The Philippines is an independent island nation in the western Pacific Ocean some 800 km (500 mi) off the coast of mainland Southeast Asia. Over centuries foreign elements have been added to the indigenous Malay culture, creating a cultural mosaic that reflects both Eastern and Western influences. Visited by traders from various parts of Asia long before being colonized by Spain in 1565, the islands were ceded to the United States in 1898 and gained independence in 1946. For much of its postindependence history the country was led by Ferdinand E. Marcos, who was elected president in 1965, ruled under martial law from 1972 to 1981, and retained sweeping powers after martial law was lifted. The Marcos era came to a dramatic end in 1986, when an outpouring of popular protest forced Marcos into exile, and Corazon C. Aquino became president. Since that time the country has been a multiparty democracy.

LAND AND RESOURCES

Many of the more than 7,000 volcanic islands that constitute the Philippine archipelago are uninhabited; the 11 largest islands account for more than 94% of the total land area. The archipelago extends for more than 800 km (500 mi) from Luzon in the north, through the Visayan Islands (including Negros, Cebu, Leyte, Samar, and Panay) in the center, to Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago in the south. The terrain is generally mountainous, rising to a high point of 2,954 m (9,692 ft) at Mount Apo, a volcano on Mindanao. Only Luzon and Mindanao have extensive lowland areas. The Pacific floor under the Philippines is unstable, with frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, in central Luzon, was one of the worst eruptions of the century. Rivers are short, swift flowing, and seasonal. Most important are the Pampanga, Agno, Cagayan, and Pasig on Luzon and the Agusan and Mindanao on Mindanao.

Climate

The Philippines has a tropical climate, with a mean annual lowland temperature of about 27¡ C (80¡ F). Temperatures vary more between day and night and high and low altitudes than between seasons. About 90% of the country receives more than 1,780 mm (70 in) of rainfall a year. Rainfall is heaviest from October to April in the east and from June to November in the west, and windward areas are wetter than leeward ones. Typhoons are common.

Resources

Much of the land is hilly, eroded, and unfit for human habitation, but fertile volcanic soils are found on Luzon, Mindanao, and parts of Negros. The forests that once covered 80% of the land are being rapidly depleted; by the midÐ1990s the forested area had been reduced to about 45%. Areas cleared and abandoned by farmers practicing slash-and-burn agriculture are often covered with tall tropical grasses. Native wildlife includes water buffalo, monkeys, reptiles, and tropical birds. There are substantial deposits of chromium, copper, gold, silver, manganese, lead, and iron ore and considerable hydroelectric power potential. Volcanic steam provides an increasing portion of the nation's power needs.

PEOPLE

Although the people of the Philippines speak a variety of Austronesian languages and are scattered across many islands, they have a relatively high degree of cultural homogeneity. The long struggle for independence, the influence of Christianity, the use of the Pilipino (Tagalog) and English languages in the schools, and rural-to-urban migration have contributed to a sense of national identity despite the continuing importance of kinship ties. Least assimilated are the Muslims of the south, the upland hill tribes (see Negrito; Igorot), and recent Chinese immigrants.

Ethnically, most Filipinos are a mixture of Malay and Mongoloid racial elements, with some admixture of Chinese, Indian, Spanish, and American elements. The Spanish term mestizo is used to describe anyone of mixed blood. The leading ethnolinguistic groups are the Tagalogs, Ilocanos, Pampagans, Bicolanos, and Hiligaynon of Luzon and the Cebuanos, Ilongos, and Waray-Waray of the Visayan Islands (see Bisayan). These groups, constituting more than 90% of the population, are predominantly Roman Catholic, although the Philippine Independent Church (see Aglipay, Gregorio) and the Iglesia ni Cristo command significant followings. The hill tribes practice tribal religions, and Islam is strongest in the Sulu Archipelago, southern Palawan, and parts of southern Mindanao.

Demography

The population of the Philippines is increasing rapidly, placing great strains on the economy and on social services. About half of the people live on Luzon, with sizable populations on Cebu, Mindanao, Leyte, and Negros. Most Filipinos live in small villages called barrios in rural areas. Recent years, however, have seen large-scale migration from rural areas to the cities, especially Manila, the capital. Nearly one in eight Filipinos lives in Metro Manila, which includes Quezon City (the capital from 1948 to 1976), Caloocan, and Pasay. Other large cities are Cebu, Davao, and Zamboanga.

Education and Health

The Philippines has one of the highest literacy rates in Asia. Six years of schooling are free and compulsory. There are public and private schools throughout the country, but the quality of education is lower in rural areas. The many colleges and universities (see Southeast Asian universities) include the University of the Philippines (1908) and the University of Santo Tom‡s (1611). Higher education is greatly valued, although the Philippine economy cannot absorb all college graduates.

