PHILIPPINES, FLAG OF THE

national flag consisting of horizontal stripes of blue and red with a white hoist triangle incorporating a golden sun and three stars. The flag's width-to-length ratio is generally 1 to 2. The 1898 overthrow of Spanish authority by the United States led Filipinos to believe that their country's independence, proclaimed on June 12, 1898, was guaranteed. A national flag quite different from the revolutionary banners used a few years before was adopted. At the hoist was a white triangle, symbolic of liberty and probably derived from Masonic symbolism. It bore a golden sun and three golden stars, standing for the three main areas in the Philippines-the Luzon group of islands in the north, the Visayan group in the south, and the main southern island of Mindanao. The eight sun rays were for the provinces where the original anti-Spanish revolt had broken out. The remainder of the flag consisted of horizontal stripes of blue (for the willingness to sacrifice oneself for freedom) over red (for courage). The first republic was finally suppressed by the United States, and its flag was outlawed between 1907 and 1920. In 1936 the new Commonwealth of the Philippines adopted that flag in anticipation of eventual independence. Under Japanese occupation, the Philippine flag was first forbidden and then officially recognized on October 14, 1943, when the Japanese-controlled second republic was proclaimed. Filipinos opposed to Japanese rule displayed the flag with the blue stripe down and the red stripe up (i.e., they hoisted the flag upside down). Finally, the United States granted independence to the Philippines on July 4, 1946, under the 1898 flag. In 1985 President Ferdinand Marcos altered the shade of blue from dark to light in the belief that the earliest flags of the republic had featured light blue. His successor, Corazon Aquino, reversed the change, but on September 16, 1997, in anticipation of the centennial of the original Philippine flag, the top stripe was again changed, from dark navy blue to a lighter royal blue. Whitney Smith History In ancient times, the inhabitants of the Philippines were a diverse agglomeration of peoples who arrived in various waves of immigration from the Asian mainland and who maintained little contact with each other. The Philippines is the only nation in Southeast Asia that became subject to Western colonialism before it had had the opportunity to develop either a centralized government ruling over a large territory or an advanced elite culture. Chinese traders were known to have been resident from about AD 1000, and some cultural influences from South Asia, such as a Sanskrit-based writing system, were carried to the islands by the Indonesian empires of Srivijaya and Majapahit; but in comparison with other parts of the region, the influence of both China and India on the Philippines was of little importance. The peoples of the Philippine archipelago, unlike most of the other peoples of Southeast Asia, never adopted Hinduism or Buddhism. Pre-Spanish history According to what can be inferred from somewhat later accounts, the Filipinos of the 15th century must have been primarily shifting cultivators, hunters, and fishers. Sedentary cultivation was the exception. Only in the mountains of northern Luzon, where elaborate rice terraces were built in the early centuries AD, were livelihood and social organization linked to a fixed territory. The lowland peoples lived in extended kinship groups known as barangays under the leadership of a datu, or chieftain. The barangay, which ordinarily numbered no more than a few hundred individuals, was usually the largest stable economic and political unit. Within the barangay, the status system, though not rigid, appears to have consisted of three broad classes: the datu and his family and the nobility, freeholders, and "dependents." This third category consisted of three levels-sharecroppers, debt peons, and war captives-with the last two levels being termed slaves by Spanish observers. The slave status was inherited but, through manumission and interclass marriage, seldom extended over more than two generations. The fluidity of the social system was, in part, the consequence of a bilateral kinship system in which lineage was reckoned equally through the male and female line. Marriage was apparently stable, though divorce was socially acceptable under certain circumstances. Animism was the religion of the early Filipino, a mixture of monotheism and polytheism in which the latter dominated. The propitiation of evil spirits required numerous rituals, but there was no religious hierarchy. In religion, as in social structure and economic activity, there was considerable variation