The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Situated in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both within the single urban area of Metro Manila. Bounded by the West Philippine Sea on the west, the Philippine Sea on the east and the Celebes Sea on the southwest, the Philippines shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia and Brunei to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest.
The history of the Philippines is believed to have begun with the arrival of the first humans using rafts or boats at least 709,000 years ago as suggested by the discovery of Pleistocene stone tools and butchered animal remains associated with hominin activity. Homo luzonensis, a species of archaic humans, was present on the island of Luzon at least 67,000 years ago. The earliest known modern human was from Tabon Cave in Palawan dating about 47,000 years. Negrito groups were the first inhabitants to settle in the prehistoric Philippines. After that, groups of Austronesians later migrated to the islands.
Luzon is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. It is ranked 15th largest in the world by land area. Located in the northern portion of the archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as well as Quezon City, the country's most populous city. With a population of 53 million as of 2015, it contains 52.5% of the country's total population and is the fourth most populous island in the world.
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines, and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra and the Bangka Belitung Islands, encompassing an area of around 3,500,000 km2 (1,400,000 sq mi). It communicates with the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, the Phillipine Sea via the Luzon Strait, the Sulu Sea via the straits around Palawan, the Indian Ocean via the Strait of Malacca, and the Java Sea via the Karimata and Bangka Strait. The Gulf of Tonkin and Gulf of Thailand are both part of the South China Sea, and its shallow waters south of the Riau Islands is also known as the Natuna Sea.
The Commonwealth of the Philippines was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 to 1945 when Japan occupied the country. It replaced the Insular Government, a United States territorial government, and was established by the Tydings–McDuffie Act. The Commonwealth was designed as a transitional administration in preparation for the country's full achievement of independence. Its foreign affairs remained managed by the United States.
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east/northeast of the Philippine archipelago, occupying an estimated surface area of 5 million square kilometers. The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. It is bordered by the first island chain to the west, which comprises the Ryukyu Islands in the northwest and Taiwan in the due west, and the Filipino islands of Luzon, Catanduanes, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao to the southwest; by the Japanese islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyūshū to the north; by the second island chain to the east, which comprises the Bonin Islands and Iwo Jima in the northeast, the Mariana Islands in the due east, and Halmahera, Palau, Yap and Ulithi in the southeast; and by Indonesia's Morotai Island to the south.
Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines (OEF-P) or Operation Freedom Eagle was part of Operation Enduring Freedom and the global War on Terror. The Operation targeted the various Jihadist terror groups operating in the country. By 2009, about 600 U.S. military personnel were advising and assisting the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the Southern Philippines. In addition, by 2014, the CIA had sent its elite paramilitary officers from their Special Activities Division to hunt down and kill or capture key terrorist leaders. This group had the most success in combating and capturing Al-Qaeda leaders and the leaders of associated groups like Abu Sayyaf.
The Philippines campaign, also known as the Battle of the Philippines or the Fall of the Philippines, from 8 December 1941 – 8 May 1942, was the invasion of the Philippines by Imperial Japan and the defense of the islands by United States and Philippine forces during the Second World War.
Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc (Spanish), Panatag Shoal, Huangyan Island and Democracy Reef, are two rocks in a shoal located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon island in the South China Sea. The nearest land mass from it is Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines.
The Philippine Navy (PN) is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an estimated strength of 25,000 active service personnel, including the 9,500-strong Philippine Marine Corps. It operates 115 ships and 25 aircraft. It shares the responsibility of patrolling the maritime borders with the Philippine Coast Guard, a formerly attached unit which became a separate maritime law enforcement agency in 1998.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is an armed and uniformed service tasked primarily with enforcing laws within Philippine waters, conducting maritime security operations, safeguarding life and property at sea, and protecting marine environment and resources; similar to coast guards around the world. The Coast Guard also serves as an attached service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in wartime.
The Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Badge is a unit decoration of the Republic of the Philippines. It has been awarded to certain units of the United States military and the Philippine Commonwealth military for actions both during and subsequent to the Second World War.
The Philippines campaign, Battle of the Philippines or the Liberation of the Philippines, codenamed Operation Musketeer I, II, and III, was the American and Filipino campaign to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines during World War II. The Japanese Army overran all of the Philippines during the first half of 1942. The liberation of the Philippines commenced with amphibious landings on the eastern Philippine island of Leyte on October 20, 1944. United States and Philippine Commonwealth military forces were progressing in liberating territory and islands when the Japanese forces in the Philippines were ordered to surrender by Tokyo on August 15, 1945, after the dropping of the atomic bombs on mainland Japan and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.
The history of the Philippines from 1898 to 1946 describes the period of the American colonialization of the Philippines. It began with the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in April 1898, when the Philippines was still a colony of the Spanish East Indies, and concluded when the United States formally recognized the independence of the Republic of the Philippines on July 4, 1946.
The Philippine Army (PA) is the main, oldest and the largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) responsible for ground warfare. The Chief of the Army, its professional and overall head, is Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, who took office on August 4, 2020. Its main headquarters is located at Fort Andres Bonifacio, Metro Manila.
Igbon Island is an island and barangay in northeastern Iloilo, Philippines. It is part of the municipality of Concepcion. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 2,547. The island is moderately known in the Philippines for its scuba diving.
The Insular Government of the Philippine Islands was a territorial government of the United States that was established in 1901 and was dissolved in 1935. The Insular Government was preceded by the United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands and was followed by the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
Talunan or talonan is a Filipino chicken soup or stew characterized by its sour flavor. It is prepared like a combination of Philippine adobo and paksiw, with vinegar, garlic, ginger, black peppercorns, patis, bay leaves, and salt. Some recipes add pork to the dish. The name literally means "loser" in Tagalog, as it was traditionally cooked from the tough meat of losing roosters used in cockfighting.
During the Japanese occupation of the islands in World War II, there was an extensive Philippine resistance movement, which opposed the Japanese and their collaborators with active underground and guerrilla activity that increased over the years. Fighting the guerrillas – apart from the Japanese regular forces – were a Japanese-formed Bureau of Constabulary, the Kenpeitai, and the Makapili. Postwar studies estimate that around 260,000 persons were organized under guerrilla groups and that members of anti-Japanese underground organizations were more numerous. Such was their effectiveness that by the end of World War II, Japan controlled only twelve of the forty-eight provinces.
BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PS-15) is the lead ship of her class of offshore patrol vessels of the Philippine Navy. She is the second ship to be named after Gregorio del Pilar, a Filipino revolutionary general known for his role at the Battle of Tirad Pass. She was originally designated as "PF-15" from 2012 to mid-2016. Then the Navy adopted a new code designation system and she was redesignated as "FF-15". In February 2019, the Navy downgraded the status of the entire class from frigate to patrol ship and redesignated her to "PS-15".
