Philippines

Since 1946, the newly independent Philippines state has faced political instability. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the Philippine economy developed to be one of the wealthiest in Asia. Ferdinand Marcos was then the elected president. Barred from seeking a third term, Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, under the guise of increased political instability and resurgent Communist and Muslim insurgencies, and ruled the country by decree.

Upon returning from exile in the United States, opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr., was assassinated at the Manila International Airport (also called the Ninoy Aquino International Airport) on August 21, 1983. In 1986, the people gathered together and protested in EDSA in Quezon City. It was to oppose the power of Ferdinand Marcos. Along with Corazon Aquino, the Filipinos stood together to oust the then president. After losing the election to Corazon Aquino, who became the first woman president, he and his allies flew to Hawaii.

The return of democracy, and government reforms after the events of 1986 were hampered by national debt, government corruption, coup attempts, a Communist insurgency, and an Islamic separatist movement. The Philippine economy improved during the administration of Fidel V. Ramos, who was elected in 1992. However, the economic improvements were negated at the onset of the East Asian financial crisis in 1997. The 2001 EDSA Revolution led to the downfall of the following president, Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took Philippine leadership in 2001 following the impeachment of the Estrada government.

The Philippines has a presidential, unitary form of government (with some modification; there is one autonomous region largely free from the national government), where the President functions as both head of state, and head of government, and is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president is elected by popular vote to a single six year term, during which time she or he appoints and presides over the cabinet.

The bicameral Congress is composed of a Senate, serving as the upper house whose members are elected nationally to a six year term, and a House of Representatives serving as the lower house whose members are elected to a three year term, and are elected from both legislative districts, and through sectoral representation.

The judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court, composed of a Chief Justice as its presiding officer and fourteen associate justices, all appointed by the President from nominations submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council. Attempts to amend the constitution to either a federal, unicameral or parliamentary form of government have been satisfactory since the Ramos administration.

The Philippines is a founding, and active member of the United Nations since its inception on October 24, 1945, and is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Philippines is also a member of the East Asia Summit (EAS), an active player in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Latin Union, and a member of the Group of 24. The country is a major non-NATO ally of the United States, but also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The Philippines constitutes an archipelago of 7,107 islands with a total land area of approximately 300,000 square kilometers (116,000 square mile). It is located between 116° 40′ and 126° 34′ E. longitude, and 4° 40′, and 21° 10′ N. latitude, and borders the Philippine Sea on the east, the South China Sea on the west, and the Celebes Sea on the south. The island of Borneo is located a few hundred kilometers southwest, and Taiwan directly north. The Moluccas, and Sulawesi are to the south-southwest, and Palau is to the east beyond the Philippine Sea.

The islands are commonly divided into three island groups: Luzon (Regions I to V, NCR and CAR), Visayas (VI to VIII), and Mindanao (IX to XIII and ARMM). The busy port of Manila, on Luzon, is the national capital, and second largest city after its suburb Quezon City.
Mayon Volcano in Luzon.

Most of the mountainous islands used to be covered in tropical rainforest, and are volcanic in origin. The highest mountain is Mount Apo located in Mindanao measuring at 2,954 metres (9,692 ft) above sea level. There are many active volcanos such as Mayon Volcano, Mount Pinatubo, and Taal Volcano. The country also located within the typhoon belt of the Western Pacific and approximately 19 typhoons strike per year.

Located on the northwestern fringes of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippine Islands experiences frequent seismic, and volcanic activities. Some 20 earthquakes are registered daily in the Philippines, though most are too weak to be felt. The last great earthquake was the 1990 Luzon earthquake.

The longest river is the Cagayan River in northern Luzon. Manila Bay is connected to Laguna de Bay by means of the Pasig River. Subic Bay, the Davao Gulf, and the Moro Gulf are some of the important bays. Transversing the San Juanico Strait is the San Juanico Bridge (considered a point of vital national infrastructure and capacity), that connects the islands of Samar and Leyte.

The Philippines is well-endowed with natural resources in areas such as agriculture, forestry and minerals. It has fertile, arable lands, diverse flora and fauna, extensive coastlines, and rich mineral deposits.

The country’s major crops include rice, corn, sugarcane, coconut, abaca and tobacco. All these crops are exported, along with bananas and pineapple, except for rice and corn.

