what is philippine history essay

Essay on Philippines History

Students are often asked to write an essay on Philippines History in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Philippines History

Early history.

Long ago, people from Asia and Borneo came to the Philippines by walking on land bridges. These bridges are now underwater. These people were hunters and gatherers. They used simple tools made from stone and bone.

Trade and Influence

Between 1000 BC and 1521 AD, the Philippines was influenced by many cultures. Traders from India, China, and the Middle East came to the islands. They brought new ideas, goods, and religions. The locals learned to farm, make pottery, and use metal.

Spanish Rule

In 1521, Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived. Spain took control of the islands and named them the Philippines. The Spanish taught the locals Christianity and Spanish. They ruled for over 300 years.

American Period

In 1898, the US fought Spain and won. The Philippines then became a US territory. The US introduced English and modern education. But many Filipinos wanted independence.

Independence

250 words essay on philippines history.

Long ago, the Philippines was not one country but a group of small islands. People from different parts of Asia came to these islands by boat. These people were hunters and food gatherers. They used simple tools made from stone and wood.

Over time, other people came to the Philippines for trade. They brought new ideas and goods. These people were from China, India, and the Islamic world. They influenced the way of life in the Philippines. The locals learned how to farm, make pottery, and weave cloth.

In 1521, a Spanish explorer named Ferdinand Magellan came to the Philippines. The Spanish wanted to control the islands because of their rich resources. They ruled the Philippines for more than 300 years. The Spanish changed many things. They brought their religion, culture, and law to the islands.

In 1898, the United States took control of the Philippines from Spain. The American rule brought new changes. They improved education, health, and infrastructure. But, many Filipinos wanted independence.

On July 4, 1946, the Philippines became an independent nation. It was a big step for the Filipinos. They could now make their own laws and decisions. But, they also faced many challenges. They had to rebuild the country after World War II.

500 Words Essay on Philippines History

The Philippines is a Southeast Asian country with a rich and complex history. The early history of the Philippines dates back to around 50,000 years ago when the first humans arrived from Borneo and Sumatra via boats. These early people were known as Negritos, who were followed by the Austronesians. The Austronesians introduced farming and fishing techniques to the islands.

In the 10th century, trade began with nearby Asian kingdoms, like the Indianized kingdom of Sri Vijaya and the Chinese Song Dynasty. Traders from these regions brought with them religion, culture, and political ideas. The Philippines was heavily influenced by these cultures, adopting Hindu-Buddhist and Islamic beliefs.

Spanish Colonization

American rule and independence.

After the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Philippines became a territory of the United States. The U.S. introduced democratic governance and a new educational system. Then, on July 4, 1946, the Philippines gained independence, becoming a sovereign nation.

Post-Independence Era

Post-independence Philippines faced several challenges including political instability and economic issues. Ferdinand Marcos, who became president in 1965, declared martial law in 1972. This period, known as the Marcos Era, was marked by human rights abuses and corruption. Marcos was ousted in 1986 through the People Power Revolution, a peaceful protest that marked a significant moment in Philippine history.

Modern Day Philippines

In conclusion, the history of the Philippines is a story of resilience and adaptability. From its early inhabitants to the modern-day Filipinos, the country has navigated through periods of change and challenges, shaping it into the vibrant nation it is today.

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The Philippines: Historical Overview

Map of the Philippines from 1898.

Source: History of the Spanish-American War , (New York: the Company, 1898), 2. 

The Philippines is an archipelago made up of over 7,000 islands located in Southeast Asia. There are more than 175 ethnolinguistic groups, and over 100 dialects and languages spoken. One of the difficulties of writing a history of the Philippines is that prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, the people that inhabited the archipelago did not see themselves as a unified political or cultural group. In fact, it was not until the late nineteenth century that a sense of a Philippine nation began to develop. 

The first peoples to inhabit the Philippines migrated more than 4,000 years ago from what is today southern China. These peoples did not just populate the Philippines but dispersed throughout Southeast Asia. Historians and anthropologists have been able to trace their early migrations by examining linguistic patterns and have noted the Austronesian origin of most of the languages spoken in the precolonial Philippines and Southeast Asia. Indigenous languages spoken in Indonesia and Malaysia, for example, also share Austronesian roots.[1] 

Early settlements of the Philippine archipelago occurred along rivers which kept populations somewhat isolated from one another. Rivers provided natural resources (water and protein via seafood) to sustain small communities. While these settlements were scattered along rivers, they did not develop a political center. Instead, early settlers saw themselves in relation to smaller communities and developed local alliances and allegiances. People were linked to one another through kinship, both biological and fictive, and followed a leader whom they called a datu. Datus emerged as protectors of the group. They used their skills in negotiation and warfare to demand tribute from merchants and maintain their clans. Eventually, these small communities ranging from 30 to 100 households became known as barangays, meaning “boat” in Tagalog, a Philippine language that originates in central Luzon.[2] 

When Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the archipelago, specifically to the Visayas region in 1521, he encountered a large network of barangays connected to a broader maritime world in Southeast Asia. Precolonial communities were in contact with other ethnolinguistic groups across the archipelago and beyond through trade and religious exchange. Goods such as rice, spices, aromatics, and other forest products attracted foreign merchants as far as India and China and richly rewarded the datus.[3] In terms of religion, historical evidence shows that precolonial Philippine peoples practiced “animism,” or beliefs and practices that held spirits as immanent to the surrounding world. These religious practices developed through trade networks, which also paved the way for the spread of Islam. Well before the arrival of Christianity, Islam reached the archipelago in the fourteenth century.[4]

It was the Spanish expedition led by Magellan in 1521 that laid the foundations for imagining a Spanish colony in the Philippines. Over the next 50 years, the Spanish crown sent more expeditions to the islands in search of spices and other goods. They named the islands after King Felipe II and aimed to have every datu follow him.[5] In 1565, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi arrived and brought the datu of Cebu in the Visayas to swear allegiance to the Spanish crown. His power over the region was insecure, however. Legaspi then gathered his followers and an army to travel to Maynilad (today known as Manila) to capture the port town from the son of a Luzon datu.[6]

Securing power over local settlements was a long and difficult process occurring over the next century that required both coaxing and coercion. By 1576, the Spanish created many settlements and the population of Spanish men in the region reached over 250.[7] One of their main challenges entailed bringing the indigenous people, who were still living in scattered settlements, under a centralized authority. 

Bringing the indigenous population under Spanish rule took many decades of cajoling and relied on different tactics including developing alliances and enticing people through gifts and promises of salvation. Central to this process were the missionary friars who were a part of four main Catholic orders: Augustinians, Franciscans, Jesuits, and Dominicans. These missionary friars were sent to convert the native peoples to Christianity with the promise of Spain’s claim to the archipelago. According to historian John Phelan, “Christianization acted as a powerful instrument of societal control over the conquered people.”[8] Religious conversion through what was called conquista espiritual (“spiritual conquest”) became an important means to subjugate indigenous populations and also persuade them to relocate to political centers in order to facilitate a centralized Spanish rule. 

