159-647: Auraeus Solito , also known as Kanakan-Balintagos , is a Palawán- Filipino filmmaker and indigenous peoples rights advocate who comes from a lineage of shaman-kings from the Palawán tribe. He was one of the first to be born outside of his tribal land of South Palawan . He was born in Manila and, after graduating from the Philippine Science High School , studied theater at the University of
318-722: A demonym , was derived from the term las Islas Filipinas ' the Philippine Islands ' , the name given to the archipelago in 1543 by the Spanish explorer and Dominican priest Ruy López de Villalobos , in honor of Philip II of Spain . During the Spanish colonial period , natives of the Philippine islands were usually known in the Philippines itself by the generic terms indio ("Indian (native of
477-546: A major non-NATO ally of the United States. Its location as an island country on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes it prone to earthquakes and typhoons . The Philippines has a variety of natural resources and a globally-significant level of biodiversity . During his 1542 expedition, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the islands of Leyte and Samar " Felipinas " after
636-476: A shootout with MILF rebels in Mamasapano delayed passage of the law. Growing public frustration with post- EDSA governance led to the 2016 election of populist Rodrigo Duterte , whose presidency saw the decline of liberalism in the country albeit largely retaining liberal economic policies. Among Duterte's priorities was aggressively increasing infrastructure spending to spur economic growth;
795-473: A 17th-century war against the Dutch , 18th-century British occupation of Manila , and conflict with Muslims in the south. Administration of the Philippines was considered a drain on the economy of New Spain, and abandoning it or trading it for other territory was debated. This course of action was opposed because of the islands' economic potential, security, and the desire to continue religious conversion in
954-402: A claim on eastern North Borneo . In 1965, Macapagal lost the presidential election to Ferdinand Marcos . Early in his presidency , Marcos began infrastructure projects funded mostly by foreign loans; this improved the economy, and contributed to his reelection in 1969 . Near the end of his last constitutionally-permitted term, Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972 using
1113-498: A class called Maginoo (royals) and defended by the Maharlika (Lesser nobles, royal warriors and aristocrats). These Royals and Nobles are descended from native Filipinos with varying degrees of Indo-Aryan and Dravidian , which is evident in today's DNA analysis among South East Asian Royals. This tradition continued among the Spanish and Portuguese traders who also intermarried with the local populations. The first census in
1272-518: A major non-NATO ally. Under President Duterte , ties with the United States weakened in favor of improved relations with China and Russia . The Philippines relies heavily on the United States for its external defense; the U.S. has made regular assurances to defend the Philippines, including the South China Sea . Since 1975, the Philippines has valued its relations with China —its top trading partner, and cooperates significantly with
1431-659: A more capable defense system. The Philippines has long struggled against local insurgencies , separatism , and terrorism . Bangsamoro 's largest separatist organizations, the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front , signed final peace agreements with the government in 1996 and 2014 respectively. Other, more-militant groups such as Abu Sayyaf and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters have kidnapped foreigners for ransom, particularly in
1590-778: A nonviolent revolution . The Philippines is an emerging market and a newly industrialized country , whose economy is transitioning from being agricultural to service- and manufacturing-centered. It is a founding member of the United Nations , the World Trade Organization , ASEAN , the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the East Asia Summit ; it is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and
1749-716: A period of European colonization. During the period of Spanish colonialism , the Philippines was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain , which was governed and administered from Mexico City . Early Spanish settlers were mostly explorers, soldiers, government officials and religious missionaries born in Spain and Mexico. Most Spaniards who settled were of Basque ancestry, but there were also settlers of Andalusian , Catalan , and Moorish descent. The Peninsulares (governors born in Spain), mostly of Castilian ancestry, settled in
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#17327759082741908-417: A proportion of the provinces widely varied; with as high as 19% of the population of Tondo province (The most populous province and former name of Manila), to Pampanga 13.7%, Cavite at 13%, Laguna 2.28%, Batangas 3%, Bulacan 10.79%, Bataan 16.72%, Ilocos 1.38%, Pangasinan 3.49%, Albay 1.16%, Cebu 2.17%, Samar 3.27%, Iloilo 1%, Capiz 1%, Bicol 20%, and Zamboanga 40%. According to
2067-531: A six-year term ) and the House of Representatives , the lower house , with members elected to a three-year term. Senators are elected at-large , and representatives are elected from legislative districts and party lists . Judicial authority is vested in the Supreme Court , composed of a chief justice and fourteen associate justices , who are appointed by the president from nominations submitted by
2226-427: A three-tier social structure: nobility, freemen, and dependent debtor-bondsmen. Among the nobility were leaders known as datus , who were responsible for ruling autonomous groups ( barangays or dulohan). When the barangays banded together to form a larger settlement or a geographically looser alliance, their more-esteemed members would be recognized as a " paramount datu ", rajah or sultan , and would rule
2385-399: A tropical maritime climate which is usually hot and humid. There are three seasons: a hot dry season from March to May, a rainy season from June to November, and a cool dry season from December to February. The southwest monsoon (known as the habagat ) lasts from May to October, and the northeast monsoon ( amihan ) lasts from November to April. The coolest month is January, and
2544-470: A typical year, usually from July to October; eight or nine of them make landfall . The wettest recorded typhoon to hit the Philippines dropped 2,210 millimeters (87 in) in Baguio from July 14 to 18, 1911. The country is among the world's ten most vulnerable to climate change . The Philippines has a democratic government, a constitutional republic with a presidential system . The president
2703-494: Is head of state and head of government , and is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces . The president is elected through direct election by the citizens of the Philippines for a six-year term. The president appoints and presides over the cabinet and officials of various national government agencies and institutions. The bicameral Congress is composed of the Senate (the upper house , with members elected to
2862-548: Is a founding and active member of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and a member of the East Asia Summit , the Group of 24 , and the Non-Aligned Movement . The country has sought to obtain observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation since 2003, and was a member of SEATO . Over 10 million Filipinos live and work in 200 countries , giving the Philippines soft power . During
3021-796: Is a priority hotspot for biodiversity conservation ; it has more than 200 protected areas , which was expanded to 7,790,000 hectares (30,100 sq mi) as of 2023 . Three sites in the Philippines have been included on the UNESCO World Heritage List: the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea, the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River , and the Mount Hamiguitan Wildlife Sanctuary. The Philippines has
3180-481: Is a slang word formed by taking the last four letters of " Filipino " and adding the diminutive suffix " -y ". Or the non-gender or gender fluid form Pinxy. In 2020, the neologism Filipinx appeared; a demonym applied only to those of Filipino heritage in the diaspora and specifically referring to and coined by Filipino Americans imitating Latinx , itself a recently coined gender-inclusive alternative to Latino or Latina . An online dictionary made an entry of
3339-588: Is currently based upon the principle of jus sanguinis and, therefore, descent from a parent who is a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines is the primary method of acquiring national citizenship. Birth in the Philippines to foreign parents does not in itself confer Philippine citizenship, although RA9139, the Administrative Naturalization Law of 2000, does provide a path for administrative naturalization of certain aliens born in
