José Burgos (1837-1872) was a Filipino Catholic Priest and a leader of the secularization movement, referring to the full incorporation of Filipino priests into the Catholic hierarchy of the Philippines, then dominated by Spanish friars. Alongside Fathers Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora, Burgos was arrested on false charges of sedition and incitement of the Cavite Mutiny—a mutiny of 200 Filipino soldiers and laborers in the town of Cavite—and executed in 1872. The acronym GOMBURZA,...

Corazon “Cory” Aquino was the President of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992, and widow of Benigno Aquino Jr., an opposition leader assassinated by the Ferdinand Marcos regime. She reluctantly ran for the presidency in the wake of her husband’s death, and became symbolic of the Filipino people’s desire for change following nearly two decades...

Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. (1932-1983) was a Filipino senator who became the most powerful political opposition leader against Ferdinand Marcos. He was arrested in 1973 on falsified charges of weapons possession and conspiracy against the government and spent seven years in prison. He and his wife Corazon Aquino were exiled to the United States in 1980 in order for...

José Rizal (1861-1896) was a Filipino nationalist, poet, and author of several influential novels, including Noli Me Tangere, an account of religious corruption among Spanish friars in the Philippines. Rizal joined the Filipino student community in Spain in his early twenties and became an outspoken member of the Propaganda Movement. He was deeply inspired by the life and untimely death of Father Jose Burgos...

The Treaty of Paris (1898) officially ended the period of Spanish colonization in the Philippines and granted possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States. It also required that the United States pay $20 million USD in recompense to the Spanish government. It signaled the end of global Spanish colonization, and the rise of American imperialism in the Pacific theater as well as the role of the United States as world power.

People Power refers to nonviolent popular protests that took place in the Philippines leading to the removal of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and President Joseph Estrada in 2001, and one manifestation of Filipino participation in civil society and liberal democracy. The catalyst for the 1986 protests was the arrest of defected military leaders, and buoyed by public calls to protest by Catholic...

Cardinal Jaime Sin (1928-2005) was the Archbishop of Manila and the most influential Roman Catholic leader in the political and popular opposition against Ferdinand Marcos. Hailing from a family of Chinese mestizos, Jaime Sin was appointed as cardinal in 1976 and remained in the position over the following decades. He remained politically active throughout his career, and was a critical supporter of...

Christianity is the majority faith in the Philippines, making up approximately 90% of the population. The overwhelming majority are Catholic, followed by Protestant Christians including the popular Iglesia ni Cristo, independent Christian churches, and indigenous Catholic churches such as the Aglipayan Church....

The Filipino First Policy was introduced by nationalist President Carlos García, favoring Philippine economic interests over American interests. The effects of the policy were seen in investment in Philippine industry, the creation of new businesses, and rising local investment in local initiatives. However, the policy was strongly opposed by the United States government and was characterized as pro-communist. The policy was dismantled by pro-American Diosdado Macapagal.

Sources

 Luis H. Francia...

Christians for National Liberation (CNL) was the largest organization within the leftist umbrella group, the National Democratic Front, which also included and was led by the Communist Party of the Philippines. Inspired by the social justice imperative of Vatican II and Latin American liberation theology, the CNL was founded by Roman Catholic priest Fr. Edicio de la Torre in response to the imposition of martial law by President ...

The Pasyon is a retelling of the Passion of Christ. Readings and performances of the pasyon text are widespread in the Philippines, where they have synthesized indigenous religious performativity with Catholicism and political and social activism. There are three pasyon texts, the first of which was published in 1704 by the Filipino poet Gaspar Aquino de Belen. The pasyon is performed during Lent in cities and villages throughout the Philippines,...

Thousands of Chinese immigrants arrived in the Spanish Philippines to profit from the Galleon Trade, by which goods passed between China and Mexico. Many Chinese assimilated into Filipino society, intermarrying with native Indios and others, as well as with Spaniards. Through success in trade, many acquired farmlands in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, becoming relatively wealthy, acquiring social status and, especially in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, growing political clout. One such wealthy family was the Cojuangcos, from which president ...

The Propaganda Movement (1872-1892) was the first Filipino nationalist movement, led by a Filipino elite and inspired by the protonationalist activism of figures such as José Burgos and by his execution at the hands of colonial authorities. Propagandists were largely young men, often mestizos and creoles whose families could afford to send them to study in Spanish universities in Madrid and Barcelona. There, they...

Moros, Filipino Muslims, represent roughly 5% of the population of the Philippines. As a diverse community of various ethnolinguistic groups, Moros are marginalized by the state and have longstanding grievances dating back to the Spanish colonial period. Culturally speaking, the term “Moro” as it is used among Muslims tends to denote resistance rather than religious affiliation. This is echoed in the term used by contemporary separatists for their community, the Bangsamoro (“Moro Nation”)....