Philippine Profile

Official Name

Republika ng Pilipinas (Republic of the Philippines)

Language

National language: Filipino. Official languages: Filipino and English. 72,944,000 (1998 UN). Literacy rate 88% to 89%. The number of languages listed for Philippines is 172. Of those, 169 are living languages and 3 are extinct (Source: SIL.ORG)

Economy

Principally light industry and agriculture. Traditional export products are copper, gold, sugar, coconut, and copra. Top non-traditional exports are semiconductors and garments.

History

Historians believe the Philippines was already populated back in the Paleolithic age. Based on the archeological artifacts recovered, Filipino society and culture were fairly developed prior to contacts with other countries. The discovery in 1989 of the so-called Laguna Copperplate Inscription pushed back written historical record more than 600 years, placing the Philippines in the context of the ancient kingdoms of Southeast Asia like Sri-Vijaya (Sumatra), Angkor (Kampuchea), Champa (Vietnam), Madjapahit (Java), and others that existed before the 10th Century. Filipinos had commercial relations early on with China, Indo-China, Malaysia, India, and the Arab countries. Chinese silk, porcelain, jars, gold, ivory, and beads were traded for wax, bird's nest, teakwood, rattan, pearls, precious stones, and other marine and forest products.

Ferdinand Magellan came to the Philippines on March 16, 1521 and claimed the country for the Spanish Crown. A colonial government was established in Manila in 1571. Spain introduced changes in the political, social, and cultural life of the people. One of these is Christianity. The Philippines fell under the rule of Spain for more than 300 years, briefly punctuated by an invasion by the British from 1762 to 1764. In 1896, the Filipinos staged the first nationalistic revolution in Asia against the Spaniards. The 1896 Revolution was the culmination of a succession of revolts against Spanish oppression. The death by musketry of Dr. Jose Rizal, who led the reform movement, fueled the fires of revolution.

As the United States declared war on Spain on April 25, 1898, culminating in the destruction of the Spanish fleet in Manila bay on May 1, 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo returned from exile to resume command of his rebel forces. The Filipino forces routed the Spanish forces in the provinces and laid siege to Manila itself. From the balcony of his home in Cavite, Aguinaldo proclaimed the independence of the Philippines on June 12, 1898. As it was becoming apparent that the United States did not have any intention of recognizing Philippine independence, Aguinaldo proclaimed the Malolos Constitution and the First Philippine Republic. Hostilities of the Philippine-American war began on February 4, 1899 and continued for several years. The United States needed 126,000 soldiers to subdue the Philippines. The war took the lives of 4,234 Americans and 16,000 Filipinos. As many as 200,000 civilians may have died from famine and disease.

The 21-year rule of Ferdinand MARCOS ended in 1986 when a widespread popular rebellion forced him into exile. In 1992, the US closed its last military bases on the islands. The Philippines has had two electoral presidential transitions since Marcos' removal by "people power." In January 2001, the Supreme Court declared Joseph ESTRADA unable to rule in view of mass resignations from his government and administered the oath of office to Vice President Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO as his constitutional successor.