ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES

THE visit or t o Met ro Manila com m only sees t he Philippines as t he m ost w est ernized of Asian count ries and in m any w ays, it is But t here is also a rich underlay of Malay cult ure beneat h t he pat ina of Spanish and Am erican herit age

National cultural life is a happy marriage of many influences, as the indigenous Malay culture is assimilated and adapted to different strains in a practice typical of Malay temperament

An upsurge of Philippine nationalism stimulated a desire to preserve the ancient heritage without restricting its openness to foreign artistic influence

The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands It stretches from the south of China to the northern tip of Borneo The country has over a hundred ethnic groups and a mixture of foreign influences which have moulded a unique Filipino culture

Before t he Spanish explorers cam e, Indo-Malays and Chinese m erchant s had set t led here In 1521 t he Spaniards led by Ferdinand Magellan, discovered t he islands The Spanish conquistadores established a colonial government in Cebu in 1565 They transferred the seat of government to Manila in 1571 and proceeded to colonize the country

The Filipinos resist ed and w aged Asia?s first nat ionalist revolut ion in 1896 On June 12, 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Philippines independent from Spain and proclaimed himself president After ruling for 333 years, the Spaniards finally left in 1898 and were replaced by the Americans who stayed for 48 years On July 4, 1946, the Americans recognized Philippine independence

The Philippines is t he t hird largest English-speaking count ry in t he w orld The country is divided into three geographical areas: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao It has 17 regions, 81 provinces, 136 cities, 1,494 municipalities, and 41,995 barangays (Barangay ? The smallest political unit into which cities and municipalities in the Philippines are divided (Data as of December 2007)

Our La nd

The Philippine archipelago is com posed of 7,107 islands, w it h a land area of 299,764 square kilom et res Its length measures 1,850 kilometres, starting from the point near the southern tip of Taiwan and ending close to northern Borneo Its breadth is about 965 kilometres The Philippine coastline adds up to 17,500 kilometres Three prominent bodies of water surround the archipelago: the Pacific Ocean on the east, the South China Sea on the west and north, and the Celebes Sea on the south

The topography of the bigger islands ? particularly Luzon and Mindanao ?is characterized by alluvial plains, narrow valleys rolling hills and high mountains The highest mountains are found in Mindanao and Luzon, with the altitudes varying from 1 790 to 3 144 meters Most of the smaller islands are mountainous in the interior, surrounded by narrow strips of discontinuous flat lowlands which constitute the coastal rims

The shorelines of both large and small islands are irregular

The Philippines? fertile land accounts for the more than 900 species of orchids representing 100 genera that have been found The sampaguita is the national flower

Among the country?s fauna are some endangered species like the Philippine Eagle, the tarsier, and the mouse deer

Metro Manila is strategically located in the middle of Luzon, on the eastern coast of Manila Bay and at the mouth of the Pasig River, sprawled over

The city is between the bay to the west, the highlands to the east, and Laguna de Bay to the southeast Most of its densely populated areas are found along the Pasig River running across the metropolis dividing it into two sections ?the north and the south

Our Hist ory (in a nut shell)

Before t he Spanish conquist adores cam e, a t hriving com m unit y flourished on t he banks of t he Pasig River It was called ?Maynilad?, after the nilad plant whose star-shaped flowers clustered in abundance along the low-lying river banks

The lord of the riverside kingdom was Raha Sulayman who held court on the south side of the river while his uncle Lakandula, ruled on the north side The Spaniards were set on conquering this community

After the savage Battle of Bangkusay, where they overtook the natives with their awesome firepower, the Spaniards conquered Manila In this Battle, Sulayman was killed

Realizing its strategic position as a trading centre and military outpost, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi head of the Spanish expedition, promptly declared Manila the capital of the new colonies won by Spain

On June 24, 1571, Manila was declared the capital of the entire archipelago Delighted by this conquest, the King of Spain awarded the city a coat of arms and the grandiose title: ?The Noble and Ever Loyal City? Soon, Manila became a replica of a European medieval city There were churches, palaces and city halls built in the Spanish baroque style Work began on building a wall around the city to keep the pirates and Moros at bay It took 150 years to finish this wall The end result was an astounding eight foot-thick, three mile-long wall, with two forts and a bastion, 370 guns in place manned by a force of 5 000 men and 10,000 reserves This walled city became known as Intramuros

Beautiful as it was, Intramuros stood as a perfect illustration of the discrimination at that time against the natives called Indios Although it was built by Indio workers and Chinese artisans,

Intramuros was meant only for the clergy and the Spanish nobility The natives could not enter except to work as servants Outside the walls in the arabales or suburbs, lived the Indios the Chinese and other foreigners The diversity of trade and culture in the suburbs made it alive and interesting Tondo, Binondo, Sta Cruz, and Quiapo bustled with commerce These places were home to the merchants, carpenters, blacksmiths, carriage makers, masons, and other artisans

Over the centuries, the Spanish rule was occasionally threatened by attacks from the sea and by internal uprisings The Chinese, Dutch and British all tried to lay siege on Manila but were unsuccessful But the 1880?s saw the birth of a reform movement led by Marcelo H Del Pilar, Lopez Jaena and Jose Rizal (the national hero) This reform movement ultimately led to a revolution and by 1898, the days of the Castilian rule were numbered The most lasting legacy of the Spanish rule was the Catholic religion which makes the Philippines the only Christian nation in Asia

