People who do not know the difference between love and care will face many difficulties in the future especially when they are looking for special someone to love.
Caring and Loving someone.
Uncategorized
What is Love?
Being in love is a profound feeling for someone. This is a feeling that you cannot forget. If you love someone, you want to be with them and you want to be an important part of their lives.
What is Care?
Care can be understood as concern, interest or even a liking that is displayed towards someone. Caring for someone is more of a friendly behavior. You can care for someone even if this person is not closely related to you. For example, you see an old woman crossing the street, and you helped her, you can say that you care for this older woman. Caring is what you feel for your parents, sibling, and friends. Loving means that you cannot live without that person in your life, while caring is about friendship and camaraderie. Also unlike loving which is a long term commitment, caring is just for a short term just like the example given earlier about the old women who want to cross that street. If you will marry someone, it means that you love her or him back because marriage is a long term commitment. If you choose help, someone, because you know that this is the right thing to do it is caring.
Love and care are different, but they are very much related to one another. If you do not care for anyone, then you are not capable of loving also. Actually, it is not that hard to differentiate love from care because when you feel the love you will know that it is love. If you care for someone, you will surely know that you are only feeling superficial about them and nothing too personal. You do not have to worry about love and care because these two feelings will help you find true love and true friendship at the same time.
Laguna: Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery
Located in Barangay Bambang in the municipality of Nagcarlan in Laguna, Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery is a national historical landmark and museum of the town. It is also the only underground cemetery in the country.
LOVE
Luckily, some the world’s greatest artists, poets, musicians and hopeless romantics (like ourselves) have managed to articulate the magic of love using words so simple and perfect, sharing them can mean the world.
Nagcarlan, Laguna
Spanish colonial sites, restaurants with competitive and affordable dishes, resorts and vacation house and a plethora of welcoming people.
Ana Kalang Festival is a 5-day celebration every April in Nagcarlan, Laguna, across the foot of Mt. Banahaw and Mt. Cristobal. … The festival was named after the legendary tribe head Ana Kalang, which according to the myth was known for her tremendous wealth, kindness, piety and generosity..
Nagcarlan, Laguna
| Nagcarlan | |
|---|---|
| Municipality | |
 |
|
 Map of Laguna showing the location of Nagcarlan |
|
.svg)
 Nagcarlan
Location within the Philippines |
|
| Coordinates: 14°08′N 121°25′ECoordinates: 14°08′N 121°25′E | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | CALABARZON (Region IV-A) |
| Province | Laguna |
| District | 3rd District of Laguna |
| Founded | 1583 |
| Barangays | 52 |
| Government[1] | |
| • Mayor | Nelson M. Osuna |
| Area [2] | |
| • Total | 78.10 km2 (30.15 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 229.0 m (751.3 ft) |
| Population (2015 census)[3] | |
| • Total | 63,057 |
| • Rank | 10 out of 30 (in Laguna)[4][better source needed] |
| • Density | 810/km2 (2,100/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Nagcarlangin |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) |
| ZIP code | 4002 |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)49 |
| Income class | 2nd |
Nagcarlan is a second class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 63,057 people.[3]
It is 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) northeast of San Pablo City, or 103 kilometres (64 mi) south of Manila.
Contents
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Barangays[edit]
Nagcarlan is subdivided into 52 barangays. [2]
- Abo
- Alibungbungan
- Alumbrado
- Balayong
- Balimbing
- Balinacon
- Bambang
- Banago
- Banca-banca
- Bangcuro
- Banilad
- Bayaquitos
- Buboy
- Buenavista
- Buhanginan
- Bukal
- Bunga
- Cabuyew
- Calumpang
- Kanluran Kabubuhayan
- Silangan Kabubuhayan
- Labangan
- Lawaguin
- Kanluran Lazaan
- Silangan Lazaan
- Lagulo
- Maiit
- Malaya
- Malinao
- Manaol
- Maravilla
- Nagcalbang
- Poblacion I (Pob.)
- Poblacion II (Pob.)
- Poblacion III (Pob.)
- Oples
- Palayan
- Palina
- Sabang
- San Francisco
- Sibulan
- Silangan Napapatid
- Silangan Ilaya
- Sinipian
- Santa Lucia
- Sulsuguin
- Talahib
- Talangan
- Taytay
- Tipacan
- Wakat
- Yukos
Demographics[edit]
| Population census of Nagcarlan | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1903 | 10,212 | — |
| 1918 | 14,854 | +2.53% |
| 1939 | 14,762 | −0.03% |
| 1948 | 15,335 | +0.42% |
| 1960 | 18,227 | +1.45% |
| 1970 | 25,057 | +3.23% |
| 1975 | 27,493 | +1.88% |
| 1980 | 30,637 | +2.19% |
| 1990 | 37,696 | +2.10% |
| 1995 | 43,679 | +2.80% |
| 2000 | 48,727 | +2.37% |
| 2007 | 57,070 | +2.20% |
| 2010 | 59,726 | +1.67% |
| 2015 | 63,057 | +1.04% |
| Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[3][5][6][7] | ||
In the 2015 census, the population of Nagcarlan, Laguna, was 63,057 people,[3] with a density of 810 inhabitants per square kilometre or 2,100 inhabitants per square mile.
Tourism[edit]
Nagcarlan has clean flowing rivers, gushing water falls, calm lakes and lush hills and mountains. Historic Spanish colonial sites, restaurants with competitive and affordable dishes, resorts and vacation house and a plethora of welcoming people.
Lack of promotion has caused this town to be overlooked by tourist and that is why locals have made their own ways to promote this town through blogging websites and conducting nature oriented activities like hiking and running.
Notable people from Nagcarlan[edit]
- Esteban Baldivia – With his screen name DENCIO PADILLA, he is a famous actor from Nagcarlan, Laguna, Philippines.
- Jak Roberto – is an actor from Laguna, Philippines.
- Sanya Lopez – is an actress, she is best known for her role as Sang’re Danaya in Encantadia
References[edit]
- Jump up^ “Official City/Municipal 2013 Election Results”. Intramuros, Manila, Philippines: Commission on Elections (COMELEC). 11 September 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- ^ Jump up to:a b “Province: Laguna”. PSGC Interactive. Quezon City, Philippines: Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d Census of Population (2015). “Region IV-A (Calabarzon)”. Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. PSA. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- Jump up^ Laguna (province)#Administrative divisions
- Jump up^ Census of Population and Housing (2010). “Region IV-A (Calabarzon)”. Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. NSO. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- Jump up^ Census of Population (1995, 2000 and 2007). “Region IV-A (Calabarzon)”. Total Population by Province, City and Municipality. NSO. Archived from the original on 24 June 2011.
- Jump up^ “Province of Laguna”. Municipality Population Data. Local Water Utilities Administration Research Division. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery
Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery 
Libingan sa Ilalim ng Lupa ng NagcarlanDetails Established 1845 Location Brgy. Bambang, Nagcarlan,Laguna Country Philippines Coordinates 14°07′53″N 121°24′53″ECoordinates: 14°07′53″N 121°24′53″E Type Roman Catholic Style Baroque Owned by Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo Size 1 hectare No. of graves 276 niches The Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery (Filipino: Libingan sa Ilalim ng Lupa ng Nagcarlan) is a national historical landmark and museum in Barangay Bambang, Nagcarlan, Laguna supervised by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. It was built in 1845 under the supervision of Franciscan priest, Fr. Vicente Velloc as a public burial site and its underground crypt exclusively for Spanish friars, prominent town citizens and members of elite Catholic families.[1] It is dubbed as the only underground cemetery in the country.[2]
Contents
[hide]
History[edit]
Establishment of the Underground Cemetery[edit]
Fr. Vicente Velloc supervised the establishment of a cemetery in Nagcarlan in 1845 below Mt. San Cristobal. Unlike the traditional Spanish cemeteries at that time, Fr. Velloc decided to build it away from the town’s center. The cemetery is planned to serve as a public resting place for the people of the town while the underground chamber below the chapel of the cemetery will only house remains of Spanish friars and prominent people. It was built together with the construction of the expanded St. Bartholomew Parish Church and rectory.[3] The cemetery is built with a chapel where funeral masses was held and directly below it is an underground crypt.
As Meeting Place during the Revolution[edit]
During the Philippine Revolution, the cemetery served as a meeting place of revolutionary leaders of the Katipunan in 1896.[3] Pedro Paterno and Gen. Severino Taiño of the “Maluningning” command held a meeting at the cemetery where they planned the historic Pact of Biak-na-Bato in 1897.[4] It also served as hideout for Filipino leaders during the Philippine-American War and of guerillas in World War II.[5]
Declaration as a Historical Landmark[edit]
The Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery was declared as a National Historical Landmark by virtue of Presidential Decree no. 260, dated August 1, 1973 with amendments by Administrative Order 1505, dated June 11, 1978.[3] Since the declaration, no more burials were allowed in the cemetery.[1] It underwent renovations before it was again opened to the public during the unveiling of the marker in October 24, 1981. The oldest tomb is dated 1886 while the last interment was in 1982 when it was formally declared as a National Historical Landmark.[2][5]
Features[edit]
The Baroque cemetery is located two kilometers south of downtown Nagcarlan that takes the shape of a circular cemetery across a 1 hectare property.[1][2] It is surrounded by octagonal stone walls made of red tiles with iron-wrought grills.[6] A façade or arch of about 18 feet high with two iron grill gates leads to a red tiled pathway across a green space leading to the cemetery chapel. The chapel containing a statue of Santo Sepulcro serves as a place for requiem or funeral mass. Located 15 feet below the chapel is an underground graveyard consisting of only 36 tombs arranged in four walls [7] The crypt and chapel is connected by two flight of steps. The first nine steps lead to a Spanish inscription that reads:[2]
- Go forth, Mortal man, full of life
Today you visit happily this shelter,
But after you have gone out,
Remember, you have a resting place here,
Prepared for you.
The last six steps lead to the underground crypt.
The cemetery has 240 apartment-type niches on the walls where each side of the chapel contains 120 niches. Overall, there are 276 niches.
Management[edit]
The cemetery complex remained as a property of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo. It is supervised and managed by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Currently, no more burials are allowed inside the cemetery. The complex is used for special celebrations such as the Feast of Christ the King andLent of the local parish[2] and the diocese.
References[edit]
- ^ Jump up to:a b c “Tourism – Places of Interest”. Local Government Unit of Nagcarlan. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d e “Visiting RP’s only underground cemetery”. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Historical Markers: Regions I-IV and CAR. Manila: National Historical Institute (Philippines). 1993. p. 173. ISBN 9715380611.
- Jump up^ “History of Nagcarlan, Laguna”. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
- ^ Jump up to:a b “Cemetery trivia: How well do you know our burial grounds?”. Rappler. November 1, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- Jump up^ “Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery Historical Landmark”. National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- Jump up^ “Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery”. Laguna Travel Guide. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery. - Go forth, Mortal man, full of life
Corregidor
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|
.svg)
 Corregidor
Location within the Philippines
|
|
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Manila Bay |
| Coordinates | 14°23′8″N 120°34′23″ECoordinates: 14°23′8″N 120°34′23″E |
| Archipelago | Philippine Islands |
| Length | 6.5 km (4.04 mi) |
| Width | 2.0 km (1.24 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 589 ft (179.5 m) |
| Highest point | (Topside), a plateau |
| Administration | |
| Province | Cavite |
| City | Cavite City |
| Demographics | |
| Ethnic groups | Tagalog |
Corregidor Island /kəˈrɛɡɪˌdɔːr/, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically beenfortified with coastal artillery to defend the entrance of Manila Bay and Manilafrom attacks by enemy warships. Located 48 kilometres (30 mi) inland, Manila has been the largest city and the most important seaport in the Philippines for centuries, from the colonial rule of Spain, Japan and the United States, to the establishment of the Philippines in 1946.
Corregidor (Fort Mills) is the largest of the islands that formed the harbor defenses of Manila Bay together with El Fraile Island (Fort Drum), Caballo Island (Fort Hughes) and Carabao Island (Fort Frank), which were all fortified during the American liberation of the country. The island was also the site of a small military airfield, as part of the defense.
During World War II, Corregidor played an important role during the invasion and liberation of the Philippines from Japanese forces. Heavily bombarded in the latter part of the war, the ruins left on the island serve as a military memorial to American, Filipino and Japanese soldiers who served or lost their lives on the island. Corregidor is one of the important historic and tourist sites in the country.
Contents
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Geography[edit]
Corregidor Island and the entrance to Manila Bay.
Corregidor and the other fortified islands of Manila Bay fall under the jurisdiction of the City of Cavite, Cavite province.[1][2] Corregidor, also known as “The Rock” for its rocky landscape and the heavyfortifications, along with Caballo Island, about 1.7 km (1.1 mi) south, divide the entrance of Manila Bay into the North and South Channel.
The tadpole-shaped island, with its tail running eastward, is about 6.5 km (4.0 mi) long, about 2.0 km (1.2 mi) wide at its widest with a total land area of about 900 hectares (2,200 acres). The highest elevation is at 180 m (590 ft) on the Topside.[3] The island is divided into four sections:
Topside[edit]
The island’s biggest area, which points towards the West Philippine Sea, rises prominently to a large flat area that is called “Topside”. Beneath this was the fortified communications center of the island, as well as the location for the Army headquarters, barracks for enlisted men, a branch of the Philippine Trust Co. bank, the Cine Corregidor movie theater, officers’ quarters, underground ordnance shops, the parade ground, an Officers’ Club with a 9-hole Golf Course, tennis courts, and swimming pool, and the bulk of the artillery batteries that constituted the strength of Corregidor.
Middleside[edit]
Middleside is a small plateau that interrupts the upward slope from Bottomside to Topside, and was the location of 2-story officers’ quarters, barracks for the enlisted men, a hospital, quarters for non-commissioned officers, a service club, PX, and two schoolhouses—one for the children of Filipino soldiers and the other for American children.
Bottomside[edit]
Bottomside in 1982
Bottomside is the lower part of the island and is the neck that connects the tail and head of the island. South of Bottomside was Barangay or Barrio San José (near what was Navy Beach); on the north is what was Army Dock, with its three large piers, and, east of Bottomside, is the Malinta Tunnel. The Malinta Hill separates Bottomside from the Tail End.[4]
Tailside[edit]
The Tailside or Tail End is not a given name, but it is the remaining portion of the island where different memorials, shrines and the island’s airstrip are located. Kindley Field was constructed in the early 1920s and named in honor of an early hero of the U.S. Army Air Corps. The airfield was operated then by the army, and the navy had a seaplane base. The short runway, cramped and hilly terrain had limited its use.[5] [6][7]
Geology[edit]
Corregidor and Caballo islands are remnants of a volcanic crater, the Corregidor Caldera, which was last active about one million years ago. However, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) still classifies Corregidor as a potentially active volcano.[8]
History[edit]
Spanish colonial era[edit]
The island came under Spanish sovereignty on May 19, 1570, when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and his forces arrived in Manila Bay. Legazpi was authorized by the Spanish Crown to establish the capital of the Philippines in Manila, and convert the Muslims in Luzon and Mindanao to Christianity. Corregidor was used as a support site for the nine Spanish galleons used during the campaign.
Under Spanish rule, Corregidor served not only as a fortress of defense, a penal institution, and a station for Customsinspection, but also as a signal outpost to warn Manila of the approach of hostile ships. Corregidor comes from the Spanish word corregir, meaning “to correct.” One story states that the island was called Isla del Corregidor (literally, Island of the Corrector) due to the Spanish customs system, wherein all ships entering Manila Bay were required to stop and have their documents checked and “corrected”. Another version claims that the island was used a penitentiary or correctional institution by the Spanish government, and thus came to be called El Corregidor.[9] Corregidor is also a specific position of authority within the former Spanish administrative structure, who is the head of the territorial unit known as Corregimiento. The institution of administrative districts called Corregimientos (with the chief, “El Corregidor”) was in use throughout Spanish America and the Philippines. Just as an example, in the Philippines had “corregidores” in charge of Bataan and Zambales, among others.[10] “Isla del Corregidor“, the ancient name of the place, literally means “Corregidor’s island”.
