Historyedit

Prehistory (pre–900)edit

There is evidence of early hominins living in what is now the Philippines as early as 709,000 years ago. A small number of bones from Callao Cave potentially represent an otherwise unknown species, Homo luzonensis, who lived 50,000 to 67,000 years ago. The oldest modern human remains on the islands are from the Tabon Caves of Palawan, U/Th-dated to 47,000 ± 11–10,000 years ago. Tabon Man is presumably a Negrito, among the archipelago's earliest inhabitants descended from the first human migrations out of Africa via the coastal route along southern Asia to the now-sunken landmasses of Sundaland and Sahul.

The first Austronesians reached the Philippines from Taiwan around 2200 BC, settling the Batanes Islands (where they built stone fortresses known as ijangs) and northern Luzon. Jade artifacts have been dated to 2000 BC, with lingling-o jade items made in Luzon with raw materials from Taiwan. By 1000 BC, the inhabitants of the archipelago had developed into four societies: hunter-gatherer tribes, warrior societies, highland plutocracies, and port principalities.

Early states (900–1565)edit

The earliest known surviving written record in the Philippines is the early-10th-century AD Laguna Copperplate Inscription, which was written in Old Malay using the early Kawi script with a number of technical Sanskrit words and Old Javanese or Old Tagalog honorifics. By the 14th century, several large coastal settlements emerged as trading centers and became the focus of societal changes. Some polities had exchanges with other states throughout Asia. Trade with China is believed to have begun during the late Tang dynasty, and expanded during the Song dynasty. Throughout the second millennium AD, some polities were also part of the tributary system of China. With extensive trade and diplomacy, this also brought Southern Chinese merchants and migrants especially from Southern Fujian, historically initially known in Tagalog as "Langlang" and "Sanglay" and later in Spanish as "Sangley", which over the centuries would also gradually settle and intermix in the Philippines. Indian cultural traits such as linguistic terms and religious practices began to spread in the Philippines during the 14th century, probably via the Hindu Majapahit Empire. By the 15th century, Islam was established in the Sulu Archipelago and spread from there.

Polities founded in the Philippines between the 10th and 16th centuries include Maynila, Tondo, Namayan, Pangasinan, Cebu, Butuan, Maguindanao, Lanao, Sulu, and Ma-i. The early polities typically had a three-tier social structure: nobility, freemen, and dependent debtor-bondsmen. Among the nobility were leaders known as datus, who were responsible for ruling autonomous groups (barangays or dulohan). When the barangays banded together to form a larger settlement or a geographically looser alliance, their more-esteemed members would be recognized as a "paramount datu", rajah or sultan, and would rule the community. Population density is thought to have been low during the 14th to 16th centuries due to the frequency of typhoons and the Philippines' location on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in 1521, claimed the islands for Spain, and was killed by Lapulapu's men in the Battle of Mactan.

Spanish and American colonial rule (1565–1934)edit

Unification and colonization by the Crown of Castile began when Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi arrived from New Spain (Spanish: Nueva España) in 1565. Many Filipinos were brought to New Spain as slaves and forced crew. Spanish Manila became the capital of the Spanish East Indies in 1571, Spanish territories in Asia and the Pacific. The Spanish invaded local states using the principle of divide and conquer, bringing most of what is the present-day Philippines under one unified administration. Disparate barangays were deliberately consolidated into towns, where Catholic missionaries could more easily convert their inhabitants to Christianity, which was initially Syncretist. Christianization by the Spanish friars occurred mostly across the settled lowlands over the centuries, whether be it the Austronesian groups or even the Sangley Chinese migrant settlers and any mixed mestizo descendants thereof. From 1565 to 1821, the Philippines was governed as a territory of the Mexico City-based Viceroyalty of New Spain; it was then administered from Madrid after the Mexican War of Independence. Manila became the western hub of trans-Pacific trade by Manila galleons built in Bicol and Cavite.

During its rule, Spain nearly bankrupted its treasury quelling indigenous revolts and defending against external military attacks, including Moro piracy, a 17th-century war against the Dutch, 18th-century British occupation of Manila, and conflict with Muslims in the south.

Administration of the Philippines was considered a drain on the economy of New Spain, and abandoning it or trading it for other territory was debated. This course of action was opposed because of the islands' economic potential, security, and the desire to continue religious conversion in the region. The colony survived on an annual subsidy from the Spanish crown averaging 250,000 pesos, usually paid as 75 tons of silver bullion from the Americas. British forces occupied Manila from 1762 to 1764 during the Seven Years' War, and Spanish rule was restored with the 1763 Treaty of Paris. The Spanish considered their war with the Muslims in Southeast Asia an extension of the Reconquista. The Spanish–Moro conflict lasted for several hundred years; Spain conquered portions of Mindanao and Jolo during the last quarter of the 19th century, and the Muslim Moro in the Sultanate of Sulu acknowledged Spanish sovereignty.

Philippine ports opened to world trade during the 19th century, and Filipino society began to change. Social identity changed, with the term Filipino encompassing all residents of the archipelago instead of solely referring to Spaniards born in the Philippines.

Revolutionary sentiment grew in 1872 after three activist Catholic priests were executed on questionable grounds. This inspired the Propaganda Movement, organized by Marcelo H. del Pilar, José Rizal, Graciano López Jaena, and Mariano Ponce, which advocated political reform in the Philippines. Rizal was executed on December 30, 1896, for rebellion, and his death radicalized many who had been loyal to Spain. Attempts at reform met with resistance; Andrés Bonifacio founded the Katipunan secret society, which sought independence from Spain through armed revolt, in 1892.

