History of the Philippines
The first humans arrived in the
Philippines by land bridges at least 30,000 years ago, while the
history of the Philippines as recorded by
Europeans began with the arrival of
Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. Permanent settlement was established with the expedition of
Miguel López de Legazpi in 1565, beginning an era of Spanish colonization that lasted more than three centuries
The
Philippine Revolution against the Spanish began in 1896, culminating two years later with a proclamation of independence and the establishment of the
First Philippine Republic. However, the
Treaty of Paris in 1898 at the end of the
Spanish-American War transferred control of the Philippines to the
United States. Partial self-government under U.S. supervision began in 1905, with full autonomy preparatory to independence by 1935. But what was envisioned as a 10-year transition period to independence was interrupted by the
Japanese invasion and occupation of the islands during
World War II. Full independence was granted to the Philippines in 1946.
The late 1960s and early 1970s saw a rise of student activism, civil unrest, and high rates of crime, prompting President
Ferdinand Marcos to declare
martial law in 1972. The peaceful
1986 EDSA Revolution brought about the ouster of Marcos and a return to democracy for the country. The period since then, however, has been marked by government corruption, political instability, and hampered economic productivity.
Main article: History of the Philippines (until 1521)
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A Tagalog couple of the maharlika nobility caste |
Negrito,
proto-Malay, and
Malay peoples were the principal peoples of the
Philippine archipelago. The Negritos are believed to have migrated by
land bridges some 30,000 years ago, during the last
ice age. Later migrations were by water and took place over several thousand years.
The social and political organization of the population in the widely scattered islands evolved into a generally common pattern. Only the permanent-field rice farmers of northern
Luzon had any concept of territoriality. The basic unit of settlement was the
barangay, originally a kinship group headed by a
datu (chief). Within the barangay, the broad social divisions consisted of
nobles, including the datu;
freemen; and a group described before the Spanish period as dependents. Dependents included several categories with differing status: landless agricultural workers; those who had lost freeman status because of indebtedness or punishment for crime; and slaves, most of whom appear to have been war captives.
was brought to the Philippines by traders and
proselytizers from the
Indonesian islands. By the 16th century, Islam was established in the
Sulu Archipelago and spread from there to
Mindanao; it had reached the
Manila area by 1565. Muslim immigrants introduced a political concept of territorial states ruled by
rajas or
sultans who exercised
suzerainty over the datu. Neither the political state concept of the Muslim rulers nor the limited territorial concept of the sedentary rice farmers of Luzon, however, spread beyond the areas where they originated. When the
Spanish arrived in the 16th century, the majority of the estimated 500,000 people in the islands lived in barangay settlements.
Main article: History of the Philippines (1521-1898)
Early Spanish expeditions
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Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines in 1521 |
The Philippine islands first came to the attention of
Europeans with the
Spanish expedition around the world led by
Portuguese explorer
Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. Magellan landed on the island of
Cebu, claiming the lands for Spain and naming them
Islas de San Lazaro. He established friendly relations with some of the local chieftains and converted some of them to
Roman Catholicism. However, Magellan was killed in a dispute with natives led by a local chief named
Lapu-Lapu.
Over the next several decades, other Spanish expeditions were dispatched to the islands. In 1543,
Ruy López de Villalobos led an expedition to the islands and gave the name
Las Islas Filipinas (after
Philip II of Spain) to the islands of
Samar and
Leyte. The name would later be given to the entire archipelago.
Spanish colonization
Permanent Spanish settlement was not established until 1565 when an expedition led by
Miguel López de Legazpi, the first
Governor-General of the Philippines, arrived in Cebu from
New Spain (
Mexico). Spanish leadership was soon established over many small independent communities that previously had known no central rule. Six years later, following the defeat of the local Muslim ruler, Legazpi established a capital at
Manila, a location that offered the excellent harbor of
Manila Bay, a large population, and proximity to the ample food supplies of the
central Luzon rice lands. Manila became the center of Spanish civil, military, religious, and commercial activity in the islands. Despite the opposition of the
Portuguese, who desired to maintain their monopoly on
East Asian trade, the Spanish had secured a foothold in the Philippines, which became their outpost in the
East Indies. The Philippines was administered as a province of New Spain until
Mexican independence (1821).
