Philippine history and culture

The Republic of Philippines is a country located in South East Asia. The

country is a sovereign island state. To its north is Taiwan that lies across
Luzon Straight, Vietnam to its west across the South China Sea, the island
of Borneo that is located southwest across the Sulu Sea, and Indonesia to
the south which is separated from the Philippines by the Celebes sea.

To the east of the country is the nation of Palau which is an island nation
and the two countries are separated from each other by the Philippine Sea
(World and Its Peoples 1161). The country lying on the pacific ring of fire is
prone to earthquakes and typhoons. It is endowed with a great biodiversity
and filled with natural resources due to its location. The country’s capital
city is Manila (World and Its Peoples 1163).

Cultural heritage of the Filipino people

The Philippine culture is a people filled with a vibrant culture and rich
history. The country was originally habited by the Melanesians. These
people have a rich cultural preservation though they presently exist in very
few numbers. The Malayo-Polynesians inhabited the lands much later.
They are also known as Austronesian and were responsible for vast trades
with Japan, India, and China. These people practice a culture rich in dance,
ethnicity, language, and food. They have exotic meals and festivals of
dance and celebration. These cultures have over the years given the
Philippines’ a unique identity.

An example of the Philippine festival is the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City.

This festival is one of the most famous festivals in the country. This is
because the festival showcases folk choreography in a perfect way that
depicts the culture and heritage of the Ilonggo people (Rodell 34). The
festival is celebrated as a thanksgiving in honor of Sr. Santo Nino. The
celebrations are usually done in the last week of January. People travel
from all parts of the world to the Philippines to witness the Dinagyang
Festival which is characterized by rich color, street play, and loud drum
beats across streets in Iloilo City (Rodell 41).

External ties to other nations

During the pre-colonial era, the country had ties with other ancient Asian
civilizations especially the middle Indian kingdoms, Srivijaya Empire and
the kingdom of Javanese Medang. The island possessed a currency in the
pre-colonial era known as lingua franca used in trade. This is evidenced by
the Laguna copperplate inscription that was discovered in 1989 close to
river Lumbang’s mouth in Barangay that documents the rich pre-colonial
Philippine history (Rowthorn 71). The writing system used on the plate is
the ancient Kawi script used in Indonesia.

The language variations in Filipino linguistics include a variety of old Malay

languages. Ancient forms of civilization through documentation are also
depicted in the way the people of the islands documented their information.
They used the Baybayin syllabary to write and document their information.
This form of writing is relatively simple to write but hard to read as each
letter in this system of writing represents a syllable (Rowthorn 47).

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The Tabon Man in the Philippines

The Tabon Man is the remains of bones (skull) of three men in the Tabon
caves that are located at the Lipuun point in Quezon. These fossils are
believed to be the remains of the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines. The
Tabon cave appears to be a stone-age settlement as it was characterized
by stone flake tools. This means the region may have used advanced tools
now found in societies dating back before the Bronze Age. The skull,
Tabon man, is reported by anthropologist to be the skull of a modern man
as it closely resembles that of a Homo sapiens (Rowthorn 31).

The Manuggul Jar was also excavated from the same site. It is a secondary
jar used in burial in the Neolithic periods. The jar has engravings of two
prominent persons on its top handle. This figure act as a representation of
the journey after life by the soul. This jar is considered to be a masterpiece
and an achievement in art by the pre-colonial Philippine (Rowthorn 102). It
is a national treasure in the country. The figures on the jar show that the
Philippines people were religious even before the colonial era with a
system of religious beliefs of life.

Spanish colonization
The Philippines’ were colonized by Spain for more than three centuries.
This long period of colonial rule by the Spanish had an effect on the
Philippine culture. The governance of the islands from both Spain and
Mexico ensured the country received certain aspects of the Hispanic
culture. This Hispanic manifestation is portrayed in the Philippine culture in
aspects of the island’s dance culture and religion affiliation. When the
Spanish colonial reign ended, the country was under the US rule for 40
years (Schirmer and Stephen 227). This induced in the Philippines a
culture of pop in their music and adoption of the English language.

Jose Rizal a Philippine nationalist was a writer and revolutionary figure in

the Philippine history. He was born in 1861 from a wealthy family and was
executed in 1896. Rizal had an influential role in the revolution and reform
of his country before his untimely death. His publications were against
colonization and advocated for social reforms (Schirmer and Stephen 54).
He had formed a movement in 1892 known as La Liga Filipina. This
movement was meant to advocate social reforms in the country through
legal avenues. The movement was however disbanded by the governor
(Schirmer and Stephen 56). He was captured and executed by Spanish
army.

Conclusion
The Philippines is an emerging market with a fast growing economy. The
country is considered as a newly industrialized country with a great
transition from a conventional agriculture based economy to one of
manufacturing and service delivery. It serves as an excellent subject
for economics writing assignments. The country exports consumer
electronic products, garments, petroleum, and copper and transport
equipment. It trades majorly with the US, china, Singapore, Taiwan,
Germany, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea and Netherlands. Its
economy is strengthening by the day and the country may soon be the
strongest economy in the South Asia region.

Work Cited
Rodell, Paul A. Culture and Customs of the Philippines. Westport, CT [u.a.:
Greenwood Press, 2002. Print.

Rowthorn, Chris. Philippines: [7000 Islands, Endless Possibilities].

Melbourne [etc.: Lonely Planet Publications, 2003. Print.

Schirmer, Daniel B, and Stephen R. Shalom. The Philippines Reader: A

History of Colonialism, Neocolonialism, Dictatorship, and Resistance.
Boston: South End Press, 1987. Print.

World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia. New York: Marshall
Cavendish, 2008. Print.