Short
Philippine History
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The Philippines,
thought to have been peopled chiefly by waves of migrants from Indonesia,
have been inhabited for more than 30,000 years. Extensive trade with India,
Indonesia, China, and Japan developed; Islam was introduced to the southern
islands from Indonesia in the 15th century.
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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. The first permanent Spanish settlement was
made by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi on Cebu in 1565. In 1571 the islands were
renamed in honor of King Philip II, and 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.
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In the 1880s
the writings of Jose Rizal (1861-96) 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 Philippines gained full independence 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 Ramon Magsaysay, who succeeded Elpidio Quirino as president
in 1953.
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Ferdinand
Marcos became the first president to win (1969) a second term after defeating
President Diosdado Macapagal in 1965. In 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 ordinary 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. 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. Marcos died in 1989,
but she was challenged by many former allies, including Enrile and Vice-President
Salvador Laurel. In 1991 the eruption of Mount Pinatubo forced the United
States to abandon Clark Air Base, and the Philippine Senate rejected a
new 10-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 with only 23.5% of the vote. His supporters won control
of both houses of parliament in the May 1995 legislative elections.
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Source:
Grolier Encyclopedia
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