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Background: The Philippine Islands became a Spanish colony during the 16th century; they were ceded to the US in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. In 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing commonwealth. Manuel QUEZON was elected President and was tasked with preparing the country for independence after a 10-year transition. In 1942 the islands fell under Japanese occupation during WWII, and US forces and Filipinos fought together during 1944-45 to regain control. On 4 July 1946 the Philippines attained their independence. The 21-year rule of Ferdinand MARCOS ended in 1986, when a widespread popular rebellion forced him into exile and installed Corazon AQUINO as president. Her presidency was hampered by several coup attempts, which prevented a return to full political stability and economic development. Fidel RAMOS was elected president in 1992 and his administration was marked by greater stability and progress on economic reforms. In 1992, the US closed its last military bases on the islands. Joseph ESTRADA was elected president in 1998, but was succeeded by his vice-president, Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, in January 2001 after ESTRADA's stormy impeachment trial on corruption charges broke down and widespread demonstrations led to his ouster. MACAPAGAL-ARROYO was elected to a six-year term in May 2004. The Philippine Government faces threats from armed communist insurgencies and from Muslim separatists in the south.




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By Em and Grae
May 27th 2008
Manila Asia » Philippines » Manila
Crazy Phillippine Road
Crazy Phillippine Road
This was a couple minutes walk from our Hostel. We tried to find a restaurant but all we found was this bridge and people selling fish on it !
The Phillippines are a bizzare mix of English, American and Japanese influences. Initially we had worried a little that we wouldn't be understood in Manila as the language would be completley different, but how wrong we were, it took us about 12 hours to realise that nearly everone speaks English and not only that but all signs, newspapers, radio, cinema, shops pretty much everything is in English. So it really wasn't much of a culture shock as they have embraced American culture wholeheartedly, and we felt pretty comfortable straight away. That is at least with the language, the city itsel [View Full Entry]

Em and Grae - Emma Riley | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1068 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 9 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: May 28th 2008 | 339 Views | [diary=280682]

Horse & Cart Tour
War Memorial Plaque in Manila
Residential Phillippine Road

By stickbugg
May 25th 2008
Metro Manila Asia » Philippines » Manila
Metro Manila! I've noticed that using the word metro makes any place sound like a cool place to be. Metropolis sounds like a bunch of boring cities, but metro brings to find hip-ly high-styled youth with well-fit clothing and whimsically-original shoes, riding atop a high speed train that darts to and fro within the millions of ultra-cool stores. Whatever the case, Manila was a good experience for entirely different reasons. It was probably 2AM when I took the taxi to Friendly's guest house, one of the few backpacker-friendly places in the metro. I slept there in Malate for literally on [View Full Entry]

stickbugg - The Sun and the Moon: My Father's Eyes | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1200 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: May 25th 2008 | 438 Views | [diary=279885]


Mabuhay!! Welcome to the Philippines!! I finally made it over here....after 32 hours of traveling, we finally arrived in Manila sometime early in the morning. It's really strange: they are 12 hours ahead over here, so it completely throws you off your sleeping schedule!! The flights were ok...I completely forgot to order a vegetarian meal, so simply had to pick around the meat and beg for fruit and bread from the neighbors haha Umm....quick side message right now - I'm in an internet cafe right next to the hotel and someone is playing Chris Brown's "Without You" (or at least I [View Full Entry]

NomadNik - Nikki Brust | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
220 Words | 5 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: May 22nd 2008 | 287 Views | [diary=278878]


We have arrive - yet with a few humps and bumps... When we arrived at the airport in Saigon-Vietnam at 12pm ready to start our Philippino experience we encountered our first set-back... Our one-way ticket to Manila was not accepted and they made us decide on a return flight right there & then.. How are we supposed to know where we want to go in 3 weeks time? They also found it most normal to just swipe the credit card and pay - whats the problem?? You dont need to pay it right? So a flight to Jakarta-Indonesia it was... Rush-rush [View Full Entry]

