Table of Contents
The Philippine archipelago was firmly established at least 30,000 years ago when Indonesians came to the Philippines. After that event many people took over the place for the next millennium. Because of those events social and pollical organization was developed throughout the island. It starts with the basic unit of settlement was the barangay system- a Malay word for boat that came to be used to denote a communal settlement. Kinship groups were also developed led by a datu or chief, and within the barangay there were broad social divisions consisting of nobles, freemen, and dependent and landless agricultural workers and slaves. For the past century, Indo-Malay migrants were merged with Chinese traders. This is the start of a major development in the early period, the introduction of Islam to the Philippines by traders and proselytizers from the Indonesian islands. After the 1500 A.D, Islam had been established in the Sulu Archipelago and spread throughout Mindanao; it reached the Manila area by 1565. During the introduction of Islam came the introduction of Christianity, with the arrival of the Spanish.
Laguna Copper-Plate Inscription
In this article Philippine history believed that it is less than 500 years old if we will use the first established calendar-dated document recovered within the boundaries Indonesia and Philippines. Laguna copperplate inscription is one of the oldest documents found in the Philippine archipelago specifically in Panaytayan, Laguna on April 16,1990. It is 20 x 20 cm, ten lines of finely written characters on stone or thin sheets of made from copper.
At first according to Postman, he thought that this inscription was from Indonesia because of the way it has been written and it has nothing to do with the Philippines and it is just one of the fake documents like the other ones but when it has been proven to be a legit document of the Philippines he decided to call it the Laguna Copper-plate Inscription or LCI for short. The LCI bears the date of April 21,900 A.D. before the arrival of different colonizers. If the inscription was written in old Malay form and it is for Filipinos, then it means that we already have an interconnection with other Asian countries.
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According to this article, LCI appears to be a semi-official certificate of acquittal for debt incurred by a person in high office, together with his whole family, all relatives and descendants. The debt should be paid out of gold which still apparently still unpaid. As it was said on the inscription payment should be in the form of gold meaning Filipino ancestors who are in the top social class or maharlika do possess gold in their times. Aside from this, slaves also exist on that time not only on the period of colonialization. The act of slavery was being implemented to those people who are in the lower class called alipin, they are the ones who are not able to pay their debts so that as a collateral they will become slave.
This article explains that Filipino nation was already a civilized country before the arrival of colonizers. Moreover, the Laguna copper-plate inscription is a solid evidence and proof of our own concept of nation which had been kept hidden to us by the generation.
Spanish Colonialization
The first European arrived in the Philippines in March 1521 was Ferdinand Magellan. Following several more Spanish expeditions, the permanent settlement of Spanish in the Philippines was 1565 which was made in Cebu. And in 1571 they have decided to set their capital in Manila and named the island as their new territory after King Philip II of Spain. While settling in the Philippines, the Spanish acquire profitable share on spice trade, develop better contact with China and Japan and introduced the religious belief about Christianity. Only the third objective was eventually realized. Throughout the Spanish period, church and state cannot be separated from each other in implementing and achieving the Spanish objectives. Most of the Roman Catholic churches do their responsibility of Christianizing the local population. However, the civil administration takes the full responsibility on building the traditional village organization and leaders to become rulers who will serve Spain. Through these efforts, a replacement cultural community was developed, however Muslims conjointly referred to as Moros by the Spanish and upland social group peoples remained detached and alienated.
In the late nineteenth century, the arrival of Chinese in the Philippines resulted in increased, of Chinese mestizos which became the feature of Filipinos in social and economic life. Further more, the growing Filipino native elite class of ilustrados -literally, enlightened ones, who became increasingly interested to liberal and democratic ideas. Catholic friars continued to dominate the establishment; however, they struggled the presence of native ministry and were economically secure their giant land holdings and management of churches, schools, and different institutions. Despite the bias against native monks, brothers, and nuns, some members of Filipino spiritual orders became distinguished to the purpose of leading native spiritual movements and even insurrections against the institution. Additionally, ilustrados getting back from education and exile abroad brought new concepts that unified with people faith to spur a national resistance.
Jose Rizal Contributions to Philippine History
Jose Rizal is one the early nationalist leader of the Philippines, a physician, scientist, scholar, and writer. His writings as a member of the Propaganda Movement which became one of the most awakening turning points of Filipino national consciousness. His books were banned because it contains hidden meanings in the part of Spanish rulers, and because of this he lived far away from the Philippines. Rizal came back from abroad in 1892 to discover the Liga Filipina (Philippine League), a national, nonviolent political association, however, he was captured and banished, and dissolvd. The result was the split of the nationalist movement between the ilustrados and a more revolutionary and independence-minded class community. Many of the excess people joined the Katipunan, a secret society headed by Andres Bonifacio in 1892 and committed and eager to winning national independence. In 1896, the year the Katipunan decided to revolt against Spain with its 30,000 members. Even though Rizal, who had again returned to the Philippines, was not a member of the Katipunan, he was arrested and executed on December 30, 1896, for his supposed role in the rebellion. With Rizal’s death, the rebels, led by Emilio Aguinaldo as president, were filled with new determination. Spanish troops defeated the rebels, however, and Aguinaldo and his government went into exile in Hong Kong in December 1897.
