OFFICIAL SEAL

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REPUBLIC OF
The Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION

M E N U
OVERVIEW • ECONOMY • MILITARY • DIPLOMACY • NEWS • RMB ROLEPLAY INDEX • MISCELLANEOUS LINKS • ARCHIVES • CULTURE

Offsite Crazybloxian Empire Encyclopedia
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The Philippines is highly active in foreign affairs and diplomacy; it is a member-state of the Broad Regional Initiative, and the Sangha Defense Collective.

History [edit]

The Philippines, however is widely suggested to have been inhabited for 67,000 years, and the Tabon Man of Palawan Island is widely cited as evidence of this. Negrito groups (Native Filipinos) began to inhabit the archipelago, followd by Austronesians. Scholars widely believe these societies to have developed into settlements or polities, differing in economic specialization, social stratification, and political organization. Some of these settlements (mostly located on river deltas) achieved high enough levels of social complexity, to be considered early states. These early states are often considered to be the predecessors of modern-day population centers, such as Manila, and more. The pre-colonial states of the Philippines interacted extensively with Nusantara, or it’s predecessor states, bringing new technology, and greater wealth to Filipino predecessor states. Some pre-colonial states were so powerful that they had set up colonies outside of the archipelago. This was relatively rare, and the colonies of pre-colonial states were either too costly to maintain or too far from home. At most, only the Sultanate of Brunei managed to occupy Sabah for a brief period of time. Colonists from the pre-colonial states were suddenly cut off from supplies, and either died or simply joined other groups, after the arrival of the Spanish in the mid-1500s.

Colonial period
Spanish colonization began in 1565 CE, after Philip II, ordered and oversaw the colonization of the Philippines. The Spanish immediately organized their new colonies according to their model. The Spainiards began to attempt to relocate, or reduce the population of the indigenous Filipinos. At the early stages of the colony, a system mimicking European feudalism known as encomienda. The encomienda system had conquistadors, friars and native nobles recieve luxury estates, in exchange for their service to the King. They were also permitted to collect tribute from the inhabitants that lived in close proximity to their estate. In return, the person granted the encomienda was expected to provide the local inhabitants, whether Spanish or native, military protection, justice, and governance. When the Spaniards were at war, encomiendas were expected to pledge soldiers to the King, to defend the colony against invaders, like the Dutch, British, and Chinese. Unfortunately, the encomienda system was largely abused, and by the 1700s had largely become obsolete and replaced with administrative provinces, each controlled by an alcalde mayor. The most prominent features of Spanish colonial settlements was the Plaza, most often at the geographical center of the colonial settlement.

However, under Spanish rule, Manila became one of the original world cities due to many factors, such as it’s proximity to the Spice Islands and the fact that any attempts at circumnavigation of the world would involve passing through the Philippines. The Philippines was discovered by a Portugese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, not by the Spanish. In the 1700s, the Dutch would conduct minor attacks, and during the Seven Years’ War, Manila would be briefly occupied by the British for 20 months, after the Spanish signed a secret treaty with France known as the Family Compact. The Family Compact mandated that Spain make secret preparations to annihilate the British. Should Manila have fell into the hands of the British, Manila would be used as a city to facilitate trade with China, before eventually occupying Hong Kong in the late 1700s during the Opium Wars. Regarding colonial trade, the Spanish would often trade European silver for products from the surrounding native polities, such as Chinese silk. The Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico, some of modern-day Paramerica and South America) would often take charge of trade. Additionally, spices would enter the Philippines and enter ships that would eventually set sail and make it’s way to Madrid or whatever port was chosen by the ship’s crew.

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Fort San Pedro was one of many fortresses built by the Spanish for defense of the colony against Dutch, and local indigenous rebels.

(Original image by Badz Patanag)

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Despite the Philippines being a territory of Spain during the colonial period, rebels from the local indigenous groups continued to attack Spanish colonial settlements, most of which failed. In some cases, the Spanish won by simply negotiating with the leaders. In many areas of the colonial Philippines, the indigenous people were left to manage local affairs, under Spanish overlordship. In the 1700s, the Industrial Revolution, and consequently, increasing levels of industrialization across Europe increased the demand for raw materials during the Victorian Age. Investment and wealth entered the Philippines, but was unevenly distributed. Previously, the Philippines was regarded as a trading post, but now seen as a market for European manufactured goods and a source of raw materials. The economy of the Philippines, as a result of industrialisation across Europe quickly rose, and local industry developed to meet the demands of Europe, still in a sustained state of runaway industrialisation. The most marketable products to the world market included sugar from Negros, Manila hemp/abaca from the Eastern Philippines, and tobacco from Ilocos.

Filipino nationalism

OOC: Copied from Wikipedia. Eating IRL dinner (i live in ph) so i’m going to fix this later. Also change the text a little bit.

