Philippines: Geography & Location

• The Republic of the Philippines was named in 1543 to honor King Philip II of Spain and it was called the Philippine Islands before independence.

Location and Geography

• The Philippines consists of 7,107 islands with a total area of 111,830 square miles (307,055 square kilometers).
• The country is located on the Pacific Rim of Southeast Asia, with about 2,000 islands inhabited.
• Luzon, the largest island, is in the north and holds one-third of the land and half the population.
• Mindanao, the second-largest island, is located in the south.
• The Philippines extends 1,152 miles (1,854 kilometers) from north to south and is 688 miles (1,107 kilometers) wide.
• Bordered by: South China Sea (west), Philippine Sea (east), Celebes Sea (south), and Luzon Strait (north), Taiwan is the nearest neighbor.
• Malaysia and Indonesia are the closest nations to the south, while Vietnam and China are the nearest neighbors on the mainland of Asia.
• The islands are volcanic; Mount Mayon in southern Luzon erupted in 2000 and Mount Pinatubo in central Luzon erupted in 1991 and 1992, causing destruction and displacement
• Small islands have mountainous centers with coastal plains due to their volcanic nature.
• Luzon features a broad central valley in the northern provinces along the Cagayan River.
• Mindanao and Panay also have central plains.
• Northern Luzon includes the Sierra Madres on the eastern coast and the Cordilleras in the center.
• The highest peak is Mount Apo in Mindanao, reaching 9,689 feet (2,954 meters).
• The climate is hot due to the country's proximity to the equator, with consistent temperatures except during typhoons.
• The dry season spans January to June, while the wet season with monsoon rains occurs from July to December.
• Temperatures are cooler from November through January, dropping below 30 degrees Celsius (85 degrees Fahrenheit).
• April and May experience temperatures exceeding 39 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Typhoons typically occur from June through November.

Demography

• The population in July 2000 was estimated at eighty-one million.
• The average life expectancy is sixty-seven years.
• Four percent of the population is over age sixty-five.
• Metropolitan Manila is the most populous area, housing eight to ten million residents.

Linguistic Affiliation

• Filipino, based on Tagalog with native and English words, is the official language.
• Only 55% of residents speak Filipino fluently.
• English is used in colleges, universities, courts, and the government.
• There are seventy to eighty dialects derived from Malay languages.
• Cebuano (southern islands), Ilocano (north), and Tagalog (National Capital Region) are three dialects of national importance.
• "Taglish," a mix of Filipino and English is becoming a standard language.
• The Philippines is proud to be the country with the third-largest number of English speakers in the world, including formal language and Australian/British terms.
• Spanish was taught until 1968 but is seldom used today however, Spanish numbers and words are included in the dialects.
• Dependence on English is a concern, but English remains common because Filipino lacks scientific/technological terms.

Symbolism

• National symbols are emphasized since independence to create nationhood.
• The Philippine eagle, the second-largest eagle in the world, is the national bird.
• Dr. Jose Rizal is the national hero whose streets and statues are found in most towns and some municipalities are named for him.
• The flag has a blue horizontal band, a red horizontal band, and a white field, flown with the blue band on top in times of peace and the red band on top in times of war.
• Flag ceremonies occur weekly at governmental offices and daily at schools.
• Traffic stops while the flag is honored, the national anthem is sung, a national pledge is recited in Filipino, and the provincial hymn is sung.