Occupation of the islands was accomplished with relatively little bloodshed, partly because most of the population (except the Muslims) offered little armed resistance initially. A significant problem the Spanish faced was the subjugation of the Muslims of
Mindanao and the
Sulu Archipelago. The Muslims, in response to attacks on them from the Spanish and their native allies, raided areas of
Luzon and the
Visayas that were under Spanish colonial control. The Spanish conducted intermittent military campaigns against the Muslims, but without conclusive results until the middle of the 19th century.
Church and state were inseparably linked in Spanish policy, with the state assuming responsibility for religious establishments.
One of Spain's objectives in colonizing the Philippines was the conversion of the local population to Roman Catholicism. The work of conversion was facilitated by the absence of other organized religions, except for Islam, which predominated in the south. The pageantry of the church had a wide appeal, reinforced by the incorporation of Filipino social customs into religious observances. The eventual outcome was a new Christian majority of the main Malay lowland population, from which the Muslims of Mindanao and the upland tribal peoples of Luzon remained detached and alienated.
At the lower levels of administration, the Spanish built on traditional village organization by co-opting local leaders. This system of indirect rule helped create a Filipino
upper class, called the
principalia, who had local wealth, high status, and other privileges. This perpetuated an
oligarchic system of local control. Among the most significant changes under Spanish rule was that the Filipino idea of communal use and ownership of land was replaced with the concept of private ownership and the conferring of titles on members of the principalia.
The Philippines was not profitable as a colony, and a long war with the
Dutch in the 17th century and intermittent conflict with the Muslims nearly bankrupted the colonial treasury. Colonial income derived mainly from
entrepôt trade: The
Manila Galleons sailing from
Acapulco on the west coast of New Spain brought shipments of
silver bullion and minted coin that were exchanged for return cargoes of Chinese goods. There was no direct trade with Spain.
Decline of Spanish rule
Spanish rule on the Philippines was briefly interrupted in 1762, when
British troops invaded and occupied the islands as a result of Spain's entry into the
Seven Years' War. The
Treaty of Paris in 1763 restored Spanish rule and the British left in 1764. The brief British occupation weakened Spain's grip on power and sparked rebellions and demands for independence.
In 1781, Governor-General]
José Basco y Vargas established the Economic Society of Friends of the Country. The Philippines by this time was administered directly from Spain. Developments in and out of the country helped to bring new ideas to the Philippines. The opening of the
Suez Canal in 1869 cut travel time to Spain. This prompted the rise of the
ilustrados, an enlightened Filipino upper class, since many young Filipinos were able to study in Europe.
Enlightened by the
Propaganda Movement to the injustices of the Spanish colonial government and the "frailocracy", the
ilustrados originally clamored for adequate representation to the
Spanish Cortes and later for independence.
José Rizal, the most celebrated intellectual and radical
illustrado of the era, wrote the novels
Noli Me Tangere and
El Filibusterismo, which greatly inspired the movement for independence. The
Katipunan, a
secret society whose primary purpose was that of overthrowing Spanish rule in the Philippines, was founded by
Andrés Bonifacio who became its Supremo (leader).
The
Philippine Revolution began in 1896. Rizal was implicated in the outbreak of the revolution and executed for
treason in 1896. The Katipunan split into two groups,
Magdiwang led by
Andrés Bonifacio and
Magdalo led by
Emilio Aguinaldo. Conflict between the two revolutionary leaders culminated in the execution or assassination of Bonifacio by Aguinaldo's soldiers. Aguinaldo agreed to a truce with the
Pact of Biak na Bato and Aguinaldo and his fellow revolutionaries were exiled to
Hong Kong.
