@ Jeri, I'd resist the urge to copy and paste or rely in any way on Wikipedia or (gasp) "urban dictionary".

I'm not going to type the meaning or etymology for the word here. It obviously has a different meaning or conation depending on if the word is being used by whites or the native speakers of the language.

The word I can imagine MAY have traveled to the Philippines since many native African-Americans served there in the military and many had children with those soldiers. I won't go into how it would come to mean "whore" there, though I'm not surprised if it does.