Philippines
Country Facts
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Population – 97.9 million
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Language – Filipino (official) and English (official); eight major dialects: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan
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Nationality – Filipino
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Size – 300,000 sq km
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Geography – island nation in south-eastern Asia |
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Minorities - Ilocano, Binisaya, Hiligaynon, Ilonggo, Bikol, Waray |
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700,000 uprooted in 2008 fighting |
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Number killed in Moro insurgency 120,000 (UNDP) |
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Number killed in communist insurgency 40,000 (UNDP) |
The Philippines was initially a Spanish colony, before being ceded to the Unites States. The country gained independence in 1935, but was almost immediately attacked and controlled by Japan during World War II. Self-governance resumed after the war, but a series of people’s revolutions and coup attempts has left the country politically unstable. This instability has led to a number of economic and social issues within the country.
The Philippine government's conflict with Muslim separatists on the southern island of Mindanao and a second conflict with communist insurgents have left 160,000 dead and rendered up to 2 million homeless.
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$60 can provide 20 hygiene kits for the suffering Lumad people of the Philippines.
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$75 can provide a literacy course for an indigenous person in the Philippines so that they can retain their political, economic and land rights. |
