Concise History Of The Philippine Islands, please read Filipinos who seek knowledge Options

[dalawapo]

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bye

Philippine Prehistory - The First Inhabitants - 40,000 BP

The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands in the South China Sea situated between Taiwan to the north and Borneo to the south. Just 2,000 of its islands are inhabited and only 500 are larger than a kilometre square. The nine largest islands of Luzon, Mindanao, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Samar, Negros, Leyte and Cebu make up 90% of the nation's land area.

Over the past two million years, the earth has undergone twenty cycles of glaciation. During these ice ages, glaciers accumulate on land a substantial quantity of the earth's water in the form of ice and cause the water levels in the world's oceans to drop. At the height of the last ice age, the sea levels around the Philippines were at least 50 metres lower than they are today. The present sea beds surrounding the Malay peninsula and the islands of Sumatra, Java, Borneo and Palawan were all above water making one huge extension to the continental land mass of Asia.

The earth's climate began warming 18,000 years ago and the oceans regained their present high levels about 8,000 years ago.

No pre-hominid or hominid species such as australopithecus or homo erectus has been found in the Philippines. The first human beings probably reached the Philippines about 40,000 years ago at roughly the same time as they reached Australia and New Guinea. The Philippines, like Australia and New Guinea, were never actually joined to the south east Asian mainland but, at the low ocean levels, the water barrier was much less. The earliest human bones found in the Philippines were on Palawan of modern type and date to 22,000 B.P. although stone tools from Palawan date back to 30,000 B.P.

The original people of the Philippines were the ancestors of the people known today as Negritos or Aeta. They are an Australo-Melanesian people with dark skin and tight, curly brown hair. They are also distinctively small and of short stature. As the Pygmies in the equatorial forests of Africa, the Aeta are believed to have adapted locally to the tropical jungles of the Philippines.

The Aeta are a nomadic hunting and gathering people who forage in small family bands with an informal organization and leadership. They were once widespread throughout the Philippines but are now found only in the remote highland areas of Luzon, Palawan, Panay, Negros and Mindanao.

http://www.ualberta.ca/~vmitchel/rev1.html

Agricultural Revolution - China 6,000 BC

The Agricultural Revolution is the term used to describe the transition from nomadic hunting and gathering societies to settled agrarian societies. The description deserves some qualification. Taken as a whole, from start to finish, the transition certainly was a revolution in the entirety of changes it brought in the way people lived. Considered over the entire 250,000 year span of human existence, the several thousand years it took was relatively sudden. Still, it did take several thousands of years and it was a gradual and incremental process. The changes in any given lifetime were imperceptible. Cumulatively, over time, they were enormous. For generation after generation, the people who lived through the Agricultural Revolution and made it happen had no idea they were part of anything like a revolution.

Neither was the Agricultural Revolution a singular event. Since the last ice age, the transition from nomadic foraging to settled agriculture has occured independently in at least four, possibly six, separate geographic areas. The transition takes place where both the paleolithic hunting and gathering and neolithic gardening ways of life can co-exist simultaneously. Typically, it is the women who know where and when to gather the local domesticates. Repeated harvestings engage collector and collected in a positive feedback-natural selection process that changes the domesticate species genetically to favour its selection and reproduction. Over time, passive gathering becomes active planting, tending and harvesting.

All the while, as the women acquire the arts of gardening, the men continue to lead the group on their seasonal hunting and fishing migrations. Slowly, as the garden reliably begins to produce a larger and larger portion of the food supply, there is less wandering in pursuit of game and more gardening. The transition to horticulture results in the settlement of villages around the garden plots with hunting expeditions reduced to limited forays from the settled home base. Horticultural villages usually move every few years when the garden soil is exhausted and fresh new plots are cleared.

The central role of women in horticultural societies tends to have political and sociological consequences. It is the women who own and manage their garden plots and pass them on to the next generation. It is the women who decide when their soil is depleted and where the village should move to clear more fertile ground. One of the more interesting aspects of horticultural societies is that it is often women who exercize political power and authority in their society. Anthropologists and travellers alike call attention to the special standing and respect that women enjoy in Austronesian cultures generally and the Philippines in particular. The honoured position of women in Austronesian and Philippine society, more than likely, remains a legacy from their, not so distant, horticultural prehistory.

Horticulture is the critical intermediate step between hunting and gathering and fully developed agriculture. A later shift from small plot horticulture to large field crop agriculture occurs with the introduction of domestic animal power as well as metal working technologies. It is at this stage that agriculturalists can afford to abandon their former hunting ranges altogether and settle permanently in the prime agricultural lands of river valleys with their rich alluvial soils. It is also at this stage, with its heavier field work and animal husbandry, that men take control of the land and animals and resume their dominant position in society over women.

The huge evolutionary advantage of horticulture over foraging as a cultural adaptation is the much increased reliability and abundance of the society's food supply. Horticulture can support a much larger population on the same land as hunting and gathering. Whereas a typical population density for a hunting and gathering society is about one person for every ten square kilometres; subsistence horticulture easily supports five people per square kilometre. That horticulturalists can outnumber hunters and gatherers by a factor of 50:1 has important implications for contact between the two societies. Simply put, in competition for land, horticulturalists invariably eliminate or displace hunters and gatherers.

The distinctively East Asian set of domestic plants and animals, i.e., rice, millet, chickens, geese, dogs and pigs, attest to an independent origin of agriculture in China. Chinese agriculture may have begun in two separate areas. Millet is native to the cooler, drier climate of the Huangho River in northern China while rice grows naturally in the warmer, wetter climate of the Yangtze River in southern China. Whether it started in one area or two, agriculture in China was firmly established by 6,000 BC.

http://www.ualberta.ca/~vmitchel/rev2.html

Austronesian Expansion - Taiwan 4,000 BC

By 5,000 BC an especially potent and versatile culture combining fishing and gardening had developed on the south coast of China. As well as growing their food on land, these maritime gardeners were accomplished at fishing the waters in the Straits of Taiwan from boats with hooks and nets. Between 4,000 and 3,000 BC, these fishermen-farmers crossed the 150 km of the Straits and settled on Taiwan.

It is important to note that the fishermen-farmers who crossed the straits to Taiwan were not the Sino-Tibetan speaking Han Chinese who today make up the great majority of the Chinese population. Linguistic evidence from Taiwan suggests that they spoke an Austronesian language closely related to the Tai-Kadai language family that is the dominant language group today in Laos, Thailand and the north and east of Burma.

On Taiwan, the Austronesian speaking fishermen-farmers honed their sea-faring skills. They soon embarked on one of the most astonishing and extensive colonizations in human history known as the Austronesian expansion. By about 2,500 BC, one group, and just one group of Austronesian speakers from Taiwan had ventured to northern Luzon in the Philippines and settled there. The archaeological record from the Cagayan Valley in northern Luzon shows that they brought with them the same set of stone tools and pottery they had in Taiwan. The descendants of this group spread their language and culture through the Indo-Malayan archipelago as far west as Madagascar off the east coast of Africa and as far east as Hawaii and Easter Island in the central Pacific Ocean.

For the most part, the Austronesians encountered unoccupied coasts and islands. Where they met hunting and gathering cultures, their horticultural productivity and population growth soon overwhelmed the aboriginal occupants. All the surviving Aeta populations in the Philippines speak Austronesian languages. Where they met established agrarian cultures, such as along the coasts of Vietnam (Champa) and Indo-China, their incursions were limited.

The speed of the Austronesian expansion was also a consequence of their maritime culture. Under the pressure of an expanding population, adventurous colonizers would prefer to settle new lands on coasts and islands before pressing inland and away from the sea. Furthermore, the Austronesian kinship system gave higher status, prestige and authority to the lineages most closely related to the society's founder. Austronesian culture put a premium on founding new colonies that gave an additional incentive to continued expansion. As it was, there were many new coasts and islands available for occupation and settlement.

Over the next thousand years to 1,500 BC, the Austronesians spread south through the Philippines to the Celebes, the Moluccas, northern Borneo and eastern Java. One branch went east from the Moluccan Island of Halmahera about 1,600 BC to colonize eastern Melanesia (1,200 BC) and Micronesia (500 BC). The migration had continued well into Polynesia by 0 AD and on to Hawaii and Easter Island by 500 AD. The Austronesians finally reached the last uninhabited land on earth, New Zealand, sometime around 1,300 AD.

Other Austronesians continued west through Borneo and Java to Sumatra and settled the coasts of the Malay peninsula and southern Vietnam by 500 BC. From Sumatra and the Malay peninsula, they learned to master the semi-annual winds of the Indian Ocean monsoons. Around 100 AD, they crossed the Bay of Bengal and made contacts with Sri Lanka and southern India. The western branch of the Austronesian expansion reached its furthest extent by 500 AD plying the monsoons to colonize Madagascar.

From Taiwan to New Zealand and Madagascar to Easter Island, the Austronesian language family is made up of more than a thousand languages and dialects. (Estimates vary from 900-1200 according to how dialects are distinguished from languages.) Measured by geographical extent, number of languages or number of speakers it is one of the world's largest language groups. In the Philippines there are some 87 Austronesian languages. The five largest, Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon and Bicolano account for three-quarters of the population.

(IMG:http://www.unc.edu/~nielsen/soci011/hs6/hs6027.gif)

http://www.ualberta.ca/~vmitchel/rev3.html

Hindic-Buddhist Kingdoms - 200 AD

In the three thousand or so years that the neolithic Austronesians had spent settling and populating the Indo-Malayan archipelago, on the Asian mainland sophisticated, metal-working, literate, stratified, state civilizations had developed in China behind them and in India ahead of them. Once the east to west movement of the Austronesian cultures met the high civilization of southern India, a cultural movement of Hindic-Buddhist influences reflected back through the archipelago from west to east.

The Philippines are situated at the far northeastern end of the archipelago. They were involved in the very earliest stages of the Austronesian expansion. By the same geography, they were the last to receive the civilizational influences emanating from mainland Asia.

In the hazy transition from prehistory to recorded history, it is not absolutely clear whether it was the Austronesian seafarers who first went to India or Indian merchants who came to the Malay peninsula. In its trade with China and Rome, India imported gold. Due to Rome's economic troubles, the Emperor Vespasian (69-79 AD) decreed a ban on the export of bullion. At the same time, the Chinese Han dynasty, in its decline, was losing control of the Silk Road to marauding Huns. India needed new sources of gold and found them across the Bay of Bengal on the Malay Peninsula. Around 100 AD, Kedah was founded on the export of Malayan gold to India.

The court records from the Chinese Kingdom of Wu (222-280 AD) report that there were 100 kingdoms on the Southern Seas. These were small kingdoms in Malaya, Sumatra and Java engaged in trade with the Coramandel coast of southern India. They styled their kingdoms in conscious imitation of the Hindic-Buddhist states with whom they traded. The local sovereigns retained Brahman scholars at their courts so that their Sanskrit writings and Buddhist rites would add to the authority and prestige of their kingdoms.

Importantly, the Hindu and Buddhist influences from India were not imposed by conquest or foreign domination. The influence was also more apparent than real. Beneath the surface, the Indian religious symbols and rites were freely adapted to express the animist beliefs and ancestor worship of Austronesian culture. Nor did the influence of Indian civilization extend far beyond the royal courts. Outside the nobility, life went on for the general population much as it had for thousands of years. The Sanskrit script, for instance, does not appear to have been applied as an aid for commerce. Nor, with the notable exception of Bali, was the Indian caste system imported. The social organization continued to follow the traditional kinship system of Austronesian society.

Of much greater significance, it was during these early centuries of the first millennium AD that metal working, water buffalo, irrigation and wet rice field agriculture spread through the archipelago. Whether from India or mainland Indo-China, the source of these agricultural and technical innovations is not known.

http://www.ualberta.ca/~vmitchel/rev4.html

Sri Vijaya 650-1377

The first evidence for the opening of the sea route between India and China comes from the report of a Chinese traveller, Fa Hsien, in 413 AD that he had taken a ship from Sri Lanka directly to China. The beginning of the T'ang dynasty in 618 AD brought renewed stability to China and greatly stimulated the trade and traffic on the India-China sea route through the Indo-Malayan archipelago. For the kingdoms along the Sunda and Malacca Straits, their goal was no longer merely to participate in the China-India trade but to control it as it passed by their territories.

For more than 600 years, the Buddhist kingdom of Sri Vijaya was the strongest of the Straits kingdoms. Sri Vijaya was located at Palembang in southern Sumatra facing out on the Sunda Straits. The kingdom is first recorded in 650 AD as having conquered the west Java kingdom of Taruma. A passing Chinese monk in 671, I-Tsing, comments favourably on Sri Vijaya as a fine centre of Buddhist learning. The kingdom was in regular communication and exchange with Nalanda; the centre of Buddhist scholarship in the Ganges delta of northern India.

By 686, Sri Vijaya had asserted its hegemony over the Sunda Straits and the adjacent Javanese kingdoms. A century later, in 775, it had similarly dominated the Straits of Malacca and commanded tribute from all the kingdoms along its shores. Attaining monopoly control over the trade through the Straits and then keeping it demands a special ruthlessness in suppressing rivals and discouraging interlopers. Sri Vijaya was equal to the task.

While Sri Vijaya was establishing its predominance, three generations of Sailendra kings in central Java, between 770 and 825, built the magnificent Buddhist temple complex of Borobudur.

By the late 10th century, the Javanese kingdoms were mounting a serious challenge to Sri Vijaya's hegemony; so much so that in 992 it sent a mission to China seeking protection from its enemies. No doubt the Chinese appreciated the importance of order and stability for the security of traffic through the Straits. In the 11th century, Sri Vijaya's Malayan tributaries sought help from India in throwing off its dominance. The Indian Chola states attacked Sri Vijaya in 1017, 1025 and again 1068. By 1200, Sri Vijaya had lost control over several of its principal tributaries on the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.

From about this time in the Philippines comes the historical legend of the Ten Datus from Sabah who settled in the Visayas sometime around 1212. The Ten Datus were clearly escaping from an overbearing presence on Borneo rather than appropriating new domains in the name of their sovereign. That the legend calls them "datus", not Rajas or Sultans, indicates they were Austronesian chiefs and not the heads of politically organized states.

