Philippine History (Part 5)

Philippine History

(World War II)

War came suddenly to the Philippines on Dec. 8 (Dec. 7, U.S. time), 1941, when Japan attacked without warning. Japanese troops invaded the islands in many places and launched a pincer drive on Manila. MacArthur’s scattered defending forces (about 80,000 troops, four fifths of them Filipinos) were forced to withdraw to Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island, where they entrenched and tried to hold until the arrival of reinforcements, meanwhile guarding the entrance to Manila Bay and denying that important harbor to the Japanese. But no reinforcements were forthcoming. The Japanese occupied Manila on Jan. 2, 1942. MacArthur was ordered out by President Roosevelt and left for Australia on Mar. 11; Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright assumed command.

The besieged U.S.-Filipino army on Bataan finally crumbled on Apr. 9, 1942. Wainwright fought on from Corregidor with a garrison of about 11,000 men; he was overwhelmed on May 6, 1942. After his capitulation, the Japanese forced the surrender of all remaining defending units in the islands by threatening to use the captured Bataan and Corregidor troops as hostages. Many individual soldiers refused to surrender, however, and guerrilla resistance, organized and coordinated by U.S. and Philippine army officers, continued throughout the Japanese occupation.

Japan’s efforts to win Filipino loyalty found expression in the establishment (Oct. 14, 1943) of a “Philippine Republic,” with José P. Laurel, former supreme court justice, as president. But the people suffered greatly from Japanese brutality, and the puppet government gained little support. Meanwhile, President Quezon, who had escaped with other high officials before the country fell, set up a government-in-exile in Washington. When he died (Aug., 1944), Vice President Sergio Osmeña became president. Osmeña returned to the Philippines with the first liberation forces, which surprised the Japanese by landing (Oct. 20, 1944) at Leyte, in the heart of the islands, after months of U.S. air strikes against Mindanao. The Philippine government was established at Tacloban, Leyte, on Oct. 23.

The landing was followed (Oct. 23–26) by the greatest naval engagement in history, called variously the battle of Leyte Gulf and the second battle of the Philippine Sea. A great U.S. victory, it effectively destroyed the Japanese fleet and opened the way for the recovery of all the islands. Luzon was invaded (Jan., 1945), and Manila was taken in February. On July 5, 1945, MacArthur announced “All the Philippines are now liberated.” The Japanese had suffered over 425,000 dead in the Philippines.

Philippine History (Part 4)

Philippine History

(The Commonwealth Government)

The Hare-Hawes Cutting Act, passed by Congress in 1932, provided for complete independence of the islands in 1945 after 10 years of self-government under U.S. supervision. The bill had been drawn up with the aid of a commission from the Philippines, but Manuel L. Quezon, the leader of the dominant Nationalist party, opposed it, partially because of its threat of American tariffs against Philippine products but principally because of the provisions leaving naval bases in U.S. hands. Under his influence, the Philippine legislature rejected the bill. The Tydings-McDuffie Independence Act (1934) closely resembled the Hare-Hawes Cutting Act, but struck the provisions for American bases and carried a promise of further study to correct “imperfections or inequalities.”

(President Manuel L. Quezon, First President of the Philippine Commonwelth Government)

The Philippine legislature ratified the bill; a constitution, approved by President Roosevelt (Mar., 1935) was accepted by the Philippine people in a plebiscite (May); and Quezon was elected the first president (Sept.). When Quezon was inaugurated on Nov. 15, 1935, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was formally established. Quezon was reelected in Nov., 1941. To develop defensive forces against possible aggression, Gen. Douglas MacArthur was brought to the islands as military adviser in 1935, and the following year he became field marshal of the Commonwealth army.

Philippine History (Part 3)

Philippine History

(Revolution, War, and U.S. Control)

It was the opposition to the power of the clergy that in large measure brought about the rising sentiment for independence. Spanish injustices, bigotry, and economic oppressions fed the movement, which was greatly inspired by the brilliant writings of José Rizal. In 1896 revolution began in the province of Cavite, and after the execution of Rizal that December, it spread throughout the major islands.

(The execution of Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal at Bagumbayan, now known as Luneta Park in Manila)

The Filipino leader, Emilio Aguinaldo, achieved considerable success before a peace was patched up with Spain. The peace was short-lived, however, for neither side honored its agreements, and a new revolution was brewing when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898.

After the U.S. naval victory in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, Commodore George Dewey supplied Aguinaldo with arms and urged him to rally the Filipinos against the Spanish.

