History History

In 2018, researchers discovered fossils attesting to a pre-human presence on the island of Luzon, about 700,000 years ago. Until then, the oldest traces dated from 67,000 years ago, it was a bone belonging to the species homo luzonensis or Man of Callao. The first traces ofHomo sapiens go back to 40 000 years. They are populations coming from Southeast Asia, hunter-gatherers.

The Austronesians left Taiwan to settle in the north of the Philippines, before spreading throughout the archipelago and assimilating with the first populations. They are possibly the first navigators of the human species.

Chinese communities arrived and commercial activities with the peoples of Southeast Asia developed, especially Indochina and Borneo, then China. The mixture of these peoples is carried out without major problems. Filipinos do not have a common language, but the main dialects are Tagalog, Ilocano and Bicol.

In March 1521, Ferdinand Magellan, the great Portuguese navigator naturalized Spanish, landed near the island of Samar. He made the Philippines known to the rest of the world and gradually converted the native chiefs to Christianity.

King Lapu-Lapu reigned on the island of Mactan, a few kilometers from Cebu, when Magellan and the colonists landed. He was the first tribal chief to refuse evangelization and to oppose the Spaniards with strong resistance. The European navigator was killed there. This battle of Mactan, which remains famous, symbolizes the first triumph of the Filipinos to preserve their freedom.

He was born into a noble Spanish family. At the age of 26, disappointed by his inheritance, he left for Mexico. In 1564, he was commissioned by the Viceroy of New Spain (present-day Mexico) to lead an expedition to the Spice Islands (Moluccas). Thus, on February 13, 1565, Legazpi and his crew arrived in the Philippines, on the island of Cebu. There he built the bases of the first Spanish colonies. Legazpi conquered Manila 6 years later and on June 24, 1571, he signed a peace treaty with the inhabitants of Manila and formed a Spanish enclave (the current Intramuros district). He became the^first Spanish governor general of the Philippines and worked to convert the natives to the Catholic religion. In 1572, he died in Manila.

The Filipino people do not give up in front of the rise in power of the conquistadors. The first Filipino revolt was led by Lakandula, the last king of Manila, who had welcomed Legazpi. After the death of the latter, the Spaniards did not keep their promises and the population was more and more mistreated. A revolt broke out, but without success. In spite of the repeated efforts of the Portuguese and the Dutch to chase away the occupants of the archipelago, the Spaniards tried to settle there permanently. One century was enough for these conquerors to wipe out the local cultures.

The archipelago receives the name of the infant Philip, crown prince of Castile and future king under the name of Philip II of Spain. The islands are baptized "Felipinas". The Filipino people, already accustomed to welcoming visitors to their shores, saw the arrival of the second wave of Spanish conquistadors (1564). This was the beginning of 300 years of Spanish domination. The main activities were then turned towards the sea. Christianity spread to Luzon and the Visayas, but in Mindanao, the Muslim religion was the strongest. The Filipinos gradually lose their languages and their writings. The occult beliefs and the family clans become the only refuges during all these years under Spanish domination. The Philippines were at that time administered by the Viceroy of Mexico. In 1821, after the independence of Mexico, Madrid exercised direct sovereignty over the Philippines. The entire duration of this occupation was marked by numerous rebellions. More than 100 uprisings took place, some of which aimed to overthrow the established power. The land was redistributed to the religious communities who exploited the farmers established on their properties.

The Spanish Empire began to experience various difficulties and decline. By the end of the century, it was only a secondary and weakened European power.

It is a major episode in the history of the Philippines since it puts an end to 300 years of Spanish colonialism and leads to the independence of the country, on June 12, 1898, and the establishment of a Republic.

He was born near Manila and very early on discovered artistic gifts of all kinds (painting, sculpture, literature). After his studies, he became a poet and a doctor of medicine. At the age of 21, he traveled to Europe where he participated in the intellectual life of Barcelona, London, Berlin and Paris. In 1887, his first novel Noli me tangere(Don't touch me) was published in Berlin. The work depicts the sufferings of the Filipino people under Spanish tyranny. Later on, his works with nationalist tendencies circulated under the cloak in the archipelago. In 1892, the Spaniards, who were watching him, arrested him and exiled him to Dapitan, in northern Mindanao. He stayed there for 4 years before being the victim of a false trial and being shot at the age of 35 by the Spanish authorities on December 30, 1896. He left behind him theUltimo Adios, a poem composed in his cell that remains famous today. He is a national hero.

While the Philippines was fighting for its independence, the United States signed the Treaty of Paris with Spain, stipulating that Spain had to cede its colony. The United States bought the archipelago. This agreement did not please the Filipinos naturally, who had just come out of the yoke of one empire and were now under the sway of another. President Aguinaldo felt betrayed by the Americans and declared war in 1899. The Filipinos resisted against the much better equipped Americans but in 1901, the President was captured and the United States declared the war officially over. In reality, the conflicts lasted another ten years.