With Sri Vijaya under attack and weakened, the rival Javanese kindoms of Kediri and Singhasari grew in power. Finally in 1290, Singhasari drove Sri Vijaya out of Java altogether. The rising power of Singhasari attracted the attention of China's Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan who in 1289 had demanded a payment of tribute. Kublai Khan's ambassadors returned to China without their noses. A Mongol fleet arrived in the Java Sea in 1293.

http://www.ualberta.ca/~vmitchel/rev5.html

Majapahit 1292-1478

The successor state to Sri Vijaya, Majapahit, was founded in a bold string of treacheries. The son-in-law of the Singhasari king broke with his father-in-law to found the Hindu Majapahit kingdom in 1292. When Kublai Khan's punitive expedition arrived the next year, he allied his kingdom with the Mongols. On destroying his father-in-law with Mongol help, he immediately turned and slaughtered the Mongols.

Despite its promising start, the Javanese Majapahit empire would be relatively short-lived. It was founded just as the penetration of Muslim traders and proselytizers into the archipelago was gaining in strength. Majapahit was fortunate in having the services of Gajah Madah; an ambitious and determined Prime Minister and Regent. In his long career from 1331 to 1364, Gajah Madah brought Bali, Java and Sumatra effectively under Majapahit control. A few years after his death, the Majapahit navy took Palembang, the Sri Vijayan capital, and thus put the former empire to a definitive end in 1377; or so it seemed.

Majapahit was divided by a war of succession in 1401 that went on for four years. Weakened by internal dissension it could not stop the rising power of the Sultanate of Malacca. Majapahit continued to disintegrate and finally collapsed in 1478.

The imperial ambitions of the Indianized kingdoms of Java, Malaya and Sumatra concentrated mainly on gaining from their rivals a larger share of the commercial traffic that passed through the archipelago and the Straits. Territorial aggrandizement does not seem to have been the object of their rivalries. From time to time new settlements from Java (985, 1280 and 1387) were founded on Borneo. They have more the sporadic character of exiles forced to flee the vicissitudes of Javanese politics than a deliberate policy of imperial expansion.

Unlike the rapid and ubiquitous spread of Islam that was to follow, the influence of Hindic-Buddhist culture in the archipelago remained localized in the vicinity of the Straits.

http://www.ualberta.ca/~vmitchel/rev6.html

Islam and the Sultanate of Malacca 1402-1511

Regular coastal trade in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea linking Mesopotamia and the Indus valley dates from at least the time of the Assyrian Empire (729-612 BC). Arab and Persian merchants are reported in the southern Chinese port of Guangzhou (Canton) in the 8th century AD. However, after Mahmud of Ghazni's invasions of the Indus valley (997-1030), the Sword of Islam added a vigorous religious and political dimension to the commerce.

On his return to Venice from the court of Kublai Khan, Marco Polo noted in 1292 that Pasai in northern Sumatra had converted to Islam. The Sultan of Pasai, the first Muslim ruler on Sumatra, died in 1297 and Pasai returned under Majapahit's Hindu ambit in 1350. Despite this reverse, Islam was moving steadily through the archipelago.

Islamic inscriptions in Malaya date from 1326. A Muslim scholar, Mukdum, from Malaya is reported in the Philippine's Sulu archipelago in 1380. In 1400, the northern Sumatran province of Aceh converted to Islam.

When Majapahit captured the Sri Vijayan capital Palembang in 1377, a prince of the royal house, Parameshwara, escaped to Malaya. In 1402 he chose the choke point where the Straits of Malacca narrow to 53 km in width to found his new capital, Melaka. Parameshwara moved quickly to protect his fledgling state. He sent a mission to the Emperor Zhu Di (Yong Li) seeking Ming protection from his Majapahit enemies. Admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho) arrived at Melaka in 1409 with the Ming's Dragon Fleet. Parameshwara paid a personal visit to Beijing in 1411 to cement his alliance with the Ming Empire.

In the same year as a Muslim mission was attracting converts far to the east on Ambon in the Moluccas, Parameshwara announced his conversion to Islam in 1414 and proclaimed himself Sultan of Malacca. The appeal of Islam was strong. The Sultanate's arch rival, Majapahit converted in 1447. Hindus who wanted to retain their faith were under siege. From mid-century on, Javanese Hindus concentrated on the island of Bali where they have succeeded in preserving their religion to the present day. In 1475 the Moluccan islands of Ternate and Tidore converted to Islam.

Through the 15th century the upstart Sultanate of Malacca grew from strength to strength. It successfully repelled overland and seaborne attacks from the Thai Empire in 1445 and 1456. The Sultan Mansur Shah put down the Thai's peninsular allies Kedah and Pahang in 1459. Finally in 1498, by the efforts of its Admiral Hang Tuah, Malacca had secured the monopoly. All the trade in the Straits, and especially the spices from the Celebes and the Moluccas, moved under its protection and through its markets.

Considering that in over a thousand years, Buddhism and Hinduism had barely made an impression east of Borneo, for Islam to have travelled the length of the archipelago from Sumatra to the Moluccas in under two centuries is remarkable. As a religion, Islam had popular appeal. The Hindu and Buddhist religions had been used mainly to deify the rule of the Rajas. Islam offered its converts a personal salvation.

Islam was also carried with the mobility of the merchant community. The landed Hindu-Buddhist Rajas were content to let the trade come to them and tax it as it passed through their ports. Lacking a fixed land base, the Islamic merchants followed their commercial instincts knowing that the best profits on the trade were to be made at source. The trail of conversions led straight to the spices.

Perhaps most important of all, Islam brought with it gunpowder, firearms and cannon. Recalling how smartly the Sultan of Malacca accepted the new faith and how quickly others followed his lead, access to the new weapons may have been restricted to the faithful. The religion's rapid progress through the islands may have been, at least in part, an arms race.

The year that the Sultanate of Malacca finally consolidated its hold on the Straits was fateful. That same year, Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope from Portugal with four ships, crossed the Indian Ocean and landed on 27 May 1498 at Calicut on the Malabar coast. Indian Hindus and Portuguese Christians shared in common a deep animosity for Islam. In 1510, Affonso de Albuquerque, the Viceroy of India, by treaty with Krishna Deva Raya, the Emperor of Vijayanagar, secured the port of Gao as a naval base for Portuguese operations in the Indian Ocean.

Albuquerque had already learned of Malacca's strategic importance to the spice trade. The very next year, in 1511, he took with him eighteen Portuguese warships from Gao and ended the Sultanate of Malacca. The loss of Malacca shattered the Islamic trade network at a blow. From so far away, though, Portugal was operating at the very limit of its power and was never quite able to rebuild the trading network it had destroyed. Ten years later, the Portuguese were greatly alarmed to see Magellan's flagship Victoria returning to Spain - westward from the Philippines.

http://www.ualberta.ca/~vmitchel/rev7.html

This post has been edited by dalawapo: Jun 10 2004, 04:22 AM

[dalawapo]

PHILIPPINES PART 1 OF Compton Encyclopedia report

The Republic of the Philippines is the only predominantly Christian nation in Asia and has a unique heritage of indigenous Malay, Spanish, and American cultures. Ruled by Spain for nearly 330 years until 1898, its cultural characteristics are today in some ways more like those of the nations of Latin America than those of Southeast Asia, the ten-nation geographic region to which it belongs. The Spanish language, however, is spoken by less than 1 percent of the population, in spite of Spain's long colonial rule. On the other hand, the Spanish heritage is visible in other features of national life. For example, about 85 percent of the population is Roman Catholic; there is a predominance of Spanish place-names and family names, and the patterns of land tenancy and ownership can be traced to the Spanish period.

American colonial influence prevailed from about 1901 until the late 1940s. Major legacies of that period are an American-style educational system and, with it, the teaching of English, which today is spoken as a second language by about two fifths of the population. Along with Pilipino, a language derived from Tagalog, English is one of the two official languages.

The Philippines achieved full political independence in 1946, following four years of occupation by Japanese armed forces during World War II. The period since independence has been marked by repeated crises--political upheavals, including peasant insurrections, student demonstrations, Communist insurgencies, and Muslim rebellions; and natural disasters, including typhoons, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. High birthrates, combined with high population densities in some areas, are evidence that overpopulation is a significant problem in the country. This is a common feature in many less developed countries.

Although there has been some economic improvement since World War II, the Philippines has not made as much progress as other Asian nations--notably Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. The persistence of political, environmental, and population problems make it difficult to raise the general level of prosperity. Another long-term problem has been the nation's overdependence on income from exporting such primary commodities as sugar, timber, copper, gold, and coconuts. Nations that supply such raw materials are often at the mercy of world market prices, over which they have no control. The Philippines' overdependence on raw material exports has diminished somewhat during recent years, but some of the newer economic activities, such as garment manufacturing, create only low-skill and low-wage jobs that have not greatly raised the standard of living for a majority of the people.

The Philippines is one of the five founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an economic common market that was formed on Aug. 8, 1967. The other founding members were Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. These are all generally free-market economies that are closely tied to the United States, Japan, and the nations of Western Europe by political alliances and trade and aid relations. The Islamic sultanate of Brunei joined ASEAN in 1984.

LAND

The Philippines is an archipelago, or chain of islands. It consists of more than 7,000 islands and islets. The 11 largest islands account for more than 90 percent of the total national land area. The two largest islands, Luzon and Mindanao, comprise more than 70 percent of the land area and contain more than 70 percent of the population. Luzon is the largest island in the northern part of the archipelago, while Mindanao is the major island of the southern part. Between them are most of the other islands. The westernmost islands are set apart, across the Sulu Sea.

The total area of the Philippines is 115,800 square miles (299,900 square kilometers). The distance from northern Luzon to southern Mindanao is about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers); the east-west width extends as much as 300 miles (480 kilometers). The islands are located on the western margin of the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and are undergoing mountain building through volcanic activity (see Plate Tectonics). The islands therefore have some very rugged terrain, and there is a very limited amount of land suitable for agriculture. The region is also noted for its great amount of earthquake activity.

The archipelago includes a number of large predominantly mountainous islands as well as many tiny coral atolls. The nation has an extensive coastline with good harbors--it has the longest discontinuous coastline of any nation in the world at 21,500 miles (34,600 kilometers). There are more than 60 natural harbors, and half of them are developed and extensively used. Manila Bay has an area of more than 750 square miles (1,940 square kilometers) and is among the finest harbors in the Far East. (See also Manila, Philippines.)

The big islands began to form 50 million years ago as a result of two large, undersea tectonic plates named the Philippine and Eurasian plates. Many of the tiny islets, by contrast, are atolls built by coral formation. Because the Philippine islands lie near the juncture of these two plates, they are still experiencing earthquakes and volcanic activity. On average, there is noticeable earthquake activity somewhere in the Philippines approximately every two days. Many other land tremors are too weak to be felt but are sufficiently strong to be picked up by a seismograph. A particularly strong earthquake shook the Philippines on July 16, 1990, causing about 1,600 deaths in the resort city of Baguio.

The larger islands have high mountains. The highest peak is Mindanao's Mount Apo, at 9,688 feet (2,953 meters), but the Cordillera Central on northern Luzon is the largest and most rugged mountain system. There are about 50 volcanoes in the Philippines, 14 of which are still active. Well known for its nearly perfect symmetry is Mount Mayon (8,075 feet; 2,461 meters), located on southern Luzon's Bicol Peninsula.

Mount Pinatubo, a 5,842-foot (1,781-meter) peak in central Luzon, erupted explosively in 1991 after lying dormant for more than 600 years. Along with associated earthquakes, heavy accumulations of ash, and heavy rains, this volcanic eruption took 330 lives and destroyed much property. It was the chief reason for the closing of the United States Clark Air Base in the nearby city of Angeles. So much ash and debris were thrown upward into the Earth's atmosphere that weather patterns around the globe were affected during 1992.

The Two Large Islands

Luzon, the largest island, has an area of 40,420 square miles (104,690 square kilometers). In addition to having the nation's highest mountain range, the Cordillera Central, Luzon also has several of its longest rivers. Among them are the Cagayan, the Agno, and the Pampanga. The best known of Luzon's rivers, however, is the Pasig, one of the island's shortest rivers, which originates in the nation's largest lake, Laguna de Bay, and passes through Manila before emptying into Manila Bay.

The Cordillera Central lies in northwestern Luzon. The highest of its peaks and second highest in the islands is Mount Pulog, at 9,612 feet (2930 meters). A shortage of flat, arable land has made it necessary to use some mountainsides and hills for agriculture. The world-renowned rice terraces in the area around Banaue in the North Luzon Highlands are a distinctive agricultural phenomena. These terraces cut deep steps into the slope of the Cordillera Central. This "eighth wonder of the world," as the terraces have been called, have vertical steps that often exceed 20 feet (6 meters) in height and a testament to the indigenous Austronesian heritage of the inhabitants of the Philippine islands as one of the last surviving regions of the Philippines, aside from the Mountainous region of Mindanao island which belongs to the Lumad, where indigenous Malay people, culture, lifestyles survive to this day.

Another mountain system, the Sierra Madre, rises in northeastern Luzon. Some of its peaks attain elevations of nearly 5,000 feet (1,525 meters). Along the west-central coast of the island lie the Zambales Mountains, which extend from the Lingayen Gulf in the north to the Bataan Peninsula in the south.

Luzon includes two of the country's four major lowland areas: the Central Plain and the Cagayan Valley. (The other two are on Mindanao.) These lowlands are a rich agricultural region. Alluvial soils derived partly form rich volcanic ash have left generally excellent soils in lowland Luzon. Upland areas, however, have much poorer soils that have become weathered from hard crystalline rocks or have eroded rapidly because of deforestation.

The Central Plain is the largest lowland in the Philippines. It extends about 150 miles (240 kilometers) from north to south and has an average width of 40 miles (64 kilometers). Manila is on the southern edge of the plain, which is drained by the Agno and Pampanga rivers. The size of the plain has made it the nation's largest rice producing region.

The Cagayan Valley, sandwiched between the Cordillera Central and the Sierra Madre, is drained by the Cagayan River. A valley of some 4,000 square miles (10,360 square kilometers), it is nearly 40 miles (64 kilometers) wide. More sparsely populated than the Central Plain, the Cagayan Valley became a destination for agricultural settlers mainly in the 20th century, especially from the nearby Ilocos coastal region--a more densely populated area. Thus the Cagayan Valley has also become a significant producer of rice.

Luzon's largest city is Manila, the national capital. Quezon City, the second largest urban area, is just northeast of Manila and is part of the same metropolitan area. It served as the capital from 1948 to 1976, and many government buildings are still there. Other sizable population centers are Pasay, Cabanatuan, Legaspi, Baguio, Batangas, and Laoag.