By the time U.S. land forces had arrived, the Filipinos had taken the entire island of Luzon, except for the old walled city of Manila, which they were besieging. The Filipinos had also declared their independence and established a republic under the first democratic constitution ever known in Asia. Their dreams of independence were crushed when the Philippines were transferred from Spain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1898), which closed the Spanish-American War.

In Feb., 1899, Aguinaldo led a new revolt, this time against U.S. rule. Defeated on the battlefield, the Filipinos turned to guerrilla warfare, and their subjugation became a mammoth project for the United States—one that cost far more money and took far more lives than the Spanish-American War. The insurrection was effectively ended with the capture (1901) of Aguinaldo by Gen. Frederick Funston, but the question of Philippine independence remained a burning issue in the politics of both the United States and the islands. The matter was complicated by the growing economic ties between the two countries. Although comparatively little American capital was invested in island industries, U.S. trade bulked larger and larger until the Philippines became almost entirely dependent upon the American market. Free trade, established by an act of 1909, was expanded in 1913.

When the Democrats came into power in 1913, measures were taken to effect a smooth transition to self-rule. The Philippine assembly already had a popularly elected lower house, and the Jones Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1916, provided for a popularly elected upper house as well, with power to approve all appointments made by the governor-general. It also gave the islands their first definite pledge of independence, although no specific date was set.

When the Republicans regained power in 1921, the trend toward bringing Filipinos into the government was reversed. Gen. Leonard Wood, who was appointed governor-general, largely supplanted Filipino activities with a semimilitary rule. However, the advent of the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s and the first aggressive moves by Japan in Asia (1931) shifted U.S. sentiment sharply toward the granting of immediate independence to the Philippines.

Philippine History (Part 2)

Philippine History

(Spanish Control)

The conquest of the Filipinos by Spain did not begin in earnest until 1564, when another expedition from New Spain, commanded by Miguel López de Legaspi, arrived. Spanish leadership was soon established over many small independent communities that previously had known no central rule. By 1571, when López de Legaspi established the Spanish city of Manila on the site of a Moro town he had conquered the year before, the Spanish foothold in the Philippines was secure, despite the opposition of the Portuguese, who were eager to maintain their monopoly on the trade of East Asia.

Manila repulsed the attack of the Chinese pirate Limahong in 1574. For centuries before the Spanish arrived the Chinese had traded with the Filipinos, but evidently none had settled permanently in the islands until after the conquest. Chinese trade and labor were of great importance in the early development of the Spanish colony, but the Chinese came to be feared and hated because of their increasing numbers, and in 1603 the Spanish murdered thousands of them (later, there were lesser massacres of the Chinese).

The Spanish governor, made a viceroy in 1589, ruled with the advice of the powerful royal audiencia. There were frequent uprisings by the Filipinos, who resented the encomienda system. By the end of the 16th cent. Manila had become a leading commercial center of East Asia, carrying on a flourishing trade with China, India, and the East Indies. The Philippines supplied some wealth (including gold) to Spain, and the richly laden galleons plying between the islands and New Spain were often attacked by English freebooters. There was also trouble from other quarters, and the period from 1600 to 1663 was marked by continual wars with the Dutch, who were laying the foundations of their rich empire in the East Indies, and with Moro pirates. One of the most difficult problems the Spanish faced was the subjugation of the Moros. Intermittent campaigns were conducted against them but without conclusive results until the middle of the 19th cent. As the power of the Spanish Empire waned, the Jesuit orders became more influential in the Philippines and acquired great amounts of property.

Philippine History (Part 1)

Philippine History

Early History -The Negritos are believed to have migrated to the Philippines some 30,000 years ago from Borneo, Sumatra, and Malaya. The Malayans followed in successive waves. These people belonged to a primitive epoch of Malayan culture, which has apparently survived to this day among certain groups such as the Igorots. The Malayan tribes that came later had more highly developed material cultures.

In the 14th century, Arab traders from Malay and Borneo introduced Islam into the southern islands and extended their influence as far north as Luzon.

The first Europeans to visit (1521) the Philippines were those in the Spanish expedition around the world led by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

(Lapu-lapu defeated and killed Ferdinand Magellan during the battle in Mactan Island)

Other Spanish expeditions followed, including one from New Spain (Mexico) under López de Villalobos, who in 1542 named the islands for the infante Philip, later Philip II.