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#17327759082743498-575: The Reconquista . The Spanish–Moro conflict lasted for several hundred years; Spain conquered portions of Mindanao and Jolo during the last quarter of the 19th century, and the Muslim Moro in the Sultanate of Sulu acknowledged Spanish sovereignty. Philippine ports opened to world trade during the 19th century, and Filipino society began to change. Social identity changed, with
3657-535: The 2022 election . Marcos's renewal of a pro-US foreign policy, however, has been viewed as a reversal of Duterte's cordiality with China, and territorial disputes in the South China Sea have since escalated. The Philippines is an archipelago of about 7,641 islands , covering a total area (including inland bodies of water) of about 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi). Stretching 1,850 kilometers (1,150 mi) north to south, from
3816-769: The Aeta (including the Agta, Arta, Dumagat, etc.) of Luzon, the Ati of Western Visayas , the Batak of Palawan , and the Mamanwa of Mindanao . Today they comprise just 0.03% of the total Philippine population. After the Negritos, were two early Paleolithic migrations from East Asian (basal Austric , an ethnic group which includes Austroasiatics ) people, they entered the Philippines at around 15,000 and 12,000 years ago, respectively. Like
3975-576: The Batanes Islands (where they built stone fortresses known as ijangs ) and northern Luzon . Jade artifacts have been dated to 2000 BC, with lingling-o jade items made in Luzon with raw materials from Taiwan. By 1000 BC, the inhabitants of the archipelago had developed into four societies: hunter-gatherer tribes, warrior societies, highland plutocracies , and port principalities. The earliest known surviving written record in
4134-770: The Berlinale (The Teddy award, International Jury Prize at the Kinderfest and Special Mention from the Children's Jury of the Kinderfest). It is also the first Philippine film nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Independent Spirit Awards in the US, and has been shown in more than 50 film festivals around the world. Tuli ( Circumcision ), his second feature film, won Best Picture and Best Director at
4293-684: The Coral Triangle ecoregion, Philippine waters have unique, diverse marine life and the world's greatest diversity of shore-fish species. The country has over 3,200 fish species (121 endemic). Philippine waters sustain the cultivation of fish, crustaceans, oysters, and seaweeds. Eight major types of forests are distributed throughout the Philippines: dipterocarp , beach forest, pine forest, molave forest, lower montane forest , upper montane (or mossy forest ), mangroves , and ultrabasic forest. According to official estimates,
4452-524: The East Indies "). Filipinos of mixed ethnic origins are still referred today as mestizos . However, in common popular parlance, mestizos usually refer to Filipinos mixed with Spanish or any other European ancestry. Filipinos mixed with any other foreign ethnicities are named depending on the non-Filipino part. Historically though, it was the Mestizo de Sangley ( Chinese Mestizo ) that numbered
4611-652: The East Indies )") or indigena ' indigenous ' , while the generic term chino ("Chinese"), short for indio chino was used in Spanish America to differentiate from the Native American indios of the Spanish colonies in the Americas and the West Indies . The term Filipino was sometimes added by Spanish writers to distinguish the indio chino native of the Philippine archipelago from
4770-619: The First Philippine Republic . The ensuing Philippine–American War ended with the United States controlling the territory until the Japanese invasion of the islands during World War II . After the United States retook the Philippines from the Japanese , the Philippines became independent in 1946. The country has had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a decades-long dictatorship in
4929-513: The Judicial and Bar Council . Attempts to change the government to a federal , unicameral , or parliamentary government have been made since the Ramos administration . Philippine politics tends to be dominated by well-known families , such as political dynasties or celebrities , and party switching is widely practiced. Corruption is significant , attributed by some historians to
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5088-628: The Late Pleistocene , c. 67,000 years old. The remains were initially identified as modern human, but after the discovery of more specimens in 2019, they have been reclassified as being members of a new species – Homo luzonensis . The oldest indisputable modern human ( Homo sapiens ) remains in the Philippines are the " Tabon Man " fossils discovered in the Tabon Caves in the 1960s by Robert B. Fox , an anthropologist from
5247-487: The Malay Srivijaya , Javanese Majapahit , Brunei , Malacca , Tamil Chola , Champa and Khmer empires , although de facto had established their own independent system of rule. Trading links with Sumatra , Borneo , Java , Cambodia , Malay Peninsula , Indochina , China , Japan , India and Arabia . A thalassocracy had thus emerged based on international trade. Even scattered barangays, through
5406-482: The Moro Gulf and in 1990 on Luzon . The Philippines has 23 active volcanoes ; of them, Mayon , Taal , Canlaon , and Bulusan have the largest number of recorded eruptions. The country has valuable mineral deposits as a result of its complex geologic structure and high level of seismic activity. It is thought to have the world's second-largest gold deposits (after South Africa), large copper deposits, and
5565-531: The National Museum . These were dated to the Paleolithic , at around 26,000 to 24,000 years ago. The Tabon Cave complex also indicates that the caves were inhabited by humans continuously from at least 47,000 ± 11,000 years ago to around 9,000 years ago. The caves were also later used as a burial site by unrelated Neolithic and Metal Age cultures in the area. The Tabon Cave remains (along with
5724-579: The Negrito people , although they are highly genetically divergent from each other. Philippine Negritos show a high degree of Denisovan Admixture , similar to Papuans and Indigenous Australians , in contrast to Malaysian and Andamanese Negritos (the Orang Asli ). This indicates that Philippine Negritos, Papuans, and Indigenous Australians share a common ancestor that admixed with Denisovans at around 44,000 years ago. Negritos include ethnic groups like
5883-770: The Neolithic at around 4,500 to 3,500 years ago, when a branch of Austronesians from Taiwan (the ancestral Malayo-Polynesian -speakers) migrated to the Batanes Islands and Luzon . They spread quickly throughout the rest of the islands of the Philippines and became the dominant ethnolinguistic group. They admixed with the earlier settlers, resulting in the modern Filipinos – which though predominantly genetically Austronesian still show varying genetic admixture with Negritos (and vice versa for Negrito ethnic groups which show significant Austronesian admixture). Austronesians possessed advanced sailing technologies and colonized
6042-540: The Niah Cave remains of Borneo and the Tam Pa Ling remains of Laos ) are part of the "First Sundaland People", the earliest branch of anatomically modern humans to reach Island Southeast Asia at the time of lowered sea levels of Sundaland , with only one 3km sea crossing. They entered the Philippines from Borneo via Palawan at around 50,000 to 40,000 years ago. Their descendants are collectively known as
6201-546: The Philippine nationality law . However, the term has been rejected as an identification in some instances by minorities who did not come under Spanish control, such as the Igorot and Muslim Moros . The lack of the letter " F " in the 1940–1987 standardized Tagalog alphabet ( Abakada ) caused the letter " P " to be substituted for " F ", though the alphabets or writing scripts of some non-Tagalog ethnic groups included
6360-726: The Philippine–American War . The war resulted in the deaths of 250,000 to 1 million civilians, primarily due to famine and disease. Many Filipinos were transported by the Americans to concentration camps , where thousands died. After the fall of the First Philippine Republic in 1902, an American civilian government was established with the Philippine Organic Act . American forces continued to secure and extend their control of
6519-452: The Prince of Asturias , later Philip II of Castile . Eventually, the name " Las Islas Filipinas " would be used for the archipelago's Spanish possessions. Other names, such as " Islas del Poniente " (Western Islands), " Islas del Oriente " (Eastern Islands), Ferdinand Magellan's name, and " San Lázaro " (Islands of St. Lazarus), were used by the Spanish to refer to islands in
