LESSON 2:

THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO:

GEOLOGICAL AND
GEOGRAPHICAL FOUNDATIONS
Dr. CHARITA ARCANGEL DELOS REYES
History 1 Online Classes
MAIN ATTRIBUTES OF A MODERN
STATE
• Territoriality • role as an international
actor
• Exercise of power
• close association with the
• Jurisdiction over a
nation
population
• compelling ideological
• Sovereignty
appeal
• legal personality
(Max Weber in Abinales)
LOCATION AND GEOGRAPHY
• Western Pacific
• Southeast Asia; ASEAN (August 8, 1967)
• Archipelagic character:
- geographical fragmentation
- led to insularisms & social & political clanism
- linguistic diversity, regional & ethnic identities have
remained very strong
LOCATION AND GEOGRAPHY
• Philippine archipelago is one of the three pillars of the
“Coral Triangle” (3rd in rank)
• Land area: 300,000 km²(more than 115,000 mi²) – 64th
largest in the world
• 4°23 N to 21°25 N
• Three major bodies of
water:
• Three major regions:
• Capital:
• Tropical zone
• Monsoon: habagat &
amihan
LOCATION AND GEOGRAPHY
• Stretches from Y’ami Islands to Sitangkai Islands
• strong maritime environment
• no land borders, but only maritime borders
• one of the most terraqueous in the world (land & water)
• irregular shorelines, alluvial plains, narrow valleys,
mountains, & rolling hills
GEOGRAPHICAL ISSUES
• an economic development lagging behind neighboring
countries in Southeast Asia
- Robert Nelson’s The Philippine Economic Mystery
• a hard-to-tame Manila megacity
• the country’s exposure to “natural” hazards
- prone to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, & tsunamis;
pathway of devastating typhoons
GEOGRAPHICAL ISSUES
• a slow demographic transition leading to the fast
population growth of a youthful country within an
increasingly ageing Asia
• deforestation & environmental issues (coral reefs,
mangroves, endangered coral reefs)
- global warming combined with over-exploitation of the
resources
GEOGRAPHICAL ISSUES
• overfishing & pollution:
- use of cyanide and dynamite fishing
• regional inequalities
• a weak tourism attractiveness in comparison to
neighboring nations
• huge rice imports in a country which is home to a major
international center for rice research
GEOGRAPHICAL ISSUES
• internal geopolitics (the question of Mindanao)
- enduring religious cleavage within the country
- Muslim terror groups
• external geopolitics (tensions in South China Sea)
- Spratlys atolls (Nanshas)
- Philippine claim to Sabah
GEOGRAPHICAL ISSUES
• ineffective land reform
• idiosyncratic transportation systems
• the massive migration of Filipino/as to all parts of the
world
THE FILIPINO PEOPLE
POPULATION
Year Population Growth Rate Density/sq km

2020 109,581,078 1.35%

2019 108,116,615 1.37% 363
2018 106,651,394 1.41% 358
2017 105,172,925 1.46%

2020 - Global Share: 1.4% ; Global Rank: 13 th

ETHNIC GROUPS

• 91% Christian Malay

• 4 % Muslim Malay
• 1.5. % Chinese
• 3 % Others
ETHNOLINGUISTIC DIVERSITY
• 78 languages & 500 dialects
• Eight major language groups: Tagalog, Visayan, Ilocano,
Hiligaynon (Ilonggo), Bicol, Waray, Pampango, &
Pangasinense
• bilingualism: proficiency in two languages
• Filipino – based on Tagalog
• “Tagalog linguistic imperialism” – lessened due to
linguistic mixing (i.e., Taglish)
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
• Major religions: Christianity & Islam
- Roman Catholic (82.9 percent)
- various Protestant denominations (5.4 percent)
- Islam (4.6 percent)
- Philippine Independent Church (2.6 percent) – founded in 1902
- Iglesia ni Kristo (2.3 percent) – founded in 1913
- others (2.2 percent), including animism
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
• Religion & politics
- Iglesia ni Kristo has become an important force in
Philippine politics, rivaling the Catholic Church
• Filipinos are not regarded as religiously doctrinaire (i.e.,
nominal Catholics)
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
- Millenarianism/millenarism: “containing a thousand”;
- “the belief that the end of the world is imminent & that a
new heaven or new earth will replace the old one (i.e., messianic
movements)
• Philippine politics is characterized by the strong
presence of religious themes
- 1896 Revolution
- 1986 Edsa “Revolution”
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
• Religious syncretism: the result of the “localization” of
new belief systems according to preexisting social needs
- Folk Christianity: the reinterpretation of Catholic beliefs
& practices to fit the local worldview
- Folk Islam: combines Islamic teaching with pre- Muslim
animist practice among the Maguindanaos
PHILIPPINE POLITICS
POLITICAL ADMINISTRATION
CORDILLERA
PHILIPPINES ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
(CAR)
• 17 regions • 6 provinces (Abra, Apayao,
Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga,
• 79 provinces Mountain Province)
• 115 cities • 2 cities: Baguio and Tabuk
• 1,499 municipalities • 129 barangays
• 41,969 barangays
POLITICAL ADMINISTRATION
• Constitutional democracy that adopted some of its
structures & political rituals from the United States
- 3 branches of government
• Bicameral legislature:
- Senate (24-at-large members serve 6-year terms)
- House of Representatives (206 district-based congressmen)
- 20-at-large representatives of sectoral party-list organizations (“small
parties & marginalized & underrepresented sectors” )
PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGIC DOCTRINE
• 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS) which entered into force in 1994.
• The Philippines & China who are claimants to the South
China seas are among the 165 countries that have
ratified the UNCLOS. 
UNCLOS
• United Nations Convention on the Law Of the Sea
(December 10, 1982)
- the constitution for the oceans & seas of our planet
- governs maritime disputes among member states
- most comprehensive treaty with its own dispute
mechanism
UNCLOS
• codified customary international law
• concepts: exclusive economic zone, extended
continental shelf
MARITIME ZONES
1. Territorial Sea
2. Contiguous Zone
3. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
4. Extended Continental Shelf (ECS)
5. High Seas
6. The Area
MARAMING SALAMAT!