History and Ethnic Relations - Emergence of the Nation

• Early inhabitants reached the islands via land bridges connecting to Malaysia and China.
• The Negritos were the first people, arriving 25,000 years ago.
• Later immigrants came from Indonesia.
• Immigrants from Indo-China brought copper and bronze, constructing rice terraces at Benaue in northern Luzon after the land bridges disappeared.
• The next immigrants came from Malaysia and are credited with agriculture development and carabao (water buffalo) introduction as draft animals.
• Trade with China began in the first century C.E., with Filipino ores and wood traded for finished products.
• Islam began spreading in 1380 in the Sulu Islands and Mindanao, where it remains the major religion.
• The Muslim influence had spread as far north as Luzon when Ferdinand Magellan arrived in 1521 to claim the archipelago for Spain.
• Magellan was killed after Lapu-Lapu refused Spanish rule and Christianity.
• Miguel Lopez de Legazpi landed in the Philippines in 1564 and consolidated Spanish power, designating Manila as the capital in 1572.
• Roman Catholic religious orders began Christianizing the populace, but the Sulu Islands and Mindanao remained Muslim.
• The Spanish governed those areas through a treaty with the sultan of Mindanao, without attempting to conquer the deep mountain regions of northern Luzon.
• Occupation by Spain and Catholicism were the first steps in creating a national identity and Filipinos became interested in attaining independence in the mid-19th century.
• In the 1890s, the novels of José Rizal, his exile, and his execution created a national martyr and rallying point.
• Armed attacks and propaganda increased, waning as Spanish reinforcements arrived.
• The Spanish-American War of 1898 led Emilio Aguinaldo to declare independence after the Spanish fleet's defeat in Manila Bay.
• The United States paid Spain $20 million for the Philippines under the Treaty of Paris.
• Aguinaldo did not accept United States occupation and fought until the Filipino forces were defeated.
• In 1902, the Philippines became an American territory,governed by William Howard Taft.
• Over two decades, American attitudes toward the Philippines changed, granting the islands commonwealth status in 1933, promising independence after twelve years, and retaining rights to military bases.
• The Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1942 and ruled until 1944, and the Filipino forces continued to wage guerrilla warfare.
• The return of U.S. forces ended the Japanese occupation.
• The Republic of the Philippines became independent on July 4, 1946.
• The new nation had to recover economically from the destruction caused by World War II.
• Peasant groups wanted the huge land holdings encouraged by the Spanish and Americans broken apart.
• Congress passed the first law to distribute land to farmers in 1955.
• Ferdinand Marcos governed from 1965 to 1986, ruling by martial law from 1972 to 1981.
• Marcos was reelected in 1982, but a strong opposition movement emerged.
• Benigno Aquino's murder after his return from exile led his wife, Corazon Aquino, to enter the presidential race in 1986.
• Marcos claimed victory but was accused of fraud, leading to "People Power" as residents of Manila protested the Marcos regime.
• The Filipino military supported Aquino, who was declared president, and the Marcos family exiled to Hawaii.
• The Aquino years saw the passage of a new constitution with term limits and the withdrawal of U.S. military forces in 1991, when the government did not grant a new lease for United States use of military bases.
• Fidel Ramos, the first Protestant president, served from 1991 to 1998.
• Major problems included a fall in the value of the peso and the demands of Muslim groups in Mindanao for self-determination and/or independence.
• Joseph "Erap" Estrada was elected for one six-year term in 1999.
• The demands of the Muslim rebels escalated, culminating with the kidnaping of twenty-nine people by the Abu Sayyaf group in April 2000.
• Late in the year 2000, impeachment proceedings were brought against Estrada, who was charged with financial corruption.

National Identity

• Filipinos had little sense of national identity until the revolutionary period of the nineteenth century.
• The word "Filipino" did not refer to native people until the mid-nineteenth century.
• Before that period, the treatment of the islands as a single governmental unit by Spain and the conversion of the population to Catholicism were the unifying factors.
• As a desire for independence grew, a national flag was created, national heroes emerged, and a national anthem was written.
• A national language was designated in 1936 and national costumes were established.
• The sense of a national identity is fragile, with true allegiance given to a kin group, a province, or a municipality.

Ethnic Relations

• Ninety-five percent of the population is of Malay ancestry, with the other identifiable group being of Chinese ancestry.
• Sino-Filipinos are envied for their success in business and have maintained their own schools, which stress Chinese traditions.
• Seventy to eighty language groups separate people along tribal lines; approximately two million residents are designated as cultural minority groups protected by the government.
• The majority of those sixty ethnic groups live in the mountains of northern Luzon.
• People whose skin is darker are considered less capable, intelligent, and beautiful and descendants of the Negritos tribe are regarded as inferior.

Urbanism, Architecture, and the Use of Space

• The architecture of the islands shows Spanish influence, with Spanish brick churches dominating the towns.
• Difficulty imagining how the indigenous population was able to build these structures in the 17th century.
• Filipino families enjoy close kin bonds, and extended families living together are the norm.
• Seaports and government centers had a larger proportion of Spanish buildings with wide verandas and tiled roofs.
• Towns destroyed during the liberation campaign in World War II, especially in central and northern Luzon, were rebuilt using wood.
• Areas of Manila destroyed during World War II have been restored to their historical Spanish appearance.
• Construction in Manila ranges from standard multistory offices to Western-style gated housing areas for the affluent, to tenements and shacks.
• Traditional houses in rural areas are nipa huts constructed of bamboo and roofed with leaves from palm trees or corrugated metal.
• Cinder blocks are the most commonly building material used, plastered and painted on the inside and outside when funds permit.
• Plasterers add decorative touches to the exterior.
• Older houses have a "dirty" open-air kitchen for food preparation, whereas newer, larger houses designate a room as a dirty kitchen in contrast to the "clean" kitchen, which has an eating area where utensils are stored.
• Enclosed kitchens provide a roof over the cook and keep dogs and chickens from wandering into the cooking area, with a roof pitched to run off rain.
• Middle-class houses and commercial buildings have tiled roofs.

