9781422275559
P H I L I P P i N E S
ASIAN COUNTRIES TODAY
ASIAN COUNTRIES TODAY
CHINA INDONESIA JAPAN MALAYSIA
PHILIPPINES SINGAPORE SOUTH KOREA THAILAND VIETNAM
P H I L I P P i N E S
ASIAN COUNTRIES TODAY
CATRINA DANIElS-COWART
MASON CREST
PHIlADElPHIA MIAMI
MASON CREST 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D, Broomall, Pennsylvania 19008 (866) MCP-BOOK (toll-free) • www.masoncrest.com Copyright © 2020 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN (hardback) 978-1-4222-4269-8 ISBN (series) 978-1-4222-4263-6 ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4222-7555-9 Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress
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philippines at a Glance ................................................................ 6 chapter 1: The Philippines’ Geography & landscape...............11 chapter 2: The Government & History of The Philippines ....... 19 chapter 3 : The Philippines’ Economy ....................................... 31 chapter 4 : Citizens of The Philippines— People, Customs & Culture .........................................................49 chapter 5: Famous Cities of The Philippines.............................69 chapter 6: A Bright Future for The Philippines .........................77 filipino food ............................................................................... 82 festivals & holidays .................................................................. 86 Series Glossary of Key Terms...................................................... 88 Chronology.................................................................................. 90 Further Reading & Internet Resources....................................... 91 Index............................................................................................ 92 Organizations to Contact............................................................ 95 Author’s Biography & Credits...................................................... 96
KEY ICONS TO lOOK FOR: Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills. sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. edUcational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! text-dependent QUestions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there.
research projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis.
series Glossary of Key terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.
P H I L I P P I N E S
A T
A
G L A N C E
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the Geography of philippines
location: Southeastern Asia; an archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, located east of Vietnam area: Slightly larger than Arizona total : 186,411.36 square miles (300,000 sq. km) land: 185,274.25 square miles (298,170 sq. km) water: 1,137.11 square miles (1,830 sq. km) borders: None climate: Tropical marine; southwest, monsoon from May to October; northeast, monsoon from November through April terrain: Mountainous and coastal lowlands that vary from extensive to narrow elevation extremes: lowest: Philippine Sea exactly at sea level highest Mount Apo 9,691 feet point: (2,954 m) above sea level natural hazards: Typhoons, landslides; earthquakes; tsunamis
Source: www.cia.gov 2017
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The flag of the Philippines is known as Pambansang Watawat ng Pilipinas . It is a simple horizontal flag with bicolor bands of scarlet and royal blue. With an equilateral triangle at the hoist, the flag contains a yellow star in each corner, as well as a sun with eight rays in the middle. The sun’s rays represent each of the Philippines provinces. The yellow stars represent the three main island groups: Visayas, Mindanao, and luzon. The central star once referred to Panay, but this island is now only the fourth most populated in the Philippines. What makes this flag so special is that it can simply be flipped to let people know if the country is in a state of war. When blue is on top, the country is at peace. But when red is first, the country is at war. The Philippines has had a variety of flags over time, including the first flag of the Katipunan, the flag of the Magdalo Katipunan faction, and the flag of the Republic of Biak-na-Bato, which was adopted in 1897. The Official Flag of the First Philippine Republic was similar to the flag that is flown today, but it also contained additional symbols resting across the red and blue stripes. The earliest records of today’s flag were produced by Emilio Aguinaldo when he was exiled in British Hong Kong during 1897. The flag was first displayed during the Battle of Alapan on May 28, 1898.
F L A G O F T H E P H I L I P P I N E S
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the people of the philippines population: 262,787,403 ethnic Groups: Tagalog, Bisaya/Binisaya, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon/Ilonggo), Bikol/Bicol, Waray, other local ethnicities age structure: 0–14 years: 33.07% (35,022,081) 15–24 years: 19.17% (20,295,502) 25–54 years: 37.11% (39,300,133) 55–64 years: 6.04% (6,395,395) 65 years and over: 4.1% (4,880,263) population Growth rate: 1.5% death rate: 6.1 deaths/1,000 pop. migration rate: a loss of 2 resident(s)/1,000 pop. infant mortality rate: 20.9 deaths/1,000 live births life expectancy at birth: total population: 69.6 years male: 66.1 years female: 73.3 years total fertility rate: 2.99 children born/woman religions: Roman Catholic (80.6%), Protestant (8.2%), Muslim (5.6%), Tribal religions (0.2%) languages: Filipino, officially based on Tagalog and English including eight dialects literacy rate: 96.3% Source: www.cia.gov 2017
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The Coron islands in the province of Palawan are famous for areas of outstanding beauty.
