Philippines Islands

Philippines is a country which has more than 7,000 islands. It is in the Pacific Ocean and about 100 kilometers southeast from Asia. Spain (1521-1898) and the United States (1898-1946), colonized (controlled) the country. East Timor and the Philippines are the only nations in East Asia where most of the people practice Christianity.

The Philippines was the most developed country in Asia after World War II. Now the Philippines is behind other countries because of a bad economy (money system), too many people, and corruption (government stealing of money). The country is growing, because of money sent back by many Filipinos working abroad, growing information technology industry, and cheap labor. The country's big problems are the Muslim movement in Mindanao that wants to become a new nation, and communist fighters. There are also problems with nature because the rainforest is becoming smaller and ocean pollution (dirtiness) is increasing.

The Philippine Islands is surrounded on the east by the Philippine Sea, on the west by the South China Sea, and on the south by the Celebes Sea. The island of Borneo is a few hundred kilometers to the southwest and Taiwan is directly north. The Moluccas and Celebes are farther south and on the eastern side of the Philippine Sea is Palau.

Philippines History

Human fossils were found to prove that many people have been living in the Philippines for thousands of years. The Negritos or Aetas, crossed prehistoric land or ice bridges to settle in the islands' forests. Many groups of Malays, Indonesians, Indochinese and Taiwanese, began to come to the Philippines in the first millennium, pushing the aboriginal population into the interior or absorbing them through intermarriage.

Chinese merchants arrived in the 8th century. The rise of powerful Buddhist kingdoms precipitated trade with the Indonesian archipelago, India, Japan and Southeast Asia. Factional fighting among the kingdoms of Southeast Asia weakened their strength. In the meantime, the spread of Islam through commerce and proselytism, much like Christianity, brought traders and missionaries into the region; Arabs set foot in Mindanao in the 14th century. When the first Europeans arrived, led by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, there were rajahs as far north as Manila, who historically were tributaries of the kingdoms of Southeast Asia. However, the islands were essentially self-sufficient and self-ruling.

The Spanish led by Conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi claimed and colonized the islands in the 16th century and named it Filipinas after King Felipe II. Roman Catholicism was immediately introduced and imposed, sparking deep resistance from tribal groups in the highlands and the Muslim separatism that rages on today. Sporadic rebellions and violence erupted in the coastal populations throughout the next three centuries in response to colonial abuses. The new territory was ruled from New Spain (Mexico) and a burgeoning galleon trade began in the 18th century.

In 1781, Governor José Basco y Vargas established the Economic Society of Friends of the Country and make it independent of New Spain

The country opened up during the 19th century. The rise of an ambitious, more nationalistic Filipino middle class, consisting of educated native Filipinos, Philippine-born Spaniards and creoles, Spanish mestizos and an economically entrenched Chinese mestizo community, signaled the end of Spanish colonialism in the islands. Enlightened by the Propaganda Movement to the injustices of the Spanish colonial government, they clamored for independence. José Rizal, the most famous propagandist, was arrested and executed in 1896 for acts of subversion. Soon after, the Philippine Revolution broke out, pioneered by the Katipunan, a secret revolutionary society founded by Andres Bonifacio and later led by Emilio Aguinaldo. The revolution nearly succeeded in ousting the Spanish by 1898.

That same year Spain and the United States fought the Spanish-American War, after which Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States for US$20 million. The Filipinos had by then declared independence and the subsequent assertion of American control led to the Philippine-American War that officially ended in 1901, but fighting continued well into 1913. Independence was finally granted in 1946, after the Japanese had occupied the islands during World War II. The following period was marred by post-war problems; civil unrest during the unpopular dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, ousted in 1986; and later, the continuing problem of communist insurgency and Muslim separatism.

Philippines Politics

National Government. The government of the Philippines, loosely patterned after the American system, is organized as a representative republic, with the President functioning as both head of state and government, as well as being the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president is elected by popular vote to a term of 6 years, during which he or she appoints and presides over the cabinet.

The bicameral Philippine legislature, the Congress, consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives; members of both are elected by popular vote. There are 24 senators serving 6 years in the Senate while the House of Representatives consist of no more than 250 congressmen each serving 3-year terms.