Food in Daily Life

• Rice is essential to a Filipino meal, and plain steamed rice is the basis of the diet.
• Three crops a year are harvested to provide enough rice, and surpluses are stored in case of drought.
• Saltwater and freshwater fish and shellfish are eaten daily, either fresh or salted.
• Fish, chicken, and pork are usually fried, while people are becoming more health-conscious and choosing other cooking methods.
• Garlic is used for health.
• No spicy food.
• All food is cooked on gas burners or wood or charcoal fires and is allowed to get cold before it is eaten.
• Rice is cooked first and then set on the table while the next items are made and served.
• They use forks and spoons for dining, eating all the food from a spoon.
• The traditional method of placing food on a banana leaf and eating with one's hands is used throughout the country.
• Acceptable to eat with hands at restaurants.
• Breakfast is served at 6 A.M. and consists of leftovers.
• Eggs and sausage are served on special occasions.
• Pan de sal is purchased from vendors in the morning.
• People eat merienda in the midmorning and afternoon.
• A mixture of instant coffee, evaporated milk, and sugar may be served since Filipinos like sweet foods.
• Coca-cola is also popular, with sweet rolls, doughnuts, and noodle dishes available.
• Lunch is a light meal consisting of rice and another dish, often a fish or meat stew.
• Fish, pork, or chicken is served at dinner with a soup made of lentils or vegetables.
• Fatty pork is a favorite, and small cubes of browned pork fat are considered a special dish.
• There's an abundance of fruits year-round, particularly different kinds of bananas, mangoes, the national fruit, and fruit salad with condensed milk and coconut milk is popular on special occasions.
• Vegetables are part of a soup or stew, and includes green beans and potatoes.
• Camote leaves are used as salads or soup, and ube potatoes are used in cakes and ice cream.
• Halo-halo, consisting of corn kernels, ice cream, small gelatin pieces, cornflakes, and shaved ice, is a popular dessert.
• Patis, a salty fish sauce, is placed on tables to be added to any of the dishes.
• There are national and international fast food chains with all meals including rice, but fries are also on the menu and banana ketchup is preferred.
• Jollibee has entered the U.S. market and plans to expand to other cities with Filipino populations.

Food Customs

• Léchon, a suckling pig roasted until the skin forms a hard brown crust, is served at important occasions.
• The strips of skin with attached fat are considered the best pieces, and the amount of léchon served indicates the host and occasion.
• The pig's blood is used to make dinuguan.
• Sticky rice w/ coconut milk and sugarcane syrup is wrapped in banana leaves.
• Gin and beer are available for men and are accompanied by balut, a duck egg with an embryo.
• Dog meat is a delicacy, but selling dog meat is illegal at markets due to rabies.

Basic Economy

• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing employ 40% of the 30 million employed.
• Light manufacturing, construction, mining, and service industries provide the remaining jobs.
• The unemployment rate is over 9% and 50% of the population lives below the poverty line.
• Lack of jobs due to the Asian financial crisis and the El Niño weather cycle.
• Many people "volunteer" in the health care field hoping that a position becomes available and work seven days a week to maintain or improve their lives.
• 800,000 citizens work overseas as merchant seamen, health care, household, or factory workers in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
• Overseas Workers (OSWs) have a governmental agency to oversee their interests w/ laws governing hours, insurance coverage, and vacation time, but may be exploited and mistreated.
• Recruitment centers are in large municipalities.
• OSWs send $7 billion home each year, providing 4% of the gross domestic product.