Mindanao, the second largest island, has an area of 36,537 square miles (94,630 square kilometers). The Pacific Cordillera runs along the island's east coast, leaving almost no coastal plain. To the west, in the Cordillera Central, are the two inactive volcanic peaks of Mount Apo, the country's highest, and Mount Matutum, at 7,529 feet (2,295 meters). Two major lowland plains, the Agusan Valley and the Cotabato Valley, are drained by rivers of the same name. The diverse topographical features include the large Bukidnon and Lanao plateaus, which occupy much of the north-central part of the island. The largest body of inland water on Mindanao is Lake Sultan-Alonto-- more commonly known as Lake Lanao--which lies in the western part of the island. With an area of 137 square miles (355 square kilometers), it is the second largest lake in the Philippines.

Several rivers have cut deep gorges into the surface of the plateaus. One river, the short, 22-mile (35-kilometer) Agus River, falls from an elevation of 2,300 feet (700 meters) at Lake Sultan-Alonto down to the sea--creating in its path a series of rapids and falls, including Maria Cristina Falls. Almost half the nation's hydroelectric potential is located in the falls.

There are several populous cities on Mindanao. Zamboanga City is in western Mindanao, near the tip of the peninsula of the same name. Located on Basilan Strait, it is a busy port city. Cotabato is a city in southern Mindanao, near the Moro Gulf and in the heart of an agricultural region. Davao City, in the southeast, is near the head of Davao Gulf. It is a port city with facilities for deepwater vessels as well as for local shipping. Cagayan de Oro, in the north, is near the head of Macajalar Bay. It serves as the commercial and transportation center for the north part of the island. Butuan, also in the north, is on Butuan Bay and is a busy port serving the nearby lumber industry.

On the western part of Mindanao the long, semicircular Zamboanga Peninsula, which stretches for 150 miles (240 kilometers) into the Sulu Sea. The rugged Zamboanga Cordillera forms the backbone of the peninsula. Basilan Island and the Sulu Archipelago form a bridge between the peninsula and the part of northeastern Borneo called Sabah--a section of Malaysia.

The Other Large Islands

There are eight other big islands, although none is nearly as large as either Luzon or Mindanao. Seven of these islands belong to the group called the Visayan Islands, which lie in the central and eastern Philippines, between the two largest islands. The other major islands are Mindoro, just to the south of Luzon, and Palawan, the most detached of the big islands southwest of Luzon, between the Sulu and Luzon seas.

The Visayan Islands are Samar, Negros, Panay, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol, Masbate, and the Romblon group. Of these, Samar and Negros are the largest. The Visayans make up more than one fifth of the total Philippine land area with a total of 23,582 square miles (61,077 square kilometers). Interspersed among the seven islands are hundreds of smaller islands.

Samar consists largely of low, rolling hills, whereas Negros has a high volcanic mountain system. The Tablas Plateau occupies southwestern Negros, and there are extensive lowlands along the island's north and west coasts. Much of the nation's sugarcane is grown near these coasts.

Rough topography is found along the west coast of Panay, but there are lowlands along the north coast and in the sizable Iloilo Basin. Mountains dominate the western portion of Leyte, although a major lowland--the Leyte Valley--occupies the northwest corner of the island. Cebu, one of the nation's most densely populated islands, has a deeply dissected hilly interior and no significant lowlands. Bohol consists mainly of plateaus and low hills, including the island's most noted feature, the Chocolate Hills. Named for their appearance in summer when the grass is dry and brown, the Chocolate Hills rise about 100 feet (30 meters) above an otherwise flat terrain.

Palawan and Mindoro are the nation's fifth and seventh largest islands. In contrast to the other islands in the Philippines, these two rest upon the same geologic rock platform, the Sunda Shelf, as does the island of Borneo. It is probably owing to their geologic history that the soils of both islands are rather poor. During the Pleistocene Epoch, from 2 million to 10,000 years ago, Palawan was connected to Borneo by a land bridge. Life forms, both plant and animal, were able to migrate from Borneo northeast into Palawan.

Today Palawan has the appearance of the remains of such a land bridge. It is long and narrow, lying between the Sulu Sea to the east and the South China Sea to the northwest. Palawan is only 24 miles (39 kilometers) wide, but its length is 270 miles (435 kilometers). It has a mountainous spine running its entire length. Total land area is 4,550 square miles (11,785 square kilometers). At 6,840 feet (2,085 meters), Mount Mantalingajan is its highest peak.

Mindoro, to the northeast of Palawan, lies across the Verde Island Passage just south of Luzon. Its land area is 3,759 square miles (9,736 square kilometers). Running from north to south is a mountain chain surrounded on both sides by a coastal plain. The highest peak is Mount Halcon, 8,487 feet (2,587 meters). There are two small cities, Calapan and Mamburao.

Climate

The Philippines lies between about 5o and 20o N. latitude, entirely within the humid tropics. Monsoon climates (large wind systems that reverse directions seasonally) predominate, so most of the islands experience distinctive wet and dry seasons. Because the islands are so near the equator, warm temperatures prevail throughout the year. Rarely are monthly averages at sea level less than 75o F (24o C). Day-to-night variations are generally greater than monthly variations. Higher altitudes offer much cooler temperatures, decreasing about 3oF (1.7o C) for every 1,000-foot (300-meter) increase in elevation. The climate accounts in great part for the soil conditions, vegetation, and animal life found in the islands.

Annual temperature ranges between the coolest and warmest months are less than 10o F (5.6o C). In the extreme south the variation is less than 2o F (1.1o C). During the day, temperatures normally climb into the high 80s and low 90s F (low 30s C). At night they fall into the low 70s F (low 20s C), or, occasionally, into the 60s F (high teens C). The lowest temperature recorded in Manila was 59o F (15o C). Temperatures are usually highest during the dry season, from March through June, when the sun is almost directly overhead in cloudless skies.

Warm, moist southwestern winds--the summer monsoon--prevail from June through October. During the winter monsoon, from November to March, drier northeastern winds predominate. As a result, the western portion of the Philippines receives most of its rainfall when the monsoon comes from the southwest; and the eastern side of the archipelago gets most of its rainfall when the northeastern winds are blowing.

The most southerly islands, including Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, receive precipitation during the entire year, since they are less affected by monsoon patterns. In addition, a zone of converging air called the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), affects the southern Philippines all year. But the ITCZ affects the northern islands only during the summer. There are, therefore, great variations in the total amounts and seasonal distributions of rainfall. Land elevation also has an effect on rainfall amounts. Rain shadow areas--regions of reduced rainfall sheltered by mountains--such as portions of Cebu Island average 40 to 60 inches (100 to 150 centimeters) of rain yearly. Exposed coastal and mountain stations may have much greater annual amounts, reaching 200 inches (500 centimeters) or more.

Most rain arrives in short, heavy showers, often causing severe flooding. The northern and eastern sections of the Philippines are exposed to violent tropical storms called baguios, or typhoons. These cyclonic storms originate in the western Pacific Ocean, normally during the summer and early fall months. There are, on average, six typhoons each year. Similar to Atlantic hurricanes, the typhoons are characterized by extremely powerful winds, typically in excess of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour, and very heavy rains. One such typhoon in 1911 deposited 46 inches (117 centimeters) of rain on the upland resort city of Baguio, on Luzon, within a 24-hour period--a world record. The winds, heavy rains, and their associated high seas and flooding can be very destructive. The southern part of the Philippines, the area south of 8o N. latitude, is nearly free of typhoons.

Manila is a typical example of sea-level climate in the Philippines--hot and humid most of the year. Average monthly temperatures range between a low of 76o F (24o C) in December and January to a high of about 82o F (28o C) in April and May. Relief from the heat occurs at night, when temperatures drop about 15o F (8.4o C) from their daytime highs. The rainiest period in Manila is from June through September. During those months about 60 inches (150 centimeters) of rain, or nearly 75 percent of the annual total of 81 inches (206 centimeters), falls. Because Manila lies on the western side of Luzon, it experiences the effects of the Southwest, or summer, monsoon.

Relief from the heat can be obtained by traveling to the highlands, the best known of which is the upland city of Baguio, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) from Manila at an elevation of 5,000 feet (1,524 meters). Baguio is called the City of Pines because of the pine trees associated with its cooler climate. Temperatures there average 15oF (8.4o C) lower than at sea level, but the resort city does feel the effects of the summer monsoon. Of its average annual rainfall of 164 inches (417 centimeters), about 75 percent falls in the four-month period from June through September.

Soils

Areas such as the Philippines that are warm and moist year-round typically have relatively infertile soils that have undergone a process known as laterization. Such soils have been leached of their nutrients because of bacteria and because the persistent rainfall dissolves the basic elements in the soil as it seeps down through the upper layers. Some insoluble minerals, such as iron, are left behind, often giving the soil a distinctive red or reddish brown color. What remains, in the end, are laterites--decayed mineral rocks. Such soils provide little potential for growing crops.

There are, nevertheless, some tropical forest species that have adapted their root systems to the shallow soil, where they are nurtured by rapidly decaying plant matter and microorganisms. Once this natural vegetative cover is burned off or cut down because of commercial exploitation, expansion of population settlement, shifting cultivation, or natural causes, then the soil erodes even further. It is leached of its nutrients much more rapidly than under natural conditions, since it is now exposed to direct sunlight and heavy rains.

There are two very significant exceptions to the generally poor soil quality: volcanic and alluvial deposits. Soils derived from recent volcanic ash, when composed of basic rather than acidic materials, can be extremely fertile. Among the better known areas for such soils is the Bicol Peninsula of southern Luzon. Alluvial, or water-deposited, soils are found in the floodplains and deltas of the nation's river systems. The sediments carried by the rivers constantly renew the fertility of such areas, often allowing for dense agricultural settlements.

Alluvium occupies about 15 percent of the nation's land surface. Luzon's Central Plain is a good example of extensive alluvial deposits. Such soils are also found in the rice terraces of the North Luzon Highlands. Water control on these terraces helps sustain soil quality. Water is normally introduced at the top of the terraces, and the downslope flow is carefully monitored. As the water flows it naturally carries sediments with it.

Plant and Animal Life

The Philippines were almost completely forested prior to human settlement. Today less than half the total land area has stands of trees, and with each passing day more forests are destroyed, perhaps forever. The plant life that remains is highly diversified and typical of tropical humid forests.

Monsoon forests include many species of trees and other plant life. Among tree species, some 50 varieties of dipterocarps predominate and account for perhaps 70 percent of the commercial timber. This family of trees consists of species that are usually quite tall. They have evergreen leaves and contain aromatic resins. These tropical hardwoods usually occur in relatively dense stands. Among the more commercially useful are the Philippine mahoganies (or lauan). Although not true mahoganies, they provide a good source of revenue. In addition to trees, Philippine forests contain thousands of species of flowering plants and ferns and some 800 species of orchids. Most of the extensive forested areas that still exist are located on Mindanao, Palawan, and Mindoro.

Large areas of grasslands, or cogonales, have appeared as a result of repeated man-made burn-offs. These grasslands are characterized by tall grasses, often 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters) high, with coarse and sharp blades. They have no commercial value. Mangrove and nipa (creeping palm) swamps are found occasionally in the coastal lowlands.

Countless species of small mammals, birds, and reptiles live in the forests. Unfortunately, some species have become extinct because of the destruction of forests to provide space either for agriculture or for urban use. Among the animals that still exist are monkeys, rats, sambars (a type of deer), civet cats, bats, poisonous Philippine cobras, and a rare species of wild buffalo called the tamarau. This animal, found only on Mindoro Island, numbers only in the hundreds. Wild pigs that roam the forests are descendants of formerly domesticated pigs. Animals thought to be extinct include the crocodiles and the monkey-eating eagle. The tropical forests provide ideal haunts for insects, which are abundant.

Minerals

While the Philippines has abundant deposits of a few mineral and energy resources, it cannot be called rich in such resources because it lacks many of those considered essential to a modern urban and industrial society. It must import about 90 percent of the fuel it consumes. By the early 1990s this accounted for nearly 15 percent of its imports.

Unlike nearby Indonesia and Malaysia, extensive exploration for offshore oil and natural gas has not yet revealed sufficient quantities to justify commercial exploitation. It was hoped that large quantities of oil would be found in the area of the Sunda Shelf surrounding Palawan Island, but this has not yet proved to be the case. Similarly, the small amount of coal that is mined is not enough to have a significant impact on the nation's energy or manufacturing needs. The coal that exists is generally of low quality.

The Philippines does have significant amounts of hydroelectric potential. The most notable development has been built at the Maria Cristina Falls near Iligan on northern Mindanao. There is also hydroelectric power on Luzon. Geothermal generating plants have been built on Luzon and on Leyte. The Philippines is the world's second largest producer of geothermal power, after the United States, but this source still supplies a small share of the nation's total energy needs.

A variety of metal ores is abundant on the islands. The most valuable are gold, copper, nickel, and chromite, which together make up nearly all of the total mineral exports. These minerals are, of course, subject to fluctuations in world market prices, so their value to the Philippines is not consistent. In 1980, for example, these metals made up approximately one fifth of total exports, whereas in 1983 the minerals comprised less than one tenth of total exports. A sharp drop in commodity prices worldwide had occurred in the meantime.

The Philippines is the largest copper producer in Southeast Asia and is among the top ten producers in the world. Most of the copper is mined in the North Luzon Highlands and on Cebu Island, the site of Asia's largest single copper mine. Two fifths of the nation's total production comes from this central Visayan Island. Gold and silver are abundant in northern Luzon, northern Mindanao, and on several of the Visayan Islands. Benguet Province on Luzon is the top producer. The Philippines is also among the world's leading exporters of chromite. Large deposits of the mineral are found in Zambales Province on Luzon. Small amounts of zinc, manganese, iron ore, and cobalt are produced when world prices justify it. Undeveloped deposits of iron and nickel are located in Surigao, northeastern Mindanao.

PEOPLE

According to the 1990 census the population of the Philippines was 62,354,000, a 28 percent increase over 1980. It is the 14th most populous nation in the world and the third most populous in Southeast Asia after Indonesia and Vietnam. As in nearly all less-developed countries, the majority of the people live in rural areas--more than 60 percent in the case of the Philippines. They work in agriculture helping to produce rice, corn (maize), sugarcane, and coconut--the country's leading crops.

More than two fifths of the population lives in cities. The majority of city dwellers, about 12 percent of the total population, reside in the Manila metropolitan area, the nation's capital and largest urban center. This huge metropolitan agglomeration of more than 8 million people is Southeast Asia's second largest--after Jakarta, Indonesia--and ranks 23rd among the world's metropolitan areas. The United Nations estimates that Manila will be the world's 20th largest city by the year 2000, with a population in excess of 11 million.

Nearly the entire Philippine population consists of ETHNIC Malay peoples of the Mongoloid race (see Race and Ethnicity). Collectively called Filipinos (NATIONAL IDENTITY), the population is subdivided into a number of ethnolinguistic groups that come within the overall classification of the Austronesian, or Malayo-Polynesian, family of languages. The groups are divided more on the basis of language, region, and religious affiliation than any clear-cut ethnicity.