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6678-592: The South China Sea to the Celebes Sea , the Philippines is bordered by the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Sulu Sea to the southwest. The country's 11 largest islands are Luzon , Mindanao , Samar , Negros , Palawan , Panay , Mindoro , Leyte , Cebu , Bohol and Masbate , about 95 percent of its total land area. The Philippines' coastline measures 36,289 kilometers (22,549 mi),
6837-558: The Spanish Empire , for more than 300 years. Catholic Christianity became the dominant religion, and Manila became the western hub of trans-Pacific trade . Hispanic immigrants from Latin America and Iberia would also selectively colonize. The Philippine Revolution began in 1896, and became entwined with the 1898 Spanish–American War . Spain ceded the territory to the United States, and Filipino revolutionaries declared
6996-597: The Spanish Empire . Many Indian Sepoy troops and their British captains mutinied and were left in Manila and some parts of the Ilocos and Cagayan . The Indian Filipinos in Manila settled at Cainta, Rizal and the ones in the north settled in Isabela . Most were assimilated into the local population. Even before the British invasion, there were already also a large but unknown number of Indian Filipinos as majority of
7155-726: The Spanish Navy . There were also significant numbers of Manilamen in Northern Australia and the Torres Strait Islands in the late 1800s who were employed in the pearl hunting industries. In Mexico (especially in the Mexican states of Guerrero and Colima ), Filipino immigrants arriving to New Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries via the Manila galleons were called chino , which led to
7314-421: The Taft Commission ; the 1934 Tydings–McDuffie Act granted a ten-year transition to independence through the creation of the Commonwealth of the Philippines the following year, with Manuel Quezon president and Sergio Osmeña vice president. Quezon's priorities were defence, social justice, inequality, economic diversification, and national character. Filipino (a standardized variety of Tagalog) became
7473-423: The Tejeros Convention , at which Bonifacio lost his position and Emilio Aguinaldo was elected the new leader of the revolution. The 1897 Pact of Biak-na-Bato resulted in the Hong Kong Junta government in exile. The Spanish–American War began the following year, and reached the Philippines; Aguinaldo returned, resumed the revolution, and declared independence from Spain on June 12, 1898. In December 1898,
7632-467: The indio of the Spanish colonies in the Americas, which were free people and legally barred from being used as slaves, unlike those from the Philippines. The term Indio Filipino appears as a term of self-identification beginning in the 18th century. In 1955, Agnes Newton Keith wrote that a 19th century edict prohibited the use of the word "Filipino" to refer to indios. This reflected popular belief, although no such edict has been found. The idea that
7791-492: The 15th century, Arab and Indian missionaries and traders from Malaysia and Indonesia brought Islam to the Philippines, where it both replaced and was practiced together with indigenous religions. Before that, indigenous tribes of the Philippines practiced a mixture of Animism , Hinduism and Buddhism . Native villages, called barangays were populated by locals called Timawa (Middle Class/freemen) and Alipin (servants and slaves). They were ruled by Rajahs , Datus and Sultans ,
7950-409: The 1990s, the Philippines began to seek economic liberalization and free trade to help spur foreign direct investment . It is a member of the World Trade Organization and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation . The Philippines entered into the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement in 2010 and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free trade agreement (FTA) in 2023. Through ASEAN,
8109-443: The 19th century. However, they eventually spread all over the islands and became traders, landowners and moneylenders. Today, their descendants still comprise a significant part of the Philippine population especially its bourgeois , who during the late Spanish Colonial Era in the late 19th century, produced a major part of the ilustrado intelligentsia of the late Spanish Colonial Philippines , that were very influential with
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#17327759082748268-436: The 20th century, now later came to compose the modern Spanish Filipino community and Chinese Filipino community respectively, where families of such background contribute a significant share of the Philippine economy today, where most in the current list of the Philippines' richest each year comprise billionaires of either Chinese Filipino background or the old elite families of Spanish Filipino background. After
8427-666: The 20th century, that preserved at least some of their Chinese culture , integrated together with mainstream Filipino culture , are now in the form of the modern Chinese Filipino community, who currently play a leading role in the Philippine business sector and contribute a significant share of the Philippine economy today, where most in the current list of the Philippines' richest each year comprise Taipan billionaires of Chinese Filipino background, mostly of Hokkien descent, where most still trace their roots back to mostly Jinjiang or Nan'an within Quanzhou or sometimes Xiamen (Amoy) or Zhangzhou , all within Southern Fujian ,
8586-443: The Digital Competition at the 2005 CineManila film festival; won the NETPAC Jury Prize at the Berlinale, International Forum for New Cinema and the Best International Feature Film at Outfest in Los Angeles. Solito is the first Filipino to make it to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, USA, two years in a row (with The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros and Tuli ). His films have been screened in other major festivals around
8745-486: The Kingdom of Sanfotsi situated in Pangasinan , the Kingdom of Luzon now known as Pampanga which specialized in trade with most of what is now known as Southeast Asia and with China, Japan and the Kingdom of Ryukyu in Okinawa . From the 9th century onwards, a large number of Arab traders from the Middle East settled in the Malay Archipelago and intermarried with the local Malay , Bruneian, Malaysian, Indonesian and Luzon and Visayas indigenous populations. In
8904-417: The Malayan empires of Srivijaya , Majapahit and Brunei . Datu – The Tagalog maginoo , the Kapampangan ginu and the Visayan tumao were the nobility social class among various cultures of the pre-colonial Philippines. Among the Visayans, the tumao were further distinguished from the immediate royal families or a ruling class. Timawa – The timawa class were free commoners of Luzon and
9063-474: The Muslim minority in the Philippines; concerns have been raised about domestic abuse and war affecting the approximately 2.5 million overseas Filipino workers in the region. The Philippines has claims in the Spratly Islands which overlap with claims by China, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The largest of its controlled islands is Thitu Island , which contains the Philippines' smallest town . The 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff , after China seized
9222-416: The Negritos, they entered the Philippines during the lowered sea levels during the last ice age , when the only water crossings required were less than 3km wide (such as the Sibutu strait ). They retain partial genetic signals among the Manobo people and the Sama-Bajau people of Mindanao . The last wave of prehistoric migrations to reach the Philippines was the Austronesian expansion which started in
9381-418: The Other, Worldviews and Lifestyles of Filipino Culture-Bearers . Canadian film scholar Adam Szymanski has positioned Kanakan Balintagos' films within the context of Fourth Cinema and emphasized their affinity with Indigenous political movements which are animated by traditional conceptualizations of healing. Filipinos Filipinos ( Filipino : Mga Pilipino ) are citizens or people identified with
9540-537: The Philippine Autonomy Act and the Jones Law . The official title "Republic of the Philippines" was included in the 1935 constitution as the name of the future independent state, and in all succeeding constitutional revisions. There is evidence of early hominins living in what is now the Philippines as early as 709,000 years ago. A small number of bones from Callao Cave potentially represent an otherwise unknown species, Homo luzonensis , who lived 50,000 to 67,000 years ago. The oldest modern human remains on
