Everything has its story and each story tells its origin. The Philippines’s story is rich with facts and values and it also tells how the Philippine became what it is right now.
EARLY HISTORY
Opposing to the beliefs that the Philippines’ history started on the colonization of the Spaniards, the Philippines’ history started earlier than that. A group of native people come across to the Philippines from Borneo, they are the Negritos. They are considered the first people in the Philippines. The early history of the Philippines was not documented properly that is why it is hard for the historian to track down the real story of the Philippines’ early history.
SPANISH ERA
Though the expedition of Magellan in the Philippines was not the start of the Philippines’ history, it is Magellan who put the Philippines to the map. Magellan’s expedition to the Philippines was not a success because he was killed by Lapu-lapu’s man. But it is Villalobos who come back to the Philippines to continue Magellan’s expedition. From there the Spanish colonization spread out to some parts of the Philippines and the Spanish’s main goal is to spread the Christianity to the Philippines. The Philippines became under the power of the Spanish and poor Filipinos were mistreated but there are brave Filipinos who fought against the Spanish to regain independence.
AMERICAN ERA
After the Treaty of Paris, the Philippines became under the power of the Americans. During the American colonization, the Philippines became the most modernized country in Asia because of the establishments build by the Americans. The war started between the American and Filipinos was when American privates killed three Filipino soldiers. The Americans killed many Filipinos over the war because Filipinos are not fully-equipped for the war. When the Commonwealth Government started the Philippines was being ruled by Manuel L. Quezon the first Filipino President.
JAPANESE ERA
The Japanese colonization starts on the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Japanese soldier invades Philippines and killed anyone who is against them. They killed and imprison Filipino soldiers and civilians. Many lives were put in danger at that time and for some it is considered as the darkest hour of the Philippines. A group of men called themselves Hukbalahap, bravely fought against the Japanese determined to gain the independence of the Philippines from the Japanese invasion. The return of Douglas Mac Arthur was the sign of new hope for the Filipino. Mac Arthur and his men help the Filipinos fought back against the Japanese until the Japanese surrender but the war brought by the Japanese leaves an extremely big damage and million death Filipinos.
THE PHILIPPINES TODAY
Those three settlers became a big part of the Philippines’s history and each of them leave a big influence to the Filipino and being practice and use until now. Today, the Philippines is a democratic country and free from foreign colonization but we can say that somehow the Philippines still depends on the Americans when it comes to economic aspects and during depress times.
The Philippines has their own government and being run by the Filipino politicians, the Philippines is on its way to be a very established country in the world.