The
Spanish-American war began in 1898 after the
USS Maine, sent to
Cuba in connection with an attempt to arrange a peaceful resolution between Cuban independence ambitions and Spanish colonialism, exploded and sunk in
Havana harbor. After
Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish squadron at Manila, the U.S. invited Aguinaldo to return to the Philippines, which he did on
May 19,
1898, in the hope he would rally Filipinos against the Spanish colonial government. By the time U.S. land forces had arrived, the Filipinos had taken control of the entire island of Luzon, except for the walled city of
Intramuros. On
June 12,
1898, Aguinaldo declared the independence of the Philippines in
Kawit,
Cavite, establishing the
First Philippine Republic under Asia's first democratic constitution.
Simultaneously, a
German squadron arrived in Manila and declared that if the United States did not seize the Philippines as a colonial possession, Germany would. Since Spain and the U.S. ignored the Filipino representative,
Felipe Agoncillo, during their negotiations in the
Treaty of Paris, the
Battle of Manila between Spain and the U.S. was perceived by some to be an attempt to exclude the Filipinos from the eventual occupation of Manila. Although there was substantial domestic opposition, the United States decided neither to return the Philippines to Spain, nor to allow Germany to annex the Philippines. Therefore, in addition to
Guam and
Puerto Rico, Spain was forced in the negotiations to hand over the Philippines to the U.S. in exchange for
US$20,000,000.00, which the U.S. later claimed to be a "gift" from Spain.
The first Philippine Republic rebelled against the U.S. occupation, resulting in the
Philippine-American War (1899–1913).
Main article: History of the Philippines (1898-1946)
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1898 political cartoon showing U.S. President McKinley with a savage child. Returning the Philippines to Spain is compared to throwing the child off a cliff. |
Filipinos initially saw their relationship with the United States as that of two nations joined in a common struggle against Spain. As allies, Filipinos had provided the American forces with valuable intelligence and military support. However, the United States later distanced itself from the interests of the Filipino insurgents. Aguinaldo was unhappy that the United States would not commit to paper a statement of support for
Philippine independence. Relations deteriorated and tensions heightened as it became clear that the Americans were in the islands to stay.
Philippine-American War
Main article: Philippine-American War
Hostilities broke out on
February 4,
1899, after two American privates on patrol killed three Filipino soldiers in
San Juan, a
Manila suburb.
This began the
Philippine-American War, which would cost far more money and take far more lives than the
Spanish-American War. Some 126,000 American soldiers would be committed to the conflict; 4,234 American and 16,000 Filipino soldiers, part of a nationwide
guerrilla movement of indeterminate numbers, died.
Estimates on civilian deaths during the war range between 250,000 and 1,000,000, largely because of famine and disease. Atrocities were committed by both sides.
The poorly equipped Filipino troops were handily overpowered by American troops in open combat, but they were formidable opponents in guerrilla warfare.
Malolos, the revolutionary capital, was captured on
March 31,
1899. Aguinaldo and his government escaped, however, establishing a new capital at
San Isidro, Nueva Ecija.
Antonio Luna, Aguinaldo's most capable military commander, was murdered in June. With his best commander dead and his troops suffering continued defeats as American forces pushed into northern
Luzon, Aguinaldo dissolved the regular army in November 1899 and ordered the establishment of decentralized guerrilla commands in each of several military zones. The general population, caught between Americans and rebels, suffered significantly.
Aguinaldo was captured at
Palanan, Isabela on
March 23,
1901 and was brought to Manila. Convinced of the futility of further resistance, he swore allegiance to the United States and issued a proclamation calling on his compatriots to lay down their arms, officially bringing an end to the war.
However, sporadic insurgent resistance continued in various parts of the Philippines, especially in the Muslim south, until 1913.
United States colony
The United States defined its colonial mission as one of tutelage, preparing the Philippines for eventual independence.
Civil government was established by the United States in 1901, with
William Howard Taft as the first American
Governor-General of the Philippines, replacing the military governor,
Arthur MacArthur, Jr. The governor-general acted as head of the
Philippine Commission, a body appointed by the U.S. president with legislative and limited executive powers. The commission passed laws to set up the fundamentals of the new government, including a judicial system, civil service, and local government. A
Philippine Constabulary was organized to deal with the remnants of the insurgent movement and gradually assume the responsibilities of the
United States army. The elected
Philippine Assembly was inaugurated in 1907, becoming a lower house of a
bicameral legislature, with the appointed Philippine Commission as upper house.