9699-464: The Philippine Revolution to modern times, the term "Filipino" was expanded to include everyone born in the Philippines coming from any race, as per the Philippine nationality law . That would explain the abrupt drop of otherwise high Chinese, Spanish and mestizo, percentages across the country by the time of the first American census in 1903. By the 20th century, the remaining ethnic Spaniards and ethnic Chinese, replenished by further Chinese migrants in
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#17327759082749858-474: The Philippines (AFP) consist of three branches: the Philippine Air Force , the Philippine Army , and the Philippine Navy . Civilian security is handled by the Philippine National Police under the Department of the Interior and Local Government . The AFP had a total manpower of around 280,000 as of 2022 , of which 130,000 were active military personnel, 100,000 were reserves, and 50,000 were paramilitaries . In 2023, US$ 477 million (1.4 percent of GDP)
10017-416: The Philippines (Spanish Filipinos) in Spanish : " Filipino/s " (m) or " Filipina/s " (f) in relation to those born in Hispanic America called in Spanish : " Americano/s " (m) / " Americana/s " (f) or " Criollo/s " , whereas the Spaniards born in the Philippines themselves called the Spaniards from Spain as " Peninsular/es " with themselves also referred to as " Insular/es ". Meanwhile,
10176-545: The Philippines , where he received a degree in Theater Arts. One of the leading independent filmmakers in the Philippines, he was chosen as part of in Take 100, The Future of Film in 2010. This book, published by Phaidon Press , New York, is a survey featuring 100 emerging film directors from around the world who have been selected by 10 internationally prominent film festival directors. His first feature film, Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros ( The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros ) won 15 international awards including 3 awards at
10335-414: The Philippines and during the Spanish period they were referred to as guachinangos and they readily intermarried and mixed with native Filipinos. Bernal, the author of the book "Mexico en Filipinas" contends, that they were middlemen, the guachinangos in contrast to the Spanish and criollos, known as Castila, that had positions in power and were isolated, the guachinangos in the meantime, had interacted with
10494-547: The Philippines as soldiers and colonists. Spanish Manila became the capital of the Captaincy General of the Philippines and the Spanish East Indies in 1571, Spanish territories in Asia and the Pacific. The Spanish invaded local states using the principle of divide and conquer , bringing most of what is the present-day Philippines under one unified administration. Disparate barangays were deliberately consolidated into towns , where Catholic missionaries could more easily convert their inhabitants to Christianity , which
10653-409: The Philippines during the 14th century, via the Indianized Hindu Majapahit Empire . By the 15th century, Islam was established in the Sulu Archipelago and spread from there. Polities founded in the Philippines between the 10th and 16th centuries include Maynila , Tondo , Namayan , Pangasinan , Cebu , Butuan , Maguindanao , Lanao , Sulu , and Ma-i . The early polities typically had
10812-473: The Philippines had 7,000,000 hectares (27,000 sq mi) of forest cover in 2023. Logging had been systemized during the American colonial period and deforestation continued after independence, accelerating during the Marcos presidency due to unregulated logging concessions. Forest cover declined from 70 percent of the Philippines' total land area in 1900 to about 18.3 percent in 1999. Rehabilitation efforts have had marginal success. The Philippines
10971-429: The Philippines has signed FTAs with China , India , Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The country has bilateral FTAs with Japan , South Korea, and four European states : Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The Philippines has a long relationship with the United States , involving economics, security , and interpersonal relations. The Philippines' location serves an important role in
11130-461: The Philippines is the early-10th-century AD Laguna Copperplate Inscription , which was written in Old Malay using the early Kawi script with a number of technical Sanskrit words and Old Javanese or Old Tagalog honorifics . By the 14th century, several large coastal settlements emerged as trading centers and became the focus of societal changes . Some polities had exchanges with other states throughout Asia. Trade with China began during
11289-478: The Philippines via sea-borne migration, in contrast to earlier groups. Austronesians from the Philippines also later settled Guam and the other islands of Maritime Southeast Asia , and parts of Mainland Southeast Asia . From there, they colonized the rest of Austronesia , which in modern times include Micronesia , coastal New Guinea , Island Melanesia , Polynesia , and Madagascar , in addition to Maritime Southeast Asia and Taiwan. The connections between
11448-524: The Philippines was in 1591, based on tributes collected. The tributes counted the total founding population of the Spanish Philippines as 667,612 people. 20,000 were Chinese migrant traders, at different times: around 15,600 individuals were Latino soldier-colonists who were cumulatively sent from Peru and Mexico and they were shipped to the Philippines annually, 3,000 were Japanese residents, and 600 were pure Spaniards from Europe. There
11607-457: The Philippines without distinction of origin or race. American authorities during the American colonial era also started to colloquially use the term Filipino to refer to the native inhabitants of the archipelago, but despite this, it became the official term for all citizens of the sovereign independent Republic of the Philippines , including non-native inhabitants of the country as per
11766-467: The Philippines' historical trade partner with Mainland China . In the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of Japanese traders also migrated to the Philippines and assimilated into the local population. Many were assimilated throughout the centuries, especially through the tumultuous period of World War II . Today, there is a small growing Nikkei community of Japanese Filipinos in Davao with roots to
11925-537: The Philippines. Rizal was executed on December 30, 1896, for rebellion, and his death radicalized many who had been loyal to Spain. Attempts at reform met with resistance; Andrés Bonifacio founded the Katipunan secret society, which sought independence from Spain through armed revolt, in 1892. The Katipunan Cry of Pugad Lawin began the Philippine Revolution in 1896. Internal disputes led to
12084-460: The Philippines. However, according to the center of Amerasian Research, there might be as many as 250,000 Amerasians scattered across the cities of Clark , Angeles City , Manila , and Olongapo . In addition, numerous Filipino men enlisted in the US Navy and made careers in it, often settling with their families in the United States. Some of their second- or third-generation families returned to
12243-619: The Philippines. Since many of the above historical groups came to the Philippines before its establishment as an independent state, many have also gained citizenship before the founding of either the First Philippines Republic or Third Republic of the Philippines . For example, many Cold-War-era Chinese migrants who had relatives in the Philippines attain Filipino citizenship for their children through marriage with Chinese Filipino families that trace back to either
12402-706: The Philippinos is much like that which the Igorots have at present". These examples prompted the historian William Henry Scott to conclude that during the Spanish colonial period: [...]the people of the Philippines were called Filipinos when they were practicing their own culture—or, to put it another way, before they became indios . While the Philippine-born Spaniards during the 19th century began to be called españoles filipinos , logically contracted to just Filipino , to distinguish them from
12561-521: The Spaniards born in Spain, they themselves resented the term, preferring to identify themselves as "hijo/s del país" ("sons of the country"). In the latter half of the 19th century, ilustrados , an educated class of mestizos (both Spanish mestizos and Sangley Chinese mestizos , especially Chinese mestizos) and indios arose whose writings are credited with building Philippine nationalism . These writings are also credited with transforming
12720-648: The Spanish colonial period's padrino system . The Roman Catholic church exerts considerable but waning influence in political affairs, although a constitutional provision for the separation of Church and State exists. A founding and active member of the United Nations, the Philippines has been a non-permanent member of the Security Council . The country participates in peacekeeping missions, particularly in East Timor . The Philippines
