Philippines Highligths of History

22, 000 B.C. Man inhabits the Tabon caves for about 40,000 years.

960 A.D. Chinese goods begin to flow into the Philippines.

1100 A.D. Chinese colonies are founded along coastal towns.

1150 A.D. Ancient Filipinos build rice terraces.

1200 Islam is introduced in Mindanao, southern Philippines.

1521 Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines and claims the archipelago for the King of Spain.

1571 Miguel Lopez de Legazpi takes possession of Manila and makes it the capital of the Philippines.

1600-1617 The Dutch attempt to take the Philippines and are repulsed by the Spanish navy.

1762-1764 The British occupy Manila.

1834 Manila is opened world trade; economic development is underway.

1861 Birth of Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines.

1887 Rizals novel, Noli Me Tangere which exposes Spain's abuses in the Philippines, is published.

1892 Andres Bonifacio founds the Katipunan, a secret society aiming for the separation of the Philippines from Spain.

1896 August The Cry of Pugadlawin. Andres Bonifacio gathers his leaders at a meeting in Balintawak, after which they proceed to Pugadlawin where they agree to fight the war until the end.

December 30 Dr. Jose P. Rizal is executed at Bagumbayan, now called Luneta.

1897 A truce ends Filipino- Spanish hostilities.

1898 April The American Congress declares a state of war between the United States and Spain.

May Commodore George Dewey attacks and destroys the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay.

Jun 12 Filipinos declare Philippine independence; a constitutional government is established with Emilio Aguinalcio as the first President.

July Emilio Aguinaldo establishes a republican government thru the Pact of Biak na Bato.

August Spanish authorities surrender Manila to the Americans.

December The treaty of Paris ending the war between Spanish and the United States is signed. Spain cedes the Philippines to the United States, thus ending close to 400 years of Spanish influence.

1899 The Philippine-American war breaks out.

1901 General Emilio Aguinaldo Philippine Revolutionary leader, is captured.

1902 Filipino armedresistance against the Americans ends.

1935 Manuel L. Quezon is inaugurated President of the Commonwealth Government on Nov. 15

1941 Japanese bombers attack the Philippines.

1942 April The Fall of Bataan. Defenders of Bataan surrender voluntarily and unconditionally. During the Death March, 70,000 prisoners walk approximately 120 km. to Capas, Tarlac.

1943 Jose P. Laurel is proclaimed President of a Japanese-sponsored Philippine Republic.

1944 October Leyte landing of General Douglas MacArthur. Sergio Osmeña, Sr. becomes President upon Quezon's death on Aug.1, 1944.

1945 Liberation of the Philippines from Japan.

1946 Manuel A. Roxas is inaugurated President of the Republic of the Philippines on July 4 after 48 years of American colonial rule. Vice President Elpidio R. Quirino, assumes the Presidency upon Roxas" death on April 15, 1948.

1949 Quirlno is elected President. Ho continues rebuilding the country devastated by war, guiding its development to become a economically strong nation.

1953 Ramon F. Magsaysay is elected President; he is acclaimed as a man of the masses. His death in a plane crash on March 17, 1957 is widely mourned by the country.

1957 becomes President in 1957 upon Magsaysay's death. He is elected President in November 1957. Garcia formulates and implements the Filipino First policy.

1961 Macapagal, elected President in 1961, implements a Land Reform Program to free tenants from age old bondage to the soil. He changes the date of the Philippine Independence from July 4 to June 12, correcting a historical error, doing justice to the heroes of the 1896 revolution.

1965 Senator Ferdinand E. Marcos is elected President of the Philippines.

1969 Marcos is reelected for another four year term.

1972 Marcos declares martial law.

1983 Benigno S. Aquino, opposition leader, is gunned down upon arrival in Manila.

Febuary 7,1986 A snap presidential election is held with Marcos and Corazon Cojuangco Aquino in contention. Marcos is proclaimed winner by the National Assembly despite widespread protest.

Febuary 25 Marcos is deposed by a massive show of People Power. Corazon C. Aquino takes her oath of office as President of the Republic. Marcos leaves the country. Aquino restores democratic institutions in the country.

1992 June 30 Fidel V. Ramos takes his oath of office as President of the Republic of the Philippines. His Presidency marks the turn of the country to Asian tiger cub economy under a regime of law and democracy.

1998 June12 The Philippines celebrates the Centennial of Independence.

June 30 Joseph Ejercito Estrada is sworn into office as President of the Republic of the Philippines in Barasoain Church, Malolos, Bulacan. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo takes her oath as Vice President.

January 20, 2001 Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo takes her oath of office President of the Philippines in Edsa Shrine after People Power II ousts impeached President Estrada.