United States policies towards the Philippines shifted with changing administrations. During the early years of colonial rule, the Americans were reluctant to delegate authority to the Filipinos. However, when
Woodrow Wilson became
U.S. President in 1913, a new policy was adopted to put into motion a process that would gradually lead to Philippine independence. The
Jones Act, passed by the
U.S. Congress in 1916 to serve as the new
organic law in the Philippines, promised eventual independence and instituted an elected
Philippine senate.
The 1920s saw alternating periods of cooperation and confrontation with American governors-general, depending on how intent the incumbent was on exercising his powers vis-à-vis the Philippine legislature. Members to the elected legislature lobbied for immediate and complete independence from the United States. Several independence missions were sent to
Washington D.C. A civil service was formed and was gradually taken over by Filipinos, who had effectively gained control by 1918.
Philippine politics during the American colonial era was dominated by the
Nacionalista Party, which was founded in 1907. Although the party's platform called for "immediate independence", their policy toward the Americans was highly accommodating.
Within the political establishment, the call for independence was spearheaded by
Manuel L. Quezon, who served continuously as
Senate president from 1916 until 1935.
Commonwealth
Main article: Commonwealth of the Philippines
In 1934, the
United States Congress passed the
Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act as a Philippine Independence Act over President
Herbert Hoover's veto. Though the bill had been drafted with the aid of a commission from the Philippines, it was opposed by Philippine Senate President
Manuel L. Quezon, partially because of provisions leaving the United States in control of naval bases. Under his influence, the Philippine legislature rejected the bill. The following year, a revised act known as the
Tydings-McDuffie Act was finally passed. The act provided for a ten-year period as the
Commonwealth of the Philippines for a peaceful transition to full independence. The commonwealth would have its own constitution and be self-governing, though foreign policy would be the responsibility of the United States, and certain legislature required approval of the United States president.
A constitution was framed in 1934 and overwhelmingly approved by plebiscite the following year. On
May 14,
1935, an election to fill the newly created office of President of the Commonwealth was won by
Manuel L. Quezon of the
Nacionalista Party, and a Filipino government was formed on the basis of principles similar to the
US Constitution. The Commonwealth was established in 1935, featuring a very strong
executive, a unicameral
National Assembly, and a
Supreme Court composed entirely of Filipinos for the first time since 1901. During the Commonwealth years, Philippines sent one elected
Resident Commissioner to the
United States House of Representatives (as
Puerto Rico does today).
The new government embarked on an ambitious agenda of establishing the basis for national defense, greater control over the economy, reforms in education, improvement of transport, the colonization of the island of Mindanao, and the promotion of local capital and industrialization. The Commonwealth however, was also faced with agrarian unrest, an uncertain diplomatic and military situation in
Southeast Asia, and uncertainty about the level of United States commitment to the future Republic of the Philippines. In 1939-40, the Philippine Constitution was amended to restore a bicameral Congress, and permit the reelection of President Quezon, who was previously restricted to a single six-year term.
World War II and Japanese occupation
Japan launched a surprise
attack on the Philippines on
December 8,
1941, just ten hours after the
attack on Pearl Harbor. Aerial bombardment was followed by landings of ground troops on Luzon. The defending Philippine and United States troops were under the command of General
Douglas MacArthur. Under the pressure of superior numbers, the defending forces withdrew to the
Bataan and to the island of
Corregidor at the entrance to Manila Bay. Manila, declared an
open city to prevent its destruction, was occupied by the Japanese on
January 2,
1942. The Philippine defense continued until the final surrender of United States-Philippine forces on the Bataan Peninsula in April 1942 and on Corregidor in May. Most of the 80,000 prisoners of war captured by the Japanese at Bataan were forced to undertake the infamous
Bataan Death March to a prison camp 105 kilometers to the north. It is estimated that as many as 10,000 men died before reaching their destination.
