the United States attacked the Spanish stronghold in the capital of Manila. Six small warships easily defeated the entire Spanish fleet. With this victory, control over the Philippines passed to the Americans, who went about educating the Filipinos, teaching them English, developing the land and imposing their style of democratic authority.
General Douglas MacArthur
During World War II the Philippines were invaded and occupied by Japan. In 1945, more American warships, under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, brought the conflict to an end. The Philippines became independent in 1946.
The Philippine Flag
A Story of Philippine
Independence
It all started with a young man named Andres Bonifacio, who formed a secret society known as the Katipunan, which worked for the day that the Philippines would break free of Spanish rule. He created a banner for the society, a simple red flag bearing a KKK that stood for the society’s full name: Ang Kataastaasang Kagalanggalang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, which means “the highest and most venerable society of the children of the country.” The red background stood for the blood they were willing to shed and to lose in order to win their freedom.
As the society grew, each of its military leaders created their own red and white flags to carry into battle. Two factions used a sun, and in its center they daringly used a letter that is part of a language that was spoken in pre-Spanish times. Eventually, the letter became the face of the sun.
Andres Bonifacio
June 12, 1898 Kawit, Cavite
The flag we use today was designed by General Emilio Aguinaldo, who became leader of the KKK society after Andres Bonifacio’s death. It was raised on June 12, 1898, when General Aguinaldo, along with the American allies, defeated Spanish forces to finally claim freedom from Spanish rule.
When the country is at war, we raise the flag upside down, so that the red is on top.
Together all these symbols honor the early Filipinos who fought the Spanish colonizers, gaining the independence the Philippines enjoys today.
An Earth-Shattering Experience
Basic Geography of the Philippines
There are over 7000 islands making up the Philippines! Less than half of them have names, and only 2000 are large enough to be inhabited.
The Philippine islands spread out over almost 1000 miles of the Southeast Asia region, near Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia. If you were to clump the islands into one mass, the country would be about the size of Italy.
Each island is considered part of the Luzon, Visayas or Mindanao group. Nearly all of the islands were formed by volcanoes that originated deep beneath the ocean’s floor, and have many mountain ranges, fertile plains, rivers and lakes.
Because the Philippines is just north of the equator its climate is warm and humid most of the year. Being a tropical country, the Philippines has just two seasons--dry and wet! November to May is the dry season, when warm winds called amihan travel in a northeast direction. During the wet season cool moist winds called habagat move across the islands in a southwest direction, bringing rains. The habagat and amihan are monsoon winds that affect the weather patterns every year. At least twenty powerful storms called typhoons form in the Pacific Ocean and pass through the Luzon and Visayas regions. We name our typhoons the same way you name hurricanes in your country.
The dry season—November to May
The wet season—June to October
Let’s go island hopping!
| 1. | Rio Grande de Cagayan is the longest river in the Philippines. |
| 2. | The 2000 year old Banaue Rice Terraces were carved into the mountains of Ifugao by the ancestors of the indigenous people. |
| 3. | “Rice Bowl of the Philippines” is a nickname given to Nueva Ecija for producing most of the country’s rice supply. |
| 4. | Mary lives near Fort Santiago, built by the Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi in the 1590s. |
| 5. | The Pacific War Memorial on Corregidor Island was a gift from the United States to honor the Philippine soldiers of World War II, and houses many battle relics. |
| 6. | Mayon Volcano in Albay on the island of Luzon is famous for its nearly perfect cone shape. |
| 7. | Guitar crafting is a major art form and industry on Jaime’s home island of Cebu. |
| 8. | The underground river of Puerto Princesa was chosen as one of the New Wonders of Nature. |
| 9. | The tiny primate the Philippine Tarsier is often called “the world’s smallest monkey” but is actually from a different primate family. |
| 10. | The beautiful Maria Cristina Falls generate most of the energy on the island of Mindanao. |
| 11. | The Philippine Eagle is one of the world’s largest eagle species. |
| 12. | The Vinta is the traditional boat of the Zamboanga Peninsula of Mindanao, where Ari lives. |
| 13. | World-famous boxer Manny Pacquiao was born and raised in Saranggani . |
Living in a Land of
Earthquakes, Volcanoes
and Typhoons
Living in the Philippines is an earth-shattering experience! Being the first stop for most tropical storms from the western Pacific Ocean, and with so many faults and volcanoes, the Philippines is more prone to natural disasters than most places on earth.
Would you believe that there are at least five earthquakes happening in different parts of the Philippines every day? An earthquake is what happens when tectonic plates rub against each other. A tectonic plate is a broken piece of the earth’s crust located under the oceans. These plates are always on the move. The Philippines lies on three very large plates, so you can see why the Philippines have so many earthquakes!