On November 23, 1574, the Chinese pirate Limahong and his 65 vessel fleet, with 3,000 men anchored between Corregidor and Mariveles. From that site he launched two successive attacks against Manila, commanded either by Limahong himself or the Japanese Sioco. Both of them failed their purpose before a fierce battle defense led by the governor Juan de Salcedo.
In November and December 1600, the surroundings of Corregidor Island were used as an anchorage by the DutchmanOlivier van Noort. His ships Mauritius and Eendracht were engaged in piratical activities on the sailing route to and from Manila. This situation was dealt with after the naval combat of Fortune Island on December 14, 1600. As a result, Spain lost its ship San Diego but captured the Dutch sailing boat Eendracht and Oliver van Noort retreated from the Philippines.
As a consequence of these events, and also to prevent sudden attack by the Muslims from Mindanao, a watch vessel was posted at Corregidor to control the entrance to the bay. According to data from 1637, this vessel had a crew of twenty men, who were paid 540 pesos a year for this task.
Corregidor Island was taken over by the Dutch in June 1647 and from there they launched an offensive against Cavitewhich was repelled by the Spanish garrison, under the command of Andre Lopez de Azalduigui. However, the Dutchmen would remain in the island for seven more months as it served them well as an operations base from which to intercept Chinese merchant traffic in the vicinity of Luzon and Cebu. Finally they withdrew with little of their expectations fulfilled.
During the invasion of Manila and Cavite in October 1762 by the Royal Navy and the British Army under Admiral Cornish and General Draper, Corregidor was used as an anchorage for warships, particularly HMS Panther and the captured warship, the Spanish galleon Santisima Trinidad, during November 1762.
The arrival of the Spanish fleet, led by General Ignacio Mario de Alava, with the mission to place the Philippine Islands on alert, did not affect the fortunes of Corregidor Island. He limited his activity to the setting up of a naval station at Cavite.
On January 18, 1853, the Corregidor Island Lighthouse was first lit on the highest part of the island to mark the entrance of Manila Bay to vessels coming in from the South China Sea. The Spanish government built the Second-Order light, which is situated 639 feet (195 m) above sea level and visible for 20 miles (32 km).[11]
Spanish–American War[edit]
Corregidor Island was included in the Philippines defense plan prepared in 1885 by General Cerero, but no action was taken to implement it. When the U.S. Navy‘s attack was thought to be imminent, a 12 cm gun, “Hontoria System”, which came from the Spanish Navy‘s cruiser Antonio de Ulloa, and two shorter ones of the same caliber from the Spanishgunboat Genaral Lezo, were installed on the rocky island El Fraile. On the south side of Corregidor, the Spanish armyinstalled three 15 cm artillery pieces which came from the Spanish navy cruiser Velasco which was undergoing repairs.
On the midnight of April 30 to the 1st of May 1898, U.S. Navy Commodore George Dewey led his naval squadron, with his flag hoisted on board the armored cruiser USS Olympia, eastward along the southern coast of Corregidor Island, beyond the reach of Spanish batteries and with no navigational lights on.
At a distance about one mile off El Fraile, Dewey’s fleet changed course to the North East, steaming towards Manila. When they were discovered, the Spaniards fired from El Fraile’s artillery. An American response followed immediately, first byUSS McCulloch and then by USS Boston, USS Raleigh and USS Concord. Since the flotilla’s speed was ten knots, they were soon far away from the Spanish batteries. Dewey sailed for Cavite where he destroyed the naval forces of Admiral Montojo.
Once the Cavite shipyard was subdued by means of a Stipulated Pact, two American ships went ashore at Corregidor Island on the 3rd of May forcing the Spaniards on the island to surrender. Colonel Garces, chief of the coast batteries at the entrance of Manila’s Bay, and the island’s governor, First Class Naval Lieutenant, Augusto Miranda, were urged to come to terms with the Americans, and so they did. Therefore, Miranda remained on the island with only 100 soldiers and the Spanish Flag on top; Garces and officers under his command, as well as 292 men with their weapons and ammunition, were transferred to the Mariveles port. From there they were conducted along the provinces of Bataan and Pampanga until they reached Manila on 5 May. There they joined the Navy battalion which was already quartered in Sampaloc.
On 4 May, the American ships opened fire against the 100 men who, according to the pact had been left on Corregidor and demanded the garrison forces be reduced to 25 men. The Spanish governor consulted Manila authorities, and they ordered the evacuation of the island. The troops were sent to Naic, Cavite on boats while the governor was transferred to the American cruiser USS Baltimore and became a prisoner with his family. The Americans offered to liberate him but the Navy Lieutenant rejected. Shortly afterwards, he was disembarked in Balanga, Bataan. In this way, the Spanish presence on Corregidor Island, which had lasted 328 years, came to an end.
American colonial period[edit]
The entrance to Malinta Tunnel
In 1902, the island was organized as an American military reservation. In 1903, a convalescent hospital was established by the United States Army.
The Board of Fortifications chaired by William H. Taft recommended that key harbors of territories acquired after the Spanish–American War be fortified.[12]Consequently, Corregidor was fortified and incorporated into the harbor defenses Manila and Subic Bays. In 1908, a Regular Army post was established on the island, designated as Fort Mills, in honor of Brigadier General Samuel Meyers Mills, Jr., Chief of Artillery of the U.S. Army from 1905 to 1906. By early 1909, H Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Corps of Engineers was assigned to Corregidor and started on the construction of concrete emplacements, bomb-proof shelters, and trails at various parts of the island. This pioneer engineer company left Fort Mills on March 15, 1912. All or part of 35 different numbered Coast Artillery Corps companies served tours at Fort Mills between 1909 and 1923.
The defense of Corregidor was the immediate responsibility of the Philippine Coast Artillery Command, commanded by Major General George F. Moore at the start of World War II. Stationed on the island after the return to the regimental system in 1924 were the following regular units:
- 59th Coast Artillery (U.S. Regular Army)
- 60th Coast Artillery AA (U.S. Regular Army)
- 91st Coast Artillery (Philippine Scouts)
- 92nd Coast Artillery (Tractor Drawn)(Philippine Scouts)
- Headquarters, Harbor Defenses of Manila and the Seaward Defense Command.
In addition to Fort Mills; the army post on Caballo Island was named Fort Hughes; on El Fraile, Fort Drum; and on Carabao Island, Fort Frank. According to the war plan, these forts could withstand a six-month-long siege, after which the United States would provide aid. The fortifications on Corregidor were designed solely to withstand seaborne attack. Though American military planners realized that airplanes would render Fort Mills obsolete, the United States was restricted from improving the fortifications by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. After this, the U.S. Army constructed the Malinta Tunnel, with its series of related laterals, to protect its military stores and vital installations in the event of war.
Fort Mills’s defense installations had cost the U.S. government more than $150 million, which did not include the expense of fortifying the neighboring islands of Caballo, Carabao, and El Fraile.
Infrastructure[edit]
There were 65 miles (105 km) of paved roads and trails on the island and 19.5 miles (31.4 km) of electric railroad track. The latter were used largely to haul heavy equipment and ammunition from Bottomside to the different Batteries. The Corregidor High School was where children of both Filipino and American servicemen assigned on the island studied. The island also had an electric trolley system as public transport, a movie house (Cine Corregidor), a baseball field and a swimming pool. The business and social center of this community was found on Topside.
Water supply[edit]
Before the war and during the siege, Corregidor depended on Bataan for most of its potable water. For this purpose, barges were used to haul water either from Mariveles or Cabcaben, Bataan.
World War II[edit]
During World War II, Corregidor was the site of two costly sieges and pitched battles—the first during the first months of 1942, and the second in January 1945—between the Imperial Japanese Army and the U.S. Army, along with its smaller subsidiary force, the Philippine Army.
Surrender of U.S. forces at the Malinta Tunnel May 6, 1942
During the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42), the Japanese Army invaded Luzon from the north (at Lingayen Gulf) in early 1942 and attacked Manila from its landward side. The American and Filipino troops under the command of GeneralDouglas MacArthur, retreated into the Bataan Peninsula, west of Manila Bay. The fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942 ended all organized opposition by the U.S. Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) to the invading Japanese forces on Luzon in the northern Philippines. They were forced to surrender due to the lack of food and ammunition. Eventually Corregidor and its adjacent islets at Manila Bay became the final bastions for holding out against the enemy.
Between December 24, 1941 and February 19, 1942, Corregidor was the temporary location for the Government of the Philippines. On December 30, 1941, outside the Malinta Tunnel, Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña were inaugurated respectively as President and Vice-President of the Philippines Commonwealth for a second term. GeneralDouglas MacArthur also used Corregidor as Allied headquarters until March 11, 1942. The Voice of Freedom, the radio station of USAFFE broadcast from Corregidor, including the famous announcement of the fall of Bataan. In April 1942, one Battalion of the Fourth Marines was sent to reinforce the island’s beach defenses.
The Battle of Corregidor was the culmination of the Japanese campaign for the conquest of the Philippines. The fortifications across the entrance to Manila Bay were the remaining obstacle to the 14th Japanese Imperial Army of Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma. The American and Filipino soldiers on Corregidor and the neighboring islets held out against the Japanese to deny the use of Manila Bay, but the Japanese Army brought heavy artillery to the southern end of Bataan, and proceeded to blockade Corregidor. Japanese troops forced the surrender of the remaining American and Filipino forces on May 6, 1942, under the command of Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright.
The battle for the recapture of Corregidor occurred between 16 and 26 February 1945, in which American and Filipino forces liberated the island fortress from Japanese soldiers.
Fortifications[edit]
The fortifications on Corregidor
There were 23 batteries installed on Corregidor, consisting of 56 coastal defense guns and mortars. In addition, Corregidor had 13 anti-aircraft artillery batteries with 76 guns (28 3-inch and 48 .50-caliber) and 10 60-inch Sperry searchlights.
The longest-range coastal pieces were the two 12-inch (305 mm) guns of Batteries Hearn and Smith, with a horizontal range of 29,000 yards (27,000 m). Although capable of an all around traverse, these guns, due to their flat trajectories, were not effective for use against targets on Bataan.
During the siege, the island had ample armor-piercing ammunition but very little of the anti-personnel type, which then was of greatest demand for use against land targets on Bataan. In fact, most of the anti-personnel shells were only for the 12-inch mortars of Batteries Way and Geary.
Battery Monja[edit]
Battery Monja is located on Wheeler Point. It was operated by G Company of the 92nd Coast Artillery Regiment, Philippine Department. The battery had two French 155mm GPF cannon, both of which were hidden in the sides of the island’s bluffs. One gun was commanded by 2LT Robert L. Obourn, who claimed that, towards the end of the battle, “You could see the shells wobble towards the [enemy] ships. Our guns were reduced to nothing more than muskets.” Obourn’s gun was struck and destroyed on 28 April 1942, killing 2 of his gunners. The remaining crew of Battery Monja continued to fight against the Japanese as guerrillas until 18 July 1942. Only 6 men, including Lt. Obourn, survived their capture. The 5 enlisted men that were serving as gunners for the battery attempted to escape from their temporary prison camp two days after capture; they all were killed during their attempted escape.
Battery Way[edit]
Battery Way, named for Lt. Henry N Way, which along with Battery Geary, was the mainstay of the Corregidor Garrison during the Japanese invasion. Its mortars, capable of a 360-degree traverse, could fire on land targets at Bataan. They brought the most destruction on Japanese positions during the attempted landings on the southwest coast of Bataan late in January to the middle of February 1942. These mortars were silenced by enemy shelling in May 1942.
Battery Geary[edit]
Battery Geary was a battery of eight 13-ton, 12-inch mortars. Defiladed in a hollow on Corregidor’s Southern coast it was fairly well protected from Japanese shelling. However, on January 6, 1942, under the command of Capt. Ben Ewing King, a Japanese bomb landed in a makeshift temporary bunker killing 31 of Battery Geary’s NCOs and canoneers. Early in the morning of January 26 Battery Geary opened fire on a unit of Japanese soldiers near Longaskawayan Point on the west side of the Bataan Peninsula. This was the first time fixed coastal artillery had fired at an enemy since the close of the Civil War. Although the fire was considered accurate and effective Col. Bunker decided to replace Capt. King and he was sent to perform the duties of fort XO and to command HQ Battery on Ft. Drum. He was replaced at Battery Geary by Capt. Thomas W. Davis. Later, this battery was pinpointed by the Japanese artillery and was subjected to heavy shelling. One direct hit by a 240-mm shell, which detonated the magazines of this battery in May 2, 1942, proved to be the most crippling shot during the entire siege of Corregidor. This explosion tossed the fifty ton barrel of the mortar around, one to a distance of 150 yards (140 m), another was blown through three feet of reinforced concrete wall into the adjoining powder magazine of Battery Crockett. Large chunks of steel were blown as far as the Malinta Tunnel, killing 27 of the battery crew instantly. Also, one mortar still had a live round in its breech, and it was in the process of firing the shell when the magazine was hit. That live round, of anti-personnel type, still lies within the breach of the mortar.
Aerial view of the ruins
Corregidor today[edit]
After the War, many people, most of them veterans, visited the island because of its history. Today, Corregidor is a historic monument as well as a tourist destination. Many travel companies offer day tours on the island featuring military installations used during World War II. Most of the war-ravaged buildings have not been restored, and left as they were after the war in reverence to the Filipino and American soldiers who died there.
Pacific War Memorial[edit]
Marker of the Pacific War Memorial
Standing on the highest part of Corregidor’s Topside is the Pacific War Memorial, which was built by the United States Government to honor the Filipino and American soldiers who participated in World War II. It was completed in 1968 at the cost of three million dollars. The major memorial structure is a rotunda with a circular altar directly under the dome’s oculusthrough which light falls on the altar during daylight hours. Light lands directly on the altar on May 5 at exactly 12 noon, in commemoration of the surrender of the troops stationed there and the courage they exhibited over 72 days of bombing. Located behind the Memorial is the Eternal Flame of Freedom, a 40 feet (12 m) Corten steel structure commissioned to Aristides Demetriossymbolizing freedom.[13]
Malinta Tunnel[edit]
The Malinta Tunnel, which is the last stronghold of the joint Philippine and American military prior to the Japanese takeover during the World War II, is now home to an audio-visual presentation by National Artist Lamberto V. Avellana of the events that took place on the island, including the reluctant departure of General Douglas MacArthur and the evacuation of the Philippine president Manuel L. Quezon and his family to unoccupied areas of the Philippines and eventually in exile in the United States.[4]
Filipino Heroes Memorial[edit]
One of the most recent additions to Corregidor is the Filipino Heroes Memorial located in the Tail End. This 6,000-square meter complex has 14 murals depicting heroic battles fought by Filipinos from the 15th century up to the present day. It was designed by Francisco Mañosa, while the murals and a statue of a Filipino guerrilla were sculpted by Manuel Casas. The complex was inaugurated by President Fidel V. Ramos on August 28, 1992.[5]
Japanese Garden of Peace[edit]
This garden was built as a memorial to the Japanese soldiers who served and died on the island during World War II. The park includes a praying area, shrines, markers and a small pavilion that houses photographs and memorabilia.[5]
Corregidor lighthouse[edit]
The Corregidor lighthouse
The lighthouse on Topside is one of the oldest landmarks in Corregidor, first lit in 1853. In 1897, the defective lighting apparatus was changed, extending the range to 33 miles (53 km). The grounds and keeper’s dwellings were further improved during the American occupation. During World War II, the lighthouse was damaged during the siege of Corregidor. The lighthouse was totally reconstructed in the 1950s with a different design and stands on the same spot where the first lighthouse once stood. The whole lantern of the lighthouse was recently replaced by the Philippine Coast Guard to run on solar power.
