The Philippines ... Tracing your Roots, Culture and Family
Chronology of key Events:
by Basho Fat Sumo 2005/324735
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“Lapu Lapu” was the King of Mactan Island and known as the first Filipino hero. Magellan “discovered” the Philippines and claimed it for Spain in 1521. He first set foot in Limasawa, an island in Leyte and immediately took control of the whole archipelago, by virtue of “discovery”. While in Cebu Magellan heard about an island king who did not want to show allegiance to Spain nor would he pay tribute to the conquerors. This angered Magellan and with 60 men sailed to Mactan Island in Cebu. In Mactan, the bolo and kris wielding Filipinos met the alien invaders for the first time. In the skirmish that ensued Magellan was wounded critically resulting in his retreat. News spread that Lapu Lapu defeated Magellan. This emboldened the Filipinos in Cebu and they themselves drove the Spaniards back. And for 54 years thereafter no Spaniard dared to set foot on Philippine soil.
The Philippines, a country colonized by Spain by the powers of the
sword and the cross for more than 300 years, first unfurled it’s flag
on the morning of June 12, 1898. General Emilio Aguinaldo declared Philippine
Independence before a huge crowd at his home in Kawit, Cavite : “We proclaim
and solemnly declare, in the name and by authority of the inhabitants of all
these Philippine Islands, that they are and have a right to be free and independent
. . .”
The June 12 event is a very significant moment in the history of the Philippines
as it marks the independence from the chains of Spanish oppression.
Today, Filipinos in the Philippines and elsewhere remember this day with a renewal
of nationalism and pride as they celebrate this major milestone. More importantly,
it is an event that commemorates the Filipinos who struggled and fought - sacrificing
their life - in order that their native land be free again.
1542 - Spanish expedition claims the islands and names them the Philippines after the heir to the Spanish throne.
1861 - JOSE RIZAL, the national hero of the Philippines and pride of the Malayan race, was born on June 19, 1861, in the town of Calamba, Laguna. As a political figure, Rizal was the founder of La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan led by Andrés Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo. He was a proponent of institutional reforms by peaceful means rather than by violent revolution. The general consensus among Rizal scholars, however, attributed his martyred death as the catalyst that precipitated the Philippine Revolution. Dr. José Rizal, Philippine patriot and physician, was condemned to death here and shot on December 30, 1896 by firing squad.
1890s - Beginnings of insurrection against Spanish rule.
1898 - During the Spanish-American War, the US navy destroys
the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. Spain cedes the Philippines to the US under
the Treaty of Paris in December. The US proclaims military rule.
1899 - Insurgent activity against US forces begins.
1901 - Leader of insurgents, Emilio Aguinaldo, is captured.
1902 - US civil government replaces military rule.
1907 - A Philippine assembly is inaugurated.
1935 - A plebiscite approves the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
Manuel Quezon is the first president. The Philippines is promised full independence
within 10 years.
Japan Invaded and Occupied the Philippines
1941 - Japan attacks the Philippines by air and invades
two weeks later.
1944 - US forces retake the islands.
1946 - The islands are granted full independence and renamed the Republic of
the Philippines.
1947 - The US is awarded military bases on the islands.
1951 - Peace treaty signed with Japan. The Philippines eventually receive 800
million dollars in reparations payments.
1965 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes president.
1969 - Marcos is re-elected amidst allegations of electoral fraud. Marcos supports
the US policy in Vietnam. There are protests against this. Muslim separatists
in the south of the country also begin their campaign of guerrilla war.
Martial law
1972 - Marcos declares martial law. The parliament is suspended, opposition
politicians are arrested, and censorship is imposed.
1973 - A new constitution gives Marcos absolute powers.
1977 - Opposition leader Benigno Aquino is sentenced to death. Marcos delays
the execution.
1980 - Aquino allowed to travel to the US for medical treatment.
1981 - Martial law is lifted. Marcos wins presidential elections.
1983 - Aquino returns to the Philippines, but is shot dead as he leaves his
plane. The military is blamed for the murder.