Manila has excellent medical facilities, but a shortage of trained medical personnel exists in rural areas.

Culture

The rich body of indigenous artistic traditions includes folktales, music, and the folk dances made famous by the Bayanihan Dance Troupe. Painting and sculpture often combine Asian and Western elements. Spanish and English have been the vehicles for such writers as JosŽ Rizal, N. V. M. Gonz‡lez, Bienvenido Santos, and F. Sionil JosŽ.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Traditionally, the Philippines was primarily an exporter of raw materials and an importer of manufactured goods. Rice and corn, the staple food crops, occupy 80% of all cropland, but agriculture now contributes less than one-fourth of the gross domestic product (GDP). Commercial crops, led by coconuts and fruit, include sugarcane, bananas, pineapples, abaca (Manila hemp), tobacco, coffee, and cotton.

Land is unequally distributed; about 70% of all peasants are landless, and large landowners exercise economic and political power to the detriment of the peasantry. Land reform has been on every government's agenda since 1946, but little meaningful redistribution has occurred. Many discontented peasants have flocked to the cities, where jobs are scarce.

In 1996 industry provided about one-third of the GDP, with the service sector increasing to about 46%. The processing of agricultural products traditionally accounted for almost half of all industrial production, followed by petroleum refining, chemicals, and electrical equipment. By 1997, however, electronics constituted more than half of the nation's total exports, followed by textiles, coconut products, telecommunications equipment, fruit, and fish. Industry is concentrated in the Manila area, and an industrial zone is being developed at the former U.S. military base at Subic Bay. By 1997 Subic Bay had become a thriving international port, exporting nearly $3 billion dollars worth of high-tech and other goods that year alone. Copper, gold, and nickel are mined for export and coal and petroleum for domestic use. Fishing, forestry, and tourism are also important. Remittances from overseas workers are the government's chief source of foreign exchange.

Between 1980 and 1986 real incomes declined owing to low world prices for sugar, coconuts, and copper, adverse weather conditions, rapid population growth, a huge foreign debt, and capital flight and decreased investment. Economic hardships fueled both antigovernment demonstrations and the Communist insurgency led by the New People's Army. Economic growth resumed after Marcos left the country, most notably from 1992, and the mid-1990s saw government efforts to deregulate industry and trade and dismantle monopolies. The percentage of the population living in poverty declined from about 40% in early 1990 to about 30% in mid-1998. The Philippines was less affected than many other Asian nations by the regional economic crisis that began late in 1997. Prior to this downturn, during which the nation's economic growth rate slowed, the government had instituted fiscal and free-market reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund and had a relatively low foreign debt and a sound banking system. While it had not experienced the rapid economic growth of many of its neighbors, it had avoided many of their mistakes. The new government that came to power in 1998 pledged to continue these economic reforms while working to end corruption and work for a more equitable distribution of wealth.

A network of interisland shipping transports goods from island to island and to the major ports. Philippine Airlines, which offered international service and provided more than half of all interisland flights, suffered heavy losses during the region's economic downturn and ceased operations in September 1998, but it resumed flights the following month after union members voted to accept a new contract.

GOVERNMENT

The constitution of 1935, based on that of the United States, was suspended when martial law was imposed in 1972. A new constitution ratified in 1973 changed the government from presidential to parliamentary form, but this document did not come fully into effect until 1981, by which time it had been amended to place supreme power, including the right to rule by decree, in the hands of the president.

Aquino, who took de facto control of the government on Feb. 25, 1986, assumed legislative powers on March 25 under a transitional "freedom constitution." The legislature was abolished, many officials were replaced by Aquino appointees, and a commission was appointed to draft a new constitution. This constitution, overwhelmingly approved in a Feb. 2, 1987, plebiscite, allowed Aquino to remain in office until June 1992. Subsequent presidents were restricted to a single 6-year term. On July 27, 1987, Aquino turned legislative power over to a newly elected bicameral legislature that initially served a 5Ðyear term. Since that time, all members of the lower house and one-half of the membership of the upper house have been elected every 3 years. The first local elections under the new constitution were held in 1988, and presidential elections took place in 1992 and 1998.

HISTORY

The Philippines, thought to have been peopled by waves of migrants from Indonesia and mainland Asia, may have been inhabited as early as 50,000 years ago. Extensive trade with India, Indonesia, China, and Japan developed; Islam was introduced to the southern islands from Indonesia in the 15th century.

When Ferdinand Magellan claimed the islands for Spain in 1521, native society was generally divided into barangays (kinship units); there was no central government to mount effective resistance. A subsequent Spanish expedition, led by Ruy L—pez de Villalobos, named the islands in honor of the infante, later King Philip II. The first permanent Spanish settlement was made by Miguel L—pez de Legazpi on Cebu in 1565. In 1571 the capital was moved to Manila. The colonial administration was headed by a governor-general responsible to the viceroy of Mexico, but the parish priest was often the only visible symbol of Spanish authority in rural areas, and religious orders controlled education and many great estates. Trade in Chinese luxury items, gathered in Manila and sold in Acapulco in exchange for silver, was the economic basis of the colony until the 19th century, when the independence of Spain's New World colonies forced a shift to today's cash-crop economy.

