The Philippines

Islam in the Philippines

Since the Philippines have alway remained a largely Catholic nation, a struggle between Catholics and Muslims in the nation has been going on since independence. The Jabidah Massacre of 1967 was a horrible atrocity against Filipino Muslims that is often regarded as the spark for the modern Moro Muslim insurgencies and rebellions in the Southern Philippines. As the one survivor of the attack recalls, the plan, otherwise known as ‘Operation Merdeka’ which was the code name for the real intended attack, involved taking 200 Tausug and Sama Muslims aged 18 to 30 from Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, two regions of the Philippines. These young men believed they were being recruited to serve for the Philippine Armed Forces, and were excited about the benefits they would be getting.

However, after training was over they discovered the underlying plan that was to be enforced; the recruits would be sent to kill their own people, even many of their family and friends in their hometowns. They demanded to be sent home, but the trainers did not comply with their wishes. Therefore, the Jabidah planners saw only one choice. The survivor recounts his colleges being led out of the barracks in groups of twelves, hearing gunshots and seeing his friends fall to death.  Although the death total of these attacks ranges from only about 28 to around 60 Muslims, it left the Moro Muslims with a bitter resentment  toward the Philippine Armed Forces. This act went unpunished for the soldiers, which caused even more tension between the Moro Muslim society and the Philippine Armed Forces.

In response to the Jabidah Massacre, Nur Misuari formed Moro National Liberation Front, with the goal of separating Muslim territory from Philippine control. The main areas that Muslim forces, such as the Bangsa Moro Army, fight for, are the Mindandao and Sulu Islands. As mentioned earlier, the Mindandao Region now exists independent from the Philippine government as an autonomous state.

Post War Economy of the Philippines

Since 1946, the Philippine economy has displayed several “ups and downs,” but has recently surfaced as a steadily growing market. Yet, throughout its history the Philippines have remained dependent on foreign nations and investors for the success of its economy. More than half of the economy, in fact, relies on services such as tourism and business process outsourcing. Immediately following WWII, the Philippine economy was the second wealthiest in East Asia, after the Japanese empire. However in 1954, the nation first opened its capitalist economy to US corporations, which immediately swarmed the new market. Soon, the Philippines were dominated by external products, as local products could not compete in price or quality. The first major slump in the economy was under Marcos’ dictatorship, as his regime could not keep up with financial needs. The second slump was during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, during which the value of the Philippine peso, the national currency, declined, and the stock market weakened. After 1966, the Philippines have been experiencing an average GDP increase of 1.45% per year, slightly lower than the East Asian average of 5.96%. Yet, 45% of Filipinos earn less than $2 per day. Major exports of the Philippines, include transport and electronic equipment, copper, petroleum, clothing, semiconductors and fruits, especially coconut. The nation is a member of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, and the Asian Development Bank.

Marcos Struggles To Keep Power

Marcos’ dictatorial reign was finally challenged in 1983, after 11 years of absolutism. The dictator’s biggest rival, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr., illegally returned from exile in the US on August 21, 1983. When Aquino exited the plane at Manila International Airport, he was assassinated. After the event, Marcos submitted to political pressure and organized a presidential election, his prime candidate being Corazon Aquino, Benigno’s widow. Corazan had a wide backing from the FIlipino people, therefore the Marcos cabinet was suspected of corruption when he was proclaimed winner of the election.

People Power Revolution

After the crooked election in which Marcos suspiciously defeated Corazan Aquino, the Filipino people constructed a peaceful rebellion in protest. According to TIME Magazine reporter, Roger Rosenblatt, the so called ‘Revolution’ consisted of, “Filipinos armed to the teeth with rosaries and flowers, massing in front of tanks, and the tanks stopping, and some of the soldiers who were the enemy embracing the people and their flowers.” In other words, the people of the Philippines had grown tired of Marcos’ regime, and took to the streets to make a change. Two of Marcos’ long-time allies, Fidel V. Ramos and Secretary of National Defense, Juan Aguinaldo, organized the rebels in this peaceful revolution. After many protests and military defections, Marcos and his allies fled to Hawaii. Corazon Aquino was then recognized as official president of the Philippines. This year, 1986, is recognized as the Philippine return to democracy.

Image: Protesters Take the Streets

Ferdinand Marcos and The First Quarter Storm

      Ferdinand Marcos was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1949 and then the Senate in 1959. He then ran for President and was inaugurated in 1965 and was reelected in 1966. As ruler, Marcos passed some agricultural, industrial, and educational reforms, but unrest with his rule began to build throughout the Philippines. In 1970, rebellions broke out against the corrupt government, led by students, laborers, and other angered citizens. They're massive rallies were held with the goal of a more fair, equal society.