The largest of these ethnolinguistic groups are the Tagalog, Ilocano, Bicol, Pampangan, and Pangasinan of Luzon; and the Cebuano, Waray-Waray (or Samar-Leyte), and Hiligaynon (or Ilongo) of the Visayan Islands. With about 30 percent of the population, the Tagalog--the native people of the Manila region--and the Cebuano, with about one fourth of the population, are the largest single groups.

There are still a few short-statured, dark-skinned non-Malay peoples known as Negritos who live in the upland areas of Luzon, Mindanao, Panay, and a few other islands. In 1971 the existence of the Tasaday, a previously unknown Negrito tribe of about 25 persons on Mindanao, was reported. They appeared to be living in caves, much as Stone Age people did. In 1986 questions about their authenticity were raised by some anthropologists, who today believe that this discovery was a hoax.

Pilipino, the national language of the Philippines, is based on the Tagalog language. English, which has been taught in the islands since the American conquest early in the century, is the most common second language; and it and Pilipino are the two official languages of the country. Both languages are taught in the schools, although English has remained the primary medium of instruction.

Population Distribution and Change

The Philippine population is very unevenly distributed, with major concentrations on the Central Plain and the Ilocos coast of Luzon, and on the Visayan islands of Cebu, Negros, Panay, and Bohol. Since the 1930s there has been considerable out-migration to the less densely settled rural areas, especially on Mindanao and in the Cagayan Valley of northern Luzon. This population redistribution has resulted in a more even spread of people throughout the nation, with about half now residing on Luzon, one fourth on the Visayan Islands, and one fourth on Mindanao.

During the past several decades the population has been increasing at an annual rate of between 2.5 and 3 percent--among the highest growth rates in the world. This is the result of a high crude birth rate (CBR), which has ranged from about 30 to 45 per thousand since the 1950s, and a low crude death rate (CDR). The CDR has declined from about 15 per thousand in the 1950s to 7 per 1,000 in the early 1990s. Therefore, even though fertility rates have declined, so, too, have mortality rates, which means that the overall growth rates remain at a high level. The current annual growth rate, implies that the population will double in about 28 years. Even if the rate of growth drops to 2 percent--an unlikely possibility--in 35 years the population of the Philippines will double from the current 62 million.

Urban and Rural Areas

Although the Philippines is still a predominantly rural nation, more than two fifths of the people reside in urban areas. This is a higher proportion than in any other Southeast Asian nation except the microstates of Singapore and Brunei. Manila is by far the largest metropolitan area. Its population in 1993 was over 8 million, accounting for 12 percent of the national total. The second largest city is Cebu City, located on Cebu in the Visayan Islands. Yet it is only one tenth the size of Manila. (Quezon City, which is much larger than Cebu City, is considered part of the Manila metropolitan area.) Other cities of note are Davao City, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga City on Mindanao; Bacolod and Iloilo in the Visayans; and Angeles City, Olongapo, and Baguio on Luzon.

Manila is the nation's chief port for international trade, as well as its leading industrial, financial, cultural, political, and educational center. The city is also the chief destination for tourists visiting the islands--approximately 800,000 arrive annually. Numerous points of interest in the city, combined with well-known Filipino hospitality, attract visitors from all over the world.

Many of Manila's tourist sites are found in the old downtown area and along Roxas Boulevard, which parallels Manila Bay. The newer part of the capital is in the rapidly expanding peripheral areas, or suburbs. For example, Makati is the modern center for finance and business. Wealthy Filipinos, international businessmen, and government officials reside there. Quezon City, which served as the national capital for a few years, is the site of the new government buildings, medical centers, and the University of the Philippines. Other population centers that are really sections of the Manila metropolitan area include Caloocan, Pasay, and Pasig. Interspersed throughout the suburbs and in the older parts of the city are the poor, who live in the slum and squatter neighborhoods typical of less-developed countries.

Since World War II the major type of internal migration has been the movement of the rural poor to urban areas looking for work. Manila, the largest city, has also proved the chief magnet for these people. As a result of this heavy in-migration, Manila and a number of smaller cities have grown much more rapidly than the national average of population increase. There has also been a sizable out-migration from the islands. In the 1980s, for instance, Filipinos became the largest among the Asian groups among immigrants to the United States.

In spite of city growth, the Philippines is still mainly an agricultural society. Most of the people live in rural areas, especially in villages called barangays, formerly called barrios (neighborhoods). Dispersed farmsteads are common in the more sparsely populated frontier areas. A number of barangays make up a municipality. The commercial and administrative center of a municipality is called the poblacion. Poblaciones are often large enough to be classified as urban.

The basic administrative division of the nation is the province, which is comprised of municipalities. The province is comparable to an American or Australian state. Today there are 74 provinces. These are further organized into the National Capital Region (the Manila metropolitan area) and 12 administrative districts: Ilocos; Cagayan Valley; Central Luzon; Southern Tagalog; Bicol; Western, Central, and Eastern Visayas; and Western, Northern, Southern, and Central Mindanao.

CULTURE

The Philippines is one of the most Westernized Asian nations. As noted above, its dominant religion is Roman Catholicism (although many Muslims live in the southern islands). This is a remnant of Spanish colonialism. The preponderance of English speakers is a result of more than four decades of control by the United States. Westernization has taken hold most strongly in the cities, while in the countryside more traditional ways of life still predominate. This contrast has been a factor in the growing conflict between the rural and urban populations, and fuel for Communist and Muslim insurgencies. In addition, the society as a whole is characterized by sharp distinctions between rich and poor, majorities and minorities, privileged and underprivileged. The existence and perpetration of these divisions is part of the Spanish Catholic heritage; similar social divisions have held back economic development in Latin America.

Family and Society

The basic social unit in the Philippines has traditionally been the family, often the extended family that includes grandparents and other relatives. Strong kinship ties also extend to other relatives and even to nonrelatives, such as godparents and godchildren. (In the cities, however, the traditional family ties are being weakened.) In traditional homes, women were heads of households and are responsible for the financial welfare of the family. Although the roles have shifted to favor the man as a result of Colonial Patriarchal standards and conventions etc, but even though, today women, are not restricted to child-rearing; they often work outside the home. Filipino women work in a variety of city jobs and own or run businesses. Many women have entered the professions of medicine, law, and teaching. The high status of women in the Philippines is indicated by the fact that the head of state for much of the 1980s was Corazon Aquino (see Aquino, Corazon) and these things merely show that the indigenous Austronnesian culture survives to this day even though Filipino Culture has undergone so many metaporphasises.

Filipino children learn at an early age to depend on their families for their basic needs. They learn that they must, in turn, fulfill obligations to their families. As children, their responsibilities include respect for elders, the care of younger siblings, the performance of household chores, and behavior that will bring honor to the family.

Children in Roman Catholic families are baptized when they are one or two weeks old. They are confirmed between the ages of 5 and 8. The baptism and confirmation ceremonies have a social as well as a religious significance. At each ceremony a set of godparents, called compadre and comadre (co-father and co-mother), are regarded as the co-parents of the child. They thus become members of the kinship group. They have the same obligations to the godchild as to their own children, an obligation that must be fulfilled if something happens to the child's natural parents. To reciprocate, the child treats the godparents with the same respect owed to the natural parents. The relationship between parents and godparents is called compadrazgo.

Filipinos are generally not considered adults until they marry and begin raising a family. The marriage links two families together, and the birth of children strengthens the tie. Thus, marriage does not weaken the obligations of the bride and groom to their respective parents, as it generally does in Western societies.

Housing conditions vary with the location of a home (rural or urban) and with the socioeconomic status of the family. A traditional rural dwelling consists of one or two rooms. This small building is usually raised several feet above the ground on wooden pilings to protect the house from flooding and pests and to provide a shelter and storage area for animals, crops, and fam implements. Prize roosters are often sheltered in cages under the house. These birds are used in the weekly cockfights, probably the most popular sport in the islands. These contests are held every Sunday in almost every small town and city. Palm leaf (from the nipa palm) or grass thatch are the most common roofing materials. Either sawali (woven bamboo) or rough sawn lumber is used as siding. In coastal communities, where fishing is the primary occupation, houses on pilings are built directly over water.

Because of the extensive country-to-city migration, combined with natural rates of population increase, a severe housing shortage has existed in the cities for some time. This is especially true in Manila's metropolitan area. Low-income families in the cities are crowded into slum and squatter settlements with inadequate water supplies, poor sanitation, and often without electricity. They live in houses made from purchased or scavenged materials, including tin, galvanized iron sheets, and scrap lumber. Some estimates place the proportion of the population in Manila living in such conditions at from one fourth to one third of the total.

The more prosperous Manila residents, or Manilenos, own houses in the traditional two-storied Spanish style or in the more modern ranch style. All large cities in the Philippines have luxurious residential areas. These neighborhoods are physically segregated from the rest of a city by high concrete walls, with broken glass or barbed wire embedded in the top. Guardhouses are manned at the entries to these areas. Forbes Park and Bel Air Village in the Manila suburb of Makati are examples of these neighborhoods.

Food and Clothing

The staple food of the vast majority of Filipinos is rice. This is supplemented with fish and other seafood, chicken, and pork (or goat, if one is a Muslim). Corn (maize) is the staple for about one fifth of the population, who live in areas not suitable for rice production or cannot afford rice. Root crops, including yams, sweet potatoes, and cassava, provide basic foodstuffs for smaller numbers of low-income families. Diets also include an array of tropical fruits: bananas, plantains, star apples, mangoes, papayas, and the strong-smelling durian. The durian is native to Southeast Asia. It is a tree that provides a coconut-sized hard-shelled fruit with edible pulp inside. Although the pulp has a sweet taste, it has a rather pungent odor.

A typical meal in the Philippines may include boiled rice, bihon (rice noodles), fish, stewed vegetables, and fruits. Lechon, a whole pig stuffed with rice or banana leaves, is prepared on special occasions, such as the annual fiesta celebrated in barangays, towns, and cities across the Roman Catholic parts of the Philippines. The pig is roasted on a bamboo spit and served with a sauce made from pig's liver. Bibingka, made from rice dough, is a popular dessert. Native alcoholic drinks include tuba (fermented coconut juice), basi (fermented sugarcane juice), and lambanog, which is distilled from fermented rice. Balut, a partially formed duck embryo in an egg that has been boiled for a few moments, is sold by street vendors in the evenings in the Manila area. It is recommended that those who try this delicacy for the first time should eat it in the dark, so they cannot see what they are about to swallow.

A traditional garment for men is the barong tagalog, an embroidered outer shirt. Although it is an everyday garment, a version of it can be often worn on the most formal occasions. Women wear the heavily starched, butterfly-sleeved terno on formal occasions. The various Muslim groups in the south and the mountain tribes have their own distinctive garments. The Maranao Muslims of southern Mindanao, for instance, have the colorful malong. It is a large cloth wrapped around the body and is worn by both men and women.

Ethno-linguistic Groups

The Philippines, like the Southeast Asia region generally, is quite diverse in both its culture and linguistic makeup, Evenso the Ethnic Makeup of the Philippines is predominately Malayan. All of the approximately 90 indigenous languages and dialects belong to the Austronesian, or Malayo-Polynesian, family of languages and this along with the country’s relatively homogenous Malayan parentage reminds the people that they are all related under an underlying common culture and ethnicity despite the adoption of various foreign religions, cultures, and identities which has brought about much animosity and infighting to the country. Only eight of the country’s Austronesian languages have more than 1 million speakers each. The more prominent languages and the percentages of the population speaking them are: Tagalog, in its standardized form known as Pilipino (30 percent); Cebuano (24 percent); Ilocano (10 percent); Hiligaynon, or Ilongo (9 percent); Bicol (6 percent); Waray-Waray, or Samar-Leyte (4 percent); Pampangan (3 percent); and Pangasinan (2 percent). Persons who speak one of these eight languages as a mother tongue make up nearly 90 percent of the population.

This diversity of languages, together with the introduction of an alien schooling system during the American colonial period, facilitated the adoption of English as the major secondary language. English is the most widely spoken single language and is the medium of instruction in schools throughout the nation. Pilipino and English were designated the two official languages in 1962.

Other minor nonnative languages include Chinese and Spanish. Chinese is spoken by the Chinese minority that resides mainly in the cities. Visitors to the islands often assume that Spanish is widely spoken because of the long era of colonial rule by Spain. However, Spanish is spoken today by less than 1 percent of the people--mostly members of the old aristocracy in the cities or on the sugar plantations on Negros and Panay islands.

Religion

The Philippines is the only nation in Southeast Asia with a Christian majority population. (Islam and Buddhism are the dominant religions of the region.) About 83 percent of Filipinos are Roman Catholic. More than 5 percent belong to Protestant denominations brought to the islands by missionaries during the era of American rule. Two Christian denominations of local origin have also emerged: Iglesia ni Cristo (Tagalog for "Church of Christ") and the Aglipayan or Philippine Independent Church (PIC). The former group accounts for nearly 2.5 percent of the population, and the PIC, about 2.6 percent. The PIC began in 1888 as a protest against domination of the Roman Catholic church by Spanish clergy. Nevertheless, Aglipayans have remained strongly Roman Catholic in their practices. Iglesia ni Cristo was founded in 1914 and today is a closely knit and very nationalistic sect. Its distinctively large, modern, whitewashed church buildings can be found in the large cities all over the Philippines. By far the largest one is in Quezon City near the University of the Philippines campus. This building also houses the international headquarters of the denomination.

Islam first appeared in the southern Philippines in the 13th or 14th century. The first Muslims to arrive were probably traders from the Middle East or from neighboring areas of what are today Indonesia and Malaysia. A long history of clashes between the more powerful and numerous Spaniards and the Muslims kept Islam from extending its influence into the central and northern islands. Nevertheless, neither the Spaniards, the Americans, nor the Filipino Christians could dislodge the Muslims from their homelands in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Muslims now make up about 4 percent of the population. Buddhists and other religions account for 2 percent of the population.