"People power"
1986 - Presidential elections see Marcos opposed by Aquino's widow, Corazon.
Marcos declares himself the winner, but Aquino disputes the result. There are
mass protests, dubbed "people power", in Manila. The military withdraws
its support for Marcos. President Ferdinand Marcos stepped down after mass demonstrations
accompanied allegations of electoral manipulation.
Marcos flees the country for Hawaii. The new government claims Marcos had looted
billions of dollars from the country during his time in power. Marcos dies on
Hawaii in 1989.
1989 December - US jets assist Philippine government forces in suppressing an
attempted coup.
1990 - Military officials are convicted of the murder of Benigno Aquino.
1991 - The US abandons Clark Air Base after a volcanic eruption smothers it
with ash.
1992 - Aquino's defense minister, Fidel Ramos, wins presidency. The US closes
Subic Bay Naval Station.
1996 - Peace agreement reached with Muslim separatist group, the Moro National
Liberation Front. Another group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), carries
on its campaign.
1998 - Joseph Estrada elected president.
2000 November - Impeachment proceedings start against Estrada on allegations
of corruption, betrayal of public trust, and violation of the constitution.
2001 January - Impeachment trial is suspended on the 16th. There are mass street
protests. The military withdraws its support. Estrada stands down on the 20th,
proclaiming his innocence. His vice-president, Gloria Arroyo, is sworn in as
president.
2001 March - The MILF declares a ceasefire and says it is ready to hold talks
with the government.
Estrada arrested
2001 April - Philippines prosecutors charge Estrada with plundering more than
80 million dollars from state funds while he was in office. Estrada is arrested
and placed in custody.
2002 January - US says joint exercises with Filipino military signal new phase
in war on international terrorism. Exercises take place near stronghold of Abu
Sayyaf group which US says has links to Osama Bin Laden.
2002 October - Series of deadly bomb blasts - on a Manila bus and at three locations
in Zamboanga city - blamed on Islamic militants.
2003 February - Ceasefire between MILF and government breaks down. Planned talks
are called off in May after a rebel attack on Mindanao kills 30.
2003 July - Government signs ceasefire with MILF ahead of planned talks in Malaysia.
Mutiny
2003 July - Army mutiny in Manila; some 300 soldiers seize a shopping centre
but surrender peacefully following negotiations. President Arroyo declares a
state of rebellion.
2004 February - Peace talks between government and communist rebel New People's
Army start in Norway, but are called off by the rebels in August.
2004 June - With counting completed, Gloria Arroyo wins May's presidential elections.
2004 July - Philippines withdraws its peacekeeping troops from Iraq, bowing
to the demands of the kidnappers of a Filipino lorry driver. The driver is subsequently
freed.
2004 November-December - Hundreds of people are killed in floods and mudslides
as powerful storms and a typhoon hit the country. Mrs Arroyo won a second six-year
term as president in June 2004, defeating her main rival, the film star Fernando
Poe Junior.
She faced the challenge of delivering on her promises to create jobs and to
improve living standards.
Social and economic reforms introduced during her first term in office
did little to ease poverty and the country's debt burden. The president has
taken a strong line on law and order; in 2004 she lifted a moratorium on the
death penalty.
In 2003 Mrs Arroyo survived an attempt by military mutineers to unseat her.
She has allied herself closely to US President George W Bush's "war on
terror”.
Mrs Arroyo comes from the political elite in the Philippines. She is a trained
economist, whose father was president in the early 1960s.
Mrs Arroyo is keen to emphasize her Christian faith. Observers contrasted her
approach with the hard-drinking lifestyle favored by her predecessor, Joseph
Estrada.
2005 January - Heavy fighting between government troops and MILF rebels
breaks the July 2003 ceasefire.
2005 April - Breakthrough on contentious issue of ancestral land achieved at
peace talks in Malaysia between government and MILF rebels.
2005 June - Influential Cardinal Jaime Sin, who led two peaceful revolts, dies
aged 76.
2005 July - President Arroyo comes under intense pressure to resign over allegations
of vote-rigging.
