In The Name of Allah The
Almighty
(12th June:National Day)
Republic of the Philippines country in Southeast Asia. It is an archipelago
consisting of some 7,100 islands and islets lying about 500 miles off the coast.
The total land area of the Philippines is 115,800 square miles. It is bounded by
the Philippine Sea to the east, the Celebes Sea to the south, and the South
China Sea to the west and north. The Philippines takes its name from Philip II,
who was king of Spain during the Spanish colonization of the islands in the 16th
century. Manila is the biggest city and the national capital. It is located on
Luzon, the largest island, which has a land area of 40,420 square miles.
Mindanao, at 36,537 square miles the second largest island, lies in the south.
Because it was under Spanish rule for 333 years and under U.S. tutelage for a
further 48 years, the Philippines has many cultural affinities with the West.
Its peoples, however, are Asian in consciousness and in aspiration. In many ways
Filipino society is composed of paradoxes, perhaps the most apparent being the
great extremes of wealth and poverty in the nation. The Philippines is a country
of rich resources, but it is in the process of developing its full
potentialities. It is primarily agricultural, although a high degree of domestic
and foreign investment has spurred the rapid development of its industrial
potential. Educationally, it is among the most advanced of Asian countries,
having a high literacy rate.
Before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, the people lived in small
independent villages, each ruled by a petty king. The cultivation of rice or
corn (maize) and fishing provide the basic subsistence.Manila, Cebu, Jaro, Vigan,
and Nueva Caceres (now called Naga) were granted city charters by the Spanish.
More chartered cities were founded under U.S. administration and since
independence in 1946. Quezon City was chartered in 1939 and became the capital
of the Philippines in 1948. In 1975 Manila, Pasay City, Caloocan, and Quezon
City and 13 adjoining municipalities were placed under one administrative unit
known as Metropolitan, or Metro, Manila. The city proper of Manila was again
made the national capital in 1976; Metropolitan Manila is designated the
National Capital Region. In addition to the cities there are a great many
municipalities and a number of municipal districts.
The people of the Philippines are called Filipinos. Their ancestors, who were of
Malay stock, came from the southeastern Asian mainland as well as from what is
now Indonesia. From the 10th century, contacts with China resulted in a group of
mixed Filipino-Chinese descent, who account for a minority of the population. A
small percentage of Chinese nationals also live in the country. The relatively
small numbers of emigrants from the Indian subcontinent added to the
population's racial mixture. The aboriginal inhabitants of the islands were the
Negritos, or Pygmies, also called Aetas or Balugas; they now constitute only a
small percentage of the total population.
Estimates of the total number of native languages and dialects spoken in the
Philippines differ, but scholarly studies suggest that there are some 70 of
them. The national, and most widely spoken, language of the Philippines is
Pilipino. Pilipino and English are the two official languages and mediums of
instruction. Tagalog is the richest of all Philippine languages and has the most
extensive written literature. The great majority of Filipinos are Roman
Catholic; adherents of the Philippine Independent Church ,Muslims, and
Protestants are the largest religious minorities. There are also some Buddhists
and animists.
Much of the land area of the islands is covered with forest, and many of the
mountains are densely forested. In northern Luzon the principal mountain tree is
pine. There are about 220 species of mammals, among which are water buffalo,
goats, horses, hogs, cats, dogs, monkeys, squirrels, lemurs, mice, pangolins
(scaly anteaters), chevrotains (mouse deer), mongooses, civet cats, and red and
brown deer. There are some 500 species of birds, many of which are migrants.
Birdlife includes jungle fowl, pigeons, peacocks, pheasants, doves, parrots,
hornbills, kingfishers, sunbirds, tailorbirds, weaverbirds, herons, and quails.
The Philippines is rich in mineral resources. There are major deposits of gold;
iron; zinc, high-grade chromium ,silver, nickel, mercury, molybdenum, cadmium,
and manganese occur in several other places. No fewer than 2,000 varieties of
fish are in the seas surrounding the islands and in lakes, rivers, estuaries,
and fish ponds. The Philippines is chiefly an agricultural country. Its soil is
rich and fertile, and crops grow abundantly throughout the year. The principal
farm products are rice, corn (maize), coconut, sugarcane, abaca (Manila hemp),
tobacco, maguey (used for making such products as rope), and pineapple. Many
tropical fruits are also raised, the most important being banana, mango, lanseh,
or lanzon (Lansium domesticum), citrus, and papaya. A wide variety of vegetables
are raised for domestic consumption. Rice, the principal staple crop, is grown
everywhere. The Philippines is one of the world's largest producers of coconuts
and a major exporter of coconut products. The Philippines also produces more
than one-third of the world's copra. Sugar is one of the country's top exports
and earns a substantial amount of foreign exchange. High-quality timber and
veneer products traditionally have been leading exports. Fishing is also one of
the most important of Filipino industries.
The principal minerals mined include gold, silver, iron, copper, manganese,
zinc, lead and coal. some petroleum is also extracted. Many of these
minerals—notably copper—are produced for export and thus are vulnerable to
fluctuations in world demand. Much industrial growth has taken place in the
Philippines, but the manufacturing sector is still in an early stage of
development. Major manufactured goods include processed foods and beverages,
petroleum products, textiles and wearing apparel, and chemicals.