Literature

Philippine literature dates from the era before the Spanish conquest. The early Tagalog and the 8 principle groups of the Philippines: the Ilokano, Pangasinan, Pampangan, Bikol, Bisaya (Samar-Leyte), and the Bisaya (Cebuano and Hiligaynon) had a script which they used in writing on strips of bamboo or palm. Most of these early writings were destroyed by the Spanish missionaries. Of what remained, few pieces survive because of the highly perishable materials on which they were written. Although all these scripts were eventually discontinued by these great tribes as the Spanish favored a more western romanized writing during colonial times. Today on only 3 islands can one find people continuing to write using these indic derived writing scripts and those islands are 1) Mindoro island where a group of tribes collectively called Mangyan write using two surviving scripts, one is called Buhid and the other script hanunoo. 2) Palawan island where there survives the Tagbuwana script. 3) is the island of Bohol, where people write using the mysterious Eskaya script. Evenso, Native Filipino stories have, however, faired better in surival as they have been passed from one generation to another as oral narratives. Among these stories are "Hudhod" and "Alim," told by the Ifugao people of northern Luzon, the former epic recently scribed by UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as one of their 19 traditional "Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity", and the "Daranaga" of the Maranao Muslims of Mindanao.

The first book produced in Spanish in the Philippines was a religious work, 'Doctrina Cristiana' (Christian Teaching), which missionaries printed by means of wood blocks in 1593. The first book to be printed from movable type came out a few years later. It is titled 'Pastrimerias' and was written by Francisco de San Jose, a priest. Most of the early printed works had religious themes and were written by Spaniards.

The best known of the early native writers was Francisco Balagtas, who is known as the Prince of Filipino Poets. His classic political satire, 'Florante and Laura', was written in the mid-19th century.

Following the opening of Spanish schools to Filipinos during the second half of the 19th century, more publications by native writers began to appear. Poems, essays, and novels flourished in the 1890s during the Filipino movement for independence. Among the major literary figures of the period were Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, and--most prominently--Jose Rizal, an eminent physician and patriot as well as a man of letters. Rizal wrote the novels 'Noli me tangere' (published as 'The Social Cancer', 1886) and 'El filibusterismo' (The Reign of Greed, 1891). His most famous poem, 'Ultimo adios' (Last Farewell) was written in 1896, shortly before he was executed by the Spanish authorities. After the islands were liberated from Spain in 1898, writing in Spanish began a general decline. By the 1930s, with the passing of the last Spanish-educated generation, it nearly disappeared--to be replaced by English, Tagalog (Pilipino), and other native tongues.

The early Filipino writers who used Tagalog often evoked nationalistic sentiments through their poetry and plays. Some of their works were banned as subversive by American administrators. During the period 1910-25, often called the "golden age of Philippine drama," the foremost dramatists who wrote in Tagalog were Severino Reyes and Patricio Mariano. With the introduction of English in the schools, it quickly became the principal language of literature.

The Fine Arts

Native and foreign influences have combined to create a blend of many cultural overlays in the fine arts of the Philippines. Only a few fragments of precolonial painting and sculpture have survived because most of the early artifacts were made of wood and were thus destroyed by the elements over the centuries. After Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, the principal efforts of local artists were devoted to the production of religious art. In the late 18th century, painters turned to executing portraits, which were in demand form the rising middle class. Damian Domingo founded the first art school in the islands in about 1820.

By the late 19th century, Filipino artists were achieving an international reputation. Juan Luna was noted for his historical and allegorical works. Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo painted bold landscapes and seascapes. Fabian de la Rosa was renowned for his genre paintings. In the early 20th century a number of Filipino painters were attracted by the art movement known as impressionism, and one artist, Fernando Amorsolo, became the most prominent Philippine artist of the time. The artists of the mid-20th century have also been highly regarded. The most celebrated of them, Victorio C. Edades, Galo B. Ocampo, and Carlos V. Francisco, were known as the Triumvirate.

Other fine arts, including sculpture, pottery, and weaving had distinguished traditions dating from the precolonial era. Brightly colored garments decorated with intricate designs, along with artistic shields and weapons, have characterized native Philippine craftsmanship from the earliest times to the present.

Knowledge of pre-Spanish architecture is largely derived from current structures which follow earlier models. Simple rooms built on four rooted tree stumps offered protection from weather, landslides, animals, and enemies. Spanish rule naturally brought new techniques and styles, including the division of buildings into separate functional areas. The Spaniards also introduced the use of mortar and masonry, decorative grilles for windows, and roof tiles. Roman Catholic missionaries promoted the construction of monumental cathedrals and universities. A good example of the latter is Manila's University of Santo Tomas, founded by Dominicans in 1611, predating Harvard University by a quarter of a century. The Spanish also introduced city planning, which featured large central plazas and buildings arranged according to their use. The layout of small cities and towns all over the Philippines reflects these early colonial plans.

The Performing Arts

The Philippines is notable for its native dances, songs, and instrumental music which are lighthearted and invite participation. The most popular folk dance, the tinikling--also called the bamboo dance--suggests the quick movements of ricebirds and seems to be a purely native expression.

Today, Philippine music is a blend of native, Malay, Muslim, Spanish, and Western influences. Many of the best jazz and rock musicians in the entire Southeast Asia region are Filipinos. The Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila offers symphonies, operas, ballets, plays, and other productions. Most of these works originate in other countries, while Filipino composers, musicians, and playwrights tend to pattern their efforts on contemporary Western models. Attempts to combine Philippine themes with Western techniques have been made by such troupes as the Bayanihan Dance Company, whose repertoire consists of theatrical versions of folk dancing.

Education and Recreation

Elementary schooling in the Philippines is compulsory through the sixth grade in the cities and through the fourth grade in rural areas. Although about one third of the national budget is designated for education, schooling is not available to many children because the funds appropriated are inadequate. Many primary school pupils, especially in the countryside, drop out of school early. In spite of this, the reported literacy rate of 85 percent for persons over 15 years of age is very high in a region that includes the more prosperous countries of Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore. But literacy in this case is defined only as the "ability of a person to read and write a simple message in any language or dialect." Male and female literacy rates are nearly equal, offering further support for the high status of women in the Philippines relative to other Asian nations.

The educational system, generally modeled after that of the United States, was reorganized in the 1970s. A policy of bilingualism requires the use of Pilipino and English for instruction in specific subject areas. Arabic is a teaching language in Muslim areas.

There are both public and private secondary schools. Most of the colleges and universities, however, are privately financed. The University of the Philippines, which has campuses in several parts of the nation, is the largest public university. Among the better-known private institutions are: the University of Santo Tomas, the Ateneo de Manila University, and the University of the East. Most of these schools are in the Manila metropolitan area. Schools in other parts of the Philippines include the University of San Carlos, in Cebu; Silliman University, in Dumaguete; and Xavier University, in Cagayan de Oro.

Filipinos enjoy recreation of all types. Fiestas and dances are common throughout the country. Cinemas are inexpensive and can be found in all the cities. American-made action films are especially popular, but the Philippines does have its own movie industry. Films in Tagalog are well received where the language is spoken. Manila has more than 100 movie theaters, and the Philippines is the second largest foreign market for Hollywood films after Japan.

Baseball, soccer, basketball, boxing, and--above all-- cockfighting are very popular spectator sports. Every town and city in the islands has one or more cockpits, and every Sunday the raucous noise from the tupada (cockfight - a indigenous derived pasttime) can be heard. It is a sport for the rich, who import expensive specially bred fighting roosters from the United States. The poor use roosters they have hand-raised in their houses. Much money changes hands, since gambling is the main reason for cockfighting--not unlike horse racing in other countries.

Other sports, such as the Spanish-derived jai alai and the native-derieved arnis de mano/Escrima AKA Kali [INDIGENOUS PRE-COLONIAL MARTIAL ART] and sipa are also popular. Arnis de mano is a type of fencing using sticks. Sipa is similar to tennis or volleyball except that the players keep the ball going with their knees and feet instead of with their hands or a racket. (See also Jai Alai.)

ECONOMY

Private enterprise is predominant in the Philippines, as it is in the other countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Nevertheless, the government maintains considerable control over utilization of the nation's natural resources.

The Philippines is still largely agricultural, with nearly two thirds of the labor force living in rural areas and half of them in farm-related work. Yet it is also true that the number of persons employed in mining, manufacturing, and service-related jobs has increased. The value of exports of agricultural and other primary commodities, while still a very large share of total exports, has declined relative to manufactured goods. One major reason for this is the increasing efficiency of agriculture around the world, making more nations self-sufficient. Another reason is the use of subsidies by some governments to promote their own farm products and diminish competition from imports.

The Philippine economy was dominated first by Spain, then by the United States, during the long colonial period. Since Philippine independence, foreign economic control has remained significant. Japan and the United States in particular exercise control in the form of investment and aid, which have been vital to Philippine economic development. The Philippine government is, however, seeking to increase local ownership of business and industry.

Agriculture

Rice (palay) is the staple food of about three fourths of the population. The vast majority of farmers are poor subsistence tenant farmers who produce rice or corn (maize), which together account for about half the cropland in the islands.

One problem that has influenced rice production, and agriculture generally, is land tenancy. Much of the land in the Philippines is part of large estates. In this encomienda system, which was established by the Spanish, the land was divided into large parcels for colonial owners. Failure to achieve land reform has been one of the causes of the long Communist insurgency. Although a policy of land reform has been espoused by recent political leaders, including Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino, resistance to it is widespread and has proved a stumbling block to economic development of the countryside. Since the political leadership comes from the great landowners, reform is at best difficult.

The major rice-producing areas are in the lowland portions of Luzon, particularly the Central Plain north of Manila. The International Rice Research Institute was established at Los Banos, Laguna Province, on Luzon. It is the world center for research on rice production, and it was here, since the early 1960s, that many modern high-yield types of rice were developed. The new varieties often yield three times as much grain as traditional rice. Adoption of the new varieties by many Filipino farmers has enabled the nation to become nearly self-sufficient in rice production. There have even been years in which it was possible to export some rice. The new types of rice require large amounts of expensive fertilizer and pesticides. This, in addition to a difference in taste in the rice itself, has meant that not all farmers have been able or willing to adopt the new varieties.

Rice cultivation is very labor intensive--that is, it takes a lot of human time and energy. Seeds must be planted in nursery beds to grow the seedlings for planting. Next comes the preparation of the rice paddy. This often means leveling the land and constructing a dike around the paddy so the field can be flooded by irrigation or through capturing rainwater. The next step is transferring seedlings by hand into the flooded paddies. After transplanting, the water flow must be carefully regulated to assure aeration of the roots. When the plants reach maturity the paddy is drained and the rice harvested. The hundreds of varieties produced in this manner are collectively called lowland, or wet, rice.

Sometimes lowland rice can be grown on the terraces that have been painstakingly built into the sides of mountains, such as those in the Cordillera Central constructed by the forefathers of a group of ethnic tribes known collectively as the Igorot who maintain them to this day. The construction of such paddies in both lowland and upland areas provides protection against excessive soil erosion. The new floodwaters that flow into the paddies each growing season bring enough silt to assure than essential nutrients are replaced. These paddies often produce rice for centuries without serious loss of fertility.

Upland, or dry, rice is normally grown in high elevations where population density is lower. This rice is just one of a number of crops found in the uplands. As the name dry rice implies, it does not require large amounts of water. The yield, however, is lower than that of wet rice.

Corn, or maize, was introduced by the Spanish from their colonies in the Americas. It is now the food staple for about one fifth of the population in the islands. Because corn does not require as much moisture as wet rice, it is widely cultivated on Cebu and other Visayan islands, where annual rainfall sometimes is below 60 inches (130 centimeters). Although rainfall amounts are higher in northern and western Mindanao than on Cebu, corn is the staple crop for many there as well. The principal reason for this is the settlement in Mindanao during this century by migrants from the central Visayas, who brought their farming practices with them. Counting all the islands, there is more acreage planted in corn than rice. Thirty percent of all agricultural land was devoted to corn in 1986, while 29 percent was planted in rice. But rice yields so much more grain per acre that its importance as a food crop far surpasses that of corn.

Root crops, including cassava (or manioc), sw

This post has been edited by dalawapo: Jun 13 2004, 09:24 PM

[dalawapo]

PHILIPPINES PART 2 OF Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia report

-continued section of Agriculture section of report

Since colonial times much emphasis has been placed on growing coconuts for export. The coconut palm is widely grown south of Manila. Most of the coconuts are processed to produce copra, which is dried coconut meat that also serves as a source of vegetable oil. Unfortunately, concern about dietary saturated fat in the developed nations has diminished the world demand for coconut oil. The Philippines still produces about one fourth of the world supply of coconuts and is an exporter of copra. About ten percent of the total value of national exports is derived from this product. This makes coconut the third major export after electronic products and garments. Locally, the coconut palm is a source of fiber, charcoal, thatching, and wood.

The other main commercial crops are sugarcane, abaca, and tobacco. Sugar was once the second most important agricultural export, but it has been replaced by bananas. The sugar industry has experienced difficulties due to low world market prices and diminished demand. The western Visayan islands of Negros and Panay account for more than half the total area planted in sugarcane.

Most of the world supply of abaca (also called Manila hemp), a strong, high-quality fiber from a plant belonging to the banana family, originates in the Philippines. The production is concentrated on Mindanao, the eastern Visayans, and the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon. Since the introduction of synthetic fibers, the production of abaca has declined. It is no longer a significant export commodity.

Tobacco is not a major export item either. It is mostly processed domestically and has been the source for the world-renowned cigars manufactured in Manila. More recently the local tobacco industry has concentrated on making cigarettes. Most of the tobacco is grown in the northern Luzon areas of Ilocos and the Cagayan Valley.

The Philippines has gained self-sufficiency in poultry (chickens and ducks) and pork. Other domestic livestock include cattle, goats, and the water buffalo (or carabao). The distribution of goats and pigs partly reflects strong cultural traditions and beliefs. For example, a 25-mile (40-kilometer) trip from the predominantly Roman Catholic city of Iligan on the northern Mindanao coast south to the Maranao Muslim city of Marawi on Lake Lanao is a fascinating demonstration of cultural differences. The type of clothing changes, architecture changes, and the kinds of farm animals also change. Muslims do not eat pork; therefore, pigs are almost nowhere to be seen as one approaches Marawi. By contrast, the goats that are hardly evident in Iligan are widespread in Muslim territory.

Forestry

Timber and manufactured wood products account for about 8 percent of the total value of Philippine exports. The annual timber cut amounts to more than 14 billion board feet. The yearly rate of deforestation during the first half of the 1980s was nearly one percent--about 222,400 acres (90,000 hectares). Logging, sawmilling, and wood processing employ about 160,000 workers. Much of the timber is shipped to Japan on the form of logs. Most of the sawed lumber is used domestically. In recent years several large veneer and plywood mills have been built to supply overseas markets.

Most Philippine woods are classified as hardwoods. Although not true mahoganies, they are usually marketed as "Philippine mahogany." These woods and several other forest species, including rattan, are widely used in furniture, paneling, interior finishing, and cabinetwork. Most of the timber comes from the forest of Mindanao.