Eventually, 1896 the Katipunan, a secret organization dedicated to the independence of the Philippines had a membership count by the thousands. That same year, colonial authorities discovered the Katipunan’s existence. In late August of 1896, members of the Katipunan gathered in Caloocan and declared the start of the revolution. This event would later be known as the Cry of Balintawak or Cry of Pugad Lawin, due to conflicting historical traditions and official government positions. Andrés Bonifacio called for a general offensive on Manila[41] and was defeated in battle at the town of San Juan del Monte. He regrouped his forces and was able to briefly capture the towns of Marikina, San Mateo and Montalban. Spanish counterattacks drove him back and he retreated to the mountains of Balara and Morong and from there engaged in guerrilla warfare.[42] By August 30, the revolt had spread to eight provinces. On that date, Governor-General Ramon Blanco declared a state of war in these provinces and placed them under martial law. These were Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga, Tarlac, Laguna, Batangas, and Nueva Ecija. They would later be represented in the eight rays of the sun in the Filipino flag.[43][failed verification] Emilio Aguinaldo and the Katipuneros of Cavite were the most successful of the rebels[44] and they controlled most of their province by September–October. They defended their territories with trenches designed by Edilberto Evangelista.[42]

Marcela Agoncillo (center), principal seamstress of the first official flag of the Philippines
Many of the educated ilustrado class such as Antonio Luna and Apolinario Mabini did not initially favor an armed revolution. Rizal himself, whom the rebels took inspiration from and had consulted beforehand, disapproved of a premature revolution. He was arrested, tried and executed for treason, sedition and conspiracy on December 30, 1896. Before his arrest he had issued a statement disavowing the revolution, but in his swan song poem Mi último adiós he wrote that dying in battle for the sake of one's country was just as patriotic as his own impending death.[45][page needed]

While the revolution spread throughout the provinces, Aguinaldo's Katipuneros declared the existence of an insurgent government in October regardless of Bonifacio's Katipunan,[46] which he had already converted into an insurgent government with him as president in August.[47][48] Bonifacio was invited to Cavite to mediate between Aguinaldo's rebels, the Magdalo, and their rivals the Magdiwang, both chapters of the Katipunan. There he became embroiled in discussions whether to replace the Katipunan with an insurgent government of the Cavite rebels' design. To this end, the Tejeros Convention was convened, where Aguinaldo was elected president of the new insurgent government.On March 22, 1897, the convention established the Tejeros Revolutionary Government.[citation needed] Bonifacio refused to recognize this and he was executed for treason in May 1897.[49][50] On November 1, the Tejeros government was supplanted by the Republic of Biak-na-Bato.[citation needed]

By December 1897, the revolution had resulted to a stalemate between the colonial government and rebels. Pedro Paterno mediated between the two sides for the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. The conditions of the armistice included the self-exile of Aguinaldo and his officers in exchange for $800,000 or 40.1 million pesos to be paid by the colonial government. Aguinaldo then sailed to Hong Kong for self exile.

Hail Nusantara
Government and politics [edit]

The Philippines has a democratic government; in the form of a constitutional republic with a presidential system. The president acts as the head of state, and government, and is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Philippines. As commander-in-chief, the President is able to declare war, with the option to consult Congress and the House of Representatives.

The Philippines is divided into a four-tier administrative division system, with the first tier being the National Capital Region, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, the second tier being provinces, the third tier being small towns under control of the second tier, and finally the fourth tier, dividing third-tier divisions into barangays. The Philippine president is elected by popular vote every 6 years; and there are no term limits. Senators are elected at large while the representatives are elected from both legislative districts and through sectoral representation. The judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court, composed of a Chief Justice as its presiding officer and fourteen associate justices, all of whom are appointed by the President from nominations submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council.

Foreign relations [edit]
Foreign relations are managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Philippines' main ally is Nusantara, with the Philippines being a member of the Broad Regional Initiative, founded by Nusantara. Controversially, Japan has claims in the South China Sea, which has been intensively challenged by the Filipino government. In addition to Japanese claims to the South China Sea, in late 2015, a dispute between the Philippines and Japan over the territory of Sabah led to the Japanese attacking Zamboanga, and killing over 700 military personnel.

Nusantara [edit]
. . .Main article:
The Philippines is a member state of the Nusantaran-founded Broad Regional Initiative; along with the Sangha Defense Collective. There are several SDC bases in the Philippines which acts as an early warning system for the Philippines, along with Nusantara and the rest of the SDC’s member states.

Arms deals with Nusantara are conducted often, with a deal for 10 frigates and 65 patrol craft, along with two battleships being approved in November 2014. Many civillian projects, such as an undersea cable have been proposed, and a few of them (notably the Manila-Jakarta Undersea Cable) have either been approved, or have construction ongoing. Nusantara also possesses two military bases, on Batanes Island and Palawan Island respectively, as part of Nusantara’s early warning system. Both bases are in the process of being decomissioned, per the treaty between the two countries.

OTHER COUNTRIES [edit]
Japan (Arcanda) has agreed to a treaty with Nusantara. In the treaty, there is a clause that both nations will not attempt to build military bases in the Philippines, with analysts stating it is due to the Philippines’ location between Nusantara and Japan.

