1.
Philippines
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The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila. The Philippines has an area of 300,000 square kilometers, and it is the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. As of 2013, approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas, multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelagos earliest inhabitants and they were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples. Exchanges with Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Islamic nations occurred, then, various competing maritime states were established under the rule of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization, in 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Roman Catholicism becoming the dominant religion, during this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, since then, the Philippines has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship by a non-violent revolution. It is a member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands of Leyte, eventually the name Las Islas Filipinas would be used to cover all the islands of the archipelago. Before that became commonplace, other such as Islas del Poniente. The official name of the Philippines has changed several times in the course of its history, during the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the establishment of the República Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the name Philippines began to appear, since the end of World War II, the official name of the country has been the Republic of the Philippines. The metatarsal of the Callao Man, reliably dated by uranium-series dating to 67,000 years ago is the oldest human remnant found in the archipelago to date and this distinction previously belonged to the Tabon Man of Palawan, carbon-dated to around 26,500 years ago. Negritos were also among the archipelagos earliest inhabitants, but their first settlement in the Philippines has not been reliably dated, there are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos
2.
House of Representatives of the Philippines
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The House of Representatives of the Philippines, is the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines. It is often informally called Congress, Members of the House are officially styled as Representative and sometimes informally called Congressmen/Congresswomen and are elected to a three-year term. They can be re-elected, but cannot serve more than three consecutive terms, around eighty percent of congressmen are district representatives, representing a particular geographical area. There are 234 legislative districts in the country, each composed of about 250,000 people, there are also party-list representatives elected through the party-list system who constitute not more than twenty percent of the total number of representatives. The House of Representatives is headed by the Speaker, currently Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte, the official headquarters of the House of Representatives is at the Batasang Pambansa located in the Batasan Hills in Quezon City in Metro Manila. The building is simply called Batasan and the word has also become a metonym to refer to the House of Representatives. At the beginning of American colonial rule, from March 16,1900, william Howard Taft was chosen to be the first American civilian Governor-General and the first leader of this Philippine Commission, which subsequently became known as the Taft Commission. This bicameral legislature was inaugurated in October 1907, under the leadership of Speaker Sergio Osmeña and Floor Leader Manuel L. Quezon, the Rules of the 59th United States Congress was substantially adopted as the Rules of the Philippine Legislature. It is this body, founded as the Philippine Assembly, that would continue in one form or another, in 1916, the Jones Act, officially the Philippine Autonomy Act, changed the legislative system. The Philippine Commission was abolished and a new fully elected, bicameral Philippine Legislature consisting of a House of Representatives, the legislative system was changed again in 1935. The 1935 Constitution established a unicameral National Assembly, but in 1940, through an amendment to the 1935 Constitution, a bicameral Congress of the Philippines consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate was adopted. The Liberal bloc of the Nacionalistas permanently split from their ranks and these two will contest all of the elections in what appeared to be a two-party system. This set up continued until President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, the 1987 Constitution restored the presidential system of government together with a bicameral Congress of the Philippines. Corazon Aquino who nominally had no party, supported the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, with the victory of Fidel V. This also meant the restoration of Lakas-NUCD as the top party in the chamber, the same would happen when Benigno Aquino won in 2010, which returned the Liberals into power. The presiding officer is the Speaker, the members of the House of Representatives who are also its officers are also ex officio members of all of the committees and has a vote. The Speaker is the head of the House of Representatives, the speaker is elected by majority of all the members of the house, including vacant seats. The speaker is elected at the convening of each Congress
3.