The Spanish friars referred to the relocation process as reducción. As much as reducción was a process of religious conversion, it was also a militarized endeavor that involved violence when the so-called “indios” resisted.[9] A century after the Spanish Reconquista, wherein the Spanish reconquered the Iberian peninsula from Muslim rule, Spanish friars in the Philippines viewed their missionary duty as a continuation of an earlier struggle. The growing presence of Islam in the southern islands of the archipelago proved that the Spanish were destined to provide the natives salvation. They called converts to Islam “Moros” after the Moors they fought in Spain, which discursively connected their religious mission to their previous war of conquest.  

Once areas were under Spanish control, the colonial government established an encomienda system that required the local population to pay tribute and perform labor for the colony.[10] A Spanish governor, who was also a military captain, effectively had the power to make decisions for the colony. This was due to the fact that the Philippine islands were so far away from the metropole. Yet, the governor’s power was still limited. The fact that he was also a military captain signals how, even after 300 years of rule, the Spanish never fully had control over the local population and therefore depended on military leadership [11]. Under the governor, provinces were established with a gobernadorcillo ruling each town. The gobernadorcillo enforced the law established by the colonial governor. Under the gobernadorcillo was the cabeza de barangay or the head of barangay who collected taxes locally. At times, the gobernadorcillo and the cabeza de barangay used force to obtain the funds they required from the local people. The Spanish colonial government depended on the collection of tribute to maintain their operations and control the Philippine population.  

By the 1850s, the economic prosperity of the native-born population, especially of Chinese mestizos, began to develop into an elite class that rivaled the peninsulares, or the “pure blooded” Spanish in the archipelago (also sometimes known as criollos). By the 1870s, this new elite sent their sons to Manila and Europe for a liberal education and they became known as ilustrados, or “enlightened ones.”[12] Ilustrados began to question the authority of the Spanish friars and publicly critique the poor administration of the Philippine colony. It was this group of elite men that established the Propaganda Movement, based in Manila and Spain, calling for reforms centered on equality between Filipinos, mestizos, and the Spanish.[13] The writings of propagandists, especially that of Jose Rizal, the most famous of the group, inspired the Filipino masses. The views of the majority, however, diverged from those of the elites who advocated mainly for modest reform and representation. The politics of the elite was ultimately considered too moderate from the perspective of a majority who became inspired to revolt against Spain and fight for independence. In 1896, the Philippine revolution began as a radical fight for emancipation from Spanish colonialism and the right to Filipino self-governance.[14] 

In 1898, a major event on the other side of the globe stymied the efforts of the Filipino  revolutionaries. In April of 1898, the US sent the battleship USS Maine to Havana Harbor, Cuba, in support of Cuban revolutionaries. When the ship exploded killing over 200 Americans, the US government assumed the Spanish were responsible and used the event as a pretext for war. US president William McKinley declared war with Spain in August of 1898, and US troops were shipped to the remaining Spanish possessions, including the Philippines, just two days later.[15] The Filipino revolutionaries could not have predicted such a turn of events that would ultimately affect the outcome of their fight for an independent Philippines.

By the time the American military arrived in April of 1898, the Filipino revolutionaries had successfully gained control over all major cities in the archipelago except for the capital city of Manila. There, the Spanish were protected by a fortress constructed for military protection against outside invaders called Intramuros. Knowing that they were losing the war against the Filipinos, Spanish and US military officers pre-arranged a battle in Manila which excluded Filipino soldiers in order to stage the Spanish defeat. The Spanish orchestrated a mock battle in order to save face and lose the war to the Americans rather than to the Filipinos, whom they believed to be an inferior race.[16] The 1898 Treaty of Paris ended the Spanish-American War and officially transferred ownership of Spain’s remaining colonies to the US.[17]

Filipino revolutionaries continued their fight for independence against the US in the Philippine-American war. Over the next several decades of US rule, the US military and colonial officials attempted to establish control, pacify the local populations, and justify US imperialism in the Philippines. This is where our exhibit begins.   

[1] Patricio N. Abinales and Donna J. Amoroso, State and Society in the Philippines, (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005), 20.

[2] Patricio N. Abinales and Donna J. Amoroso, State and Society in the Philippines, 27. 

[3] Patricio N. Abinales and Donna J. Amoroso, State and Society in the Philippines, 23.

[4] James Francis Warren, The Sulu Zone, 1768-1898: The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery, and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State, (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1981).

[5] José S. Arcilla, An Introduction to Philippine History, (Manila: Ateneo Publications, 1971), 11. 

[6] Ibid. 

[7] Patricio N. Abinales and Donna J. Amoroso, State and Society in the Philippines, 53. 

[8] John Leddy Phelan, The Hispanization of the Philippines: Spanish Aims and Filipino Responses, 1565-1700, (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1959), 93.

[9] John Leddy Phelan, The Hispanization of the Philippines, 44-45.

[10] John Leddy Phelan, The Hispanization of the Philippines, 95.

[11] José S. Arcilla, An Introduction to Philippine History, 28. 

[12] Edgar Wickberg, The Chinese in Philippine Life, 1850-1898, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965). 

[13] John N. Schumacher, The Propaganda Movement, 1880-1895: The Creators of a Filipino Consciousness, the Makers of Revolution, (Manila: Solidaridad Pub. House, 1973).

[14] Patricio N. Abinales and Donna J. Amoroso, State and Society in the Philippines, 104.

[15] Paul Kramer, The Blood of Government: Race, Empire, the United States, and the Philippines, (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2006), 78.

[16] Paul Kramer, The Blood of Government, 90.

Local Histories

Tim's History of British Towns, Cities and So Much More

A Brief History of The Philippines

By Tim Lambert

The Early Philippines

The Philippines was named after King Philip II of Spain (1556-1598) and was a Spanish colony for over 300 years. Today the Philippines is an archipelago of 7,000 islands. However, it is believed that during the last ice age, they were joined to mainland Asia by a land bridge, enabling human beings to walk from there.

The first people in the Philippines were hunter-gatherers. However, between 3,000 BC and 2,000 BC, people learned to farm. They grew rice and domesticated animals. From the 10th century AD Filipinos traded with China and by the 12th Century AD Arab merchants reached the Philippines and introduced Islam.

Then in 1521, Ferdinand Magellan sailed across the Pacific. He landed in the Philippines and claimed them for Spain . Magellan baptized a chief called Humabon and hoped to make him a puppet ruler on behalf of the Spanish crown. Magellan demanded that other chiefs submit to Humabon but one chief named Lapu Lapu refused. Magellan led a force to crush him. However, the Spanish soldiers were scattered and Magellan was killed.

The Spaniards did not gain a foothold in the Philippines until 1565 when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi led an expedition, which built a fort in Cebu. Later, in 1571 the Spaniards landed in Luzon. Here they built the city of Intramuros (later called Manila), which became the capital of the Philippines. Spanish conquistadors marched inland and conquered Luzon. They created a feudal system. Spaniards owned vast estates worked by Filipinos.

Along with conquistadors went friars who converted the Filipinos to Catholicism. The friars also built schools and universities.

The Spanish colony in the Philippines brought prosperity – for the upper class anyway! Each year the Chinese exported goods such as silk, porcelain, and lacquer to the Philippines. From there they were re-exported to Mexico.