between-and even within-islands. This pattern, however, began to change in the 15th century, when Islam was introduced to Mindanao and the Sulu islands through Brunei. Along with changes in religious beliefs and practices came new political and social institutions. By the mid-16th century two sultanates had been established, bringing under their sway a number of barangays. A powerful datu as far north as Manila embraced Islam. It was in the midst of this wave of Islamic proselytism that the Spaniards arrived. Had they come a century later or had their motives been strictly commercial, Filipinos today might be a predominantly Muslim people. The economy Resources The Philippines is rich in mineral resources. There are major deposits of gold in northern and southern Luzon; iron ore in northern Mindanao and on nearby islands and in central Luzon; copper in west-central Luzon; lead and zinc in western Mindanao; and high-grade chromium ore (chromite) in west-central and southern Luzon, northern Mindanao, and central Palawan. Deposits of silver, nickel, mercury, molybdenum, cadmium, and manganese occur in several other places. Nonmetallic minerals include limestone for cement, found on Cebu, Luzon, and Romblon; salt and asbestos on Luzon; marble on Romblon and Panay; asphalt on Leyte; mineral waters on Luzon; gypsum on Luzon; sulfur on Luzon, Leyte, and Mindanao; guano and phosphate rock on Cebu and Bohol; coal and silica on Cebu and Palawan; and petroleum off the northwest shore of Palawan. At one time about half of the Philippines' total land area was covered with forests. Of this, a large part abounded with trees of commercial value, especially lauan, narra (species of Pterocarpus, used in cabinetmaking), ipil (Intsia bijuga), molave (Vitex littoralis), and kamagong (Diospyros discolor). Heavy logging and inadequate reforestation measures, however, have reduced considerably the amount of forested land. No fewer than 2,000 varieties of fish are in the seas surrounding the islands and in lakes, rivers, estuaries, and fish ponds. The most important commercial fishes are milkfish (a herringlike fish), anchovy, herring, sardine, mackerel, grouper, snapper, cavalla, mullet, barracuda, mudfish, and caesio. Fish are raised in ponds in some provinces of Luzon and Panay. There are pearl beds in the Sulu Archipelago to the south, and mother-of-pearl used for making buttons is exported to China and elsewhere. Tortoiseshells and shells used for windows are exported to Singapore, Malaysia, and other countries. Hydroelectric power in the past has supplied only a small proportion of the country's electrical output, with thermal plants, most of which burn imported oil, supplying the major proportion. But the completion of several dam projects on Luzon and the expansion of another project on Mindanao have increased the percentage of power generated by hydroelectric installations; irrigation and flood control are additional benefits of some of the projects. Dependence on foreign oil has also been reduced by the construction of geothermal and conventional coal-fired thermal plants. Agriculture The Philippines is chiefly an agricultural country. Its soil is rich and fertile, and crops grow abundantly throughout the year. The principal farm products are rice, corn (maize), coconut, sugarcane, abaca (Manila hemp), tobacco, maguey (used for making such products as rope), and pineapple. Many tropical fruits are also raised, the most important being banana, mango, lanseh, or lanzon (Lansium domesticum), citrus, and papaya. A wide variety of vegetables are raised for domestic consumption. Rice, the principal staple crop, is grown everywhere, but especially in central and north-central Luzon, south-central Mindanao; western Negros and eastern and central Panay. Much of the total farmland is used for rice growing. Since the early 1970s, rice production in the Philippines has improved considerably, and in some years the country has had surplus rice available for export. Factors contributing to this increase in output include the development and use of higher-yielding strains of rice, the construction of feeder roads and irrigation canals, and the use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides. Use of scientific farming techniques in the Philippines, however, has had its drawbacks. The newer strains of rice have required the application of chemicals that are expensive and that generally must be imported. The Philippines is one of the world's largest producers of coconuts and a major exporter of coconut products. The area devoted to coconut production is second only to that used for rice and corn. The Philippines also produces more than one-third of the world's copra. Sugar