PHILIPPINES. Republic of the Philippines
A country in Southeast Asia, in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, on an archipelago consisting of more than 7,000 islands, of which less than 300 are inhabited. The largest islands are: Luzon, Mindanao, Negros, Leyte, Panay, Mindoro, Palawan, Samar.
Area - 300.8 thousand km². Capital - Manila (about 10 million, with suburbs - Greater Manila). Administrative-territorial division - 74 provinces. Population - 84 million (2005); Filipinos (about 100 ethnic communities, among which the largest are the Visayans, Tagalogs, Ilocanos). About 2 million people of Chinese descent live in the country. Population growth - 2.3% per year. Official languages - English and Filipino (based on Tagalog).
Religion: 92% of the population are Christians, mainly Catholics, 5% are Muslims. Currency - Philippine peso = 100 centavos.
It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (established with the USSR on June 2, 1976).
National holiday - Independence Day - celebrated on June 12 in honor of the victory over Spanish colonizers in 1898.
According to the 1987 constitution, the Philippines is a presidential republic. The head of state and government is the president, elected by universal direct suffrage for a 6-year term, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces (since January 20, 2001 - Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo). The highest legislative authority - Congress - consists of two chambers: the Senate (24 seats) and the House of Representatives (no more than 252 seats: 200 members are elected, 52 are appointed by the president from lists submitted by political parties and public organizations that have overcome the 2% vote threshold). Senators are elected for 6 years (no more than two consecutive terms), and members of the House of Representatives for 3 years (no more than three consecutive terms). The House of Representatives and half of the Senate were elected on May 10, 2004. The executive body is the Cabinet of Ministers, headed by the president.
The oldest Philippine party is the Nationalist Party (founded in 1907; represents the interests of big business, is in moderate opposition to G. Arroyo, currently in serious crisis; chairman - S. Laurel). The Liberal Party is one of the oldest political parties in the Philippines (founded in 1946; advocates from nationalist positions, generally supports G. Arroyo's course, is part of the pro-government coalition "People's Coalition"; chairman - F. Abad). The largest party at the moment is the Lakas-CMD (Christian Muslim Democrats) party (founded in 1992; with G. Arroyo's rise to power, it essentially became the ruling party, holding a majority in both chambers of parliament; chairman - G. Arroyo). The second most influential party in society today is the Nationalist People's Coalition (founded in 1991; the majority of party members are supporters of former president F. Marcos; the party generally belongs to the right spectrum; chairman - E. Cojuangco). The Struggle for Democracy Party (founded in 1988; during 1988-92 was the ruling party; currently the largest opposition party, planning to create a united opposition bloc; chairman - E. Angara). Other parties: Democratic Action Party (founded in 1995), Philippine People's Party (founded in 1996), Communist Party (founded in 1930; in 1992, the ban on membership in the Communist Party was lifted).
The trade union movement covers no more than 1/4 of all workers. 3 local trade centers are members of the Federation of Free Workers (VFP).
In the 15th-16th centuries, several feudal principalities existed in the Philippines. For almost 4 centuries, the Philippines were a colony first of Spain (1565-1898), and then of the USA (1899-1946). The Philippine Republic, proclaimed as a result of the revolution of 1896-98, ceased to exist after the landing of US troops on the islands and the Philippine-American War of 1899-1901. Since 1934, they had autonomous governance. From 1941 to 1945, the Philippines were occupied by Japanese troops. On July 4, 1946, they were proclaimed an independent republic.
The long rule of President F. Marcos (since 1965), who repeatedly imposed a state of emergency in the country, was interrupted by his overthrow in 1986 and the rise to power of opposition forces.
A painful problem for the Philippines is the presence of a separatist movement. In the 1970s, on the island of Mindanao, with a predominantly Muslim population, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was formed, which engaged in armed struggle against the F. Marcos regime under the slogans of creating an independent Islamic state in the south of the country. In 1996, the MNLF leadership signed an agreement with the government, which removed the demand for the creation of an independent Islamic state. However, later a significant part of the radical fighters broke away from the MNLF, forming the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Its leaders did not abandon the idea of creating an Islamic state in the south of the country. The government attempted to resolve the issue of Muslim separatism through armed pressure on the MILF and involving the front, with the mediation of Libya and Malaysia, in peace negotiations, which resulted in the signing of the Tripoli Peace Agreement in June 2001, and the peace agreement in Kuala Lumpur in May 2002. However, these agreements were never implemented. Subsequent negotiations against the backdrop of armed clashes yielded no results.
The Philippines is a member of the UN (since 1945), ASEAN (since 1967).
The Philippines is a country with a developing agrarian-industrial economy. There are reserves of minerals: copper ore (average annual production is about 500 thousand tons), chromites (120 thousand tons), silver (40 tons), gold (25 tons). In addition, iron ore, nickel, manganese, and coal are extracted. Oil production meets no more than 10% of the Philippines' needs, which are forced to import energy resources (oil and coal). In recent years, the chemical and electronics industries have developed significantly; the latter accounts for 45% of export value. The country has established machine engineering and automobile assembly enterprises.
More than 1/2 of the self-employed population is engaged in agriculture. The main crops are rice, corn, coconut palm, sugarcane, abaca (Philippine hemp), tobacco, bananas. Land is mainly owned by large landowners and planters. Agrarian reform has not developed significantly due to a lack of financial resources for land purchase and resistance from large landowners.
GDP in 2004 amounted to 86 billion dollars, and its growth rate was 5% (in 2003 - 4.5%). The economy suffered significant damage from the energy crisis and natural disasters. The share of the service sector in GDP was 47%, industry - 33%, agriculture - 20%.
The average income per capita is 980 dollars. The volume of foreign trade in 2004 was 79.9 billion dollars (in 2003 - 78 billion dollars). Exports - 38.6 billion dollars; imports - 41.3 billion dollars. Foreign trade relations are predominantly oriented towards the USA and Japan. They account for more than half of the total foreign trade turnover of the Philippines.
With ASEAN countries - 30%. The volume of trade with EU countries is gradually increasing.
The country's gold and foreign exchange reserves in 2004 amounted to 16 billion dollars (in 2003 - 16.8 billion dollars). The external debt of the country (2004) is 58.8 billion dollars (in 2003 - 57.4 billion dollars). The majority of the debt is attributed to medium- and long-term loans.
The priority direction of foreign policy is deepening integration within ASEAN, security issues in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.
Daily newspapers: "Balita" (in Tagalog, 180 thousand copies); "Manila Bulletin" (in English, 260 thousand); "Manila Evening Post" (in English, 90 thousand); "Manila Times" (in English, 10 thousand); "People's Journal" (in Tagalog and English, 383 thousand); "People's Tonight" (in English and Tagalog, 500 thousand); "Philippines Daily Inquirer" (in English, 285 thousand); "United Daily News" (in English and Chinese, 28 thousand).
There is one national television channel and more than 100 local channels. There are more than 500 local radio stations that broadcast in local languages.
The work of electronic media is coordinated by the non-governmental Philippine Association of Radio and Television.