The Philippines Illustrated
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The Philippines Illustrated A Visitors Guide & Fact Book By Graham Winter of www.philippineholiday.com Fig.1 & Fig 2. Apulit Island Beach, Palawan All photographs were taken by & are the property of the Author Images of Flower Island, Kubo Sa Dagat, Pandan Island & Fantasy Place supplied courtesy of the owners. CHAPTERS 1) History of The Philippines 2) Fast Facts: Politics & Political Parties Economy Trade & Business General Facts Tourist Information Social Statistics Population & People 3) Guide to the Regions 4) Cities Guide 5) Destinations Guide 6) Guide to The Best Tours 7) Hotels, accommodation & where to stay 8) Philippines Scuba Diving & Snorkelling. PADI Diving Courses 9) Art & Artists, Cultural Life & Museums 10) What to See, What to Do, Festival Calendar Shopping 11) Bars & Restaurants Guide. Filipino Cuisine Guide 12) Getting there & getting around 13) Guide to Girls 14) Scams, Cons & Rip-Offs 15) How to avoid petty crime 16) How to stay healthy. How to stay sane 17) Do’s & Don’ts 18) How to Get a Free Holiday 19) Essential items to bring with you. Advice to British Passport Holders 20) Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Disasters & The Dona Paz Incident 21) Residency, Retirement, Working & Doing Business, Property 22) Terrorism & Crime 23) Links 24) English-Tagalog, Language Guide. Native Languages & #s of speakers 25) Final Thoughts Appendices Listings: a) Govt.Departments. Who runs the country? b) 1630 hotels in the Philippines c) Universities d) Radio Stations e) Bus Companies f) Information on the Philippines Travel Tax g) Ferries information and schedules. Chapter 1) History of The Philippines The inhabitants are thought to have migrated to the Philippines from Borneo, Sumatra & Malaya 30,000 years ago. The Malayan culture has survived to this day among tribes such as the Igorots in the North of Luzon. Fossil evidence of Homo Sapiens, some 50,000 years old, has been found in the Tabon Cave Complex , located on Lipuun Point, Quezon, on the west coast of Palawan. It is estimated that the area was inhabited around fifty thousandyears ago. Arab traders from Malaya & Borneo introduced Islam in the 14th century into Mindanao & some of the Islands in the south. So the islands were Muslim before the Europeans arrived. Their influence extended north to Luzon over time. The first Europeans to visit were Fernao de Magalhaes (Ferdinand Magellan) & his crew from Portugal who began the first sea voyage around the world in 1519. In 1521 he d iscovered the Philippines . He was slain shortly after by local chieftan, Lapu Lapu on Mactan Island, Cebu after trying to convert local inhabitants to Christianity. Other Spanish expeditions followed, including one from Mexico (A Spanish Colony then) under Lopez de Villalobos , who in 1542 named the Islands for the Royal child Philip , later to become Philip II of Spain . The conquest by Spain began in earnest in 1564, when an expedition from Mexico, comm&ed by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi arrived. By 1571, he established the city of Manila, despite the opposition of the Portuguese, who were active traders in Asia. Bohol History After Ferdinand Magellan was slain in 1521, Spain sent four more expeditions to compete in the race with Portugal to control the spice trade, all failed. It wasn’t until Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, sailing from Mexico with four ships and nearly four hundred men in early 1565 that a Spanish settlement was finally established. Like Magellan forty years earlier, Legazpi met hostile native warriors. An attempted landing on the island of Cebu resulted in the death of one of his soldiers. Deciding to sail south toward Mindanao, Legazpi’s fleet met bad weather and they came upon the island of Bohol. Here he captured a trading vessel from Borneo, an Islamic Malay pilot gave him the information that the Filipinos ere trading with the Moluccas, Borneo, Java, Malacca, India and China. This knowledge armed Legazpi with a basis for establishing a peaceful colonisation. until 1563, Portuguese raiders plundered the Visayan seas around Bohol, they killed or enslaved 1,000 inhabitants.In 1565, Legazpi learned that the hostility of the locals was due to the marauding expeditions by the Portuguese, since the Spaniards look like Portuguese, the Bohol inhabitants thought they were of the same intent. Legazpi, with the aid of the Malay pilot, explained to the two kings of Bohol, Si Katuna and Si Gala that they had come on a mission of peace, on learning this, the people became friendly and welcomed them. On March 16th 1565, Legazpi and Si Katuna performed a blood compact to seal their friendship. A few days later Legazpi had a similar pact with Gala. The Conquest of Cebu Legazpi decided to establish in Cebu, so the fleet, guided by Kings Gala and Katuna, left Bohol and anchored at Cebu on April 27, 1565. The Cebuanos, led by their king Tupas (Humabon’s son), were ready to resist