I. INTRODUCTION
II. LAND AND RESOURCES
A. Rivers
B. Climate
C. Natural Resources
D. Plants and Animals
III. POPULATION
A. Population Characteristics
B. Political Divisions
C. Principal Cities
D. Religion
E. Language
F. Education
G. Culture
1. Libraries and Museums
2. Literature
3. Music
4. Painting
IV. ECONOMY
A. Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
B. Mining
C. Manufacturing
D. Energy
E. Currency and Banking
F. Commerce and Trade
G. Labour
H. Transport
I. Communications
V. GOVERNMENT
A. Executive and Legislature
B. Political Parties
C. Judiciary
D. Local Government
E. Health and Welfare
F. Defence
G. International Organizations
VI. HISTORY
A. Cultural Influences
B. European Colonization
1. Conversion to Christianity
2. The Spanish Challenged
C. Indigenous Resistance
D. United States Rule
1. Shifting American Policies
2. The Commonwealth
3. World War II
E. Republic Established
F. Magsaysay’s Term
G. The Marcos Regime
H. Democratization
Description:-
I INTRODUCTION
Philippines, officially Republic of the Philippines, republic in the western Pacific Ocean, made up of the Philippine Islands and forming in physical geography a part of the Malay Archipelago. Situated about 1,210 km (750 mi) east of the coast of Vietnam, the Philippines are separated from Taiwan on the north by the Bashi Channel. The republic is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea, on the south by the Celebes Sea, and on the west by the South China Sea. The country comprises about 7,100 islands, of which only about 460 are more than 2.6 sq km (1 sq mi) in area. Eleven islands have an area of more than 2,590 sq km (1,000 sq mi) each and contain the majority of the population. These islands are Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Luzon, Masbate, Mindanao, Mindoro, Negros, Palawan, Panay, and Samar. The total area of the Philippines is about 300,000 sq km (115,831 sq mi). Manila is the capital and largest city of the Philippines.
II LAND AND RESOURCES
The Philippines are the most northerly island group of the Malay Archipelago, extending about 1,850 km (1,150 mi) almost due north and south between Borneo and Taiwan; the eastern and western extent is almost 1,127 km (700 mi). The islands, of volcanic origin, are the summits of a partly submerged mountain mass, and all are mountainous. In general the Philippine ranges extend north to south paralleling the coasts and in many places bordering them. Earthquakes are fairly common in the islands, which include about 20 active volcanoes.
On the smaller islands the mountains form a backbone and are the principal topographical feature. The larger islands, particularly Luzon and Mindanao, have a more diversified topography, with broad plains and level, fertile valleys in the interior. In northern Luzon the valley of the River Cagayan is a plain about 80 km (50 mi) wide, surrounded by the mountains of the Sierra Madre on the east, the Cordillera Central on the west, and the Caraballo Mountains on the south. To the south of the Caraballo Mountains is the Central Plain, which extends from Lingayen Gulf to Manila Bay, and Laguna de Bay, the largest lake of Luzon. The plain is drained by the River Agno in the north and by the River Pampanga in the south. On the south-western coast are the Zambales Mountains. Luzon has a narrow, mountainous extension to the south-east called the Bicol Peninsula. Mayon Volcano, an active volcano that erupted without warning in February 1993, is on this peninsula just north of Legaspi. Dormant for about 600 years, Mount Pinatubo, a volcano located in central Luzon, erupted in late June 1991 and again in July 1992.
On Mindanao, the largest island of the Philippines after Luzon, the Diuata Mountains border the Pacific coast, and west of them lies the valley of the Agusan River. In south-western Mindanao is a large lowland area, the valley of Mindanao. One of the southern Mindanao ranges contains Mount Apo (2,954 m/9,692 ft), which is the highest point in the Philippines. The coastlines of all the islands are extremely irregular, measuring about 22,530 km (14,000 mi) in length.
A Rivers
The principal islands of the Philippines are traversed by large rivers, some of which are navigable. The longest river on Luzon is the Cagayan; other important rivers on the island include the Chico, Abra, Pampanga, and Bicol. The Río Grande de Mindanao (known in its upper course as the Pulangi) and the Agusan are the principal rivers of Mindanao.
B Climate
The Philippine Islands are within the Tropics and have a mean annual temperature of about 27° C (80° F). In general, interior valleys and leeward sides of islands are warmer than the mean; mountain slopes and peaks and windward sides of islands are cooler than the mean. Rainfall averages about 2,030 mm (80 in) a year in the lowlands. In most of the Philippine Islands the rainy season occurs during the summer monsoon, from May to November, when the wind blows from the south-west; the dry season occurs during the winter monsoon, from December to April, when the wind blows from the north-east. From June to October the Philippine Islands are sometimes struck by typhoons, which occasionally cause great damage.
