DAILY LIFE

One of the possible locations to meet the people of the Philippines and to discover parts of the daily life of many Filipinos,  is the market. The local markets in a big city or regional town are most of the time crowded and colourful. The sellers, young or older, will welcome foreigners in their stall.

They are always prepared for a friendly talk, even if you don't buy. The Philippines is one of the developing countries where the sellers don't molest a foreigner inan attempt to sell. Most of the Filipinos speak English rather good, so,communication is not a problem. 

Fish Market in Ormoc City

Ormoc City is one of the two bigger regional cities on the island of Leyte in the center part of the Philippines (the Visayas).

If you don't want to buy a fish, no problem. Do you want to take a picture, of course! "Mabuhay", your welcome!

Just an outlet in Cebu City

Cebu City on the island Cebu, is one of the few big cities in the Philippines. The urban area of Cebu City counts many sections, each with their own markets. Most known is the Carbon Market, the colorful and crowded market in the old, downtown part of Cebu City.

Cheap fish

For very cheap fish products, there are always possibilities on fish markets. Very little anchovy (gray colored), with a lot of salt and in their own juice, is sold for 10 pesos per little can/glass. Hipon, tiny shrimps (grinded)  together with  a lot of salt  and some coloring material, is sold  for the same price as the anchovy.

THE FLAG OF PHILIPPINES

The flag and the national anthem
Every flag has its symbols, what about this flag? The flag was designed in 1898 after the Americans and Spaniards ended their war and the United States promised  an independence. It was only in 1946 that the  independence was completed.
The symbols of the flag   an eight rayed sun   three golden stars   a red stripe   a blue stripe   a white triangle The sun represents the beginning of a new era of self determination.  The 8 rays on the sun stand for the 8 provinces  that rose in revolt against Spanish rule in the late 19th century. The 3 stars stands for the 3 principal geographic areas of the country; Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.	The colours in the  flag   The colour white represents peace and purity   The red stripe represents courage and bravery   The blue stripe is for noble ideals One country, two flags!  Probably unique in the world is that a country has a flag for peacetime and a flag for wartime. The  flag showed above is, let us hope,  the one we'll see always. Blue on the top stands for peacetime. In wartime the flag will have the red stripe on the top.

MAP OF THE PHILIPPINES

M

HISTORY

The Philippines in earlier times

 The First Inhabitants 40.000 years ago

It is thought that  the earliest inhabitants of  the Philippines lived some 40000 years ago. On Palawan, the long and small island in de western Visayas,  human bones were found dating  to about 22.000 years ago.  Stone tools from ancient times were found too on Palawan. The age of the tools is estimated to be about 30.000 years old. A analyses showed that the tools have similar features as tools which were found on Kalimantan (Indonesia). The Aeta came  13000 - 10000 years ago from the Asian continent. In earlier times they lived  widespread throughout the Philippines. Today they are living in the remote highland areas of Luzon, Palawan, Panay, Negros and Mindanao. About 2300 years ago Malayan people arrived from the mainland in the Philippines and brought  a more advanced culture; dairy,  iron melting and production of iron tools, pottery techniques and the system of sawah's (rice fields). In the tenth century Muslim traders come from Kalimantan (Indonesia)  to the Philippines.  A few centuries later, the Islam  spread out in the southern part of the Philippines. Until now, the Islam is strong rooted on Mindanao and the other (smaller) islands of the southern part of the Philippines.   In 1521 the Spanish period started with the arrival of a small fleet in the coastal waters of Mactan island, just east of Cebu island. It wasFernao  de Magelhaes (FerdinandMagellan), a Portuguese in service of the Spanish King. He claimed the country for the Spanish King.

CULTURE

Colourful festivals and processions

Influence of the Catholic religion Typical for the Philippines are the many festivals and processions.  The explanation for the most of all these fiestas has to be found in the domination of one specific religion in the Philippines. The majority of the cultural celebrations is closely related to the Catholic religion. Nearly 90% of the Filipinos are Roman Catholic. If you like fiestas, it is really worth to visit the Philippines, especially in January, April, May and June. The most known and biggest fiestas take place in these months.

The most known fiestas For the Filipinos themselves, every year the festivals and processions are days of great joy and happiness.  Fiestas or any community celebration usually feature music, dancing, and food feasts. The most known are the procession of the Black Nazarene, the Ati-Atihan, the Sinulog, the Flores de Mayo and the Santa Cruzan.  The colourful dress is most of the time not traditional. To see really traditional clothes, you have to visit the remote areas on Luzon and Mindanao for example.

Ati-Atihan	Sinulog	Flores de Mayo    Flowers of May	Black Nazarene
A three-day fiesta in the third week of January on the island of Panay (Visayas) The wildest among Philippine fiestas! The festival is a Catholic festival in honour of Santo Niño. During the last day of this festival (fiesta), a parade is characteristic, with celebrants who paint their faces black, wear sometimes masks and rather exceptional costumes. The origin of the Atis dances dates from the period before the Spaniards arrived on Panay. The typical dance  belonged already to the localAtis people in that pre-colonial period.	In  January,  in honour of  the miraculous image of the Santo Niño. In colourful costumes people of Cebu make their way through the streets whiledancing the Sinulog, a traditional and ritual dance. The dance is accompanied by the sound of the drums:  all the time moving   two steps forward followed by one step backward. The Sinulog was already danced by the natives long before the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines. It was only in 1980, that the first Sinulog parade was organized. From then on it grew up to an enormous festival with a very large  parade.	A month-long festival in May in honour of  the Holy Mary Flores de Mayo  is a Catholic festival introduced by the Spaniards. The last day of the festival is highlighted by a pageant called Santa Cruzan. The Santa Cruzan   is a procession in honour of the finding of the Holy Cross in the year 326 A.D. by Reyna (Queen) Helena, mother of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. It was the wooden, Holy Cross, on which Jesus Christ was supposed to have been nailed. Long time ago Flores de Mayo and the Santa Cruzan were blended together in one festival.	The largest procession in the country  through the streets of Quiapo in metro Manila Every year on the 9th of January and on Good Friday,  barefooted men carry a life-sized statue through the streets of Quiapo in Metro Manila. The procession dates from the 17th century. Thousands of men parade through the streets with the black wooden statue of Jesus (of Nazarene).   Everybody who is in the neighbourhood of the statue tries to touch the statue. People believe  that a miracle can happen after  touching it.

VOLCANOES

18 Active volcanoes

The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7100 islands. Most of these islands are of volcanic origin. 

There are 37 volcanoes in the Philippines, of which 18 are still active volcanoes. It means that an eruption occurred in the last decennia and  that a new eruption can be expected in the future. All the other volcanoes are 'sleeping'  or 'dead' volcanoes. Scientists think that an eruption of these volcanoes is unlikely. The most known volcanoes in the Philippines areMount Pinatubo, Mount Mayon and the  Taal   volcano. They are all located on the Northern island Luzon.

The most active volcano

 Mount Mayon  is the most active volcano in the Philippines. Since 1616 there were 47 eruptions.

From 1616 until 2002 at least 1300 people died and thousands of people got homeless as a result of all the eruptions. The most recent eruptions were in 1947, 1984 and 1993. In 1993 the activity started with explosions. Half an hour later, flows of lava (molten rock) and  pyroclastic flows(flows with mixtures of hot, dry rock fragments and hot gases.

They flows may result from the explosive eruption of molten or solid rock fragments, or both) came out of the crater in the top of the volcano. It killed 68 people and 60.000 people had to be evacuated. 

It's more fun in the PHILIPPINES (w/ Official Theme Music)