Quezon and Osmeña had accompanied the troops to Corregidor and later left for the United States, where they set up a government in exile. MacArthur was ordered to
Australia, where he started to plan for a return to the Philippines.
The Japanese military authorities immediately began organizing a new government structure in the Philippines. They initially organized a
Council of State through which they directed civil affairs until October 1943, when they declared the Philippines an independent republic. The Japanese-sponsored republic headed by President
José P. Laurel proved to be unpopular.
Japanese occupation of the Philippines was opposed by large-scale underground and guerrilla activity. The
Philippine Army continued to fight the Japanese in a guerrilla war and was considered an auxiliary unit of the United States Army. Their effectiveness was such that by the end of the war, Japan controlled only twelve of the forty-eight
provinces. The major element of resistance in the Central Luzon area was furnished by the
Hukbalahap ("People's Army Against the Japanese"), which armed some 30,000 people and extended their control over much of Luzon.
MacArthur's
Allied forces landed on Leyte on
October 20,
1944. Landings in other parts of the country followed, and the Allies pushed toward Manila. Fighting continued until Japan's formal surrender on
September 2,
1945. The Philippines suffered great loss of life and tremendous physical destruction by the time the war was over. An estimated 1 million Filipinos had been killed, and Manila was extensively damaged.
Main article: History of the Philippines (1946-1965)
Elections were held in April 1946, with
Manuel Roxas becoming the first president of the independent Republic of the Philippines. The
United States receded its sovereignty over the Philippines on
July 4,
1946, as scheduled. However, the
Philippine economy remained highly dependent on
United States markets. The
Philippine Trade Act, passed as a precondition for receiving
war reparations from the United States, exacerbated the dependency with provisions further tying the economies of the two countries. A military assistance pact was signed in 1947 granting the United States a 99-year lease on designated
military bases in the country (the lease was later reduced to 25 years beginning 1967).
The Roxas administration granted general
amnesty to those who had collaborated with the Japanese in World War II, except for those who had committed violent crimes. Roxas died suddenly of a heart attack in April 1948, and the vice president,
Elpidio Quirino, was elevated to the presidency. He ran for president in his own right in 1949, defeating
Jose P. Laurel and winning a four-year term.
World War II had left the Philippines demoralized and severely damaged. The task of reconstruction was complicated by the activities of the
Communist-supported
Hukbalahap guerrillas (known as "Huks"), who had evolved into a violent resistance force against the new Philippine government. Government policy towards the Huks alternated between gestures of negotiation and harsh suppression. Secretary of Defense
Ramon Magsaysay initiated a campaign to defeat the insurgents militarily and at the same time win popular support for the government. The Huk movement had waned in the early 1950s, finally ending with the unconditional surrender of the Huk leader
Luis Taruc in May 1954.
Supported by the United States, Magsaysay was elected president in 1953 on a
populist platform. He promised sweeping economic reform, and made progress in
land reform by promoting the settlement of poor people in the Christian north into traditionally Muslim areas. Though this relieved population pressure in the north, it heightened religious hostilities. Nevertheless, he was extremely popular with the common people, and his death in an airplane crash in March 1957 dealt a serious blow to national morale.
Carlos P. Garcia succeeded to the presidency after Magsaysay's death, and was elected to a four-year term in the election of November that same year. His administration emphasized the nationalist theme of "Filipino first", arguing that the Filipino people should be given the chances to improve the country's economy. Garcia successfully negotiated for the United States' relequishment of large military land reservations. However, his administration lost popularity on issues of government corruption as his term advanced.
Diosdado Macapagal was elected president in the 1961 election, defeating Garcia's re-election bid. Macapagal's foreign policy sought closer relations with neighboring Asian nations, particularly
Malaysia and
Indonesia. Negotiations with the United States over base rights led to anti-American sentiment. Notably, the celebration of
Independence Day was changed from July 4 to June 12, to honor the day that
Emilio Aguinaldo declared independence from
Spain in 1898.
