Informed Questions Paper: Philippine Politics
Abstract
The Republic of the Philippines is a relatively young nation, having been in existence for less than sixty years. Yet, its islands have a very old and rich history - a history that has been influenced by some of the greatest empires and most powerful nations in the history of the world. The majority of its citizens are of Malay stock, descendants of Indonesians and Malays who migrated to the Philippine islands long before the Christian era of the 16th century. Chinese merchants and traders were the first of the non-Malays to settle in the islands, arriving in the ninth century A.D., and remain its most significant minority group today. Arabs then began to arrive in the 14th century, bringing Islam with them (primarily to the southern islands). Europeans first appeared in 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan claimed the Philippines for Spain during his circumnavigation of the globe. That period of Spanish rule continued for almost four hundred years and was marked by numerous uprisings, ending in Spain's ceding of the islands to the United States in 1898 as part of the spoils of the Spanish-American war. America's occupation of the Philippines was also initially marked by a war of Filipino resistance against American rule (1898 to 1902). The U.S. government maintained that U.S. administration of the Philippines was intended to be temporary, pending the development of institutions that would support a free and democratic government and the readiness and ability of the Philippine people to assume responsibility for their own governance. U.S. administration of the Philippines ultimately lasted nearly fifty years, ending in 1946 with Philippine independence following the Second World War (during which the Japanese occupied the islands). The geography of the Philippines has also played a key role in the nation's history.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA441546
Entities
People
- Michael S. Rogers
Organizations
- National War College