The years passed uneventfully in the Philippines until in 1762 the British captured Manila. They held it for two years but they handed it back in 1764 under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1763.

The Philippines in the 19th Century

In 1872 there was a rebellion in Cavite but it was quickly crushed. However nationalist feelings continued to grow helped by a writer named Jose Rizal (1861-1896). He wrote two novels Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (The Filibusterer) which stoked the fires of nationalism.

In 1892 Jose Rizal founded a movement called Liga Filipina, which called for reform rather than revolution. As a result, Rizal was arrested and exiled to Dapitan on Mindanao.

Meanwhile, Andres Bonifacio formed a more extreme organization called the Katipunan. In August 1896 they began a revolution. Jose Rizal was accused of supporting the revolution, although he did not and he was executed on 30 December 1896. Yet his execution merely inflamed Filipino opinion and the revolution grew.

Then in 1898 came the war between the USA and Spain. On 30 April 1898, the Americans defeated the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. Meanwhile, Filipino revolutionaries surrounded Manila. Their leader, Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Philippines independent on 12 June. However, as part of the peace treaty, Spain ceded the Philippines to the USA. The Americans planned to take over.

The war between American forces in Manila and the Filipinos began on 4 February 1899. The Filipino-American War lasted until 1902 when Aguinaldo was captured.

The Philippines in the 20th Century

American rule in the Philippines was paternalistic. They called their policy ‘Benevolent Assimilation. They wanted to ‘Americanize’ the Filipinos but they never quite succeeded. However, they did do some good. Many American teachers were sent to the Philippines in a ship called the Thomas and they did increase literacy.

In 1935 the Philippines were made a commonwealth and were semi-independent. Manuel Quezon became president. The USA promised that the Philippines would become completely independent in 1945.

However, in December 1941, Japan attacked the US fleet at Pearl Harbor. On 10 December 1941, Japanese troops invaded the Philippines. They captured Manila on 2 January 1941. By 6 May 1942, all of the Philippines were in Japanese hands.

However American troops returned to the Philippines in October 1944. They recaptured Manila in February 1945.

The Philippines became independent on 4 July 1946. Manuel Roxas was the first president of the newly independent nation.

Ferdinand Marcos (1917-1989) was elected president in 1965. He was re-elected in 1969. However, the Philippines was dogged by poverty and inequality. In the 1960s a land reform program began. However many peasants were frustrated by its slow progress and a Communist insurgency began in the countryside.

On 21 September 1972 Marcos declared martial law. He imposed a curfew, suspended Congress, and arrested opposition leaders.

The Marcos dictatorship was exceedingly corrupt and Marcos and his cronies enriched themselves.

Then, in 1980 opposition leader Benigno Aquino went into exile in the USA. When he returned on 21 August 1983 he was shot. Aquino became a martyr and Filipinos were enraged by his murder.

In February 1986 Marcos called an election. The opposition united behind Cory Aquino the widow of Benigno. Marcos claimed victory (a clear case of electoral fraud). Cory Aquino also claimed victory and ordinary people took to the streets to show their support for her. The followers of Marcos deserted him and he bowed to the inevitable and went into exile.

Things did not go smoothly for Corazon Aquino. (She survived 7 coup attempts). Furthermore, the American bases in the Philippines (Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Base) were unpopular with many Filipinos who felt they should go. In 1992 Mount Pinatubo erupted and covered Clark in volcanic ash forcing the Americans to leave. They left Subic Bay in 1993.

In 1992 Fidel Ramos became president. He improved the infrastructure in the Philippines including the electricity supply. Industry was privatized and the economy began to grow more rapidly.

However, at the end of the 1990s, the Philippine economy entered a crisis. Meanwhile, in 1998 Joseph Estrada, known as Erap became president. Estrada was accused of corruption and he was impeached in November 2000. Estrada was not convicted. Nevertheless, people demonstrated against him and the military withdrew its support. Estrada was forced to leave office and Vice-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo replaced him. She was re-elected in 2004.

The Philippines in the 21st Century

Today the Philippines is still poor but things are changing rapidly. After 2010 the Philippine economy grew at about 6% a year. It is rapidly industrializing and growing more prosperous. Meanwhile, In 2016 the Philippines launched its first satellite. It was called Diwata-1. In 2024 the population of the Philippines was 114 million.

Last Revised 2024

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The philippines: an overview of the colonial era.

In the Beginning

Although the details vary in the retelling, one Philippine creation myth focuses on this core element: a piece of bamboo, emerging from the primordial earth, split apart by the beak of a powerful bird. From the bamboo a woman and man come forth, the progenitors of the Filipino people. The genesis of the Philippine nation, however, is a more complicated historical narrative. During their sixteenth-century expansion into the East, Ferdinand Magellan and other explorers bearing the Spanish flag encountered several uncharted territories. Under royal decree, Spanish colonizers eventually demarcated a broad geographical expanse of hundreds of islands into a single colony, thus coalescing large groups of cultural areas with varying degrees of familiarity with one another as Las Islas Filipinas. Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, claiming this area for the future King Philip II of Spain in the mid-1500s, took possession of the islands while imagining the first borders of the future Philippine state. During Spanish rule, the boundaries of the empire changed as Spain conquered, abandoned, lost, and regained several areas in the region. Had other colonies been maintained or certain battles victorious, Las Islas Filipinas could have included, for example, territory in what is now Borneo and Cambodia. When, during the Seven Years’ War, Spain lost control of Manila from 1762–64, the area effectively became part of the British Empire. The issue of shifting boundaries notwithstanding, the modern-day cartographic image of the Philippine archipelago as a unified whole was credited to Jesuit priest Pedro Murillo Velarde, Francisco Suarez, and Nicolas de la Cruz who, in 1734, conceptualized, sketched, and engraved the first accurate map of the territory.

Explorers for Spain were not the first to encounter the islands. Chinese, Arabic, and Indian traders, for example, engaged in extensive commerce with local populations as early as 1000 AD. Yet it was the Spanish government that bound thousands of islands under a single colonial rule. The maps delineating Las Islas Filipinas as a single entity belied the ethnolinguistic diversity of the area. Although anthropological investigations continue, scholars believe Spain claimed territory encompassing over 150 cultural, ethnic, and linguistic groups. Within this colonial geography, however, Spain realized that the actual distance between the capital center of Manila and areas on the margins (as well as the very real problems with overcoming difficult terrain between communities) made ruling difficult. Socially and geographically isolated communities retained some indigenous traditions while experiencing Spanish colonial culture in varying degrees. Vicente Rafael’s White Love and Other Events in Filipino History (2000) chronicles this disconnection between the rule of the colonial center and those within the territorial borders. 1 His conclusions suggest in part that although the naming and mapping of Filipinas afforded the Spanish a certain legitimacy when claiming the islands, this was in some ways a cosmetic gesture. Instead of unifying the diverse local populations under one banner during the almost 400 years of Spanish rule, various groups remained fiercely independent or indifferent to the colonizer; some appropriated and reinterpreted Spanish customs, 2 while others toiled as slaves to the empire. 3

