About the Philippines
Philippine History
Early History | Early Spanish Period | Decline of Spanish Rule | Trade with Europe and America | Chinese Mestizos | Friarocracy | Nationalism | José Rizal and the Propaganda Movement | Katipunan | 1896 Uprising and Rizal's Execution | SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR | Outbreak of War, 1898 | Malolos Constitution and the Treaty of Paris | War of Resistance | UNITED STATES RULE | A Collaborative Philippine Leadership | Jones Act | Economic and Social Developments | COMMONWEALTH | Commonwealth Politics, 1935-41 | World War II | INDEPENDENCE | Economic Relations with the United States | Security Agreements | Huk Rebellion | Magsaysay, Garcia, and Macapagal Administrations | Marcos and the Road to Martial Law, 1965-72 | Proclamation 1081 and Martial Law | From Aquino's Assassination to People's Power
Philippine Geography
The Philippine archipelago lies in Southeast Asia in a position that has led to its becoming a cultural crossroads, a place where Malays, Chinese, Spaniards, Americans, and others have interacted to forge that unique cultural and racial blend known to the world as Filipino. The archipelago numbers some 7,100 islands and the nation claims an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles from its shores.
The Philippines has a tropical marine climate dominated by a rainy season and a dry season. The summer monsoon brings heavy rains to most of the archipelago from May to October, whereas the winter monsoon brings cooler and drier air from December to February.
Philippine Society
THE PHILIPPINES CONTINUED to be primarily a rural society in 1990, despite increasing signs of urbanization. The family remained the prime unit of social awareness, and ritual kin relations and associations of a patron-client nature still were the basis for social groupings beyond the nuclear family, rather than horizontal ties forged among members of economically based social classes.
POPULATION | ETHNICITY, REGIONALISM, AND LANGUAGE | Historical Development of Ethnic Identities | Language Diversity and Uniformity | Lowland Christian Population | Muslim Filipinos | Upland Tribal Groups | Chinese | SOCIAL VALUES AND ORGANIZATION | RURAL SOCIAL PATTERNS | URBAN SOCIAL PATTERNS | ROLE AND STATUS WOMEN | RELIGION | Historical Background | Roman Catholicism | Indigenous Christian Churches | Protestantism | Islam | Ecumenical Developments | Church and State | EDUCATION | HEALTH
Philippine Economy
THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY EXPERIENCED considerable difficulty in the 1980s. Real gross national product (GNP) grew at an annual average of only 1.8 percent, less than the 2.5 percent rate of population increase. The US$668 GNP per capita income in 1990 was below the 1978 level, and approximately 50 percent of the population lived below the poverty line. The 1988 unemployment rate of 8.3 percent (12.3 percent in urban areas) peaked at 11.4 percent in early 1989, and the underemployment rate, particularly acute for poor, less-educated, and elderly people, was approximately twice that of unemployment. In 1988, about 470,000 Filipinos left the country to work abroad in contract jobs or as merchant seamen.
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DEVELOPMENT | Economic Development Until 1970 | Martial Law and its Aftermath, (1972-86) | The Aquino Government | ECONOMIC PLANNING AND POLICY | AGRICULTURE | Agricultural Geography | Agricultural Production and Government Policy | Rice and the Green Revolution | Coconut Industry | Sugar | Land Tenancy and Land Reform | Livestock | Forestry | Fishing | INDUSTRY | Manufacturing | Mining | Energy | Tourism | EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR RELATIONS | POVERTY AND WELFARE | INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS | International Trade | Foreign Investment | Political Economy of United States Military Bases
Philippine Government
The 1987 constitution returned the Philippines to a presidential system. The national government is in theory highly centralized, with few powers devolving to provincial and municipal governments. In fact, local potentates often reserve powers to themselves that the national government is not even aware of. The national government consists of three branches: the executive, headed by the president; two houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives; and the Supreme Court, which heads an independent judiciary. A bill of rights guarantees political freedoms, and the constitution provides for regular elections.
GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE | Constitutional Framework | National Government | Local Government | POLITICS | Marcos | Corazon Aquino | Political Parties | Voting and Elections | Return of Old-Style Politics in the Countryside | Church-State Relations | Civil-Military Relations | The Media | FOREIGN AFFAIRS | Filipino Nationalism | Relations with the United States | Relations with Asian Neighbors
Philippine Bibliography
About the Philippines | top of page | back to About Philippines | Source
Source: Country Studies - Ronald E. Dolan, ed. Philippines: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1991.