C Natural Resources
The Philippines are richly endowed with mineral and forest resources. The principal minerals are gold, copper, iron, chromite, manganese, salt, and coal. Other minerals found here include silver, lead, mercury, limestone, petroleum, nickel, and uranium.
About 27 per cent of the land of the Philippines is considered arable. In the northern islands the soils are chiefly of volcanic origin; coral limestone is an important constituent of the soils in the southern islands. In general the soils of the archipelago are of poor quality.
D Plants and Animals
About 37 per cent of the Philippines is covered by forest or woodland. Among the trees are the banyan, many varieties of palm, trees yielding rubber, and many indigenous trees with extremely hard wood such as apitong, yacal, lauan, camagón, ipil, white and red narra, and mayapis. Bamboo and cinnamon, clove, and pepper plants grow wild, as do numerous species of orchid. One of the most valuable indigenous plants is the abaca, or Manila hemp, a plantain, the fibre of which is used in making cordage, textiles, and hats. Mangrove trees and nipa palms grow in coastal swamps, and considerable areas of the uplands are covered by coarse grasses of little value for cattle. Except for rodents, comparatively few varieties of mammals are found in the islands. The most important are the domesticated water buffalo called the carabao, several species of deer, wild and domesticated pigs, the mongoose, and a variety of humped cattle. Reptiles are numerous, and the islands contain about 760 species of birds, including colourful parrots. Coastal waters teem with marine fauna, particularly molluscs, for which the Philippines are noted. Pearl oysters are abundant around the Sulu Archipelago, in the extreme south-west, and Sulu pearls are famous.
III POPULATION
The term Filipino, which originally denoted a person of Spanish descent born in the Philippines and was comparable to the term Creole in the Spanish-American colonies, has been applied since the 19th century to the Christianized Malays who constitute the bulk of the Philippine population.
The aboriginal inhabitants of the archipelago were pygmy Negritos. During the prehistoric period Malayan peoples invaded the islands in successive waves beginning about 200 bc. The present Filipinos, principally descendants of the Malay invaders, are divided mainly according to language and religion. The most important numerically are the Bisayans (Visayans), living primarily in the central portion of the archipelago, and the Tagalogs, in central Luzon. The Ilokanos, the third most important group, live mainly in the Cagayan Valley on Luzon. People of Spanish and Chinese descent constitute the chief non-Malay groups. In the southern portion of the archipelago, particularly in western Mindanao, the Sulu Archipelago, and southern Palawan Island, are two Muslim groups, the Moro and the Samal. Mestizos, people of mixed Filipino and white or Chinese descent, form a small but economically and politically important minority.
A Population Characteristics
The Philippines has a population (2001 estimate) of 82,841,518, giving an overall population density of about 276 people per sq km (715 per sq mi). The distribution, however, is uneven; large areas are virtually uninhabited, while others have a relatively high population density. The nation was about 58 per cent urban in 1999. The population growth rate was about 2.03 per cent in 2001.
B Political Divisions
The Philippines is divided into 16 administrative regions, including the capital region. These are further divided into 76 provinces, plus the capital.
C Principal Cities
D Religion
Of the Philippine population, about 84 per cent are Roman Catholics, about 4 per cent are Muslims, and about 10 per cent are Protestants or of other denominations, including the Philippine Independent Church, or Aglipayans, a schismatic group of Roman Catholics founded about 1902 by Gregorio Aglipay, a Filipino priest.
E Language
The official language of the Philippines is Pilipino, which is based on Tagalog. The country lacks a common language, however, and English is commonly used for educational, governmental, and commercial purposes. Spanish, formerly an official language, is spoken by a dwindling minority of the population. About 80 languages and dialects are spoken in the islands, of which about ten, belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian language family, are of regional importance.
F Education
Education in the Philippines is free and compulsory for children of ages 7 to 12. Although Pilipino is taught and, in the lower grades, local dialects are also used, English is the main language of instruction. About 99 per cent of the adult population is literate. In 1997, 3.4 per cent of the national budget was spent on education.
