Philippines

The Philippines is a country with 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. The Philippines, South Korea, and East Timor are the only nations in East Asia where most people practice Christianity.

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. Borneo island is a few hundred kilometers to the southwest and Taiwan is directly north. On the eastern side of the Philippine Sea is Palau.

1 History
- 1.1 Before the Spanish came
- 1.2 Arrival of the Spaniards
2 Politics
3 Regions and Provinces
- 3.1 Regions
4 Geography
5 Problems
6 Economy
7 People
8 Languages
9 Culture
10 Religion
11 Other websites

[change] History

[change] Before the Spanish came

Human fossils were found proving that many people settled in the Philippines for thousands of years. The Negritos or Aetas, crossed prehistoric land or ice to settle in the islands' land. Many groups of Austronesian or Malayan people 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 enabled 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.

[change] Arrival of the Spaniards

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. The Philippines was ruled from New Spain (Mexico) and a trade began in the 18th century began using galleons acros the Pacific Ocean. Some rebellions and violence started in the towns near the ocean and during the next three centuries because of some unfairness in the government.

In 1781, Governor José Basco y Vargas founded the Economic Society of Friends of the Country to make the Philipines independent of New Spain.

The country opened up during the 19th century. The rise of an ambitious, more nationalistic Filipino middle class and the 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 asked for independence. Jose Rizal, the most famous propagandist, was arrested and put to death in 1896 for acts of subversion. Soon after, the Philippine Revolution broke out, led 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 gave up the Philippines to the United States for US$20 million. The Filipinos had declared independence by that time and the assertion of American control led to the Philippine-American War that officially ended in 1901, but fighting continued well into 1913. The American regime imposed the English language as the lingua franca in the islands through free public education. The status of the country was turned into that of a US commonwealth in 1935, which provided for more self-governance.

Between 1899 and 1913 the American-Philippines war waged, about one million Philippines and over 5000 american soldiers lost their lifes.

Independence was finally given in 1946, after the World War II. The years right after that had many post-war problems. People were also not happy during the unpopular dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, who was made to leave the presidency in 1986. Later, the continuing problem of communist insurgency and Muslim separatism.

[change] Politics

The government of the Philippines, is similar to the Government of the United States of America. The President of the Philippines works as the head of state, the head of government, and the commander in chief of the Military of the Philippines and the armed forces. The president is elected by voting just as in America. He stays as the president for 6 years. He is the leader of the cabinet.

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

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

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.

[change] Regions and Provinces

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

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

[change] Regions

Ilocos Region (Region I)
Cagayan Valley (Region II)
Central Luzon (Region III)
CALABARZON (Region IV-A) ¹
MIMARO (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)

¹ Names are capitalized because they are acronyms, containing the names of the constituent provinces or cities).

[change] Geography

The Philippines has 7,107 islands. Together there are about 300,000 square kilometers of land. The islands are in three groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Luzon is the largest island and Mindanao is the second largest. The Visayas are the group of islands in the central part of the Philippines. The busy port of Manila, on Luzon, is the country's capital and it is the second-largest city after Quezon City. In the Visayas, Cebu City is the largest city. In Mindanao, Davao City is the largest 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).

The Philippines is in the Pacific Ring of Fire (zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions). 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 Mayon, are active. The country also has about 19 typhoons per year.

Taal Volcano is an island within Taal Lake which sits in a ancient caldera. Located in Batangas Province, it's about 2 hours by bus going south from Manila. The jump-off point in Talisay. It's suitable for day trips and overnighters.

[change] Problems

There are problems with nature because the rainforest is becoming smaller and marine pollution (dirtiness) is increasing.

[change] Economy

The Philippines is a developing country. In 1998 the Philippine economy — a mixture of agriculture, light industry, and support services — deteriorated because of the 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 industrialised countries of East Asia.

The strategies are improving infrastructure, fixing the tax system to help the government income, supporting deregulation (to remove government control) and privatisation of the economy, and increasing trade within the region. Future prospects depend heavily on the economic performance of the two major trading partners, the United States and Japan.

[change] People

Around 89 million people live in the Philippines as of 2006. Most people in the Philippines are of Austronesian stock. The ethnic Chinese, who have helped run businesses since the 9th century, also live in the country. The Negritos live in the mountains of Luzon and Visayas. 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. Filipinos are divided into many groups, the three largest are the Tagalogs, Cebuanos, and the Ilocanos. When the Philippines was a colony, the term "Filipino" used to mean the Spanish and Spanish-mestizo minority. But now everyone living in the Philippines is called "Filipino". Even then, it is still has the most different ethnic groups in Asia.

People also call Filipinos, "Pinoy" for short.

[change] Languages

Filipino and English are the official languages. Filipino is based largely on Tagalog, the language spoken in Manila and neighboring provinces. Other local languages are Cebuano and Ilocano and many others. English is used in government, schools and business. Filipino is used more in speaking and in the media.

Other languages are Chinese and Arabic.

[change] Culture

Filipino culture is strongly influenced by both Western and Eastern traditions. It is a mix of native (Austronesian), Spanish, Mexican, American, Negrito and Chinese cultures.

Before the Spanish arrived, the Filipinos did not think of themselves as one people. The Spaniards came in 1565, and brought with them Spanish culture. They soon spread to the islands making forts and schools, preaching Christianity, and converting the native peoples to the Catholic religion. When the United States colonized the islands in 1898, the Americans brought with them their culture, which has the strongest influence up to now. This makes the Philippines the most Westernized country in eastern Asia.

Each year major festivities called barrio fiestas are held. They commemorate the Patron saints of the towns, villages and regional districts. The festivities includes church services, street parades, fire works, feastings, dance contests and cockfights.

[change] Religion

Most of the people in the Philippines are Christians. About 92% of the people are Christians. Most people in the Philippines belong to the Roman Catholic faith (83%). A small percentage of the people are Protestants (9%), Muslims (5%), or Buddhists (2%). There are also someHindus and other religions (with 1%).

[change] Other websites

[change] Official websites

www.gov.ph - Government portal
www.op.gov.ph - Office of the President
www.senate.gov.ph - Senate
www.congress.gov.ph - House of Representatives
www.supremecourt.gov.ph - Supreme Court
www.comelec.gov.ph - Commission on Elections

[change] News websites

[change] Other

Open Directory Project
University of the Philippines
The Filipino Channel - Satellite TV from the Philippines

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Category: Philippines