On January 26, 1970, an enormous protest took place as Ferdinand Marcos was delivering his own State of the Nation speech inside the Philippine Congress building. As Jose Lacaba put it, “Passions were high, exacerbated by the quarrel over the mikes [microphones of the protesters]”. When the President, who was more of an oppressive dictator, left and was preparing to board his limousine, someone threw a crocodile paper mache at him. Although it missed him, this sparked the division of riot police to swing their truncheons viciously at the heads of helpless students. Similar acts like this continued for the next three months and police used arms and tear gas to defeat protesters. These rebellions acquired the name “The First Quarter Storm”, which Nelson Navarro described as “that cathartic student revolt in the first months of 1970 that shook the nation with its intense and all-encompassing life-changing experience.”

As unrest continued past the First Quarter Storm, Marcos finally imposed a policy of Martial Law. He felt that the democracy had become troublesome and announced a new constitution, making himself dictator of the Philippines. He declared that "It is easier perhaps and more comfortable to look back to the solace of a familiar and mediocre past. But the times are too grave and the stakes too high for us to permit the customary concessions to traditional democratic processes." He did not want to be bothered by a legislative body and feared his loss of the throne;therefore, Marcos became the sole leader of the Philippines.  

Government of the Philippines

Although the Philippine government experiences many communist rebellions and interferences after independence, the remainder of the time it remains a capitalist constitutional republic that strongly resembles the American governmental system. This form of government proves popular with the Filipino people throughout their history, as they possess the right to elect a President, by popular vote, who will serve a six-year term. Presidents of the Philippines function as head of the state, head of government, and commander in chief of armed forces. The government also includes a Senate, serving as the upper house of the bicameral Congress, and the House of Representatives, the lower house of Congress. Senators serve six-year terms in the legislature while members of the House serve three-year terms. Another similarity that the Philippine government bears to the US is the existence of a Supreme Court, suiting as the highest Judicial power in the nation. The fourteen Supreme Court Justices, including the Chief Justice, are all appointed by the President from nominations by the Judicial and Bar Council. This complex system of democratic government control the entire Philippine nation, with the exception of the Mindandao Region, in which a Muslim population exists relatively independent from the Philippine government.

The Huk Rebellion: Post-War

     Once American forces recaptured the Philippines from the Japanese in February 1945, the Huks shifted their objective from fighting the Japanese to gaining independence, which was promised by the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934. To continue to build support, the Huks formed a political party and ended up winning a number of elections in 1947. However, the American-backed Filipino government denied the Huks their seats in parliament, because the Americans wanted the Philippines to remain a capitalist country, as any communist rebels, such as the Huks, posed a strong threat in the tense Cold War period. In response to this, the Huks returned to the mountains to prepare to fight and they renamed themselves “Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan”, meaning “People’s Liberation Army” in November 1948. 

        As the Huks rebelled against the Filippino government, calling for a leftist, communist society, they came close to toppling and defeating the government in 1950. However, the Filipino government, led by President Ramon Magsaysay, was able to fight off the Huks and turn the tide of the battle. 

     When the Huk leader, Taruc, surrendered in 1954, the movement ended and Magsaysay's campaign against the Huks became the model for U.S. efforts in Vietnam. Years later in the late 1960s, rural discontent of the Huks and supporting peasants once again motivated the Huks to take up arms against the capitalist government. However, President Ferdinand Marcos, with the help of the U.S. government, launched a military campaign that crushed them in 1969.

Image: Manuel Roxas

Manuel Roxas was the third and last President of the Philippine Commonwealth, and the first President of the Philippine Republic.

The Philippines Gain Independence: 1946

On July 4, 1946, the US finally granted independence to the Philippines. The nation immediately assumed the capitalist, democratic system outlined in its constitution, with Manuel Roxas as elected President. Some immediate dilemmas the the new country faced were rebuilding war damage, coming to terms with the Japanese, and dealing with the communist Huk rebels. However, politics managed to run smoothly for the next 26 years, with a variety of Presidents serving 3-year terms. The official Independence Day of the Philippines soon became June 12, as they frowned upon the idea of sharing day with their previous colonizers.