Main article: History of the Philippines (1965-1986)
Macapagal ran for re-election in 1965, but was defeated by his former party-mate, Senate President
Ferdinand Marcos, who had switched to the Nacionalista Party. Early in his presidency, Marcos initiated ambitious public works projects and intensified tax collection which brought the country economic prosperity throughout the 1970s. His administration built more roads (including a substantial portion of the
Pan-Philippine Highway) than all his predecessors combined, and more schools than any previous administration. Marcos was re-elected president in 1969, becoming the first president of the independent Philippines to achieve a second term.
The Philippine Legislature was corrupt and impotent. Opponents of Marcos blocked the necessary legislation to implement his ambitious plans. Because of this, optimism faded early in his second term and economic growth slowed. Crime and civil disobedience increased because of ineffective legislation and corruption. The
Communist Party of the Philippines formed the
New People's Army]. The [[Moro National Liberation Front continued to fight for an independent Muslim nation in Mindanao. An explosion during the proclamation rally of the senatorial slate of the
Liberal Party on
August 21,
1971, prompted Marcos to suspend the
writ of habeas corpus, which he restored on
January 11,
1972 after public protests.
Martial law
Amidst the rising wave of lawlessness and the threat of a Communist insurgency, Marcos declared
martial law on
September 21,
1972 by virtue of
Proclamation No. 1081. Marcos, ruling by decree, curtailed press freedom and other civil liberties; closed down Congress and media establishments; and ordered the arrest of opposition leaders and militant activists, including his staunchest critics Senator
Benigno Aquino, Jr. and Senator
Jose Diokno. Initially, the declaration of martial law was well received, given the social turmoil the Philippines was experiencing.
Crime rates plunged dramatically after a curfew was implemented. Political opponents were given the opportunity to go into exile.
A
constitutional convention, which had been called for in 1970 to replace the colonial
1935 Constitution, continued the work of framing a new constitution after the declaration of martial law. The new constitution went into effect in early 1973, changing the form of government from presidential to
parliamentary and allowing Marcos to stay in power beyond 1973.
Marcos claimed that martial law was the prelude to creating a "New Society" based on new social and political values. The economy during the 1970s was robust, with budgetary and trade surpluses. The
Gross National Product rose from P55 billion in 1972 to P193 billion in 1980. Tourism rose, contributing to the economy's growth. However, Marcos's cronies and his wife,
Imelda Romualdez-Marcos, wilfully engaged in rampant corruption.
Fourth Republic
In order to appease the
Catholic Church before the visit of
Pope John Paul II, Marcos officially lifted martial law on
January 17,
1981. However, he retained much of the government's power for arrest and detention. Corruption and nepotism as well as civil unrest contributed to a serious decline in economic growth and development under Marcos, whose health declined due to
lupus.
The political opposition boycotted the
1981 presidential elections, which pitted Marcos against retired general
Alejo Santos. Marcos won by a margin of over 16 million votes, which constitutionally allowed him to have another six-year term. Finance Minister
Cesar Virata was elected as Prime Minister by the
Batasang Pambansa.
In 1983, opposition leader
Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated at the
Manila International Airport upon his return to the Philippines after a long period of exile. This coalesced popular dissatisfaction with Marcos and began a succession of events, including pressure from the United States, that culminated in a snap presidential election in February 1986. The opposition united under Aquino's widow,
Corazon Aquino. The election was marred by widespread reports of violence and tampering with results by both sides of the political fence.
The official election canvasser, the
Commission on Elections (Comelec), declared Marcos the winner. However, there was a large discrepancy between the Comelec results and that of
Namfrel, an accredited poll watcher. The allegedly fraudulent result was rejected by Corazon Aquino and her supporters. International observers, including a U.S. delegation, denounced the official results. Gen.
Fidel Ramos and Defense Minister
Juan Ponce Enrile withdrew their support for Marcos. A peaceful
civilian-military uprising, popularly called People Power or EDSA Revolution I, forced Marcos into exile and installed Corazon Aquino as president on
February 25,
1986.
