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Geography
The republic of the Philippines is an archipelago
of over 7,000 islands, lying between the
South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean; of
these only about 880 are inhabited. The total
land area is 300,000 sq. km. 47% classified
as forest, and 40% under cultivation - the
ratio is, however, changing fast with potentially
damaging environmental implications.
Demography
Between the censuses of 1980 and 1992, the
population rose from 48.1 million to 64.3
million, an average annual growth rate of
2.3% compared with 3.0% in the 1960s and
2.7% in the 1970s. Population density is
high in metropolitan Manila (population 7.8
million in 1990) and in the surrounding areas
of central Luzon, whereas Mindanao, Negros
and other southern islands are sparsely populated.
There has been a decrease in the number of
people living in rural areas, from 70% in
1960 to 61% in 1991, with the urban population
growing by 4% per annum on average during
the period.
In 1991 39% of the population was under 15
years of age. The literacy rate is estimated
at 83% of the adult population. In 1989,
100% of children of the relevant age were
enrolled in primary and 73% in secondary
schools. There is a relatively high level
of tertiary education: 28% of the relevant
group were enrolled in 1989. By mid-1990
the labour force was 23.3 million, of whom
45% were engaged in agriculture, forestry
and fishing, 10% in manufacturing, 4% in
construction and 39% in commerce and government,
community, social and private services. among
those "employed" there is significant
under-employment. The problem has been to
some extent offset by the large number of
Filipinos working overseas, in the Middle
East and elsewhere in South East Asia.
Income distribution is highly uneven. An
independent study showed that in 1983 5%
of the population received 88% of all income
and 65% only 5.5%; around 5 million families
were estimated to be seriously undernourished
or starving.
In recent decades considerable progress has
been made in developing Tagalog, the language
of central Luzon, as a national language,
although English is widely used among the
largely mestizo elite elements.
History and Political Situation
After over 300 years as a colony of Spain,
the Philippines was ceded to the USA in 1898
following a revolt against Spanish rule in
1896-97. The fight for independence continued
in 1899-1902 in the Filipino-American war,
ending with the imposition of US rule. The
Philippine economy progressed, backed by
US investment which followed from colonial,
and, post 1935, semi-colonial rule. After
three years of Japanese occupation during
the Second World War (1941-45) the independent
Republic of the Philippines was inaugurated
in 1946 but political links with the US remained
strong.
The constitution of the new republic was
modelled on that of the USA, with a bicameral
legislature and presidential terms of four
years, renewable once. In 1972 this system
was over-turned as President Ferdinand Marcos
neared the end of his second term when he
imposed martial law for fear of "subversive
forces". For the next 13 years the Philippines
was ruled by Marcos - one man rule based
on "popular" support expressed
through elections and referenda. Amendments
to the constitution were approved in 1981,
replacing the parliamentary form with a partial
parliamentary and presidential system. In
June 1981, under this system, Marcos was
re-elected to a six year term.
While Marcos was initially popular, disenchantment
grew with his "cronyism", and corrupt
election practices, finally boiling over
when Benigno Aquino, the most credible alternative
to President Marcos, was assassinated on
his return to Manila from exile. The urban
middle class and the business community demonstrated
united opposition to Marcos as the economic
situation deteriorated.
After an enquiry into Aquino's assassination
had found the military responsible, the opposition
movement gained strength. Aquino's widow,
Corazon, took the leadership of the opposition
movement and announced her candidacy for
presidency. The subsequent elections were
marked by fraud and violence: Marcos declared
himself the victor, but was forced to flee
the country following massive hostile demonstrations.
Corazon Aquino restored civil liberties with
the drafting of a new constitution, based
on the system abolished by Marcos in 1972.
The legislature is bicameral, with a senate
of 24 members voted on a nation-wide basis
and a 250 member voted on a presidential
term is a single year. In congressional elections
held in May 1987, Aquino was victorious.
By the end of the president's term, in June
1992, her personal popularity had waned,
amid a general atmosphere of disenchantment,
as the reform hopes of the early days came
to nothing. The much vaunted land reform
was bogged down in bureaucratic delay and
landlord opposition, widespread corruption
continued, although the president herself
was untouched, and the government perceived
as ineffectual.
The election of May 1992, brought to power
Fidel Ramos (supported by Aquino) with only
around 25% of vote. Ramos undertook to give
priority to the restortion of order by persuading
mutinous soldiers and radical insurgents
to abondon their armed struggle and to improvement
of the economy with an emphasis on deregulation
and encouraging foreign investment. By November
1992, US military personal had left bringing
to an end a US military presence dating from
1898.
Economy
The Philippines has a mixed economy, where
the traditional emphasis on agriculture has
shiftied steadily to manufacturing and services.
While the government is committed to a free
market, there has been significant direct
state involvement in both central planning
and ownership of numerous corporations involved
in sectors perceived to be strategic, such
as banking, power generation, oil production
and transportation. A major retreat from
this policy was signalled by a programme
of privatisation initiated in 1986, with
the twin aims of aiding government finances,
and returning businesses to the private sector,
together with stimulating growth of the equity
market.
The path of the economy since the Second
World War falls into distinct phases. Up
to the 1970s the economy expanded at a rate
of 5% to 6% per annum. The onset of world
recession in the early 1980s, aggravated
by political crisis following the assassination
of Benigno Aquino, caused economic growth
first to slow, then actively contract. In
1984 and 1985, the negative growth rate was
7.1% and 4.1% respectively, while the cumulative
inflation rate over those two years exceeded
85%. In these years the political turmoil
surrounding the Marcos administration triggered
massive capital flight and a foreign exchange
crisis. By March 1986, it was officially
estimated that two thirds of Filipinos were
living below the poverty line and 15% of
the labour force were unemployed.
The strategy of the Aquino's government was
to enhance agricultural productivity as the
basis for self-sustaining economic growth.
The dismantling of the "colony"-
run sugar and coconut monopolies was only
one element of a general decontrol of agricultural
pricing that was to be the key to rising
production. Further stimulation was expected
from liberalisation of trade, imports in
particular, from looser monetary policy and
continuing fiscal deficits. Problems remained
however in implementing policies and expenditure
programmes, partly due to bureaucratic inertia
or inefficiency, and partly because of the
new priority given to local and private sector
initiative. The growth targets of the plan
were not achieved since poor infrastructure,
notably electricity generation, held back
economic growth. By 1985 some signs of power
shortage had appeared and interruptions to
the electricity supply became a recurring
feature. Although the government plans to
build new and reconstruct older power generation
plants, it is unrealistic to expect an adequate
electricity supply in the short-term. GDP
per capita is still below the 1983 level,
in sharp contrast in figure with significant
growth in other South East Asian countries.
However, the Philippines has abundant natural
resources, which include a skilled low-cost
workforce. The Philippines' neighbours who
were cautious about investing in the country
because of political instability and poor
economic growth are now seeking the chance
to invest in the Philippines especially in
Export Processing Zones EPZ) The former Subic
Naval Base is the most important EPZ, and
Taiwanese companies are investing here although
rapid infrastructure development is required
for economic growth.
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