Manuel Roxas

Manuel Roxas was the third and last President of the Commonwealth and the first of the Republic of the Philippines. His presidency is known as the shortest, ending with his untimely death in 1948. Roxas is mainly known for being against the Huks, and outlawing anything involving the rebellion whatsoever. He is also known for the Agragarian Reform and Amnesty Proclamation, where he granted full amnesty to accused Philippine collaborators, who were on trial or waiting to be tried. During the Agragarian Reform, he made the Rice Share Tenancy Act of 1933 effective throughout the country. However this did not help the land tenure, it made it almost worse. Overall, his presidency created a lot of controversy, especially with peasants and Huk supporters who did not agree with his views on communist, and many named him a corrupt ruler.

The Huk Rebellion: WWII

       The Huks were a group of armed communist rebels in the Philippines whose main objective was to gain independence for the nation and a more equitable society. The group first rebelled against Japan during World War II, and would later fight the American-supported Filipino government after they gained independence. Their movement grew during World War II, diminished in the mid-1950s, then returned during the late 1960s. In 1941, Japan had taken control of the chain of islands after defeating American and Filipino forces. Since the Huk rebels originated in the fight against Japan in WWII, the name "Huk" is short for Hukbalahap, which is a contraction of the phrase, “Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon”, which means “People’s Anti-Japanese Army.”

     Most support of the Huks came from peasants living in central Luzon, the largest and most important island of the Philippines, both economically and politically. 80 percent of the local farmers in the region were living with oppressive debt and were struggling to get by. Because of this, the communist ideals of the Huks began appealing to the peasants, because they thought it would help them become equal to all other citizens. At the time, the rebels and peasants were unaware of the potential of a communist society to make everyone equal, but "equally poor."

        The Huks were led by socialist Luis Taruc, who pushed for nationalism and agrarian reforms. He had previously been a peasant organizer during the 1930s in Luzon and this helped the Huks train their supporters in political theory and fighting strategy during the war. 

     By the end of the war, the Huks had amassed about 15,000 armed soldiers and many other supporters. They obtained weapons from retreating Filipino soldiers and old battlefields and used mainly guerilla tactics to interfere with the passage of Japanese food and military supplies while also disrupting the Japanese from collecting taxes. 

World War II in the Philippines

During World War II, the Japanese Imperial Army attempted to take the Philippines from the US. The first invasion, in May of 1942, resulted in a quick victory by the Japanese over the combined American and Filipino forces, led by American General Douglas McArthur. However, General McArthur returned in 1944 to defeat the Japanese and retake the Philippines. Two atrocities committed by the Japanese during occupation are the Bataan Death March and the Manila Massacre. During Bataan Death March, which occurred immediately after the Japanese victory, 80,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war were marched from the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines, to a prison camp 105 kilometers to the north. 110,000 people died during the march, due to abuse, malnutrition, harsh climate conditions, and disease. The Manila Massacre occurred three years later, in 1945, when Japanese troops were ordered to withdraw from Manila, also in the Philippines, and disobeyed. Instead, the Japanese army ruthlessly murdered at least 100,000 civilians and soldiers, both in and out of battle.

Introduction: Colonization of the Philippines

Before World War II, the Philippine islands had been under both Spanish and American control. The nation was first colonized by Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1565, and remained Spanish territory for another 227 years. In 1898, the Spanish-American War broke out, resulting in an American victory and the gain of almost all Spanish colonies, including Guam, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines. When the US first acquired the Philippine islands, they claimed immediately that they would work towards building the islands into an independent nation. After some resistance in a guerrilla war, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, the Philippine people withdrew and complied to the orders of the United States.  The agreement was sealed when Aguinaldo took an oath of allegiance to the US and retired. The American colonization of the Philippines seems peaceful and free from harsh oppression. Even though America ended up giving the Philippines independence, they quietly remained in control of the economics of the nation. 
Under their “Tutelage Policy,” or guardianship over the Philippines, the US began makings small amendments that furthered the islands towards independence. In 1901 the US set up a National Philippine Constabulary, a nationwide police force. William Taft, the American president at the time, soon set up a “Second Philippine Constabulary,” which established economic, political, and social programs that expanded the Philippine potential. These reforms included free public education, removal of trade restrictions on Filipino goods, and political representation of the Filipino people, especially implementing Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmena as leaders. A few years later, the “Tydings-McDuffy Act” was instituted by the US, establishing a commonwealth and constitution as well as building a 10 year plan towards independence. The US, however, maintained authority in foreign policy, immigration matters, trade, and currency regulation.