Metal deposits in the Philippines are estimated at 21.5 billion metric tons, while non-metal deposits are projected at 19.3 billion metric tons. Cobalt, silver, gold, salt, copper, nickel,[4] and iron are the main mineral resources that are significant in the Philippine economy. Among these minerals, nickel ranks first in terms of deposits and size. Among non-metal deposits, the most abundant are cement, lime, and marble. Other non-metals include asbestos, clay, guano, asphalt, feldspar, sulfur, talc, silicon, phosphate, and marble.

The territorial waters measure as much as 1.67 million square kilometers, teeming with unique and diverse marine life. Of the 2,400 fish species found in the country, 65 have good commercial value. Other marine products include corals, pearls, crabs and seaweeds. The rain forests offer prime habitat for more than 530 species of birds, including the Philippine eagle, some 800 species of orchids, and some 8,500 species of flowering plants.

In the service of Spain, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, and his crew started their voyage on September 20, 1519 from Spain. Magellan sighted Samar on March 17, 1521, on the next day, they reached Homonhon. They reached the island of Mazaua on March 28, 1521 where the first mass in the Philippines was celebrated on March 31, 1521.Magellan arrived at Cebu on April 7, 1521, befriending Humabon, and converting his family, and other nearby islanders to Christianity. However, Magellan would later be killed in the Battle of Mactan by native warriors led by Lapu-Lapu, a rival of Humabon. The islands had belonged to the East Indies and the Spaniards called the natives Indios.

Colonization began when Philip II of Spain ordered successive expeditions. Miguel López de Legazpi arrived from Mexico in 1565, and formed the first Spanish settlements in Cebu. In 1571, he established Manila as the capital of the Spanish East Indies.

Spanish rule brought political unification to an archipelago of previously independent little kingdoms and communities which later became the Philippines, and introduced elements of western civilisation such as the code of law, printing and the Gregorian calendar.he Philippines was ruled as a territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1565 to 1821, and administered directly from Spain from 1821 to 1898. During this time, Christian towns were founded, infrastructures built, new crops and livestock introduced, and trade flourished. The Manila Galleon which linked Manila to Acapulco carried silk, spices, ivory and porcelain to the Americas, and silver from Mexico on the return voyage to the Philippines. The Spanish conquistadores fought off early indigenous revolts, and several external threats, especially from Chinese pirates and the British, Dutch and Portuguese. Roman Catholic missionaries converted most of the inhabitants to Christianity and founded numerous schools, universities and hospitals. European immigration to the islands created a new class of Creoles (Europeans born in the Philippines) and Mestizos (Mixed European and Malay). In 1863 a Spanish decree introduced public education, creating free public schooling in Spanish.

In the late 1700s, Governor-General Basco opened the Philippines to world trade. The economy boomed and many Creoles and Indios in the islands became wealthy overnight. In the early 1800s, the Suez Canal was opened which dramatically cut short the travel time between Spain and the Philippines. European immigration to the islands increased. The sudden influx of Peninsulares (Spaniards born in Spain) threatened the secularization of Philippine churches and government positions traditionally held by the Creoles. Also, the ideals of the French and American Revolutions began to spread to the Philippines. Creole unrest resulted to the Novales revolt and Cavite Mutiny of 1872. Colonial authorities quickly suppressed the Creoles by the imprisonment, deportation and execution of leaders of the unrest. Among them Padre Gomez, Padre Burgos and Padre Zamora who would go down in history as GOMBURZA. The execution of the three priests laid the seeds of the Philippine Revolution.

The deportation of Creole insurgents to Europe created a Filipino community of expatriates. The Propaganda Movement, which included Filipino patriot José Rizal developed on the Spanish mainland. The propagandists clamored for political, and social reforms, which included representation in the Spanish Cortes for Filipinos and secularization of Philippine churches. The propagandist lobbied for their cause through the paper La Solidaridad. They were also able to gain the support of Spanish liberas such as Morayta. Unable to gain enough reforms, Rizal returned to the Philippines and established La Liga Filipina to organize patriots in Manila and produce funds for La Solidaridad. Rizal was arrested and deported to Dapitan. Radical members of La Liga Filipina, under the leadership of Andres Bonifacio, established the Kataastaasang Kagalanggalang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan or simply Katipunan. The objective was to organize Filipino patriots and secede the Philippines from the Spanish empire by means of war. The Katipunan was discovered in 1896 and escalated into a full blown national revolt. Jose Rizal was executed for inspiring the revolution on December 30, 1896.meanwhile, the revolution in Cavite met success after success and the leadership of the revolution eventually passed from Andres Bonifacio to Emilio Aguinaldo. A ceasefire was agreed at Biak-na-Bato and Filipino leaders agreed to self-exile in Hong Kong. Governor General Fernando Primo de Rivera proclaimed the revolution over in May 17, 1897.