The Katipunan Cry of Pugad Lawin began the Philippine Revolution in 1896. Internal disputes led to the Tejeros Convention, at which Bonifacio lost his position and Emilio Aguinaldo was elected the new leader of the revolution. The 1897 Pact of Biak-na-Bato resulted in the Hong Kong Junta government in exile. The Spanish–American War began the following year, and reached the Philippines; Aguinaldo returned, resumed the revolution, and declared independence from Spain on June 12, 1898. In December 1898, the islands were ceded by Spain to the United States with Puerto Rico and Guam after the Spanish–American War.

The First Philippine Republic was promulgated on January 21, 1899. Lack of recognition by the United States led to an outbreak of hostilities that, after refusal by the U.S. on-scene military commander of a cease-fire proposal and a declaration of war by the nascent Republic, escalated into the Philippine–American War.

The war resulted in the deaths of 250,000 to 1 million civilians, primarily due to famine and disease. Many Filipinos were transported by the Americans to concentration camps, where thousands died. After the fall of the First Philippine Republic in 1902, an American civilian government was established with the Philippine Organic Act. American forces continued to secure and extend their control of the islands, suppressing an attempted extension of the Philippine Republic, securing the Sultanate of Sulu, establishing control of interior mountainous areas which had resisted Spanish conquest, and encouraging large-scale resettlement of Christians in once-predominantly-Muslim Mindanao.

Commonwealth and World War II (1935–1946)edit

Cultural developments in the Philippines strengthened a national identity, and Tagalog began to take precedence over other local languages. Governmental functions were gradually given to Filipinos by the Taft Commission; the 1934 Tydings–McDuffie Act granted a ten-year transition to independence through the creation of the Commonwealth of the Philippines the following year, with Manuel Quezon president and Sergio Osmeña vice president. Quezon's priorities were defence, social justice, inequality, economic diversification, and national character. Filipino (a standardized variety of Tagalog) became the national language, women's suffrage was introduced, and land reform was considered.

The Empire of Japan invaded the Philippines in December 1941 during World War II, and the Second Philippine Republic was established as a puppet state governed by Jose P. Laurel. Beginning in 1942, the Japanese occupation of the Philippines was opposed by large-scale underground guerrilla activity. Atrocities and war crimes were committed during the war, including the Bataan Death March and the Manila massacre. The Philippine resistance and Allied troops defeated the Japanese in 1944 and 1945. Over one million Filipinos were estimated to have died by the end of the war. On October 11, 1945, the Philippines became a founding member of the United Nations. On July 4, 1946, during the presidency of Manuel Roxas, the country's independence was recognized by the United States with the Treaty of Manila.

Independence (1946–present)edit

Efforts at post-war reconstruction and ending the Hukbalahap Rebellion succeeded during Ramon Magsaysay's presidency, but sporadic communist insurgency continued to flare up long afterward. Under Magsaysay's successor, Carlos P. Garcia, the government initiated a Filipino First policy which promoted Filipino-owned businesses. Succeeding Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal moved Independence Day from July 4 to June 12—the date of Emilio Aguinaldo's declaration— and pursued a claim on eastern North Borneo.

In 1965, Macapagal lost the presidential election to Ferdinand Marcos. Early in his presidency, Marcos began infrastructure projects funded mostly by foreign loans; this improved the economy, and contributed to his reelection in 1969. Near the end of his last constitutionally-permitted term, Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972 using the specter of communism and began to rule by decree; the period was characterized by political repression, censorship, and human rights violations. Monopolies controlled by Marcos' cronies were established in key industries, including logging and broadcasting; a sugar monopoly led to a famine on the island of Negros. With his wife, Imelda, Marcos was accused of corruption and embezzling billions of dollars of public funds. Marcos' heavy borrowing early in his presidency resulted in economic crashes, exacerbated by an early 1980s recession where the economy contracted by 7.3 percent annually in 1984 and 1985.

On August 21, 1983, opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. (Marcos' chief rival) was assassinated on the tarmac at Manila International Airport. Marcos called a snap presidential election in 1986 which proclaimed him the winner, but the results were widely regarded as fraudulent. The resulting protests led to the People Power Revolution, which forced Marcos and his allies to flee to Hawaii. Aquino's widow, Corazon, was installed as president.

The return of democracy and government reforms which began in 1986 were hampered by national debt, government corruption, and coup attempts. A communist insurgency and military conflict with Moro separatists persisted; the administration also faced a series of disasters, including the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991. Aquino was succeeded by Fidel V. Ramos, who liberalized the national economy with privatization and deregulation. Ramos' economic gains were overshadowed by the onset of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. His successor, Joseph Estrada, prioritized public housing but faced corruption allegations which led to his overthrow by the 2001 EDSA Revolution and the succession of Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on January 20, 2001. Arroyo's nine-year administration was marked by economic growth, but was tainted by corruption and political scandals, including electoral fraud allegations during the 2004 presidential election. Economic growth continued during Benigno Aquino III's administration, which advocated good governance and transparency. Aquino III signed a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) resulting in the Bangsamoro Organic Law establishing an autonomous Bangsamoro region, but a shootout with MILF rebels in Mamasapano delayed passage of the law.

Rodrigo Duterte, elected president in 2016, launched an infrastructure program and an anti-drug campaign which reduced drug proliferation but has also led to extrajudicial killings. The Bangsamoro Organic Law was enacted in 2018. In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic reached the Philippines; its gross domestic product shrank by 9.5 percent, the country's worst annual economic performance since 1947. Marcos' son, Bongbong Marcos, won the 2022 presidential election; Duterte's daughter, Sara, became vice president.