Main article: History of the Philippines (1986-present)
Corazon Aquino immediately formed a government to normalize the situation, and provided for a transitional constitution. A new permanent constitution was ratified and enacted in February 1987. The new constitution crippled presidential power to declare martial law, proposed the creation of autonomous regions in the
Cordilleras and
Muslim Mindanao, and restored the presidential form of government and the bicameral Congress. Progress was made in revitalizing democratic institutions and respect for civil liberties, but Aquino's administration was also viewed as weak and fractious, and a return to full political stability and economic development was hampered by several attempted coups staged by disaffected members of the Philippine military. Economic growth was additionally hampered by a series of natural disasters, including the 1991 eruption of
Mount Pinatubo that left 700 dead and 200,000 homeless.
In 1991, the Philippine Senate rejected a treaty that would have allowed a 10-year extension of the U.S. military bases in the country. The United States turned over
Clark Air Base in
Pampanga to the government in November, and
Subic Bay Naval Base in
Zambales in December 1992, ending almost a century of U.S. military presence in the Philippines.
In the
1992 elections, Defense Secretary
Fidel V. Ramos, endorsed by Aquino, won the presidency with just 23.6% of the vote in a field of seven candidates. Early in his administration, Ramos declared "national reconciliation" his highest priority and worked at building a coalition to overcome the divisiveness of the Aquino years. He legalized the
Communist Party and laid the groundwork for talks with communist insurgents,
Muslim separatists, and military rebels, attempting to convince them to cease their armed activities against the government. In June 1994,
Ramos signed into law a general conditional
amnesty covering all rebel groups, and Philippine military and police personnel accused of crimes committed while fighting the insurgents. In October 1995, the government signed an agreement bringing the military insurgency to an end. A peace agreement with the
Moro National Liberation Front, a major separatist group fighting for an independent homeland in
Mindanao, was signed in 1996, ending the 24-year old struggle. However, an MNLF splinter group, the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front continued the armed struggle for an Islamic state. Efforts by supporters of Ramos to gain passage of an amendment that would allow him to run for a second term were met with large-scale protests, leading Ramos to declare he would not seek re-election.
Joseph Estrada, a former movie actor who had served as Ramos's vice president, was elected president by a landslide victory in 1998. His election campaign pledged to help the poor and develop the country's agricultural sector, and he enjoyed widespread popularity particularly among the poor. Under the cloud of the
Asian financial crisis which began in 1997, Estrada's wayward governance took a heavy toll on the economy. Unemployment worsened, the budget deficit grew, the currency plunged. Eventually, the country's economy recovered but at a much slower pace than that of its Asian neighbors.
Within a year of his election, Estrada's popularity declined sharply amid allegations of cronyism and corruption and failure to remedy the problems of poverty.
In October 2000, Estrada was accused of having accepted millions of pesos in payoffs from illegal gambling businesses. He was
impeached by the House of Representatives, but his impeachment trial in the Senate broke down when the senate voted to block examination of the president's bank records. In response, massive street protests erupted demanding Estrada's resignation. Faced with street protests, cabinet resignations, and a withdrawal of support from the armed forces, Estrada was forced from office on
January 20,
2001.
Vice President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (the daughter of the late President
Diosdado Macapagal) was sworn in as Estrada's successor on the day of his departure. Her accession to power was further legitimated by the mid-term congressional and local elections held four months later, when her coalition won an overwhelming victory.
Arroyo's initial term in office was marked by fractious coalition politics as well as a military mutiny in Manila in July 2003 that led her to declare a month-long nationwide state of rebellion.
Arroyo had declared in December 2002 that she would not contest the May 2004 presidential election, but she reversed herself in October 2003 and decided to run.
She was reelected and sworn in for her own six-year term as president on
June 30,
2004. In 2005, a tape of a wiretapped conversation surfaced bearing the voice of Arroyo apparently asking an election official if her margin of victory can be maintained.
The tape sparked protests calling for Arroyo's resignation.
Arroyo admitted to inappropriately speaking to an election official, but denied allegations of fraud and refused to step down.
Attempts to impeach the president failed later that year.
Arroyo currently spearheads a controversial plan for an overhaul of the constitution to transform the present presidential-bicameral republic into a federal parliamentary-unitary form of government.
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