INTRODUCTION
The Philippines consists of 7107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, only 2000 of which are inhabited. Luzon and Mindanao are the largest, and take around 66 % of the country's area. Only about 1000 islands are larger than one sq km and 2500 aren't even named. The Philippines' nearest neighbours are Taiwan (north), Eastern Malaysia and Brunei (south-west), and Indonesia (south).
There are 37 volcanoes in the archipelago and the highest peak is Mt Apo (2954m) in Mindanao.
There are more than a 1000 species of birds and animals, notably wild dwarf buffalo, tarsier, mouse deer, crocodiles and pythons. There are over 10,000 species of tree, shrub and fern, the most common of which are palms and bamboos.
The Philippines are hot and humid year-round. The weather pattern across the archipelago is complex, but can be roughly divided into the dry season (January to June) and the wet season (July to December).
The average annual temperature is 25°C. The best time to visit is between December and May.
PHILIPPINE
HISTORY
The oldest, still existing tribes, the Negrito or Aeta arrived 25,000 years ago, followed by immigrants from Indonesian and Malayan people.
Ferdinand Magellan arrived in 1521 and claimed the archipelago for Spain. Magellan was killed by local chiefs (Lapu Lapu). In 1543 the territory was named "Filipinas" after Philip II of Spain. Permanent Spanish occupation began in 1565, and by 1571 the entire country, except for the strictly Islamic Sulu archipelago, was under Spanish control.
In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, the independence movement in the Philippines fought on the side of the Americans. When the Spanish were defeated, General Aguinaldo declared the Philippines independent. The USA had different plans and bought the islands from the Spanish for US$ 20 million.
Manuel QUEZON was
elected president and was tasked with preparing the country for independence
after a 10-year transition. In 1942 the islands fell under Japanese occupation
during World War II, and US forces and Filipinos fought together during 1944-45
to regain control.
On 4 July 1946 the Republic of the Philippines attained its
independence.
Ferdinand Marcos was elected as president in 1965, declared martial law in 1972 and ruled virtually as a dictator until 1986. His regime was attacked by both communist and Muslim guerrillas, and he was accused of corruption and fraud. The assassination of prominent opposition figure
Benigno AQUINO in 1983 started massive anti-government protests.
The 20-year rule of Ferdinand MARCOS ended in 1986, when a "people
power" movement in Manila ("EDSA 1") forced him into exile and installed
Corazon
AQUINO as president. The USA stopped supporting Ferdinand Marcos and during the "EDSA Revolution" he was forced to flee the country. Since he took a lot of money with him, the USA gave him shelter.
Corazon Aquino, the widow of Benigno, tried to re-establish the democratic institutions of the country. As a member of the Filipino elite (a few rich families control and rule the country until today) she couldn't or didn't want to fight corruption and fraud.
In 1991 the USA closed their military bases in the Philippines, following the Mt Pinatubo eruption which destroyed the US Clark Air Base. Aquino survived seven coups in six years and was succeeded by her Defense Minister
Fidel RAMOS in 1992.
Fidel
RAMOS was elected president in 1992 and his administration was marked by greater
stability and progress on economic reforms.
In 1992, the US closed its last
military bases on the islands.
The Philippines government and the Moro National Liberation Front signed a peace accord in September 1996 ending, formally at least, the MNLF's 24-year struggle for autonomy in Mindanao.
In 1998, Ramos was replaced by his vice-president,
Joseph ESTRADA.
Estrada, a former movie star elected mainly because of his popularity of his "love and crime" movies, than because of any political experience, promised a lot, especially to the poor.
However, he was too busy to fill his own pockets. Therefore he was impeached and brought to trial in late 2000 on charges of taking bribes from gambling syndicates, and using the proceeds to line his own dens and to build extravagant houses for his mistresses. When Estrada and his political allies tried to derail the trial by blocking prosecutors' access to his financial accounts, the people decided they'd had enough and staged mass demonstrations in the streets of Manila.
On 19 January 2001 (still during the impeachment trial)
his former vice-president, Gloria
MACAPAGAL ARROYO,
was sworn in as the new president of the Philippines. In
her first speech which must have sounded very familiar
to the people of the Philippines, Arroyo promised to
wipe out poverty and corruption.
Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO was elected to a
six-year term as president in May 2004.
The next presidential election will
be in May 2010.
VISAS:
If you are a citizen of a western country and arrive without a
Philippine visa at one of the international airports, carry a passport valid for
6 months beyond your planned exit from the Philippines, and have an ongoing or
return airplane ticket leaving the Philippines, you will normally be granted an
entry visa for free and can enter the Philippines and stay for a maximum of 21
days.
If you like to stay longer, it will take you some more
trouble.
For a stay up to 59 days, you can either apply for a visa from
a Philippine embassy or consulate in your home country, or apply for an
extension with one of the immigration offices when already in the Philippines.
I normally advice people to get the longer visa from the
embassy (or a consulate), as this saves you a couple of days hassle during your
holiday. Please contact the Philippine embassy of your country about the exact
requirements for a visa application and opening hours of the consular section.
When you arrive with a visa, please show it to the immigration official, so that
he will actually give you the 59 days, instead of the normal 21 days, on your
arrival stamp.
Immigration offices can be found in
a
number of places. If you are staying away
from these cities, extending your visa might require a detour of several days.
In Bohol, you can have your visa extended at the
Bohol Immigration Office
2/F Sarabia Co, Torralba Bldg. CPG Ave.,
Tagbilaran City
Tel. No.: 038-235-6084
The office is on the second floor. If you arrive here during
office hours, with photocopies of your passport id page and the page with your
arrival stamp (photocopies can be made in a shop a 100 meters west along the
same road). Pay the various fees (about 2000 pesos, including express lane
fee), you can be outside with a visa extension within one hour.
Longer visas and extensions can also be acquired, but require
progressively more effort and fees to be paid. The maximum possible on a tourist
visa is two year's stay, after that you will need to leave the country for at
least one day.
If you are from a country that isn't
listed in the visa-on-arrival list, such as India or China, you will have to
apply for a visa for any trip, no matter how short, from the Philippine Embassy
in your country of residence. A list of these can be found on the
DFA website.
EXIT REGULATIONS
Everybody, except babies without their own seat, will have to
pay the airport terminal fee of 550 pesos (in Mactan International Airport,
Cebu, other airports may have different rules). This fee cannot be avoided.
Philippine citizens (and foreigners with a residence permit)
are also required to pay a foreign travel tax. Several
exemptions exists for Filipinos having permanent residence permits in a foreign
country, or who have been away from the Philippines with a temporary residence
permit for more than one year, in which case you will need an exemption
certificate, which can be obtained in the departure area for 100 pesos upon
presentation of evidence of the above facts. Some persistence and a print-out of
the rules from the DFA website may be required to obtain this certificate. For
details on this travel tax, visit the
Philippine
Tourism Authority page on travel tax.
If you've overstayed your visa, you will be made to pay a
fine, based on the number of days you've overstayed, and all visa fees you've
had to pay if you had extended them properly. At their discretion, custom
officials may also arrest you, and prosecute you for the offense.
IMPORTANT
ADDRESSES:
To find addresses of
foreign embassies in the Philippines, click
here.
