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
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Central Visayas
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Central Visayas is a region of the Philippines, designated as Region VII. It is located in the part of the Visayas island group. Cebu City is the regional center, the region is dominated by the native speakers of Cebuano. The land area of the region is 10,102 square kilometres, on May 29,2015, the region was redefined, when Region VII lost the province of Negros Oriental to the newly formed Negros Island Region. By virtue of Executive Order No.183 issued on May 29,2015 by President Benigno Aquino III, in the 2013 electoral roll, it had 4,114,046 registered voters, meaning that 68% of the population are aged 18 and over. According to the 2015 census, it had a population of 6,041,903, the 2015 census showed an average annual population growth rate of 1. 76% from 2010 to 2015, slightly higher than the national average of 1. 72%. Cebuano is the dominant language of the region, the Central Visayas region consists of 3 provinces and 3 independent cities, Negros Oriental was formerly a part of Region VII. President Benigno Aquino III signed the Executive Order No.183, Cebu City is the main media hub for both the region. Most of these stations broadcast local news and public affairs as well as entertainment, aside from the 24 national daily newspapers available, Cebu City also has 20 local newspapers. Among the widely read are the Sun Star Cebu, the countrys main Islamic news journal, The Voice of Islam, was founded in 1961 and published in this city. The Port of Cebu is the main gateway. There are also ports in Tagbilaran in Bohol and Larena in Siquijor, inter-island shipping is served by numerous shipping lines, two of them fastcraft companies which serve all the provinces in the region. The Mactan-Cebu International Airport, located in Lapu-Lapu City, is the second busiest airport. It is the airline hub of Cebu Pacific, and secondary hub for Philippine Airlines and its subsidiaries. It also serves international flights to other Asian and intercontinental destinations, other airports in the region are Tagbilaran Airport, serves Tagbilaran and Bohol with flights to Manila. Media related to Central Visayas at Wikimedia Commons Central Visayas travel guide from Wikivoyage
3.
Negros Oriental
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Negros Oriental, also called Oriental Negros or Eastern Negros, is a province in the Philippines located in the Negros Island Region. It occupies the half of the island of Negros, with Negros Occidental comprising the northwestern half. It also includes Apo Island, a dive site for both, local and foreign tourists. Negros Oriental faces Cebu to the east across the Tañon Strait, the primary spoken language is Cebuano and the predominant religious denomination is Roman Catholicism. Dumaguete City is the capital, seat of government and most populous city of the province. Negros Island, the fourth largest island in the Philippines, is believed to have once been part of a larger landmass, among the early inhabitants of the island were Negritos and later the Austronesians, as well as Han Chinese, who are mainly merchants. They called the island Buglas, a word which is believed to mean cut off. Spanish explorers on the expedition of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi first came to the island in April 1565, Legazpi dropped anchor in Bohol and sent his men to scout the island. Because of the currents of the Tañon Strait between Cebu and Negros, they were carried for several days and forced to land on the western side of the island. They reported seeing many dark-skinned inhabitants, and they called the island Negros, the island was sparsely settled at the time, except for a few coastal settlements including Ilog and Binalbagan. In 1571, Legaspi assigned encomiendas on the island to 13 of his men, augustinian friars began the Christianization of the island the next year. The island was administered as part of the jurisdiction of Oton until 1734 when it became a military district, the capital was transferred to Himamaylan in 1795. Negros became a province in 1865 and the capital was transferred to Bacolod. Due to its proximity to Mindanao, the coasts of Negros was in constant threat from Moro marauders looking for slaves. The Moro raids and Negros Orientals distance from the Negros capital of Bacolod induced 13 Recollectionist priests to petition for the division of the island in July 1876. The island of Negros was then divided into the provinces of Negros Oriental, Dumaguete was made the first capital of Negros Oriental. In 1892, Siquijor became a part of Negros Oriental, having previously been administered by Spain under the province of Bohol. The Philippine Revolution reached the province in 1898, disrupting government functions but without extreme violence, revolutionary troops in the province were composed mostly of farm labourers and other prominent people of the province of Negros Oriental, who were organized and led by Don Diego de la Viña
4.