Notable residents[edit]
- Selma Calmes, anesthesiologist, was born on Corregidor.[14]
See also[edit]
Philippines
| Republic of the Philippines | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Capital | Manilaa 14°35′N 120°58′E |
| Largest city | Quezon City 14°38′N 121°02′E |
| Official languages | |
| Recognized regional languages | |
| National language | Filipino |
| Optional languagesb | |
| Ethnic groups(2010[3]) |
|
| Religion |
|
| Demonym | Filipino (masculine or neutral) Filipina (feminine) Pinoy (colloquial masculine) Pinay (colloquial feminine) Philippine (English) |
| Government | Unitary presidentialconstitutional republic |
| Rodrigo Duterte | |
| Leni Robredo | |
| Aquilino Pimentel III | |
| Pantaleon Alvarez | |
| Maria Lourdes Sereno | |
| Legislature | Congress |
| Senate | |
| House of Representatives | |
| Formation of the republic e | |
| June 12, 1898 | |
|
• Treaty of Paris (1898) / Spanish Cessionc
|
December 10, 1898 |
| January 21, 1899 | |
| March 24, 1934 | |
| May 14, 1935 | |
| July 4, 1946 | |
| February 2, 1987 | |
| Area | |
|
• Total
|
300,000 km2(120,000 sq mi) (72nd) |
|
• Water (%)
|
0.61[5] (inland waters) |
|
• Land
|
298,170 km2 115,120 sq mi |
| Population | |
|
• 2015 census
|
100,981,437[6] (13th) |
|
• Density
|
336.6/km2 (871.8/sq mi) (37th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2017 estimate |
|
• Total
|
$873.966 billion[7] (29th) |
|
• Per capita
|
$8,223[7] (118th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2017 estimate |
|
• Total
|
$348.593 billion[7] (36th) |
|
• Per capita
|
$3,280[7] (104th) |
| Gini (2012) | 43.0[8] medium · 44th |
| HDI (2015) |  0.682[9]medium · 116th |
| Currency | Piso (Filipino: [ˈpiso]) (₱)(PHP) |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) |
|
• Summer (DST)
|
not observed (UTC+8) |
| Date format |
|
| Drives on the | right[10] |
| Calling code | +63 |
| ISO 3166 code | PH |
| Internet TLD | .ph |
|
|
The Philippines (/ˈfɪlɪpiːnz/ (
listen); Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs] or Filipinas[ˌfɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas), is a unitary sovereign state and island country in Southeast Asia. Situated in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands[17] that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines isManila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila.[18] Bounded by the South China Sea on the west, the Philippine Sea on the east and the Celebes Sea on the southwest, the Philippines shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Vietnam to the west, Palau to the east and Malaysia and Indonesia to the south.
The Philippines’ location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons, but also endows it with abundant natural resources and some of the world’s greatest biodiversity. The Philippines has an area of 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi),[19]and a population of approximately 103 million.[20] It is the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. As of 2013, approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas,[21]comprising one of the world’s largest diasporas. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago’s earliest inhabitants. They were followed bysuccessive waves of Austronesian peoples.[22] Exchanges with Chinese,Malay, Indian, and Islamic nations occurred. Then, various competing maritime states were established under the rule of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans orLakans.
The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization. In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor ofPhilip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the first Hispanic settlement in the archipelago was established.[23]The Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Catholicism becoming the dominant religion. During this time,Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia withAcapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons.[24]
As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, the Philippine Revolution followed in quick succession, which then spawned the short-lived First Philippine Republic, followed by the bloody Philippine–American War.[25] Aside from the period ofJapanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, when the Philippines was recognized as an independent nation. Since then, the Philippines has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship bya non-violent revolution.[26]
It is a founding member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization,Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the East Asia Summit. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank.[27] The Philippines is considered to be anemerging market and a newly industrialized country,[28] which has an economy transitioning from being one based on agriculture to one based more on services and manufacturing.[29] It is one of the only two predominantlyChristian nations in Southeast Asia, the other being East Timor.
Contents
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Etymology
The Philippines was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands of Leyte and SamarFelipinas after the then-Prince of Asturias. Eventually the name Las Islas Filipinas would be used to cover all the islands of the archipelago. Before that became commonplace, other names such as Islas del Poniente (Islands of the West) and Magellan’s name for the islands San Lázaro were also used by the Spanish to refer to the islands.[30][31][32][33][34]
The official name of the Philippines has changed several times in the course of its history. During the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the establishment of the República Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the period of the Spanish–American War (1898) and the Philippine–American War (1899–1902) until the Commonwealth period (1935–46), American colonial authorities referred to the country as the Philippine Islands, a translation of the Spanish name.[25] From the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the namePhilippines began to appear and it has since become the country’s common name. Since the end of World War II, the official name of the country has been the Republic of the Philippines.[35]
History
Prehistory
The Tabon Caves are the site of one of the oldest human remains known in the Philippines, the Tabon Man
The metatarsal of the Callao Man, reliably dated by uranium-series datingto 67,000 years ago is the oldest human remnant found in the archipelago to date.[36] This distinction previously belonged to the Tabon Man of Palawan, carbon-dated to around 26,500 years ago.[37][38] Negritos were also among the archipelago’s earliest inhabitants, but their first settlement in the Philippines has not been reliably dated.[39]
There are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos. F. Landa Jocano theorizes that the ancestors of the Filipinos evolved locally. Wilhelm Solheim‘s Island Origin Theory[40] postulates that the peopling of the archipelago transpired via trade networks originating in the Sundaland area around 48,000 to 5000 BC rather than by wide-scale migration. The Austronesian Expansion Theoryexplains that Malayo-Polynesians coming from Taiwan began migrating to the Philippines around 4000 BC, displacing earlier arrivals.[41]
The most widely accepted theory, based on linguistic and archeological evidence, is the “Out-of-Taiwan” model, which hypothesizes that Austronesians from Taiwan, who were themselves descended from the neolithic civilizations of the Yangtze river such as the Liangzhu culture,[42] began migrating to the Philippines around 4000 BC, displacing earlier arrivals.[41][43] During the neolithic period, a “jade culture” is said to have existed as evidenced by tens of thousands of exquisitely crafted jade artifacts found in the Philippines dated to 2000 BC.[44][45]
The jade is said to have originated nearby in Taiwan and is also found in many other areas in insular and mainland Southeast Asia. These artifacts are said to be evidence of long range communication between prehistoric Southeast Asian societies.[46] By 1000 BC, the inhabitants of the archipelago had developed into four kinds of social groups: hunter-gatherer tribes, warrior societies, highland plutocracies, and port principalities.[47]
Precolonial epoch
A Boxer Codex image illustrating the ancientkadatuan or tumao (noble class).
The current demarcation between the Prehistory and the Early history of the Philippines is 21 April 900, which is the equivalent on the Proleptic Gregorian calendar for the date indicated on the Laguna Copperplate Inscription—the earliest known surviving written record to come from the Philippines.[48] This date came in the middle of what anthropologists refer to as the Philippines’ “Emergent Phase” (1st–14th centuries CE), which was characterized by newly emerging socio-cultural patterns, the initial development of large coastal settlements, greater social stratification and specialization, and the beginnings of local and international trade.[49] By the 1300s, a number of the large coastal settlements had become progressive trading centers, and became the focal point of societal changes, ushering complex lifeways which characterized what F. Landa Jocano called the “Barangic Phase” of early Philippine history, beginning from the 14th century through the arrival of Spanish colonizers and the beginning of the Philippines’ colonial period.[49]
The discovery of iron at around the 1st century AD created significant social and economic changes which allowed settlements to grow larger and develop new social patterns, characterized by social stratification and specialization.[49]
Some of these polities, particularly the coastal settlements at or near the mouths of large rivers,[50] eventually developed substantial trade contacts with the early trading powers of Southeast Asia, most importantly the Indianized kingdoms of Malaysia and Java, the various dynasties of China,[50] Thailand,[51] and later, the Muslim Sultanate of Brunei.[52] They also traded with Vietnam,[51] Japan,[53] and other Austronesian islands.[54]
Based on archeological findings, trade with China is believed to have begun in the Tang dynasty, but grew more extensive during the Song dynasty.[52] By the 2nd millennium CE, some (but not all) Philippine polities were known to have sent trade delegations which participated in the Tributary system enforced by the Chinese imperial court.[52] These “tributary states” nominally acknowledged the Sinocentric system which saw China and the imperial court as the cultural center of the world. Among the early Philippine polities, this arrangement fulfilled the requirements for trade with China, but did not actually translate into political or military control.[52][50]
The Ifugao/Igorot people utilized terrace farming in the steep mountainous regions of northern Philippines over 2000 years ago.
Regarding the relations of early Philippine polities with the various state-level polities of Indonesia and Malaysia, legendary accounts often mention the interaction of early Philippine polities with the Srivijaya empire, but there is not much archeological evidence to definitively support such a relationship.[49] Considerable evidence exists, on the other hand, for extensive trade with the Majapahit empire.[55]
The exact scope and mechanisms of Indian cultural influences on early Philippine polities are still the subject of some debate among Southeast Asian historiographers,[49][56] but the current scholarly consensus is that there was probably little or no direct trade between India and the Philippines,[49][56] and Indian cultural traits, such as linguistic terms and religious practices,[55] filtered in during the 10th through the early 14th centuries, through early Philippine polities’ relations with the Hindu Majapahit empire.[49] The Philippine archipelago is thus one of the countries, (others include Afghanistan and Southern Vietnam) just at the outer edge of what is considered the “Greater Indian cultural zone”.[56]
The early polities of the Philippine archipelago were typically characterized by a three-tier social structure.[49][50] Although different cultures had different terms to describe them, this three-tier structure invariably consisted of an apex nobility class, a class of “freemen”, and a class of dependent debtor-bondsmen called “alipin” or “oripun.”[49][50] Among the members of the nobility class were leaders who held the political office of “Datu,” which was responsible for leading autonomous social groups called “barangay” or “dulohan”.[49] Whenever these barangays banded together, either to form a larger settlement[49] or a geographically looser alliance group,[50] the more senior or respected among them would be recognized as a “paramount datu”, variedly called a Lakan, Sultan, Rajah, or simply a more senior Datu.[52][49][57]
Early historic Coastal Polities
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription, c. 900. The oldest known historical record found in the Philippines, discovered at Lumban, Laguna.
The earliest historical record of these kingdoms is the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, which indirectly refers to the Tagalog settlement of Tondo(c. before 900–1589) and two to three other settlements believed to be located somewhere near Tondo, as well as a settlement near Mt. Diwata in Mindanao, and the temple complex of Medang in Java.[48] Although the precise political relationships between these polities is unclear in the text of the inscription, the artifact is usually accepted as evidence of intra- and inter-regional political linkages as early as 900 CE.[48][52][50] By the arrival of the earliest European ethnographers during the 1500s, Tondo was led by the paramount ruler called a “Lakan“.[52][50] It had grown into a major trading hub, sharing a monopoly with the Rajahnate of Maynila over the trade of Ming dynasty[58] products throughout the archipelago.[52]This trade was significant enough that the Yongle Emperor appointed a Chinese governor named Ko Ch’a-lao to oversee it.[59][60]
The next historical record referred a location in the Philippines is Volume 186 of official history of the Song dynasty which describes the “country” of Ma-i (c. before 971 – after 1339). Song dynasty traders visited Ma-i annually, and their accounts described Ma-i’s geography, trade products, and the trade behaviors of its rulers.[61] Because the descriptions of Mai’s location in these accounts are not clear, there is some dispute about Mai’s possible location, with some scholars believing it was located in Bay, Laguna,[62] and others believing it was on the island of Mindoro.[38]
The Butuan Ivory Seal (c. 1002) was recovered in the 1970s in Butuan.
The official history of the Song dynasty next refers to the Rajahnate of Butuan(c. before 1001–1756) in northeastern Mindanao which is the first polity from the Philippine archipelago recorded as having sent a tribute mission to the Chinese empire – on March 17, 1001 CE. Butuan attained prominence under the rule of Rajah Sri Bata Shaja,[54] who was from a Buddhist ruling-class governing a Hindu nation. This state became powerful due to the local goldsmith industry and it also had commercial ties and a diplomatic rivalry with the Champa civilization.
The Kedatuan of Madja-as (c. 1200–1569) was founded following a civil war in collapsing Srivijaya, wherein loyalists of the Malay datus of Srivijaya defied the invading Chola dynasty and its puppet-Rajah, called Makatunao, and set up a guerrilla-state in the islands of the Visayas. Its founding datu, Puti, had purchased land for his new realms from the aboriginal Ati hero, Marikudo.[63][verification needed] Madja-as was founded on Panay island (named after the destroyed state of Pannai allied under Srivijaya which was located in Sumatra). Afterwards, the people of Madja-as often raided the port cities of southern China and warred with the Chinese navy.[64]
The Rajahnate of Cebu[65] (c. 1200–1565) was a neighbor of Madja-as in the Visayas led by Rajamuda Sri Lumay, a monarch with partial Tamil descent. This state grew wealthy by making use of the inter-island shipping within the archipelago.[66] Both the Rajahnates of Butuan and Cebu were allied to each other and they also maintained contact and had trade routes with Kutai, a Hindu country[67] in south Borneo established by Indian traders.[68]
The earliest legendary date mentioning the Rajahnate of Maynila (c. 1258–1571) on the island of Luzon across the Pasig River from Tondo has to do with the naval victory of the Bruneian Rajah Ahmad over the Majapahit Rajah Avirjirkaya, who ruled a prior pre-Muslim settlement in the same location.[52] Chinese records of this period also mention a polity called “Luzon.” This is believed to be a reference to Maynila since Portuguese and Spanish accounts from the 1520s explicitly state that “Luçon” and “Maynila” were “one and the same”,[52] although some historians argue that since none of these observers actually visited Maynila, “Luçon” may simply have referred to all the Tagalog and Kapampangan polities that rose up on the shores of Manila Bay.[69] Either way, from the early 1500s to as late as the 1560s, this seafaring people was referred to in Portuguese Malacca as Luções, and they participated in trading ventures and military campaigns in Myanmar,Malacca and East Timor[70][71][72] where they were employed as traders and mercenaries.[73][74][75]
In northern Luzon, the Wangdom of Pangasinan (c. 1406–1576) sent emissaries to China in 1406–1411.[76]
Map showing the extent of theSultanate of Sulu in 1822.
