When Did Philippine History Begin?

The written record of the Philippine Islands starts with the coming of the Spaniards. Not that the country
had not had a history and a culture and a literature before! But the Spaniards, in their religious zeal,
destroyed the earlier records as completely as possible. Therefore much of what is known about pre-
Spanish days—and there is still much to be uncovered—comes from the records of other countries
which were in touch with the islands.

Centuries before the influence of the West was felt in the Philippines, the culture of India, China, and
southeastern Asia had reached that country through the early settlers. From the eighth to the fifteenth
centuries, the Philippine Islands were part of a great Hindu-Malayan empire ruled from Java and
Sumatra in the neighboring islands to the southwest.

Mohammedanism swept over this area of the world in the latter part of the fifteenth century. Moslems
came into the Sulu Archipelago and Mindanao and converted the people. Their descendants, the Mores,
have remained devout Mohammedans to this day.

By the time the Spaniards came to the islands, therefore, the Filipinos had developed a way of life and a
distinct culture that were suitable and satisfactory to them. They had a calendar, weights and measures,
a system of writing, some elements of law, some religious ideas showing both Hindu and Mohammedan
influences, and had some skill in metalworking, pottery making, and weaving.

Magellan, on his voyage around the world, “discovered” the islands in 1521, nearly a half century before
the first permanent settlement (St. Augustine, Florida) was established by Spain in the United States.
Numerous other Spanish expeditions followed, and one of them gave to the islands the name “Las
Filipinas” in honor of Philip II of Spain.

The islanders were no match for the armed men from the West. They were divided both geographically
and politically. Their government was a simple system, made up of many barangays (originally family
groups each with a headman). There was little unity among these clans.
By the end of the sixteenth century, most of the country except the southern islands had been
conquered. The subject peoples were converted to the Catholic faith and for the next three hundred
years came under the direct rule of Spanish governors and the all-pervading influence of Spanish priests.

Was Spanish rule good or bad?

The Philippine colony was governed by Spaniards, by laws made in Spain, and for the sole good of the
mother country and its representatives in the colony. Filipinos held only minor offices. They were not
given the benefits of public education and their rights and wishes were almost completely ignored. Such
laws as did exist for their protection were not enforced.

Benefits of Spanish rule should; however, be acknowledged. Spain brought its language, its literature, its
laws, and its religion to a Far Eastern country. Many of the clergy tried to help the people in their social
and economic development. They taught many children to read and write in the local dialects, the
better to teach them the Christian religion. They introduced new crops, such as corn and cacao, and
improved sugar and coffee production. They taught many trades, including printing Manila had printing
presses before the end of the sixteenth century. They established higher schools for the children of the
wealthier caciques (a class which developed mostly as a result of intermarriage between Spaniards and
leading Malay families). The University of Santo Tomas, in Manila, was founded as early as 1611—and
340 years later was made into an internment camp for American civilians in the Philippines after the
Japanese occupation.

One of Spain’s greatest contributions to the development of the country was the one it least wanted—
the unification of the people under its control. The Filipinos were united, first of all, through a common
religion. But, more important, they were united by a common hatred of the Spanish conqueror and all
he stood for.

In spite of all the good they had done, even the Spanish religious orders began to assume an excessive
control over the people’s lives. This alienated many Filipinos and brought the church orders into sharp
conflict with Spanish officials who resented their growing political power. Some of the church lands
remain to this day as centers of social unrest. The Aglipayan or Independent church of the Philippines,
formed at the time of the final revolution against Spain, was an added protest against the all-Spanish
nature of religious as well as political control.

Were the Filipinos contented?

Before our own American Revolution, the Filipinos had risen a half-dozen times against their Spanish
overlords, and there were numerous lesser rebellions. Because the Filipinos had been unable during the
nineteenth century to secure reforms peaceably, a secret society of the common people, the Katipunan,
was formed in 1892. Revolution finally broke out in August 1896, and it was inflamed still further by the
execution of Jose Rizal, the Filipino leader and national hero.

There are many heroes in Philippine history, but none stands out like Rizal. He was the embodiment of
the people’s pride and of their desire for freedom. One of the small number of Filipinos able to secure a
good education and to study abroad, he came back to his native land anxious to improve the condition
of his people and the government which Spain imposed upon them. His books, such as The Social Cancer
and Filibusterism, were not only outstanding for their social and political significance when they were
written, but are still classed among the world’s great literature.

For having formed an illegal organization—the Philippine League—and for “inciting his people to
rebellion” by his writings, Rizal was condemned to death by a military court. He was executed in
December 1896, at the age of 35.

For a year thereafter the uneven struggle between the Filipinos and their Spanish overlords continued.
Then a peace was arranged, the revolutionary leaders having been led to believe that Spain would make
the desired reforms in government. But Spain had no such intentions.

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The Early Philippines

The Philippines is named after King Philip II of Spain (1556-1598) and it 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 AD century Filipinos
traded with China and by the 12th Century AD Arab merchants reached the Philippines and they
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 feeling 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 organisation 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 war between the USA and Spain. On 30 April 1898 the Americans defeated the
Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. Meanwhile Filipino revolutionaries had 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.

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. Since 2010 the Philippine economy has grown
at about 6% a year. Today there is reason to be optimistic for the future. Today the population of the
Philippines is 103 million.

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