Spanish-American War in the Philippines
When the Spanish-American War occurred in April 1898, Spain’s forced was easily defeated at Manila. Aguinaldo returned, and his 12,000 troops kept the Spanish forces ceased in Manila until U.S. troops landed. The Spanish cause was doomed, but the Americans did nothing to accommodate the presence of Aguinaldo in the succession. After the fight with the Spanish, the American also have a war with the Filipino. Moreover, on June 12,1898 Aguinaldo issued a declaration of independence. However, the Treaty of Paris which symbolizes the the American cede the Philippines from Spain, signed on December 10, 1898, and gave US$20 million to Spain.
A revolutionary congress arises and convened at Malolos, north of Manila, broadcasted a constitution on January 21, 1899, and declared Aguinaldo as president of the new republic two days later. Conflicts broke out in February 1899, and by March 1901 Aguinaldo had been captured and his forces defeated even though Aguinaldo ordered his compatriots to lay down their arms, rebellion continued until 1903. The Moros, suspicious of both the Christian Filipino insurgents and the Americans, remained largely neutral, but eventually their own armed resistance had to be subjugated, and Moro territory was placed under U.S. military rule until 1914.
United States Colonialization
United States rule over the Philippines had two stages. The first phase was from 1898 to 1935, during which time Washington defined its colonial objective as one of instruction and preparing the Philippines for eventual independence. Political organizations developed quickly, and the popularly elected Philippine Assembly -lower house and the U.S.-appointed Philippine Commission -upper house served as a bilateral legislature. The ilustrados formed the Federalista Party, but their statehood platform had limited appeal. In 1905 the party was later on become the National Progressive Party and took up a platform of independence. The Nacionalista Party was formed to dominated Filipino politics until after World War II. Its leaders were not ilustrados. Despite their “immediate independence” platform, the party leaders participated in a collaborative leadership with the United States. A major development emerging in the post-World War I period was resistance to elite control of the land by tenant farmers, who were supported by the Socialist Party and the Communist Party of the Philippines. Tenant strikes, and occasional violence occurred as the Great Depression wore on and cash-crop prices collapsed
The second period of United States rule from 1936 to 1946 was categorized by the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and livelihood by Japan during World War II. Legislation passed by the U.S. Congress in 1934 provided for a 10-year period of transition to independence. The country’s first constitution was framed in 1934 and overwhelmingly approved by survey in 1935, and Manuel Quezon was elected president of the commonwealth. Quezon later died in exile in 1944 and was succeeded by Vice President Sergio Osme¬na.
Japan Period
The third colonizers arrived and attacked the Philippines on December 8, 1941, and occupied Manila on January 2, 1942. Tokyo set up an supposedly independent republic, which was opposed by underground and guerrilla activity that eventually reached large-scale proportions. A major element of the resistance in the Central Luzon area was equipped by the Huks (short for Hukbalahap, or People’s Anti-Japanese Army). Allied forces invaded the Philippines in October 1944, and the Japanese surrendered on September 2, 1945.
Early Independence Period
World War II had been depressing and unforgettable for the Philippines, and the islands suffered from rampant inflation and shortages of food and other goods. Various trade and security issues with the United States also remained to be settled before Independence Day. The allied leaders wanted to execute officials who collaborated with the Japanese during the war and do not give them the right to vote in the first postwar elections. Commonwealth President Osme¬a, however, countered that each case should be tried on its own merits. The successful Liberal Party presidential candidate, Manual Roxas, was among those collaborationists. Independence from the United States came on July 4, 1946, and Roxas was sworn in as the first president. The economy remained highly dependent on U.S. markets, and the United States also continued to maintain control of 23 military installations. A bilateral treaty was signed in March 1947 by which the United States continued to provide military aid, training, and matériel. Such aid was timely, as the Huk guerrillas rose again, this time against the new government. They changed their name to the People’s Liberation Army (Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan) and demanded political participation, disbandment of the military police, and a general amnesty.
Negotiations failed, and a rebellion began in 1950 with communist support. The aim was to overthrow the government. The Huk movement dissipated into criminal activities by 1951, as the better-trained and -equipped Philippine armed forces and conciliatory government moves toward the peasants offset the effectiveness of the Huks.
