This article presents a timeline of Philippine political history focused on governmental transitions of the Philippine archipelago, major polities, invasion attempts, and insurgency movements from the pre-Hispanic period to the present. [nb 1] The information presented here is highly summarized, and more complete information can be found in more detailed articles linked below.
Date range [lower-alpha 1] | Before 900 – April 27, 1565 | April 27, 1565 – December 10, 1898 | August 24, 1896 – May 10, 1897 | March 22, 1897 – November 1, 1897 | November 1, 1897 – December 14, 1897 | May 24, 1898 – June 23, 1898 | June 23, 1898 – January 23, 1899 | January 23, 1899 – March 23, 1901 | August 14, 1898 – July 1, 1902 | May 6, 1902 – July 14, 1906 | July 4, 1901 – November 15, 1935 | November 15, 1935 – October 22, 1946 | October 14, 1943 – August 17, 1945 | July 4, 1946 – December 30, 1965 | December 30, 1965 – February 25, 1986 | February 2, 1987 – |
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Sovereign entity | None | Spain | In transition [lower-alpha 2] | United States | Disputed | Republic of the Philippines | ||||||||||
Governing body | None | ![]() ![]() | Disputed [lower-alpha 3] | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | ![]() | Republic of the Philippines | |||||||||
Polities | Pre-Colonial Philippines | ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() aka Haring-Bayang Katagalugan | ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | ![]() | ![]() [lower-alpha 5] aka | ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Entries below this point reflect the viewpoint of the post-independence government of the Philippines regarding pre-independence history | ||||||||||||||||
Constitutional Document | Colonial authority of The Crown | Katipunan constitution, laws and official decrees | Official decrees of Aguinaldo | Provisional Constitution | Official decrees of Aguinaldo | Malolos Constitution | Katipunan constitution, laws and official decrees | United States Constitution | 1935 Constitution | 1943 Constitution | 1935 Constitution | 1973 Constitution | 1987 Constitution | |||
Capital | Manila | Morong | San Francisco de Malabon, Cavite | San Miguel, Bulacan | Bacoor, Cavite | Malolos, Bulacan | Malolos, Bulacan | Morong | Manila |
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| Manila | ||||
Form of Government | Barangay state | Spanish Colony | Unrecognized provisional revolutionary republic | Unrecognized provisional revolutionary republic | Unrecognized provisional revolutionary constitutional republic | Unrecognized provisional dictatorship | Unrecognized provisional revolutionary republic | Unrecognized Unitary semi-presidential constitutional revolutionary republic | Unrecognized provisional revolutionary republic | Military occupational transitional government | Unincorporated territories of the United States | Presidential commonwealth | Single-party authoritarian Republic (recognized only by Axis) | Unitary presidential Constitutional republic | Unitary dominant-party pseudo-parliamentary republic under totalitarian civic-military rule | Unitary presidential constitutional republic |
Head of State | Datu, Rajah, Sultan | Supreme President/President of the Sovereign Nation | President of the Philippines
| President of the Philippines
| Dictator | President of the Philippines | President of the Philippines
| Supreme President | US President
| US President
| President of the Philippines
| President of the Philippines
| President of the Philippines
| President of the Philippines
| President of the Philippines
| |
Head of Government | Spanish Governor-General | Prime Minister of the Philippines
| US Military Governor- General
| US Insular Governor- General
| Japanese Military Governor
| Prime Minister of the Philippines
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Legislative | Council of Elders |
| Kataastaasang Sanggunian (Supreme Council) | Consejo Supremo | Revolutionary Congress | Malolos Congress |
| Philippine Legislature |
| National Assembly | Congress of the Philippines | Batasang Pambansa
| Congress of the Philippines | |||
Judiciary | Datu as Presiding Officer
| Real Audiencia | Camara Reina (Secret Judicial Chamber) | Supreme Council of Grace and Justice | Court Martial | Supreme Court | US Supreme Court | Supreme Court of the Philippines | ||||||||
Military | Datu as Military Commander
| Spanish Imperial Army; Guarda Civil | Katipunan | Philippine Revolutionary Army | Philippine Republican Army | Katipunan | United States Army | United States Army; USA Philippine Division; Philippine Constabulary; Philippine Scouts | Armed Forces of the Philippines; USA Philippine Division; Philippine Constabulary | Armed Forces of the Philippines | ||||||
Currency | Piloncitos | Peso | Japanese government-issued Philippine peso | Peso | ||||||||||||
Official Language(s) | Spanish | Tagalog | Tagalog, Spanish | Tagalog | English, Tagalog | English | English, Spanish | Japanese, Filipino, Spanish | English, Filipino | |||||||
State Religion | None; Islam in sultanates | Roman Catholicism | Separation of church and state | |||||||||||||
Invasions and Insurgencies |
