History UsefulNotes / Philippines

A former Spanish, then US colony, the Republic of the Philippines (''República de las Filipinas, Republika ng Pilipinas'') is a democratic state in the Western Pacific. This chain of 7,107 islands is the third most-populous English speaking country and its Malay population is 83% Roman Catholic, making this the largest Christian country in Asia. Became independent in 1945, after a brief independence from 1898-1901.

The Philippines, like many of the classic Spanish colonies, is a predominantly Christian country, and to a large extent, [[ChristianityIsCatholic a predominantly Catholic one.]] Filipino Catholics have historically had a love-hate relationship with their Church - while in the 19th century many were dissatisfied with the religious orders who effectively served as local government, and some like Rizal were into outright anticlericalism, in the present day, the churches are usually full, religious processions clog up the streets, and, despite a good part of the intelligentsia hating it, some of the West's more liberal social legislation won't pass for quite a while (both divorce among non-Muslims (we'll get to them later) and abortion are prohibited). The Catholic Church is often described as the unofficial established church.

Due to the country's long colonial history, most Filipinos have Spanish surnames[[hottip:*:with "De La Cruz" being one of the most common surnames; the local counterpart to "Uncle Sam" is the everyman "Juan De La Cruz", whose name is as generic as it gets]]. Often this goes with Spanish first names as well, and during Spanish rule, Catholic baptism made this mandatory. Chinese Filipinos have surnames of Chinese origin - often the patriarch, once baptized, combined his original name to form a surname ("Cojuangco"). American rule introduced English names. Of course, names with indigenous roots like Nakpil and Bagongahasa still exist. Today, Filipino names are often composed of a personal name, the mother's maiden surname (becoming the middle initial) and the father's surname; people have two or even more personal names so this all makes for [[OverlyLongName Overly Long Names]] ("Anton Maria Guererro V. [Villanueva] San Luis"). Naming children with both AerithAndBob and XtremeKoolLetterz tropes involved is now not unheard of, both done by the rich and poor alike. People may have personal names like [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Boy, Baby or Girly]]. Or they may have names with [[SpellMyNameWithAnS the letter H inserted]] for [[RuleofCool Rule of Cool]] ("Bhobby"). [[DoNotCallMePaul Nicknames]] may be composed of repeating syllables; these may be derived from personal names ("Tonton" for Anton), or have no discernible relation ("Bongbong" for Ferdinand). [[AwesomeMcCoolname Bonus points]] if you are named Bhoy Elias Santos-Peralta Kabigting, or Bhoy-Bhoy to your friends.

** And DeadOrAlive's canon foreigner from Halo, Nicole-458, was allegedly a Filipina, because she was born at New Legaspi and likes the Filipino dessert called Halo-Halo, according to canon.

[[GenerationXerox Political dynasties are commonplace]] in all levels of government (the last two Presidents alone are children of previous Presidents). Many view the government as corrupt. However, remember that not all Filipino government officials are {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s or corrupt. It's just many of them are too AxCrazy or plain SmugSnake to hold office. Many however, blame the Martial Law period under [[PresidentEvil Ferdinand Marcos]].

* Emilio Aguinaldo, another LaResistance leader and later the first Philippine President.

Many view the government as corrupt. However, remember that not all Filipino government officials are {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s or corrupt. It's just many of them are too AxCrazy or plain SmugSnake to hold office. Many however, blame the Martial Law period under [[PresidentEvil Ferdinand Marcos]].

* Joseph Ejercito "Erap" Estrada, the previous President and former film actor. Popular with the ''masa'' (masses - lower classes), [[YourMileageMayVary but tell that to the rest.]] Attempted to claim back his presidency at the 2010 elections, but lost to Aquino.

* Ramon Revilla, star of many movies, including ''The Killing of Satan''. Followed his close friend Joseph Estrada in entering the politics at the height of his popularity. He was elected as senator.