Fishing

Fish and other seafoods are the principal sources of protein in the average Filipino's diet. The annual per capita consumption of seafoods is about 70 pounds (30 kilograms), twice the national average for the Southeast Asia region. About 80 percent of the total fish catch is consumed fresh. The rest is salted, dried, or smoked.

The commercial fishing industry does not generally employ modern techniques. This is partly due to the difficulty of working in tropical waters, where there are many fish but few concentrations of a single species. Commercial fishing boats operate out of most ports. The most productive waters are the Sulu and Visayan seas. The principal commercial species of marine life are tuna and albacore, shrimp and prawn, scad, sardine, anchovy, slipmouth, yellowfish, herring, crabs, and mussels. In recent years tuna and shrimp have been among the top 20 Philippine exports by value.

Fishponds in both fresh and brackish water provide about one twelfth of the total annual catch. Many of the fishponds are located around Manila Bay because of the large local markets. The big lakes, Lake Lanao in Mindanao and Laguna de Bay on Luzon, supply large quantities of fish. Of the species caught on inland waters, the most common are milkfish (bangus) and tilapia. Bangus culture in brackish ponds has been practiced for many years, and the production of this fish has been increased through the conversion of swamps into fishponds. Tilapia is ideal for fishponds because it matures in about four months. It is a hardy fish that thrives in nearly all kinds of water.

Manufacturing

The Philippines is still one of the less developed countries. Manufacturing, therefore, accounts for a relatively small share of total employment--about 15 percent, including construction and mining. Nevertheless, manufactured goods today account for the major share of exports: 60 percent in the late 1980s. This is a tenfold increase from the 6 percent share in 1960. In short, while the percentage employed in manufacturing jobs has not increased greatly in the past three decades, the contribution of manufacturing to the national economy has increased dramatically.

The traditional function of manufacturing was food processing. For example, mills were built to process rice and corn or refine sugar. Soon after independence in 1946, the nation embarked upon an import replacement program. This means that factories were established to make goods that had previously been imported. Plants that bottled, packaged, and assembled goods made overseas were established along with steel mills, fertilizer plants, and the like. The goal was to make the country less dependent on such imported goods. Unfortunately, the strategy did not work particularly well, because components still had to be imported and local markets were small.

More recently, many less developed nations like the Philippines have changed to a strategy of manufacturing for export, as Japan has done with great success since the mid-1950s. The emphasis becomes making goods specifically for export sales instead of local consumption. This goal has led to the establishment of export processing zones (EPZs) where multinational corporations have built factories to take advantage of tax and export fee exemptions--and, of course, of cheap labor.

By the early 1990s the EPZ plants had only a minimal effect on the national economy, except for the limited employment and training they provide. The EPZs are located on the peninsula of Bataan, near Manila; on Mactan Island, near Cebu; and in Baguio, on Luzon. These plants produce or assemble a wide variety of products, including textiles and clothing, electronic goods, and watches. The two leading exports in the early 1990s were electronics and clothing.\

Local entrepreneurs, often with foreign financial partners, continue to process primary commodities for export. These products include plywood, refined sugar, canned pineapple, copra, and coconut oil. Other industries that have operated in the Philippines, especially in Manila, for a long period are the manufacture of footwear and of tobacco products.

The bulk of manufacturing is concentrated in the Manila area. The city is the principal point of entry for raw materials and other goods. It has a huge local market, a pool of skilled labor, and large financial institutions--along with the presence of cultural institutions and the central government. The metropolitan area contains more than half of the total manufacturing employment.

Another area with a heavy concentration of industry is northern Mindanao around Iligan. Heavy industry began there in the 1950s because of the hydroelectricity generated at nearby Maria Cristina Falls. An integrated steel plant, chemical and fertilizer plants, and cement factories are among the dozen or more largest factories in the area. Unfortunately, due to the low demand for the products of these plants, they have rarely produced to full capacity. In the Cagayan de Oro area, also on the northern Mindanao coast, a number of establishments are located, including a steel plant and a pineapple processing factory that cans pineapples for a nearby plantation.

The second and third largest metropolitan areas, Cebu City and Davao City, also have significant concentrations of manufacturing. These include plywood and lumber mills, furniture firms, food processing plants, and cement factories. Cebu City is a world center for the making of rattan furniture and also has a well-known shell craft industry. Small, often family-operated firms, or cottage industries, produce traditional handicrafts to meet tourist demands and local needs. Some of these handicraft products--wood carvings, basketry, woven items, brassware, matting, and pottery--are exported.

Transportation

Interisland ships are the chief means of transportation between the islands. Hundreds of small interisland freighters carry cargo and passengers between ports all over the Philippines. Both Manila and Cebu City are hubs of interisland shipping. Cebu City, in fact, has a greater number of interisland ships calling at its ports than does Manila.

The Port of Manila is a major international harbor. It is divided into three areas: North Harbor, which serves the interisland vessels; South Harbor, for international shipping; and the Manila International Port and Container Terminal, built in 1979. It was the first modern container terminal in the nation.

The land transportation system consists of road and railway networks. Each island's road network focuses on its ports. These networks were started during the Spanish colonial era to transport primary commodities from the hinterland to the sea for marketing and export. There are about 100,000 miles (161,000 kilometers) of roads in the Philippines. About one fifth of this mileage is paved.

Working railroads are found only on Luzon and Panay islands. On Luzon the rail system extends from the south in Legaspi on the Bicol Peninsula northward to Manila, then northward to San Fernando in La Union Province. The railway on Panay extends from Iloilo to the north coast. Altogether, there are about 650 miles (1,050 kilometers) of rail. An expensive light rail transit passenger system was opened in Manila in 1985 to unclog traffic congestion. About 250,000 people use this Metrorail system daily. Other modes of transportation for passengers in Manila and elsewhere in the islands include buses, taxis, pedicabs, horse-drawn carriages, and the colorful jeepney, a small bus made from a converted jeep.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) has a monopoly on domestic air service, and as the flag carrier of the Philippines it operates international routes as well. Established in 1941, PAL is the oldest airline in the Far East. There are two major international airports serving Manila and Cebu. Cebu's airport is located on nearby Mactan Island. Alternative international airports are in Laoag, Zamboanga City, and Davao City. There are 80 secondary airports scattered throughout the islands.

Trade

In nearly every year since independence the Philippines has incurred a trade deficit. The 1989 deficit was more than 50 billion pesos (at the time equal to about U.S.$2 billion). As was the case with most poorer nations, the major reasons for post-1980 deficits were low and dropping prices for primary commodities and high prices for imported energy sources, machinery, and transportation equipment. The Philippines' main trading partners are Japan and the United States, which account for about half of the Philippines' total foreign trade. Other trading partners include Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, The Netherlands, Singapore, and Malaysia. The top exports from the Philippines are electronics, ready-made apparel, and coconut products. The main imports are petroleum, petroleum products, machinery, and iron and steel.

Communication

Telephones came to the Philippines with the American conquest shortly after 1900. Today there are more than 986,000 telephones in service, about one for each 69 persons. Radios and television sets are common. In 1991 there were 8.8 million radio receivers (about one for eight persons) and 7 million television (about one for nine persons) sets in use. In 1992 there were 502 radio stations and five television networks operating 92 stations. There were 38 national newspapers. All were English-language papers, except for three Chinese dailies, one in Pilipino, and one multi-language edition.

Tourism

Visitors to the Philippines bring in much-needed foreign currency. In 1993 receipts from tourism amounted to US $1.7 billion. About 21 percent of all visitors in 1991 were from Japan. Large numbers of tourists also visited from the United States, Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, and Singapore.

Another significant source of foreign currencies for the Philippines are remittances sent back by the thousands of Filipinos who have temporarily emigrated or the thousands at work in foreign nations. This latter group includes men working in the oil fields of the Middle East and women working as maids in the Middle East and in other Asian nations.

GOVERNMENT

The Republic of the Philippines is governed under a constitution adopted in October 1986 and ratified by the Filipino voters in February 1987. The head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces is the president, who is elected by direct popular vote for a single term of six years. A vice-president is elected to a six-year term and may serve two successive terms. The president governs with the assistance of an appointed cabinet.

The 1987 constitution provided for the separation of powers and guaranteed freedom of speech, religion, the press, and equality under law. These guarantees had been suspended when President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972.

Legislative power is vested in the Congress of the Philippines. This body consists of a Senate, with 24 members elected to six-year terms, and a House of Representatives, with a maximum of 250 members elected to three-year terms. The Congress ratifies treaties and passes legislation, sometimes over a presidential veto.

There is a supreme court composed of a chief justice and 14 associate justices. They are appointed by the president. This court of final appeal has the power of judicial review: it may rule on the constitutionality of any law, ordinance, or executive order.

The Philippines is divided into 15 regions, 21 municipal districts, 60 chartered cities, and 76 provinces (including Metro Manila). These are further divided into more than 1,500 municipalities and more than 42,000 barangays, the basic geographic units of the Philippine political system. Each local government unit can create its own source of revenue and levy taxes. Each is governed independently by elected officials who are accountable to the national government for their actions.

Welfare Policies

Until recently, the Philippine government provided little in the way of social welfare services. Responsibility for needy persons was traditionally assumed by their families. To a great extent this is still true, especially in rural areas. The elderly, for instance, are provided virtually no government- sponsored facilities except for public hospitals. One improvement that did benefit at least some older citizens came with the introduction of a social security system in 1957. It provides some income for workers who have contributed to it, which is a minority of the working population. The social welfare arm of the government is the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Medical services are concentrated in the large cities and are generally not adequate elsewhere. One problem is the relatively low pay for physicians and nurses. Because of low pay, many of these individuals emigrate to the United States, where they can earn much more. Each city has its health department. Maternity care, infant care, and family planning clinics with registered midwives or nurses are found in most parts of the country. A rural health program has been instituted.

Among Filipinos the leading cause of death is heart disease. The other leading causes of death, in order of incidence, are pneumonia, diseases of the vascular system, tuberculosis, cancer, diarrhea, septicemia, and accidents. Life expectancy in the islands is about 64 years for males and 68 years for females.

Politics

After World War II a two-party system prevailed in the Philippines, with the Nationalist and Liberal parties dominating the nation's political life for decades. Neither party achieved long-term supremacy, and no postwar president was reelected until Marcos won his second victory in 1969. (Under the old constitution it was possible for the president to serve more than one term.) Political party activity was officially suspended under the martial law regime imposed by Marcos in September 1972. The ban on political parties was lifted in 1978, and martial law was ended in 1981.

The departure of Marcos led to a renewal of partisan politics in the Philippines. The dominance of the Nationalist and Liberal parties gave way to a fragmented political landscape, where a large number of parties fought for electoral supremacy. The proliferation of parties made the building of electoral coalitions important to gaining power. In August 1994 President Fidel Ramos announced the formation of a new coalition, made up of his Lakas-National Union of Christian Democrats (Lakas-NUCD) and the Democratic Filipino Struggle. The coalition produced the most powerful political group in the nation and solidified Ramos' influence in the national legislature.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) including its military wing, the New People's Army (NPA), has been a formidable threat to the stability of the government since the creation of the Philippine republic in 1946. At its peak, the NPA had an estimated membership of 19,000 and conducted its activities in 5,000 barangays throughout the nation. The NPA targeted areas of rural poverty, especially in Negros, the Bicol Peninsula, northern Luzon, the Central Plain, and on Mindanao. The combination of President Ramos' September 1992 repeal of a 1957 law formally outlawing the Communist party, a 1993 split in the ranks of the NPA, and the government's granting of a general amnesty to all rebels in March 1994 severely weakened the will of many Communist insurgents to continue the armed struggle.

The Philippine armed forces have traditionally remained subordinate to the civilian authority and have not participated in politics. Transfers of political power have generally been peaceful, though the loss of military support by Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 contributed to his sudden departure from the country. The Philippines has had no successful coups in recent decades, but mass demonstrations--often led by students--have been a common means of protest.

HISTORY

From the day Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines in 1521, the islands, because of their strategic significance, were destined to become colonies of a European power. Spaniards arrived in larger numbers late in the century, named the islands after King Philip II, and inaugurated a colonial rule that lasted until 1898. Freed from Spain, the Filipinos believed themselves to be independent. The armed forces of the United States quickly dispelled that hope by invading and conquering the islands. They became an American colony and remained so until after World War II.

Pre-colonial Era

Of the major land areas in Southeast Asia, the Philippines was one of the last to receive human inhabitants. The earliest archaeological evidence--fossilized bone found in the Tabon Caves on Palawan Island--is more than 20,000 years old. It is generally believed, however, that the first movement of humans to this island began 50,000 years ago during the Pleistocene epoch (or last great Ice Age). Palawan, sitting on the shallow Sunda Shelf, was then connected by a land bridge to Borneo and the Indonesian archipelago, making an almost complete overland passage to mainland Southeast Asia. These earliest people were the ancestors of today's Negritos, dark-skinned people of short stature. Very few people of this race remain in the islands. Today they live only in the most remote, upland forested areas. The present-day Aeta, descendants of the earliest Negritos, live in a few remote interior sections of Luzon, Mindanao, and Panay.

The first seafarers to the Philippines were PROTO-MALAY who probably arrived in the northern islands of Batanes and Luzon from China, Taiwan island, and Tonkin (now northern Vietnam) more than 10,000 years ago. These were forebears of the present-day Bontoc and Ifugao peoples--collectively called Igorots, or mountain people--of the interior upland of northern Luzon. These groups became settled rice farmers who built the magnificent terraced rice paddies into the steep slopes of the Central Cordillera. They probably learned their farming practices from the Chinese. Today these terraces are found only in northern Luzon. Some of these migrants also settled in other regions of the Philippines and they were the forebearers of the present-day Manobo and T’boli peoples -- collectively called the Lumads, or indigenous people-- of Mindanao island. Infact the Lumads predate the Igorots and are proof of the theory that The first Malayan people migrated from the North proposedly Taiwan island and then sefared into the Philippine Archipelago and some continued on a southerly migration and populated the Indonesian archipelago and on out to inhabit the majority of islands in the vast Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Beginning about 2,000 years ago, DUETERO MALAY-speaking peoples of Mongoloid descent began arriving in the Philippines from the Indonesian archipelago and the Malay Peninsula [returning migration]. These Malays were influenced under indic culture which they had mixed with the native Austronesian culture of the Malay which spread throughout the Philippines as they organized themselves into small, independent communities called barangays near the coasts of every island, each ruled by a datu this subsequently displaced the Proto-Malay and even the Negrito tribes thus pushing them up the Mountains into isolation where they would be able to preserve the indigenous Austronesian culture as latter invasions of European Colonizers would much later drastically change the low-land inhabitant‘s lifestyles. But Unlike Indonesia and mainland Southeast Asia, there were no great unified kingdoms before the arrival of European colonizers. About 500 years before the Spanish colonization of the 16th century, commercial relations with China, Indochina, Malaya, India, and the Arab lands gradually intensified. The traders brought porcelain wares, silk, cotton, gold, and jewelry to exchange for birds' nests (for soup), pearls, shells, and forest products.