Arroyo under pressure
2005 July-September - President Arroyo is pressured to resign over allegations of vote-rigging. In September she survives an opposition attempt to impeach her.
2005 November-December - Scores are killed during clashes between troops and Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels on the southern island of Jolo.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Erap and Macoy
2006 February - More than 1,000 people are killed by a mudslide which engulfs a village on the central island of Leyte. President Arroyo declares a week-long state of emergency after the army says it has foiled a planned coup.
2006 December - Hundreds of people are feared dead after Typhoon Durian batters the east, triggering mudslides.
2007 January - Tests confirm that a body found in a remote area is that of Abu Sayyaf leader Khaddafy Janjalani. The army says he was killed in fighting in 2006.
2007 February - Government report accuses military figures of being behind the killings of hundreds of mainly left-wing activists since 2001.
2007 April - The military says it is stepping up its offensive against the Islamic militant group, Abu Sayyaf, after the group beheaded seven Christian hostages on the southern island of Jolo.
Southern Separatism
2007 August - 26 Soldiers killed in fighting with separatists on Jolo.
2007 November - Renegade soldiers make a failed coup bid at a luxury hotel in Manila after breaking out of court where they were standing trial for the failed 2003 mutiny. 2008 July - Government negotiators say they have reached an agreement with MILF rebels on the expansion of a Muslim autonomous region in the south.
2008 August - The MILF deal collapses after Christian communities raise objections and renewed fighting on the southern island of Mindanao leaves at least 30 people dead.
2008 December - Norwegian-brokered peace talks with New People's Army Maoist guerrillas break down, NPA attacks army patrol on Mindanao.
2009 June - Army says it has captured a major MILF base on Mindanao, killing 30 rebels.
2009 September - The governing coalition names Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro as its candidate for the 2010 presidential election, ending speculation that President Arroyo might attempt to run again. One of his main challengers will be his second cousin Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, the son of the late President Corazon Aquino.Army says it has captured a leading figure in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Camarudin Hadji Ali, as the year-long campaign against the rebels continues in the south.
2009 November - An attack on group of people travelling to file election nomination papers on Mindanao leaves 57 dead. Victims' relatives blame a rival clan said to be allied to President Arroyo. The government declares a state of emergency in the area to help track down suspects.
2009 December - Philippine armed forces and police say they are pursuing at least 3,000 armed men loyal to the Ampatuan clan suspected of the Mindanao massacre. Peace talks resume between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Malaysia, after breaking down 16 months ago.
Newly Elected President of the Philippines : Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino
2010 When the 50-year-old Benigno Aquino won the 2010 presidential election, he was at that stage better known for his parents than for any of his own achievements.
Until he ran for president, Noynoy Aquino was relatively unknown
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But the fact his mother was the former President Cory Aquino and his father the pro-democracy hero Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino meant that he was virtually predestined for a career in public life.
During the election campaign, Mr Aquino - who is more commonly known as Noynoy - underlined his desire to emulate his mother by carrying on her pro-democracy agenda.
His other main campaign pledge was to combat corruption, and he suggested that he had some very powerful people in his sights. He has indicated that he even plans to have his predecessor Gloria Arroyo investigated for alleged vote-rigging in the 2004 presidential election - an accusation she denies.
His campaign slogan - "When no one's corrupt, no one will be poor" - linked corruption in high places with the grinding poverty endured by many of his compatriots. A third of the 90 million population lives on just one US dollar a day.
Another challenge he will face is the high level of localized violence, particularly on the southern island of Mindanao, where the armed forces are fighting both Islamic and communist rebels. The Arroyo administration had been engaged in peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and he has vowed to continue these.
But perhaps Mr Aquino's greatest challenge will be to step out of the shadow of his famous family.
The only son of Cory and Ninoy Aquino, Noynoy Aquino studied economics before starting a career in business. His father was murdered when he returned to the Philippines from exile in 1983. Four years later, Noynoy himself was seriously injured during the first coup attempt against his mother, who had become president in 1986.
He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1998, and became a senator in 2007.
Basho Fat Sumo