But as soon as the Spaniards left, the Americans took over 1902 was the beginning of the American era, a period characterized by the expansion of public education, advances in health care and the introduction of democratic government The outbreak of

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war in the Pacific in 1941 disrupted American rule Manila was declared an open city and the Americans withdrew their defences For three years, Manila was occupied by the Japanese imperial forces Life at that time was made difficult by strict Japanese military rule When the American troops entered Manila to liberate it, they had to bomb the city to dislodge the tenacious Japanese Manila was devastated

On 4 July 1946, a year after the end of the war, the Philippine flag was hoisted signalling the recognition of Philippine independence

Our People

The Filipino is basically of Malay st ock w it h a sprinkling of Chinese, Am erican, Spanish and Arab blood The Philippines has a population of 76 5 million as of May 2000 (with a projected population of 88 7 million for 2007), and it is hard to distinguish accurately the lines between stocks From a long history of Western colonial rule, interspersed with the visits of merchants and traders, evolved a people of a unique blend of east and west, both in appearance and culture

The Filipino character is actually a little bit of all the cultures put together The bayanihan or spirit of kinship and camaraderie that Filipinos are famous for, is said to be taken from Malay forefathers The close family relations are said to have been inherited from the Chinese The piousness comes from the Spaniards who introduced Christianity in the 16th century

Hospitality is a common denominator in the Filipino character and this is what distinguishes the Filipino Filipinos are probably one of the few, if not the only, English-proficient Oriental people today

Filipino is the official national language, with English considered as the country?s unofficial one

The Filipinos are divided geographically and culturally into regions, and each regional group is recognizable by distinct traits and dialects ? the sturdy and frugal Ilocanos of the north, the industrious Tagalogs of the central plains, the carefree Visayans from the central islands and the colourful tribesmen and religious Moslems of Mindanao Tribal communities can be found scattered across the archipelago The Philippines has more than 111 dialects spoken, owing to the subdivisions of these basic regional and cultural groups

Some 80 percent of the population is Catholic, Spain?s lasting legacy About 15 percent is Muslim and these people can be found basically in Mindanao The rest of the population is made up mostly of smaller Christian denominations and Buddhist

The country is marked by a true blend of cultures; truly in the Philippines, East meets West The background of the people is Indonesian and Malay There are Chinese and Spanish elements as well The history of American rule and contact with merchants and traders culminated in a unique blend of East and West both in the appearance and culture of the people of the Filipinos, or people of the Philippines

Hospitality a trait displayed by every Filipino makes these people legendary in Southeast Asia Seldom can you find such hospitable people who enjoy the company of their Western visitors Perhaps due to their long association with Spain, Filipinos are emotional and passionate about life, in a way that seems more Latin than Asian Ethnic

Groups: 91 5%Christian Malay, 4%Muslim

Malay ,1 5%Chinese and 3% other Our Clima t e

The Philippines has a t ropical clim at e w it h relat ively abundant rainfall and gent le w inds There are three pronounced seasons: the wet or rainy season from June to October, the cool, dry season from November to February, and the hot, dry season from March to May

Temperature in Manila ranges from 21°Cto 32°Cwith a 27°Caverage The coolest month is January and the warmest is May Both temperature and humidity levels reach the maximum in April and May

Our La ngua ge

Tw o official languages ? Filipino and English Filipino, which is based on Tagalog, is the national language English is also widely used and is the medium of instruction in higher education

Eight (8) major dialects spoken by majority of the Filipinos: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo Bicolano Waray Pampango, and Pangasinense

Filipino is that native language which is used nationally as the language of communication among ethnic groups There are about 76 to 78 major language groups, with more than 500 dialects

Our Fa it hs Predominantly Christian Catholics 82 9% Protestants 5 4% Islam 4 6%

Philippine Independent Church 2 6% Iglesia ni Cristo 2 3 %

Hist orically t he Filipinos have em braced t w o of t he great religions of t he w orld ?

Islam and Christ ianit y Islam was introduced during the 14th century shortly after the expansion of Arab commercial ventures in Southeast Asia Today, it is limited to the southern region of the country

Christianity was introduced as early as the 16th century with the coming of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521

Protestantism was introduced by the first Presbyterian and Methodist missionaries who arrived with the American soldiers in 1899

Two Filipino independent churches were organized at the turn of the century and are prominent today These are the Aglipay (Philippine Independent Church) and the Iglesia Ni Kristo (Church of Christ) founded in 1902 and 1914 respectively

Educ a t ion

Philippine educat ion is pat t erned aft er t he Am erican syst em , w it h English as t he m edium of inst ruct ion Schools are classified into public (government) or private(non-government)

The general pattern of formal education follows four stages: Pre-primary level (nursery and kindergarten) offered in most private schools; six years of primary education, followed by four years of secondary education College education usually takes four sometimes five and in some cases as in medical and law schools, as long as eight years Graduate schooling is an additional two or more years

Classes in Philippine schools start in June and end in March Colleges and universities follow the semestral calendar from June-October and November-March

Source: ht t ps:/ / londonpe dfa gov ph