The 1300s saw the arrival and eventual spread of Islam in the Philippine archipelago. In 1380, Karim ul’ Makdum and Shari’ful Hashem Syed Abu Bakr, anArab trader born in Johore, arrived in Sulu from Malacca and established theSultanate of Sulu by converting Sulu’s rajah, Rajah Baguinda Ali and marrying his daughter.[77][78] At the end of the 15th century, Shariff Mohammed Kabungsuwan ofJohor introduced Islam in the island of Mindanao and established the Sultanate of Maguindanao. The sultanate form of government extended further into Lanao.[79]
Islam then started to spread out of Mindanao in the south and went into Luzon in the north. Manila in Luzon was Islamized during the reign of Sultan Bolkiah in 1485 to 1521. This was accomplished because the Sultanate of Brunei subjugated Tondo by defeating Rajah Gambang in battle and thereafter installing the Muslim rajah, Rajah Salalila to the throne and by establishing the Bruneian puppet-state of the Rajahnate of Maynila.[80][81][82][83] Sultan Bolkiah also married Laila Mecana, the daughter of Sulu Sultan Amir Ul-Ombra to expand Brunei‘s influence in both Luzon and Mindanao.[84] The Muslims then proceeded to wage wars and conduct slave-raids against the Visayans.[85] Participating in the Muslim raids, the Sultanate of Ternate consequently destroyed theKedatuan of Dapitan in Bohol.[86] The Rajahnates of Butuan and Cebu also endured slave raids from, and waged wars against the Sultanate of Maguindanao.[87]
The rivalries between the Datus, Rajahs, Sultans, and Lakans eventually eased Spanish colonization. Furthermore, the islands were sparsely populated[88] due to consistent natural disasters[89] and inter-kingdom conflicts. Therefore, colonization was made easy and the small states of the archipelago quickly became incorporated into the Spanish Empire and were Hispanicized and Christianized.[90]
Colonial era
Spanish rule
A sketch of a Manila galleon used during the Manila-Acapulco Trade.
In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan‘s expedition arrived in the Philippines, claimed the islands for Spain and was then killed at the Battle of Mactan.[91] Colonization began when Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpiarrived from Mexico in 1565 and formed the first Hispanic settlements in Cebu. After relocating to Panay island and consolidating a coalition of native Visayan allies, Hispanic soldiers and Latin-American recruits, the Spaniards then invaded Islamic Manila, therein they put down the Tondo Conspiracy and exiled the conspirators toGuam and Guerrero.[92] Under Spanish rule, they established Manila as the capital of the Spanish East Indies (1571).[93]
They also defeated the Chinese warlord Limahong.[94][95] To counteract the Islamization of the Philippines, the Spanish then conducted the Castilian War which was aimed against the Sultanate of Brunei[96][97] and war was also waged against the Sultanate of Ternate and Tidore (in response to Ternatean slaving and piracy against Spain’s allies: Bohol and Butuan).[98] The Spanish considered their war with the Muslims in Southeast Asia an extension of the Reconquista, a centuries-long campaign to retake and rechristianize the Spanish homeland which was invaded by the Muslims of the Umayyad Caliphate. The Spanish expeditions into the Philippines were also part of a larger Ibero-Islamic world conflict[99] that included a rivalry with the Ottoman Caliphate which had a center of operations at its nearby vassal, the Sultanate of Aceh.[100] Consequently, fortifications were also set up in Taiwanand the Maluku islands. These were abandoned and the Spanish soldiers, along with the newly Christianized Papuannatives of the Moluccas, withdrew back to the Philippines in order to re-concentrate their military forces because of a threatened invasion by the Japan-born Ming-dynasty loyalist, Koxinga, ruler of the Kingdom of Tungning.[101] However, the planned invasion was aborted. Meanwhile, settlers were sent to the Pacific islands of Palau and the Marianas.[102]
Spanish rule eventually contributed significantly to bringing political unity to the fragmented states of the archipelago. From 1565 to 1821, the Philippines was governed as a territory of the Mexico-based Viceroyalty of New Spain and then was administered directly from Madrid after the Mexican War of Independence. The Manila galleons, the largest wooden ships ever built, were constructed in Bicol and Cavite.[103] The Manila galleons were accompanied with a large naval escort as it traveled to and from Manila and Acapulco.[104] The galleons sailed once or twice a year, between the 16th and 19th centuries.[105] The Manila Galleons brought with them goods,[106] settlers[107] and military reinforcements destined for the Philippines, from Latin America.[108]
The landing of the Spanish expedition to Sulu by Antonio Brugada.
Trade introduced foodstuffs such as maize, tomatoes, potatoes, chili peppers,chocolate and pineapples from Mexico and Peru. Within the Philippines, theMarquisate of Buglas was established and the rule of it was awarded to Sebastian Elcano and his crew, the survivors of the first circumnavigation of the world, as well as his descendants. New towns were also created[95] and Catholic missionaries converted most of the lowland inhabitants to Christianity.[109] They also founded schools, a university, hospitals and churches which were built along the Earthquake Baroque architectural style.[110] To defend their settlements, the Spaniards constructed and manned a network of military fortresses (called “Presidios“) across the archipelago.[111] The Spanish also decreed the introduction of free public schooling in 1863.[112] As a result of these policies the Philippine population increased exponentially.[113][114]
During its rule, Spain quelled various indigenous revolts. There were also several external military challenges from Chinese and Japanese pirates, the Dutch, the English, the Portuguese and the Muslims of Southeast Asia. Those challengers were fought off despite the hostile forces having encircled the Philippine archipelago in a crescent formed from Japan to Indonesia. British forces occupied Manila from 1762 to 1764 in an extension of the fighting of the Seven Years’ War. Spanish rule was restored following the 1763 Treaty of Paris.[90][115][116] The Spanish–Moro conflict lasted for several hundred years. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Spain conquered portions of Mindanao and the Moro Muslims in theSulu Sultanate formally recognized Spanish sovereignty.
Photograph of armed Filipino revolutionaries known as Katipuneros.
In the 19th century, Philippine ports opened to world trade and shifts started occurring within Filipino society. Many Spaniards born in the Philippines (criollos)[117] and those of mixed ancestry (mestizos) became wealthy and an influx of Latin American immigrants[118] opened up government positions traditionally held by Spaniards born in the Iberian Peninsula (peninsulares). The ideals of revolution also began to spread through the islands. Criollo dissatisfaction resulted in the 1872Cavite Mutiny that was a precursor to the Philippine Revolution.[90][119][120][121]
Revolutionary sentiments were stoked in 1872 after three priests—Mariano Gómez,José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora (collectively known as Gomburza)—were accused of sedition by colonial authorities and executed.[119][120] This would inspire a propaganda movement in Spain, organized by Marcelo H. del Pilar, José Rizal, and Mariano Ponce, lobbying for political reforms in the Philippines. Rizal was eventually executed on December 30, 1896, on charges of rebellion.[122] As attempts at reform met with resistance, Andrés Bonifacio in 1892 established the secret society called the Katipunan, who sought independence from Spain through armed revolt.[121]
Bonifacio and the Katipunan started the Philippine Revolution in 1896. A faction of the Katipunan, the Magdalo of Caviteprovince, eventually came to challenge Bonifacio’s position as the leader of the revolution and Emilio Aguinaldo took over. In 1898, the Spanish–American War began in Cuba and reached the Philippines. Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence from Spain in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898, and the First Philippine Republic was established in theBarasoain Church in the following year.[90]
American rule
A depiction of the Battle of Paceo during the Philippine–American War.
The islands were ceded by Spain to the United States as a result of the latter’s victory in the Spanish–American War.[123] A compensation of US$20 million was paid to Spain according to the terms of the 1898 Treaty of Paris.[124] As it became increasingly clear the United States would not recognize the nascent First Philippine Republic, the Philippine–American War broke out, the First Republic was defeated, and the archipelago was administered under an Insular Government.[125] The war resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of combatants as well as a couple of hundred thousand civilians, mostly from a cholera epidemic.[125][126][127][128]
The Americans then suppressed other rebellious sub-states: mainly, the waningSultanate of Sulu, as well as the insurgent Tagalog Republic, the Cantonal Republic of Negros in the Visayas, and the Republic of Zamboanga in Mindanao.[129][130]During this era, a renaissance in Philippine culture occurred, with the expansion of Philippine cinema andliterature.[131][132][133] Daniel Burnham built an architectural plan for Manila which would have transformed it into a modern city.[134] In 1935, the Philippines was granted Commonwealth status with Manuel Quezon as president. He designated a national language and introduced women’s suffrage and land reform.[135][136]
Japanese rule
General Douglas MacArthur landing ashore during the Battle of Leyte on October 20, 1944.
Plans for independence over the next decade were interrupted by World War II when the Japanese Empire invaded and the Second Philippine Republic of José P. Laurel was established as a collaborator state. Many atrocities and war crimes were committed during the war such as the Bataan Death March and the Manila massacre that culminated with the Battle of Manila.[137] In 1944, Quezon died in exile in the United States and Sergio Osmeña succeeded him. The Allied Forcesthen employed a strategy of island hopping towards the Philippine archipelago, in the process, retaking territory conquered by Imperial Japan.
From mid-1942 through mid-1944, the Filipino guerrilla resistance[138][139] had been supplied and encouraged by U.S. Navy submarines and a few parachute drops, so that the guerrillas could harass the Japanese Army and take control of the rural areas, jungles and mountains – thus, the Japanese Empire only controlled 12 out of 48 provinces.[140] While remaining loyal to the United States, many Filipinos hoped and believed that liberation from the Japanese would bring them freedom and their already-promised independence.
Eventually, the largest naval battle in history, according to gross tonnage sunk, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, occurred when Allied forces started the liberation of the Philippines from the Japanese Empire.[141][142] Allied troops defeated the Japanesein 1945. By the end of the war it is estimated that over a million Filipinos had died.[143][144][145]
Postcolonial period
Proclamation of Philippine independence from the United States (1946).
On October 11, 1945, the Philippines became one of the founding members of the United Nations.[146] The following year, on July 4, 1946, the Philippines was officially recognized by the United States as an independent nation through the Treaty of Manila, during the presidency of Manuel Roxas.[5] Disgruntled remnants of the communist Hukbalahap[147]continued to roam the countryside but were put down by President Elpidio Quirino‘s successor Ramon Magsaysay.[148][149] Magsaysay’s successor, Carlos P. Garcia, initiated the Filipino First Policy,[150] which was continued by Diosdado Macapagal, with celebration of Independence Day moved from July 4 to June 12, the date of Emilio Aguinaldo‘sdeclaration,[151][152] while furthering the claim on the eastern part of North Borneo.[153][154]
In 1965, Macapagal lost the presidential election to Ferdinand Marcos. Early in his presidency, Marcos initiated numerous infrastructure projects but was accused of massive corruption and embezzling billions of dollars in public funds.[155] Nearing the end of his term, Marcos declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972.[156] This period of his rule was characterized by political repression, censorship, and human rights violations but the US were steadfast in their support.[157]
On August 21, 1983, Marcos’ chief rival, opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr., was assassinated on the tarmac at Manila International Airport. Marcos eventually called snap presidential elections in 1986.[158] Marcos was proclaimed the winner, but the results were widely regarded as fraudulent, leading to the People Power Revolution. Marcos and his allies fled toHawaii and Aquino’s widow, Corazon Aquino was recognized as president.[158][159]
Contemporary history
The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo is the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.
The return of democracy and government reforms beginning in 1986 were hampered by national debt, government corruption, coup attempts, disasters, a persistent communist insurgency,[160] and a military conflict with Moro separatists.[161] During Corazon Aquino‘s administration, U.S. forces withdrew from the Philippines, due to the rejection of the U.S. Bases Extension Treaty,[162][163] and leading to the official transfer of Clark Air Base in November 1991 and Subic Bay to the government in December 1992.[164][165] The administration also faced a series of natural disasters, including the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991.[166][167]After introducing a constitution that limited presidents to a single term, Aquino did not stand for re-election.
Aquino was succeeded by Fidel V. Ramos, who won the Philippine presidential election held in May 1992. During this period the country’s economic performance remained modest, with a 5–7 percent GDP growth rate.[168] However, the political stability and economic improvements, such as the peace agreement with theMoro National Liberation Front in 1996,[169] were overshadowed by the onset of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.[170][171] On his Presidency the death penalty was revived in the light of the Rape-slay case of Eileen Sarmienta and Allan Gomez in 1993 and the first person to be executed was Leo Echegaray in 1999.[172]
Ramos’ successor, Joseph Estrada assumed office in June 1998 and managed to regain the economy from −0.6% growth to 3.4% by 1999 amidst the 1997 Asian financial crisis.[173][174][175] The government had announced a war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in March 2000 and neutralized the camps including the headquarters of the insurgents.[176][177] In the middle of ongoing conflict with the Abu Sayyaf,[178] accusations of alleged corruption, and a stalled impeachment process, Estrada‘s administration was overthrown by the 2001 EDSA Revolution and succeeded by his Vice President,Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on January 20, 2001.[179]
In Arroyo‘s 9-year administration, The economy experienced GDP growth from 4% in 2002 to 7% growth in 2007 with the completion of infrastructure projects like the LRT Line 2 in 2004[180] and managed to avoid the Great Recession.[181]Nevertheless, it was tied with graft and political scandals like the Hello Garci scandal pertaining to the alleged manipulation of votes in the 2004 presidential elections.[182][183][184][185] On November 23, 2009, the Maguindanao massacre led to the murder of 34 journalists.[186][187]
Benigno Aquino III won the 2010 national elections and served as the 15th President of the Philippines. He was the third youngest person to be elected president and the first to be a bachelor,[188] beginning with the 2010 Manila hostage crisisthat caused deeply strained relations between Manila and Hong Kong for a time. During the previous years, TheFramework Agreement on the Bangsamoro was signed on October 15, 2012, as the first step of the creation of an autonomous political entity named Bangsamoro.[189] However, territorial disputes in eastern Sabah and the South China Sea have escalated.[190][191][192]
The economy performed well at 7.2% GDP growth, the second fastest in Asia.[193] Aquino signed the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, commonly known as K–12 program in May 15, 2013 aiming to enhance the educational system in the country.[194] On November 8, 2013, Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) struck and heavily devastated the country, especially in the Visayas.[195][196] On April 28, 2014, when United States President Barack Obama visited the Philippines, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, was signed.[197][198][199] From January 15 to 19, 2015, Pope Francis stayed in the Philippines for an apostolic and state visit and paid visits to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda).[200][201] On January 25, 2015, 44 members of the Philippine National Police–Special Action Force were killed after a clash took place inMamasapano, Maguindanao putting efforts to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law into law in an impasse.[202][203] On December 20, 2015, Pia Wurtzbach won the Miss Universe 2015, making her the third Filipino to win the Miss Universe title following Gloria Diaz in 1969 and Margarita Moran in 1973.[204] On January 12, 2016, the Philippine Supreme Court upheld the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement paving the way for the return of United States Armed Forces bases into the country.[205] On March 23, 2016, Diwata-1 was launched to the International Space Station (ISS), becoming the country’s first micro-satellite and the first satellite to be built and designed by Filipinos.[206]
Rodrigo Duterte takes his oath as he is sworn in as the 16th President of the Philippines
Former Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte of PDP–Laban won the 2016 presidential election becoming the first president from Mindanao.[207] On July 12, 2016, thePermanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines in its case against China’s claims in the South China Sea.[208] On August 1, 2016, the Duterte administration launched a 24-hour complaint office accessible to the public through a nationwide hotline, 8888, and changed the nationwide emergency telephone number from 117 to 911.[209][210] After winning the Presidency, Duterte launched an intensified anti-drug campaign to fulfill a campaign promise of wiping out criminality in six months.[211] By March 2017, the death toll for the Philippine Drug War passed 8,000 people, with 2,679 killed in legitimate police operations and the rest the government claims to be homicide cases.[212][213][214]
Politics
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Malacañang Palace is the official residence of the President of the Philippines.
The Philippines has a democratic government in the form of a constitutional republic with a presidential system.[215] It is governed as a unitary state with the exception of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which is largely free from the national government. There have been attempts to change the government to afederal, unicameral, or parliamentary government since the Ramos administration.[216][217]
The President functions as both head of state and head of government and is thecommander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president is elected by popular vote for a single six-year term, during which he or she appoints and presides over thecabinet.[218] The bicameral Congress is composed of the Senate, serving as theupper house, with members elected to a six-year term, and the House of Representatives, serving as the lower house, with members elected to a three-year term.[218]
Senators are elected at large while the representatives are elected from both legislative districts and through sectoral representation.[218] The judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court, composed of a Chief Justice as its presiding officer and fourteen associate justices, all of whom are appointed by the President from nominations submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council.[218]
Foreign relations
President Rodrigo Duterte meeting with Vladimir Putin during the APEC summit in Peru, 2016.