In 1994-1995 about 10.9 million pupils were enrolled annually in 35,670 elementary schools, and some 4.8 million students attended some 5,880 secondary schools. Approximately 2 million students attended universities and colleges in 1995, such as the University of the Philippines (1908), in Quezon City; Adamson University (1932), the University of the East (1946), Far Eastern University (1928), Feati University (1946), and the University of Santo Tomás (1611), all in Manila; Bicol University (1969), in Legaspi; the University of Mindanao (1946), in Davao; Silliman University (1901), in Dumaguete, on Negros island; St Louis University (1911), in Baguio; and South Western University (1946), in Cebu.
G Culture
The existence of a number of different languages, dialects, and religious traditions has meant that the Filipinos developed no single national culture. Over many centuries of Philippine history cultural development has been local in nature, enriched by influences from China, Malaysia, Europe, and the United States. Indigenous folk elements find expression in literature and music as well as other cultural forms. Traditional sports include arnis, a kind of fencing with wooden sticks, and sipa, a game much like volleyball, except that the players use their feet rather than their hands and arms. Such sports as cockfighting and boxing are very popular, and American influence is seen in the wide popularity of baseball and basketball.
One of the most notable characteristics of the Filipino society is the tradition of strong family loyalty. This is reflected in the absence of such institutions as old people’s homes and orphanages. Since pre-colonial times Filipino women have held high positions in the society, and today many businesses are managed by women.
G1 Libraries and Museums
In addition to the university libraries, the major libraries of the country are the Manila City Library, the National Library, and the library of the Science and Technology Information Institute, all in Manila. The Lopez Memorial Museum and Library, in Pasay, has collections of paintings by major Filipino artists, as well as the letters and manuscripts of the writer and patriot José Rizal. The Santo Tomás Museum, in Manila, has major archaeological and natural-history collections, illustrating the history of the islands. The National Museum, in Manila, has divisions of anthropology, botany, geology, and zoology, along with art collections and a planetarium.
G2 Literature
Philippine literature before the arrival of the Spanish consisted of oral folk stories and proverbs passed down in the various dialects of the islands. Literature under Spanish influence was primarily religious, and it developed further under the American influence to include short stories and drama. Among the writers of the Philippines are the novelist José Rizal; Francisco Balagtas, a poet and philosopher; José Garcia Villa, a poet and one of the outstanding short-story writers; Carlos P. Romulo, a journalist and diplomat; the poet and playwright Claro Recto; poet, novelist, and playwright Nick Joaquín; and Pas Marques Benitz, a short-story writer.
G3 Music
The kundiman, a combination of words and music, is unique to the islands. Musicians of some fame in the Philippines include Rodolfo Cornejo, composer and conductor; Antonino Buenaventura, conductor; and Antonio J. Molina, conductor and composer. Folk dancing is also popular and includes many ceremonial and traditional dances for a variety of occasions.
G4 Painting
Until the 19th century painting and sculpture of the Philippines were strongly influenced by the Roman Catholic Church. More recent painting generally has secular themes or is abstract. Noted painters include Juan Luna and Félix Resurrección Hidalgo, whose works are in Romantic and Impressionist styles; Fernando Amorsolo, known for his landscapes; Fabián de la Rosa, who specialized in portraiture; and Carlos Francisco and Vicente Manansala, both muralists.
IV ECONOMY
The economy of the Philippines is predominantly agricultural, although manufacturing has grown considerably since 1945. According to the constitution, all land and water in the public domain and all natural resources are state-owned and can be exploited only by Philippine citizens or organizations controlled by Philippine citizens. A 1948 agreement extended such rights of exploitation, for a limited period, to citizens of the United States. The United States has contributed substantial economic assistance to the Philippines. The gross national product of the Philippines in 1999 was US$77,967 million (World Bank figure), or US$1,050 per capita. The estimated budget in 1998 included revenue of US$11,259 million and expenditure of US$12,506 million.
A Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
About 44 per cent of the working population of the Philippines is engaged in agriculture. The most important subsistence crops are rice, maize, cassava, and sweet potatoes. Copra, sugar cane, and tobacco are the principal commercial crops. Fruit crops include bananas, oranges, mangoes, pineapples, and papayas. Production in 2000 totalled about 26.3 million tonnes of sugar cane, 12.5 million tonnes of rice, 4.64 million tonnes of maize, 10.3 million tonnes of copra (1995), 1.79 million tonnes of cassava, and 71,090 tonnes of tobacco. Livestock numbered about 3.02 million water buffalo, 2.40 million cattle, 149 million poultry birds, 6.78 million goats, and 10.4 million pigs.
