Philippine History

Filipinos have often been accused of not having a sense of history and even of not knowing who they really are, a result perhaps of the many diverse influences - Malay, Chinese, European, American - that have collided randomly down the centuries.

In fact, human fossil remains found in Palawan suggest the country's "modern" history goes back 50,000 years when humans first migrated across land bridges formed to mainland Asia and Borneo during the Ice Age. The islands were eventually inhabited by different groups, the first of which was the Aeta or Negritos, a tribe that arrived around 25,000 years ago from the Asian continent. Many historians believe the Negritos are the true aboriginal inhabitants of the Philippines.

Archeological evidence shows a rich pre-colonial culture that included skills in weaving, ship-building, mining and goldsmithing. Contact with Asian neighbours dates back to at least 500BC in the form of trade with the powerful Hindu empires in Java and Sumatra. Trade ties with China were extensive by the tenth century, while contact with Arab traders reached its peak in the twelfth century. In 1380, the Arab scholar Makdam arrived in the Sulu Islands, and in 1475, the Muslim leader Sharif Mohammed Kabungsuwan, from Johore, married a native princess and declared himself the first sultan of Mindanao. By the time the Spaniards arrived, Islam was well established in Mindanao and had started to influence groups as far north as Luzon.

Spanish rule
The country's turbulent modern history began on April 24, 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese seafarer in the service of Spain, arrived in Cebu and claimed the islands forSpain . Days later he waded ashore on nearby Mactan Island with 48 men in full armour and was promptly killed in a skirmish with warriors led by chief Lapu-Lapu.

Spanish conquistador Ruy Lopez de Villalobos tried once again to claim the islands for Spain in 1543, but was driven out by natives a year later after naming the Philippines in honour of King Philip II. It wasn't until 1565 that serious Spanish colonization of the archipelago began. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi left Spain with orders from King Philip to conquer the islands. He duly did so, establishing a colony in Bohol and then moving on to Cebu where he erected the first Spanish fort in the Philippines. The conquest moved further north in 1571 when Legaspi conquered Manila and a year later the whole country. He never managed to bring the Islamic Sulu Islands and Mindanao under Spanish control, but felt nevertheless that he had done his job well and left for home with a cargo of cinnamon.

In his absence, the Spanish conquistadors and friars zealously set about building churches and propagating Catholicism. They imposed a feudal system, concentrating populations under their control into towns and estates and there were numerous small revolts. Until 1821, the Philippines was administered from Mexico, and attempts by the Dutch, Portuguese and Chinese to establish a presence in the archipelago were successfully repelled. The British managed to occupy Manila for a few months in 1762, but handed it back to Spain under the conditions of the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1763.

With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, young Filipinos left their country to study in Europe and returned with liberal ideas and talk of freedom. A small revolt in Cavite in 1872 was quickly put down, but the anger and frustration Filipinos felt about colonial rule would not go away. Intellectuals like Marcelo H del Pilar and Juan Luna were the spiritual founders of the independence movement, but it was the critical writings of a diminutive young doctor from Laguna Province, Jose Rizal, that provided the spark for the flame. His novel Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) was written while he was studying in Spain, and portrayed colonial rule as a cancer and the Spanish friars as fat, pompous fools. It was promptly banned by the Spanish, but distributed underground along with other inflammatory essays by Rizal and, later, his second novel, El Filibusterismo.

In 1892, Rizal returned to Manila and founded the reform movement Liga Filipina. He was arrested four days later and exiled to Dapitan on Mindanao. Andres Bonifacio took over the reigns by establishing the secret society known as the Katipunan or KKK. Its full name was Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalang na Katipunan nang mga Anak ng Bayan, which means "Honorable, respectable sons and daughters of the nation". In August, 1896, the armed struggle for independence broke out, and Rizal was accused of masterminding it. He was found guilty at a pig circus of a trial and executed by firing squad in what is now known as Rizal Park on December 30, 1896. The night before he died he wrote Mi Ultimo Adios, a moving valedictory poem to the country he loved.

The US When independence finally arrived in 1898, it was short-lived. As a result of a dispute over Cuba a war broke out between the US and Spain, and the Spanish fleet was soundly beaten in Manila Bay by ships under the command of Commander Dewey, later promoted to Admiral. The Filipinos fought on the side of the US and when the battle was over General Aguinaldo declared the Philippines independent. The US, however, had other ideas and paid Spain US$20 million for its former possession. Having got rid of one colonizing power, Filipinos were now answering to another, the US.

The Filipino-American War lasted for more than ten years, resulting in the death of more than 600,000 Filipinos. This little-known war has been described as the "first Vietnam". US troops used tactics such as strategic hamleting and a scorched-earth policy to pacify the natives.

It was only when President Roosevelt recognized a new Philippine constitution that the archipelago celebrated partial independence and Manuel Quezon was sworn in as first President of the Philippine Commonwealth

World War II
The Philippines, especially Manila, underwent heavy bombardment during World War II and casualties were high. Japanese troops landed on Luzon and conquered Manila on January 2, 1942. Battles on the island of Corregidor and the Bataan Peninsula were particularly brutal and when the Japanese finally won they subjected the country to harsh military rule. In 1944, the Philippines was liberated by General Douglas MacArthur and US forces. MacArthur had abandoned his base on Corregidor when it became clear the situation was hopeless, but after arriving in Darwin, Australia, he promised Filipinos "I Shall Return". He kept the promise, wading ashore at Leyte and recaputuring the archipelago from retreating Japanese forces. Presidential advisers later suggested he revise the wording of his famous statement to "We shall return", so the rest of the army and the White House could bathe in his reflected glory. He refused. MacArthur later said of Corregidor: "It needs no epitaph from me. It has sounded its own story at the mouth of its guns."

