Descendants trace their Filipino heritage through food, music, and dancing that came with the incorporation of some Filipino words in the Broome lexicon. As one descendant recalled, “My father always used to say, “you’ve got to call the Chinese old people, lulu…and ti[y]o means uncle. We were taught that, see. Today, now our children, our grandchildren learn a different way, but they still use the word lulu.”

There have been attempts in the past by some of the Manilamen descendants to trace their family and relatives in the Philippines. Some descendants also returned to the Philippines and settled for good, as with the case of the Ybasco and Castillon Family.

On 18 October 2016, the Australian Embassy in Manila, in partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines, showcased an exhibit based on the book, Re-imagining Australia: Voices of Indigenous Australians of Filipino Descent, by Dr. Deborah Ruiz-Wall with Dr. Christine Choo.

Descendants of Manilamen, Roma Puertollano, Patricia Davidson, Kevin Puertollano, along with others, travelled from Australia to Manila, and participated in the exhibition and traced their family’s roots. The Puertollanos also embarked on a journey to Marinduque, their great grandfather Thomas’ birthplace.

The search still continues to this day for some of the descendants who are still trying to piece together and trace their roots in the Philippines, the birth place of their Manilamen forebears.