Etymology

Main article: Name of the Philippines

Philip II of Spain

Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands
of Leyte and Samar "Felipinas" after Philip II of Spain, then the Prince of Asturias. Eventually the
name "Las Islas Filipinas" would be used to cover the archipelago's Spanish possessions. [15] Before
Spanish rule was established, other names such as Islas del Poniente (Islands of the West) and
Ferdinand Magellan's name for the islands, San Lázaro, were also used by the Spanish to refer to
islands in the region.[16][17][18][19]
During the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the establishment of
the República Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the period of the Spanish–American
War (1898) and the Philippine–American War (1899–1902) until the Commonwealth period (1935–
1946), American colonial authorities referred to the country as The Philippine Islands, a translation of
the Spanish name.[20] The United States began the process of changing the reference to the country
from The Philippine Islands to The Philippines, specifically when it was mentioned in the Philippine
Autonomy Act or the Jones Law.[21] The full official title, Republic of the Philippines, was included in
the 1935 constitution as the name of the future independent state, [22] it is also mentioned in all
succeeding constitutional revisions.[23][24]

History