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
5.
Sibulan
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Sibulan, officially the Municipality of Sibulan is a second-class municipality in the province of Negros Oriental in Negros Island Region, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 59,455 people, Sibulan is bordered to the south by the provincial capital of Dumaguete City. It is the location of the Dumaguete Airport, the airport for Negros Oriental. Sibulan is also the location of the Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park, composed of Lake Balinsasayao, the site, managed by the provincial government, is located 1,047 metres above sea level on Mount Talinis. Sibulan is politically subdivided into 15 barangays, Sibulan has six coastal barangays, from north to south they are Ajong, Looc, Poblacion, Cangmating, Maslog, Agan-an and Boloc-boloc. The provincial airport, known as the Dumaguete Airport, is actually in Agan-an, Sibulan, there is a growing number of guest houses and beach resorts from Cangmating southward to Dumaguete and the coral reefs of Ajong are attracting more dive boats. The municipal seat is in barangay Poblacion, approximately midway along the coast of the town, the main municipal port facility is in Poblacion, where a fast ferry runs every hour to Santander on the tip of Cebu island. There is also a fishing and freight port in barangay Looc, Sibulan has two small Marine Protected Areas, which are coral reef areas that prohibit fishing, swimming and diving. One is in Agan-an, just north of the airport, the other is in Cangmating and these were established to improve the sustainability of the local fishery. The inland barangays are primarily agricultural and residential with minimal business, most commercial development is along the national highway, which runs the length of the town from Dumaguete in the south to San Jose at the north. Most business and light industry is along the highway in Boloc-Boloc, Maslog, Agan-an and this is largely urban sprawl from Dumaguete seeking the advantageous tax rates in Sibulan. Sibulan also boasts a golf resort, perched on the foothills in barangay San Antonio. Philippine Standard Geographic Code Philippine Census Information Local Governance Performance Management System
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Dumaguete
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Dumaguete, officially City of Dumaguete and often referred to as Dumaguete City, is a component city in the Philippines. It is the capital of the province of Negros Oriental, having a total of 131,377 inhabitants as of 2015 census, it is the most populous city in the province. The city is nicknamed The City of Gentle People, Dumaguete is referred to as a university city because of the presence of four universities and a number of other colleges where students of the province converge to enroll for tertiary education. The city is also a popular destination for students of surrounding provinces and cities in Visayas. The city is best known for Silliman University, the countrys first Protestant university, there are also 18 public elementary schools and 8 public high schools. The citys student population is estimated at 30,000, Dumaguete is listed 5th in Forbes Magazines 7 Best Places to Retire Around the World. The power source of the city comes from the power plant in Palinpinon. The city has redundant fiber optic lines and is a point for telecommunications. It is the point for fiber optic cables linking it to Manila. Dumaguete was coined from the Cebuano word dagit, which means to snatch, the word dumaguet, meaning to swoop, was coined because of frequent raids by Moro pirates on this coastal community and its power to attract and keep visitors, both local and foreign. In 1572, Diego López Povedano indicated the place as Dananguet, the city has a land area of 3,362 hectares, situated on the plains of the southeastern coast of the island of Negros near the mouth of the Banica River. Of the provinces 19 municipalities/towns and 6 cities, Dumaguete is the smallest in terms of land area and it is bounded on the north by the town of Sibulan, on the south by the town of Bacong and on the west by the town of Valencia. As a coastal city, it is bounded on the east by the Bohol Sea, the citys topography is generally flat from two to six kilometers from the shoreline. It slopes gently upwards to the municipality of Valencia. The highest ground elevation is located at the boundary of the municipality of Valencia, about 93% of the land have slopes of less than 3%. The remaining areas have 3% to 5% slope, Dumaguete is politically subdivided into 30 barangays, all classified as urban. The eight barangays in the downtown area are known primarily by number. The smallest barangay is Barangay 4 with an area of only 5.11 hectares, Dumaguete has two seasons, namely, the dry and the wet seasons
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Philippines
San Jose
