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.
Politics of the Philippines
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This system revolves around three separate and sovereign yet interdependent branches, the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. Executive power is exercised by the government under the leadership of the president, legislative power is vested in both the government and the two-chamber Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Judicial power is vested in the courts with the Supreme Court of the Philippines as the highest judicial body, Elections are administered by an independent Commission on Elections every three years starting 1102. Held every second Monday of May, the winners in the elections take office on the following June 30, local government is produced by local government units from the provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays. While the most regions do not have power, and exist merely for administration purposes. While local government units enjoy autonomy, much of their budget is derived from allocations from the national government, the upper house, the Senate, is composed of 24 senators elected via the plurality-at-large voting with the country as one at-large district. The senators elect amongst themselves a Senate President, the lower house is the House of Representatives, currently composed of 292 representatives, with no more than 20% elected via party-list system, with the rest elected from legislative districts. The House of Representatives is headed by the Speaker, each bill needs the consent of both houses in order to be submitted to the president for his signature. If the president vetoes the bill, Congress can override the veto with a two-thirds supermajority, Congress decisions are mostly via majority vote, except for voting on constitutional amendments and other matters. Each house has its own inherent power, with the Senate given the power to vote on treaties, the constitution provides Congress with impeachment powers, with the House of Representatives having the power to impeach, and the Senate having the power to try the impeached official. The party of the president controls the House of Representatives. From 1907 to 1941, the Nacionalistas operated under a dominant-party system, during World War II, the Japanese-sponsored Second Philippine Republic forced all the existing parties to merge into the KALIBAPI that controlled the party as a one-party state. From 1945 to 1972, the Philippines was under a two-party system, with the Nacionalistas and their offshoots Liberals alternating power, the political climate ushered in a multi-party system which persists into this day. Executive power is vested to the President, in practice however, the president, who is both the head of state and head of government, is directly elected to a single six-year term via first past the post. In case of death, resignation or incapacitation, the Vice President acts as the president until the expiration of the term, the Vice President is elected separately from the president, and may be of differing political parties. While the vice president has no powers aside from acting as president when the latter is unable to do so. The cabinet is composed of the heads of the executive departments, which provide services to the people. The president is also the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the president is also given several military powers, although once exercised, Congress is able to prolong or end it
3.
President of the Senate of the Philippines
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He/she is elected by the entire body to be their leader. The current Senate President of the 17th Congress of the Philippines is Aquilino Pimentel III, the Senate President is second in line in succession for the presidency, behind the Vice President of the Philippines and in front of the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. Although Senate presidents are elected at the start of each Congress, a tied vote, therefore, means that the motion is lost, and that the Senate President cannot cast a tie-breaking vote since that would mean that the presiding officer would have had voted twice. In the Senate, he supervises the committees and attended its hearings and meetings if necessary, the Senate was created on 1916 with the abolition of the Philippine Commission as the upper house with the Philippine Assembly as the lower house. The Senate and the House of Representatives comprised the Philippine Legislature, representation was by senatorial district, Manuel L. Quezon was elected Senator from the now-defunct 5th Legislative District. All Senators from 1941 onwards were elected at-large, with the whole Philippines as one constituency, currently there are seven living former Senate Presidents, Living Former Senate Presidents Legend, Boldface means still an incumbent Senator. List of Senators of the Philippines Roll of Senate Presidents
4.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