Bizzy Lizzy - Liz Verheyden | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
680 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 6 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: April 28th 2008 | 490 Views | [diary=270702]

The rice terraces
Rice terraces II
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We had decided to spend an extra day in Manila just because we loved our hostel so much, could use the extra time to plan our multi-leg trek to Boracay and still had yet to see the sights of Manila since we lived in a gated outskirt. So we woke up early on Wednesday with ambitious plans of seeing the city centre. In particular there was a park with monuments and all that. Since we had had enough of scamming taxi drivers, (one guy demanded a 50 peso tip!), we decided to take jeepneys downtown. It was 11am and rush hour [View Full Entry]

Phoenix in Flight - Fraser Ash | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
824 Words | 4 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: April 18th 2008 | 278 Views | [diary=267655]


By Matt Y
April 15th 2008
Goodbye Philippines! Asia » Philippines » Manila
Crazy chainsaw man
Crazy chainsaw man
Checkout the safety gear!
It’s a sad but happy moment. Leaving the Philippines and VSO and going on to the next adventure. In Lanuza I have been busily packing all my things ready for shipping to the UK so that I can travel light - after all a 8foot surfboard would have been right out of place as I travel through Urumqi in western China its the city that is farthest from any ocean! To make the packing boxes and crates I got a tree cut up which was good fun. The chainsaw operator was crazy, bare feet, no protective gear and a 70cc saw! [View Full Entry]

Matt Y - Young and Wild | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
392 Words | 4 Comment(s) | 6 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: April 15th 2008 | 308 Views | [diary=266648]

Plaque of appreciation
Martyred pig
Boxes for shipping

Christy and I eat the free breakfast at the condotel's restaurant, choosing the Filipino option, which means garlic rice and longaniza instead of toast and ham. Every chance I get, I will eat this in the Philippines, because preparing garlic rice and longaniza isn't an option everyday in NY. Also, there's something special about the garlic in the Philippines. We walk the short distance to the US embassy and crossing Roxas Boulevard makes Christy slightly nervous. When we approach the first guard at the embassy, we pull out our passports. Beside this initial line are vendors hawking pencils [View Full Entry]

El Don - Lu | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
790 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: April 15th 2008 | 426 Views | [diary=266779]


By CLKA
April 14th 2008
Makati City Asia » Philippines » Manila
Makati City
Makati City
Khu cao oc tai thanh pho Makati
Hinh anh tuong phan tai thanh pho Makati, Manila. Canh khu cao oc van phong sam uat la nhung khu nha o chuot doc theo xa lo. Cach sinh hoat va buon ban nho giong nhu o Vietnam. [View Full Entry]

CLKA - Phạm Hữu Chương | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
38 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 22 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: April 14th 2008 | 322 Views | [diary=266378]

Makati City
Makati City
Makati City

I wake up and can barely contain my excitement. The room we are staying in at the Boulevard Mansion Hotel is your standard Filipino condo/apartment. This was a suprise and bonus, because I love all things Filipino. The smaller chairs and beds, the design of the bathroom to allow water to hit the floor are all reminders of where I am. The elevator and hallway leading to the room has the distinct Filipino aroma. Since windows are open at each end of the hallway, I detect the slight smell of smoke mixed with other street scents that quickly remind me of [View Full Entry]

El Don - Lu | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
853 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: April 11th 2008 | 122 Views | [diary=265438]


So after a four hour flight we arrived into Manila and immediately the contrast between here and Kuala Lumpur, the capital we had just departed, was obvious. Manila is a huge place that actually comprises a number of smaller cities that have grown into one enormous city and the airport we flew into is several hours outside of Manila proper. The journey into the city gave us a chance to see what would be in store for us and the first thing i noticed was the prevelence of fast food chains and franchises. Despite the Philippines former Spanish colonisers, the Philippines [View Full Entry]

Twig - Lisa S. | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
467 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: April 30th 2008 | 301 Views | [diary=271471]