The Philippines’ international relations are based on trade with other nations and the well-being of the 10 million overseas Filipinos living outside the country.[219] As a founding and active member of the United Nations, the Philippines has been elected several times into the Security Council. Carlos P. Romulo was a former President of the United Nations General Assembly. The country is an active participant in theHuman Rights Council as well as in peacekeeping missions, particularly in East Timor.[220][221][222]
In addition to membership in the United Nations, the Philippines is also a founding and active member of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), an organization designed to strengthen relations and promote economic and cultural growth among states in the Southeast Asian region.[223] It has hosted severalsummits and is an active contributor to the direction and policies of the bloc.[224]
The Philippines values its relations with the United States.[219] It supported the United States during the Cold War and the War on Terror and is a major non-NATO ally. Despite this history of goodwill, controversies related to the presence of the now former U.S. military bases in Subic Bay and Clark and the current Visiting Forces Agreement have flared up from time to time.[219] Japan, the biggest contributor of official development assistance to the country,[225] is thought of as a friend. Although historical tensions still exist on issues such as the plight of comfort women, much of the animosity inspired by memories of World War II has faded.[226]
Relations with other nations are generally positive. Shared democratic values ease relations with Western and European countries while similar economic concerns help in relations with other developing countries. Historical ties and cultural similarities also serve as a bridge in relations with Spain.[227][228][229] Despite issues such as domestic abuse and war affecting overseas Filipino workers,[230][231] relations with Middle Eastern countries are friendly as seen in the continuous employment of more than two million overseas Filipinos living there.[232]
With communism no longer the threat it once was, once hostile relations in the 1950s between the Philippines and Chinahave improved greatly. Issues involving Taiwan, the Spratly Islands, and concerns of expanding Chinese influence, however, still encourage a degree of caution.[226] Recent foreign policy has been mostly about economic relations with its Southeast Asian and Asia-Pacific neighbors.[219]
The Philippines is an active member of the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), theLatin Union, the Group of 24, and the Non-Aligned Movement.[218] It is also seeking to strengthen relations with Islamic countries by campaigning for observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.[233][234]
On October 24, 2017, Russia’s Minister of Defence Sergey Shoygu and Philippines Secretary of Defense Delfin Lorenzanasigned the Russia-Philippines Agreement for Military-Technical Cooperation at the ASEAN Convention Center in Clark, Pampanga.[235] On October 25, 2017, Russia donated 5,000 AK-74M Kalashnikov assault rifles, 1 million units of ammunition and 5,000 units of steel helmets.[236] Russia’s Pacific Fleet also gave the Armed Forces of the Philippines 20 military trucks. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte personally oversaw the transition on the Russian destroyer Admiral Panteleyev which was docked in Manila.[237]
Military
Clockwise from top: Philippine Marine Corps, BRP Gregorio del Pilar (FF-15) of the Philippine Navy,Philippine Army AIFVs and FA-50 of the Philippine Air Force.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are responsible for national security and consist of three branches: the Philippine Air Force, the Philippine Army, and the Philippine Navy (includes theMarine Corps).[238][239][240] The Armed Forces of the Philippines are avolunteer force.[241] Civilian security is handled by the Philippine National Police under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).[242][243]
In the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the largest separatist organization, the Moro National Liberation Front, is now engaging the government politically. Other more militant groups like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the communist New People’s Army, and theAbu Sayyaf have previously kidnapped foreigners for ransom, particularly on the southern island of Mindanao.[245][246][247][248] Their presence has decreased in recent years due to successful security provided by the Philippine government.[249][250] At 1.1 percent of GDP, the Philippines spent less on its military forces than the regional average. As of 2014 Malaysia and Thailand were estimated to spend 1.5%, China 2.1%, Vietnam 2.2% and South Korea 2.6%.[251][252]
The Philippines has been an ally of the United States since World War II. A mutual defense treaty between the two countries was signed in 1951. The Philippines supported American policies during the Cold War and participated in theKorean and Vietnam wars. It was a member of the now dissolved SEATO, a group that was intended to serve a role similar to NATO and that included Australia, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[253] After the start of the War on Terror, the Philippines was part of the coalition that gave support to the United States in Iraq.[254]
Administrative divisions
The Philippines is divided into three island groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. These are further divided into 17regions, 81 provinces, 145 cities, 1,489 municipalities, and 42,036 barangays.[255] In addition, Section 2 of Republic Act No. 5446 asserts that the definition of the territorial sea around the Philippine archipelago does not affect the claim over the eastern part of Sabah.[256][257]
Administrative regions
Regions in the Philippines are administrative divisions that serve primarily to organize the provinces of the country for administrative convenience. The Philippines is divided into 17 regions (16 administrative and 1 autonomous). Most government offices are established by region instead of individual provincial offices, usually (but not always) in the city designated as the regional center. As of 2015, CALABARZON was the most populated region while the National Capitol Region (NCR) the most densely populated.
| Rank | Designation | Name | Area | Population (as of 2015) | % of Population | Population density |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Region IV | CALABARZON | 16,873.31 km2(6,514.82 sq mi) | 14,414,774 | 14.27% | 850/km2(2,200/sq mi) |
| 2nd | NCR | National Capital Region | 619.57 km2(239.22 sq mi) | 12,877,253 | 12.75% | 21,000/km2(54,000/sq mi) |
| 3rd | Region III | Central Luzon | 22,014.63 km2(8,499.90 sq mi) | 11,218,177 | 11.11% | 510/km2(1,300/sq mi) |
| 4th | Region VII | Central Visayas | 10,102.16 km2(3,900.47 sq mi) | 6,041,903 | 5.98% | 600/km2(1,600/sq mi) |
| 5th | Region V | Bicol Region | 18,155.82 km2(7,010.00 sq mi) | 5,796,989 | 5.74% | 320/km2(830/sq mi) |
| 6th | Region I | Ilocos Region | 16,873.31 km2(6,514.82 sq mi) | 5,026,128 | 4.98% | 300/km2(780/sq mi) |
| 7th | Region XI | Davao Region | 20,357.42 km2(7,860.04 sq mi) | 4,893,318 | 4.85% | 240/km2(620/sq mi) |
| 8th | Region X | Northern Mindanao | 20,496.02 km2(7,913.56 sq mi) | 4,689,302 | 4.64% | 230/km2(600/sq mi) |
| 9th | Region XII | SOCCSKSARGEN | 22,513.30 km2(8,692.43 sq mi) | 4,545,276 | 4.50% | 200/km2(520/sq mi) |
| 10th | Region VI | Western Visayas | 12,828.97 km2(4,953.29 sq mi) | 4,477,247 | 4.43% | 350/km2(910/sq mi) |
Geography
Topography of the Philippines
The Philippines is an archipelago composed of about 7,641 islands[259] with a total land area, including inland bodies of water, of 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi).[260] Its 36,289 kilometers (22,549 mi) of coastline makes it the country with the 5th longest coastline in the world.[218][261] It is located between 116° 40′, and 126° 34′ E longitude and 4° 40′ and 21° 10′ N latitude and is bordered by the Philippine Sea[262] to the east, the South China Sea[263] to the west, and the Celebes Sea[264] to the south. The island of Borneo[265] is located a few hundred kilometers southwest and Taiwan is located directly to the north. The Moluccas and Sulawesi are located to the south-southwest and Palau is located to the east of the islands.[218]
Most of the mountainous islands are covered in tropical rainforest and volcanic in origin. The highest mountain is Mount Apo. It measures up to 2,954 meters (9,692 ft) above sea level and is located on the island of Mindanao.[266][267] The Galathea Depth in the Philippine Trench is the deepest point in the country and the third deepest in the world. The trench is located in the Philippine Sea.[268]
The longest river is the Cagayan River in northern Luzon.[269] Manila Bay, upon the shore of which the capital city of Manila lies, is connected to Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the Philippines, by the Pasig River. Subic Bay, the Davao Gulf, and the Moro Gulf are other important bays. The San Juanico Strait separates the islands of Samar and Leyte but it is traversed by the San Juanico Bridge.[270]
Situated on the western fringes of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity. The Benham Plateau to the east in the Philippine Sea is an undersea region active in tectonic subduction.[271]Around 20 earthquakes are registered daily, though most are too weak to be felt. The last major earthquake was the 1990 Luzon earthquake.[272]
Mayon is the Philippines’ most active volcano.
There are many active volcanoes such as the Mayon Volcano, Mount Pinatubo, andTaal Volcano. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991 produced the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century.[273] Not all notable geographic features are so violent or destructive. A more serene legacy of the geological disturbances is the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, the area represents a habitat for biodiversity conservation, the site also contains a full mountain-to-the-sea ecosystem and has some of the most important forests in Asia.[274]
Due to the volcanic nature of the islands, mineral deposits are abundant. The country is estimated to have the second-largest gold deposits after South Africa and one of the largest copper deposits in the world.[275] It is also rich in nickel, chromite, and zinc. Despite this, poor management, high population density, and environmental consciousness have resulted in these mineral resources remaining largely untapped.[275] Geothermal energy is a product of volcanic activity that the Philippines has harnessed more successfully. The Philippines is the world’s second-biggest geothermal producer behind the United States, with 18% of the country’s electricity needs being met by geothermal power.[276]
Biodiversity
Philippine tarsier (Tarsius syrichta), one of the smallest primates.
The Philippines’ rainforests and its extensive coastlines make it home to a diverse range of birds, plants, animals, and sea creatures.[277] It is one of the ten most biologically megadiverse countries.[278][279][280] Around 1,100 land vertebrate species can be found in the Philippines including over 100 mammal species and 170 bird species not thought to exist elsewhere.[281] The Philippines has among the highest rates of discovery in the world with sixteen new species of mammalsdiscovered in the last ten years. Because of this, the rate of endemism for the Philippines has risen and likely will continue to rise.[282] Native mammals include thepalm civet cat, the dugong, the cloud rat and the Philippine tarsier associated withBohol.
Although the Philippines lacks large mammalian predators, it does have some very large reptiles such as pythons andcobras, together with gigantic saltwater crocodiles. The largest crocodile in captivity, known locally as Lolong, was captured in the southern island of Mindanao.[283][284] The national bird, known as the Philippine eagle has the longest body of anyeagle, it generally measures 86 to 102 cm (2.82 to 3.35 ft) in length and weighs 4.7 to 8.0 kg (10.4 to 17.6 lb).[285][286] The Philippine eagle is part of the Accipitridae family and is endemic to the rainforests of Luzon, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao.
_in_Miagao.jpg)
Rafflesia speciosa is endemic to the island of Panay.
Philippine maritime waters encompass as much as 2,200,000 square kilometers (849,425 sq mi) producing unique and diverse marine life, an important part of theCoral Triangle.[256] The total number of corals and marine fish species was estimated at 500 and 2,400 respectively.[277][281] New records[287][288] and species discoveries[289][290][291] continuously increase these numbers underlining the uniqueness of the marine resources in the Philippines. The Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea was declared a World Heritage Site in 1993. Philippine waters also sustain the cultivation of pearls, crabs, and seaweeds.[277][292]
With an estimated 13,500 plant species in the country, 3,200 of which are unique to the islands,[281] Philippine rainforests boast an array of flora, including many rare types oforchids and rafflesia.[293][294] Deforestation, often the result of illegal logging, is an acute problem in the Philippines. Forest cover declined from 70% of the Philippines’s total land area in 1900 to about 18.3% in 1999.[295] Many species are endangered and scientists say that Southeast Asia, which the Philippines is part of, faces a catastrophic extinction rate of 20% by the end of the 21st century.[296] According to Conservation International, “the country is one of the few nations that is, in its entirety, both a hotspot and a megadiversity country, placing it among the top priority hotspots for global conservation.”[293]
Climate
The Philippines has a tropical maritime climate that is usually hot and humid. There are three seasons: tag-init or tag-araw, the hot dry season or summer from March to May; tag-ulan, the rainy season from June to November; and tag-lamig, the cool dry season from December to February. The southwest monsoon (from May to October) is known as the Habagat, and the dry winds of the northeast monsoon (from November to April), the Amihan.[297] Temperatures usually range from 21 °C (70 °F) to 32 °C (90 °F) although it can get cooler or hotter depending on the season. The coolest month is January; the warmest is May.[218][298]
The average yearly temperature is around 26.6 °C (79.9 °F).[297] In considering temperature, location in terms of latitude and longitude is not a significant factor. Whether in the extreme north, south, east, or west of the country, temperatures at sea level tend to be in the same range. Altitude usually has more of an impact. The average annual temperature of Baguioat an elevation of 1,500 meters (4,900 ft) above sea level is 18.3 °C (64.9 °F), making it a popular destination during hot summers.[297]
Sitting astride the typhoon belt, most of the islands experience annual torrential rains and thunderstorms from July to October,[299] with around nineteen typhoons entering the Philippine area of responsibility in a typical year and eight or nine making landfall.[300][301][302] Annual rainfall measures as much as 5,000 millimeters (200 in) in the mountainous east coast section but less than 1,000 millimeters (39 in) in some of the sheltered valleys.[299] The wettest known tropical cyclone to impact the archipelago was the July 1911 cyclone, which dropped over 1,168 millimeters (46.0 in) of rainfall within a 24-hour period in Baguio.[303] Bagyo is the local term for a tropical cyclone in the Philippines.[303]
Economy
A proportional representation of the Philippines’ exports, 2012.
The Philippine economy is the 34th largest in the world, with an estimated 2017 gross domestic product (nominal) of $348.593 billion.[7]Primary exports include semiconductors and electronic products, transport equipment, garments, copper products, petroleum products,coconut oil, and fruits.[5] Major trading partners include the United States, Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Germany, Taiwan, and Thailand.[5] Its unit of currency is thePhilippine peso (₱ or PHP).[304]
Filipinos planting rice. Agriculture employs 30% of the Filipino workforceas of 2014.[305]
A newly industrialized country, the Philippine economy has been transitioning from one based upon agriculture to an economy with more emphasis upon services and manufacturing. Of the country’s total labor force of around 40.813 Million,[5] the agricultural sector employs 30% of the labor force, and accounts for 14% of GDP. The industrial sector employs around 14% of the workforce and accounts for 30% of GDP. Meanwhile, the 47% of workers involved in the services sector are responsible for 56% of GDP.[306][307]
The unemployment rate as of 14 December 2014, stands at 6.0%.[308][309]Meanwhile, due to lower charges in basic necessities, the inflation rate eases to 3.7% in November.[310] Gross international reserves as of October 2013 are $83.201 billion.[311] The Debt-to-GDP ratio continues to decline to 38.1% as of March 2014[312][313] from a record high of 78% in 2004.[314] The country is a net importer[307] but it is also a creditor nation.[315]
After World War II, the Philippines was for a time regarded as the second wealthiest in East Asia, next only to Japan.[219][316][317] In the 1960s its economic performance started being overtaken. The economy stagnated under the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos as the regime spawned economic mismanagement and political volatility.[219][317] The country suffered from slow economic growth and bouts of economic recession. Only in the 1990s with a program of economic liberalization did the economy begin to recover.[219][317]
The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis affected the economy, resulting in a lingering decline of the value of the peso and falls in the stock market. The extent it was affected initially was not as severe as that of some of its Asian neighbors. This was largely due to the fiscal conservatism of the government, partly as a result of decades of monitoring and fiscal supervision from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in comparison to the massive spending of its neighbors on the rapid acceleration of economic growth.[169] There have been signs of progress since. In 2004, the economy experienced 6.4% GDP growth and 7.1% in 2007, its fastest pace of growth in three decades.[318][319] Average annual GDP growth per capita for the period 1966–2007 still stands at 1.45% in comparison to an average of 5.96% for the East Asia and the Pacific region as a whole. The daily income for 45% of the population of the Philippines remains less than $2.[320][321][322]
The economy is heavily reliant upon remittances from overseas Filipinos, which surpass foreign direct investment as a source of foreign currency. Remittances peaked in 2010 at 10.4% of the national GDP, and were 8.6% in 2012 and in 2014, Philippines total worth of foreign exchange remittances was US$28 billion.[323][324] Regional development is uneven, with Luzon – Metro Manila in particular – gaining most of the new economic growth at the expense of the other regions,[325][326]although the government has taken steps to distribute economic growth by promoting investment in other areas of the country. Despite constraints, service industries such as tourism and business process outsourcing have been identified as areas with some of the best opportunities for growth for the country.[307][327]
Goldman Sachs includes the country in its list of the “Next Eleven” economies[328][329] but China and India have emerged as major economic competitors.[330] Goldman Sachs estimates that by the year 2050, it will be the 20th largest economy in the world.[331] HSBC also projects the Philippine economy to become the 16th largest economy in the world, 5th largest economy in Asia and the largest economy in the South East Asian region by 2050.[332][333][334] The Philippines is a member of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Asian Development Bankwhich is headquartered in Mandaluyong, the Colombo Plan, the G-77 and the G-24 among other groups and institutions.[5]
Transportation
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A section of the Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway.