Forests cover about 19.4 per cent (2000) of the total area of the Philippines. Production in 1999 included some 42.5 million cu m (1.50 billion cu ft) of roundwood timber. In addition, bamboo and rattan are cut for use in making furniture, baskets, and other products. Marine-fishing is a major industry; the total 1997 catch of some 2.14 million tonnes included milkfish, scad, anchovy, tuna, squid, shrimp, and crab. Sponge fisheries operate off the southern islands.
B Mining
The mining industry is an important aspect of the economy of the Philippines. Leading products include gold (31 tonnes in 1999), silver (18.8 tonnes), copper (35,200 tonnes), coal (1.21 million tonnes), nickel (9,900 tonnes in 1994), and salt (492,100 tonnes in 1994).
C Manufacturing
The manufacturing sector has expanded greatly since the 1950s. Processed food, textiles, tobacco products, and other non-durable goods continue to make up the largest percentage of manufacturing output. The production of durable items, however, especially furniture, electrical and electronic items, non-electrical machinery, and transport equipment, has shown substantial increase. Other major products include refined petroleum, chemicals, construction materials, and clothing. Output of leading products in 1994 included 2.1 million tonnes of raw sugar, 9.6 million tonnes of cement, and 75 billion cigarettes.
D Energy
In 1993 the Philippines had an installed electricity-generating capacity of about 6.9 million kW, and in 1999 some 40.7 billion kWh of electricity was generated. About 11 per cent of the electricity was generated in hydroelectric facilities; 19 per cent came from geothermal resources, and almost all the rest was produced in thermal plants burning refined petroleum or coal. Several new hydroelectric projects were planned in the 1980s to reduce expenditure on petroleum imports and projects encouraging the use of alternative energy resources, such as solar power and wind power, are being developed in the country by Spain and the Netherlands. “Brownouts”, or interruptions in the electricity supply, were widespread in the early 1990s, but have virtually ceased in recent years.
E Currency and Banking
The monetary unit of the Philippines is the Philippine peso of 100 centavos (51.05 pesos equal US$1; 2001). The Central Bank of the Philippines (1949) has sole control of the credit and monetary supply, independent of the treasury. In addition, the country is served by 33 commercial banks, 44 private development banks, and more than 20 other banking institutions.
F Commerce and Trade
The Philippines generally spends considerably more on imports than it earns from exports; in 1999 imports totalled about US$31,771 million and exports US$35,763 million. The leading imports are petroleum, machinery, transport equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs, and textiles. The main exports are electrical and electronic components, coconut oil, metal ores, clothing, raw sugar, copra, bananas, seafood, canned pineapples, and timber. Principal trade partners include the United States, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia.
G Labour
The workforce of the Philippines numbered about 31.1 million people in 1999. In 1994, more than 44 per cent worked in agriculture. Many workers are members of trade unions, most are affiliated with the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.
H Transport
Despite the difficult terrain, the Philippines has a good road system of some 187,600 km (116,574 mi), about 20 per cent of which is paved. In 1995 there were some 2.1 million vehicles, 1.1 million of them cars—1 vehicle for every 32 people. The country has about 430 km (267 mi) of operated railway track. The national air carrier is Philippine Airlines (PAL), and the main international airport serves Manila. The country has many seaports, the busiest including Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, and Zamboanga.
I Communications
The Philippines has more than 25 daily newspapers, most published in Manila. The People’s Journal and People Tonight have large circulations. Many newspapers are written both in English and Filipino. The country has an extensive broadcasting system, and about 12 million radio and 4 million television receivers were in use in 1997. More than 1.9 million telephones were in service in 1997.
V GOVERNMENT
A new constitution was ratified by national referendum in February 1987.
A Executive and Legislature
The head of state and chief executive of the Philippines is a president, elected by direct universal suffrage to a single six-year term. The vice-president may serve no more than two successive six-year terms.
Under the Philippine constitution, the bicameral legislature consists of a senate of 24 members, serving six-year terms, and a house of representatives with a maximum of 250 members, serving three-year terms. The first general elections for the legislature under the new constitution were held in May 1987.
B Political Parties
For the February 1986 presidential election, the parties that took part were a 12-party coalition, the United Nationalist Democratic Organization (Unido); the New Society Movement (KBL); and the Philippine Democratic Party (PDP-Laban). The Unido and PDP candidates were Corazon Aquino and Salvador Laurel, and the New Society Movement supported Ferdinand Marcos and Arturo Tolentino. In the elections of May 1987, opponents of Aquino campaigned under the banner of the Grand Alliance for Democracy. In the 1992 presidential elections, Fidel Valdez Ramos, who won the election, was supported by the Lakas ng Edsa and the National Union of Christian Democrats (NUCD) political parties.
