Philippines

The Philippines is a republic in South East Asia. The archipelago consists of 7107 islands, Luzon with the capital Manilla being the largest. Total land area is aprox. 300.000km² and the country has a spectaculair coastline of more then 36.000km ! It has a total population of more then ninety million of which 60% is younger then 35years. With almost no sustainable jobs at home more then 10% of the population is working overseas and sending every year a whopping 10billion US$ home to support their families.

The Philippines has been a Spannish colony for 300 years after which it was "sold" to the United States for a mere two million dollars during the Spanish-American war at the end of the nineteenth century. It finally regained it's independence on the 4th of july 1946. Because of this long history of Spanish & American colonisation their are many "western" influences visible in the daily life and culture of the Philippines. Most striking examples are probably: The Philippines being the only Roman Catholic country in South East Asia and the Philippines having the (second to the United States) largest English speaking population in the world.

In the Philippines there is a wide gap between the rich and the poor with a small political elite being in charge or owning the biggest share of wealth and economic activity and a vast majority of people living below live sustainable standards. Most people still remember the "Marcos" days that ended with the first "people's power" revolution in 1986. This revolution was triggered after many years of dictatorial rule by the assasination of Ferdinant Marcos biggest opponent Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino. On arrival at the International Airport you may still see the spot where this brutal murder took place after Senator Aquino returned from exile in the United States. After the following uprising his wife Corazon Aquino became president and reinstated some form of democracy. However big economic changes never really pushed through and corruption, inequal balance in wealth and landownership still exist today. The current president "NoyNoy" Aquino has brought new hope to the country after the ruling years of his predecessors "Gloria Macapal Arroyo" and "Joseph Estrada" were tainted with some of the worst corruption cases in the history of the country.