12879-510: The Spanish period, especially as Manila was connected to the ports of Southern Fujian , such as Yuegang (the old port of Haicheng in Zhangzhou , Fujian ). The Spaniards recruited thousands of Chinese migrant workers from " Chinchew " ( Quanzhou ), " Chiõ Chiu " ( Zhangzhou ), " Canton " ( Guangzhou ), and Macau called sangleys (from Hokkien Chinese : 生理 ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī : Sng-lí ; lit. 'business') to build
13038-542: The Sulu Archipelago and Maguindanao , but their presence has been reduced. The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its military wing, the New People's Army (NPA), have been waging guerrilla warfare against the government since the 1970s and have engaged in ambushes, bombings, and assassinations of government officials and security forces; although shrinking militarily and politically after
13197-581: The United States' island chain strategy in the West Pacific; a Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countries was signed in 1951, and was supplemented with the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement and the 2016 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement . The country supported American policies during the Cold War and participated in the Korean and Vietnam wars. In 2003, the Philippines was designated
13356-530: The Visayas who could own their own land and who did not have to pay a regular tribute to a maginoo, though they would, from time to time, be obliged to work on a datu's land and help in community projects and events. They were free to change their allegiance to another datu if they married into another community or if they decided to move. Maharlika – Members of the Tagalog warrior class known as maharlika had
13515-846: The Wangdoms of Pangasinan and Ma-i as well as Ma-i's subordinates, the Barangay states of Pulilu and Sandao ; the Kingdoms of Maynila , Namayan , and Tondo ; the Kedatuans of Madja-as , Dapitan , and Cainta ; the Rajahnates of Cebu , Butuan and Sanmalan ; and the Sultanates of Buayan , Maguindanao , Lanao and Sulu ; existed alongside the highland societies of the Ifugao and Mangyan . Some of these regions were part of
13674-549: The archipelago like in the following sentence: The first and last concern of the Filipinos in cases of sickness was, as we have stated, to offer some sacrifice to their anitos or diwatas , which were their gods. In the Crónicas (1738) of Juan Francisco de San Antonio, the author devoted a chapter to "The Letters, languages and politeness of the Philippinos", while Francisco Antolín argued in 1789 that "the ancient wealth of
13833-484: The archipelago to Spain. European criollos , mestizos and Portuguese, French and Mexican descent from the Americas, mostly from Latin America came in contact with the Filipinos. Japanese , Indian and Cambodian Christians who fled from religious persecutions and killing fields also settled in the Philippines during the 17th until the 19th centuries. The Mexicans especially were a major source of military migration to
13992-431: The archipelago's earliest inhabitants, were followed by waves of Austronesian peoples . The adoption of animism , Hinduism with Buddhist influence, and Islam established island-kingdoms ruled by datus , rajas , and sultans . Extensive overseas trade with neighbors such as the late Tang or Song empire brought Chinese people to the archipelago as well, which would also gradually settle in and intermix over
14151-553: The capital city of Manila , is connected to Laguna de Bay (the country's largest lake ) by the Pasig River . On the western fringes of the Pacific Ring of Fire , the Philippines has frequent seismic and volcanic activity. The region is seismically active, and has been constructed by plates converging towards each other from multiple directions. About five earthquakes are recorded daily, although most are too weak to be felt. The last major earthquakes were in 1976 in
14310-483: The centuries. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan , a Portuguese explorer leading a fleet for Castile , marked the beginning of Spanish colonization . In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of King Philip II of Castile . Spanish colonization via New Spain , beginning in 1565, led to the Philippines becoming ruled by the Crown of Castile, as part of
14469-461: The civilities, terms of courtesy, and good breeding among the Filipinos" (Chapter XVI), "Of the Letters of the Filipinos" (Chapter XVII), "Concerning the false heathen religion, idolatries, and superstitions of the Filipinos" (Chapter XXI), "Of marriages, dowries, and divorces among the Filipinos" (Chapter XXX), while also using the term "Filipino" to refer unequivocally to the non-Spaniard natives of
14628-528: The colonial caste system hierarchy and taxation system during the Spanish Colonial Times dictated that those of mixed descent were known as " Mestizo /s " ( m ) / " Mestiza/s " ( f ), specifically those of mixed Spanish and native Filipino descent were known as " Mestizo/s de Español " ( Spanish Mestizos ), whereas those of mixed Chinese and native Filipino descent were known as " Mestizo/s de Sangley " ( Chinese Mestizos ) and
14787-475: The colonial infrastructure in the islands. Many Chinese immigrants converted to Christianity, intermarried with the locals, and adopted Hispanized names and customs and became assimilated, although the children of unions between Filipinos and Chinese that became assimilated continued to be designated in official records as mestizos de sangley . The Chinese mestizos were largely confined to the Binondo area until
14946-712: The commencement of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade that connected the Philippines through Manila to Acapulco in Mexico , attracted new waves of immigrants from China , as Manila was already previously connected to the Maritime Silk Road and Maritime Jade Road , as shown in the Selden Map , from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou in Southern Fujian to Manila , maritime trade flourished during
15105-750: The community. Population density is thought to have been low during the 14th to 16th centuries due to the frequency of typhoons and the Philippines' location on the Pacific Ring of Fire . Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in 1521, claimed the islands for Spain, and was killed by Lapulapu 's men in the Battle of Mactan . Unification and colonization by the Crown of Castile began when Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi arrived from New Spain ( Spanish : Nueva España ) in 1565. Many Filipinos were brought to New Spain as slaves and forced crew. Whereas many Latin Americans were brought to
15264-585: The confusion of early Filipino immigrants with that of the much later Chinese immigrants to Mexico from the 1880s to the 1940s. A genetic study in 2018 has also revealed that around one-third of the population of Guerrero have 10% Filipino ancestry. The oldest archaic human remains in the Philippines are the " Callao Man " specimens discovered in 2007 in the Callao Cave in Northern Luzon . They were dated in 2010 through uranium-series dating to
15423-462: The country (3,500 of which are endemic), Philippine rain forests have an array of flora: about 3,500 species of trees, 8,000 flowering plant species, 1,100 ferns , and 998 orchid species have been identified. The Philippines has 167 terrestrial mammals (102 endemic species), 235 reptiles (160 endemic species), 99 amphibians (74 endemic species), 686 birds (224 endemic species), and over 20,000 insect species. As an important part of
15582-510: The country of the Philippines . The majority of Filipinos today are predominantly Catholic and come from various Austronesian peoples , all typically speaking Tagalog , English , or other Philippine languages . Despite formerly being subject to Spanish colonialism , only around 2–4% of Filipinos are fluent in Spanish . Currently, there are more than 185 ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines each with its own language , identity, culture, tradition, and history. The name Filipino , as
15741-445: The country. Following its independence, the Philippines has seen both small and large-scale immigration into the country, mostly involving American, European, Chinese and Japanese peoples. After World War II, South Asians continued to migrate into the islands, most of which assimilated and avoided the local social stigma instilled by the early Spaniards against them by keeping a low profile or by trying to pass as Spanish mestizos. This
15900-411: The country. Japan is the biggest bilateral contributor of official development assistance to the Philippines; although some tension exists because of World War II , much animosity has faded. Historical and cultural ties continue to affect relations with Spain . Relations with Middle Eastern countries are shaped by the high number of Filipinos working in those countries, and by issues related to
