Philippines History

Philippines - national flag

The flag was first used in 1898 after the revolt against the Spanish colonial power. Since then, it was ratified in 1943. The colors are the Malay red-white, combined with the blue of the United States. The blue color in was changed in 1997 from navy blue to royal blue. The red symbolizes courage and bravery, the blue noble ideals, the white peace and purity. The three stars represent the most important regions of the country, the sun for the light of freedom. The sun's eight rays symbolize the eight provinces that first rose towards Spain.

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Philippines - prehistory

The oldest finds of human settlement originate from the cave Tabon on Palawan; here, for approximately 30,000 years ago and until approximately 7000 BC used simple quartz tools. Agriculture is known from approximately 3500 BC The use of metal was introduced during the 1000's BC, first in the form of bronze, later in the form of iron around the birth of Christ.

The currently known division into ethnic and economic zones between the agricultural areas in the lowlands and the highlands' forest areas has probably also existed in prehistoric times. Thus, the agta people in the interior of Luzon have lived by hunting, gathering and sweating in much the same way as the tasadag people in the interior of Mindanao, without these peoples being isolated from their surroundings.

In the Philippines, no highly developed centers emerged with a hierarchical social structure, as is known from other parts of Southeast Asia, although the conditions must have been present in the productive agricultural zones.

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Philippines - History

Before the contact with the Europeans, the Philippines was populated by different peoples. They lived in small self-sufficient communities, which consisted of extended family groups in a hierarchy under a local leader. Småsamfundene, Barangay, headed by a datu, living by slash and burn agriculture, hunting and fishing. There was no unifying state power, and the religion was animistic without the influence of the major religions. Far back in time there has been contact with China, and probably from approximately 1000 AD Chinese have been permanent residents of the islands. In the 1400's. Islam came to the southern part of the Philippines, Mindanao and the Sulu Islands.

The Spaniards began in fierce competition with the Portuguese a colonization of the central Philippines with the arrival of Fernando de Magellan in Cebu in 1521, but it was not until 1565 that a permanent Spanish colony was established in Cebu by Miguel López de Legaspi, who had been sent by Philip II. Manila was founded by a natural port in 1571. Through colonization, the Spaniards wanted to take part in the lucrative spice trade in the East as well as to Christianize the population. The mission was successful, but the spice trade remained monopolized by other colonial powers; for more than 200 years, however, the galleon trade existed, which sailed silver between Acapulco in Mexico and Manila and returned with Chinese silk and porcelain. This profitable trade drew both Spaniards and Chinese to the Philippines.

Agricultural technology changed only slowly. Not until the late 1700's. sweating was replaced by permanent forms of cultivation. When Spain's monopoly on trade ceased in the 1830's, an export-oriented production of sugar, hemp and coffee developed, often initiated by the Chinese people, who established themselves as a class alongside the land-owning Spanish nobility and the church. The Governor-General was the civilian head of the church, which resulted in disputes with the archbishop over power and influence; priests and monks were the link to the population, where traditional animistic views had a significant breeding ground and influenced the perception of Christianity.

In the late 1800's. a nationalist movement began to take shape. Most famous was José Rizal, who, in order to carry out reforms in 1892, created the Liga Filipina. Although the reforms were not anti-Spanish, he was considered a societal threat and executed by the Spaniards in 1896. In the wake of that event, the Katipunan organization was formed with the far more radical purpose of driving the Spaniards out of the country. After several revolts, a settlement was reached in 1897; small revolts, however, continued for several years.

In 1898, the Spaniards suffered defeat in the war against the United States, which sank the Spanish fleet off Manila. Spanish supremacy was over, and the Philippines declared independence the same year, but was soon subjugated to the United States. The United States then allied itself with the major parties, the Federal Party and later the Nationalist Party under Sergio Osmeña and Manuel Quezón. The Nationalist Party wanted independence, and from 1907 a partial autonomy was introduced. In 1935, real self-government was introduced into a state society in which the United States had the leadership of defense and foreign policy. Quezón was elected president, Osmeña vice president.