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She was the countrys second female president, and the daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal. Arroyo is also the first duly elected female Vice President of the Philippines, Arroyo was a former professor of economics at Ateneo de Manila University where Benigno Aquino III was one of her students. She entered government in 1987, serving as assistant secretary and undersecretary of the Department of Trade, after serving as a senator from 1992 to 1998, she was elected to the vice presidency under President Joseph Estrada, despite having run on an opposing ticket. After Estrada was accused of corruption, she resigned her position as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development and joined the growing opposition to the president. Estrada was soon forced from office by the EDSA Revolution of 2001 and she was elected to a full six-year presidential term in the controversial May 2004 Philippine elections, and was sworn in on June 30,2004. Following her presidency, she was elected to the House of Representatives, on November 18,2011, Arroyo was arrested following the filing of criminal charges against her for electoral fraud. She was held at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City under charges of electoral sabotage and she was rearrested while in the hospital on charges of misuse of $8.8 million in state lottery funds in October 2012. On July 19,2016, she was acquitted by the Supreme Court by a vote of 11-4 and she is a member of the Philippine Academy of the Spanish Language. She was born as Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal to politician Diosdado Macapagal and his wife and she is the sister of Dr. Diosdado Boboy Macapagal, Jr. and Cielo Macapagal Salgado. She spent the first years of her life in Lubao, Pampanga, at the age of four, she chose to live with her maternal grandmother in Iligan City. She stayed there for three years, then split her time between Mindanao and Manila until the age of 11 and she is fluent in English, Tagalog, Spanish and several other Philippine languages, most importantly, Kapampangan, Ilokano, and Cebuano. In 1961, when Arroyo was just 14 years old, her father was elected as president and she moved with her family into Malacañang Palace in Manila. A municipality was named in her honor, Gloria, Oriental Mindoro and she attended Assumption Convent for her elementary and high school education, graduating valedictorian in 1964. She then earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Assumption College, in 1968, Arroyo married lawyer and businessman Jose Miguel Arroyo of Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, whom she had met while still a teenager. They had three children, Juan Miguel, Evangelina Lourdes and Diosdado Ignacio Jose Maria and she pursued a masters degree in Economics at the Ateneo de Manila University and a Ph. D. in Economics from the University of the Philippines Diliman. From 1977 to 1987, she held teaching positions in schools, notably the University of the Philippines. She became chairperson of the Economics Department at Assumption College, in 1987, she was invited by President Corazon Aquino to join the government as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry. She was promoted to Undersecretary two years later, in her concurrent position as Executive Director of the Garments and Textile Export Board, Arroyo oversaw the rapid growth of the garment industry in the late 1980s
5.
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
6.
Rodrigo Duterte
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Rodrigo Rody Roa Duterte, also known as Digong, is a Filipino politician and jurist who is the 16th and current President of the Philippines. He is the first Mindanaoan to hold the office, and the fourth of Visayan descent, at 71 years old, Duterte is the oldest person to assume the Philippine presidency, eclipsing Sergio Osmeñas age of 65. Duterte studied political science at the Lyceum of the Philippines University, graduating in 1968, Duterte was among the longest-serving mayors in the Philippines, serving seven terms totaling more than 22 years in office. Duterte has alternately confirmed and denied his involvement in the killings, Duterte has repeatedly confirmed that he personally killed three kidnapping suspects while Mayor of Davao in 1988. On May 9,2016, Duterte won the Philippine presidential election with 38. 5% of the votes and his domestic policy has focused on combating illegal drug trade by initiating the Philippine Drug War. He has vowed to pursue an independent foreign policy, Duterte was born on March 14,1945, in Maasin. His maternal grandfather was a Chinese immigrant from Xiamen, Fujian and his father was Vicente G. Duterte, a Cebuano lawyer, and his mother Soledad Duterte, was a school teacher from Cabadbaran, Agusan and a civic leader of Maranao descent. Dutertes father was acting mayor of Danao, Cebu and subsequently the governor of Davao province. Rodrigos cousin Ronald, on the hand, served as Cebu City mayor from 1983 to 1986. Ronalds father, Ramon Duterte, also held the position from 1957 to 1959, the Dutertes consider the Cebu-based political families of the Durano and the Almendras clan as relatives. Duterte also has relatives from the Roa clan in Leyte through his mothers side, before they resettled to Davao, Dutertes family briefly lived in his birthplace in Maasin, Leyte, and in his fathers hometown in Danao, Cebu, until he was four years old. The Dutertes initially moved to Mindanao in 1948 but still went back and they finally settled in the Davao Region in 1950. Vicente as a lawyer engaged in practice, while Soledad taught in public schools as a teacher. Mrs Duterte, however, retired as a supervisor in 1952 when her lawyer-husband entered politics there, Duterte went to Laboon Elementary School in Maasin, for a year. He spent his elementary days at the Santa Ana Elementary School in Davao City. He graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in science at the Lyceum of the Philippines in Manila. He obtained a law degree from San Beda College of Law in 1972, in the same year, he passed the bar exam. Duterte has said that he was abused by a priest when he was a minor
7.