The major parties contesting the May 1998 presidential elections were the Labang ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino (LAMMP) coalition supporting Joseph Estrada, the Lakas-NUCD-UMPD-Kampi coalition backed by the incumbent President Ramos, the Liberal Party, Democratic Action, and the People’s Reform Party. The party system that has evolved since 1986 generates a multiplicity of parties, many of them more personal organizations for promoting their founders than ideological blocs.
C Judiciary
The highest tribunal in the Philippines is the Supreme Court, made up of a chief justice and 14 associate justices, all appointed by the country’s president. Other judicial bodies include a Court of Appeals, courts of the first instance, and municipal courts.
D Local Government
The Philippines is divided into 76 provinces, each headed by a governor, plus the national capital region. The provinces are subdivided into a total of 61 chartered cities, more than 1,500 municipalities, and thousands of other local units.
E Health and Welfare
Most cities of the Philippines have modern health facilities, which are usually lacking in rural areas. Average life expectancy at birth in 2001 was 65 years for men and 71 years for women. Infant mortality in 2001 was 29 deaths per 1,000 live births. The country had about 78,440 doctors, or 1 for every 849 people. The government manages a retirement and life insurance programme for employed people. In 1998 2.65 per cent of the national budget was spent on health care.
F Defence
In 1999 the armed forces of the Philippines included an army of 66,000 personnel, a navy of 24,000, and an air force of 16,000.
G International Organizations
The Philippines is a member of the UN, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Colombo Plan, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
VI HISTORY
The first humans in the Philippine Islands are thought to have come from China and the Malayan Archipelago some 250,000 years ago, during the Ice Age, but few remains from that time have been discovered. Afterwards, other peoples migrated to the islands, among them Negritos, who probably arrived about 25,000 years ago. A Mongoloid people from south-eastern Asia followed about 10,000 years later. All are thought to have reached the islands across a land bridge that no longer exists. Larger groups of people from the regions of present-day China and Vietnam arrived from about 7000 bc to 2000 bc. The largest migrations to the islands, however, probably occurred after the 3rd century bc. The last arrivals were people from the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian archipelago. These migrants brought with them their iron tools and a technology that included glassmaking and tie-and-dye weaving.
A Cultural Influences
By the 5th century ad a new Filipino civilization had emerged from the mixture of cultures. Traders from as far away as India became frequent visitors to the islands. Competing influences from the Middle East, India, and China brought many changes in the economy and social life. Several primary industries—mining, metallurgy, forestry—came into being, and gold and coins were introduced as media of exchange. By the 12th century, the powerful Sumatra-based kingdom of Sri Vijaya had also extended its considerable influence to the Philippines. Starting in the 13th century, Islam spread through the southern parts of the archipelago and became firmly established there. The Chinese Ming dynasty maintained tributary commercial and diplomatic relations with the islands throughout the 15th century.
B European Colonization
The islands were first seen by a European in March 1521, when the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached them during his attempted circumnavigation of the Earth in the service of Spain. The following month Magellan was killed on the island of Mactan, near Cebu Island, when he tried to impose Christianity and Spanish sovereignty on the local chief, Lapu-Lapu. The rout of the Spanish ended the shadowy authority Magellan had sought to establish. For his successful defiance of the Spanish, Lapu-Lapu is a national hero.
The Spanish claim to the islands was disputed by Portugal, which was already in possession of the nearby Moluccas and could invoke the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, whereby the eastern hemisphere was reserved to Portuguese colonization. In 1542, however, a Spanish expedition reasserted the claims of Spain and named the archipelago the Islas Filipinas, or Philippine Islands, in honour of the royal heir, later King Philip II.
The first Spanish expedition to achieve lasting results was headed by Miguel López de Legazpi, who landed in 1564. Legazpi gradually advanced Spanish power over the islands, and in 1572 established Manila as the administrative centre. Portuguese threats were entirely eliminated after 1580, when King Philip also became King of Portugal.
B1 Conversion to Christianity
Representatives of various Roman Catholic religious orders, such as the Augustinians, Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits, came to the islands immediately after the successful Legazpi expedition. Conversions were rapid, as coercion mixed with the ceremonial splendour of the Roman Catholic rites aroused fear and admiration in the local peoples. The work of the missionaries was of utmost importance in establishing Spanish rule and was comparably important to the Filipinos, united at last into a fairly homogeneous people by a common religion. The monastic orders eventually secured the possession of large tracts of land, and they became wealthy and politically powerful.