Ferdinand Marcos
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Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino politician who was President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled as a dictator under martial law from 1972 until 1981, while his regime started an unprecedented number of infrastructure projects and monuments, it also became infamous for its corruption and brutality. United States Army documents described the claim as fraudulent and absurd and he was elected President in 1965. The Philippine national debt used to fund development projects grew from $2 billion at the beginning of his term to $26 billion by the end of 1985. Based on World Bank data, Philippine Annual Gross Domestic Product grew from $5.27 billion in 1964 to $37.14 billion in 1982, by the end of 1985, GDP stood at $30.7 billion following two years of economic contraction. All in all despite the 1984–1985 recession, GDP per capita grew at a rate of 5. 8%, or more than tripled. It was only in 1992 at the beginning of the term of Fidel Ramos when GDP per capita, Martial law was ratified by 90. 77% of the voters during the Philippine Martial Law referendum,1973 though the referendum was marred with controversy. Ramos and Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, public outrage led to the snap elections of 1986. Allegations of mass cheating, political turmoil and excesses of human rights led to the People Power Revolution in February 1986. Marcos was succeeded by Corazon Aquino, widow of the opposition leader Senator Benigno Aquino. According to source documents provided by the Presidential Commission on Good Government, a government agency created by the Aquino Government, PCGG also maintained that the Marcos family enjoyed a decadent lifestyle—taking away billions of dollars from the country in the course of their US-backed rule between 1965 and 1986. His wife Imelda Marcos, whose excesses during the couples kleptocracy made her infamous in her own right, numerous criminal graft charges have been filed against her, some of which are still ongoing, and most have been dismissed by the court due to lack of evidence. He was later baptized into the Philippine Independent Church, but was first baptized in the Roman Catholic Church at the age of three, in December 1938, Ferdinand Marcos was prosecuted for the murder of Julio Nalundasan. He was not the accused from the Marcos clan, also accused was his father, Mariano, his brother, Pio. According to two witnesses, the four had conspired to assassinate Nalundasan, with Ferdinand Marcos eventually pulling the trigger, in late January 1939, they were finally denied bail and later in the year, they were convicted. Ferdinand and Lizardo received the penalty for premeditated murder, while Mariano. The Marcos family took their appeal to the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Marcos studied law at the University of the Philippines, attending the prestigious College of Law. He excelled in both curricular and extra-curricular activities, becoming a member of the universitys swimming, boxing
4.
National Museum of Fine Arts (Manila)
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The National Museum of Fine Arts, formerly known as the National Art Gallery, is an art museum in Manila, Philippines. It is located on Padre Burgos Avenue across from the National Museum of Anthropology in the side of Rizal Park. The neoclassical building was built in 1921 and originally served to house the legislative bodies of the Philippine government. Known as the Old Legislative Building, it was the home of the congress from 1926 to 1972. Meanwhile, a Capitol building for the Philippine Legislature was to rise on Wallace Field, instead, the Philippine Legislature decided to move into the Library building in 1926, and changes to the buildings layout were done accordingly by architect Juan M. Arellano. It was built under the supervision of the construction firm Pedro Siochi and Company, Quezon, House Speaker Manuel Roxas, and Colonel Carmi A. Thompson, envoy of President Calvin Coolidge of the United States. It was concurrently the headquarters of the National Library from 1928 to 1944, in 1935, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was proclaimed, and the inauguration of President Manuel L. Quezon were held outside the building. The building became home of the National Assembly of the Philippines, in 1940, the National Assembly was replaced by a bicameral Congress of the Philippines, consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives. The Senate occupied the upper floors while the House occupied the lower floors, the building would serve as home of the Commonwealth Congress until 1945. In World War II, Japanese forces in Manila bombed and destroyed the building in February 1945, most of the structure was beyond repair, except for the still-standing central portion. With the inauguration of the Republic of the Philippines in 1946 and it was rebuilt by the U. S. Philippine War Damage Corporation to the same dimensions but with interior and exterior ornamentation. Reconstruction began in 1949, while the Congress moved back the same year, the two wings of the building were completed in 1950. The building was mostly from memory, with the aid of a few remaining blueprints. The building became known as the Congress Building, and continuously served as home of the Congress of the Philippines until 1972 with the declaration of martial law, the Congress was effectively dissolved, and the building was padlocked. The building was called the Executive House for the duration of that time, the Congress of the Philippines was reestablished with the ratification of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. While the House of Representatives moved to the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Constitution Hill, Quezon City, the Senate would use the Congress Building until May 1997, when it moved to the Government Service Insurance System Building on reclaimed land on Manila Bay in Pasay. The former office of the Prime Minister was taken as the Office of the Vice-President, the building was then turned over to the National Museum of the Philippines in 1998
5.