The Philippines was granted full independence from the US on 4 July 1946, when Manuel Roxas was sworn in as the first president of the republic.

The Marcos years
The post-war period in the Philippines was marked by prevarication in America over what official US policy was towards the archipelago, and by the re-emergence of patronage and corruption in Philippine politics. It was in these rudderless years, that Ferdinand Marcos came to power, promoting himself as a force for unification and reform.

Ferdinand Edralin Marcos (1917-1989) was born in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte. A brilliant young lawyer who had successfully defended himself against a murder charge, he was elected to the Philippine House of Representatives in 1949 and to the Senate in 1959. He was elected president in 1965. Marcos' first term as president was innovative and inspirational. He invigorated both populace and bureaucracy, embarking on a huge infrastructure programme and unifying scattered islands with a network of roads, bridges, railways and ports. First Lady Imelda busied herself with social welfare and cultural projects that complemented Marcos' work in economics and foreign affairs.

Marcos was returned to a second term - the first Filipino President to be re-elected - with the highest majority in Philippine electoral history. The country's problems, however, were grave. Poverty, social inequality and rural stagnation were rife. They were made harder to bear by the rising expectations Marcos himself had fostered. Marcos was trapped between the entrenched oligarchy, which controlled Congress, and a rising communist insurgency, fuelled mostly by landless peasants who had grown disenchanted with the slow speed of reform.

On September 21, 1972, Marcos declared martial law , arresting Senator Benigno Aquino Jr and other opposition leaders. A curfew was imposed and Congress was suspended. Eight years later, in 1980, Aquino was released from jail and left for the US for heart surgery. When he returned from exile on August 21, 1983, he was assassinated at the airport and the country was outraged. At a snap election called on February 7, 1986, the opposition united behind Aquino's widow, Cory, and her running mate Salvador Laurel. On February 25, both Marcos and Cory claimed victory and were sworn in at separate ceremonies. Cory became a rallying point for change and was backed by the Catholic Church in the form of Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, who urged people to take to the streets. When Marcos's key allies saw which way the wind was blowing and deserted him, the game was up. Defence Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Fidel Ramos, later to become President, announced a coup d'état . Ferdinand and Imelda fled into exile in Hawaii and the people stormed through the gates of Malacanang Palace.

The return of democracy
The presidency of Cory Aquino was plagued by problems because she never managed to bring the powerful feudal families or the armed forces under her control. Land reform was eagerly awaited by the country's landless masses, but when Aquino realized reform would also involve her own family's haciendas in Tarlac, she quietly shelved the idea. She survived seven coup attempts and made little headway in improving life for the majority of Filipinos who were - still are - living below the poverty line. The communist New People's Army (NPA) emerged once again as a threat and human rights abuses continued. Her legacy was that at least she maintained some semblance of a democracy, which was something for her successor, Fidel Ramos, to build on.

President Ramos took office on July 1, 1992 and announced plans to create jobs, revitalize the economy and reduce the burdensome foreign debt of US$32 billion. But the first thing he had to do was establish a reliable electricity supply . The country was being paralyzed for hours every day by power cuts, and no multinational companies wanted to invest their hard-earned money under such difficult conditions. Ramos's success in revitalizing the ailing energy sector laid the foundations for a moderate influx of foreign investment, for industrial parks and new manufacturing facilities. The economy picked up, but the problems were still huge. The foreign debt was crippling and tax collection was so lax that the government had nothing in the coffers to fall back on. Infrastructure improved marginally and new roads and transit systems began to take shape. Ramos also liberalized the banking sector and travelled extensively to promote the Philippines abroad. Most Filipinos view his years in office as a success, although when he stepped down at the end of his six-year term in 1998, poverty and crime were rife.

His successor, former vice-president Joseph Estrada , is a former tough-guy film actor who is known universally as Erap, a play on the slang word pare, which means friend or buddy. Filipinos joke that Estrada has a poor command of English and often gets his words mixed up. He was once said to have told a reporter: "I learn quickly because I have a pornographic memory". Estrada has a folksy, macho charm that appeals to the masses. He has been more than happy to confirm rumours of his legendary libido by admitting to a string of extra-marital affairs with leading ladies. "Bill Clinton has the sex scandals, I just have the sex," he once said.

Estrada was elected to the Presidency against politicians of greater stature on a pro-poor platform. His rallying cry was Erap para sa mahirap, or "Erap for the poor". He has promised food security, jobs, mass housing, education and health for all. Whether these big promises can be kept remains to be seen. His presidency got off to a rocky start, plagued by various tawdry scandals that he swept aside and more serious accusations of a lack of direction and a return to the cronyism of the Marcos years. Many are worried that if Estrada fails to deliver on his bold - some say reckless - campaign promises, the poor will quickly grow disenchanted.