The Philippines is an archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila. The northern portion of the archipelago is composed of the largest island, Luzon. The Visayas region is made up of about 6,000 islands, including Panay, Leyte, Samar, Cebu, and Bohol. Mindanao is the second largest island and encompasses about 400 smaller islands. Some Historians Believed that Negritos Migrated to the Philippines 30,000 years ago from Borneo, Sumatra, and Malaya In the 14th cent. Arab traders from Malay and Borneo introduced Islam into the southern islands and extended their influence as far north as Luzon.The first Europeans to visit (1521) the Philippines were those in the Spanish expedition around the world led by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. Other Spanish expeditions followed, including one from New Spain (Mexico) under Ruy López de Villalobos, who in 1542 named the islands for the crowned Prince Philip, later Philip II. The Philippines is Easily Conquered by the Spanish Empire. Spain's rule lasted from the 16th to the 19th century but was marked with a series of revolts. When three Filipino priests were executed for national activities, a group of reformists formed the Propaganda Movement that would later paved the way for the Philippine Revolution. A young doctor-writer, Jose Rizal, was arrested and later executed by Spanish officials for his scathing criticisms of Spanish rule in the Philippines through two novels. Philippine independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898, on the balcony of Aguinaldo's home in kawit, Cavite.However, the Philippines was annexed by the Americans by means of the Treaty of Paris with Spain on December 10, 1898. This brought about the Filipino-American War. The Philippines then remained an American colony for nearly 50 years. In 1935, a semiautonomous Philippine Commonwealth was inaugurated in Manila.From 1941 - 1945, the Philippines came under the Japanese empire. A puppet goverment, the Second Philippine Republic, was established, with President Manuel A. Roxas. This was the first fully independent and internationally recognized Filipino goverment.The Philippines then became the showcase of democracy in Asia and had peaceful transition of power through many successive presidents - Roxas, Quirino, Magsaysay, Garcia, Macapagal, and Marcos. On September 21, 1972, President Marcos declared Martial Law and pushed through a new constitution in 1973, which prolonged his stay in power. He jailed his political rivals, dismissed Congress, silenced media critics, and ruled as a virtual dictator in what he called "Constitutional Authoritarianism."On August 21, 1983, his arch-rival, former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, returned home from three years of self-exile abroad. At the airport, Aquino was shot dead by a military assasin. This galvanized the Filipino people to fight the dictator. And on Febuary 22, 1986, Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, Deputy Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, and reformist military officers broke away from the Marcos camp and prepared to fight a bloody confrontation with Marcos and his loyalist forces. They were supported by the "People Power Revolution" of Febuary 22-25, 1986, which forced Marcos and his party to flee to Hawaii on board the US Air Force planes.