Islam also made its appearance in the pre-European period. Beginning about the 14th century, Muslim traders from Borneo brought their religion to the southern Philippines. Muslim influence reached north into Luzon: early Manila, called Maynilad after a local plant, was a Muslim settlement before the Spaniards arrived. Islam, however, never became a significant force in the central and northern islands.

Today about 5 percent of the population is Muslim, and nearly all live on Mindanao, southern Palawan Island, and in the Sulu Archipelago. Because of continuing conflict between the Muslims and the central government, it is estimated that 90,000 Muslims have sought and been granted temporary refuge in Sabah, which is part of Eastern Malaysia. The refugee problem and the long-standing dispute over the boundary between Sabah and the Philippines continue to be minor irritants between these two ASEAN nations.

The Spanish Colony

In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer working for Spain, arrived in the Philippines on ships that were making the first circumnavigation of the globe. He first landed in the central Philippines near Leyte Island. Magellan was reportedly killed by a datu named Lapu-Lapu while leading an invasion of Mactan Island. The attack had been undertaken on behalf of a datu of nearby Cebu Island. Some members of Magellan's crew survived to complete their journey back to Spain.

In 1565 other Spanish vessels arrived, and permanent colonial settlements were built. Among the earliest was on Cebu Island, settled by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. In 1570, after defeating the forces of Muslim ruler Rajah Soliman, Manila was settled by the Spanish and proclaimed the capital of the colony.

Spain's immediate objectives in the Philippines were to use the islands as a base for further expansion, to establish the colony as a center for the production and export of tropical spices, and to convert the natives to Christianity. These goals were not quickly achieved, because Spain had to contend with England's destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and needed to devote energy and resources to developing its colonies in the Americas. Nevertheless, by the early 1600s, Spain's control of the Philippines was complete. Roman Catholicism had generally replaced the animistic beliefs of most Filipinos and, except in the Muslim south and in the remote interiors, it became the dominant religion in the Philippines.

The 350 years of Spanish rule greatly changed the islands. A new religion had been introduced. The encomienda system of landownership was established, by which the colony was divided into parcels, each assigned to an influential Spanish national. Spain introduced payment of tribute and forced labor for the production of commodities such as sugarcane. The galleon trade was another innovation. Galleons were large ships that plied the trade between China and Mexico from the early 16th to the early 19th centuries, using Manila as a stopover port. The Philippines was, administratively, part of the viceroyalty of Mexico. In spite of the distance between the two, the islands were closely linked to Mexico by the galleons, which carried Chinese silk and porcelain from Manila to Mexico and brought priests and silver bullion on the return voyage.

The Spanish limited trade to only one galleon per year in order to minimize the drain of silver to China and to prevent Chinese goods from flooding Spanish markets. By this time, however, Chinese merchants had already settled in the Philippines and become brokers for other trade from China. By the 1590s the Chinese had become an economically vital community, serving not only as traders but also as bookkeepers and artisans. Many Chinese, aware of the political and social advantages enjoyed by the Roman Catholics in the Spanish colony, converted to Roman Catholicism and married Filipinas, or Filipino women. Many of the mixed-marriage descendants, known as mestizos, became a dynamic and influential force in Philippine society.

After the galleon trade ended, the Philippines established direct trade links with Europe and the United States. The need for money earned by export crops hastened the development of plantation agriculture in the Philippines. This had begun in the 18th century with the growing of sugarcane, followed soon by coconut, tobacco, and, indigo. Many Spaniards and Filipinas intermarried, and their descendants, also known as mestizos, became the wealthy sugar planters on the islands of Negros, Panay, and elsewhere. The children of the wealthy landowners, often educated abroad, became the ilustrados, or enlightened ones, who eventually demanded greater power in governing the colony. They formed the nucleus of a growing nationalism in the islands.

Discontent among the ilustrados and among some of the clergy became especially strong during the latter half of the 19th century. This nationalist sentiment erupted in 1872, when three Filipino priests were executed by the Spanish authorities. The priests had been charged with leading a military mutiny at an arsenal in Cavite, near Manila. These executions and other repressive acts outraged the ilustrados.

Filipino intellectuals and students, led by Jose Rizal, met in Europe to promote the Philippine cause. Their aim at the time was not to win independence from Spain but to obtain reforms such as legal equality for Filipinos. Rizal was a physician educated in Madrid. He lived in Spain from 1882 until 1892. He became the leading spokesman for reform. By the mid-1890s he and his associates had become disillusioned and some participants had abandoned hope for a peaceful solution. Revolution seemed to be the only answer. The execution of Jose Rizal by the Spaniards on Dec. 30, 1896, assured his martyrdom and pushed the ilustrados to revolution.

The people's revolution had already commenced earlier in 1896 under the leadership of Andres Bonifacio, who headed the Katipunan, or Association of Sons of the People. Bonifacio launched an armed rebellion in San Juan del Monte in August. Although Rizal never supported Bonifacio, the former's assassination brought together his ilustrados and members of the Katipunan.

A young member of the Philippine provincial elite named Emilio Aguinaldo emerged as the best of the revolutionary generals. A leadership struggle erupted between him and Bonifacio, and the latter was eventually killed. This badly weakened Filipino unity. But the Spanish were also enmeshed in an unsuccessful war in Cuba and were eager to end the fighting in the Philippines. The Spanish offered Aguinaldo and his supporters amnesty and an indemnity if Aguinaldo would go into exile. Aguinaldo agreed and left the islands at the end of 1897.

The American Colony

Spain's reprieve was brief. In May 1898 an American fleet under Commo. George Dewey steamed into Manila Bay and destroyed the Spanish fleet. This was the Far Eastern military action of the Spanish-American War (see Spanish-American War). Aguinaldo then returned from exile and, expecting support from the United States, reestablished his military forces. Filipinos rallied to Aguinaldo, and on Jan. 23, 1899, at the city of Malos, a Philippine constitution was put into effect. Aguinaldo was elected president of the new republic.

Officials in the United States had other ideas, however. After liberating the islands from Spain, the United States refused to accept the notion of Philippine independence. The United States wanted to establish a military and commercial presence in the Far East, and the island nation seemed to be the perfect outpost. Thus, a Filipino war for independence resumed, now directed against the United States. It was one of the fiercest wars ever waged by the United States. More than 1 million Filipinos died in the fighting. Some estimates place the number as high as 3 million. Protests against the war in the United States were nearly as vehement as those against the Vietnam War three or four generations later. Hostilities ended in March 1901, when Aguinaldo was captured. (See also Aguinaldo, Emilio.)

William Howard Taft, a future president, was appointed the first civil governor of the Philippines. In order to counter the embarrassing domestic and foreign criticism of its imperialism, the United States worked out a plan that guaranteed Philippine independence when the Filipinos were prepared for it. Meanwhile, the United States governed within the existing structures of Philippine society. Gradually the Filipino elites were granted increased authority by gaining representation in government. By 1907 a national assembly had been elected. The Nationalist party, led by Sergio Osmena and Manuel L. Quezon became the dominant political force in the islands.

In 1934 the United States Congress passed the Tydings-McDuffie Act, whereby the Philippines was to obtain independence after a ten-year interval of self-government. In 1935 the Commonwealth of the Philippines was established, and Quezon was elected its first president. He held office until his death in 1944, though he died in exile in the United States, since the Philippines had been occupied by Japan in early 1942.

When the Japanese attacked early in December 1941, the American armed forces under Gen. Douglas MacArthur were forced gradually to give way before superior firepower. MacArthur left the Philippines from Corregidor Island in Manila Bay, vowing as he departed: "I shall return." Allied forces did return in October 1944 to defeat the Japanese and retake the islands. Many Filipino and American lives were lost at the hands of the Japanese. The infamous Bataan Death March will long be remembered for the atrocities that occurred (see World War II, "Siege of Bataan"). Because of the war, Philippine independence had to be delayed two years.

Since Independence

When the United Nations was established in September 1945, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was listed as a charter member. The Commonwealth was granted full independence in 1946 and renamed the Republic of the Philippines. Manuel Roxas, a member of the Liberal party, became the first president, serving until 1948. The United States retained some privileges. Roxas gave United States citizens equality with Filipinos in exploiting the country's natural resources. The United States also retained its naval base at Subic Bay and Clark Air Base, both near Manila. (By 1992 the United States had given up both of these bases.)

The ruling Filipino elite was challenged after World War II by a Communist-led armed peasant movement, the Hukbalahap--whose members are commonly called Huks. The Huks had originally emerged as an anti-Japanese guerrilla army. It was not until 1954 that President Ramon Magsaysay succeeded in suppressing the Huk rebellion--for the time being.

Magsaysay was an extremely popular president because of his attempts to bring the government closer to the citizens. He instituted some agricultural reforms, among them the resettlement of landless tenant farmers and the establishment of courts to handle their grievances. Unfortunately, Magsaysay was not able to continue his reforms because he was killed in a plane crash in 1957. During succeeding administrations agricultural reformers met with increasing resistance from the large landowners. Some presidents have been large landowners themselves--Marcos among them.

Two more presidents, Carlos Garcia (held office 1957-61) and Diosdado Macapagal (held office 1961-65), held office before the former World War II hero, Ferdinand Marcos, was elected in 1965. How the Marcos regime would have turned out, had he not faced so many difficulties, is impossible to say. During his first years in office the Huk insurgency resumed. By 1970, students, farmers, and workers were demonstrating for reforms. There were also violent outbreaks by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), an organization of armed Muslims in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, which sought autonomy. Marcos declared martial law on Sept. 21, 1972, claiming that it was the last defense against rising disorder. He jailed opponents who opposed his rule, including Benigno Aquino, Jr.

A new constitution providing for a parliamentary system of government was approved and ratified in a nationwide referendum in 1973. Marcos assumed the office of prime minister. Incomes of workers steadily declined during the 1970s, and a general disillusionment developed about martial law and the consolidation of power by the Marcos regime. Elections for an interim National Assembly were held in April 1978, and the main opposition group was led by Benigno Aquino, who was still in prison. The election gave the opposition few seats, leading to charges of election fraud. In 1980 Aquino was released so that he could travel to the United States for heart surgery.

In January 1981 martial law was finally lifted, though Marcos continued his dictatorial rule. He won a virtually uncontested election for a new six-year term. The economy continued to disintegrate amid charges of overwhelming corruption by Marcos, his wife, Imelda, and other associates. The population increasingly opposed his rule. The powerful Roman Catholic church openly criticized Marcos.

On Aug. 21, 1983, Benigno Aquino flew to Manila from the United States. As he was leaving the airplane, he was assassinated by one or more uniformed soldiers. The government blamed Communist rebels, but the evidence pointed to the government itself.

On Nov. 3, 1985, under mounting pressure from Filipinos and from the Reagan Administration in Washington, Marcos called for new elections to be held on Feb. 7, 1986, more than a year ahead of schedule. His opponent in the election was Corazon Aquino, widow of the slain Benigno Aquino. (See also Aquino, Corazon; Marcos, Ferdinand.)

Marcos was declared the winner in an election that was marred by violence and fraud. Aquino disputed the results and declared herself president. Two Marcos military aides, including Fidel Ramos, the army chief of staff, sided with Aquino. Both candidates were sworn in as president at rival ceremonies on Feb. 25, 1986.

Having lost the support of the army, and being advised by the United States government, Marcos and his family fled to Hawaii. There they were granted asylum by President Ronald Reagan. Aquino was recognized as president by jubilant Filipinos and by the international community. The new government claimed that about 3 billion dollars had been looted from the national treasury under Marcos.

During the Aquino presidency there were six unsuccessful military coup attempts, the most serious one in December 1989. The president always garnered enough military support to put down these insurrections, but the frequency of the attempts suggested the difficulties of her presidency and of the generally poor economic climate. The Philippines was left behind by the remarkable economic advances that took place in other parts of the Far East, such as Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Ferdinand Marcos died in Hawaii in 1989. Aquino refused to allow his body to be flown back for burial. In mid-1990, Imelda Marcos was acquitted in New York City of charges of racketeering, fraud, and obstruction of justice. On Sept. 28, 1990, a Manila court convicted 16 military men of murdering Benigno Aquino and sentenced them to life imprisonment. In November 1991 Imelda Marcos was allowed to return home. In 1992 permission was granted to return the body of Ferdinand Marcos, to be buried in his home province of Ilocos.

In the presidential election held in May 1992, Aquino's defense minister, Fidel Ramos, defeated Imelda Marcos and several other candidates. Elections in May 1995 gave Ramos' ruling coalition large majorities in both houses of the legislature. The president saw the election results as a vote of confidence in his economic reform program, which focused on breaking up large monopolies and deregulating industry.

Longtime close and friendly relations with the United States deteriorated in the last years of the 20th century. One point of conflict lay in the two large American military installations maintained in the Philippines: Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Base, both located on Luzon. The agreement on maintaining the military bases was to expire on Sept. 16, 1991. The United States government negotiated for a ten-year period to phase the bases out. This became a moot issue with regard to Clark Air Base after Mount Pinatubo erupted in the first half of 1991. Clark Air Base was buried under about 10 feet (3 meters) of ash and was rendered unusable. When the Philippine government refused to allow an extension of the lease for Subic Bay, the United States agreed to pull out. It closed the base in mid-1992.

The country continued to face internal struggles as well. After more than 20 years of guerrilla warfare against the government, the MNLF agreed to a cease-fire in January 1994. Some smaller Muslim separatist groups continued to fight for the creation of an Islamic state on Mindanao, however. In April 1995 members of the militant Abu Sayyaf (Sword of the Father) massacred more than 65 people in the town of Ipil.

In June 1996 the Philippine government and Muslim rebels reached an agreement to end the fighting. The MNLF would head a council to supervise an area of 14 provinces and nine cities on Mindanao and outlying islands. The council, which would also include representatives from the region's Christians and non-Muslim Lumad minority, would eventually be replaced by an autonomous government for Mindanao.

A deadly typhoon battered the main Philippine island of Luzon in November 1995, killing more than 600 people and damaging millions of dollars of property and crops.