The judiciary branch of the government is headed by the Supreme Court, which has a Chief Justice as its head and 14 Associate Justices, all appointed by the president.

International Relations. The Philippines is a founding and prominent member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It is also an active participant of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), a member of the Group of 24 and one of the 51 founding members of the United Nations on October 24,1945.

Philippines Regions and Provinces

Local Government. The different parts of the Philippines are "local government units" (LGUs). The province is the top unit. There are 79 provinces in the country as of (2002). In the provinces there are also cities and municipalities. In these municipalities there are smaller barangays. The barangay is the smallest local government unit.

All provinces are in 17 regions for administration organization. Most government offices make regional offices for the provinces. The regions themselves do not have a separate local government, except the Muslim Mindanao and Cordillera regions, which have their own power.

Regions

• Ilocos Region (Region I)
• Cagayan Valley (Region II)
• Central Luzon (Region III)
• CALABARZON (Region IV-A) ¹
• MIMAROPA (Region IV-B) ¹
• Bicol Region (Region V)
• Western Visayas (Region VI)
• Central Visayas (Region VII)
• Eastern Visayas (Region VIII)
• Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX)
• Northern Mindanao (Region X)
• Davao Region (Region XI)
• SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII) ¹
• Caraga (Region XIII)
• Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)
• Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
• National Capital Region (NCR) (Metro Manila)

Geography

The Philippines are 7,107 islands. Together there are about 300,000 km² of land. We usually say the islands are in three groups: 1. Luzon (Regions I to V + NCR & CAR), 2. Visayas (VI to VIII), and 3. Mindanao (IX to XIII + ARMM). The busy port of Manila, on Luzon, is the country's capital and it is the second-largest city after Quezon City.

The climate is hot, humid (there is a lot of water in the air), and tropical. The average temperature all year is around 26.5° Celsius. Filipinos usually say there are three seasons: Tag-init or Tag-araw (the hot season or summer from March to May), Tag-ulan (the rainy season from June to November), and Tag-lamig (the cold season from December to February).

Most of the mountainous islands had a lot of tropical rainforests a long time ago. They started as volcanoes. The highest place is Mount Apo on Mindanao at 2,954 m. Many volcanoes in the country, for example Mount Pinatubo, are active. The country also has about 19 typhoons per year. In Manila there are forests and in Palawan there are rain forests!

Economy

In 1998 the Philippine economy — a mixture of agriculture, light industry, and supporting services — deteriorated as a result of spillover from the Asian financial crisis and poor weather conditions. Growth fell to 0.6% in 1998 from 5% in 1997, but recovered to about 3% in 1999 and 4% in 2000. The government has promised to continue its economic reforms to help the Philippines match the pace of development in the newly industrialized countries of East Asia.

The strategy includes improving infrastructure, overhauling the tax system to bolster government revenues, furthering deregulation and privatization of the economy, and increasing trade integration with the region. Prospects for the future depend heavily on the economic performance of the two major trading partners, the United States and Japan.

People

Most of the people here are from Malay, who came from the Malay Peninsula and Indonesian archipelago. The second most important are the Chinese, who have helped run business since the 9th century. Negritos live in Mindanao. The rest of the groups are the Spanish, Mexicans and North Americans and others, and live throughout the country's major cities.

The people of the Philippines are known as Filipinos. When the Philippines was a colony, the term "Filipino" used to mean the Spanish and Spanish-mestizo minority. But now we call everyone from the Philippines "Filipino". Even then, it is still has the most different ethnic groups in Asia.

Languages

English is the official written language of the Philippines, however because the public schools do not encourage students to speak English, Filipino is spoken, which is based on Tagalog, English and Spanish.

Culture

The Culture is strongly influenced by both Western and Eastern Traditions. It is a strong mix of Spanish, Mexican, native Malay, Negrito and Chinese cultures.

Before the Spanish arrived, the Filipinos did not think of themselves as one people. This may have been brought on due to the many different languages spoken. Also, the Filipinos could not travel from one island to another easily. The Spanish came in 1565, and brought with them Spanish culture and language.