Philippine History

Ferdinand Magellan

1521 - March 9, Magellan sailed west, southwest towards the Philippines.

Apr 26, Magellan was killed in a fight with natives on Mactan Island. Magellan named the Mariana Islands Islas de los Ladrones (Islands of Thieves), and was killed by natives on Cebu. Juan Sebastian Elcano, Magellan’s second in command, returned to Spain with 18 men and one ship, the Vittorio, laden with spices. His coat of arms was augmented in reward with the inscription Primus circumdisti me: “You were the first to encircle me.” Some 50,000 Chamorro people populated the islands.

1565 Apr 27, First Spanish settlement in Philippines was established in Cebu City.

Spanish Colonization (1565 - 1821)

(1565) Expedition led by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi arrived

(1568) Portuguese attacked Cebu, blockaded port

(1580) Forced labor of all males aged 16 to 60 instituted by Spanish

American Colonization (1898 - 1946)

1 January Spain grants limited autonomy to Cuba.

15 February U.S.S. Maine explodes in Havana Harbor.

3 March Governor-General of the Philippine Islands Fernando Primo de Rivera informed Spanish minister for the colonies Segismundo Moret y Prendergast that Commodore George Dewey had received orders to move on Manila

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, in the United States Territory of Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941.

December 8, 1941 Japanese bombed Camp John Hay in Baguio City, Clark Air Base in Pampanga, and, Nichols Field outside of Manila.

December 10, 1941 Japanese landed in Aparri, Cagayan, and, Vigan, Ilocos Sur

December 22, 1941 Japanese landed in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, and continued to advance to Manila

23 December, 1941 General Douglas MacArthur, head of the Allied Forces, withdrew from Manila and relocated to Bataan.

26 December, 1941 General MacArthur declared Manila an Open City on the advice of Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon to avoid further destruction.

27 December, 1941 Japanese bombed Manila.

02 January, 1942 Postal service under U.S. Commonwealth was temporarily suspended.

10 July, 1943 A new constitution was finalized as drawn by the Preparatory Commission for Philippine Independence. Ratified two months later by the Kalibapi, the only political party allowed to exist.

14 October, 1943 Inauguration of Philippine Independence (Second Republic) with Jose P. Laurel as President.

21 September, 1944 U.S. Allied Forces started bombing Japanese controlled areas.

October, 1944 American forces conducted air raids at Clark Air Base in October, continuing for four months and damaging over 1500 Japanese planes.

20 October, 1944 U.S. Allied Forces, headed by General Macarthur, triumphantly landed in Leyte.

23-26 October, 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf resulted in a decisive U.S. Naval victory. This encounter almost destroyed the entire Japanese fleet and signaled the beginning of the liberation of the Philippines.

25 October, 1944 Lt. Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita , supreme commander of the Japanese troops in Manila, ordered the kamikazes (Japanese suicide bombers) only to fail miserably.

Kamikazes

08 December, 1944 President Laurel and cabinet members moved to Baguio City upon orders from Yamashita.

15 December 1944 U.S. troops invaded Mindoro.

03 January, 1945 Gen. Douglas MacArthur placed in command of all U.S. ground forces and Adm. Chester Nimitz in command of all naval forces in preparation of planned assaults including Japan.

03, February 1945 U.S. Sixth Army attacked Japanese Forces in Manila. The beginning of the Liberation of Manila by American and Filipinos soldiers.

03, February 1945 Last Day of postal service under Japanese Occupation

16 February, 1945 U.S. Troops recaptured Bataan.

02 March, 1945 U.S. airborne troops recaptured Corregidor.

03 March, 1945 U.S. and Filipino troops took Manila.

10 March, 1945 U.S. Eight Army invaded Zamboanga Peninsula in Mindanao.

28 June, 1945 Gen. MacArthur's headquarters announced the end of all Japanese resistance in the Philippines.

05 July, 1945 Liberation of Philippines declared.

14 August, 1945 Unconditional surrender of Japan accepted.

02 September, 1945 Formal Japanese surrender ceremony on board U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay as 1,000 carrier based planes fly overhead.

02 September, 1945 U.S. President Harry Truman declared VJ Day (Victory Japan).

03 September, 1945 Gen. Yamashita surrendered to Gen. Wainwright in Baguio City.

03 September, 1945 Gen. Yamashita surrendered to Gen. Wainwright in Baguio City.

1965-1986, covers the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos. The Marcos era includes the final years of the Third Republic (1965–72), the Philippines under martial law (1972–81), and the majority of the Fourth Republic (1981–86).

(1986–1992) People Power Revolution, Corazon Aquino's assumption into power marked the restoration of democracy in the country. Aquino immediately formed a revolutionary government to normalize the situation, and provided for a transitional "Freedom Constitution" that restored civil liberties and dismantled the heavily Marcos-ingrained bureaucracy— abolishing the Batasang Pambansa and relieving all public officials.[1] The Aquino administration likewise appointed a constitutional commission that submitted a new permanent constitution that was ratified and enacted in February 1987.

2004 - Presidential election takes place. Arroyo's closest rival (a dear friend of Ex-President Estrada) is film actor Fernando Poe, Jr. Arroyo narrowly defeats Poe, taking 39.5% of the vote to Poe's 36.6%. (1981–86).

(2010-present)Senator Benigno Aquino III, son of former President Corazon Aquino, won 15 million votes or less than 50% in the Philippine presidential elections, 2010.