Land Tenure and Property

• 19% of the land is arable, and 46% consists of forests and woodlands.
• Deforestation by legal and illegal loggers has reduced tress.
• Large amounts of arable land are the hands of absentee landowners with land grants from Spanish colonial period.
• Loopholes in land reform legislation allow owners to retain possession with the people responsible for enacting and enforcing the legislation often being from the same families that own the land.
• Guerrilla tactics are used by peasant groups such as the HUKs(People's Liberation Army), or Hukbong Magpapayang Bayan) in the 1950s and the NPA(New People's Army) to provide land for the poor.
• High demand to clear forests for farmland, using slash and burn techniques.
• Random timber destruction eliminates endangered species of plants and animals, which creates concerns for environmentalists.

Commercial Activities

• The local market is a key element in retail trade.
• Markets operate once or twice per week in smaller communities and daily in larger municipalities.
• Trade happens in a barter system.
• Suki relationships are established to create a recurring buyer and vendor relationship.
• Markets are divided into "dry" markets for clothing and household items and "wet" markets for food.
• Sari-sari are small neighborhood stores with packaged goods.
• There are no fresh foods and are convenient.
• Larger towns have supermarkets with fixed prices that are near markets.
• Fixed-price electronic equipment, furniture, and clothing are sold in stores or at kiosks.
• Shopping malls with Western shops are throughout metropolitan Manila and provincial capitals.

Major Industries

• Manila, with 10% of population, is the primary manufacturing area that has ports to ship goods.
• Plants produce electrical and electronic components, chemicals, clothing, and machinery.
• Provinces produce processed foods, textiles, tobacco, and construction materials.
• In remote areas, manufacturing often is domestic.

Trade

• Rice, bananas, cashews, pineapple, mangoes, coconut are agricultural products.
• Manufactured products include electronic equipment, machinery, and clothing.
• United States, members of European Union, and Japan are the major trading partners.
• Imports are consumer goods and fuel.
• Funding and mountainous terrain has not enabled mineral and petroleum reserve development.
• They're is difficult transportation due to narrow Metropolitan Manila roads
• Interisland shipping costs add to the expense of manufacturing.
• Congress, gov't agencies, and financial community are trying to find solutions to manufacturing expense issues.
• Road construction is accelerating.
• A light rail system is constructed.
• Filipino membership in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an important factor in trade policy development.

Division of Labor

• Entire families work together in the rice fields because of limited mechanization in rural areas, planting seedlings and adjusting water levels.
• Tobacco, corn and sugarcane crops need full family participation during planting and harvest.
• Common industrialized countries' traditional roles exist in cities.
• Men perform heavy physical tasks.
• Women work as clerks, teachers, and in healthcare.

Classes and Castes

• Filipinos believe in social acceptance and want education for upward mobility.
• Color of skin, beauty, and money are the criteria for social position.
• Light skin results to intelligence.
• Family position and patron-client associations are useful in achieving success.
• Government officials, wealthy friends, and community leaders are sponsors at hundreds of weddings and baptisms each year.
• There is a gap between the wealthy and the poor, with the middle class too obligated to those in power to make societal changes.
• Basketball is a popular sport that include American and Filipino professional teams.
• Cockfights are a popular sport for men that ends when one of the cocks is unable to fighting.
• Cuneta Astrodome in Metropolitan Manila is used for both basketball and cockfights.
• The chinese game, Mah-jongg, is popular.

Symbols of Social Stratification

• Money measures power.
• Wealthy people lead western lifestyles.
• People travel abroad often and pride themselves on the number of Westerners as friends.
• Few people outside of Manila own their car.
• Expensive houses and furnishing show social position.
• People use upholstered furniture instead of traditional wooden couches and beds, rows of electrical appliances that are never used, and floor rugs.
• Women above poverty have big wardrobes.

Political Life

• The country has a republican form of government from the commonwealth era of three branches.
• The first constitution was based from the U.S in 1935.
• President Marcos replaced the constitution with one for a head of state, a prime minister, and a unicameral legislature in 1972.
• The president had the power to dissolve the legislature, appoint the prime minister, and declare himself prime minister.
• Term limits were included in the 1987 Consitution similar to the 1935.
• The 221 House members serve three consecutive three-year terms like provincial governors. The 24 senators serve 2 six-year terms.
• The president serves one six-year term while the vice president may serve two six-year terms witho running on the same ticket and may be political opponents.
• The 70 provinces have governors but no legislative bodies.
• Cityhood is desirable since cities are funded separately from the provinces.
• Each province is divided into municipalities, with the barangay the smallest gov't unit.
• The Barangay contains up to 200 dwellings and elementary.
• The barangay captain distributes funds at the local level.