As they spread throughout the islands, Spanish conquistadors encountered a variety of religions; during the sixteenth century, the areas now referred to as the Luzon and Visayas cluster of islands were home to several belief systems that were chronicled by the Christian friars and missionaries who came into contact with them. Famed Philippine historian William Henry Scott (1994) recounts, for instance, examples of Visayans who “worshiped nature spirits, gods of particular localities or activities, and their own ancestors”; 4 Bikolanos whose “female shamans called baliyan . . . spoke with the voice of departed spirits, and delivered prayers in song”; 5 and Tagalogs whose pantheon included “Lakapati, fittingly represented by a hermaphrodite image with both male and female parts, [who] was worshipped in the fields at planting time.” 6 Over time, however, Spain’s colonial hegemony, power, and influence used to consolidate their rule spread through the vehicle of Catholicism, supplanting or heavily influencing several of the local spiritual traditions, which were transformed to fit the new religious paradigm. In the 1560s, Spaniard Miguel López de Legazpi introduced Catholic friars to the north. Christianity redefined the worldview and relationships of some of the locals, implementing a social structure heavily based on Biblical perspectives and injunctions. By the eighteenth century, indigenous people caught practicing so-called pagan rituals were punished; local histories written on bamboo or other materials were burned, and cultural artifacts were destroyed. Church edifices dominated the landscape as the symbolic and psychological center of the permanent villages and towns that sprung up around them. Once firmly established, the Catholic Church, through various religious orders with their own agendas, clearly shared power with Spain, and the two jointly administered the colonization of the islands.

However, Spanish Catholic colonial rule was incomplete. Domination of the southern half of the archipelago proved impossible due in large part to the earlier introduction of Islam in approximately 1380. Muslim traders traveled in and around the southern islands, and over time, these merchants likely married into wealthy local families, encouraging permanent settlements while spreading Islam throughout the area. By the time of Spanish arrival in the sixteenth century, the Islamic way of life was already well-established; for example, the Kingdom of Maynila (site of present-day Manila) was ruled by Rajah Sulayman, a Muslim who fought against Spanish conquest. Scholars agree that the Spanish arrival profoundly affected the course of Philippine history. Had Magellan or other colonizers never arrived or landed much later, they may have encountered a unified Muslim country. As history would have it, however, Spain encountered serious resistance in the Filipinas south, sowing the seeds of one of the oldest and bitterest divisions in contemporary Philippine society. Spanish colonizers soon realized they were against a strong, although not entirely uniform or unified, Muslim people. The constant struggle to extend Spanish hegemony to the south spawned the Spanish-Moro Wars, a series of long-standing hostilities between Muslims and Spanish. From the late 1500s until the late 1800s, Spain attempted to gain a foothold in the area— succeeding only to the extent that some soldiers were eventually allowed by local leaders to maintain a small military presence. Spanish colonial leaders, however, never dominated or governed the local area, despite laying claim to the territory.

Gabriela Silang Monument on Ayala Avenue, Manila. Source: Ayala Triangle website at http://tinyurl.com/kf5teob . The Catholic Church, through various religious orders with their own agendas, clearly shared power with Spain, and the two jointly administered the colonization of the islands.

Revolutionary Narratives

During the late eighteenth century, revolutionaries such as Gabriela and Diego Silang fought for a free Ilocano nation in the northern Philippines. Other revolutionaries emerged, and by the end of the nineteenth century, leaders such as Andrés Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto were pressuring Spanish leadership on several fronts. Future national hero José Rizal incurred the wrath of the colonial government with the publication of Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not, 1887) and El Filibusterismo (The Filibustering, 1891). Rizal, born to a relatively prosperous family of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese descent, was well-educated in the Philippines and in parts of Europe. A true renaissance man, Rizal was an ophthalmologist, scientist, writer, artist, and multilinguist whose works were written in several languages, including Spanish and Latin. Noli Me Tángere and El Filibusterismo , first published in Germany and Belgium, respectively, brought international attention to the abuses of the Filipino people by the colonial government and Catholic Church. Throughout Rizal’s life, he continued writing and advocating reforms such as the recognition of Filipinos as free and equal citizens to the Spanish. Rizal’s popularity grew amongst Filipinos fighting against Spanish oppression, drawing the suspicion of local officials who accused him of associating with armed insurgents. In 1896, Rizal was arrested and convicted of several crimes, including inciting rebellion, and was executed by firing squad on December 30. However, rather than suppressing the revolution, Rizal’s death cast him as a martyr for the cause, and his works were more widely disseminated and read by leaders fighting for an independent Philippines.

Today, Rizal’s immortality extends to national hero status, with numerous awards, national monuments, parks, associations, movies, poems, and books dedicated to his memory. Philippine government poster from the 1950s. Source: National Archives and Records Administration at http://tinyurl.com/moosqsu .

Today, Rizal’s immortality extends to national hero status, with numerous awards, national monuments, parks, associations, movies, poems, and books dedicated to his memory. Rizal’s writings proliferate on the Internet. His works, once considered seditious propaganda by some, are now available as free downloads. 7 Admirers who take to social media characterize Rizal as their hero and post facts about his background and achievements or quotes from his texts. 8 The power of Rizal’s narratives transcend the paper documents handwritten 125 years ago. He is remembered as a Filipino writing for his people, a native son who used the tools of storytelling to expose the truth about life under colonial rule.

Colonialism: The Sequel

Scholars argue that the execution of Rizal inspired a broader fight for freedom from the Spanish government. Led by heroes such as Bonifacio, the Philippine Revolution began in 1896 and included numerous battles against Spanish forces on multiple fronts. By 1898, as Spain was fighting to quell the uprisings in the Philippines, it became embroiled in the Spanish-American War. After losing to the United States in several land and naval battles, Spain released the Philippines and other colonies to the US in exchange for US $20 million, as agreed upon in the Treaty of Paris of 1898. During the negotiation of the treaty, the American Anti-Imperialist League opposed the annexation of the Philippines. Composed of social, political, and economic luminaries of the era (for example, activist Jane Addams and former President Grover Cleveland), the league organized a series of publications criticizing the US government’s colonial policies. Mark Twain, prominent author, wrote for the The New York Herald in 1900:

I have read carefully the Treaty of Paris, and I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone there to conquer, not to redeem. . . . It should, it seems to me, be our pleasure and duty to make those people free, and let them deal with their own domestic questions in their own way. And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land. 9

The treaty was hotly debated by the Senate. Ultimately, ratification of the treaty was approved on February 6, 1899, by a vote of fifty-seven in favor and twenty-seven against—a single vote more than the required twothirds majority. Meanwhile in the Philippines, Emilio Aguinaldo, a Filipino leader in the fight for freedom, declared an independent Philippine government—which neither the Spanish nor United States governments acknowledged. When the final version of the Treaty of Paris was enacted, the islands once again became subject to the laws and policies of another distant nation.