16059-434: The creation of Filipino nationalism and the sparking of the Philippine Revolution as part of the foundation of the First Philippine Republic and subsequent sovereign independent Philippines . Today, the bulk of the families in the list of the political families in the Philippines have such family background. Meanwhile, the colonial-era Sangley's pure ethnic Chinese descendants of which, replenished by later migrants in
16218-498: The data, in the Archdiocese of Manila which administers much of Luzon under it, about 10% of the population was Spanish-Filipino. Across the whole Philippines, as estimated, the total ratio of Spanish Filipino tributes amount to 5% of the totality. In the 1860s to 1890s, in the urban areas of the Philippines, especially at Manila, according to burial statistics, as much as 3.3% of the population were pure European Spaniards and
16377-557: The datu between 6 and 18 pesos in gold – a large sum in those days. Alipin – Commonly described as "servant" or "slave". However, this is inaccurate. The concept of the alipin relied on a complex system of obligation and repayment through labor in ancient Philippine society, rather than on the actual purchase of a person as in Western and Islamic slavery . Members of the alipin class who owned their own houses were more accurately equivalent to medieval European serfs and commoners. By
16536-500: The deaths of at least 200,000 Filipino civilians. Some estimates for total civilian dead reach up to 1,000,000. After the Philippine–American War, the United States civil governance was established in 1901, with William Howard Taft as the first American Governor-General . A number of Americans settled in the islands and thousands of interracial marriages between Americans and Filipinos have taken place since then. Owing to
16695-618: The defeat of Spain during the Spanish–American War in 1898, Filipino general, Emilio Aguinaldo declared independence on June 12 while General Wesley Merritt became the first American governor of the Philippines. On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris formally ended the war, with Spain ceding the Philippines and other colonies to the United States in exchange for $ 20 million. The Philippine–American War resulted in
16854-478: The development of inter-island and international trade, became more culturally homogeneous by the 4th century. Hindu - Buddhist culture and religion flourished among the noblemen in this era. In the period between the 7th to the beginning of the 15th centuries, numerous prosperous centers of trade had emerged, including the Kingdom of Namayan which flourished alongside Manila Bay , Cebu , Iloilo , Butuan ,
17013-476: The early 20th century, the term "Malay race" is still used incorrectly in the Philippines to refer to the Austronesian peoples, leading to confusion with the non-indigenous Melayu people . Since at least the 3rd century, various ethnic groups established several communities. These were formed by the assimilation of various native Philippine kingdoms. South Asian and East Asian people together with
17172-581: The economy contracted by 7.3 percent annually in 1984 and 1985. On August 21, 1983, opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. (Marcos's chief rival) was assassinated on the tarmac at Manila International Airport . Marcos called a snap presidential election in 1986 which proclaimed him the winner, but the results were widely regarded as fraudulent. The resulting protests led to the People Power Revolution , which forced Marcos and his allies to flee to Hawaii . Aquino's widow, Corazon ,
17331-639: The enactment of the Bangsamoro Organic Law; an intensified crackdown on crime and communist insurgencies; and an anti-drug campaign that reduced drug proliferation but that has also led to extrajudicial killings . In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic reached the Philippines, necessitating nationwide lockdowns that caused a brief but severe economic recession . Under a promise of continuing Duterte's policies, Marcos's son, Bongbong Marcos , ran with Duterte's daughter, Sara , and won
17490-433: The foreign term. Native Filipinos were also called Manilamen (or Manila men ) by English-speaking regions or Tagalas by Spanish-speakers during the colonial era. They were mostly sailors and pearl-divers and established communities in various ports around the world. One of the notable settlements of Manilamen is the community of Saint Malo, Louisiana , founded at around 1763 to 1765 by escaped slaves and deserters from
17649-491: The indigenous population. In the late 1700s to early 1800s, Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga, an Agustinian Friar, in his Two Volume Book: "Estadismo de las islas Filipinas" compiled a census of the Spanish-Philippines based on the tribute counts (Which represented an average family of seven to ten children and two parents, per tribute) and came upon the following statistics: The Spanish-Filipino population as
17808-428: The islands are from the Tabon Caves of Palawan , U/Th-dated to 47,000 ± 11–10,000 years ago. Tabon Man is presumably a Negrito , among the archipelago's earliest inhabitants descended from the first human migrations out of Africa via the coastal route along southern Asia to the now-sunken landmasses of Sundaland and Sahul . The first Austronesians reached the Philippines from Taiwan around 2200 BC, settling
17967-420: The islands to govern their territory. Most settlers married the daughters of rajahs , datus , and sultans to reinforce the colonization of the islands. The Ginoo and Maharlika castes (royals and nobles) in the Philippines prior to the arrival of the Spaniards formed the privileged Principalía (nobility) during the early Spanish period. The arrival of the Spaniards to the Philippines, especially through
18126-481: The islands were ceded by Spain to the United States with Puerto Rico and Guam after the Spanish–American War. The First Philippine Republic was promulgated on January 21, 1899. Lack of recognition by the United States led to an outbreak of hostilities that, after refusal by the U.S. on-scene military commander of a cease-fire proposal and a declaration of war by the nascent Republic, escalated into
18285-639: The islands, suppressing an attempted extension of the Philippine Republic , securing the Sultanate of Sulu , establishing control of interior mountainous areas which had resisted Spanish conquest, and encouraging large-scale resettlement of Christians in once-predominantly-Muslim Mindanao. Cultural developments in the Philippines strengthened a national identity, and Tagalog began to take precedence over other local languages. Governmental functions were gradually given to Filipinos by
18444-499: The late Spanish Colonial Era or American Colonial Era . Likewise, many other modern expatriates from various countries, such as the US , often come to the Philippines to marry with a Filipino citizen , ensuring their future children attain Filipino citizenship and their Filipino spouses ensure property ownership . During the Spanish colonial period , Spaniards from Spain and Hispanic America mainly referred to Spaniards born in
18603-552: The late Tang dynasty , and expanded during the Song dynasty . Throughout the second millennium AD, some polities were also part of the tributary system of China . With extensive trade and diplomacy, this brought Southern Chinese merchants and migrants from Southern Fujian , known as "Langlang" and "Sangley" in later years, who would gradually settle and intermix in the Philippines. Indian cultural traits such as linguistic terms and religious practices began to spread in
18762-408: The letter "F". Upon official adoption of the modern, 28-letter Filipino alphabet in 1987, the term Filipino was preferred over Pilipino . Locally, some still use "Filipino" to refer to the people and "Pilipino" to refer to the language, but in international use "Filipino" is the usual form for both. A number of Filipinos refer to themselves colloquially as " Pinoy " (feminine: " Pinay "), which
18921-520: The many cities and presidios of the Philippines. With the inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1867, Spain opened the Philippines for international trade. European investors of British, Dutch, German, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, and French nationality were among those who settled in the islands as business increased. More Spaniards and Chinese arrived during the next century. Many of these migrants intermarried with local mestizos and assimilated with
19080-440: The mix of all of the above or a mix of Spanish and Chinese were known as " Tornatrás ". Meanwhile, the ethnic Chinese migrants ( Chinese Filipinos ) were historically referred to as " Sangley/es " (from Hokkien Chinese : 生理 ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī : Sng-lí ; lit. 'business'), while the natives of the Philippine islands were usually known by the generic term " Indio/s " (lit. " Indian , native of
