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Philippines: United States
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Before World War II (1939-1945) the economy of the Philippines was based on the production and export of a narrow range of primary commodities, mainly agricultural and forest products. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in the early 20th century that Philippine goods could enter the American market without tariff restraints. In the trade that followed, the United States imported Philippine agricultural goods and provided the Philippines with most manufactured items. The Philippines had virtually no manufacturing other than the processing of food products, primarily for the United States market.
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The Philippines is governed under the constitution of 1987. The president, who is both head of state and head of the government, is elected by popular vote for a single six-year term. There is a bicameral legislature, the Congress. Members of the 24-seat Senate are popularly elected for six-year terms. The House of Representatives consists of not more than 250 members, who are popularly elected for three-year terms. There is an independent judiciary headed by a supreme court.
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The Philippines became a Spanish colony in the 16th century, and then a U.S. territory and commonwealth after the Spanish-American War. The Philippine Revolution was an attempt to gain independence from Spain, and later from the U.S. in the Philippine-American War. The Philippines ultimately gained its independence from the United States on July 4, 1946 after the Pacific War under the terms of the Tydings-McDuffie Act. The Philippines then became a fledging democracy until the authoritarian rule of Ferdinand Marcos led to his overthrow in the People Power Revolution of 1986. Political upheavals alternated with peaceful transition of power on the period that followed.
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The Philippines is not only the largest Christian country in Asia, it is the world's fifth largest Catholic Nation. The Catholic faith remains the single biggest legacy of three hundred years of Spanish colonial rule. Catholicism is still taken quite seriously in the Philippines. Masses still draw crowds from the biggest cathedrals in the metropolis to the smallest parish chapels in the countryside. During Holy Week, most broadcast TV stations close down or operate only on limited hours and those that do operate broadcast religious programs. The Catholic Church ... still exerts quite a bit of influence even on non-religious affairs such as affairs of state.
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The Philippines faces no major external threat apart from the JI, and continues to strengthen military relations with the United States and with member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The dispute over ownership of the Spratly Islands continues as a point of potential friction among countries of the region, but China, Vietnam and the Philippines are cooperating on a trilateral survey of resources in this contested area. The United States and the Philippines are allies under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, and the U.S. designated the Philippines as a major non-NATO ally in 2003. The Visiting Forces Agreement, ratified in 1999, provides a framework for US-Philippine military cooperation, including several large-scale exercises, ship visits, and most recently AFP training in counter-terrorism practices.
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The acquisition of the Philippines gave rise to a protracted and bitter debate. Expansion into the Caribbean fit neatly into American perceptions of being the preeminent power in the Western hemisphere, but assuming control of a large, heavily populated territory thousands of miles away was a different and disquieting challenge. McKinley publicly claimed he had been opposed to acquiring the islands, but a night of reflection and prayer supposedly led him to conclude there was no alternative but to keep them. McKinley understood the Philippines would give the United States an Asian presence and make it easier to guard American interests there. Even so, McKinley was reluctant to assume responsibility for governing the islands, since there was a strong Filipino revolutionary army that had been fighting the Spanish and planned to govern the country. The president authorized Philippine acquisition... because he was concerned that another great power might seize the islands; because of the need to protect American commercial interests in Asia; and because he was convinced that the Filipinos could not govern themselves.
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