The transportation infrastructure in the Philippines is relatively underdeveloped. This is partly due to the mountainous terrain and the scattered geography of the islands, but also the result of consistently low investment in infrastructure by successive governments. In 2013, about 3% of national GDP went towards infrastructure development – much lower than many of its neighbors.[335][336] There are 216,387 kilometers (134,457 mi) of roads in the Philippines, with only 61,093 kilometers (37,961 mi) of roads paved.[337]
Buses, jeepneys, taxis, and motorized tricycles are commonly available in major cities and towns. In 2007, there were about 5.53 million registered motor vehicles with registrations increasing at an average annual rate of 4.55%.[338]
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines manages airports and implementation of policies regarding safe air travel[339][340] with 85 public airports operational as of 2014.[341] Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) serves theGreater Manila Area together with Clark International Airport. Philippine Airlines, Asia’s oldest commercial airline still operating under its original name, and Cebu Pacific, the leading low-cost airline, are the major airlines serving most domestic and international destinations.[342][343][344]
Expressways and highways are mostly located on the island of Luzon including the Pan-Philippine Highway, connecting the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao,[345][346] the North Luzon Expressway, South Luzon Expressway, and theSubic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway.[347][348][349][350][351][352]
A LRT-2 train at Santolan LRT Station.
Rail transport in the Philippines only plays a role in transporting passengers within Metro Manila. The region is served by three rapid transit lines: LRT-1, and LRT-2and MRT-3.[353][354][355] In the past, railways served major parts of Luzon, and railroad services were available on the islands of Cebu and Negros. Railways were also used for agricultural purposes, especially in tobacco and sugar cane production. Rail freight transportation was almost non-existent as of 2014. A few transportation systems are under development: DOST-MIRDC and UP are implementing pre-feasibility studies on Automated Guideway Transit.[356][357][358] A so-called Hybrid Electric Road Train which is a long bi-articulated bus, was also being tested as of 2015.[359][360][361]
As an archipelago, inter-island travel using watercraft is often necessary.[362] The busiest seaports are Manila, Batangas, Subic, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga.[363] 2GO Travel andSulpicio Lines serve Manila, with links to various cities and towns through passenger vessels. The 919-kilometer (571 mi)Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH), an integrated set of highway segments and ferry routes covering 17 cities was established in 2003.[364] The Pasig River Ferry Service serves the major rivers in Metro Manila, including the Pasig Riverand Marikina River having numerous stops in Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig and Marikina.[365][366]
Science and technology
An IRRI researcher studying rice DNA underultraviolet light.
The Philippines has pursued efforts to improve the field of science and technology. TheDepartment of Science and Technology is the governing agency responsible for the development of coordination of science- and technology-related projects in the Philippines.[367]The National Scientist of the Philippines award is given to individuals that have contributed to different field of science in the country. Notable Filipino scientists include Maria Orosa, a food technologist famous for her formulated food products like calamansi nip, soyalac and thebanana ketchup,[368]
Fe del Mundo, a pediatrician whose pioneering work in pediatrics as an active medical practice spanned 8 decades,[369] Paulo Campos, a physician who was dubbed as “The Father of Nuclear Medicine in the Philippines” for his contributions in the field of nuclear medicine,[370]Ramon Barba, an inventor and horticulturist known for his method to induce more flowers in mango trees.[371]
Research organizations include the International Rice Research Institute, an international independent research and training organization established in 1960 with headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna,[372][373] focusing on the development of new rice varieties and rice crop management techniques to help farmers in the country improve their lives.[374] The Philippines bought its first satellite in 1996.[375] In 2016, the Philippines first micro-satellite, Diwata-1 was launched aboard the US Cygnus spacecraft.[376]
Communications
The Philippines has a sophisticated cellular phone industry and a high concentration of users. Text messaging is a popular form of communication and, in 2007, the nation sent an average of one billion SMS messages per day. Over five million mobile phone users also use their phones as virtual wallets, making it a leader among developing nations in providing financial transactions over cellular networks.[377][378][379] The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company commonly known as PLDT is the leading telecommunications provider. It is also the largest company in the country.[377][380]
The National Telecommunications Commission is the agency responsible for the supervision, adjudication and control over all telecommunications services throughout the country.[381] There are approximately 383 AM and 659 FM radio stations and 297 television and 873 cable television stations.[382] On March 29, 1994, the country went live on the Internet via a 64 kbit/s connection from a router serviced by PLDT to a Sprint router in California.[383] Estimates for Internet penetration in the Philippines vary widely ranging from a low of 2.5 million to a high of 24 million people.[384][385] Social networking and watching videos are among the most frequent Internet activities.[386]
Tourism
Limestone cliffs of El Nido, Palawan.
The travel and tourism sector is a major contributor to the economy, contributing 7.1% to the Philippine GDP in 2013 [387] and providing 1,226,500 jobs or 3.2 percent of total employment.[388] 2,433,428 international visitors arrived from January to June 2014 up by 2.22% in the same period in 2013. South Korea, China, and Japan accounted for 58.78% while the Americas accounted for 19.28% and Europe 10.64%.[389] The Department of Tourism has responsibility for the management and promotion of the tourism sector.
The country’s rich biodiversity is one of the main tourist attractions with its beaches, mountains, rainforests, islands and diving spots among the most popular tourist destinations. As an archipelago consisting of about 7,500 islands, the Philippines has numerous beaches, caves and other rock formations. Boracay has glaring white sand beaches and was named as the best island in the world by Travel + Leisure in 2012.[390] The Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao, the historic town of Vigan in Ilocos Sur, the Chocolate Hills in Bohol, Magellan’s Cross in Cebu and the Tubbataha Reef in Visayas are other highlights.
The Philippines is also one of the favorite retirement destinations for foreigners due to its warm climate all year round, beaches and low cost of living.[391]
Water supply and sanitation
Ambuklao Dam in Bokod, Benguet.
Among the achievements of the government in the Philippines are a high access to an improved water source of 92% in 2010; the creation of financially sustainable water service providers (“Water Districts”) in small and medium towns with the continuous long-term support of a national agency (the “Local Water Utilities Administration” LWUA); and the improvement of access, service quality and efficiency in Manila through two high-profle water concessions awarded in 1997.[392]
The challenges include limited access to sanitation services, high pollution of water resources, often poor drinking water quality and poor service quality, a fragmentation of executive functions at the national level among numerous agencies, and a fragmentation of service provision at the local level into many small service providers.[392]
In 2015 it was reported by the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation by WHO and UNICEF that 74% of the population had access to improved sanitation and that “good progress” had been made.[393] The access to improved sanitation was reported to be similar for the urban and rural population.[393]
Demographics
Population density per province as of 2009 per square kilometer.
The population of the Philippines increased from 1990 to 2008 by approximately 28 million, a 45% growth in that time frame.[394] The firstofficial census in the Philippines was carried out in 1877 and recorded a population of 5,567,685.[395]
It is estimated that half of the population resides on the island of Luzon. The 3.21% population growth rate between 1995 and 2000 decreased to an estimated 1.95% for the 2005–2010 period, but remains acontentious issue.[396][397] The population’s median age is 22.7 years with 60.9% aged from 15 to 64 years old.[5] Life expectancy at birth is 71.94 years, 75.03 years for females and 68.99 years for males.[398]Poverty Incidence significantly dropped to 21.6% in 2015 from 25.2% in 2012.[399]
Since the liberalization of United States immigration laws in 1965, the number of people in the United States having Filipino ancestry has grown substantially. In 2007 there were an estimated[400][401] 12 millionFilipinos living overseas.[402]
According to the official count the population of the Philippines hit 100 million at the time of midnight on July 27, 2014, making it the 12th country to reach this number.[403]
Cities
Metro Manila is the most populous of the 3 defined metropolitan areas in the Philippines and the 11th most populous in the world. as of 2007, census data showed it had a population of 11,553,427, comprising 13% of the national population.[404] Including suburbs in the adjacent provinces (Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, andRizal) of Greater Manila, the population is around 21 million.[404][405]
Metro Manila’s gross regional product was estimated as of 2009 to be ₱468.4 billion (at constant 1985 prices) and accounts for 33% of the nation’s GDP.[406] In 2011 Manila ranked as the 28th wealthiest urban agglomeration in the world and the 2nd in Southeast Asia.[407]
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Ethnic groups
Dominant ethnic groups by province.
According to the 2000 census, 28.1% of Filipinos are Tagalog, 13.1% Cebuano, 9% Ilocano, 7.6% Visayans/Bisaya (excluding Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Waray), 7.5% Hiligaynon, 6% Bikol, 3.4% Waray, and 25.3% as “others”,[5][408] which can be broken down further to yield more distinct non-tribal groups like the Moro, theKapampangan, the Pangasinense, the Ibanag, and theIvatan.[409] There are also indigenous peoples like theIgorot, the Lumad, the Mangyan, the Bajau, and the tribes of Palawan.[410]
Filipinos generally belong to several Asian ethnic groups classified linguistically as part of the Austronesian orMalayo-Polynesian speaking people.[410] It is believed that thousands of years ago Austronesian-speaking Taiwanese aborigines migrated to the Philippines from Taiwan, bringing with them knowledge of agriculture and ocean-sailing, eventually displacing the earlier Negrito groups of the islands.[411] Negritos, such as the Aeta and the Ati, are considered among the earliest inhabitants of the islands.[412]
Being at the crossroads of the West and East, the Philippines is also home to migrants from places as diverse as China, Spain, Mexico, United States, India, South Korea, and Japan. Two important non-indigenous minorities are theChinese and the Spaniards.
The Chinese, mostly descendants of immigrants fromFujian, China after 1898, number 2 million, although there are an estimated 27 percent of Filipinos who have partial Chinese ancestry,[413][414][415] stemming from precolonial and colonial Chinese migrants.[416] Intermarriage between the groups is evident in the major cities and urban areas.[417]
At least one-third of the population of Luzon, as well as old settlements in the Visayas and Zamboanga City at Mindanao (around 13.33% of the Philippine population), have partial Hispanic ancestry (from varying points of origin and ranging fromLatin America[418] to Spain).[419] Recent genetic studies confirm this partial European[420][421] and Latin-American ancestry.[422]
Other important non-indigenous minorities include Indians, Britons, and Japanese people. The descendants of mixed-race couples are known as mestizos.[423][424]
Languages
| Language | Speakers | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tagalog | 24.44 % | 22,512,089 | |
| Cebuano | 21.35 % | 19,665,453 | |
| Ilokano | 8.77 % | 8,074,536 | |
| Hiligaynon | 8.44 % | 7,773,655 | |
| Waray | 3.97 % | 3,660,645 | |
| Other local languages/dialects | 26.09 % | 24,027,005 | |
| Other foreign languages/dialects | 0.09 % | 78,862 | |
| Not reported/not stated | 0.01 % | 6,450 | |
| TOTAL | 92,097,978 | ||
| Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[3] | |||
Ethnologue lists 186 individual languages in the Philippines, 182 of which are living languages, while 4 no longer have any known speakers. Most native languages are part of thePhilippine branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, which is itself a branch of the Austronesian language family.[410] The only language not classified as an Austronesian language isChavacano which is a creole language of Mexican-Spanishand is classified as a Romance language.[425]
Filipino and English are the official languages of the country.[12] Filipino is a standardized version of Tagalog, spoken mainly in Metro Manila and other urban regions. Both Filipino and English are used in government, education, print, broadcast media, and business. In most towns, the local indigenous language is spoken. The Philippine constitution provides for the promotion of Spanish and Arabic on a voluntary and optional basis, although neither are used on as wide a scale as in the past.[12] Spanish, which was widely used as a lingua franca in the late nineteenth century, has since declined greatly in use, but is experiencing revival due to government promotions, while Arabic is mainly used in Islamic schools in Mindanao.[426] However, Spanish loanwords are still present today in many of the indigenous Philippine languages.[427]
Nineteen regional languages act as auxiliary official languages used as mediums of instruction: Aklanon, Bikol, Cebuano,Chavacano, Hiligaynon, Ibanag, Ilocano, Ivatan, Kapampangan, Kinaray-a, Maguindanao, Maranao, Pangasinan, Sambal,Surigaonon, Tagalog, Tausug, Waray, and Yakan.[2] Other indigenous languages such as, Cuyonon, Ifugao, Itbayat,Kalinga, Kamayo, Kankanaey, Masbateño, Romblomanon, Malay, and several Visayan languages are prevalent in their respective provinces.[428]
Languages not indigenous to the islands are also taught in select schools. Mandarin is used in Chinese schools catering to the Chinese Filipino community. Islamic schools in Mindanao teach Modern Standard Arabic in their curriculum.[429] French,German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish are taught with the help of foreign linguistic institutions.[430] The Department of Education began teaching the Malay languages of Indonesian and Malaysian in 2013.[431]
Religion
The Taal Basilica in Batangas is the largest Catholic church in Asia.
