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HISTORY |
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Filipinos have often been accused of not having a sense of history
and even of not knowing who they really are, a result perhaps of the
many diverse influences - Malay, Chinese, European, American - that have
collided randomly down the centuries.
In fact, human fossil remains found in Palawan suggest the country's "modern"
history goes back 50,000 years when humans first migrated across land
bridges formed to mainland Asia and Borneo during the Ice Age. The
islands were eventually inhabited by different groups, the first of
which was the Aeta or Negritos , a tribe that arrived around 25,000
years ago from the Asian continent. Many historians believe the Negritos
are the true aboriginal inhabitants of the Philippines.
Archeological evidence shows a rich pre-colonial culture that included
skills in weaving, ship-building, mining and goldsmithing. Contact with
Asian neighbours dates back to at least 500BC in the form of trade with
the powerful Hindu empires in Java and Sumatra. Trade ties with China
were extensive by the tenth century, while contact with Arab traders
reached its peak in the twelfth century. In 1380, the Arab scholar
Makdam arrived in the Sulu Islands, and in 1475, the Muslim leader
Sharif Mohammed Kabungsuwan, from Johore, married a native princess and
declared himself the first sultan of Mindanao. By the time the Spaniards
arrived, Islam was well established in Mindanao and had started to
influence groups as far north as Luzon.
Spanish rule
The country's turbulent modern history began on April 24, 1521 when
Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese seafarer in the service of Spain,
arrived in Cebu and claimed the islands for Spain . Days later he waded
ashore on nearby Mactan Island with 48 men in full armour and was
promptly killed in a skirmish with warriors led by chief Lapu-Lapu.
Spanish conquistador Ruy Lopez de Villalobos tried once again to claim
the islands for Spain in 1543, but was driven out by natives a year
later after naming the Philippines in honour of King Philip II. It
wasn't until 1565 that serious Spanish colonization of the archipelago
began. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi left Spain with orders from King Philip
to conquer the islands. He duly did so, establishing a colony in Bohol
and then moving on to Cebu where he erected the first Spanish fort in
the Philippines. The conquest moved further north in 1571 when Legaspi
conquered Manila and a year later the whole country. He never managed to
bring the Islamic Sulu Islands and Mindanao under Spanish control, but
felt nevertheless that he had done his job well and left for home with a
cargo of cinnamon.
In his absence, the Spanish conquistadors and friars zealously set about
building churches and propagating Catholicism. They imposed a feudal
system, concentrating populations under their control into towns and
estates and there were numerous small revolts. Until 1821, the
Philippines was administered from Mexico, and attempts by the Dutch,
Portuguese and Chinese to establish a presence in the archipelago were
successfully repelled. The British managed to occupy Manila for a few
months in 1762, but handed it back to Spain under the conditions of the
Treaty of Paris, signed in 1763.
With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, young Filipinos left their
country to study in Europe and returned with liberal ideas and talk of
freedom. A small revolt in Cavite in 1872 was quickly put down, but the
anger and frustration Filipinos felt about colonial rule would not go
away. Intellectuals like Marcelo H del Pilar and Juan Luna were the
spiritual founders of the independence movement, but it was the critical
writings of a diminutive young doctor from Laguna Province, Jose Rizal ,
that provided the spark for the flame. His novel Noli Me Tangere (Touch
Me Not) was written while he was studying in Spain, and portrayed
colonial rule as a cancer and the Spanish friars as fat, pompous fools.
It was promptly banned by the Spanish, but distributed underground along
with other inflammatory essays by Rizal and, later, his second novel, El
Filibusterismo.
In 1892, Rizal returned to Manila and founded the reform movement Liga
Filipina . He was arrested four days later and exiled to Dapitan on
Mindanao. Andres Bonifacio took over the reigns by establishing the
secret society known as the Katipunan or KKK. Its full name was
Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalang na Katipunan nang mga Anak ng Bayan, which
means "Honorable, respectable sons and daughters of the nation". In
August, 1896, the armed struggle for independence broke out, and Rizal
was accused of masterminding it. He was found guilty at a pig circus of
a trial and executed by firing squad in what is now known as Rizal Park
on December 30, 1896. The night before he died he wrote Mi Ultimo Adios,
a moving valedictory poem to the country he loved.
The US
When independence finally arrived in 1898, it was short-lived. As a
result of a dispute over Cuba a war broke out between the US and Spain,
and the Spanish fleet was soundly beaten in Manila Bay by ships under
the command of Commander Dewey, later promoted to Admiral. The Filipinos
fought on the side of the US and when the battle was over General
Aguinaldo declared the Philippines independent. The US, however, had
other ideas and paid Spain US$20 million for its former possession.
Having got rid of one colonizing power, Filipinos were now answering to
another, the US.
The Filipino-American War lasted for more than ten years, resulting in
the death of more than 600,000 Filipinos. This little-known war has been
described as the "first Vietnam". US troops used tactics such as
strategic hamleting and a scorched-earth policy to pacify the natives.
It was only when President Roosevelt recognized a new Philippine
constitution that the archipelago celebrated partial independence and
Manuel Quezon was sworn in as first President of the Philippine
Commonwealth
World War II
The Philippines, especially Manila, underwent heavy bombardment during
World War II and casualties were high. Japanese troops landed on Luzon
and conquered Manila on January 2, 1942. Battles on the island of
Corregidor and the Bataan Peninsula were particularly brutal and when
the Japanese finally won they subjected the country to harsh military
rule. In 1944, the Philippines was liberated by General Douglas
MacArthur and US forces. MacArthur had abandoned his base on Corregidor
when it became clear the situation was hopeless, but after arriving in
Darwin, Australia, he promised Filipinos "I Shall Return". He kept the
promise, wading ashore at Leyte and recaputuring the archipelago from
retreating Japanese forces. Presidential advisers later suggested he
revise the wording of his famous statement to "We shall return", so the
rest of the army and the White House could bathe in his reflected glory.