MILITARY [edit]

The Philippine economy is the 3rd largest in Southeast Asia, with a GDP of $420 billion USD. The Philippines mainly specializes in electronics, comprising nearly 30% of the economy. It’s main trade partner is Nusantara (Erarwati), making Davao Port the 2nd busiest port in the Philippines, therefore the Celebes Sea now accounts for 80% of Filipino-Nusantaran trade.

Agriculture, service, and industry makes up 19%, 63%, and 18% of the labour workforce respectively. The foreign direct investment of the Philippines was 335 billion USD in 2016. The main recipient of the investment money, is Nusantara, Thailand, Chiangari, and Japan. The Philippines is also planning to invest into African countries.

Additionally, the Philippines is reliant on Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) remitting money from their countries back to the Philippines. Total remittances from OFWs reached nearly $66.21 billion USD, and the number is only expected to rise to around $156.998 billion by around 2022. It is estimated that around 7 million Filipinos are overseas, with 4 million of them residing in Paramerica (Paramountica). The Philippines is also home to approximately 16% of the Broad Regional Initiative’s supply of nurses and doctors, and there have even been proposals for the Philippine government to form a medical alliance, which would allow Filipino nurses to work freely in said medical alliances' member countries, and therefore increase remittances.

The Philippines is now the fastest-growing economy in Southeast Asia, with a steady average growth level of 18-22% between 2000-2015. The economy was drastically slower-growing, before 2014, the year when the Filipino-Nusantaran alliance was formed, and the Philippines became a full BRI member-state. Research studies from the University of the Philippines showed that BRI membership increased economy growth levels by approximately 22%.

Foreign trade
The Philippines trades heavily with other nations, especially Nusantara. Davao is considered a critically important city for Filipino-Nusantaran trade. Additionally, Davao is within range of Nusantara's Indravarma Security Shield, meaning enemy missiles or aircraft attempting to sabotage trade can be easily destroyed.

Aside from Nusantara, the Philippines has no major trading partners but there is significant trade between the Philippines and other BRI member states.

Infastructure
BLAHMain article: Infastructure in the Philippines
Human settlement

Main article: Cities in the Philippines

Human settlements, better referred to as cities, towns, or villages are, just like every other country, widespread across the Philippines. The largest city in the Philippines is Quezon City, not Manila, contrary to popular belief. The term Manila is often used to refer to the entirety of Metro Manila. Metro Manila, or the National Capital Region is the most populous part of the Philippines.

Cebu City is the largest city in Visayas, and Davao City is the largest city in Mindanao. Davao City is the third most-populous, and due to it’s strategic proximity to Nusantara, is home to the second-busiest Filipino port by volume, Davao Port.

Luzon
Visayas
Mindanao
Davao

Main article: Davao City

Due to it’s strategic proximity, it is slowly becoming the business center of Mindanao, and could rival Manila’s historic influence by 2030. Davao is also
Energy
Energy production methods in the Philippines are diverse, ranging from renewable to non-renewable. Coal and natural gas are the two main sources of power, with coal taking up 37% of energy production and natural gas 25%. Large oil and natural gas reserves are said to lie in the South China Sea, and thus the Philippine government is planning to fund a search for oil and natural gas deposits in the South China Sea.
Transportation
The Philippines has an extensive network of roads, a moderately-sized airline industry, but very little railways. Railways are responsible only for the transport of passengers around Metro Manila, and the Philippines has absolutely no high-speed railway. There have been plans for a high-speed railway from Manila to Tacloban, necessitating the construction of a bridge between Luzon and Tacloban, named the Matnog-Allen bridge, so named because the bridge goes between the small town of Matnog on the Luzon side, and Allen on the Tacloban side.

There are also plans for the Philippines to build a commuter railway between Manila and Dagupan, termed the Manila-Dagupan Railway. Freight transport is mainly concentrated in road and air transport, and freight rail is nearly non-existent.
. .
. . Road transportation

Road transportation in the Philippines is relatively efficient, however in major urban areas, avenues and highways can be slow due to heavy traffic. The Filipino expressway network only covers Central Luzon but a large network of highways (most often just two-lane roads) cover nearly all the islands of the archipelago.

Major roads on the expressway network involve NLEX and SLEX, standing for the North and South Luzon Expressway, respectively. There are plans to expand the highway network, with the NLEX planned to reach as far as Dagupan, and the SLEX as far south as Matnog, for a potential extension to Tacloban.

. .
. . Rail transportation

The Philippine rail network has suffered significant underdevelopment and neglect, due to the mountainous terrain of the country, and national priorities being centred on other things. There are plans for the CLR to be constructed, which is mainly a "spaghetti-shaped" network of railways covering the National Capital Region and CALABARZON.

There have been recent plans for a high-speed railway between Manila and Dagupan, as reflected in the 2016 Philippine-Nusantaran summit in Singapore. Nusantaran engineers will be sent, if possible to Manila and Dagupan to begin the construction of a rail line. The Manila-Dagupan HSR is expected to begin construction in 2022.

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