B2 The Spanish Challenged
Other European nations, by the end of the 16th century, began attempts to acquire a foothold in the Philippines. English mariners, including Sir Francis Drake in 1579, harassed Spanish shipping. Later the Dutch, beginning to take an active imperialistic role in the Orient, raided the islands and took prizes not only of Spanish but also of Chinese, Portuguese, and Japanese trading vessels. Dutch attacks gradually ceased after 1662, when the Netherlands occupied the rich Moluccas.
Upon the overthrow of Spanish rule in Mexico by the Mexican War of Independence in 1821, the Philippines were put directly under the administrative control of Madrid. Filipino nationalism, however, was little in evidence at that time, and the islands remained relatively quiet until the late 19th century.
C Indigenous Resistance
In 1892 several secret societies were organized to act against the Spanish authorities. The foremost of these was the Philippine League, founded by José Rizal in 1891. Rizal, a political moderate who, nevertheless, was executed in 1896 by the Spanish authorities, became the martyred symbol of his nation. Truly radical was the Katipunan (Tagalog, “association”), established to secure complete independence by open revolt. The existence of the Katipunan was disclosed to Spanish officials on August 19, 1896, and on August 26, the insurrectionists, no longer able to hide their activity, began armed hostilities.
Under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo, chief of the rebel forces, the insurgents were initially successful. Reinforcements from Spain, however, substantially weakened the rebellion in early 1897, and in August of that year Aguinaldo and the Spanish Governor-General signed the Pact of Biac-na-bató, guaranteeing Spanish reforms within three years. The pact was conditional upon the withdrawal of the Filipino leaders from the islands, and Aguinaldo went to Hong Kong with his associates. Domestic events, however, were soon overshadowed by the beginning of the Spanish-American War on April 21, 1898. On May 1 the Asian squadron of the United States Navy destroyed the Spanish fleet situated in Manila Bay.
D United States Rule
With US help, Aguinaldo returned to the islands on May 19 and proclaimed an independent Philippine republic. By the terms of the Treaty of Paris (December 10, 1898), however, Spain ceded the entire archipelago to the United States in return for US$20 million, and on December 21 the United States proclaimed the establishment of US military rule. Aguinaldo and his associates refused to acknowledge US domination. A provisional Philippine government was established at Malolos, in central Luzon, on January 23, 1899. Tension increased, and on February 4 hostilities began at Manila, when a Filipino patrol provoked the fire of a US sentry. The insurgents were driven back almost at once by US troops, and in November 1899, the Filipinos resorted to guerrilla warfare. Aguinaldo was captured on March 23, 1901, and he swore an oath of allegiance to the United States in April, but sporadic warfare continued for still another year.
At the end of the insurrection in 1902, US civil government replaced the military authority, and on July 4, 1902, William Howard Taft, later president of the United States, became the first civil governor. The Philippine Bill of 1902 provided for the establishment of a bicameral legislature, and five years later, on October 16, 1907, the first session of the Philippine assembly opened, with an elected lower house and the Philippine Commission, previously established, as the upper house.
D1 Shifting American Policies
US politics soon began to influence the course of events in the islands. Taft and his immediate successors were unwilling to delegate much authority to the Filipinos. With the election of Woodrow Wilson to the United States presidency in 1912, a new policy was adopted. In 1916 the Jones Act instituted an elected senate, and promised eventual independence. These moves, however, were slowed with the election of Warren G. Harding as president of the United States in 1920. Harding, in 1921, appointed a commission to investigate the political and economic situation in the islands. Shortly thereafter, General Leonard Wood, head of the commission, was appointed governor-general. In its report the commission declared that immediate independence would be “a betrayal of the Philippine people”. Wood, basing his policies on those delineated by the commission, found himself bitterly opposed by the Filipino advocates of independence, among whom were Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, President of the Philippine Senate; Sergio Osmeña, Speaker of the House of Representatives before 1922; and Manuel Roxas y Acuña, the Speaker after 1922.
D2 The Commonwealth
With the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 as president of the United States, the official policy changed once again. On January 13, 1933, the Congress of the United States passed the Howes-Cutting Bill granting Philippine independence after 12 years, but reserving military and naval bases for the United States and imposing tariffs and quotas on Philippine exports. The bill was rejected by the Filipinos. Led by Quezon, the Philippine Senate advocated a new bill and won the support of President Roosevelt. The Tydings-McDuffie Bill, passed in 1934, granted absolute and complete independence by 1946, and provided for an interim commonwealth supervised by the United States, but with a Philippine president elected by national vote and with a constitution. Adopted in February 1935, the constitution was approved by President Roosevelt and ratified by a plebiscite of the Philippine people on May 14. The commonwealth was formally established on November 15, with Quezon as the first president. He was re-elected in 1941.