Filipinos nowadays can have odd names. Due to the country's long colonial history, most Filipinos have Spanish surnames[[hottip:*:with "De La Cruz" being one of the most common surnames; the local counterpart to "Uncle Sam" is the everyman "Juan De La Cruz", whose name is as generic as it gets]]. Often this goes with Spanish first names as well, and during Spanish rule, Catholic baptism made this mandatory. Chinese Filipinos have surnames of Chinese origin - often the patriarch, once baptized, combined his original name to form a surname ("Cojuangco"). American rule introduced English names. Of course, names with indigenous roots like Nakpil and Bagongahasa still exist. Today, Filipino names are often composed of a personal name, the mother's maiden surname (becoming the middle initial) and the father's surname; people have two or even more personal names so this all makes for [[OverlyLongName Overly Long Names]] ("Anton Maria Guererro V. [ Villanueva] San Luis"). Naming children with both AerithAndBob and XtremeKoolLetterz tropes involved is now not unheard of, both done by the rich and poor alike. People may have personal names like [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Boy, Baby or Girly]]. Or they may have names with [[SpellMyNameWithAnS the letter H inserted]] for [[RuleofCool Rule of Cool]] ("Bhobby"). [[DoNotCallMePaul Nicknames]] may be composed of repeating syllables; these may be derived from personal names ("Tonton" for Anton), or have no discernible relation ("Bongbong" for Ferdinand). [[AwesomeMcCoolname Bonus points]] if you are named Bhoy Elias Santos-Peralta Kabigting, or Bhoy-Bhoy to your friends.

The Filipinos are a nation that is divided along regional lines with the Tagalogs, Illocano, Bicolano, and others making up the population. There is a large population of [[HalfBreed Tsinoy (Chinese Filipinos) and Eurasian]] [[JustifiedTrope due to their colonial past]]. The Philippines has the most people with mixed backgrounds in Asia.

English is widely spoken there and is one of the largest English speaking countries. South Koreans and mainland Chinese often go there to learn English. Major factors for going there are it's cheaper than going to Australia and they tend to face less racism (in fact, they might be treated with a sort of affirmative-action-ish racist deference. This is because two of the business tycoons of the Philippines, Henry Sy and Lucio Tan, are Chinese, and [[AsianAndNerdy along with the stereotype of being good with math and school]], Chinese are usually thought of as rich and Koreans are thought to make very good Boy/Girlfriends).

The Philippines is one of the few former Spanish colonies where Spanish isn't the main language, although various dialects borrow many Spanish words such as ''basura'' and the ever popular ''[=JesusMariaJosef!=]'' usually pronounced as ''Susmariosef''. So it's no surprise that colloquial Filipino contains a sprinkling of English, Spanish and native words (sometimes in just ''one sentence''). For that fact, it has been said that once you master the Filipino Language, learning any other language will be easy, since Filipino itself is already a mix of many other languages. Filipino also has the 'syllable-by-syllable' pronunciation of Japanese, the spelling of Spanish, and the sentence structure of English[[hottip:* :More specifically, the formal subject-verb agreement of the Filipino Language is the opposite of English, but the language allows for sentences to have a structure more similar to English. These kinds of sentences are common in spoken, informal Filipino.]]. Also, it is one of the many languages wherein you can construct an ''entire conversation'' by just using ''one syllable''. ("Bababa ba?" ''"Is (the elevator) going down?"'' "Bababa." "(The elevator) is going down.")

Filipinos nowadays can have odd names. Many Filipinos have Spanish surnames[[hottip:*:with De La Cruz being one of the most common surnames]] and several of them have Spanish first names, although in the present day, naming your child with both AerithAndBob and XtremeKoolLetterz tropes involved seems to be the new RuleOfCool, both by the rich and poor alike. Sometimes this is done because they feel using a Spanish name is old fashioned. Filipino names tend to [[OverlyLongName have more than three words]] ("Anton Maria Guererro Santa Luis"), or [[SpellMyNameWithAnS have the letter H inserted]] ("Bhobby"), or has a first name of [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Boy, Baby or Girly]]. You can also have a [[DoNotCallMePaul nickname]] that repeats a syllable in your name, like Bing-Bing. [[AwesomeMcCoolname Bonus points]] if you are named Bhoy Elias Santos-Peralta Kabigting, or Bhoy-Bhoy to your friends.

Many of films made in the Philippines are grindhouse films and have a cult following in various countries such as Finland, Germany, and Japan. The Philippines has an ''interesting'' way of making horror movies. One such example is ''TheKillingOfSatan'' wherein the lead character [[spoiler: ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin actually kills Satan]]'']]. Another one is ''Bruka, Queen of Evil''. The other popular local film genres are (Michael Bay-esque) action flicks and love stories.

* Andres Bonifacio, Leader of the biggest Philippine LaResistance movement the KKK (not the other one). An able organizer but a poor military commander. He refused to step aside and let Aguinaldo take over. This sparked an internal power struggle which led to Bonifacio's execution.

* Lapu Lapu, considered the first Philippine hero. He encouraged other Filipino tribes to resist colonization and he ended up killing Ferdinand Magellan. His fate afterwards remains a mystery.
* Diego Silang, leader of the Ilocano rebellion of the 1760s. In addition to successfully fending off the Spanish, he collaborated with the British, who had taken Manila at the time (they tend to be left out in popular history), in the hopes of gaining independence. He was killed by one of his own, but his wife Gabriela continued the fight till the rebellion was finally crushed.
* Ramon Magsaysay, the greatest Fiilipino president. [[TooCoolToLive He died in a plane crash.]]