The Spanish-American War began in Cuba in 1898, and soon reached the Philippines when Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish squadron at the Battle of Manila Bay. Aguinaldo and other Filipino patriots returned to the Philippines upon the encouragement of George Dewey and defeated the Spanish on land. The Filipino patriots declared the independence of the Philippines on June 12, 1898. In 1899 the First Philippine Republic was proclaimed in Malolos, Bulacan. In the Treaty of Paris that concluded the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded the Philippines, together with Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam to the United States. As a result of the treaty and a manifesto by President McKinley declaring American intentions to colonize the Philippines, a resulting conflict between the Filipinos and Americans began. Emilio Aguinaldo tried to ease the tensions but Americans were decided on making the Philippines an American colony. The Philippine-American War began when an American soldier shot a Filipino patrol in the bridge of San Juan. The United States proclaimed the war ended when Aguinaldo was captured by American soldiers on March 23, 1901, but the struggle continued until 1913 claiming almost a million lives. The United States suppressed Filipino nationalism through various methods such as the Flag Law. The country’s status as a colony changed when it became the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935. Plans for independence over the next decade were interrupted by World War II when Japan invaded, and occupied the islands. American and Philippine troops drove Japan from the Philippines in 1944. The United States finally recognized Philippine Independence on July 4, 1946 and was marked Filipino-American Friendship Day.

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean.

The Philippines is the world’s 12th most populous country with a population of about 90 million people. Its national economy is the 32nd largest in the world with an estimated 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) of over US$ 327.2 billion. There are more than 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide, about 11% of the total population of the Philippines.

The Philippines is one of two predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia-Pacific, the other being East Timor. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands; there are also followers of Islam and other religions. Ecologically, the Philippines is among one of the most megadiverse countries in the world.
The name Philippines was derived from King Philip II of Spain in the 16th century. Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos used the name Las Islas Filipinas (The Philippine Islands) in honour of the Prince of Spain during his expedition to the Philippines, originally referring to the islands of Leyte, and Samar. The name itself is Greek, and can be traced to the name of the father of Alexander the Great, Philipp II of Macedon,Greek: Φίλιππος — φίλος philos (meaning beloved, loving); ίππος hippos (meaning horse). Despite the presence of other names, the name Filipinas (Philippines) was eventually adopted as the name of the entire archipelago.

Archeological, and paleontological discoveries show that humans existed in Palawan around 30,000 to 50,000 BC. An aboriginal people of the Philippine Islands, the Negritos, are an Australo-Melanesian people who arrived in the Philippines at least 30,000 years ago. An Austronesian people called Malayo-Polynesians, originated from the populations of Taiwanese aborigines that migrated from mainland Asia approximately 6,000 years ago, who settled in the islands and eventually migrated to Indonesia, Malaysia, and soon after, to the Polynesian Islands, and Madagascar.

The islands were known as Lusung Dao to the Chinese.
Suvarnadvipa to the Hindus Zabag to the Persians and Arabs and Chryse to the Greeks which means island of gold, as described by the geographer Ptolemy. The islands had cultural ties with Malaysia, Indonesia, and India during ancient times. It also had trade relations with Ancient China, Japan, Persia and even Egypt.
A pre-Hispanic indigenous village

Before the arrival of the Muslims; Hinduism syncretized Vajrayana Buddhism were the official religions of the various Philippine Indianized Kingdoms.

Islam was brought to the islands by traders, and proselytizers from Malaysia, Indonesia and Arabia. By the 13th century, Islam was established in the Sulu Archipelago and spread to Mindanao the Visayas and Luzon by 1565. Muslims established Islamic communities, and there were several villages ruled by Datus, Rajahs or Sultans.

There was no unified political state that encompassed the archipelago that was to be known as the Philippines and the area was ruled by competing thalassocracies like the Confederacy of Namayan the Dynasty of Tondo the Butuan Rajahnate, and the sultanates of Maguindanao and Sulu some of which were under the suzerainty of the larger Malayan empires of Srivijaya, Majapahit and the Brunei Sultanate

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