In 1942, the Philippines was occupied by Japan. A communist-led resistance movement, the Hukbalahap, emerged in central Luzon and laid the groundwork for later revolt. U.S. troops under General MacArthur liberated the country in 1944. On July 4, 1946, the Philippine Republic was proclaimed under Manuel A. Roxas.

The economy was destroyed after the war, and the United States supported the country's reconstruction in return for a number of privileges, including free trade between the countries and the use of military bases; the bases were not finally settled until 1992. The economic prospects for the Philippines looked good in the 1950's and 1960's, but when the economic boom hit Asia, the country began to lag behind. Export-oriented industrialization was not a success, and the Philippine economy ran into a crisis in the 1980's, resulting in large-scale borrowing and social decline.

Ferdinand Marcos was elected president in 1965. He represented the new urban middle class, which wanted reforms and the strengthening of national identity and culture. He met opposition from both the old country aristocracy and workers, peasants and intellectuals. Politically, the country was marked by a strong polarization of left and right forces. A new Maoist- oriented Communist Party was formed by radical students in 1968, who, through the New People's Army, launched a revolt among peasants to overthrow Marcos' regime. Marcos declared a state of emergency in 1972 to facilitate the pacification of opponents. This led to new conflicts. In 1973, the Moro National Liberation Front was formed, who fought for the old demand for self-government in the southern Muslim provinces.

Marcos' government was notorious for widespread corruption, and in the first elections after the abolition of the state of emergency in 1981, he won big over the rival candidates. Opposition politician Benigno Aquino had gone into exile in the United States in 1980, and when he returned in 1983, he was killed at Manila airport. This exacerbated the political crisis. Marcos hoped for an easy victory by calling a quick presidential election in December 1985. As a counter-candidate, Corazon Aquino, Benigno's widow, stood as a democratic and moral, almost religious symbol. The election result was unclear, but with the support of sections of the military and broad sections of the urban population, Marcos was overthrown in February 1986. He fled the country, and Aquino stood as the victorious candidate.

When the first enthusiasm had subsided, it became clear that Aquino could not solve the problems that Marcos' government had left behind, ie. that problems with the economy, the guerrilla movement and the Moro uprising continued. In addition, the reign was marked by military coup attempts. Aquino did not run in the 1992 presidential election, which was won by Fidel Ramos, the former defense minister. Ramos' reign was marked by fewer problems than the previous presidents, the country was helped by the international currents with increasing relaxation after the end of the East-West conflict.

The Muslim jokes, which had waged a struggle that had cost thousands of lives for an independent Islamic state, entered into an agreement with the government in 1996; a breakaway group, however, continued the armed struggle. The Asian financial crisis of 1997 was a severe blow to the Philippine economy, and there were major protests. After the election in May 1998, Fidel Ramos was replaced as president by the populist Joseph Estrada, who had promised a vigorous effort to improve conditions for the poorest sections of the population. However, it proved difficult to deliver on the promises, and after allegations of corruption, Estrada was ousted in January 2001. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became the new president.. She made an effort to make peace with the militant funers, while rejecting negotiations with the Islamist terrorist movement Abu Sayyaf, which has been behind a large number of murders and kidnappings and who is suspected of having links to al-Qaeda. A smaller force of U.S. troops was sent to Mindanao to support the fight against the rebels. Abu Sayyaf is still active in 2013. In 2001, a ceasefire was reached with the rebellious amusements, but the fighting broke out again from time to time. Concrete peace talks were launched in 2005. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's government survived a mutiny in the army in 2003; she was re-elected in 2004, but doubts were raised about the election result from opposition groups, and with difficulty she narrowly escaped being tried in 2005.

In 2010, Benigno Aquino III was elected president after Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. In 2012, they managed to get a peace agreement between the government and the moro militia MILF in house. That same year, a law was passed on state-sponsored contraception; The Philippines has one of the fastest growing populations in the world, but due to the influence of the Catholic Church in the country, it had hitherto been impossible to implement such an initiative.

The 2016 presidential election was won by Rodrigo Duterte. He won on a populist platform that promised a hard fight against crime, with extrajudicial methods, including death patrols.