is one of the country's top exports and earns a substantial amount of foreign exchange. Sugarcane is grown extensively in central and north-central Luzon, western Negros, and on Panay. Much of the sugar crop is exported to the United States. Abaca, or Manila hemp, the source of a useful plant fibre, is also an important export. It is grown extensively in eastern Mindanao, southeastern Luzon, and on Leyte and Samar. High-quality timber and veneer products traditionally have been leading exports, although their importance has declined. Other forest products include dyewoods, rattan, tanbarks, gutta-percha, beeswax, and rubber. Fishing is also one of the most important of Filipino industries. Canned tuna is the principal fish exported, and fish provides an important proportion of the protein in the Filipino diet. Commercial fishing is carried on primarily off Palawan, Negros, Mindanao, and Panay. The land Relief and drainage The irregular configuration of the archipelago, the coastline of more than 21,500 miles, the great extent of mountainous country, the narrow and interrupted coastal plains, the generally northward trend of the river systems, and the lakes are the outstanding physical features of the Philippines. The islands are composed of volcanic, coral, and all principal rock formations. The mountain ranges for the most part run in the same general direction as the islands themselves, approximately north to south. The Cordillera Central, the central mountain chain of Luzon, running north to the Luzon Strait from the northern boundary of the central plain, is the most prominent range. It consists of two and in places three parallel ranges, each of which averages 5,900 feet (1,800 metres) in height. The Sierra Madre, extending along the Pacific coast from northern to central Luzon, is the longest mountain range in the country. This range and the Cordillera Central merge in north-central Luzon to form the Caraballo Mountains. To the north of the latter, and between the two ranges, is the fertile Cagayan Valley. The narrow Ilocos, or Malayan, range, lying close along the west coast of northern Luzon, rises in places to more than 5,000 feet and is seldom less than 3,500 feet in height; it is largely volcanic. In the southwestern part of northern Luzon are the rugged Zambales Mountains, consisting of more or less isolated old volcanic stocks (rock formed under great heat and pressure deep beneath the Earth's surface). The central plain of Luzon, about 150 by 50 miles, is only about 100 feet above sea level except near its centre. The greater part of southern Luzon is occupied by isolated volcanoes and irregular masses of hills and mountains. The highest peak is Mayon Volcano (8,077 feet) near Legazpi in Albay province. Through the island of Palawan, about 25 miles wide and more than 250 miles long, there extends a range with an average height of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet. Each of the Visayan Islands except Samar and Bohol is traversed longitudinally by a single range with occasional spurs. Several peaks in Panay reach an altitude of 6,000 feet or more. Canlaon Volcano, on Negros, is 8,087 feet high, and other peaks reach altitudes of more than 6,000 feet. There are several important ranges on Mindanao, the Diuata (Diwata) Mountains along the eastern coast being the most prominent. West of this lies the fertile valley of the Agusan River, 20 to 30 miles wide. Farther west and southwest is the Cotabato Valley of the Mindanao River (Ro Grande de Mindanao), and between its lower course and the southern coast lies a range trending northwest-southeast. On the southeastern border of the basin of the Mindanao River is Mount Apo, at 9,692 feet (2,954 metres) the highest peak in the Philippines. Around Lake Lanao are a number of volcanic peaks, and a low cordillera extends through the Zamboanga Peninsula in the far west. The plains lying amid the mountains-for example, the central plain of Luzon and the central plain of Panay-have the greatest density of population in the islands, except Cebu, where the people live mostly on the coastal plain because the interior is high and rugged. The most important rivers are the Cagayan, Agno, Pampanga, Pasig, and Bicol on Luzon and the Mindanao and Agusan on Mindanao. The Pasig, which flows through the city of Manila, is commercially important. The largest lake in the archipelago is Laguna de Bay, located south of Manila. Volcanoes are a conspicuous feature of the landscape, but there is relatively little volcanic activity. There are altogether about 50 volcanoes, of which more than 10 are known to be active. All gradations of volcanoes can be seen, from the almost perfect cone of Mayon, which has