| In 1529, Spain claimed dominion over the Philippine archipelago on the basis of Magellan's discovery, a valid mode of acquisition at the time. [3] Various local revolts erupted throughout Spanish rule. [lower-alpha 7] Battles of La Naval de Manila, a series of five naval battles between Spanish and Dutch forces in 1646. The Ilustrados "enlightened ones" constituted the Filipino educated class during the Spanish colonial period in the late 19th century. Mostly based outside the Philippines, they helped mold the flame of a united Filipino nationalism and identity in the islands. Almost all previous insurgencies were tribal, provincial and regional in nature. |
| March 22, 1897 – Emilio Aguinaldo is elected president of a government meant to replace the prior Katipunan insurgent government by attendees of the Tejeros Convention. He was sworn in the day after and fully assumed the office by April despite Bonifacio having annulled the convention proceedings. [10] | Established as an insurgent constitutional republic on November 2, 1897, with Aguinaldo as President. This insurgent government had a constitution, President, Vice President, etc. December 14, 1897 – Signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, suspending the insurgency. Aguinaldo and other insurgent leaders went into voluntary overseas exile. Armed activities temporarily officially halted by the Filipino revolutionary forces. April 1898 – General Francisco Makabulos forms the insurgent General Executive Committee of Northern Luzon, intended to be a provisional government "until a general government of the Republic in these islands shall again be established." This insurgent government had a constitution, President, Vice President, etc. [11] [12] | May 1, 1898 – Hostilities between the U.S. and Spain commenced in the Philippines. [13]
| June 23, 1899 – Aguinaldo issues proclamation replacing his dictatorial government with a revolutionary one. [19] [20] | January 22, 1899 – Promulgation of the Malolos Constitution. Replaces Aguinaldo's insurgent revolutionary government with the Malolos Republic, also known as the First Philippine Republic, with Aguinaldo as president. [21] Although the republic never received foreign recognition, Filipinos consider Aguinaldo to be the first president based on this. [22] Gen. Miguel Malvar, successor of Aguinaldo continued the fight until he surrendered in 1902. Clashes with Moro rebels continued in the south.
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| Until 1913 scattered resistance to U.S. rule continued based on the First Republic's or the Katipunan's platforms. From then until 1935 there was no organized mass resistance, but small pockets of defiance still persisted coming mostly from various religious sects, sakdalistas and die-hard republikanos. | Small segments of opposition continued from a new front, mainly from the legal nationalist and labor groups. Following the end of World War II, there was resistance from the Hukbalahap and the short lived/progressive political party, Democratic Alliance (DA). | Hukbalahap
| Resistance from Hukbalahap continued. [26] Hukbalahap later changed its name to "Hukbong Magpapalaya ng Bayan" (People's Liberation Army) or simply "Huks".
| None, or See Notes | ||
Sovereignty notes | Philippines as one whole national entity was non-existent. Islands comparable to Greece composed of numerous sovereign and independent chiefdoms, several minor kingdoms and thalassocracies such as the Kedatuan of Madja-as, the rajahnates of Cebu and Butuan, Sultanates of Maguindanao, Lanao and Sulu who were all already engaged in trading with the Chinese, Japanese, Malaysians, Indonesians, the Arabs and the Indians. Considered by Western nations as territorium nullius (an expression deriving from Roman Law meaning "empty land," or "land belonging to no one"). [28] |
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| The Commonwealth of the Philippines, still under U.S. sovereignty, was inaugurated on November 15, 1935. The enabling legislation, the Tydings–McDuffie Act, provided for a ten-year period of transition to full independence. |
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Notes |
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Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who is the youngest president of the Philippines (1899–1901) and became the first president of the Philippines and of an Asian constitutional republic. He led the Philippine forces first against Spain in the Philippine Revolution (1896–1898), then in the Spanish–American War (1898), and finally against the United States during the Philippine–American War (1899–1901).
The Katipunan, officially the Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan and abbreviated as the KKK,(Not to be confused with the Ku Klux Klan) was a revolutionary organization founded in 1892 by a group of Filipino nationalists Deodato Arellano, Andrés Bonifacio, Valentin Diaz, Ladislao Diwa, José Dizon, and Teodoro Plata. Its primary objective was achieving independence from the Spanish Empire through an armed revolution. It was formed as a secret society before its eventual discovery by Spanish authorities in August 1896. This discovery led to the start of the Philippine Revolution.
Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro was a Filipino revolutionary leader. He is often called "The Father of the Philippine Revolution", and considered one of the national heroes of the Philippines.
Lapulapu or Lapu-Lapu, whose name was first recorded as Çilapulapu, was a datu (chief) of Mactan, an island now part of the Philippines. Lapulapu is known for the 1521 Battle of Mactan, where he and his men defeated Spanish forces led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his native allies Rajah Humabon and Datu Zula. Magellan's death in battle ended his voyage of circumnavigation and delayed the Spanish occupation of the islands by over forty years until the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi in 1564.
The Philippine Revolution was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against Spain from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year colonial rule of Spain to the archipelago. The Philippines were among the last colonies of the Spanish Empire, which saw a massive decline particularly in the 1890s. Cuba rebelled in 1895, and the empire soon fought against the United States in a war that they lost. In June 1898, Philippine revolutionaries declared independence. However, this was not recognized by Spain, which sold the islands to the United States in the Treaty of Paris.
Tagalog Republic is a term used to refer to two revolutionary governments involved in the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire and the Philippine–American War. Both were connected to the Katipunan revolutionary movement.
Miguel Malvar y Carpio was a Filipino general who served during the Philippine Revolution and, subsequently, during the Philippine–American War. He assumed command of the Philippine revolutionary forces during the latter, following the capture of resistance leader Emilio Aguinaldo by the Americans in 1901. According to some, he could have been listed as one of the presidents of the Philippines; however, as of 2023, is not recognized as such by the Philippine government.
The Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection (1899–1902), was an armed conflict between Filipino revolutionaries and the government of the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following the Philippines being acquired by the United States from Spain. This article lists significant events from before, during, and after that war, with links to other articles containing more detail.
A national hero of the Philippines is a Filipino who has been recognized as a national hero for their role in the history of the Philippines. Loosely, the term may refer to all historical figures recognized as heroes, but the term more strictly refers to those officially designated as such. In 1995 the Philippine National Heroes Committee officially recommended several people for the designation, but this was not acted upon. As of 2023, no one had ever been officially recognized as a Philippine national hero.
The Philippine Republic, now officially remembered as the First Philippine Republic and also referred to by historians as the Malolos Republic, was established in Malolos, Bulacan during the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire (1896–1898) and the Spanish–American War between Spain and the United States (1898) through the promulgation of the Malolos Constitution on January 22, 1899, succeeding the Revolutionary Government of the Philippines. It was formally established with Emilio Aguinaldo as president. It maintained governance until April 1, 1901.
The history of the Philippines from 1898 to 1946 is known as the American colonial period, and 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.
On November 1, 1897, the Republic of Biak-na-Bato was established in the cave of Biak-na-Bato, San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan. A special election was called for the new Supreme Council to oversee the newly established government on November 2, 1897 in the Philippines.
The Division of City Schools – Manila, or simply the DCS-Manila, is a division under the supervision of the Department of Education. It also refers to the three-tier public education system in Manila, Philippines.
The Republic of Biak-na-Bato was the second revolutionary republican government led by Emilio Aguinaldo during the Philippine Revolution that referred to itself as the Republic of the Philippines and was seated in what is now Biak-na-Bato National Park. The current designation was adopted by historians to avoid confusion with the name of the current Philippine government, which also refers to itself as the Republic of the Philippines, and with other past Philippine governments using the same designation.
Daniel Tirona y Tria was a Filipino politician. He became infamous for causing divisions within the Philippine revolutionary movement and for insulting and maligning Andres Bonifacio during the Tejeros Convention in 1897.
The sovereignty of the Philippines refers to the status of the Philippines as an independent nation. This article covers sovereignty transitions relating to the Philippines, with particular emphasis on the passing of sovereignty from Spain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1898), signed on December 10, 1898, to end the Spanish–American War. US President William McKinley asserted the United States' sovereignty over the Philippines on December 21, 1898, through his Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation.
The United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands was a military government in the Philippines established by the United States on August 14, 1898, a day after the capture of Manila, with General Wesley Merritt acting as military governor. During military rule (1898–1902), the U.S. military commander governed the Philippines under the authority of the U.S. president as Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces. After the appointment of a civil Governor-General, the procedure developed that as parts of the country were pacified and placed firmly under American control, responsibility for the area would be passed to the civilian.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) This book was published by Ricarte himself, includes his memoirs on the Philippine Revolution.