Americans who supported annexing the Philippines viewed the archipelago as a doorway through which the United States could gain more of a financial foothold in Asia while extending its empire overseas. Before the US could begin fully establishing control of the islands, a new war began. Some scholars have termed it “the first Việt Nam,” referencing the extended armed conflict which ended in 1975 between North Việt Nam and the US, whom many North Vietnamese also perceived as an imperialist aggressor. The Philippine-American war began on February 4, 1899, when American soldiers opened fire on Filipinos in Manila. In the first years of US occupation, the battles were fought between the new US colonizers and Filipino guerrilla armies tired of existing under any foreign rule. James Hamilton-Paterson, a British travel writer and commentator on the Philippines, estimates that the war’s death toll included over 4,000 American and 16,000 Filipino soldiers, as well as almost one million civilians who perished from hunger and disease. 10 Although the war officially ended in 1902, skirmishes continued for several years afterward.

Under the rule of the United States, a plethora of people, ideas, and changes to the infrastructure flooded the archipelago. During this era, Christian groups flourished as Protestants and other denominations began proselytizing via missionary expeditions. Organizations such as the Salvation Army and the YMCA began operations in the Philippines; the so-called “Big Three” of American voluntary associations, the Lions Club, Kiwanis, and Rotary, also quickly spread throughout the islands. The United States military sponsored the establishment of hospitals and funded improvements to roads and bridges. Prominent urban planner Daniel Burnham visited the Philippines in 1904 and designed the capital city of Manila for redevelopment. 11 US culture dominated Philippine life. Linguist Bonifacio P. Sibayan, for example, discusses the introduction of English by American colonial authorities as the medium of instruction in schools: “English thus became the only medium of instruction in the schools, the only language approved for use in the school, work, in public school buildings, and on public school playgrounds.” 12 Sibayan further explains that while English-only eventually changed to bilingual instruction, English usage had become pervasive throughout the whole of society. Throughout the business and government sector, English became the dominant language, as well as the language that bridged communication gaps between regional Filipino cultural groups who did not share an indigenous language.Today, English, along with Filipino, is recognized as a national language of the Philippines. Renato Constantino, Filipino scholar, characterized the introduction of English as a detriment to Filipino society: “With American textbooks, Filipinos started learning not only the new language but also a new way of life, alien to their traditions . . . This was the beginning of their education, and at the same time, their miseducation.” 13 Filipino linguists and other social scientists continue researching and debating the extent to which indigenous cultural values and traditions were lost with the change in language. 14 Nevertheless, English proved beneficial to at least some Filipinos. The US government sponsored some students from the elite upper class to study in American schools and, upon their return, work in the government. Other Filipinos, recruited by US companies beginning in the colonial era, migrated to California, Hawai`i, and other states, lured by the promise of lucrative work compared to wage rates picking sugarcane and pineapple in the Philippines. With at least some familiarity with the language, Filipinos were able to communicate with their foreign employers.

In 1935, the United States designated the Philippines as a commonwealth and established a Philippine government that was meant to transition to full independence. During World War II, however, Japan attacked the Philippines and held the country from 1941 to 45. Lydia N. Yu-Jose in “World War II and the Japanese in the Prewar Philippines” (1996) describes an immigrant population of approximately 20,000 Japanese people living in the islands prior to the war. 15 Some were temporary migrants, content to work in the Philippines for several years and then return to Japan with their earnings. Others were permanent settlers, many of whom would go on, for example, to establish agricultural operations, open factories, and begin logging operations. Some of these Japanese business owners, Yu-Jose explains, were utilized as advisers and installed as local leaders by the occupying army. Initially, some regarded the Japanese as liberators, freeing the Philippines from the United States and bringing the islands into the Japanese empire. However, in light of the subsequent war atrocities, harsh realities came to light. In October 1943, the Japanese established what is now referred to as the Second Philippine Republic, with José P. Laurel as president. Widely recognized as simply a puppet government, the dominating Japanese military continued occupying the area. Local factories under Japanese control produced goods for the war effort while Filipinos suffered food shortages.

Against this backdrop, Filipinos once again organized widespread resistance throughout the islands. Over 250,000 people used guerrilla warfare tactics against Japanese occupiers, who steadily lost control as the war continued. During the war, famed General Douglas MacArthur also organized American troops to fight alongside the Filipinos. From February to March 1945, Filipino soldiers and US troops fought in the Battle of Manila, which would eventually mark the end of the occupation. During this month, at least 100,000 civilians died at the hands of Japanese soldiers. Overall, scholars estimate between 500,000 and one million deaths of Filipinos during the World War II Japanese occupation.

After the end of the war, the United States and the Philippines signed the Treaty of Manila on July 4, 1946; Manuel Roxas transitioned from the President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines to first President of an independent Philippine Republic.

Guide to the Present

Yet while “independent” implied a Philippines officially free from foreign rule, many contemporary narratives of Filipino identity, citizenship, and statehood are inevitably influenced by the colonial past and, some say, the continuing undue influence of other countries. The political, social, and economic elites of the country, for example, are often members of the same families that have held power in the country for generations. Gavin Shatkin’s “Obstacles to Empowerment: Local Politics and Civil Society in Metropolitan Manila, the Philippines” 16 traces how Spanish and US colonial authorities granted extensive rights and privileges to favored landowners. Many of these families later leveraged their power into political and economic dynasties, leading to a contemporary Philippine government mired in nepotism, cronyism, and corruption. 17

After war reparations were paid in the 1950s, Japanese businesses and investors soon returned to the islands. Today, Japan is a strategic economic and political partner of the Philippine government. However, as in the aftermath of Spanish and United States colonialism, Filipinos still struggle with defining a national identity after such widespread traumas. Other challenges for the Philippine state today include settling a territorial dispute regarding areas of the South China Sea with the People’s Republic of China; allowing the return of the United States military to the islands; brokering a lasting peace with the historically Muslim-dominated south; coping with the increasing number of Filipinos working overseas, as well as the subsequent social and economic consequences of this migration; and reducing poverty. These realities, juxtaposed against the Philippine Department of Tourism slogan, “It’s more fun in the Philippines,” suggests that understanding today’s Republic of the Philippines means studying the historical roots of power and influences born from the imposition of colonial structures.

Philippines

Geography and population.

Area: 120,000 square miles; slightly larger than Arizona

Population: 107 million

Freedom House rating from “ Freedom in the World 2015” (ranking of political rights and civil liberties in 195 countries): Partly Free

Type: Republic

Chief of State and Head of Government: President Benigno Aquino (since June 30, 2010)

Elections: President elected by popular vote and serves a single six-year term

Legislative Branch: Bicameral Congress; Senate (twenty-four seats, half of the seats are elected every three years, elected by popular vote, serving six-year terms) and House of Representatives (287 seats, all seats elected by popular vote every three years, serving three-year terms)

Judicial Highest Courts: Supreme Court (chief justice and fourteen associate justices)

Judges: Appointed by president on recommendations by the Judicial and Bar Council and serve until age seventy

The Philippines’ economy is continuing to grow and is moving away from agriculture exports and toward electronics and oil.