19239-467: The most among mestizos , though the Mestizos de Español ( Spanish Mestizos ) carried more social prestige due to the colonial caste system hierarchy that usually elevated Spanish blood and Christianized natives to the peak, while most descendants of the Mestizo de Sangley ( Chinese Mestizo ), despite assuming many of the important roles in the economic, social and political life of
19398-586: The nation, would readily assimilate into the fabric of Philippine society or sometimes falsely claim Spanish descent due to this situation. Philippines in ASEAN (dark grey) – [ Legend ] Pinoy ( colloquial neutral ) Pinay ( colloquial feminine ) The Philippines , officially the Republic of the Philippines , is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia . In
19557-607: The national language, women's suffrage was introduced , and land reform was considered. The Empire of Japan invaded the Philippines in December 1941 during World War II , and the Second Philippine Republic was established as a puppet state governed by Jose P. Laurel . Beginning in 1942, the Japanese occupation of the Philippines was opposed by large-scale underground guerrilla activity . Atrocities and war crimes were committed during
19716-528: The natives of the Philippines, while in contrast, the exchanges between Castila and native were negligent. Following Bernal, these two groups—native Filipinos and the Castila—had been two "mutually unfamiliar castes" that had "no real contact." Between them, he clarifies however, were the Chinese traders and the guachinangos (Mexicans). In the 1600s, Spain deployed thousands of Mexican and Peruvian soldiers across
19875-464: The north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east and southeast, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest. It is the world's twelfth-most-populous country , with diverse ethnicities and cultures . Manila is the country's capital , and its most populated city is Quezon City . Both are within Metro Manila . Negritos ,
20034-712: The old Little Japan in Mintal or Calinan in Davao City during the American colonial period , where many had roots starting out in Abaca plantations or from workers of the Benguet Road ( Kennon Road ) to Baguio . British forces occupied Manila between 1762 and 1764 as a part of the Seven Years' War . However, the only part of the Philippines which the British held was the Spanish colonial capital of Manila and
20193-556: The people of the Indonesian archipelago and the Malay Peninsula, traded with Filipinos and introduced Hinduism and Buddhism to the native tribes of the Philippines. Most of these people stayed in the Philippines where they were slowly absorbed into local societies. Many of the barangay (tribal municipalities) were, to a varying extent, under the de jure jurisprudence of one of several neighboring empires, among them
20352-879: The play he wrote when he was seventeen, won three awards at the Cinema One Originals Film Festival, including Best Director. In 2015 he was awarded 1st Prize in the prestigious Palanca Awards , Filipino Division, Dulang Ganap Ang Haba (Full Length Play in Filipino), for his literary work Mga Buhay na Apoy . In 2017, he was one of the recipients of the Outstanding Manilan Award . Also in 2018, he stated that he has returned to using Kanakan-Balintagos for all of his professional work. The films of Auraeus Solito are extensively discussed in Katrin de Guia's book Kapwa: The Self in
20511-518: The principal naval port of Cavite , both of which are located by the Manila Bay . The war was ended by the Treaty of Paris (1763) . At the end of the war the treaty signatories were not aware that Manila had been taken by the British and was being administered as a British colony. Consequently, no specific provision was made for the Philippines. Instead they fell under the general provision that all other lands not otherwise provided for be returned to
20670-407: The pure Chinese were as high as 9.9%. The Spanish Filipino and Chinese Filipino Mestizo populations also fluctuated. Eventually, many families belonging to the non-native categories from centuries ago beyond the late 19th century diminished because their descendants intermarried enough and were assimilated into and chose to self-identify as Filipinos while forgetting their ancestor's roots since during
20829-609: The region before Spanish rule was established. During the Philippine Revolution , the Malolos Congress proclaimed it the República Filipina (the Philippine Republic ). American colonial authorities referred to the country as the Philippine Islands (a translation of the Spanish name). The United States began changing its nomenclature from "the Philippine Islands" to "the Philippines" in
20988-519: The region. The colony survived on an annual subsidy from the Spanish crown averaging 250,000 pesos, usually paid as 75 tons of silver bullion from the Americas. British forces occupied Manila from 1762 to 1764 during the Seven Years' War , and Spanish rule was restored with the 1763 Treaty of Paris . The Spanish considered their war with the Muslims in Southeast Asia an extension of
21147-422: The same rights and responsibilities as the timawa, but in times of war they were bound to serve their datu in battle. They had to arm themselves at their own expense, but they did get to keep the loot they took. Although they were partly related to the nobility, the maharlikas were technically less free than the timawas because they could not leave a datu's service without first hosting a large public feast and paying
21306-456: The shoal from the Philippines, led to an international arbitration case which the Philippines eventually won; China rejected the result, and made the shoal a prominent symbol of the broader dispute. China has rejected new Philippine maritime laws aimed at strengthening sovereignty in the South China Sea, stating they infringe on Chinese territorial claims and vowing to defend its interests in contested areas. The volunteer Armed Forces of
21465-410: The slaves imported into the archipelago were from Bengal or Southern India , adding Dravidian speaking South Indians and Indo-European speaking Bangladeshis into the ethnic mix. A total of 110 Manila-Acapulco galleons set sail between 1565 and 1815, during the Philippines trade with Mexico. Until 1593, three or more ships would set sail annually from each port bringing with them the riches of
21624-594: The specter of communism and began to rule by decree ; the period was characterized by political repression , censorship , and human rights violations . Monopolies controlled by Marcos's cronies were established in key industries, including logging and broadcasting; a sugar monopoly led to a famine on the island of Negros . With his wife, Imelda , Marcos was accused of corruption and embezzling billions of dollars of public funds. Marcos's heavy borrowing early in his presidency resulted in economic crashes , exacerbated by an early 1980s recession where
21783-470: The strategic location of the Philippines, as many as 21 bases and 100,000 military personnel were stationed there since the United States first colonized the islands in 1898. These bases were decommissioned in 1992 after the end of the Cold War , but left behind thousands of Amerasian children. The country gained independence from the United States in 1946. The Pearl S. Buck International Foundation estimates there are 52,000 Amerasians scattered throughout
21942-616: The term Filipino to one which refers to everyone born in the Philippines, especially during the Philippine Revolution and American Colonial Era and the term shifting from a geographic designation to a national one as a citizenship nationality by law . Historian Ambeth Ocampo has suggested that the first documented use of the word Filipino to refer to Indios was the Spanish-language poem A la juventud filipina , published in 1879 by José Rizal . Writer and publisher Nick Joaquin has asserted that Luis Rodríguez Varela
22101-563: The term Filipino encompassing all residents of the archipelago instead of solely referring to Spaniards born in the Philippines . Revolutionary sentiment grew in 1872 after 200 locally recruited colonial troops and laborers alongside three activist Catholic priests were executed on questionable grounds . This inspired the Propaganda Movement , organized by Marcelo H. del Pilar , José Rizal , Graciano López Jaena , and Mariano Ponce , which advocated political reform in
22260-510: The term Filipino was not used to refer to indios until the 19th century has also been mentioned by historians such as Salah Jubair and Renato Constantino . However, in a 1994 publication the historian William Henry Scott identified instances in Spanish writing where "Filipino" did refer to "indio" natives. Instances of such usage include the Relación de las Islas Filipinas (1604) of Pedro Chirino , in which he wrote chapters entitled "Of