The Philippines is an officially secular state, although Christianity is the dominant faith.[432] Census data from 2010 found that about 80.58% of the population professed Catholicism.[4] Around 37% regularly attend Mass and 29% identify as very religious.[433][434] Protestants are 10.8%[435][436] of the total population, mostly endorsing Evangelical Protestant denominations that were introduced by American missionaries at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, they are heavily concentrated in Northern Luzon and Southern Mindanao.[437][438] The Philippine Independent Church is a notable independent Catholic denomination.[439][440][441]Iglesia ni Cristo is a notable Unitarian and Restorationist denomination in the country.[442][443]
Islam is the second largest religion. The Muslim population of the Philippines was reported as 5.57% of the total population according to census returns in 2010,[4] although a 2012 report by the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos estimates it at 11%.[444] The majority of Muslims live in the Bangsamoro region.[445][446][447][448] Most practice Sunni Islam under the Shafi’i school.[449][450]
An unknown number of Filipinos are irreligious, but they may form as much as 10% of the population.[451][452] Catholicism’s historic dominance is steadily declining, with about 9% of adherents considering leaving their church.[453]
An estimated 2% of the total population practice Philippine traditional religions, whose practices and folk beliefs are often syncretized with Christianity and Islam.[443][454] Buddhism is practiced by around 2% of the population, and is concentrated among Filipinos of Chinese descent.[443][449][454] The remaining population is divided between a number of religious groups, including Hindus, Jews, and Baha’is.[455]
Health
The façade of the Bonifacio Global City branch of St. Luke’s Medical Center
There are an increasing number of private health providers and, as of 2009, 67.1% of healthcare came from private expenditures while 32.9% was from government. In 2013, total expenditures on the health sector was 3.8% of GDP, below the WHOtarget of 5%.[456] Health expenditure represented about 6.1% of total government spending. Per capita total expenditure at average exchange rate was USD52.[457]The budget allocation for Healthcare in 2010 was ₱28 billion (about USD597 million) or ₱310 ($7) per person[458] but had an increase in budget in 2014 with a record high in the collection of taxes from the House Bill 5727 (commonly known as Sin taxBill).[459]
There are an estimated 90,370 physicians or 1 per every 833 people, 480,910 nurses, 43,220 dentists, and 1 hospital bed per every 769 people.[457] Retention of skilled practitioners is a problem. 70% of nursing graduates go overseas to work. The Philippines is the biggest supplier of nurses for export.[460]
In 2001 there were about 1,700 hospitals, of which about 40% were government-run and 60% private. Cardiovascular diseases account for more than 25% of all deaths. According to official estimates, 1,965 cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were reported in 2003, of which 636 had developed acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Despite the increase of HIV/AIDS cases from 12,000 in 2005[461] to 17,450 as of April 2014 with 5,965 people who were under anti-retroviral therapy,[462] the country is still a low-HIV-prevalence country with less than 0.1% of the adult population estimated to be HIV-positive.[463]
Education
The University of Santo Tomas, established in 1611, has the oldestextant university charter in Asia.
The Philippines has a simple literacy rate of 95.6%, with 95.1% for males and 96.1% for females. The Philippines had a functional literacy rate of 86.45%, with 84.2% for males and 88.7% for females in 2008.[464][465] Spending on education accounted for 16.11% in the national budget proposed for 2015.[466][467]
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) lists 2,180 higher education institutions, 607 of which are public and 1,573 private.[468] Classes start in June and end in March. The majority of colleges and universities follow a semester calendar from June to October and November to March. There are a number of foreign schools with study programs.[218] A 6-year elementary and 4-year high school education is mandatory[469] with an additional two years being added in 2013.[470][471]
Several government agencies are involved with education. The Department of Education covers elementary, secondary, and non-formal education. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) administers post-secondary, middle-level education training and development. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) supervises college and graduate academic programs and degrees as well as regulates standards in higher education.[472]
In 2004, madaris were mainstreamed in 16 regions nationwide, mainly in Muslim areas in Mindanao under the auspices and program of the Department of Education.[473] Public universities are all non-sectarian entities, and are further classified as State Universities and Colleges (SUC) or Local Colleges and Universities (LCU).[468] The University of the Philippines, a system of eight (8) constituent universities, is the national university system of the Philippines.[474]
Culture
A participant of the Ati-Atihan Festival.
Philippine culture is a combination of Eastern and Western cultures. The Philippines exhibits aspects found in other Asian countries with a Malay[475] heritage, yet its culture also displays a significant number of Spanish and American influences. Traditional festivities known as barrio fiestas (district festivals) to commemorate the feast days of patron saints are common, these community celebrations are times for feasting, music, and dancing. The Ati-Atihan, Moriones and Sinulog festivals are a couple of the most well-known.
Some traditions, however, are changing or gradually being forgotten due to modernization. The Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company has been lauded for preserving many of the various traditional folk dances found throughout the Philippines. They are famed for their iconic performances of Philippine dances such as the tinikling and singkil that both feature clashing bamboo poles.[476]
One of the most visible Hispanic legacies is the prevalence of Spanish names and surnames among Filipinos; a Spanish name and surname, however, does not necessarily denote Spanish ancestry. This peculiarity, unique among the people of Asia, came as a result of a colonial edict by Governor-General Narciso Clavería y Zaldua, which ordered the systematic distribution of family names and implementation of Hispanic nomenclature on the population.[477] The names of many streets, towns, and provinces are also in Spanish.
The common use of the English language is an example of the American impact on Philippine society. It has contributed to the ready acceptance and influence of American pop cultural trends. This affinity is seen in Filipinos’ love of fast food and American film and music. Fast food outlets are found on many street corners. American global fast food chain stalwarts have entered the market, but local fast food chains like Goldilocks and most notably Jollibee, the leading fast food chain in the country, have emerged and compete successfully against their foreign rivals.[478][479]
Architecture
Colonial houses in Vigan.
Spanish architecture has left an imprint in the Philippines in the way many towns were designed around a central square or plaza mayor, but many of the buildings bearing its influence were demolished during World War II.[58] Some examples remain, mainly among the country’s churches, government buildings, and universities. Four Philippine baroque churches are included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the San Agustín Church in Manila, Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte, Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Santa María) Church in Ilocos Sur, andSanto Tomás de Villanueva Church in Iloilo.[480] Vigan in Ilocos Sur is also known for the many Hispanic-style houses and buildings preserved there.[481]
The American occupation in 1898 introduced a new breed of architectural structures in the Philippines. This led to the construction of government buildings and Art Deco theaters. During the American period, some semblance of city planning using the architectural designs and master plans by Daniel Burnham was done on the portions of the city of Manila. Part of the Burnham’s plan was the construction of government buildings that resembledGreek or Neoclassical architecture.[482] In Iloilo, a lot of the colonial edifices constructed during the American occupation in the country can still be seen. Commercial buildings, houses and churches in that era are abundant in the city and especially in Calle Real.[483]
However, certain areas of the country like Batanes have slight differences as both Spanish and Filipino ways of architecture assimilated differently due to the climate. Limestones and coral were used as building materials.[484] Idjangs or Ivatancastles were the primary shelter of the people prior to the Spanish conquest of the whole Philippines.[485]
Music
Percussion instruments that make up the Philippine kulintang ensemble, an example of pre-Hispanic musical tradition
Philippine music has evolved rapidly due to the different influences stemming from colonialism under other countries. Before the Spanish conquest of the islands, most music was reminiscent of, or heavily influenced by, nature. Some examples of this tribal music is Koyu No Tebulul of the T’boli and Ambo Hato of the Ifugao. This genre is often accompanied by gong music and one well known instrument is theKulintang.
During the Spanish era Rondalya music, where traditional string orchestra mandolintype instruments were used, was widespread. In the Philippines, Rondalya refers to any group of stringed instruments that are played using a plectrum or pick. Filipino instruments are made from indigenous Philippine wood; plectrums, or picks, are made from tortoise-shell. Other stringed instruments composing the standard Filipino rondalla are the 14-string bandurria found only in the Philippines, the laúd, the octavina, the Twelve-string guitar, the Ukulele, the bajo de uñas or double bass, the Guitarrón mexicano, and other Filipino-made instruments modeled and developed after the guitar. Harana and Kundiman are prevalent during this time wherein these songs are often used in courtship rituals.[486]
Marcelo Adonay (organist), Simplicio Solis (organist), Diego C. Perez (pianist), Jose Conseco (pianist) and Doña Dolores Paterno (composer) were some of the recognized musicians in this era. Nowadays, American pop culture has a heavy hold on the Filipinos that evolved from the Spanish times when the American occupation happened. Along with Korean pop, these two are dominating the recent music scene in media.[487][488] However, the revival of Spanish-influence folk music has been possible thanks to the different choir groups coming in and going out of the country, such as the Philippine Madrigal Singers.[489]
Dance
Tinikling dancers.
Just like the evolution of Philippine music, dance as well has been in constant change. Prior to colonial rule, the Philippines has a wide array of ethnic dances from different tribal groups. This is due mainly to the fact that Philippines is an archipelago thus the different varieties of dance developed. Both Luzon and Visayas, at first, were more akin to tribal movements until the Spanish came. Mindanao represents more of an array of Muslim inspired dances and Spanish influence was minimal in the region of Zamboanga.
Universal dances in the Philippines are found at societal functions such as rituals, mimicry, life cycle and parties. During the Spanish era, most dances are accompanied by Rondalya music usually with 14-string bandurrias that the Filipinos invented or by other type of stringed instruments that locally evolved in to the culture as well.
One famous dance that is well known is called the Tinikling, where a band of Rondalya musicians play along with the percussive beat of the two bamboo poles. It usually starts with men and women acting a scene about “How rural townsfolk mingle”. The dancers then graze thru the clashing of the bamboo poles held on opposite sides. The end displays the paired bamboo poles crossing each other. The Muslim version of this where bamboo poles are also used is called the Singkil.[490] Nowadays, in the Modern and Post-Modern time periods, dances vary from the delicate ballet up to the more street-oriented styles of breakdancing to name a few.[491]
Visual art
The Spoliarium (1884) by Juan Luna.
Pottery and weaving are among the very first art forms showcasing Filipino artistic design and are evident from cave dwellings all over the country. Among these are mostly anthropomorphic earthenware jars dating from c. 5 BC to 225 AD. Weaving was mostly done by women, using fibers from abaca, pineapple, cotton, and bark to make clothes, rugs and hats. Baskets were mostly utilized to carry grain and other foods.[492][493]
Early Philippine sculpture is characterized by frontal nudity. One of the earliest forms are the bulols by the Ifugao people which serve as an assurance for bountiful harvests. The original function of these sculptures are related to the ceremonies and beliefs of the tribes who created them. Arab and Russian missionaries also brought beveled type of carvings in the form of Okkil. The beginnings of this sculpture type started with the Islamization of Sulu. The Spanish colonization of the country did not hinder Filipinos creating sculptures for objects of adoration. During this time, sculptures of deities and saints were used to teach Filipinos Christian doctrines. During the American colonialism, worshippers of faith were not discouraged to sculpt in order to adorn churches. Filipinos’ first exposure to painting happened when Spain conquered the Philippines and these were used as religious propaganda often displayed in churches. However, as education progressed and wealth increased, more and more artists started to shift from the traditional religious motifs to a more secular pattern of imagery.[494]
Paintings of early modernist painters such as Damián Domingo often still had a religious association but the art of Juan Luna and Félix Hidalgo showed a trend towards political statement. The first Philippine national artist Fernando Amorsoloused post-modernism to produce paintings that illustrated aspects of Philippine culture, while other artists such asFernando Zóbel used both realistic and abstract techniques.
In the modern period, the integration of architecture in the Art Deco style happened. Many of these examples can be seen in statues all over the country especially in public parks and spaces.[495]
Values
As a general description, the distinct value system of Filipinos is rooted primarily in personal alliance systems, especially those based in kinship, obligation, friendship, religion (particularly Christianity), and commercial relationships.[496]
Filipino values are, for the most part, centered around maintaining social harmony, motivated primarily by the desire to be accepted within a group.[497] The main sanction against diverging from these values are the concepts of “Hiya“, roughly translated as ‘a sense of shame’, and “Amor propio” or ‘self-esteem’.[497] Social approval, acceptance by a group, and belonging to a group are major concerns. Caring about what others will think, say or do, are strong influences on social behavior among Filipinos.[498]
Other elements of the Filipino value system are optimism about the future, pessimism about present situations and events, concern and care for other people, the existence of friendship and friendliness, the habit of being hospitable, religious nature, respectfulness to self and others, respect for the female members of society, the fear of God, and abhorrence of acts of cheating and thievery.[499]
Cuisine
Filipino cuisine has evolved over several centuries from its Malayo-Polynesian origins to become a mixed cuisine with many Hispanic,Chinese, American, and other Asian influences that have been adapted to local ingredients and the Filipino palate to create distinctively Filipino dishes. Dishes range from the very simple, like a meal of fried salted fish and rice, to the elaborate, such as the paellasand cocidos created for fiestas.[479][500]
Popular dishes include lechón, adobo, sinigang, kare-kare, tapa,crispy pata, pancit, lumpia, and halo-halo. Some common local ingredients used in cooking are calamansi, coconuts, saba (a kind of short wide plantain), mangoes, ube, milkfish, and fish sauce. Filipino taste buds tend to favor robust flavors, but the cuisine is not as spicy as those of its neighbors.[479][500]
Unlike many of their Asian counterparts, Filipinos do not eat with chopsticks; they use Western cutlery. However, possibly due to rice being the primary staple food and the popularity of a large number of stews and main dishes with broth in Filipino cuisine, the main pairing of utensils seen at the Filipino dining table is that of spoon and fork, not knife and fork.[501]
The traditional way of eating with the hands known as kamayan (using the washed right hand for bringing food to the mouth)[502] was previously more often seen in the less urbanized areas.[503] However, due to the various Filipino restaurants that introduced Filipino food to people of other nationalities as well as to Filipino urbanites, kamayan fast became popular. This recent trend also sometimes incorporates the “Boodle Fight” concept (as popularized and coined by the Philippine Army), wherein banana leaves are used as giant plates on top of which rice portions and Filipino viands are placed all together for a filial, friendly and/or communal kamayan feasting.[504]
Literature
José Rizal is a pioneer ofPhilippine Revolution through his literary works.
Philippine mythology has been handed down primarily through the traditional oral folk literature of the Filipino people. While each unique ethnic group has its own stories and myths to tell, Hindu and Spanish influences can nonetheless be detected in many cases. Philippine mythology mostly consists of creation stories or stories about supernatural creatures, such as the aswang, the manananggal, the diwata/engkanto, and nature. Some popular figures from Philippine mythologies are Maria Makiling, Lam-Ang, and theSarimanok.[505]
Philippine literature comprises works usually written in Filipino, Spanish, or English. Some of the most known were created from the 17th to 19th century. Adarna, for example, is a famous epic about an eponymous magical bird allegedly written by José de la Cruz or “Huseng Sisiw”.[506] Francisco Balagtas, the poet and playwright who wrote Florante at Laura, is recognized as a preeminent writer in the Filipino language. José Rizal wrote the novels Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (The Filibustering, also known as The Reign of Greed). He is considered a national hero.[507] His depiction of the injustices of Spanish rule, and his death by firing squad, inspired other Filipino revolutionaries to seek independence.[508]Several Filipino writers were awarded National Artist of the Philippines such as N. V. M. Gonzalez, Amado V. Hernandez,Francisco Arcellana, Nick Joaquín, F. Sionil José and many more.
Media
Philippine media uses mainly Filipino and English. Other Philippine languages, including various Visayan languages are also used, especially in radio due to its ability to reach remote rural locations that might otherwise not be serviced by other kinds of media. The dominant television networks ABS-CBN, GMA and TV5 also have extensive radio presence.[509]
The entertainment industry is vibrant and feeds broadsheets and tabloids with an unending supply of details aboutcelebrities and sensationalist daily scandals. Drama and fantasy shows are anticipated as are Latin telenovelas,Asianovelas, and anime. Daytime television is dominated by game shows, variety shows, and talk shows such as Eat Bulaga and It’s Showtime.[510] Philippine cinema has a long history and is popular domestically, but has faced increasing competition from American, Asian and European films. Critically acclaimed directors and actors include Lino Brocka andNora Aunor for films like Maynila: Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (Manila: In the Claws of Light) and Himala(Miracle).[511][512][513][514] In recent years it has become common to see celebrities flitting between television and movies and then moving into politics provoking concerns.[515]
Cinema
Brillante Mendoza is a prominent Filipino film director.
Salón de Pertierra was the first introduced moving picture on January 1, 1897 in the Philippines. All films were all in Spanish since Philippine cinema was first introduced during the final years of the Spanish era of the country. Antonio Ramos was the first known movie producer. He used the Lumiere Cinematograph when he filmed Panorama de Manila(Manila landscape), Fiesta de Quiapo (Quiapo Fiesta), Puente de España (Bridge of Spain), and Escenas Callejeras (Street scenes). Meanwhile, Jose Nepomuceno was dubbed as the “Father of Philippine Cinema”.[516] Dubbed as the “Father of Philippine Cinema”, his work marked the start of cinema as an art form in the Philippines.[517] His first film produced was entitled Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden) in 1919.