D3 World War II
Japanese planes attacked the Philippines on December 8, 1941, and a large-scale invasion began two weeks later. The subsequent Japanese occupation and warfare caused widespread destruction in the islands, especially in Manila, with heavy civilian casualties. On October 20, 1944, US forces returned to the Philippines under General Douglas MacArthur, who had been military commander in the islands before the Japanese attack. The Japanese officially surrendered on September 2, 1945.
After the Japanese invasion Quezon escaped to the United States, where he headed the Philippine government-in-exile until his death in 1944. He was succeeded by Sergio Osmeña, his vice-president. Meanwhile, in Manila, former senator Jose P. Laurel was appointed president of the unpopular Japanese-sponsored government in the Philippines in 1943. Laurel’s controversial period in power was short-lived, as following the surrender of the Japanese the exiled government returned to Manila in 1945, and on April 23, 1946, Roxas was elected president, with Elpidio Quirino as vice-president. To help in the rehabilitation of the islands, the United States established preferential trade relations and awarded the islands several hundred million dollars in war damage and rehabilitation aid.
E Republic Established
The Republic of the Philippines was formally proclaimed on July 4, 1946. In addition to the problem of economic rehabilitation, the new state was faced with internal strife. In central Luzon the Hukbalahaps, or Huks, a Communist-led group of former guerrillas against the Japanese, organized a rebel government with its own military, civil, and administrative procedures. Demanding collectivization of farmlands and the abolition of tenant-farming, the Huks became a powerful force in Luzon.
Philippine cooperation with the United States became the keynote of the post-war policy. In 1947 the United States was awarded military bases on a 99-year lease, shortened in 1959 to 25 years. A plebiscite in March 1948 ratified an amendment to the Philippine constitution giving US citizens economic rights equal to those of Filipinos. Vice-President Quirino, who became acting president on the death, in April 1948, of President Roxas, won a term on his own in 1949. The Huk rebellion continued to gather momentum in 1949 and 1950.
The government signed a peace treaty with Japan in September 1951, but talks in early 1952 were soon suspended because of Philippine demands for US$8 billion in war damages. Pending settlement of the issue, the Philippine legislature refused to ratify the peace treaty.
F Magsaysay’s Term
In 1953 the government attempted unsuccessfully to end the Huk rebellion by a peace parley with the rebel leaders. In the presidential elections, held on November 10, former defence minister Ramón Magsaysay won a decisive victory over the incumbent Quirino, and because of his vigorous conduct of the campaign against the Huks, the back of the rebellion was broken, although it was not entirely suppressed.
Congress approved, on August 11, 1955, legislation empowering President Magsaysay to break up large landed estates and distribute the land to tenant farmers. On September 6 the Philippines and the United States concluded a trade agreement on private US investment in Philippine enterprises.
In the mid-1950s the United States and the Philippines jointly acknowledged Philippine ownership of US military bases in the islands. The Philippine Senate also ratified the peace treaty with Japan and a Philippine-Japanese agreement providing for US$800 million in Japanese reparations.
Magsaysay died on March 17, 1957, in an air crash, and the next day Vice-President Carlos P. Garcia was sworn in as president. In June a statute outlawing the Communist Party was promulgated. The statute provided a maximum sentence of death for active party membership but allowed surrender without penalty within 30 days after promulgation. Some 1,400 holdouts of the Huk movement surrendered. Garcia was subsequently elected president, and Diosdado Macapagal, an opposition Liberal Party candidate, was elected vice-president. Macapagal was elected president in 1961, but in the elections of 1965 he lost to the Nationalist candidate, Ferdinand Marcos.
G The Marcos Regime
Rapid development of the economy brought prosperity during Marcos’s first term, and he was easily re-elected in 1969. His second term, however, was troubled by civil unrest, caused partly by his support of US policy in the Vietnam War. By the early 1970s two separate forces, the Communist New People’s Army and the Moro National Liberation Front, a Muslim separatist movement in the south, were waging guerrilla war on the government. The unrest and criminal depredations were cited as excuses for the declaration of martial law in 1972. Congress was dissolved, opposition leaders arrested, and strict censorship imposed. Marcos thereafter ruled by decree.