Philippines Fact Summary

Official Name. Republic of the Philippines.
Capital. Manila.
Coat of Arms. Shield bearing an eagle on a blue background to symbolize former rule by United States, a lion on a red field to symbolize former rule by Spain, and three gold stars on a white field to symbolize the Philippine islands. Gold sun in circle in middle of shield symbolizes independence. Adopted 1946.
Motto. One Spirit, One Nation.
Anthem. 'Lupang Hinirang' (Land Dear and Holy).

NATURAL FEATURES

Borders. Coast--10,900 miles (17,500 kilometers).
Natural Regions. North Luzon Highlands, Central Plain, Cagayan Valley, Sierra Madre, Davao-Agusan Lowland, Cotabato Lowland, Bukidnon-Lanao Plateau, Tablas Plateau, Leyte Valley.
Major Ranges. Sierra Madre, Cordillera Central, Caraballo Mountains, Zambales Mountains, Diuata (Diwata) Mountains.
Notable Peaks. Mount Apo, 9,688 feet (2,953 meters); Mount Pulog, 9,612 feet (2,930 meters); Mount Halcon, 8,487 feet (2,587 meters).
Major Rivers. Cagayan, Agno, Pampanga, Pasig, Bicol, Mindanao, Agusan.
Major Lakes. Laguna de Bay, Lake Sultan Alonto, Lake Taal.
Major Islands. Luzon, Mindanao, Negros, Samar, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte, Bohol, Catanduanes, Cebu, Masbate.
Climate. Equatorial with frequent tropical monsoon conditions. Typhoons most frequent from June to December, except on Mindanao. Wet season from May to November. High temperatures remain constant throughout the year.

THE PEOPLE

Population (1996 estimate). 71,750,000; 619.6 persons per square mile (239.2 persons per square kilometer); 54.0 percent urban, 46.0 percent rural (1995 estimate).
Vital Statistics (rate per 1,000 population). Births--28.7; deaths--5.9; marriages--6.7.
Life Expectancy (at birth). Males--66.0 years; females--70.0 years.
Official Languages. Pilipino, English.
Ethnicity. Prodominately Malay
Main Lingua-ethnic Sub-Groups. Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon Ilongo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, Pangasinan.
Major Religions. Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Aglipayan (Philippine Independent Church), Islam, and Animist (Indigenous religion collectively termed belief in the "Anitos" which is said to be relatively infused within both Catholic and Islamic religions or practiced soley as a religion by the unconquerable Igorots, Lumads and among other indigenous tribes of the Philippine islands)

MAJOR CITIES (1991)

Manila (1,894,667). Capital city of the Philippines; economic, political, social, cultural center; publishing and printing; food and beverage processing; textiles; pharmaceuticals; footwear; paper; rope; chemicals; soap; tobacco goods; plywood; machinery; shipbuilding; Malacanang Palace; University of Santo Tomas (see Manila, Philippines).
Quezon City (1,627,890). On Luzon; former capital of the Philippines (1948-76); light industry; housing projects; transportation hub; Father Aguilar's Zoo; National Park and Wildlife Grounds; Quezon Memorial Hall; Araneta Coliseum.
Davao (867,779). International seaport on southeastern Mindanao; copra; corn (maize); rice; abaca; coconuts; cement; plywood; University of Mindanao; Samal Island pearl farm; Talomo Beach; Bago Inigo fish farm.
Cebu (641,042). Bustling seaport on Cebu Island; nation's oldest settlement; copra; abaca; sugar; timber; fish; textiles; footwear; processed foods; vegetable oil; furniture; chemicals; cosmetics; candles; jewelry; University of San Carlos; international airport; Fort San Pedro ruins.
Caloocan (629,473). Residential and industrial suburb of Manila; processed foods; textiles; engineering products; noodle fish; duck breeding and duck egg industry; Andres Bonifacio monument.
Zamboanga (453,214). Busy seaport city located on western Mindanao; rubber, pearls, copra, hardwoods, fish, abaca, fruit products; brassware; bronzeware; airport; Zamboanga State College.

ECONOMY

Chief Agricultural Products. Crops--sugarcane, rice, coconuts, corn (maize), bananas, cassava, pineapples, mangoes, coffee, tobacco. Livestock--pigs, buffalo, goats, cattle, chickens.
Chief Mined Products. Coal, nickel ore, copper concentrate, silver, gold, crude petroleum.
Chief Manufactured Products. Food items, petroleum products, footwear and apparel, chemicals, electrical machinery, nonmetallic mineral products, beverages, tobacco.
Foreign Trade. Imports, 61%; exports, 39%.
Chief Imports. Petroleum and petroleum products, iron and steel, nonelectrical machinery, electrical machinery, inedible crude materials, motor vehicles and parts, cereals and cereal preparations, inorganic chemicals.
Chief Exports. Electrical machinery and parts, clothing, coconut products, metalliferous ores and metal scrap, nonferrous metals, chemicals, wood products, bananas.
Chief Trading Partners. United States, Japan, Taiwan.
Monetary Unit. 1 Philippine peso 100 centavos.

EDUCATION

Schools. Public elementary schools established almost everywhere; most secondary and postsecondary schools are private; technical and vocational education is heavily stressed and is considered formal education.
Compulsory School Age. Attendance is free and compulsory for six years of elementary education.
Literacy. 93.6 percent.
Leading Universities. University of Santo Tomas; University of the Philippines; University of San Carlos; University of Mindanao; Philippine Women's University; University of the East; Ateneo de Manila University.
Notable Libraries. National Library; Philippine Women's University Library and other university libraries.
Notable Museums and Art Galleries. National Museum of the Philippines; Museum of Ethnology; Museum of Filipino Life; Metropolitan Museum of Manila; Museum of Natural Science; Malacanang Art Museum; Ilocos Norte Art Museum.

GOVERNMENT

Form of Government. Unitary republic.
Constitution. Ratified Feb. 14, 1987.
Head of State and Government. President.
Cabinet. Appointed by the president.
Legislature. Congress of the Philippines, consisting of Senate and House of Representatives. Senate--24 members, elected by universal suffrage; term, 6 years. House of Representatives-- 204 members, some elected by districts and some appointed; term, 3 years.
Judiciary. Supreme Court--chief justice and 14 associate judges. Court of Appeals--chief justice and 49 associate justices. Regional trial courts; metropolitan trial court; municipal trial court; municipal circuit trial court.
Political Divisions. 14 regions--Bicol, Cagayan Valley, Caraga, Central Luzon, Central Mindanao, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Ilocos, National Capital, Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao, Southern Tagalog, Western Mindanao, Western Visayas; 2 autonomous regions--Cordillera, Muslim Mindanao
Voting Qualification. Age 18.

PLACES OF INTEREST

American Military Cemetery and War Memorial. In Fort Bonifacio, Manila; over 17,000 American and Allied war dead killed in action during World War II are buried here; monument bearing names of over 36,000 missing servicemen.
Apo Reef National Marine Park. On Mindoro; atoll-like reef with two lagoon systems separated by a narrow channel with a sandy bottom and branching coral; about 400 species of marine fishes live here, along with sharks, stingrays, manta rays, and moray eels; diving; bird colonies on the islands of Binangaan and Cayos del Bajo.
Ayala Museum. In Manila; dioramas depicting highlights of Philippine history; archaeological, ethnic, and colonial heritage displays; burial and excavation artifacts; ethnic arts and handicrafts; sculpture; Carlos P. Romulo memorabilia.
Baguio. Summer escape from Manila's heat; beautiful mountain scenery; gold mines; Philippine Military Academy; Camp John Hay; Trinidad Valley; carved wood handicrafts; bazaars; train rides; and near the location of the Famed Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras where one site known as the Banaue rice terraces was even recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Bataan. Peninsula at entrance to Manila Bay; World War II battleground; many memorials; Altar of Valor; volcanic mountains; boat races; water skiing.
Boracay Island. Off northern coast of Panay; no television, telephones, or cars allowed; crystal-clear warm waters; white-sand beaches; coconut palms; puka shell jewelry.
Corregidor. Island at entrance to Manila Bay; prominent battleground of World War II; displays of barracks, tunnels, and artillery; Pacific War Memorial; Malinta Tunnel; Memorial Chapel; Middleside Barracks; Eternal Flame.
Pangasinan’s Hundred Islands. Protected national park along southern shores of Lingayen Gulf; Milagrosa Caves; oyster farms; fishing; milkfish culture; boat rentals; snorkeling and diving amid coral reefs; resort inns; camping; famed seashell-gathering spot.
Ilocos Coast. Region in northwestern Luzon; dramatic seascapes; weaving; jewelry making; pottery; beach resorts; scuba diving; Syquia Mansion; Burgos Museum and Library; Archbishop's Palace; St. Pauls' Cathedral (earthquake-proof); Santa Maria Church; 18th-century rococo architecture; St. William's Cathedral; Balay ti Ili, former home of Marcos family; Juan Luna Shrine; Cape Bojeador Lighthouse.
Intramuros. Site of a fortress built in Manila in 1571 after Spaniards defeated a force of Muslims. A well-defended small city was built inside the walls. Manila Cathedral and many old homes are worth visiting.
Nayong Pilipino (Philippine Village) Theme Park. In Manila; highlights the country's regions, culture, and tourist attractions in miniature; jeepney rides.
Pagsanjan. On Luzon; giant waterfalls; boat rides on the Pagsanjan River; raft rides to cave behind the falls.
Palawan. Rain forests; caves; deserted beaches and coves; coral gardens; wild orchids and ferns; butterflies; birds; home to primitive tribes; Paleolithic caves; Game Preserve and Sanctuary (Calauit Island); Bird Refuge (Ursula Island); St. Paul Subterranean River National Park; towering black limestone cliffs (El Nido); area specialty is nido soup (edible bird's nest soup).
Rizal. Province on Luzon; at the foothills of the Sierra Madre; fish landing port of Navotas; fishing town of Malabon; duck raising in Pateros; shoemaking center in Marikina; Angono artists' colony; Antipolo pilgrimage in May; Carabao Festival of Angono; during Holy Week worshipers climb Mount Banahaw.
Tulingon Caves and Basang Cave. In Nabas on Panay; Tulingon is longest cave in the country; Basang has a swimming basin; spelunking; bat guano collecting; nearby town sponsors annual month-long Ati-Atihan dancing festival.

This article was contributed by Richard Ulack, Chairman of the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky.

FURTHER RESOURCES FOR THE PHILIPPINES

Brands, H.W. Bound to Empire: The United States and the Philippines (Oxford Univ. Press, 1992). Eder, James, and Youngblood, Robert, eds. Patterns of Power and Politics in the Philippines (Ariz. State Univ. Press, 1994). Harper, Peter, and Fullerton, Laurie. Philippine Handbook (Moon Publications, 1994). Insight Guides. Philippines, 8th ed. (Houghton, 1994). Karnow, Stanley. In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines (Random, 1989). Macaranas, Natividad. Growing Up in the Philippines (Carlton, 1995). Pomeroy, W.J. The Philippines: Colonialism, Collaboration, and Resistance (International Publishers Co., 1992). Steinberg, David. The Philippines: A Singular and Plural Place, 3rd ed. (Westview, 1994). Thompson, W.S. The Philippines in Crisis (St. Martin's, 1992). Wurfel, David. Democracy in the Philippines? The Precarious Aquino Regime (Westview, 1993).

From Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia copywrite 1999 The Learning Company, Inc. edited by dalawapo

This post has been edited by dalawapo: Jun 10 2004, 11:34 PM

[RockHeart]

WOW!!! This history is very long but is so trong of it...Its nice...Where did you get this from??? Dalawapo... (IMG:http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[dalawapo]

i cited the material in all places..... just click the link. and the last article i got from Compton's Cd Encyclopedia.... but thanks for your interest Rockheart! at least i have you to be interested in my history whereas my brothers maybe do not care about their past....

so much for that famous Filipino saying:

Ang hindi (marunong) lumingon sa pinanggalingan, di makararatíng sa paroroonan.

He who does not (know how to) look back at his past (where he came from) will not reach his destination.

[halohalo]

i cited the material in all places..... just click the link. and the last article i got from Compton's Cd Encyclopedia.... but thanks for your interest Rockheart! at least i have you to be interested in my history whereas my brothers maybe do not care about their past....

so much for that famous Filipino saying:

Ang hindi (marunong) lumingon sa pinanggalingan, di makararatíng sa paroroonan.

He who does not (know how to) look back at his past (where he came from) will not reach his destination.

we were taught about our past in school.

[Horitaka]

whereas my brothers maybe do not care about their past....

like halo halo said we already knew about our past...

You seem to be so judgemental about everyone in here... what gives?

Do you teach for a living or planning to?

[dalawapo]

i cited the material in all places..... just click the link. and the last article i got from Compton's Cd Encyclopedia.... but thanks for your interest Rockheart! at least i have you to be interested in my history whereas my brothers maybe do not care about their past....

so much for that famous Filipino saying:

Ang hindi (marunong) lumingon sa pinanggalingan, di makararatíng sa paroroonan.

He who does not (know how to) look back at his past (where he came from) will not reach his destination.

we were taught about our past in school.

School is only a tool to introduce and expose you to things and subjects, but to really be knowledageable you have to go beyond and do independent study and search for a comprehnsive information... your school textbook can only cover so much in a given 5 pages per topic or something... and many times they can be bias or misinformed!

even in my American school, we are taught merely a 5 page section about native americans... we barely graze the subject in American History.... i have to go on my own and research, otherwise all i would know about native americans is what is written in that 5 page summary in my school textbook.... again, so much is not included in your school text book, you don't even know! And even sometimes things are bias!!!!! they didn't depict the dead and murdered in those pictures only picture drawings of a stereotypical water color of a native american wiht a headdress holdin ga hachet wiht a really red face or a drawing of a native american on a horse chasing a buffalo with his arrow drawn.

[Horitaka]

I think halo halo was saying she already knew about what you posted... I did too

It might help someone out there though

[Menikani]

Very fascinating history. The Phillipines history is very intresting and unique. (IMG:http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/icon_smile.gif)

[Bchung]

although i would really like to know more. But there is no way i am reading all of that............you want me to turn blind?

[Ek-ek]

No, We like posting a lot of long......................long article......just like this one............

[Forumwalker]

i cited the material in all places..... just click the link. and the last article i got from Compton's Cd Encyclopedia.... but thanks for your interest Rockheart! at least i have you to be interested in my history whereas my brothers maybe do not care about their past....

so much for that famous Filipino saying:

Ang hindi (marunong) lumingon sa pinanggalingan, di makararatíng sa paroroonan.

He who does not (know how to) look back at his past (where he came from) will not reach his destination.

not all my friend. some of us do care of our history. you may read them but i see them here. (IMG:http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)