He refused. MacArthur later said of Corregidor: "It needs no epitaph
from me. It has sounded its own story at the mouth of its guns."
The Philippines was granted full independence from the US on 4 July
1946, when Manuel Roxas was sworn in as the first president of the
republic.
The Marcos years
The post-war period in the Philippines was marked by prevarication in
America over what official US policy was towards the archipelago, and by
the re-emergence of patronage and corruption in Philippine politics. It
was in these rudderless years, that Ferdinand Marcos came to power,
promoting himself as a force for unification and reform.
Ferdinand Edralin Marcos (1917-1989) was born in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte. A
brilliant young lawyer who had successfully defended himself against a
murder charge, he was elected to the Philippine House of Representatives
in 1949 and to the Senate in 1959. He was elected president in 1965.
Marcos' first term as president was innovative and inspirational. He
invigorated both populace and bureaucracy, embarking on a huge
infrastructure programme and unifying scattered islands with a network
of roads, bridges, railways and ports. First Lady Imelda busied herself
with social welfare and cultural projects that complemented Marcos' work
in economics and foreign affairs.
Marcos was returned to a second term - the first Filipino President to
be re-elected - with the highest majority in Philippine electoral
history. The country's problems, however, were grave. Poverty, social
inequality and rural stagnation were rife. They were made harder to bear
by the rising expectations Marcos himself had fostered. Marcos was
trapped between the entrenched oligarchy, which controlled Congress, and
a rising communist insurgency, fuelled mostly by landless peasants who
had grown disenchanted with the slow speed of reform.
On September 21, 1972, Marcos declared martial law , arresting Senator
Benigno Aquino Jr and other opposition leaders. A curfew was imposed and
Congress was suspended. Eight years later, in 1980, Aquino was released
from jail and left for the US for heart surgery. When he returned from
exile on August 21, 1983, he was assassinated at the airport and the
country was outraged. At a snap election called on February 7, 1986, the
opposition united behind Aquino's widow, Cory, and her running mate
Salvador Laurel. On February 25, both Marcos and Cory claimed victory
and were sworn in at separate ceremonies. Cory became a rallying point
for change and was backed by the Catholic Church in the form of
Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, who urged people to take to the streets.
When Marcos's key allies saw which way the wind was blowing and deserted
him, the game was up. Defence Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Deputy
Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Fidel Ramos, later to become
President, announced a coup d'état . Ferdinand and Imelda fled into
exile in Hawaii and the people stormed through the gates of Malacanang
Palace.
The return of democracy
The presidency of Cory Aquino was plagued by problems because she never
managed to bring the powerful feudal families or the armed forces under
her control. Land reform was eagerly awaited by the country's landless
masses, but when Aquino realized reform would also involve her own
family's haciendas in Tarlac, she quietly shelved the idea. She survived
seven coup attempts and made little headway in improving life for the
majority of Filipinos who were - still are - living below the poverty
line. The communist New People's Army (NPA) emerged once again as a
threat and human rights abuses continued. Her legacy was that at least
she maintained some semblance of a democracy, which was something for
her successor, Fidel Ramos, to build on.
President Ramos took office on July 1, 1992 and announced plans to
create jobs, revitalize the economy and reduce the burdensome foreign
debt of US$32 billion. But the first thing he had to do was establish a
reliable electricity supply . The country was being paralyzed for hours
every day by power cuts, and no multinational companies wanted to invest
their hard-earned money under such difficult conditions. Ramos's success
in revitalizing the ailing energy sector laid the foundations for a
moderate influx of foreign investment, for industrial parks and new
manufacturing facilities. The economy picked up, but the problems were
still huge. The foreign debt was crippling and tax collection was so lax
that the government had nothing in the coffers to fall back on.
Infrastructure improved marginally and new roads and transit systems
began to take shape. Ramos also liberalized the banking sector and
travelled extensively to promote the Philippines abroad. Most Filipinos
view his years in office as a success, although when he stepped down at
the end of his six-year term in 1998, poverty and crime were rife.
His successor, former vice-president Joseph Estrada , is a former
tough-guy film actor who is known universally as Erap, a play on the
slang word pare, which means friend or buddy. Filipinos joke that
Estrada has a poor command of English and often gets his words mixed up.
He was once said to have told a reporter: "I learn quickly because I
have a pornographic memory". Estrada has a folksy, macho charm that
appeals to the masses. He has been more than happy to confirm rumours of
his legendary libido by admitting to a string of extra-marital affairs
with leading ladies. "Bill Clinton has the sex scandals, I just have the
sex," he once said.
Estrada was elected to the Presidency against politicians of greater
stature on a pro-poor platform. His rallying cry was Erap para sa
mahirap, or "Erap for the poor". He has promised food security, jobs,
mass housing, education and health for all. Whether these big promises
can be kept remains to be seen. His presidency got off to a rocky start,
plagued by various tawdry scandals that he swept aside and more serious
accusations of a lack of direction and a return to the cronyism of the
Marcos years. Many are worried that if Estrada fails to deliver on his
bold - some say reckless - campaign promises, the poor will quickly grow
disenchanted.
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