National Museum of the Philippines
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The institution also operates numerous branch museums throughout the country. The National Museum began as Insular Museum of Ethnology, Natural History and it was subsequently transferred to the Department of Interior as the Bureau of Ethnological Survey after the passage of the Philippine Commission Act No.841 in 1903. This new bureau was responsible for the Philippine participation in the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, after the exposition, it was abolished as a separate bureau and was renamed the Philippine Museum. The National Museum went through the division and distribution of its functions to other government agencies, the Philippine Legislature passed Act No. The latter was transformed into an independent unit under the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Japanese Occupation brought back the divisions under the National Museum of the Philippines as provided by Philippine Republic Executive Order No. 94, but the museum lost a part of its collection during the Liberation of Manila when the Legislative Building was destroyed by American artillery. Fortunately, the Legislative Building was immediately restored through the American reparation funds bringing the back to its operations. The museum’s role in growth was recognized as contributing to government’s desire for national development. It was revitalized in 1966 when President Ferdinand Marcos signed Republic Act No.4846 or the Cultural Properties, with its new powers, it was able to strengthen its cultural mandate by declaring properties, structures, and sites of historical and cultural value to the nation. The educational mandate was strengthened because it was able to inform the public of the researches it conducted, the National Museum of Fine Arts, formerly called the National Art Gallery, is housed in the old Legislative Building. The building was intended as a public library as proposed in Daniel Burnhams 1905 Plan for Manila. Designed by Ralph Harrington Doane, the American consulting architect of the Bureau of Public Works, construction of the building began in 1918 and completed in 1921. The façade of the building had classical features using stylized Corinthian columns, ornamentation, on July 16,1926, the building was formally inaugurated. During the World War II, the building was heavily damaged, after the war, it was rebuilt albeit less ornate and less detailed. During the Martial Law era, the Legislative Building was closed down, today, the building holds the countrys National Art Gallery, natural sciences and other support divisions. It is located in the Agrifina Circle, Rizal Park, Manila next to the main National Museum building which is the National Museum for Fine Arts, the building was the former headquarters of the Department of Finance. The National Museum of Natural History will have a hexagonal DNA tower structure in its center which will be the base for the ventilating roof-dome of the whole building, living trees will also be planted within the interior of the building. It was expected to be finished in the last quarter of 2015, the building started on construction on 1974 and completed 9 months after
6.
Fidel Ramos
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Fidel Valdez Ramos AFP PLH GCMG, popularly known as FVR and Eddie is a retired Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. During his six years in office, Ramos was widely credited and admired by many for revitalizing and renewing international confidence in the Philippine economy and he was the father of the Philippine Armys Special Forces and the Philippine National Police Special Action Force. Ramos was able to secure major peace agreements with Muslim separatists, communist insurgents and military rebels, Ramos also aggressively pushed for the deregulation of the nations major industries and the privatization of bad government assets. As a result of his approach to the economy, the Philippines was dubbed by various internationally as Asias Next Economic Tiger. However, the momentum in the gains made under his administration was briefly interrupted during the onset of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Nevertheless, during the last year of the term, the managed to make a rebound since it was not severely hit by the crisis as compared to other Asian economies. He also oversaw the Philippine Centennial Independence celebrations in 1998, a member of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Ramos is notably the first and to date only Protestant president of the majority Roman Catholic country. Fidel Ramos was born on March 18,1928 in Lingayen and his father, Narciso Ramos, was a lawyer, journalist and five-term legislator of the House of Representatives, who eventually rose to the position of Secretary of Foreign Affairs. As such, Narciso Ramos was the Philippine signatory to the ASEAN declaration forged in Bangkok in 1967 and he received elementary education in Lingayen Public Schools. Ramos began secondary education at the University of the Philippines High School in the City of Manila and he graduated high school from Centro Escolar University in 1945. He later on enrolled with a degree in Civil Engineering at National University in Manila and he was Top 8 in the Civil Engineering Board Exam in 1953. In addition, he received a total of 29 honorary doctorate degrees, Ramos went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, and he graduated in 1950. Ramos, along with the Philippines 20th Battalion Combat Team and the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea and he was an Infantry Reconnaissance Platoon Leader. Ramos was one of the heroes of the Battle of Hill Eerie and he was also present in the Vietnam War as a non-combat civil military engineer and Chief of Staff of the Philippine Civil Action Group. Military Academy Distinguished Graduate Award and Legion of Merit, during his stint at the Philippine Army, Ramos founded the Philippine Army Special Forces. And then, he was named to the commander of the Armys 3rd Division based in Cebu City, Ramos headed the Philippine Constabulary, then a major service branch of the Armed Forces, that acted as the countrys national police until 1972, when Ferdinand Marcos imposed Martial Law. Ramos is held responsible by for human rights abuses committed under Martial Law as head of the Philippine Constabulary chief, as head of the PC, Ramos was ex officio the INPs first concurrent Director-General. Martial Law was formally lifted nine years later on January 17,1981, due to his accomplishments, Ramos became one of the candidates to become the new chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 1981, to replace retiring General Romeo Espino
7.