GDP: $694.5 billion

Per Capita Income: $7,000

Unemployment Rate : 7.2 percent

Population Below Poverty Line: 26.5 percent Inflation Rate: 4.5 percent

Agricultural Products: Sugarcane, coconuts, rice, corn, bananas, pork, beef, fish

Industries: Electronics assembly, garments, footwear, petroleum refining

Religion: 82.9 percent Catholic, 5 percent Muslim, 2.8 percent Evangelical Christian, 2.3 percent Iglesia ni Kristo (English translation: Church of Christ [different from US Church of Christ]), 4.5 percent other Christian

Life Expectancy: Approximately 72 years

Literacy Rate: 95.4 percent

Major Contemporary Issues

Security: The Philippine government has been dealing with insurgent groups throughout the past couple of decades. Peace talks with the Moro insurgents have brought some stability to the islands, but the government also must deal with the New People’s Army, a Communist insurgent group inspired by Maoist principles. The Philippines and China are also in a dispute over sovereignty for the Spratly Islands.

Drugs: The Philippines are a major consumer and producer of methamphetamines, as well as a producer of marijuana. The government has attempted crackdowns on both but has been unsuccessful so far.

CIA. “The World Factbook: Philippines.” Last modified June 20, 2014. http://tinyurl.com/2y58zo .

Freedom house. “freedom in the world 2015.” accessed february 11, 2015. http://tinyurl.com/ knwvzk6 ., share this:.

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1. Vicente Rafael, White Love and Other Events in Filipino History (Manila: Ateneo de Manila Press, 2000).

2. Reinhard Wendt, “Philippine Fiesta and Colonial Culture,” Philippine Studies 46, no. 1 (1998) 3–23.

3. Rosario M. Cortes, Celestina P. Boncan, and Ricardo T. Jose, The Filipino Saga: History as Social Change (Quezon City: New Day Publisher, 2000); Vicente L. Rafael, Contracting Colonialism: Translation and Christian Conversion in Tagalog Society Under Early Spanish Rule (Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1998); William H. Scott, “The Spanish Occupation of the Cordillera in the 19th Century” in Philippine Social History: Global Trade and Local Transformations , ed. A.W. McCoy et al. (Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1982).

4. William Henry Scott, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society (Manila: Ateneo de Manila Press, 1994), 77.

5. Ibid., 185.

6. Ibid., 234.

7. “Books by Rizal, José (sorted by popularity),” Project Gutenberg, accessed March 10, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/ku7fygt .

8. “José Rizal: Not Your Ordinary One Peso Guy,” accessed March 10, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/lr9gvht.

9. Excerpt from the October 15, 1900 New York Herald. See “Mark Twain— The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War,” Library of Congress, accessed September 13, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/y4zyea.

10. James Hamilton-Paterson, America’s Boy: A Century of Colonialism in the Philippines (New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 1998), 33.

11. Ian Morley, “America and the Philippines,” Education About Asia 16, no. 2 (2011) 34–38.

12. Bonifacio P. Sibayan, The Intellectualization of Filipino and Other Essays on Education and Sociolinguistics (Manila: De La Salle University Press, 1999), 543.

13. Renato Constantino, The Miseducation of the Filipino (Quezon City: Foundation for Nationalist Studies, 1982), 6; quoted in ibid., 551.

14. See Laura M. Ahearn, “Language, Thought, and Culture,” in Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology (Malden: Wiley-Backwell, 2012), 65–98 for a general overview of the research regarding language, local traditions, and culture change.

15. Lydia N. Yu-Jose, “World War II and the Japanese in Prewar Philippines,” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 27, no. 1 (1996): 64.

16. Gavin Shatkin, “Obstacles to Empowerment: Local Politics and Civil Society in Metropolitan Manila, the Philippines,” Urban Studies 37, no. 12 (2000): 2357–2375.

17. “Transparency International: the Global Coalition Against Corruption,” accessed September 13, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/qfms53j .

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Philippines

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• Jewish Virtual Library - Philippines
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Philippines , island country of Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean . It is an archipelago consisting of more than 7,000 islands and islets lying about 500 miles (800 km) off the coast of Vietnam . Manila is the capital, but nearby Quezon City is the country’s most-populous city. Both are part of the National Capital Region (Metro Manila), located on Luzon , the largest island. The second largest island of the Philippines is Mindanao , in the southeast.

The Philippines takes its name from Philip II , who was king of Spain during the Spanish colonization of the islands in the 16th century. Because it was under Spanish rule for 333 years and under U.S. tutelage for a further 48 years, the Philippines has many cultural affinities with the West. It is, for example, the second most-populous Asian country (following India ) with English as an official language and one of only two predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia (the other being East Timor ). Despite the prominence of such Anglo-European cultural characteristics, the peoples of the Philippines are Asian in consciousness and aspiration .

The country was wracked by political turmoil in the last quarter of the 20th century. After enduring more than a decade of authoritarian rule under Pres. Ferdinand Marcos , the broadly popular People Power movement in 1986 led a bloodless uprising against the regime. The confrontation resulted not only in the ouster and exile of Marcos but also in the restoration of democratic government to the Philippines

Contemporary Filipinos continue to grapple with a society that is replete with paradoxes , perhaps the most obvious being the presence of extreme wealth alongside tremendous poverty. Rich in resources, the Philippines has the potential to build a strong industrial economy, but the country remains largely agricultural. Especially toward the end of the 20th century, rapid industrial expansion was spurred by a high degree of domestic and foreign investment. That growth, however, simultaneously contributed to severe degradation of the environment . The Philippines also emerged as a regional leader in education during the late 20th century, with a well-established public school and university system, and by the early 21st century the country had one of the highest literacy rates in Asia.

The Philippine archipelago is bounded by the Philippine Sea to the east, the Celebes Sea to the south, the Sulu Sea to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the west and north. The islands spread out in the shape of a triangle, with those south of Palawan , the Sulu Archipelago , and the island of Mindanao outlining (from west to east, respectively) its southern base and the Batan Islands to the north of Luzon forming its apex . Historically, the total number of islands in the archipelago was held to be 7,107, but in 2016 the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority of the Philippines announced the discovery of more than 500 previously uncharted islands. The archipelago stretches about 1,150 miles (1,850 km) from north to south, and its widest east-west extent, at its southern base, is some 700 miles (1,130 km). The island of Taiwan lies north of the Batan group, the Malaysian portion of the island of Borneo is to the south of Palawan, and the eastern islands of Indonesia lie to the south and southeast of Mindanao. Only about two-fifths of the islands and islets have names, and only some 350 have areas of 1 square mile (2.6 square km) or more. The large islands fall into three groups: (1) the Luzon group in the north and west, consisting of Luzon, Mindoro , and Palawan, (2) the Visayas group in the centre, consisting of Bohol , Cebu , Leyte , Masbate , Negros , Panay , and Samar , and (3) Mindanao in the south.

Outstanding physical features of the Philippines include the irregular configuration of the archipelago, the coastline of some 22,550 miles (36,290 km), the great extent of mountainous country, the narrow and interrupted coastal plains, the generally northward trend of the river systems, and the spectacular lakes. The islands are composed primarily of volcanic rock and coral, but all principal rock formations are present. The mountain ranges for the most part run in the same general direction as the islands themselves, approximately north to south.

