PHILIPPINE HISTORY

AND GOVERNMENT
INTRODUCTION
Geography
The Philippines is an archipelago consisting of more than
7,000 islands and islets stretching almost a thousand miles from
north to south. The land surface is 1L4.830 square statute miles
and is criss-crossed with mountains and drained by small river,
systems. Volcanic in origin, the mountain ranges "form the circuit
and watersheds of the Pacific basin of the earth's surface."*
Geography
• Mountain Systems
3 Large Ranges in the Mountain System of Luzon
1. Caraballo del Sur
> has its highest peak at the intersection of the boundaries of
Abra, Ilocos Norte, and Cagayan

2. Caraballos Occidentales
> divide into the Cordillera Norte and Cordillera Central and
traverse the region west of the Cagayan River

3. Sierra Madre
> also known as the Pacific coast range
> begins at Baler, Quezon, and crosses Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya"
and Cagayan
> longest continuous range in the Philippines
• Other Mountain Ranges in Luzon
• Zambales Range - starts at Cape Bolinao and follows the China
Sea coast to the Bataan Peninsula
• Tagaytay Range - passes through Cavite and Batangas and,
with Mt. Makiling, forms the mountain system of the southern
Tagalog region
• Mindoro Mountain Range - begins at Mt. Halcon and is
divided into three ranges:
• the northwest ending at Calavite Point, a landmark of ships
passing between'Manila Bay and
• Mindoro Strait; the east, which originates from Lake Naujan;
• and the west, which follows the Mindoro Strait
• Mountain Ranges in Visayas
• Negros - divided into two by a range running from northwest to
southeast, with Kanlaon Volcano as the notable peak
• Panay - has a range running from north to south that separates
Antique from Iloilo, Capiz and Aklan

• Mountain Ranges in Mindanao

• Surigao Range - follows the contours of the Pacific coast
• Butuan Range - extends to the south and forms the watershed of
the Agusan River on the east and the Pulangui River on the west;
• Central Western Ranges - Mt. Apo is the highest
• Western Range - begins west of Iligan Bay and ends on the shore
of Basilan Strait
Geography(River Systems)
1. Rio Grande de Cagayan and its tributaries, which drain
the Cagayan Valley
2. Agno Grande which drains Benguet and the valleys of
Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, and Tarlac
3. Abra River system, which receives its tributaries ,from the
Cordillera and drains Lepanto, Bontoc, and Abra
4. Rio Grande de Pampanga and its tributaries, which drain
the fertile valleys of Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Bulacan
5. Rio Grande de Mindanao drains the central basin of
Mindanao and receives the waters of two lakes.
6. Agusan, which is second to the Rio Grande, drains the basin
of Surigao.
Geography(Volcanoes and Earthquakes)
• Most famous volcanoes (from north to south)
1. Iraya in Batanes Island
2. Taal in Batangas
• Smallest volcano in the world

• Has erupted no less than 30 times

• Most destructive eruption took part last January 30, 1911

3. Banahaw in Quezon
Geography(Volcanoes and Earthquakes)
4. Mayon in Albay
• Has been most active

• Erupted more than 30 times since 1615

5. Hibok-Hibok in Camiguin Island

6. Makaturing in Lanao
7. Apo in Davao
Geography(Volcanoes and Earthquakes)
• Destructive earthquakes occurred in the Philippines
1. Experienced in Manila last 1937

2. June 3, 1863 which is one of the most destructive in

Philippine history

3. April 1, 1955 when Visayas and Mindanao were rocked by a

series of quakes ranging from intensity III to intensity VIII

4. August 17, 1976 – the most destructive earthquake. Occurred

in Mindanao with an intensity of VIII
Geography(Coastline)
• Has an irregular coastline that extends to about 10,850 statute
miles

