HISTORY
No written records exist of Philippine history prior to the Spanish era. However, archaeological findings and the accounts of early Arab and Chinese traders throw some light on the dim and distant past. One of the most significant archaeological discoveries was made in 1962 by Dr. Robert B. Fox who found a fossilized skullcap 22,000 years old in the Tabon Caves of western Palawan . In the same cave he found bones of bats, birds and small mammals, some charcoal, hammer stones and a few basalt choppers approximately the same age as the skull. Tabon Man is believed to belong to homo sapiens, who came to the Philippines some 55,000 to 45,000 years ago when the land bridges were still in place. Scientists are still searching for the remains of earlier inhabitants whose presence they link with Palaeolithic tools and fossilized bones of extinct animals discovered in Cagayan Valley that date back some 150,000 years. 
The Negritos, the dark-skinned, kinky-haired Pygmies who
lived by hunting, fishing, and food gathering and who are mentioned in history books as the aborigines of the
Philippines, are believed to have come to the islands via
the land bridges between 30,000 and 25,000 years ago.
These are the forebears of the various tribes today known
as Baluga, Atya, Agta, Aeta, Mamanuwa, Batak, Ata and Ali.
Thousands of years later, great migrations of peoples swept across the seas and settled in the various islands that make
up the Philippine archipelago. The first to arrive by sea were
the Indonesian who came between 3,000 and 500 BC.
They brought with them Neolithic culture: polished stone
implements at first, and later copper and bronze tools and agriculture. The Malays followed between 300 BC and
AD 500. They were more advanced culturally, introducing to
the country Iron-Age culture: the smelting and manufacture
of copper and iron tools and weapons, as well as pottery making, cloth weaving on a hand loom, and the making of ornaments out of glass beads.
The Coming of the Spaniards Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer in the service of the Spanish king, came upon the islands on March 16, 1521 while seeking a western route to the Spice Islands . The fact remains that Magellan and his men confronted Lapu-Lapu on the shores of Mactan on April 21 and there Magellan—‘our mirror, our light, our comfort, and our true guide' in the words of his chronicler Antonio Pigafetta—met his death. Lapu-Lapu's victory resulted in the Europeans' loss of prestige. Humabon and his chieftains, angered by the foreigners' rowdy conduct and rape of Cebuano women, massacred a number of them. Those who survived beat a hasty retreat.
Spanish Administration Between 1565 and 1813, the Philippines was administered by the Viceroy of Mexico. During this time, the galleon trade between Manila and Acapulco made a significant contribution to the progress of the islands. Fortunes rose and fell with every sailing of a galleon. The galleon trade came to an end when the Mexican war of independence broke out, dealing a severe blow to the economy. After the Mexican War, the Philippines came under the direct control of Madrid .
The American Era On February 4, 1899 an American soldier shot and killed a Filipino on the bridge of San Juan del Monte, an incident that triggered off the Philippine-American War. The Americans provided a system of government and laws, education, trade and commerce. A commonwealth government was set up in 1935, providing for a ten-year transition period, at the end of which the Americans would hand over the reigns of government to Filipinos.
World War II The three years of Japanese occupation were marked by privation and acts of brutality. A puppet government under Jose P. Laurel was set up. Meanwhile an active underground guerilla movement was growing. Philippine history has seen some fierce naval and land battles. In some places, space was fought for inch by inch and dearly won.
The Postwar Years The war left the Philippines in ruins. Rebuilding the country became a monumental task. The task of nation-building lay ahead. As in any country trying to rise from the ruins of war, it was inevitable that carpetbaggers and opportunists should appear on the scene. Officials who wanted to get rich quick were not averse to being bribed. Corruption and influence peddling reared their ugly heads. When Manuel Roxas, president of the postwar Republic, died of a heart attack in 1948, his vice president, Elpidio Quirino, took over. The next president, Ramon Magsaysay, was killed in a plane crash. He was followed in office by Garlos Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand Marcos.
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