Leadership and Political Officials

• Common charges of corruption, graft, and cronyism
• People accept cronyism and diversion of funds from Gov_t officials.
• Reforming to rewrite the constitution to eliminate term limits and establish a two-party system.
• Politicians change parties, because the political parties have no ideologies.
• People who are politically active were in politics during commonwealth era.
• Joseph Estrada, whose time as president was 1998–2004, was a film star that went to become the mayor and on to vice president in the Ramos administration.
• Previous presidents had military backgrounds, but Corazon Aquino, entered politics after her husband was assassinated.

Social Problems and Control

• Formal law system mirrors the U.S.
• Police force became army since 1991, and a system of trials for crime is the apparatus for dealing with crime.
• Theft is the most common crime due to the cash economy.
• Petty thieves are unlikely to apprehended unless theft is discovered right away.
• Murder is a common crime often under the influence of alcohol, and guns are readily available.
• Incest is punished if the victim is under fifteen.
• An ongoing concern is indigenous groups for local control.
• MSulim Mindanao has a strong separatist movement with increasing terror attacks.

Military activity

• The armed forces have an army, navy, coast guard, and an air force.
• The army includes national police, the navy includes the marines.
• Military service is voluntary.
• The military has public respect and expenditures account for 1.5 percent of the gross domestic product.
• Military activity is focused on terrorist activity in Mindanao.

Social Welfare and Change Programs

• There were land reform concerns.
• During the Spanish and American rule 2 percent of the population had land and owners will not give up land w/o recompense.
• Christian farmers in Mindanao was insufficient in resolving the problem.
• Poverty will remain the nations primary problem until there is a land reform.
• governmental organizations give help and medical services for establishing small craft and basic services for the disabled.

Social Welfare & other orgs

• Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) solve social problems.
• The organizations is most visibly known in Manila that provides support to squatters.
• Poor people move to urban areas looking for housing and settling in unsafe areas.

Gender Roles and Statuses

• Traditional roles are standard.
• Men cultivate lands, everyone helps harvest lands, Women are in gardens and take care of the home.
• Occupational gender lines are blurred.
• The Relative Status of Women and Men.
• When families desire sons.
• Rights to equality are established.
• The bride acknowledges a role in the wedding of helping out financially.
• Women can perform well business-wise.

Marriage

• Celebrated in offices for the civil ceremony.
• Principal sponsors are involved who give a lot of influence, that indicates success of marriage.
• Most adults marry and if they dont they get help w/ female relatives
• Preschoolers go to school.
• Couples pays for education.

Domestic Unit

• The extended family is important where close women from the family make decisions.
• Unmarried people may give a home to family members.
• Grandparents are care givers for children.

Inheritance.

• Laws provide that everyone who the parents acknowledge can share.
• Kin Groups. Closeness counts and any body is is a cousin.

Care

• Young kids are raised by family.
• Grand folks often bring young ones
• Helpers take care of daily tasks.

Rearing

• There's no toilet and eating training.
• Kids learn self-esteem.
• Families celebrate firs birthday.

Children

• Filipinos understand that education leads to success.

Higher Education

• College provides high positions in society. They have millions of students.

Etiquette

• People believe it is their duty to run things smoothly. It's good not to lose face.
• There isn't an importance in managing time.
• The invite for lunch is a must.
• People walk hand to hand from relatives. Shorts aren't often worn.

Religion

• Philippines are Christian.
• People do the rosary.

Religious Beliefs

• Christian missionaries gave examples for private schooling.
• There are Muslims, Christian groups, etc and those are respected.

Religious Practitioners

• Faith and holy figures are powerful figures.
• Faith healers heal by touching. P

Rituals and Holy Places

• Easter is observed.

Death and the

• Vigil is held in deceased home.

All Saints

• Family honors deceased

Life

• Is above 75yrs old and given healthcare at no cost.

Medicine and Helathcare

• The first country world.
• Polie is free
• Public service is for everyone with local services.
• Private services are strong.
• Help is involved while in hospital.
• A very common prob is 3 is under nourished.
• High blood is a common condition, the 4th highest.

Herbal

• Are often used.

Secured

• New year's eve is a time for fireworks.
• Celebrations are enjoyed

secular celebrations

• New Year's Day family day that it turns with rizal.

Support

• gov't organizations in the area.

literature

• influenced by western religion.

Art

• reflective of themes throughout
• Spanish and the culture

State

• Focus in on needs for for country. Development and balance.
• Emphasis focuses on poverty.