Manila Bay
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Manila Bay is a natural harbour which serves the Port of Manila, in the Philippines. Manila Bay drains approximately 17,000 km2 of watershed area, with an average depth of 17 m, it is estimated to have a total volume of 28.9 billion cubic metres. Entrance to the bay is 19 km wide and expands to a width of 48 km, however, width of the bay varies from 22 km at its mouth and expanding to 60 km at its widest point. The islands of Corregidor and Caballo divides the entrance into two channels, about 2 mi towards the North and 6.5 mi wide on the South side. Mariveles, in the province of Bataan, is an anchorage just inside the northern entrance, on either side of the bay are volcanic peaks topped with tropical foliage,40 km to the north is the Bataan Peninsula and to the south is the province of Cavite. In the south channel is El Fraile Island and outside the entrance, to the immediate north and south are additional harbors, upon which both local and international ports are situated. Large number of ships at the North and South harbors facilitate maritime activities in the bay, being smaller of the two harbors, the North Harbor is used for inter-island shipping while the South Harbor is used for large ocean-going vessels. Manila Bay was connected to Laguna de Bay approximately 3,000 years ago, recurring episodic uplifts along the West Marikina Valley Fault caused the two to break up. Interaction between Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay today occurs only through the Pasig River, the bay was the setting for the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898, in which American troops led by Commodore George Dewey seized the area. This battle showcased the United States naval strength, all major Spanish ships were destroyed and captured. With its proud historic past and abundant marine life, Manila Bay became the portal and Filipino epicenter for government, economy. During the Russo-Japanese War at the close of the Battle of Tsushima in 1905, three surviving Russian protected cruisers managed to make port in then-United States-controlled Manila for repairs. However, because the US was neutral in conflict, the trio of warships. In World War II, Corregidor Island was annexed by 1942 by Japanese forces based in Manila Bay, much earlier, various other battles were fought from this naval base, including the La Naval de Manila in 1646, which finally ended Dutch attempts to seize the Philippines. It also serves a focus for recreation for Metro Manila and is a destination for walks. Much of the land fronting the bay along Metro Manila is reclaimed land now includes important sites such as the Philippine Senate. On 27 September 2011, the sea walls of Manila Bay were destroyed by the surge caused by Typhoon Pedring. Even the United States Embassy, Museo Pambata and Sofitel Philippine Plaza were submerged by the flooding and it was estimated that the damage would cost P30 million to repair
8.
