It's coming to a year since I relocated to The Philippines, so it is time to write about my host country. In the next posts, I will write more about Visayas, in particular Central Visayas and Cebu, which is where I'am based and this is the place I know best. The map shown below shows the geographical distribution of the various islands that form The Philippines. Well, there are roughly 7,107 islands and you cannot see it all in the map. The various islands are classified into 3 main administrative regions - Luzon (including Manila), Visayas (including Palawan) and Mindanao (including Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao). The Philippines has China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia & Indonesia as neighboring countries, but it is mainly surrounded by the sea. 
© Owl & Mouse 2007
History says, or rather Insight Guides - Philippines (Page 21, History) says the islands that form Philippines was born of fire and water. More precicely, the archipelago was born out of earthshaking movements in a process called subduction giving rise to colossal volcanic eruptions numbered over 200 across the archipelago. However, the most popular myth on the formation of the country has nothing to do with geography. It goes that there was a violent battle between the sea and sky, which was started by a cunning bird in the hope of opening up dry land. The sea hurled huge walls of water at the sky and the sky retaliated by throwing down island and rocks and apparantly the sea admitted defeat and the archipelago was born. Well, nice story, but the essence of this is that Philippines is blessed with natural beauty - the sea, the islands and the flora and fauna. View this introductory video from the guys at WOW Philippines.
Source : bestdestination
© 2009 Travelindex
The Philippines was previously a colony of Spain and United States of America. Three centuries of Spanish rule and half a century of American rule, you won't be surprised to find the Filipino's more western than any other Asian race. Their culture is preserved, with strong Spanish influence alongside Chinese, Indian and Arabic elements, possibly these guys passed through the archipelago while discovering the South East Asian regions.
The country went through several stages of nation building, a delight and fascination to any history buff. The nationalist movement dates back to 1872, initiated by clergymen and students. paniards went to war with Americans over Cuba and eventually, Amercians drove the Spanish out of Philippines and ruled for 48 years. Then came World War 2 and the Japanese landed in the archipelago and stayed on for 3 years before defeated by returning Americans in 1994 and eventually gave independence to the country in 1946. Since then, the history of the country is colorful and very interesting to anyone. Politics, military influence, dictatorship, coups, political assasinations and finally a people's revolution, before the country could start fresh again. But the wounds of dictatorship and dirty politics took a long time to heal and the country still have a long way to go in uplifting its economy and the lives of its citizens. Unemployment rate is a serious issue and this lead to many Filipino's migrating overseas seeking employment.
One thing that always amazed me is the importance the Filipino's give to family, religion and education. Families are closely knit, friends are treated like family. Almost every other person is an University graduate, and everyone speaks English. This has now proven to be a big advantage, with call centres and BPO's sprouting all across the country and many youngsters having a well paid job and living happy lives instead of going abroad seeking a livelihood. Tourism also plays a big role in improving the lives of many who live in the provincial regions. Sadly, the country has yet to take advantage of the natural beauty God has showered on the archipelago. Tourism infrastructure is still at an infancy stage and largely catered to domestic tourism rather than the international tourist. I think I will write about this in another post.
More to follow in the coming posts! I will be focusing more on the touristic angle, to tell you more about the things that will attract you to come and visit Philippines. If you have been to Phuket or Bali and think they are the best place to spend your vacation in South East Asia, you have not visited Philippines yet.