Film showing resumed in 1900 during the American period. Walgrah, a British entrepreneur, opened the Cine Walgrah at No. 60 Calle Santa Rosa in Intramuros. It was also during this time that a movie market was formally created in the country along with the arrival of silent movies. These silent films were always accompanied by gramophone, a piano, a quartet, or a 200-man choir. During the Japanese occupation, filmmaking was put on hold. Nonetheless, it was continued on 1930s up until 1945 replacing the Hollywood market with Japanese films but met with little success. Postwar 1940s and the 1950s were known as the first golden age of Philippine cinema with the resurgence of mostly Visayan films through Lapu-Lapu Pictures.
During the 1960s, James Bond movies, bomba (soft porn) pictures and an era of musical films, produced mostly by Sampaguita Pictures, dominated the cinema. The second golden age occurred from 1970s to early 1980s. It was during this era that filmmakers ceased to produce pictures in black and white. A rise in Hollywood films dominated theater sales during the late 1980s until the 2000s.[518] The dawn of this era saw a dramatic decline of the mainstream Philippine movie industry.[519] In the year 2009, however, presence of box-office films in the Philippine Box Office has surged. The mid 2010s also saw broader commercial success of films produced by independent studios.[520][521]
Sports
A PBA game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Various sports and pastimes are popular in the Philippines including basketball,boxing, volleyball, football (soccer), American football, both codes of Rugby football,badminton, karate, taekwondo, billiards, ten-pin bowling, chess, and sipa.Motocross, cycling, and mountaineering are also becoming popular. Basketball is played at both amateur and professional levels and is considered to be the most popular sport in the Philippines.[522][523] In 2010, Manny Pacquiao was named“Fighter of the Decade” for the 2000s (decade) by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA), World Boxing Council (WBC), and World Boxing Organization(WBO).[524] The national martial art and sport of the country is Arnis, Eskrima or Kaliin some regions[525]
The Philippines has participated in the Summer Olympic Games since 1924 and was the first country in Southeast Asia to compete and win a medal.[526] The country had competed in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except when they participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics.[527]The Philippines is also the first tropical nation to compete at the Winter Olympic Games debuting in the 1972 edition.[528]
Games
Sabong or Cock Derby
Traditional Philippine games such as luksung baka, patintero, piko, and tumbang preso are still played primarily as children’s games among the youth.[529][530]Sungka is a traditional native Philippine board game. Card games are popular during festivities, with some, including pusoy and tong-its, being used as a form ofillegal gambling. Mahjong is played in some Philippine communities.
Sabong or cockfighting is another popular entertainment especially among Filipino men, and existed prior to the arrival of the Spanish. Antonio Pigafetta, Magellan’s chronicler, first documented this pastime in the kingdom of Taytay.[531][532] The yo-yo, a popular toy in the Philippines, was introduced in its modern form by Pedro Flores with its name coming from the Ilocano language.[533]
See also
Pagsanjan,Laguna
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| Pagsanjan | ||
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| Municipality | ||
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| Nickname(s): The Tourist Capital of Laguna; Athens of Laguna; Home of Our Lady of Guadalupe | ||
| Motto: Bayang Maunlad, Bayang Maganda, Bayang Payapa, Lahat ay Masaya | ||
 Map of Laguna showing the location of Pagsanjan |
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Pagsanjan
Location within the Philippines |
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| Coordinates: 14°16′N 121°27′ECoordinates: 14°16′N 121°27′E | ||
| Country | Philippines | |
| Region | CALABARZON (Region IV-A) | |
| Province | Laguna | |
| District | 4th district of Laguna | |
| Founded | December 12, 1668 | |
| Barangays | 16 | |
| Government[1] | ||
| • Mayor | Girlie “Maita” J. Ejercito (PMP) | |
| Area [2] | ||
| • Total | 26.36 km2 (10.18 sq mi) | |
| Population (2015 census)[3] | ||
| • Total | 42,164 | |
| • Density | 1,600/km2 (4,100/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) | |
| ZIP code | 4008 | |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)49 | |
| Income class | 2nd | |
| Website | www.pagsanjan.gov.ph | |
Pagsanjan (pronounced ‘Pag-sang-han’) is a second class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 42,164 people.[3] It is situated about 92 kilometres (57 mi) southeast of Manila.
Pagsanjan is the tourist capital of Laguna and the home of the Bangkero Festival. The bangkeros are tour guides, who steer the tourists’ boats. They are the boatmen who shoot the 14 rapids between rocks and boulders all the way to the Pagsanjan Falls (or Magdapio Falls), for which the town is well known but are actually located in the neighboring municipality of Cavinti. The Bangkero Festival is celebrated in the month of March.
The incumbent mayor of Pagsanjan, Laguna is Girlie J. Ejercito, known as former actress Maita Sanchez. She is also the wife of Emilio Ramon “Jorge Estregan, Jr.” Ejercito, who served as mayor from 2001–2010 and previous governor of Laguna.
For 170 years (1688–1858), Pagsanjan was the capital of the province of Laguna. During this long period, the town prospered as the commercial, cultural and learning center of the province, and was called the “Athens of Laguna”.[4]
Contents
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Etymology[edit]
Pagsanjan is located in the riparian delta formed by the confluence of the Balanac and Bumbungan rivers. Originally named Pinagsangahan, meaning “branching” or “juncture”, the town was given renamed Pagsanjan by early Spanish colonists, because they found it extremely difficult to pronounce its polysyllabic name.
Geography[edit]
Pagsanjan has a land area of 26.4 square kilometres. It is located about 92 kilometres (57 mi) southeast of Manila. It is bounded on the east by theBalubad Mountain; on the west by the capital town of Santa Cruz; on the north by the San Isidro Hill and Laguna de Bay; on the north-east by the town of Lumban; on the southeast by the towns of Cavinti and Luisiana; on the south by Mount Banahaw; and on the south-west by the town ofMagdalena.
Baraŋgays[edit]
Pagsanjan is politically subdivided into 16 barangays. [2]
- Anibong
- Biñan
- Buboy
- Cabanbanan
- Calusiche
- Dingin
- Lambac
- Layugan
- Magdapio
- Maulawin
- Pinagsaŋjan
- Barangay I (Pob.)
- Barangay II (Pob.)
- Sabang
- Sampaloc
- San Isidro
History[edit]
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Old Town Gate
Pagsanjan was originally a barrio of Lumban. In 1668, eight Japanese and Chinese traders who were highly impressed by the strategic location of the barrio at the juncture of Balanac and Bumbungan rivers founded the town. They established a trading settlement and engaged in the betelnut industry. In time, the barrio became the flourishing trading center of eastern Laguna and attracted families from the surrounding communities of Cavinti and Pila. On December 12, 1668, the then Governor, General Juan Manuel de la Peña Bonifaz, issued a gubernatorial decree elevating its status from barrio to a town. In 1688, Pagsanjan replaced Bay as the capital of the province. It remained such until 1858, during which it bloomed as the cultural and commercial center of the province.
Pagsanjan residents[edit]
Like all people in the world, the Pagsanjeños are hospitable and friendly to all visitors, especially the foreigners. They are warmhearted, fiesta-loving and witty. In time of peace, they are amiably peaceful, civic-spirited, and cheerful; in time of war, however, they are brave, intensely patriotic, and fight with fury. They are loyal and proud of their beloved town and ancestral heritage.
The people of Pagsanjan are also fortunate to have a resplendent cultural heritage. This culture is a harmonious blending of the Asian, Hispanic, Mexican, and American civilization influences. It is revealed in their rich folklore, customs and traditions, and colorful fiestas. During colonial times Pagsanjan was a famous center of culture. Her people, according to Fray Felix de la Huerta, Franciscan friar-chronicler, were “muy culto” (highly cultured). The Pagsanjeños then cherished good education. They sent their children to the elementary school to learn the fours R’s (reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion). Children of the rich families studied in the homes of private teachers. After acquiring the fundamentals of Spanish and Latin languages, they were sent to Manila to obtain higher education at the Ateneo de Manila, College of San Juan de Letran, and in the University of Santo Tomas. It is a fact that during the Spanish regime Pagsanjan among all towns in Laguna had the highest percentage of illustrados (intellectuals).
This old tradition of acquiring a good education still exists among present-day Pagsanjeños. To them, a college diploma is a status symbol. Today numerous Pagsanjeños study law, medicine, education, nursing, engineering, and other college courses in the colleges and universities in Manila and in foreign countries.
As a cultured people, The Pagsanjeños take pride in their fine homes with beautiful furniture, oil paintings, pianos, and rugs; in their well-groomed lawns, and flower gardens; in their clean, beautiful streets, and sidewalks; and in their attire and personal appearance. But because of the destruction of their ancestral homes in Pagsanjan and the threat of the Huk movement in the towns and barrios of Laguna province, many Pagsanjeño families evacuated their native town and moved permanently to the Greater Manila area. This exodus of Pagsanjeño families mostly represented the elite of the local population, including rich landlords and the talented intellectuals. A few prominent families noted for their lineage and inherited wealth, however, remained in town and cooperated with the common people in the rebuilding of their ruined town.
The rich Pagsanjeño families who left the town resided in Manila, Pasay, Makati, Caloocan City, and San Juan, where they built their homes and reared their families. Some of them sold their ancestral residential lots in Pagsanjan, for they had no intention of restoring their old homes in town. They became absentee landlords, for they simply employed some persons called encargados to manage their family rice farms and coconut plantations.
Demographics[edit]
| Population census of Pagsanjan | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1903 | 6,361 | — |
| 1918 | 7,538 | +1.14% |
| 1939 | 8,865 | +0.78% |
| 1948 | 9,282 | +0.51% |
| 1960 | 10,691 | +1.18% |
| 1970 | 14,556 | +3.13% |
| 1975 | 16,188 | +2.15% |
| 1980 | 19,489 | +3.78% |
| 1990 | 25,024 | +2.53% |
| 1995 | 28,999 | +2.80% |
| 2000 | 32,622 | +2.56% |
| 2007 | 35,944 | +1.35% |
| 2010 | 39,313 | +3.31% |
| 2015 | 42,164 | +1.34% |
| Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[3][5][6][7] | ||
In the 2015 census, the population of Pagsanjan was 42,164 people,[3] with a density of 1,600 inhabitants per square kilometre or 4,100 inhabitants per square mile.
Notable Pagsanjeños[edit]
- Gregorio F. Zaide – famous historian and author, “Dean of Filipino Historiographers”
- Pedro Pelaez – educator, priest and is considered the “Father of Filipinization of the Church” and “The Godfather of the Philippine Revolution”
- Leandro H. Fernandez – educator, author and historian
- Francisco Benitez – First Dean of UP College of Education, educator and author, husband of Paz Marquez Benitez
- Vicente F. Fabella – educator, economist, civic leader and first Filipino certified public accountant
- Severino Taiño – Brigadier General, friend of Paciano Rizal
- Virginia Llamas – Queen of Manila Carnival in 1922 and wife of Carlos P. Romulo
- Emilio Ramon “Jorge Estregan, Jr.” Ejercito a.k.a. ER Ejercito – actor and incumbent governor of Laguna, famous for the movie Asiong Salonga and El Presidente
- Girlie “Maita” Javier Sanchez Ejercito – former actress, current mayor of Pagsanjan and wife of current Laguna Governor Jorge E.R. Ejercito III
- Joseph “Erap” Ejercito Estrada – originally born in Tondo, Manila but considered himself as a true son of Laguna because his ancestors originated in Pagsanjan
- Ernesto Maceda – former councilor of Manila, former senator, columnist and lawyer
- June Lazarte – a famous Filipino animal trainer who became famous for his dog named Saver
- Mario Montenegro – actor
- Abner Afuang – mediaman, former police officer and former mayor of Pagsanjan
- Louie Ignacio – TV director
Pagsanjan March[edit]
The official song of the Municipality of Pagsanjan and its people is Pagsanjan March. The anthem was composed by Rogel Taiño, a native of Pagsanjan.
In popular culture[edit]
Movies and films shot in Pagsanjan
- Apocalypse Now– internationally acclaimed movie about the Vietnam War shot mostly in Pagsanjan
- Code Name: Wild Geese – an Italian “macaroni combat” war film shot in Pagsanjan
- Commando Leopard – a 1985 Italian war film (or Euro War) directed by Antonio Margheriti and starring Lewis Collins
- Der Commander – the last part of the Italian film trilogy; this was shot in different locations like Amalfi (Italy), Berlin (Germany), Bangkok (Thailand), Pagsanjan (Philippines)
- Robowar – a 1988 science fiction-action-horror film and the rip-off of the 1987 American film Predator shot in the jungles of Pagsanjan
- Alien from the Deep
- Pagdating ng panahon
- Partida (1985 film)
- Why Is There a Yesterday
- Kamoteng kahoy
- Pagputi ng uwak… Pag-itim ng tagak
- Two Funerals
- Ikaw
- Mistah
- Magnifico
- Tabing Ilog– youth-oriented drama which aired on ABS-CBN for more than four years and was shot in first lagaslas/rapids leading to Pagsanjan Falls
- Bahay Kubo– a film about typical Filipino family starring Maricel Soriano, dubbed as the Pinoy Mano Po
- Amaya– the first historical epic drama on Philippine television aired on GMA and other countries in Asia
- Indio– The series is shot primarily in the towns of Pagsanjan and Cavinti in the province of Laguna. The entire Spanish-era village was built along the banks of the Pagsanjan River in Pagsanjan especially for the series. It is where most of the “Pueblo” scenes are shot.
- Maging Sino Ka Man– its finale was shot in Lambac, Pagsanjan
- Ang Cute Ng Ina Mo– a comedy movie for MMFF which shows the family of Georgia (Ai-Ai delas Alas) having their vacation in Pagsanjan.
- Maria Mercedes– the Philippine remake of the 1992 Mexican telenovela of the same title.
- Sabel
- Niño
- Hawak Kamay
- Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo– Part of the film was shot in Pagsanjan where the production staff erected a big battleground set for a scene.
See also[edit]
- Pagsanjan Falls
- Pagsanjan Arch
- Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Church (Pagsanjan)
- Pagsanjan Municipal Hall
- Bumbungan River
- Battle of Pagsanjan
References[edit]
- Jump up^ “Official City/Municipal 2013 Election Results”. Intramuros, Manila, Philippines: Commission on Elections (COMELEC). 11 September 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- ^ Jump up to:a b “Province: Laguna”. PSGC Interactive. Quezon City, Philippines: Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved 12 November2016.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d Census of Population (2015). “Region IV-A (Calabarzon)”. Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. PSA. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- Jump up^ Pagsanjan Official Site
- Jump up^ Census of Population and Housing (2010). “Region IV-A (Calabarzon)”. Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. NSO. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- Jump up^ Census of Population (1995, 2000 and 2007). “Region IV-A (Calabarzon)”. Total Population by Province, City and Municipality. NSO. Archived from the original on 24 June 2011.
- Jump up^ “Province of Laguna”. Municipality Population Data. Local Water Utilities Administration Research Division. Retrieved17 December 2016.
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pagsanjan. |
- Pagsanjan Laguna Bankero Festival
- www.pagsanjan.com.ph
- Philippine Standard Geographic Code
- Philippine Census Information
- Local Governance Performance Management System
| Preceded by Bay |
Capital of Laguna 1688-1858 |
Succeeded by Santa Cruz |
Life,Love ,Family and History 