The government has assisted the private sector of the economy by exempting
certain new industries from taxation for a certain period. Only nominal taxes
are imposed on selected industries, and loans on favourable terms are available
to others. The trade-union movement is well-established in Manila and in most
other towns and cities. Farmers and tenants are also organized, as are teachers
and government employees. The right of all workers to organize unions has been
recognized in the constitution promulgated in 1987.
In 1986, a constitution was drafted and was ratified in a popular referendum
held in February 1987. Its key provision was a return to a bicameral
legislature, called the Congress of the Philippines, consisting of a 250-member
House of Representatives and a 24-member Senate. House members are elected from
districts, although a number of them are appointed; they can serve no more than
three consecutive three-year terms. Senators, elected at large, can serve a
maximum of two six-year terms. The president, the head of state, can be elected
to only a single six-year term, and the vice president to two consecutive
six-year terms. The president appoints the Cabinet, which consists of the heads
of the various ministries responsible for running the day-to-day business of the
government. Most presidential appointments are subject to the approval of a
Commission of Appointments, which consists of equal numbers of senators and
representatives. The country is divided administratively into 73 provinces,
which are grouped into 12 regions; the National Capital Region has special
status. Each province is headed by an elected governor. Local political
subdivisions that also have elected officials include cities and municipalities;
during the Marcos regime the ancient barangay was reinstated as the smallest
unit of government.
Islam was promulgated by three methods: by Muslim traders in the course of
peaceful trade; by preachers and holy men who set out from India and Arabia
specifically to convert idolaters and animist and increase the knowledge of the
faithful; and by war waged against heathen states. Trading served as a strong
factors in spreading Islam in Southeast Asia, with Muslim merchants interested
not only in the commercial aspects of life, but in the spiritual as well,
providing Islamic knowledge to the uniformed through religious missions.
It was in North Sumatra that the trade route from India and the west reached the
archipelago, and Islam first obtained a firm footing in Southeast Asia. Malacca
, the main trading center of the area in the 15th century, became the great
stronghold of the faith, from where it spread out. In the 10th century, Islam's
influence intensified and reached as far as ancient Malaysia. This in turn would
affect its growth in what would become The Philippines.
The strength of the Sulu sultanate in the early 14th was enhanced by Malay
leaders who helped the natives in political, economic, and religious
developments. Among others, Rajah Baguinda, a Sumatrans prince, came to the
Philippines in 1390 with a group of men, all learned in Islam. They settled in
Buwansa, which became the first capital of the sultanate of Sulu, and Abubakhar
his son-in-law became the first sultan. The early missionaries who came to the
Philippines were guided by Islamic principles of no religious compulsion, thus
the gradual and liberal promulgation of Islam. Known as Mukhdumin, these
missionaries did not mean to conquer the territories or exploit its inhabitants
but to teach, and guide people to the right path.
Two century before the coming of Western colonizers to the Philippines, the
Muslim enjoyed full independence, and had a well-organized government, the
sultanate, which attained various achievements at the height of its power. The
sultan served as both political and religious leaders, protector and defender of
Islam, following the Islamic political system of no separation between church
and state.
More important to note is the historical fact that the Islamic process in these
early centuries saw the development of dynamic interaction between inhabitants
and communities in the archipelago especially in matters of trade and commerce.
The economic activities of the period had become so encouraging that foreign
trade between the southern island and the outside world, including the west, was
also stimulated.
With the coming of the Spaniards and the Americans, the Bangsa Islam declined.
Both colonial powers incorporated the independent Bangsa Islam into the
Philippines state, The Muslim courageously resisted the Spanish conquistadors,
but it cost them in terms of socioeconomic development, which remained almost at
zero level because of the constant wars. This long period of colonial
confrontation and struggle would have radical effects on the character of
Islamic development in the archipelago and would give a distinct color to what
the Bangsa Moro armed struggle is today. It is also partly responsible for what
the Muslim Filipinos have become.
From Spanish colonization up to the American regime and the present, the Muslims
have remained faithful to Islam. When other Muslim states come to their rescue,
it is not a matter of intervention in sovereignty and territorial integrity, but
a religious duty. The Filipino Muslims' existence as part of the Muslim ummah is
not in the context of a minority, but in that of a far reaching spread of
citizenry who dwell in a single nation and have an unshakable affinity, the
Islamic brotherhood comparable to an edifice in which each part of the structure
reinforces all others.
Since the granting of the Philippines Independence in the year 1946, the Manila
government launched "settlement programs" for the Christians from Luzon and
Visayas in the Moroland. Prior to that the Moro Muslims had been enjoying the
administration of the region by themselves as the Provincial governors, the
Municipal mayors and the Barangay captains were among themselves. The Christian
settlers, with the assistance of the Manila government, started to take over the
strategic politic and socio-economic posts soon after their influx into the
Moroland.
The genocide campaign of the Manila government had reached an alarming point. So
the Moro youth and students, both domestic and abroad, specially those who were
studying in Arab and Islamic countries had no choice but to organize the "Moro
National Liberation Front," to face the challenge. In order to avoid confusion,
the members of the Central Committee had decided to replace the word "National"
with the word "Islamic" so the true "Liberation Front" aiming at the
re-establishment of a sovereign Moro Islamic State was given the title "Moro
Islamic Liberation Front." The demand (objective) of the "Moro Islamic
Liberation Front" is precisely no less than Independent (sovereign) Moro Islamic
State