22419-399: The term, applying it to all Filipinos within the Philippines or in the diaspora. In actual practice, however, the term is unknown among and not applied to Filipinos living in the Philippines, and Filipino itself is already treated as gender-neutral. The dictionary entry resulted in confusion, backlash and ridicule from Filipinos residing in the Philippines who never identified themselves with
22578-474: The various Austronesian peoples have also been known since the colonial era due to shared material culture and linguistic similarities of various peoples of the islands of the Indo-Pacific , leading to the designation of Austronesians as the " Malay race " (or the " Brown race ") during the age of scientific racism by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach . Due to the colonial American education system in
22737-488: The war, including the Bataan Death March and the Manila massacre . The Philippine resistance and Allied troops defeated the Japanese in 1944 and 1945. Over one million Filipinos were estimated to have died by the end of the war. On October 11, 1945, the Philippines became a founding member of the United Nations . On July 4, 1946, during the presidency of Manuel Roxas , the country's independence
22896-613: The warmest is May. Temperatures at sea level across the Philippines tend to be in the same range, regardless of latitude; average annual temperature is around 26.6 °C (79.9 °F) but is 18.3 °C (64.9 °F) in Baguio , 1,500 meters (4,900 ft) above sea level. The country's average humidity is 82 percent. Annual rainfall is as high as 5,000 millimeters (200 in) on the mountainous east coast, but less than 1,000 millimeters (39 in) in some sheltered valleys. The Philippine Area of Responsibility has 19 typhoons in
23055-423: The western Pacific Ocean , it consists of 7,641 islands , with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which are broadly categorized in three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon , Visayas , and Mindanao . The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the south. It shares maritime borders with Taiwan to
23214-721: The world including Montreal , Busan , Toronto and Rotterdam . Solito completed a screenplay development program at the Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam. His film Busong ( Palawan Fate ) was selected at the Cannes Directors' Fortnight in 2011, and it was awarded Best Director, Best Sound Design, and Best Original Music Score at Cinemalaya 2011. His film Busong was also shown at the 2012 National Geographic All Roads Film Festival in Washington, D.C., where it
23373-401: The world's fifth-longest , and the country's exclusive economic zone covers 2,263,816 km (874,064 sq mi). Its highest mountain is Mount Apo on Mindanao, with an altitude of 2,954 meters (9,692 ft) above sea level. The Philippines' longest river is the Cagayan River in northern Luzon, which flows for about 520 kilometers (320 mi). Manila Bay , on which is
23532-466: The world's largest deposits of palladium . Other minerals include chromium , nickel , molybdenum , platinum , and zinc . However, poor management and law enforcement, opposition from indigenous communities, and past environmental damage have left these resources largely untapped. The Philippines is a megadiverse country , with some of the world's highest rates of discovery and endemism (67 percent). With an estimated 13,500 plant species in
23691-501: The years leading up to 1000 AD, there were already several maritime societies existing in the islands but there was no unifying political state encompassing the entire Philippine archipelago. Instead, the region was dotted by numerous semi-autonomous barangays (settlements ranging in size from villages to city-states) under the sovereignty of competing thalassocracies ruled by datus , rajahs or sultans or by upland agricultural societies ruled by "petty plutocrats". Nations such as
23850-419: Was a large but unknown number of South Asian Filipinos , as the majority of the slaves imported into the archipelago were from Bengal and Southern India, adding Dravidian speaking South Indians and Indo-European speaking Bengalis into the ethnic mix. The Philippines was colonized by the Spaniards. The arrival of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan ( Portuguese : Fernão de Magalhães ) in 1521 began
24009-480: Was also true for the Arab and Chinese immigrants, many of whom are also post WWII arrivals. More recent migrations into the country by Koreans , Persians , Brazilians , and other Southeast Asians have contributed to the enrichment of the country's ethnic landscape, language and culture. Centuries of migration , diaspora , assimilation , and cultural diversity made most Filipinos accepting of interracial marriage and multiculturalism . Philippine nationality law
24168-491: Was awarded Grand Prize, the Merata Mita "Best of Stories" Award. In 2013 he adopted his tribal-spirit name Kanakan-Balintagos after his uncle, who is a shaman in Palawan, dreamt about him. He said in an interview, "In his dream, he saw me in the middle of a sandbar holding a camera that turned into a blowgun. I became a kanakan … a hunter. Suddenly, great waves appeared from both sides of the sandbar, but I remained unharmed, untouched." In 2014 his film Esprit de Corps , based on
24327-613: Was initially Syncretist . Christianization by the Spanish friars occurred mostly across the settled lowlands over the course of time. From 1565 to 1821, the Philippines was governed as a territory of the Mexico City -based Viceroyalty of New Spain; it was then administered from Madrid after the Mexican War of Independence . Manila became the western hub of trans-Pacific trade by Manila galleons built in Bicol and Cavite . During its rule, Spain nearly bankrupted its treasury quelling indigenous revolts and defending against external military attacks, including Moro piracy ,
24486-421: Was installed as president and a new constitution was promulgated. The return of democracy and government reforms which began in 1986 were hampered by national debt , government corruption, and coup attempts . A communist insurgency and military conflict with Moro separatists persisted; the administration also faced a series of disasters, including the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991. Aquino
24645-474: Was marked by economic growth, but was tainted by corruption and political scandals, including electoral fraud allegations during the 2004 presidential election . Economic growth continued during Benigno Aquino III 's administration, which advocated good governance and transparency. Aquino III signed a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) resulting in the Bangsamoro Organic Law establishing an autonomous Bangsamoro region, but
24804-552: Was recognized by the United States with the Treaty of Manila . Efforts at post-war reconstruction and ending the Hukbalahap Rebellion succeeded during Ramon Magsaysay 's presidency, but sporadic communist insurgency continued to flare up long afterward. Under Magsaysay's successor, Carlos P. Garcia , the government initiated a Filipino First policy which promoted Filipino-owned businesses. Succeeding Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal moved Independence Day from July 4 to June 12—the date of Emilio Aguinaldo's declaration— and pursued
24963-423: Was spent on the Philippine military. Most of the country's defense spending is on the Philippine Army, which leads operations against internal threats such as communist and Muslim separatist insurgencies; its preoccupation with internal security contributed to the decline of Philippine naval capability which began during the 1970s. A military modernization program began in 1995 and expanded in 2012 to build
25122-482: Was succeeded by Fidel V. Ramos , who liberalized the national economy with privatization and deregulation . Ramos's economic gains were overshadowed by the onset of the 1997 Asian financial crisis . His successor, Joseph Estrada , prioritized public housing but faced corruption allegations which led to his overthrow by the 2001 EDSA Revolution and the succession of Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on January 20, 2001. Arroyo's nine-year administration
25281-424: Was the first to describe himself as Filipino in print. Apolinario Mabini (1896) used the term Filipino to refer to all inhabitants of the Philippines. Father Jose Burgos earlier called all natives of the archipelago as Filipinos . In Wenceslao Retaña 's Diccionario de filipinismos , he defined Filipinos as follows, todos los nacidos en Filipinas sin distincion de origen ni de raza. All those born in
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