The Cordillera Central , the central mountain chain of Luzon , running north to the Luzon Strait from the northern boundary of the central plain, is the most prominent range. It consists of two and in places three parallel ranges, each with an average elevation of about 5,900 feet (1,800 metres). The Sierra Madre, extending along the Pacific coast from northern to central Luzon, is the longest mountain range in the country. That range and the Cordillera Central merge in north-central Luzon to form the Caraballo Mountains . To the north of the latter, and between the two ranges, is the fertile Cagayan Valley. The narrow Ilocos, or Malayan, range, lying close along the west coast of northern Luzon, rises in places to elevations above 5,000 feet (1,500 metres) and is seldom below 3,500 feet (1,000 metres); it is largely volcanic. In the southwestern part of northern Luzon are the rugged Zambales Mountains , consisting of more or less isolated old volcanic stocks (rock formed under great heat and pressure deep beneath the Earth’s surface).

Most of the central plain of Luzon, about 150 by 50 miles (240 by 80 km), is only about 100 feet (30 metres) above sea level . The greater part of southern Luzon is occupied by isolated volcanoes and irregular masses of hills and mountains. The highest peak is Mayon Volcano (8,077 feet [2,462 metres)]), near the city of Legaspi (Legazpi) in Albay province on the island’s Bicol Peninsula in the southeast.

The island of Palawan is about 25 miles (40 km) wide and more than 250 miles (400 km) long; through it extends a range with an average elevation of 4,000 to 5,000 feet (1,200 to 1,500 metres). Each of the Visayan Islands except Samar and Bohol is traversed longitudinally by a single range with occasional spurs. Several peaks on Panay and Negros reach a height of 6,000 feet (1,800 metres) or more. Mount Canlaon (Canlaon Volcano), on Negros, rises to 8,086 feet (2,465 metres).

There are several important ranges on Mindanao ; the Diuata (Diwata) Mountains along the eastern coast are the most prominent. To the west lies another range that stretches from the centre of the island southward. Farther west the Butig Mountains trend northwestward from the northeastern edge of the Moro Gulf. A range also runs northwest-southeast along the southwestern coast. Near Mindanao’s south-central coast is Mount Apo , which at 9,692 feet (2,954 metres) is the highest peak in the Philippines. A number of volcanic peaks surround Lake Sultan Alonto ( Lake Lanao ), and a low cordillera extends through the Zamboanga Peninsula in the far west.

Although volcanoes are a conspicuous feature of the landscape, there is relatively little volcanic activity . There are altogether about 50 volcanoes, of which more than 10 are known to be active. Mount Pinatubo on Luzon, once regarded as extinct, was in 1991 the site of one of the world’s largest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century. All gradations of volcanoes can be seen, from the almost perfect cone of Mayon, which has been compared to Mount Fuji in Japan , to old, worn-down volcanic stocks, the present forms of which give little indication of their origin. The several distinct volcanic areas are in south-central and southern Luzon and on the islands of Negros, Mindanao, Jolo , and elsewhere. Tremors and earthquakes are common.

The most important rivers of the Philippines are the Cagayan , Agno, Pampanga , Pasig , and Bicol on Luzon and the Mindanao (Río Grande de Mindanao) and Agusan on Mindanao. The northern plain between the Sierra Madre and the Cordillera Central is drained by the Cagayan, while the central plain is drained in the north by the Agno and in the south by the Pampanga. The Pasig, which flows through the city of Manila, was once commercially important as a nexus for interisland trade but is no longer navigable except by small craft; heavy pollution has required significant cleanup efforts. Most of the Bicol Peninsula lies in the Bicol basin. On Mindanao the Agusan drains the fertile lands of the island’s northeastern quadrant, while the Mindanao River drains the Cotabato Valley in the southwest. One of the Philippines’ most unique waterways lies underground, emerging directly into the ocean at Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park on the island of Palawan; the park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999.

The largest lake in the archipelago, with an area of 356 square miles (922 square km), is Laguna de Bay , on the island of Luzon. Also on Luzon and just to the southwest of Laguna de Bay is Taal Lake , which occupies 94 square miles (244 square km) inside a volcanic crater; a volcanic cone emerges from the lake’s centre. Lake Sultan Alonto on Mindanao is the country’s second largest lake, covering an area of 131 square miles (340 square km).

The alluvial plains and terraces of Luzon and Mindoro have dark black cracking clays, as well as younger soils that are especially suitable for rice cultivation. Much of the land of the hilly and mountainous regions consists of moist, fertile soils, often with a significant concentration of volcanic ash, that support fruit trees and pineapples. Oil palms, vegetables, and other crops are grown in the peatlike areas, as well as in the younger, sand-based soils of the coastal plains, marshes, and lake regions. The dark, organic, mineral-rich soils of the undulating terrain of the Bicol Peninsula, much of the Visayas, and the northwest tip of Luzon are used to grow coffee, bananas, and other crops. Highly weathered, often red or yellow soils are prominent in the central and southern Philippines and are typically planted with cassava (manioc) and sugarcane; these soils also support forests for timber harvesting. The poor, precipitation-leached soils of Palawan and the eastern mountains of Luzon are largely covered with shrubs, bushes, and other secondary growth that typically emerges in areas that have been cleared of their original forest cover.

The climate of the Philippines is tropical and strongly monsoonal (i.e., wet-dry). In general, rain-bearing winds blow from the southwest from approximately May to October, and drier winds come from the northeast from November to February. Thus, temperatures remain relatively constant from north to south during the year, and seasons consist of periods of wet and dry. Throughout the country, however, there are considerable variations in the frequency and amount of precipitation . The western shores facing the South China Sea have the most marked dry and wet seasons. The dry season generally begins in December and ends in May, the first three months being cool and the second three hot; the rest of the year constitutes the wet season. The dry season shortens progressively to the east until it ceases to occur. During the wet season, rainfall is heavy in all parts of the archipelago except for an area extending southward through the centre of the Visayan group to central Mindanao and then southwestward through the Sulu Archipelago; rain is heaviest along the eastern shores facing the Pacific Ocean.

From June to December tropical cyclones (typhoons) often strike the Philippines. Most of these storms come from the southeast, their frequency generally increasing from south to north; in some years the number of cyclones reaches 25 or more. Typhoons are heaviest in Samar, Leyte, south-central Luzon, and the Batan Islands, and, when accompanied by floods or high winds, they may cause great loss of life and property. Mindanao is generally free from such storms.

November through February constitutes the most agreeable season; the air is cool and invigorating at night, and the days are pleasant and sunny. During the hot part of the dry season in most places—especially in the cities of Cebu, Davao , and Manila—the temperature sometimes rises as high as 100 °F (38 °C). Overall temperatures decline with elevation, however, and cities and towns located at higher elevations—such as Baguio in northern Luzon, Majayjay and Lucban south of Manila, and Malaybalay in central Mindanao—experience a pleasant climate throughout the year; at times the temperature in those places dips close to 40 °F (4 °C).

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Why is it Important to Study History?

We all live in the present and we plan for the future – but how do we understand where we’re going and what progress looks like? To know exactly where you’re going, you first need to understand where you have come from. For that, you need an appreciation of history.

History is one of the most respected and most valuable academic subjects your child will learn. This guide takes a deep dive into the importance of learning history at school, plus a few tips for studying it effectively.

