am debate.

Regarding the Arum interview, I think he has some good points, but I don’t know how qualified he is to judge how much Fil-Ams resonate with Filipinos in the Philippines. His example of San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Linceum wasn’t exactly the best one. Actually, because of Linceum’s Filipino lineage, he got some publicity over here even though baseball isn’t on the average Filipino’s radar. I mean, he came here and they even had a party for him at the embassy. But if a person with Filipino lineage makes the NBA, then let’s see how Filipino fans react.

I’m not too familiar with boxing, outside of watching a Pacquiao fight, so I can’t really say how well Nonito is received. However, I would only assume that his level of fame would have to do with how he portrays himself in the media. Is he appearing on Filipino TV shows? How’s his Tagalog? Those things all matter, I’m sure. Especially with boxers, who are only on TV for fights, like, twice a year. A basketball player in the NBA might log 100 games a year, with maybe half on TV.

That discussion makes me think of the argument that Fil-Ams hurt the PBA. I think it’s more like Fil-Shams hurt the PBA. And while there may be some Fil-Ams who aren’t as quick to embrace the Philippines by learning Tagalog, for the most part the Fil-Ams I know are proud of their Filipino roots. There are a handful of reasons the PBA isn’t what it once was, the least of which is Fil-Ams being in the league.

The best counter-argument is the Azkals craze; I mean, those guys are heroes, and aren’t most of them Fil-foreign?

Sometimes, I can’t figure out what exactly makes a guy a Fil-Am. Take a guy like Alex Compton, for example. He was born in the Philippines, but in no way is considered Filipino at all. Would the same treatment be given to a person of Asian descent who is born here? I’m pretty sure there has been at least one PBA player whose parents are both Chinese. Would that person be Filipino, Fil-Chinese, or Chinese?

What about a guy like Willie Miller, who is half-Filipino and half-black, born and raised in the Philippines? He’s “Filipino,” right? Jay Washington (Jaemark’s favorite), on the other hand, is also half-Filipino and half-black, was also born here, but was raised in the States, so he’s supposedly “Fil-Am.”

Jimmy Alapag, both of his parents are Filipino, but he was born and raised in the States. Is he a Fil-Am? Here’s a hypothetical for you, let’s say Jimmy moved here for high school, then college, before entering the PBA. Then what would he be? Given that both his parents are Filipino, and that hopefully he would speak fluent Tagalog after at least 8 years here, would he still be a Fil-Am? I’d bet he’d be considered a Filipino.

Then there are the rules. I had to jump through hoops to be accepted in the draft. I mean, I had a Philippine passport, and that wasn’t enough. (Ed: Rob is also a nephew of former PBA defensive specialist Eric Reyes.) Luckily, my agent busted his ass to get my paperwork done, and without paying off anyone.

Then we had to get “residency.” I don’t mind the concept that much, but let’s look at the situation from a different perspective. A Fil-Am kid right out of college – meaning he has no money – comes to the Philippines to play in the PBA, and has to spend a year in the Philippines making no money. I was lucky, I have family here and they took care of me, but I couldn’t afford to keep my wife here so she went home. (Ed: Today, Rob’s family still lives in the States, as he tries to make sure that his PBA career is stable before bringing them over; for the past few months, most of his quality time spent with his wife and year-old son has been through Skype.)

I hate to complain about income when so many people in the Philippines make nothing. For players like Kelly Williams and J-Wash, however, missing out on that year of income during residency is huge. And now the D-League is considering forcing them to stay for two years. I hope they do something about the salary, if that were the case. At least say, Ok, Fil-Ams have to play for two years, but they can put their rights in the draft after the first year. Or at least allow them to make more money in the D-League during the second year, or maybe they should allow teams to hire him directly if he’s good enough.

Rob Reyes also shares his thoughts on basketball and other stuff on Twitter (@theREALrob22).