been compared to Mount Fuji in Japan, to old, worn-down volcanic stocks, the present forms of which give little indication of their origin. The several distinct volcanic areas are in south-central and southern Luzon and on the islands of Negros, Mindanao, Jolo, and elsewhere. Tremors and earthquakes are common. Climate The climate of the Philippines is tropical and is strongly affected by monsoon (rain-bearing) winds, which blow from the southwest from approximately May to October and from the northeast from November to February. Thus, temperatures remain relatively constant from north to south during the year, and seasons consist of periods of wet and dry. Throughout the country, however, there are considerable variations in the frequency and amount of precipitation. The western shores facing the South China Sea have marked dry and wet seasons. The dry season generally begins in December and ends in May, the first three months being cool and the second three hot; the rest of the year consists of the wet season. The dry season shortens progressively to the east until it ceases to occur. During the wet season, rainfall is heavy in all parts of the archipelago except for an area extending southward through the centre of the Visayan group to central Mindanao and then southwestward through the Sulu Archipelago; rain is heaviest along the eastern shores facing the Pacific Ocean. From June to December typhoons often strike the archipelago. Most of these storms come from the southeast, their frequency generally increasing from south to north; in some years the number of typhoons reaches 25 or more. Typhoons are heaviest in Samar, Leyte, eastern Quezon province, and the Batan Islands, and when accompanied by floods or high winds they may cause great loss of life and property. Mindanao is generally free from typhoons. November through February constitutes the most agreeable season; the air is cool and invigorating at night, and the days are pleasant and sunny. During the hot part of the dry season in most places, and especially in the cities of Cebu, Davao, and Manila, the temperature sometimes rises as high as 100 F (38 C). Overall temperatures decline with altitude, however, and cities and towns located at higher elevations-such as Baguio in northern Luzon, Majayjay and Lucban south of Manila, and Malaybalay in central Mindanao-experience a pleasant climate throughout the year; at times the temperature in these places dips as low as 43 F (6 C). The people Ethnic composition The people of the Philippines are called Filipinos. Their ancestors, who were of Malay stock, came from the southeastern Asian mainland as well as from what is now Indonesia. From the 10th century, contacts with China resulted in a group of mixed Filipino-Chinese descent, who account for a minority of the population. A small percentage of Chinese nationals also live in the country. Spanish-Filipinos and Filipino-Americans may be distinguished by their fairer complexion, taller stature, and aquiline nose structure. The relatively small numbers of emigrants from the Indian subcontinent added to the population's racial mixture. There are small numbers of resident U.S. nationals (excluding military personnel) and Spaniards. The aboriginal inhabitants of the islands were the Negritos, or Pygmies, also called Aetas or Balugas; they now constitute only a small percentage of the total population. Linguistic groups Estimates of the total number of native languages and dialects spoken in the Philippines differ, but scholarly studies suggest that there are some 70 of them. These languages are all closely related, belonging to the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) family of languages. Traditionally, eight major linguistic groups are identified. These are (1) the Tagalog group, concentrated in Manila, central and south central Luzon, and the islands of Mindoro and Marinduque; (2) Cebuano, in Cebu, Bohol, eastern Negros, western Leyte, and parts of Mindanao; (3) Ilocano, dominant in many parts of northern Luzon; (4) Hiligaynon (Ilongo), spoken in parts of Panay and western Negros; (5) Bicol, spoken in southern Luzon and on the island of Catanduanes; (6) Waray-Waray, spoken in Samar and Leyte; (7) Pampango, spoken in parts of central Luzon; and (8) Pangasinan, spoken in central Luzon. Other notable languages are Magindanao and Maranao, spoken in parts of Mindanao, and Aklanon, spoken in Panay. The national, and most widely spoken, language of the Philippines is Pilipino (also called Filipino), based on Tagalog. Pilipino and English are the two official languages and mediums of instruction. Tagalog is the richest of all Philippine languages and has the most extensive written literature.