White guy in a Philippine 20 peso bill?

The history of the Philippines included 300 years of Spanish colonization.   So it is not uncommon to see Filipinos with strong Spanish facial features amongst the few elite of society.  They are the ones that descended from the Spanish colonizers and they are the ones that have easy access to education and opportunities.  Many politicians and government officials comes from that group.

One of these elite of society was President Manuel Quezon.  His face is printed on the Philippines 20 peso bill.  Once I showed an American coworker this 20 peso and his first remark was “Why is there a white guy in your money?”  It has not occurred to me to think of Manuel Quezon as a white guy but on closer inspection, he did look like an older Caucasian in the bill.  For me, he is Filipino because I have seen Filipinos who have strong European features.  They are not plenty but nonetheless not absent.  But for my white coworker, it was very unusual.  The concept of a Filipino that looks European is just so foreign to him.