Philippines (General Information)

Location: The Philippines is located in the Southeast Asian region bounded by the South China Sea on the west and the Philippine Sea on the east.

People: Filipinos are of Indo-Malay, Chinese and Spanish ancestry.

Population: As of July 2005, the population reached an estimated 87,857,473.

Language: The official, commercial and legal language is English though the national language is Filipino. Around 111 languages and dialects are spoken around the country.

National Anthem: Lupang Hinirang is the national anthem of the Philippines. At first, it was an instrumental march commissioned by then President Emilio Aguinaldo, to Julian Felipe, for use in the Philippine independence proclamation on June 12, 1998. The original Spanish lyrics was written by Jose Palma.

Flag of the Republic: The Philippine Flag is the national emblem of the country. has the unique distinction of being the only flag in the world signifying peace or war. It stands for freedom, equality, justice and nobility.

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Philippine Flag: The Pledge of Allegiance to the Philippine Flag, was revised in accordance to the Department of Education's Order 54 to inculate values of patriotism and citizenship in all Filipinos.

How to Get Here: Most international flights enter the Philippines through Manila and Cebu. Manila, through the Philippine Airlines, links to 26 cities in 19 countries. It also serves principal cities and towns all over the country. It sea ports for major international carriers and cruise liners in the two cities. Regular flights from Japan, Singapore and Australia, as well as charter flights from Hong Kong and the United States and other major travel markets enter through Cebu City too.

Entry Regulations: As long as your country of origin is among those with which the Philippines has diplomatic relations and you have valid passports, you can stay in the Philippines for a period of 21 days. You don’t need visas to get in. If you plan to stay for three months, you can secure visas while multiple entry visas (lasting six and 12 months) are also available but cost higher and allows stays for 59 days at most.

Upon Arrival: Guests undergo Customs examination. They are requested to fill in the Baggage and Currency Declaration Form. Items such as reasonable quantity of clothes, jewelry and toiletries, cigarette or tobacco sticks, and bottles of wines or spirits, are allowed to be brought in but with a fixed limit duty-free.The Bureau of Customs also requires visitors who carry more than US$3,000 to declare the amount at the Central Bank of the Philippines. Upon departure, foreign currency taken must not exceed the amount brought in. They also cannot take out more than PhP1000 in local currency.

Climate: Philippine seasons can be divided into three. These are the wet or rainy season which falls on the months of June to October, the cool or dry season extending from November to February and the hot or dry season from March to May. Generally, the climate is tropical with abundant rainfall and gentle winds.

What to Wear: If you just want to go around the city, light casual clothes such as lightweight cotton and linen tropical clothing are recommended. If you plan to visit mountain regions, you should wear warmer garments. In attending formal occasions, a dinner jacket and tie, or the Philippine barong Tagalog can be worn.

Currency: The currency code is PHP. It stands for Philippine peso. Bank notes come in P10, P20, P50, P100, P200, P500 and P1000 denominations, while coins come in 5c, 10c, 25c, P1, P5 and P10. You can check out the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas web site (http://www.bsp.gov.ph/Statistics/stats_SEFI.htm) to see the current, previous-day, week-ago and month-ago movements of the currency.

Religion: The Philippines is predominantly Catholic. Islam and Protestantism are also practiced. There are also Filipino independent churches such as Aglipay and Iglesia ni Cristo founded by some locals.

Philippines (Boracay Island)

Boracay Island

A visit to the Philippines is a very good idea. Travel expenses are low compared to other countries, the culinary fare is diverse and the hospitality of the Filipino people is legendary in Southeast Asia.

Travel destinations such as the world famous Boracay Islands is just one of the many choices you can visit here. Accomodations can be suitably fit to your budget and preferences. You'll surely find whatever fits you. I am more than willing to help your booking arranged. Just inform me through this blog of your plan to visit Boracay Island and other beautiful tourist spots in the Philippines. I will be sending more information on these beautiful tourist spots in the Philippines through this blog.

The islands of the Philippines can be conveniently divided into three groups. First, there is Luzon, the largest and northernmost island and the site of the capital, Manila. At the other end of the archipelago is the second largest island, Mindanao. Third, there is the tightly-packed island group known as the Visayas. There are seven major islands in this group - Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Samar and Masbate. Cebu is the central island of the group and Cebu City is a major tourist destination.

Filipinos are fun-loving people. This evidently shows when the sun sets as the nightlife begins to unravel. And you will find world class entertainment here even in small bars as the Filipinos are one of the best entertainers around the globe.