Philippines
The Philippines is a nation comprised of 7,107 islands in the South China Sea, north of Indonesia, east of Vietnam and south of Taiwan. The main geographic divisions are the island of Luzon in the north, Mindanao in the south, and the numerous smaller islands of the Visayas in the center.
History
The Philippines was subject to Spanish colonial rule from 1565 to 1898. The Filipino Revolution took place after a number of events in 1896 as Dr. Jose Rizal called on upon the Filipino people to be a national community to reform the Spanish Government. The group Kataastaasang Kagalanggalang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan led by Andres Bonifacio called upon a clear separation of the Philippines from Spanish rule and mobilized an armed struggle. Nearing the end of Spanish rule, Spanish General Jaudenes had scripted a mock battle with U.S. Admiral Dewey on August 13, 1898 in order to save face on impending defeat and to turn over the Philippines towards the United States instead of the local Filipino revolutionaries. After this staged defeat, the U.S. did not honor the hard fought sovereignty of the Filipino people and denied them their own victory. The U.S. increased their military presence in the Philippines in the months after. On December 10, 1898, Spain and the U.S. had signed the Treaty of Paris which gave the U.S. the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico. On December 21st, President McKinley declared the "Proclamation of Benevelonet Assimilation" on the Filipino people to educate and civilize the local population. By the beginning of 1899, the Filipino-American War took place until 1902. After the Filipino revolutionary forces were defeated, the United States administered the islands until they were conquered by Imperial Japan in 1942. In October 1944 America invaded the island of Leyte, which precipitated the largest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The result was the virtual annihilation of the Japanese Navy. After the islands were retaken from the Japanese, America granted independence to the Philippines on July 4, 1946.
Governed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, now in her second six-year term, the population of over 85 million Filipinos have a per capital income of aproximately $1,200. Chronic political corruption has prevented the nation from breaking out as an economic "Asian Tiger" like neighboring Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
The speaker of the House of Representatives is Jose de Venecia.