Philippines Travel & Tourism Guide

Travel Quotes:

On long haul flights I always drink loads and loads of water and eat light and healthy food. Lisa Snowdon

If you travel first class, you think first class and you are more likely to play first class. Ray Floyd

Philippine History

Early History

Archeological discoveries show that humans existed in the Philippines around 40,000 years ago. The Negritos, a pre-Mongoloid ethnic group that migrated from mainland Asia, settled in the islands about 30,000 years ago.

Another ethnic group known as the Malay people, a group of Malayo-Polynesian speaking people originated from the populations of Taiwanese aborigines, and settled in the Philippines approximately 6,000 years ago. They would populate the regions now known as Malaysia, Indonesia, the Pacific Islands, and Madagascar.

The indigenous people of the Philippines, traded with other Asian countries during the Prehistoric period. Before the arrival of Islam, Animism syncretized with Hinduism, and Buddhism were the religions worshipped by various Philippine indigenous kingdoms.

There was no unifying political state encompassing the entire Philippine archipelago. Instead, the region were ruled by competing thalassocracies ruled by datus, rajahs, and sultans, such as the Kingdom of Maynila, Namayan, Dynasty of Tondo, Madya-as Confederacy, the Rajahnates of Butuan, and Cebu, the sultanates of Maguindanao, and Sulu. Some of these indigenous tribes were part of the Malayan empires of Srivijaya, Majapahit, and Brunei.

Islam was brought to the Philippines by traders, and proselytizers from Malaysia, and Indonesia. By the 13th century, Islam were established in the Sulu Archipelago, and reached Mindanao, the Visayas, and Luzon by 1565. Muslims established Islamic communities.

Colonial Period

In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines, and claimed the islands for Spain. Colonization began when Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi, arrived from Mexico in 1565, and formed the first European settlements in Cebu. In 1571, they established Manila as the capital of the Spanish East Indies. The colony was governed as a territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1565 to 1821, and administered directly from Spain from 1821 to 1898.

Spanish rule brought political unification to an archipelago that later became the Philippines, and introduced elements of western civilization such as the code of law, printing and the calendar. The Philippines was ruled as a territory of New Spain from 1565 to 1821, before it was administered directly from Madrid. During that time new crops and livestock were introduced, and trade flourished. The Manila Galleon which linked Manila to Acapulco travelled once or twice a year, beginning in the late 16th century. The Spanish military fought off various indigenous revolts and several external colonial challenges, specially from the British, Chinese pirates, Dutch, and Portuguese. Roman Catholic missionaries converted most of the inhabitants to Christianity, and founded the first schools, universities and hospitals. In 1863 a Spanish decree introduced universal education, creating free public schooling in Spanish.

Between the 1730s and 1800s, the Philippines opened its forts to world trade. The economy increased, and many criollos, and mestizos became wealthy. The influx of Spanish settlers secularized churches, and government positions traditionally held by the criollos. The ideals of revolution also began to spread through the islands. Criollo insurgency resulted in the Novales, and the revolt in Cavite El Viejo in 1872 that would lead to the Philippine Revolution, founded by Andrés Bonifacio, and José Rizal.

The Spanish-American War began in Cuba in 1898, and reached the Philippines after the United States Army fought the Spanish Army during the Battle of Manila Bay. The country declared independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, and the following year, the Primera República Filipina or the First Philippine Republic were established in Malolos, Bulacan. Spain ceded the islands, together with Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam to the United States for $20 million dollars, during the Treaty of Paris held in France.

This would lead to the Philippine-American War in 1899 after the first Philippine Republic was rejected by the United States. Fighting would continue until Emilio Aguinaldo, was captured by American soldiers on March 23, 1901. The war would continue until 1913. The Philippines' status as a colony changed when it became a Commonwealth in 1935. Plans for independence over the next decade were interrupted by World War II when Japan invaded. Philippine, and United States troops defeated the Japanese in 1944. On July 4, 1946, the United States granted Philippine independence.

Contemporary Era

The Philippines faced political instability that plagued the country. Since 1946, remnants of the Hukbalahap rebel army continued to roam the rural regions, disgruntled after the government had rejected their contribution during World War II. Attempts at reconciliation were formulated by President Ramón Magsaysay. In the 1960s, the nationalistic policies were initiated by Diosdado Macapagal, that included recognition of the legacies of Aguinaldo and José P. Laurel.

The 1960s were a period of economic growth for the Philippines which developed to be one of the wealthiest in Asia. Ferdinand Marcos was elected president. Barred from seeking a third term, he declared Martial law on September 21, 1972, under the guise of political conflict, and resurgent Communist, and Islamic insurgencies, and governed by decree, along with his wife Imelda Marcos. Returning from exile in the United States, opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr., was assassinated at the Manila International Airport (also called the Ninoy Aquino International Airport) on August 21, 1983. In 1986, the People Power Revolution occurred. The people gathered, and protested in EDSA, upon the organization of the Archbishop of Manila founded by Priest Jaime Cardinal Sin. It was to oppose the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. After losing the election to Corazón Aquino, who became the first female president, and the first female President in Asia. Marcos, and his allies departed to Hawaii in exile.

The return of democracy, and government reforms after the events of 1986 were hampered by national debt, government corruption, coup attempts, a Communist insurgency, and an Islamic separatist organization. The economy improved during the administration of Fidel V. Ramos, who was elected in 1992. However, the economic improvements were negated at the onset of the East Asian financial crisis in 1997. The 2001 EDSA Revolution led to the downfall of the Philippine president, Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took leadership in 2001 following the impeachment of the Estrada government.

Source: Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Luzon Hotels and Resorts, Philippines Travel
Baguio Hotels and Resorts, Banaue Hotels and Resorts, Bataan Hotels and Resorts, Batangas Hotels and Resorts, Cavite Hotels and Resorts, La Union Hotels and Resorts, Laguna Hotels and Resorts, Laoag Hotels and Resorts, Makati Hotels and Lodgings, Manila Hotels and Accommodations, Mindoro Hotels and Resorts, Ortigas Hotels and Resorts, Ilocos Hotels and Resorts (Pagudpod), Palawan Hotels and Resorts, Pampanga Hotels and Resorts, Pangasinan Hotels and Resorts, Puerto Galera Hotels and Resorts, Quezon City Hotels and Lodgings, Subic Hotels and Resorts, Tagaytay Hotels and Resorts, Tarlac Hotels and Resorts

Visayas Hotels and Resorts, Philippines Travel
Bacolod Hotels and Resorts, Bohol Hotels and Resorts, Boracay Hotels and Resorts, Cebu Hotels and Resorts, Guimaras Hotels and Resorts, Iloilo Hotels and Resorts, Leyte Hotels and Resorts, Negros Hotels and Resorts

Mindanao Hotels and Resorts, Philippines Travel
Cagayan de Oro Hotels and Resorts, Davao Hotels and Resorts, Zamboanga Hotels and Resorts

Travel Quotes:

To travel is to take a journey into yourself. Danny Kaye

There comes a moment on a journey when something sweet, something irresistible and charming as wine raised to thirsty lips, wells up in the travellers being. Patrick MacGill