In the 1880s the writings of JosŽ Rizal (1861Ð96) helped spur Filipino demands for reform. Rizal's execution made him a national hero and sparked an unsuccessful revolution led by Emilio Aguinaldo. On June 12, 1898, after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Aguinaldo declared the Philippines independent in the mistaken belief that the United States supported his struggle. Instead, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States. From 1899 to 1901, Aguinaldo led a war against his country's new colonial rulers.

Although U.S. business interests applauded the seizure of the Philippines, the U.S. government declared that it would prepare the islands for independence. In 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing commonwealth under President Manuel Luis Quezon, but World War II delayed full independence. Japan attacked the Philippines on Dec. 8, 1941, defeating U.S. and Filipino forces at Bataan and Corregidor in 1942. The struggle against Japan, culminating in Gen. Douglas MacArthur's return in 1944, came to symbolize U.S.-Philippine solidarity. On July 4, 1946, the United States recognized the full independence of the Philippines with Manuel Roxas y Acuna as president.

After World War II the infrastructure of the Philippines was a shambles. Inadequate land distribution and unequal taxation fed the Hukbalahap (Huk) guerrilla revolt against the government, which was defused in the early 1950s by a resettlement and amnesty program devised by Ram—n Magsaysay, who succeeded Elpidio Quirino as president in 1953.

Ferdinand Marcos became the first president to win (1969) a second term after defeating President Diosdado Macapagal in 1965. In September 1972, facing a Muslim revolt in the south, a leftist rural insurgency, and student unrest, Marcos declared martial law. He restored law and order, promoted social and economic reforms (often at the expense of his political foes), and created a political machine that remained dominant after martial law was lifted in 1981. Critics charged that he also enriched himself and his friends. In 1983, Marcos's chief political rival, Benigno S. Aquino, Jr., was assassinated as he returned to the Philippines from exile. Marcos loyalists were accused of complicity in the killing, touching off waves of popular protest. The opposition gained in the 1984 legislative elections, and the left-wing insurgency grew steadily.

To renew his mandate, Marcos called early presidential elections, which were held on Feb. 7, 1986. Opposition candidate Corazon Aquino, Benigno's widow, and her running mate Salvador Laurel were backed by much of the business community and the influential Roman Catholic church. When the National Assembly declared Marcos the victor amid widespread charges of electoral fraud, Aquino launched a campaign of nonviolent resistance to secure the post many believed she had won. On February 22, when defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile and army deputy chief of staff Lt.-Gen. Fidel Ramos resigned, huge crowds of Filipinos turned out to protect the dissident military leaders, and U.S. pressure on Marcos to step down increased. On February 25, after Marcos and Aquino held rival inaugurations, Marcos left for exile in the United States, where he died in 1989.

Aquino took steps to restructure the government and the military, restore civil liberties, promote free enterprise, and retrieve public moneys illegally appropriated by Marcos and his cronies. Despite popular support Aquino faced formidable problems. Unable to reach a negotiated settlement with Communist insurgents, she was also criticized for failing to halt corruption and challenged by many former allies. In 1991 the eruption of Mount Pinatubo forced the United States to abandon Clark Air Base, and the Philippine Senate rejected a new ten-year lease for the country's remaining U.S. military facility, Subic Naval Base, weakening the historic ties between the two countries.

Defense minister Fidel Ramos, a longtime Aquino supporter, won a seven-way presidential contest in May 1992, and his supporters won control of both legislative houses in May 1995. Under Ramos, who signed an accord with Muslim separatists on Mindanao in 1996, the economy generally improved, although it was buffeted by a regional currency crisis that began late in 1997. Efforts to permit the popular Ramos to run for reelection, however, sparked public protests, and he did not stand as a candidate in the May 11, 1998, presidential elections. In those elections, Vice President Joseph Estrada, a former movie actor who rose to political prominence during the Marcos era, won 10.7 million votes, defeating a field of nine other candidates. His opponents included house speaker JosŽ de Venecia, who had been endorsed by Ramos but ran a distant second with only 4.3 million votes. Estrada was officially declared the winner by the legislature on May 29 and was sworn in as president on June 30. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a Ramos ally and the daughter of former president Macapagal, won the vice presidency, and Ramos's party won a majority in the lower house of the legislature and held the largest number of posts in Estrada's cabinet of national unity. On June 12 the Philippines celebrated the centennial of its declaration of independence from 333 years of Spanish rule.

Nicholas P. Cushner

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