Confrontation was followed by cohabitation. The Americans did not want to make the same mistakes as the Spanish. So they began to fight against the extreme nationalists and ended up imposing an economic system that was completely dependent on the United States, giving way to a period of progress. The nationalist party created in 1907 remained in power, under American control, until 1946. This party, constituting the narrow elite, demanded independence but feared breaking economic ties with the United States. Within this group, two men, Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmeña, clashed. But from the beginning of 1929, several factors led Washington to consider Philippine independence: the economic crisis of 1929, the discontent of American farmers who feared competition from Philippine products, and hostility to the entry of Filipino labor. Thus, in 1934, President Roosevelt recognized the new Constitution of the Philippines, which entered a period of independence under the trusteeship called "Commonwealth". Manuel L. Quezon became president.

Until the beginning of the Second World War, the Philippines lived in peace until 1942 when the Japanese flag began to fly over Manila. The communist-inspired peasant resistance movement, Huk, was established. General Douglas MacArthur, who was in charge of the Allied forces in the Pacific, was forced to leave the country and he had these words, which remain famous, "I will come back". For the duration of the war, the Philippines lived under Japanese occupation. In 1944, MacArthur returned with his troops to the island of Leyte and marked the beginning of the liberation. And on July 4, 1946, national independence was declared. Manuel A. Roxas became President. However, the United States retained commercial privileges. In return for military aid, they obtained the transfer of 23 military bases for 99 years. Roxas was faced with the enormous task of completely rebuilding the country, whose industry and economy had been ruined.

He put in place a domestic policy that raised the country's agricultural and industrial production. He was re-elected in 1969 and pursued a pro-American policy, which alienated the neglected peasants. Faced with growing protests, he declared martial law in 1972 and had his main opponent, Benigno Aquino, arrested. He established a dictatorial regime.

The assassination of Benigno Aquino on August 21, 1983, triggered an anti-government campaign that led to the election of his widow, Cory Aquino. Marcos was forced into exile. But learning about democracy was going to be difficult. Natural disasters, such as the eruption of the Pinatubo volcano in 1991, had disastrous economic effects that weakened the government of Cory Aquino.

In 1992, General Fidel V. Ramos, former Minister of Defense, was elected for a six-year term. His government tried to rebuild the political system to overcome the country's social and economic handicaps. In 1998, he was succeeded by the very popular Joseph E. Estrada. This former actor, vice-president under Ramos, is very media-friendly. Described as a man with a good entourage, who cares about the poorest, he is the new hope of the country. And this until 2001, when he was accused of having received millions of dollars in bribes and of having embezzled public money, he was impeached. Fidel Ramos died in 2022.

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took her place in 2001. She set out to put an end to the problems of corruption and the political crisis caused by the demands of the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) separatist group in Mindanao. She was re-elected in 2004. However, the political and institutional stalemate and the persistent climate of insecurity and violence undermined her power, as demonstrated by the violent fighting between Muslim insurgents and government forces.

In the 2010 elections, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, son of former President Cory Aquino, was elected President. He set himself the goal of fighting endemic corruption and pacifying the country by resolving the issue of armed groups in the South. He died in 2021.

In 2016, Rodrigo Duterte, an anti-establishment candidate, was elected president on a promise to "eradicate crime" in six months. He waged an unprecedented anti-drug war, sharply criticized internationally for its violence. Thousands of people are reported to have been killed. The same year, Geraldine Roman became the first transgender person to be elected to Congress.

Born in 1963 in Manila, she became a journalist and essayist and began her career at CNN specializing in terrorism networks. She is known for co-founding the online media outlet Rappler in 2012 and still serving as its director today. In October 2021, she was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, paired with Russian journalist Dmitri Muratov. This prize aims to reward their work of investigation and fight against disinformation. Because of her critical stance towards her country's politics, she is regularly the target of accusations and prosecutions. In 2023, she was acquitted after being accused of tax evasion.

The last few years have been marked by several natural disasters that have resulted in significant human and material losses. In 2013, the Philippines were hit by super typhoon Hayian, the most severe in their history. It caused the death of more than 7,000 people, particularly on the islands of Leyte and Samar. In 2021, the super typhoon Rai (also called Odette) devastated Bohol and Siargao, among others (400 victims and damage still visible).

In addition, between 2020 and 2022, like the rest of the world, the Philippines are heavily impacted by Covid, with many consequences including on the tourism industry (- 36% in the first quarter of 2020).

In May 2022, Ferdinand Marcos Junior was elected President for a 6-year term. He marked the return of the Marcos family to politics, 36 years after his father, the former dictator, was ousted from power.

On the international scene, in April 2023, the Philippines carried out, as it does every year, large-scale military exercises with its American allies (nearly 20,000 soldiers) near the island of Taiwan in an effort to curb China's influence.