luscious: richly verdant or opulent pronounced: noticeable or conspicuous situated: having its place savanna: a tropical or subtropical grassland containing scattered trees and drought-resistant undergrowth
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C H A P T E R
THE PHILIPPINES’ GEOGRAPHY & LANDSCAPE
1
T he Philippines have beautiful landscapes, active volcanoes, and luscious waterscapes. Bound by the Philippine Sea to the east and the Sulu Sea to the south, there are many beaches and small islands for travelers and residents to enjoy. Geography Located in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is an archipelago that contains around 7,100 islands and islets and is approximately 500 miles away from the coast of Vietnam. The most populated city is not the capital, Manila, but Quezon City. They’re located close to one another in the National Capital Region, which is found on Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines. The archipelago is bound by the Philippine Sea to the east and the Sulu Sea to the south. The Celebes Sea is to the south, and the South China Sea is to the north and west. The islands form a kind of triangle. Taiwan lies north of the Batan Islands, which are to the north of Luzon. Borneo is also near to the Philippines, situated just south of Palawan. Indonesia is also nearby, resting to the south and southeast of Mindanao.
THE PHIlIPPINES’ GEOGRAPHY & lANDSCAPE 11
Many of the Philippine islands don’t have names
civet cats and coffee in the philippines
because they’re so small. Only around 350 islands have an area of a square mile or more. There are three primary island groups. These include Luzon, the Visayas group, and Mindanao. Luzon is in the north It should be no surprise that this island nation benefits from long coastlines around the country, estimated at 22,500 miles of shoreline. The interior of the country is typically mountainous, also containing river systems and lakes. The islands were created from volcanic rock and coral in most cases, but all types of principal rock formations can be seen on the islands. The mountain ranges generally run from north to south. The most prominent mountain range is the Cordillera Central, which runs from the Luzon Strait through the central and west, Visayas is in the middle, and Mindanao is to the south.
The term “civet cat” can refer to a number of small cats, but the palm civet, the civet in the Philippines, is special. This unique cat-like animal is nocturnal and is closely related to the mongoose. Since it’s seen as a pest, it’s normal for the Filipino people to hunt them and use them for meat. What is more interesting is that the civet has a different purpose, too. Their droppings are sought after. Why? The civet cat eats sweet red coffee cherries with beans inside. The beans pass through the animal’s body and into its droppings after fermenting in the animal’s stomach. People collect those beans from the feces and use them to make unique, expensive coffee. People travel deep into the Malarayat mountain range, just south of Manila, to hunt for civet droppings and the exotic beans that are worth a pretty penny. The coffee has a great aroma, oily texture, and good taste that make the effort worth it. Some people collect beans for a living. So what does it taste like? The coffee is said to taste like fermented plums with hazelnuts and dark chocolate.
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plain. Two or three parallel ranges have an average elevation of 5,900 feet (1,798 meters) above sea level, making them fairly high throughout the country. Mindanao has several important mountain ranges, including the Diwata Mountains and Diuata Mountains. Mount Apo is also located close to Mindanao’s south-central coast. It is the tallest mountain in the Philippines, standing at approximately 9,692 feet (2,954 meters). The Climate The climate of the Philippines varies. There are four recognized climate categories in this country: Type I, II, III, and IV. Type I climates have two pronounced seasons, dry and wet. Type II has no dry season. Type III has seasons that are not very pronounced, but they do tend to have dry weather between November and April before they receive wet weather the rest of the year. In Type IV climates, rainfall is relatively even throughout the year.
Volcanos on Camiguin Island near Mindanao.
THE PHIlIPPINES’ GEOGRAPHY & lANDSCAPE 13
In the Philippines, three seasons are recognized: • Tag-init (the hot season from March to May) • Tag-ulan (a rainy season from June through November)
• Tag-lamig (a cold season that persists from December through February) In the southwest, the monsoon season from May through October is called Habagat. From November through April, the cool dry winds in the northeast monsoon are called “Amihan.” If El Niño or La Niña impacts the Philippines, weather conditions can be affected significantly. El Niño causes droughts and dry weather, while La Niña causes rainy weather and flooding. For tourists coming to the Philippines, there are two approaches to take. They can either figure out when they’d like to come and choose a destination based on where the best weather will be, or decide on the weather they want in a certain
A short video on the geography of the Philippines.
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