A new constitution was promulgated in January 1973, but transitional provisions attached to it gave Marcos continued absolute powers, and elections were indefinitely postponed; instead, the president sought popular sanction of his acts by repeated referendums. Some relaxation was allowed in 1977 and 1978, but restiveness among the population, including the Church hierarchy, grew. In 1980 several opposition groups united to demand an end to martial law, and urban guerrillas carried out a series of bombings in Manila.
President Marcos ended martial law in 1981. Presidential elections were held in June, and Marcos won a new six-year term. Opposition to the rule—by him and his wife Imelda Marcos, however, continued to grow. In 1983 opposition leader Benigno Aquino was murdered. A military conspiracy was blamed for the murder, but the defendants were acquitted later. Marcos called for presidential elections in February 1986; his chief opponent was Aquino’s widow, Corazon Aquino. Reports that Marcos had won through fraud stirred a revolt, the EDSA Revolution, in which elements in the armed forces combined with “People Power” to bring down the president. Marcos had to flee the country, settling temporarily in Hawaii, and taking with him, according to widespread accusations, undetermined amounts of illegally gained wealth.
H Democratization
Aquino became president and won the enactment of a new constitution in February 1987. Although she won a vote of confidence in legislative elections that May, military unrest, coupled with popular discontent at the slow pace of economic reform, continued to threaten her government. US Air Force jets assisted Philippine government forces in suppressing a coup attempt in December 1989. In 1991 damage from the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in central Luzon led the United States to abandon nearby Clark Air Base; the Philippine senate then refused to renew the lease on the lone remaining US base, Subic Bay Naval Station, which the United States closed in November 1992. Aquino declined to run in the May 1992 presidential election; instead, she endorsed the eventual winner, her former Defence Secretary, Fidel Valdez Ramos.
Ramos’s government brought growing political stability and prosperity. However, Muslim insurgency on Mindanao erupted again with a massacre of some 50 civilians in the town of Ipil on April 4, 1995; outside agitators were blamed. Congressional elections in June 1995 strengthened Ramos’s administration; Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., son of the former dictator, failed to win a seat. In December 1995 and January 1996 a police sweep picked up numbers of Islamic terrorists apparently intending to attack the November 1996 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit due to be held in Manila. Ramos enacted new economic liberalization measures in March 1996 to further boost the newly vigorous Philippines economy. In September the government signed a peace agreement with the Muslim Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the chief insurgent group on Mindanao.
In April and May 1997 a series of naval accidents highlighted tension between China and the Philippines over ownership of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. In June the Philippines Supreme Court confirmed previous rulings preventing President Ramos from amending the constitution to allow him to run for a second term. In July 1997 the Philippines peso was devalued after speculative attacks in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. In September 1997 there were massive demonstrations in Manila, organized by Cardinal Jaime Sin and attended by the former president, Corazon Aquino, against Ramos’s continuing plans for a second presidential term. In December Ramos officially endorsed his successor as presidential candidate for the ruling Lakas-NUCD coalition. Fighting between government forces and Moro separatists in Mindanao broke out again in January 1998, but by March the two sides had reached a new agreement. The conditions of the agreement, supervised by members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, stipulated that in exchange for peace, the MNLF would receive aid for economic development for the southern region of Mindanao, and the chance for areas where Muslims live to vote on becoming part of an autonomous region. After a vigorously contested presidential poll accompanied by violence in some areas, the populist candidate and incumbent Vice-President Joseph Estrada was elected president in May 1998.
Despite the peace agreement, sporadic periods of fighting continued in the south throughout 1999, as the MNLF complained that the conditions of the agreement had not been met. 2000 saw the escalation of violent unrest, with rebels continuing to press for the island of Mindanao to be declared an independent Islamic state. In late April 2000, extremist Muslim separatist guerrilla group, Abu Sayaaf, kidnapped a group of tourists from a Malaysian resort and transported them to the southern Philippine island of Jolo, where they were held hostage for nearly five months. This action was met by government military assaults on separatist camps, international intervention, with Libya involved in hostage negotiation attempts with the Abu Sayaaf rebels, and finally the announcement of a government amnesty for members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's main Muslim guerrilla group.
In November 2000, Estrada was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of embezzlement of government funds and receiving bribes from illegal gambling bosses. His impeachment trial in the Senate collapsed on January 16, 2001, following the decision by Senate judges not to allow the inspection of the president’s bank accounts. In a movement of mass popular protest, comparable to the 1986 “People Power” uprising, Estrada was forced to resign, and former vice-president Gloria Arroyo was sworn in as president on January 20, 2001.
In a bid to end the violence in the south of the country, Arroyo ordered her government to resume peace talks with two armed rebel groups Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Communist Party of the Philippines.
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