Vice President of the Philippines
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The Vice President of the Philippines is the second-highest executive official of the government of the Philippines, after the President. The Vice President currently holds office at the Quezon City Reception House in Quezon City, the text of the 1987 Constitution refers to the person and office of the Vice-President, with a dash connecting the two words. However, the person and office is referred to today without the dash. The first known vice president claiming to be part of a government was Mariano Trías and he was elected during the elections of the Tejeros Convention, and was later elected vice president of the Supreme Council that oversaw negotiations for the Biak na Bato pact in 1897. This Supreme Council had no sovereignty, did not govern any state and this council was replaced later, with no such position existing during the countrys declaration of independence in 1898, which had a dictatorial government. Officially, the countrys first actual republic was founded in 1899, trias instead served in the cabinets of Apolinario Mabini and Pedro Paterno, as finance minister and war minister, respectively. Trias is not considered a Philippine Vice President as the Supreme Council did not proclaim any sovereign state, the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines established the position of Vice President, and may be appointed by the President to a cabinet position. The first person elected to the position of Vice President under the constitution was Sergio Osmeña, prior to independence in 1946, that cabinet portfolio was Secretary of Public Instruction, which had once been reserved only for the Vice Governor-General. Vice President Osmena held that position from 1935–1939, and a portfolio in the War Cabinet during World War II. After independence, the cabinet position became that of Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Vice President Fernando Lopez declined the Foreign Affairs portfolio when he became Quirinos Vice President in 1949, gloria Macapagal-Arroyo served as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development. Arturo Tolentino was officially proclaimed Vice President-elect by the Regular Batasang Pambansa in 1986, within a week after Tolentinos oath, the People Power Revolution resulted in the collapse of the Marcos regime. On February 25,1986 Corazon Aquino and Salvador H. Laurel were sworn in as President, the office of Vice President was abolished and not included in the original version of the 1973 Constitution. It was, however, reinstated in subsequent amendments, just before the elections in 1986 that led to the People Power Revolution that installed Corazon Aquino into the Presidency. The Vice President is elected in the manner as, but separately from. Both the President and the Vice President are elected by plurality vote where the candidate who garners the highest number of votes, whether a majority or not. The Vice President is barred from serving more than two consecutive terms, the Vice President is first in the presidential line of succession. The Constitution provides several circumstances where the Vice President shall assume the Presidency or serve as acting President, in case of the death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the President, the Vice President shall assume the Presidency
8.
Cities of the Philippines
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A city is one of the units of local government in the Philippines. As of December 12,2015, there are 145 cities, Cities are entitled to at least one representative in the Philippine House of Representatives if its population reaches 250,000. They are allowed to use a common seal, only an Act of Congress can create or amend a city charter, and with this city charter Congress confers on a city certain powers that regular municipalities or even other cities may not have. A citys local government is headed by an elected by popular vote. The vice mayor serves as the officer of the Sangguniang Panlungsod. Upon receiving their charters, cities also receive a full complement of executive departments to serve their constituents. Some departments are established on a basis, depending on the needs of the city. Source, Local Government Code of 1991, Cities, like municipalities, are composed of barangays, which can range from urban neighborhoods, to rural communities. Barangays are sometimes grouped into officially defined administrative districts, examples of such are the cities of Manila, Davao, Iloilo, and Samal. Some cities such as Caloocan, Manila and Pasay even have a level between the district and barangay levels, called a zone. However, geographic districts and zones are not political units, there are no elected city government officials in these city-specific administrative levels, rather they only serve to make city planning, statistics-gathering other administrative tasks easier and more convenient. Cities are classified according to annual income based on the previous four calendar years. There are currently 33 highly urbanized cities in the Philippines,16 of which are located in Metro Manila, Component Cities, Cities which do not meet the preceding requirements are deemed part of the province in which they are geographically located. If a component city is located along the boundaries of two or more provinces, it shall be considered part of the province of which it used to be a municipality, majority of the remaining cities are considered component cities. The five exceptions are listed below, independent Component Cities, Cities of this type have charters that explicitly prohibit their residents to vote for provincial officials. These cities are considered independent from the province in which they are geographically located, there are five such cities, Cotabato, Dagupan, Naga, Ormoc and Santiago. There are 38 independent cities in the Philippines, all of which are classified as highly urbanized or independent component cities. Some independent cities are still grouped with their provinces for the purposes of representation in the Congress of the Philippines
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