the white invaders. Under flag of truce, a Father Urdaneta went ashore to negotiate for peace with King Tupas, but the King refused. Legazpi then resorted to force. The Spanish soldiers landed and engaged the Cebuanos in battle. The Spanish won, forcing the defenders to retreat to the hills . Legazpi sought to win the Cebuanos with the help of Cid Hamal, a Mohammedan Malay, he was able to convince Tupas that his intentions were peaceful. Accordingly, on June 4, 1565, a peace treaty signed, the Filipinos agreed to recognize Spanish sovereignty and pay tribute and in return, Legazpi promised to protect them and to conduct trade. Legazpi had founded the first permanent Spanish settlement in Cebu. Manila repulsed the attack of the Chinese pirate Limahong in 1574. The Chinese traded with the Filipinos for centuries, but none had settled permanently in the Islands until after the conquest. Chinese trade & labor were of great importance in the development of the Philippines, but the Chinese came to be feared & hated because of their increasing numbers, in 1603 the Spanish murdered thousands of them (later, there were other massacres of the Chinese ). There were frequent uprisings by the Filipinos against their Spanish occupiers. The people resented the ‘ encomienda ’ system, whereby the rulers could exact tribute or tax from the natives in the form of corn, wheat or livestock etc. The system was formally abolished in 1720. By the end of the 16th century Manila had become a leading commercial centre, trading with China, India & Indonesia. The Philippines supplied some wealth to Spain. The galleons trading between the Islands were often attacked by English pirates . There was also trouble in the period from 1600 to 1663 with continual wars with the Dutch, who were laying the foundations of their East Indies Empire. As the power of the Spanish Empire waned, the Jesuit orders became more influential in the Philippines & acquired large amounts of property. Opposition to the power of the clergy & Spanish injustices , bigotry & oppression brought about the desire for independence. This was greatly inspired by the writings of Jose Rizal & in 1896 revolution began in Cavite , it spread throughout the Islands. After the execution of Rizal that December, the Filipino leader, Emilio Aguinaldo , achieved considerable success with a peace accord with Spain . The peace was short-lived, as neither side honored its agreements & the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898. After the U.S. naval victory in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, Commodore George Dewey supplied Aguinaldo with arms & urged him to rally the Filipinos against the Spanish. By the time U.S. land forces had arrived, the Filipinos had taken the entire Island of Luzon, except for the old walled city of Manila called Intramuros, which they laid to siege. The Filipinos had also declared their independence & established a republic under the first democratic constitution ever known in Asia. Their dreams of independence were crushed when the Philippines were transferred from Spain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1898), which ended the Spanish American War . In 1899, Aguinaldo led a new revolt, this time against U.S. rule. Defeated on the battlefield, the Filipinos turned to guerrilla warfare & their subjugation resulted in a massive loss of life for Filipinos, some 200,000 rebels and civilians were slaughtered. The insurrection ended with the capture of Aguinaldo in 1901. He died on February 6, 1964 of coronary thrombosis. In 1913, measures were taken to effect transition to self rule . After the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930’s & the first aggressive moves by Japan in Asia in 1931, U.S. sentiment shifted sharply toward the granting of immediate independence to the Philippines & complete independence of the Islands was achieved in 1935. In 1941, Japan attacked without warning & troops invaded the Islands in many places & launched a pincer drive on Manila. US. Gen. MacArthur’s scattered defending forces of about 80,000 troops, (four fifths of them Filipinos) were forced to withdraw to the Bataan Peninsula & Corregidor Island , where they entrenched & tried to hold out until the arrival of reinforcements, meanwhile guarding the entrance to Manila Bay. The Japanese occupied Manila on Jan. 2nd, 1942. MacArthur was ordered out by President Roosevelt & left for Australia on Mar. 11 declaring “ I shall return ” Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright assumed command. The besieged U.S./Filipino army on Bataan finally collapsed on Apr. 9th, 1942. Wainwright fought on from Corregidor with a garrison of about 11,000 men, he was overwhelmed on May 6, 1942. After his capitulation, the Japanese forced the surrender of all remaining defending units in the Islands by threatening to use the captured Bataan & Corregidor troops as hostages. Many individual soldiers refused to surrender, however & guerrilla resistance, organized & coordinated by U.S.