History

• The Philippines' aboriginal inhabitants are the Negritos, who arrived about 30000 years ago.
• Negritos are various ethnic groups in isolated parts of Southeast Asia.
• The population of Negritos includes the Aeta, Agta, Ayta, Ati, Dumagat and at least 25 other Philippine tribes.
• The exact route of and the reasons for the immigration of the Negritos to Asia are matters of great speculation and controversy.
• The name Negrito, which means little Negro, was given by Spaniards who supposed that the Negritos were from Africa.
• The Negritos differ not only in appearance from ‘true’ African Negroes, but also genetically.
• The Negritos speak Borneo-Philippine languages, also called “Outer Hesperonesian” or “Outer Western Malayo-Polynesian” languages.
• Borneo-Philippine languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian language family and have many small groups of languages, with the most important languages being Tagalog, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilokano, Kapampangan, Malagasy and Tausug.
• The Negritos speak Borneo-Philippine languages, also called?

  Outer Hesperonesian or Outer Western Malayo-Polynesian
• Ferdinand Magellan, an important person, mentioned Negritos living in the island of Panglao.
• By the 14th century A.D, extensive trade was being carried out with India, Indonesia, China and Japan.
• In 1521 Ferdinand Magellan explored the Philippines and claimed the island for Spain.
• Ferdinand Magellan built up friendly relations with some of the local chiefs and tried to convert them to Roman Catholicism.
• Later, Ferdinand Magellan was killed in a dispute with indigenous tribal groups.
• The name Philippines was given to the island in honour of King Philipp II of Spain.
• Subsequently, Spanish troops invaded the islands, but didn’t establish a settlement until 1565.
• Because of the Spanish settlement, Spanish was declared as the official and main language in the Philippines.
• Today’s capital Manila became the centre of the Spanish government, used for military, religious and commercial activities.
• The Spanish control of the Philippines lasted for more than three centuries, until the islands were ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1898), as a consequence of the Spanish-American War.
• The history of Philippine English has been rather short, but unusually intense, because the language spread very quickly.
• The number of English speakers in the Philippines increased from practically zero in 1898 to a census figure of 16,409,133 or 44.7% of the population in 1970.
• English was declared the official language, as well as the main language of education in the Philippines.
• About 523 teachers on board the USS Thomas were sent to the Philippines in 1901 to intensify education in English, known as the “Thomasites”.
• The US colonial rule of the Philippines started in 1905 with very limited local rule.
• In 1935, partial autonomy or limited sovereignty was granted under a “commonwealth” status, which was the foundation for a planned full independence from the United States in 1946.
• On May 14th, 1935 Manuel L. Quezon (Nacionalista Party) won the election of the “newly created office for President of the Commonwealth in the Philippines and a Filipino government was formed on the basis of principles superficially similar to the US Constitution”.
• In the Constitution of 1935, English was added as an official language.
• In 1937, Tagalog was developed into a national language by the new government.
• During the Second World War (between 1941 and 1945), the Philippines were occupied by Japan and the path towards full independence was briefly interrupted.
• Following Japan’s surrender, the US and the Philippine Governments signed the Treaty of Manila (or the Treaty of General Relations) on July 4th, 1946, which provided full independence for the Philippine government and the surrender of American control over the Philippine islands.
• English and Tagalog were promoted in a bilingual education scheme and Tagalog was officially renamed Filipino in the Constitution of 1973.
• English continued to spread vigorously even after the Philippines had gained independence.
• Treaty of Manila is also known as?

  Treaty of General Relations
• The second world war happened in what year?

  between 1941 and 1945