Natividad Almeda-Lopez

First Filipina lawyer and judge

Almeda-Lopez became a lawyer in 1914. Around this time, the legal profession in
the country was considered mostly for men. She's not the first woman to pass the
Bar, but she's the first female lawyer in the country to have actually handled cases
and defended clients.
Despite facing discrimination in a male-dominated legal institution, she became
Manilas executive judge the first female judge in the country in 1934 and
remained in the post for 10 years.

Geronima Tomelden-Pecson

First Filipina senator

Tomelden-Pecson ran in the 1947 senatorial elections, and was elected the country's
first female senator. In the Senate, she headed the Senate Committees of
Education, Health, Public Welfare, and the Joint Congressional Committee on
Education all of which suited her background.

Elisa Rosales-Ochoa

First Filipina congresswoman

Rosales-Ochoa joined the 1941 Congressional elections in her native Agusan
province. She won by a landslide victory and became the first congresswoman in
the country.
In the 1st Congress, there was only one congresswoman out of 98 membes of
Congress. The number of women steadily increased over the years: 6 women in the
6th Congress, 19 in the 8th Congress, and then 36 in the 13th Congress.

Carmen Planas

First Filipina city councilor

Planas topped the elections, winning over more experienced, older candidates.
Decades after the days of Planas, women became more active in local government
service. In 2004, for example, 25% of all local government officials that year were
female, including 182 female city councilors and 1,731 municipal level female
councilors.

Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino

First Filipina president

Aquino was thrust into the spotlight following the assassination of her husband,
then Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. As an opposition figure, she ran against then
reelectionist Ferdinand Marcos during the snap presidential elections in 1986.
The Philippines has had two female presidents in its history so far. While the number
seems small, it nonetheless puts the country among the Top 10 nations with the
most number of elected female heads of state.
Sarswela

In the Philippines, the sarswela is a play with songs and dances usually written in
prose, containing from one to five acts, depicting the vagaries of romantic love
among idealized Filipino characters, and often incorporating contemporary social,
political, economic or cultural issues for relevance and interest.

Severino Reyes
Severino Reyes was a Filipino writer, playwright, and director of plays. He
used the pen name Lola Basyang. He was nicknamed "Don Binoy". Reyes is
known as the "Father of Tagalog Plays" and as the "Father of the Tagalog
Zarzuela".

Poetry

is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of languagesuch

as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metreto evoke meanings in addition to,
or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning.

A short story is a piece of prose fiction that can be read in one sitting

Novel is a fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character

and action with some degree of realism.

Balagtasan is Filipino form of debate done in verse. Balagtasan is participated by two

or more protagonists who engaged in a debate on a selected subject. Each
protagonist are to express their views in verse and with rhyming. Refutations shall
also be done in the same manner. A judge, known as the lakandiwa if male
or lakambini if female, will decide the winner of the balagtasan. The judge shall also
announce the winner in verse and with rhyming. The participants are also expected
to impress before a watching audience. The first balagtasan took place on April 6,
1924 at the Instituto de Mujeres (Womens Institute) in Tondo, Manila as part of the
celebration of Francisco Balagtas' birth anniversary.

Bounding Billow

The Bounding Billow mostly published short articles about the day-to-day lives of
the sailors aboard the USS Olympia. The paper included reviews of shows presented
by the men aboard the ship, the results of sporting events, travel diaries, gossip,
pictures from the ship, and humorous content about the men aboard. Sample titles
include Contortive Cognomens, Doings in Society, and Hot Shot. The paper
also included humorous advertisements about the limited services available aboard
the ship as well as a restaurant located ashore in Nagasaki. The paper was fully
written and published by sailors aboard the ship. The paper also contained news
coverage of key events in the SpanishAmerican War, including the Sinking of
the USS Maine and a first-hand account of the Battle of Manila Bay, in which the
Olympia was the flagship.

During the United States colonial period of the Philippines (1898-1946), the United
States government was in charge of providing education in the Philippines.

Education became a very important issue for the United States colonial government, since it allowed
it to spread their cultural values, particularly the English language, to the Filipino people. [2] Instruction
in English language, and American history, lead to forming of a national identity and Filipino
nationalism.

Every child from age 7 was required to register in schools located in their own town or province. The
students were given free school materials. There were three levels of education during the American
period. The "elementary" level consisted of four primary years and 3 intermediate years. The
"secondary" or high school level consisted of four years; and the third was the "college" or tertiary
level. Religion was not part of the curriculum of the schools. as it had been during the Spanish
period.

In some cases those students who excelled academically were sent to the U.S. to continue their
studies and to become experts in their desired fields or professions. They were called "scholars",
and "pensionados" because the government covered all their expenses. In return, they were to teach
or work in government offices after they finished their studies. Some examples of these successful
Filipino scholars were Judge Jos Abad Santos, Francisco Benitez, Dr. Honoria Sison and Francisco
Delgado.

PNU, Philippine School of Arts and Trades (1901, now TUP), NU 1901

TRADE AND AGRICULTURE

1. Population Explosion
1898-6m; 1903-7,635,426; 1928-20,314,320; 1939-16,000,303;
2. New Land Policy
A. Friar Lands were resold to Filipino farmers.
B. Homestead Act of 1924 allowed Filipinos to own up to 16 hectares of
public land for agricultural purposes such as actual cultivation &
residence.
C. All lands had to be registered, and their owners got the Torrens title.
3. Agricultural Increase
- Bureau of Agriculture (1902)
First govt agency in the new American colony.
- In 1903, American Congress sent $3M emergency fund to import rice &
carabaos to other Asian countries.
4. Free Trade
 Ph products entered USA without paying custom tariffs but with a limit or
quota. However, American products were not limited.
- Bell Trade Act
o Free Trade between the USA and the PH within 28yrs (1946-1974)
o Although free trade was not fair, the PH govt still agreed on this so
that the Rehabilitation Act established by the US would be
implemented.
RA- babayaran ng US yung PH para sa mga damages incurred
during war. US clarified that its not payment, but a help.
5. Business Boom
Retail Trade in the PH doubled from 1907-1935. Filipinos had more money to
buy food, shoes, clothes, and toys, and even cars. However, Filipinos prefer
buying imported goods.
6. New Industries
The PH entered the industrial age which favored the use of machines and
mass production of goods in big factories.
Mining and fishing became big industries.
Household cottage industries boomed.
Americans developed the coconut and hemp industries and took over the
sugar and tobacco industries.
7. Improvement in Transpo & Commu
During US era, PH became an Asian leader in transportation and
communication.
Americans developed railroads in Luzon, Cebu, and Panay.
More fishing ports were opened. Pier 7 in Manila was the largest port in Asia.
8. Better Budget
PH colonial govt under the Americans had one of the best budgets in the
world. The PH budget was balanced even during the great world depressions
in the 1930s. Other govt had huge deficits but PH had surplus.
9. New Banks
In 1906, the Postal Savings Bank was introduced and the Philippine National
Bank was established.
10.Intl Exhibitions & Meetings
PH army band became world-famous at the golden gate exposition in 1939,
San Francisco, California.
Filipino professionals attended international conferences.
Filipino athletes joined Olympic Games.
11.Public Health and Sanitation
One of the priorities of the Americans was the promotion of public health and
sanitation. They were able to cure and minimized the spread of deadly
diseases like cholera, smallpox, dysentery, and tuberculosis.
Bureau of Health was established. And by 1935, there were more than 1000
hospitals including the Philippine General Hospital. In result, there was a
decline in death rate and increase in birth rate.
12.Medium of Exchange