• Manila Bay
• Has an area of a little more than 700 square miles and a circumference of
120 miles
• One of the finest harbors in the world
The Filipinos
• The Filipino belongs to a mixture of races, although basically
he is a Malay
• With Spanish colonization, however, there appeared a kind of
Filipino who was obviously the result of the not-so-licit
relations between the conqueror and the conquered
• The inter-marriage between the Filipinos and the foreigner,
particularly the white, led to a class known as the mestiza class,
also humorously called the “mestizoisie.“
The Filipinos
• Between the mestizo anci the "native". there has been a barrier
of feeling that borders on hostility.
• This feeling has its origin in the late Spanish period or, more
specifically, during the nineteenth century, when the mestizo, by
virtue of his social and financial status, looked down upon the
"native" as a boor.
The Filipinos(Common Traits)
• It is difficult to, if not possible to define what Filipino is. All
that can be done is to pick-out some common traits common to
average Filipinos and to separate those that are obviously
Spanish or American. The common traits that are probably
Malay and characterize the Filipinos as a people.
• One patent Filipino trait that immediately commends itself to
the foreigner is his hospitality.
• The Filipinos also has very close family ties

• Respect for the elders is one of the Filipino trait that has
remained in the book of unwritten
The Filipinos(Common Traits)
• The Filipino is naturally fatalistic

• Loyalty to a friend or to a benefactor is one of the trait that is

very strong in the Filipino
• The American, then, suspects that the Filipino is sensitive

• The tendency to be indolent is, certainly, a trait of the Filipino

• Side by side with indolence is lack of initiative

• The Filipino, being chidlike, is naturally curious. But his

curiosity is tained with sympathy
The Filipinos(Common Traits)
• Helpful and cooperative, respectful and generous even to a
fault, the Filipino is neverthless individualistic in a different
way.
• Jealousy is another trait of the Filipino

• The Filipino, too, is regionalistic

• Probably the most discussed trait of the Filipino, especially by

white foreigners and by some Filipino sociologist and
psychologists who carry around their bags of esoteric terms, is
the sense of pakikisama.
The Filipinos(Regional Traits)
ILOCANO or SAMTOY
• An excursion into the northern region reveals that the Samtoy
has spilled into the non- Ilocano provinces of Abra, Cagayan,
Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Zambales, and a part of Tarlac.
• There, because of his patience, industry, and frugality, he carves
out his fortune and most of the time succeeds.
• He is not one to stay put in a locality if better opportunties in
some land beckon.
The Filipinos(Regional Traits)
• Samtoy frugality is proverbial and compares favorably with that
of the Scot.
• The Samtoy is not a born humorist.

• This lumbering characteristics of the Samtoy is shown not only

in his physical movements, but also in his writings. He is not a
lyrical type; he, is rather the epic type.
The Filipinos(Regional Traits)
TAGALOG
• It comprises the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Bataan, a
small part of Tarlac, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Quezon
and the islands of Marinduque and Mindoro.
• Manila, the political capital of the Philippines and the center of
cultural and commercial life, is at the heart of the region.
• He is neither frugal nor extravagant. His code of ethics is strict,
his pride fierce.
The Filipinos(Regional Traits)
• Among the Filipinos, he has developed the strongest tendency
to live with his parents or in-laws even after his marriage.
• Less concerned with environment than his Samtoy brother, the
Tagalog enjoys the finer things in life.
• Unlike the Samtoy whose poetry is the sustained epic, the
poetry of the Tagalog is lyrical.
The Filipinos(Regional Traits)
BICOLANO
• Known for his temper and religiosity

• Kindly like the Visayan, he views life with studied calmness

and seldom shows his rough edges; But, like the Visayan, he
knows how to enjoy life and to take its offerings with
philosophical equanimity.
• He is fond of spicy food

• When the Bicolano is not enjoying mundane life to the hilt he is

contemplating it in the church or seminary
The Filipinos(Regional Traits)
VISAYAN
• He is a happy-go-lucky man more interested in the here and
now than in the past or the future.
• The Visayan is spendthrift

• But like his brothers in he north, he is adventurous and he is

afflicted with wanderlust.
• The Visayan women are more self-reliant that the Tagalog

• The Visayan is a hedonist

• He is a lover like the Tagalog, but he expresses his consuming

passion in music, not in poetry.
The Filipinos(Regional Traits)
MUSLIM
• The fiercest lover of freedom
• Adventurous like the Visayan and the Samtoy
• He is a man of honor who sticks to his plighted word and will
brave dangers to redeem his vow or promise.
• He is easily the best friend one can have and, certainly, the
worst enemy.
• He is proud of his culture and does not offer meek apologies for
it.