Benefits of Studying History

Entire societies, and the individuals within them, benefit from gaining a deeper understanding of history. Here are six benefits your child will enjoy if they study history in school.

1. Develop an Understanding of the World  

Through history, we can learn how past societies, systems, ideologies, governments, cultures, and technologies were built, how they operated, and how they have changed. The rich history of the world helps us to paint a detailed picture of where we stand today.

Developing your knowledge of history means developing your knowledge of all these different aspects of life. Children can learn about the pillars upon which different civilizations were built, including cultures and people different from their own.

All this knowledge makes them more rounded people who are better prepared to learn in all their academic subjects.

2. Become a More Rounded Person

History is full of stories. Some are inspiring and uplifting; others are chaotic and immoral. Tap into the vivid realm of history, and there are many vital lessons your child needs to learn. They will study times of suffering and times of joy, and the lessons they learn here can then be applied to their own life experience.     

History also encourages a deeper understanding of difference. There are lessons, both good and bad, to be learned from the way our ancestors have interacted with other people who have different ways of living. In a modern world where inclusivity is embraced no matter your background, an understanding of how past societies have integrated is key to humanity improving in the future.

3. Understand Identity 

Nations are made up of a collection of stories and legends. These stories shape the way we think about our country and our standing within it. History is where we learn about how great institutions are formed, and how they’ve contributed to where we are today.

For many of us, looking back at incredible fellow countrymen is a way of establishing our own identity. Finding who we are and what mark we can make on the world is a huge part of childhood. Allowing children to learn about the identity of their country is one way of facilitating that.

4. Become Inspired 

Those historical stories can also serve to inspire individuals to greatness. History remembers brilliant people and their heroic acts that have changed the shape of nations. You get a huge amount of motivation from learning about the inspirational events that make up where we are today.

It only takes one great story from the pages of history to light up children’s imagination and spur them on to do great things.

5. Learn from Mistakes 

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana’s quote is one of academia’s most cited and paraphrased lines, and one that explains perfectly why everyone should study history. The past is filled with warning signs. We must be able to reflect on the events that built up to them, learn from mistakes made, and resist and question if we see similar patterns emerging.

If your child studies history, they will be able to identify when society is going down perilous routes and contribute towards getting it back on track.

6. Develop Transferrable Skills  

History is a respected academic pursuit that challenges our intellect. Students must analyse information that may not have one clear interpretation before offering a balanced conclusion. Critical thought is at the heart of every challenging intellectual pursuit.

The ability to question and evaluate information is one that applies to workplaces in many industries, and Nord Anglia Education strive to provide the necessary transferrable skills to all our students. History is one of the best subjects for stimulating and developing this ability.

How to Study History

History is not about memorising a list of facts or dates. It requires interpretation and analysis of information around subjects which often have no right or wrong answers. Still, there are plenty of effective methods for studying history, like these three:

1. Connect Events Together    

History is shaped by a list of chronological events. When studying seismic shifts in a culture or country, it’s important that you know what key events contributed to this and why they were so important. It can lead to a daunting list of times, dates, and people to learn.

One popular method for doing this involves making connections to develop the full picture. With your child, note down the different events, facts, and people that played a role in a significant historical event. Then create a mind map that connects each part of the picture, using colours and symbols to establish a pattern containing a large amount of easily digestible information.

2. Display Key Information

With so much to learn, it’s important that you’re able to focus on the most valuable information and retain it for exams. While history usually focuses on the larger picture rather than just a succession of dates or facts, it can also be worthwhile adopting memory techniques to ensure that your child can reach for specific information if they need it.

Flashcards are an excellent way to do this. Write a brief fact or statement on one side of a card. Stick them around your child’s room, allowing them to ingest that piece of information every single day. Before long, they’ll be able to recite the information on each card.

3. Soak up Books and Films 

History is packed with incredible, real-life stories – many of which are told for a new generation in the form of novels and films. When your child has finished studying their textbooks, films and books offer a lighter, but still useful, way to learn about history.

Just be sure to choose the right titles. Many books and films take liberties with their chosen subject. Speak to your child’s history teacher for a reading and viewing list that’s tied into their curriculum.

Studying history will provide your child with a more rounded academic skillset and an improved ability to think critically – something they can take into the rest of their education.

 Nord Anglia Education delivers an outstanding history curriculum and highly values other subjects like the performing arts.

To find out more about NAIS Manila and our outstanding academic programmes,  you can speak online with our Admissions Team through our Virtual Discovery Meeting .

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At Nord Anglia International School (NAIS) Manila, education extends far beyond textbooks and classrooms. It blends empathy, compassion, and a commitment to community care, shaping students into socially responsible individuals who understand the impact of their actions.

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Philippine Revolution: Essay & Important Notes

Beginning of the revolution.

The beginning of the revolution is attributed to a secret organization, called the Katipunan. Andres Bonifacio was the head of the organization and the head as well as his followers were influenced by the literary works that exposed the cruelties of Spanish colonizers. The organization was able to attract people from the lower as well as middle classes to revolt against Spain. The organization continued to carry out its activities in a secret manner, but the Spanish authorities were able to find them in August 1896. This is what started the revolution.

Progression of Revolution

After the discovery of the Katipunan, the Spanish authorities conducted several searches to identify and arrest the members of the organization. At this time, Bonifacio and his followers were planning a nationwide revolt and this led to the “Cry of Pugad Lawin” wherein several revolutionaries took part. In this movement, the tax certificates were torn apart by the revolutionaries to symbolize their fight against Spain.

The head of the Katipunan also planned an attack on Milan, but he and his followers were defeated because of the large number of Spanish authorities as well as the arms they possessed. However, Bonifacio continued with his revolt and the revolt also flared up in neighboring provinces.

Problems During the Revolution

One of the major problems of the revolution was that the members of the Katipunan also fought amongst themselves. The organization got divided into two councils; Magdiwang and Magdalo and this gave rise to leadership disputes. To settle the leadership disputes, the Tejeros Convention was established. In the makeshift election, Bonifacio lost to Aguinaldo.

In Naic, Cavite, Bonifacio established a rival government and planned a coup. He was arrested and later executed. Aguinaldo proposed an end to revolution by surrendering the weapons to revolutionaries, an exile for leaders, and payment to the revolutionaries. While the movement came to an end, the Philippines was still not independent.

Declaration of Independence

The year 1898 marked the second phase of the Philippine Revolution. The Americans declared war against Spain after a U.S. Navy warship exploded and sunk in Havana harbor. U.S. Navy was able to defeat Spain in Manila and the United States gained control of the capital of the Philippines.

Aguinaldo became friendly with the Americans and on June 12, 1898, the Philippines was declared independent. In December of the same year, Spain conceded the Philippines to the Americans and the Philippines again had not exactly become independent.

Important Notes

• The Philippine Revolution was started to gain independence for the Philippines.
• The Spanish authorities controlled the Philippines and their defeat by the United States led to the concession of the Philippines to the United States, thereby not making the Philippines independent.
• The revolution started when a secret organization of revolutionaries, called Katipunan was discovered by the Spanish authorities.

The revolution was weak majorly because the leaders of the organization did not think on the same lines and there were disputes associated with the leadership of the organization

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