* Benigno Aquino III, the son of Ninoy and Corazon Aquino, the new President. Despite his reluctance to run so, his mother's death convinced many that he's a man more fit for the job than the current one. [[GenerationXerox He is the second President to be the son of a President]], and the only one who is unmarried, though he does have a girlfriend.

* Joseph Ejercito "Erap" Estrada, the previous President and former film actor. Popular with the ''masa'' (lower classes), [[YourMileageMayVary but tell that to the rest.]] Attempted to claim back his presidency at the 2010 elections, but lost to Aquino.

* Gilbert Teodoro, protege of President Gloria Arroyo and her bet in the 2010 elections. These days though, he does act independently. Some of his own party members however, deserted him for being a weakling.

A somewhat larger minority are the various Protestant groups in the country. Some, like the Aglipayans (think Church of England, only Asian) and the Iglesia ni Kristo (uh, I'll say nothing to avoid a flamewar, except they're more influential than their numbers suggest), are homegrown denominations, while others are the result of American missionaries from the usual complement of denominations (Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist and so on). Are often mocked by Catholics as being too close to the Americans, due to history. Aside from these are the Rizalistas (people who worship Jose Rizal as the son of God) and the myriad of hybrid animist-Catholic practices.

The Filipinos are a nation that is divided along regional lines with the Tagalogs, Illocano, Bicolano, and others making up the population. There is a large population of [[HalfBreed Tsinoy (Chinese Filipinos) and Eurasian]] [[JustifiedTrope due to their colonial past]]. The Phillippines has the most people with mixed backgrounds in Asia.

The Philippines has a comic book scene which is largely influenced by American comic books. During the 70's, the Philippines had one of the best-organized comic book industries in the world. So much so that there was a distinct 'Filipino comic book art style' that can be recognized by older comic fans. However, by 1985, about a third of upcoming artists were being imported by both Marvel and DC to the US that began gradual die out for the comic book industry. By mid 1990's, comic books were replaced by cheap paperback novels as literature for the masses.

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<<|UsefulNotes/{{Asia}}|>>

* {{MAG ISA}} -- This comic has a [[http://www.drunkduck.com/MAG_ISA/index.php?p=342891 Filipino main character as well as other characters who are Filipino]]. In one chapter, there is a scene that talks about the [[http://www.drunkduck.com/MAG_ISA/index.php?p=450807 communist and islamic insurgency in the Philippines]]. And don't forget that the name of this comic is Tagalog for "to be alone".

Filipinos nowadays can have odd names. Many Filipinos have Spanish surnames[[hottip:*:with De La Cruz being one of the most common surnames]] and several of them have Spanish first names, although in the present day, naming your child with both AerithAndBob and XtremeKoolLetterz tropes involved seems to be the new RuleOfCool, both by the rich and poor alike. Sometimes this is done because they feel using a Spanish name is old fashioned. Filipino names tend to [[OverlyLongName have more than three words]] ("Anton Maria Guererro Santa Luis"), or [[SpellMyNameWithAnS have the letter H inserted]] ("Bhobby"), or has a first name of [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Boy or Girly]]. You can also have a [[DoNotCallMePaul nickname]] that repeats a syllable in your name, like Bing-Bing. [[AwesomeMcCoolname Bonus points]] if you are named Bhoy Elias Santos-Peralta Kabigting, or Bhoy-Bhoy to your friends.

The country had a female President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was replaced by Benigno S. 'Noynoy' Aquino III following the last presidential election. Noynoy, P-Noy, or "that damned diddybopper", has a reputation similar to BarackObama, only [[RecycledInSpace Catholic]]. The Philippines is still a developing country, plagued by political instability and Islamic insurgency in the south (along with arguably the most pointless Communist rebellion in the world), but people are rather optimistic according to international surveys, though this is subjective (both Time and Readers' Digest have published articles trying to rationalize why Filipinos are relatively happy in comparison to more successful and industrialized countries).