Pasay
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Pasay is one of the cities in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region of the Philippines. It is bordered to the north by the City of Manila, Makati to the northeast, Taguig to the east, due to its location just south of the City of Manila, Pasay quickly became an urban town during the American Colonial Period. The Namayan was a confederation of barangays which reached its zenith c and its ruler, whose capital was at Sapa, controlled territory stretching from Manila Bay to Laguna de Bay. Dayang-dayang Pasay, presumably a royal or noble of the realm, is noted as having inherited lands in what is now Culi-culi, Pasay, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in what is now the Philippines on March 16,1521. On May 19,1571, Miguel López de Legaspi took formal possession of the Kingdom of Maynila, for 250 years, the Islands were governed by the Viceroy of Mexico, but in practise Catholic clergymen governed local politics. Of the many orders that came, it was the Augustinian Order who would figure predominantly in the evangelisation of Pasay. The parish of Pasay was governed from the old Namayan capital, ana de Sapa, which was under the jurisdiction of the Franciscans. Most of Pasay went to friar hands either via donation or by purchase, in 1727, the Augustinians formally took over Pasay and attached it to the Parish of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios in Malate. In that year, Pasay was renamed Pineda in honour of Don Cornelio Pineda, in 1862, a number of prominent citizens of Pasay sent a petition to the civil and ecclesiastical authorities asking that they be allowed to manage their own political and religious affairs. On December 2,1863, Pasay became a pueblo upon the recommendation of the Archbishop of Manila, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 led many more Spaniards to this part of the world. The new arrivals carried with them ideas and ideals that led to the political and social reforms, times were good and Filipinos were delighted but the Spaniards and friars considered the liberal learnings as seeds of heresy. Democratic reforms ended with the collapse of the regime in Madrid. Pasay produced numerous heroes during the Philippines-Spanish War, the Katipunan, the organisation founded by Andrés Bonifacio that spearheaded the revolution, had a chapter in Pineda organized by Pascual Villanueva, Jacinto Ignacio, and Valentin Ignacio. Several women also fought for the cause of the Katipunan including Marcela Marcelo, the execution of José Rizal, who authored the novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo on December 30,1896, fanned the flames of the Revolution. War between the United States and Spain was declared on April 25, and Dewey steamed into Manila Bay on the night of April 30, with a few well-directed shots, the American squadron destroyed the Spanish flotilla without any deaths. General Emilio Aguinaldo meanwhile declared the independence of the First Philippine Republic on June 12,1898, with this, Don Catalino became Pasays first Presidente municipal. Thinking Americans were allies, Noriel left Pineda on July 29, when Intramuros was finally captured, the Filipinos were denied entry to the walled city. Since then, tension simmered between Filipino and American troops, with both sides assigned respective zones but neither observed boundary lines
9.
President of the Philippines
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The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The President leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Filipinos refer to their President as Pangulo or Presidente. The President serves a single, fixed, six-year term without possibility of re-election, in Filipino, one of the two official languages of the Philippines, the President is referred to as Pangulo. In the other languages of the Philippines such as the Visayan languages. Depending on the chosen for these terms, a number of persons could alternatively be considered the inaugural holder of the office. Andrés Bonifacio could be considered the first President of a united Philippines since he was the third Supreme President of the Katipunan and its Supreme Council, led by the Supreme President, coordinated provincial and district councils. When the Katipunan started a revolt against the Spanish colonial government in August 1896. While the term Katipunan remained, Bonifacios government was known as the Tagalog Republic. Bonifacios revolutionary government never controlled territory for any significant period. Some historians contend that including Bonifacio as a past president would imply that Macario Sacay, in March 1897, during the Philippine Revolution against Spain Emilio Aguinaldo was elected president of the revolutionary government at the Tejeros Convention. The new government was meant to replace the Katipunan, though the latter was not formally abolished until 1899, Aguinaldo was again elected President at Biak-na-Bato in November, leading the Republic of Biak-na-Bato. Aguinaldo therefore signed the Pact of Biak-na-Bato and went into exile in Hong Kong at the end of 1897, in April 1898, the Spanish–American War broke out, and the Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy sailed for the Philippines. At the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1,1898 the American Navy decisively defeated the Spanish Navy effectively ending Spanish rule in the Philippines, aquinaldo subsequently returned to the Philippines aboard a U. S. Navy vessel and renewed the revolution. He formed a government on May 24,1898 and issued the Philippine Declaration of Independence on June 12,1898. On June 23,1898, Aguinaldo transformed his government into a revolutionary government. On January 23,1899, he was then elected President of the First Philippine Republic, consequently, this government is also called the Malolos Republic. The First Philippine Republic was short-lived and never internationally recognized, the Philippines was transferred from Spanish to American control by the Treaty of Paris of 1898, signed in December of that year. The Philippine–American War broke out between the United States and Aguinaldos government and his government effectively ceased to exist on April 1,1901, after he pledged allegiance to the United States following his capture by U. S. forces in March
