PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Philippine Scenic Image of the Month: Montalban Dam

The Philippines legitimately known as the Republic of the Philippines is an independent country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 7,107 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila while its most densely inhabited city is Quezon City; both are part of Metro Manila.

The northern part of the Philippines across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan; Vietnam sits west across the South China Sea; southwest is the Borneo island across the Sulu Sea, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia; while to the east it is bounded by the Philippine Sea and Palau island.

The country is prone to earthquakes and typhoons as it is situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator make.

It is blessed with abundant natural resources and some of the world's greatest biodiversity.

It is the 64th-largest country in the world at approximately 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi).

It’s population of about 100 million people makes the country as the seventh-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. Aside from which, 12 million Filipinos emigrate overseas, encompassing one of the world's largest diasporas.

Manifold of ethnicities and cultures can be found in the islands. In ancient times, Negritos  were some of the archipelago's most primitive inhabitants, followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples (Taiwanese Aborigines, the majority ethnic groups of East Timor, Indonesia and Malaysia.). Exchanges with different cultures like Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Islamic states occurred. Subsequently, various nations were established under the reign of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans.

The advent of Spanish occupation through Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 marked the beginning of colonization. Spanish explorer Ruy Lopez de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain in 1543. The first Spanish settlement in the archipelago was established in 1565 with the arrival of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi from Mexico City. The Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years, which brought the country to be predominant in Roman Catholicism. At the time, Manila turned to be the western hub of the trans-Pacific Manila-Acapulco galleon trade connecting Asia with the Americas.

As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, there followed in fast chain the Philippine Revolution, which spawned the ephemeral First Philippine Republic, and the Philippine-American War. Aside from the Japanese occupation, the United States retained dominion over the islands until 1945.

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines

This Asian country was recognized as a sovereign nation after World War II. Since then, the Philippines had been into turbulence which includes a People Power Revolution overthrowing a dictatorship.

The nation's big population size and financial potential have led it to be classified as a middle power. This is one of the founding members of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and East Asia Summit.

The name Philippines was in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the islands of Leyte and Samar Felipinas after the then Prince of Asturias during his expedition in 1542. Eventually the name Las Islas Filipinas would be employed to cover all the islands of the archipelago. Beforehand, other names such as Islas del Poniente (Islands of the West) and Magellan's name for the islands San Lazaro were also used by the Spanish to refer to the islands.

The official name of the Philippines had changed several times in the course of the country's history. During the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress  established the Republica Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Philippine-American War (1899-1902) until the Commonwealth period (1935-1946).American colonial authorities referred to the country as the Philippine Islands which is a translation of the Spanish name. From the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the name Philippines transpired as the country's common name. The official name of the country has been the Republic of the Philippines since the end of World War II.

The relics of the Callao man, reliably dated by uranium-series dating to 67,000 years ago replaced the Tabon man of Palawan, carbon-dated to around 24,000 years ago, as the ancient human remains found in the archipelago. Negritos were also among the archipelago's original inhabitants, but their existence in the Philippines has not been reliably dated.

There are numerous disagreement on theories concerning the origins of ancient Filipinos. The most broadly accepted based on linguistic and archeological proof, is the "Out-of-Taiwan" model hypothesizing that Austronesians from Taiwan started migrating to the Philippines around 4000 BCE, superseding earlier arrivals. By 1000 BCE the natives of the archipelago had formed into four social groups namely hunter-gatherer tribes, warrior societies, highland plutocracies, and maritime harbor principalities.

Picture of the Month: Montalban, Rizal Landscape