READINGS

IN
PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Villa, Esmeralda Amor D.

1BSAIS-ABM
PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Since the early 15th century, before Spain took possession of an archipelago in what is
now the Philippines, China had claimed the entire island of Luzon as her territory. However,
China’s presence in Luzon was limited to what is now the province of Pangasinan. But now —
592 years later — recent events are raising the specter of Chinese colonization of the Philippines
for the second time in history.

“Chinese traders — who were also involved in the Spice Trade — started coming to the
Philippine archipelago in the 11th century. They went as far as Butuan and Sulu. However, most of
their trade activities were in Luzon.

1380 - Muslim Arabs arrived at the Sulu Archipelago.

1521 - Ferdinand Magellan "discovers" the islands and names them: Archipelago of San
Lazaro.

- The period of the arrival of Magellan in the Philippines and during Spain financed
expeditions to the Philippine islands and then ruled them as the Captaincy General of the
Philippines within the Spanish East Indies, initially under New Spain until Mexican independence in
1821, which gave Madrid direct control over the area. It started with the arrival in 1521 of
European explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailing for Spain. The Philippines is named after King
Philip II of Spain (1556-1598) and it was a Spanish colony for over 300 years. Today the
Philippines is an archipelago of 7,000 islands. However it is believed that during the last ice age
they were joined to mainland Asia by a land bridge, enabling human beings to walk from there.
The first people in the Philippines were hunter-gatherers. However between 3,000 BC and 2,000
BC people learned to farm. They grew rice and domesticated animals. From the 10th AD century
Filipinos traded with China and by the 12th Century AD Arab merchants reached the Philippines
and they introduced Islam. Then in 1521 Ferdinand Magellan sailed across the Pacific. He landed
in the Philippines and claimed them for Spain. The Spaniards did not gain a foothold in the
Philippines until 1565 when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi led an expedition, which built a fort in
Cebu. Later, in 1571 the Spaniards landed in Luzon. Here they built the city of Intramuros (later
called Manila), which became the capital of the Philippines. Spanish conquistadors marched
inland and conquered Luzon. Along with conquistadors went friars who converted the Filipinos to
Catholicism. The friars also built schools and universities. The Spanish colony in the Philippines
brought prosperity - for the upper class anyway! Each year the Chinese exported goods such as
silk, porcelain and lacquer to the Philippines. From there they were re-exported to Mexico. The
years passed uneventfully in the Philippines until in 1762 the British captured Manila. They held it
for two years but they handed it back in 1764 under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, signed in
1763.

1872 - Gomburza (Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jocinto Zamora) were
executed by the Spaniards.

In 1872 there was a rebellion in Cavite but it was quickly crushed. However nationalist
feeling continued to grow helped by a writer named Jose Rizal (1861-1896). He wrote two novels
Noli Me Tangere (Touch me Not) and El Filibusterismo (The Filibusterer) which stoked the fires of
nationalism.

1892 - Jose Rizal founded the civic organization La Liga Filipina.

In 1892 Jose Rizal founded a movement called Liga Filipina, which called for reform rather
than revolution. As a result Rizal was arrested and exiled to Dapitan on Mindanao. Meanwhile
Andres Bonifacio formed a more extreme organisation called the Katipunan. In August 1896 they
began a revolution. Jose Rizal was accused of supporting the revolution, although he did not and
he was executed on 30 December 1896. Yet his execution merely inflamed Filipino opinion and
the revolution grew. Then in 1898 came war between the USA and Spain.

1898 - Emilio Aguinaldo assembled the Malolos Congress in Bulacan, then declares
independence in Kawit, Cavite

On 30 April 1898 the Americans defeated the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. Meanwhile
Filipino revolutionaries had surrounded Manila. Their leader, Emilio Aguinaldo declared the
Philippines independent on 12 June. However as part of the peace treaty Spain ceded the
Philippines to the USA. The Americans planned to take over. War between American forces in
Manila and the Filipinos began on 4 February 1899. The Filipino-American War lasted until 1902
when Aguinaldo was captured.
1935 - Filipino people approve constitution creating the Philippine Commonwealth with
Manuel Quezon y Molina as president.

American rule in the Philippines was paternalistic. They called their policy 'Benevolent
Assimilation'. They wanted to 'Americanize' the Filipinos but they never quite succeeded.
However they did do some good. Many American teachers were sent to the Philippines in a ship
called the Thomas and they did increase literacy. The Philippines were made a commonwealth
and were semi-independent. Manuel Quezon became president. The USA promised that the
Philippines would become completely independent in 1945.

1941 - Japanese invades the Philippines, and defeats Gen. Douglas MacArthur at Bataan
and Corregidor; Quezon establishes government in exile in the U.S.

However in December 1941 Japan attacked the US fleet at Pearl Harbor. On 10 December
1941 Japanese troops invaded the Philippines. They captured Manila on 2 January 1941. By 6 May
1942 all of the Philippines were in Japanese hands. However American troops returned to the
Philippines in October 1944. They recaptured Manila in February 1945. The Philippines became
independent on 4 July 1946. Manuel Roxas was the first president of the newly independent
nation.

1965 - Ferdinand E. Marcos is elected by a big majority as president.

Ferdinand Marcos (1917-1989) was elected president in 1965. He was re-elected in 1969.
However the Philippines was dogged by poverty and inequality. In the 1960s a land reform
program began. However many peasants were frustrated by its slow progress and a Communist
insurgency began in the countryside. On 21 September 1972 Marcos declared martial law. He
imposed a curfew, suspended Congress and arrested opposition leaders. The Marcos dictatorship
was exceedingly corrupt and Marcos and his cronies enriched themselves. Then, in 1980
opposition leader Benigno Aquino went into exile in the USA. When he returned on 21 August
1983 he was shot. Aquino became a martyr and Filipinos were enraged by his murder.

In February 1986 Marcos called an election. The opposition united behind Cory Aquino
the widow of Benigno. Marcos claimed victory (a clear case of electoral fraud). Cory Aquino also
claimed victory and ordinary people took to the streets to show their support for her. The
followers of Marcos deserted him and he bowed to the inevitable and went into exile. Things did
not go smoothly for Corazon Aquino. (She survived 7 coup attempts). Furthermore, the American
bases in the Philippines (Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Base) were unpopular with many
Filipinos who felt they should go. In 1992 Mount Pinatubo erupted and covered Clark in volcanic
ash forcing the Americans to leave. They left Subic Bay in 1993.