Filipinos nowadays can have odd names. Many Filipinos have Spanish surnames[[hottip:*:with De La Cruz being one of the most common surnames]] and several of them have Spanish first names, although in the present day, naming your child with both AerithAndBob and XtremeKoolLetterz tropes involved seems to be the new RuleOfCool, both by the rich and poor alike. Sometimes this is done because they feel using a Spanish name old fashioned. Filipino names tend to [[OverlyLongName have more than three words]] ("Anton Maria Guererro Santa Luis"), or [[SpellMyNameWithAnS have the letter H inserted]] ("Bhobby"), or has a first name of [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Boy or Girly]]. You can also have a [[DoNotCallMePaul nickname]] that repeats a syllable in your name, like Bing-Bing. [[AwesomeMcCoolname Bonus points]] if you are named Bhoy Elias Santos-Peralta Kabigting, or Bhoy-Bhoy to your friends.

Filipinos nowadays can have odd names. Many Filipinos have Spanish surnames and several of them have Spanish first names, although in the present day, naming your child with both AerithAndBob and XtremeKoolLetterz tropes involved seems to be the new RuleOfCool, both by the rich and poor alike. Filipino names tend to [[OverlyLongName have more than three words]] ("Anton Maria Guererro Santa Luis"), or [[SpellMyNameWithAnS have the letter H inserted]] ("Bhobby"), or has a first name of [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Boy or Girly]]. You can also have a [[DoNotCallMePaul nickname]] that repeats a syllable in your name, like Bing-Bing. [[AwesomeMcCoolname Bonus points]] if you are named Bhoy Elias Santos-Peralta Kabigting, or Bhoy-Bhoy to your friends.

!! Immigration

A useful rule of thumb is that Filipinos prefer sports starting with the letter B: Boxing, Bowling, Billiards [[hottip:* :specifically, pool]], and of course, Basketball. It's gotten to the point where Basketball games always take the top of the page. Another popular sport is Cockfighting.

* Sandara Park, a Filipino-Korean singer and member of the KPop group [=2NE1=]. When she started her career though in the Philippines, she became TheScrappy to some media and critics. But when she went back to Korea, she seems to have been RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap.

* If you slow down some of the alien languages in StarWars, some bits are actually Filipino

'' Immigration

A somewhat larger minority are the various Protestant groups in the country. Some, like the Aglipayans (think Church of England, only Asian) and the Iglesia ni Kristo (uh, I'll say nothing to avoid a flamewar, except they're more influential than their numbers suggest), are homegrown denominations, while others are the result of American missionaries from the usual complement of denominations (Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist and so on). Are often mocked by Catholics as being too close to the Americans, due to history.

The Philippines is home to some international food companies like Jollibee. Jollibee is a fast food chain that has managed to dominate the fast food market in the Philippines, possibly making it the only country where franchises like [=McDonald's=] do not end up as the top fast food franchise. It has Jollibee restaurants in other countries, mainly in cities with large Filipino populations. For Westerners, it is also home to some of the most "disgusting" delicacies known to Man (e.g. Balut), a reputation that baffles Filipinos. [[hottip:* :At least the ''native'' Filipinos, who were born and raised in the Philippines. A lot of second-generation Filipinos are just as squicked about it as non-Filipinos.]]

* [[{{Batista}} David Baustista]], a [[ButNotTooForeign Filipino-Greek]] [[ProfessionalWrestling professional wrestler]] who formerly workied for the {{WWE}}. He is a six-time world champion, a three-time tag-team champion, and the 2005 Royal Rumble winner.

Many Filipinos have Spanish surnames and several of them have Spanish first names, although in the present day, naming your child with both AerithAndBob and XtremeKoolLetterz tropes involved seems to be the new RuleOfCool, both by the rich and poor alike.

The country has a female President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is to be replaced by Benigno S. 'Noynoy' Aquino III. The Philippines is still a developing country, plagued by political instability and Islamic insurgency in the south (along with arguably the most pointless Communist rebellion in the world), but people are rather optimistic according to international surveys, though this is subjective (both Time and Readers' Digest have published articles trying to rationalize why Filipinos are relatively happy in comparison to more successful and industrialized countries).

The Philippines is one of the few former Spanish colonies where Spanish isn't the main language, although various dialects borrow many Spanish words such as ''basura'' and the ever popular ''[=JesusMariaJosef!=]'' usually pronounced as ''Susmariosef''. So it's no surprise that colloquial Filipino contains a sprinkling of English, Spanish and native words (sometimes in just ''one sentence''). For that fact, it has been said that once you master the Filipino Language, learning any other language will be easy, since Filipino itself is already a mix of many other languages. Filipino also has the 'syllable-by-syllable' pronunciation of Japanese, the spelling of Spanish, and the sentence structure of English. Also, it is one of the many languages wherein you can contruct an ''entire conversation'' by just using ''one syllable''. ("Bababa ba?" ''"Is (the elevator) going down?"'' "Bababa." "(The elevator) is going down.")