Philippines

• tropical marine;
• northeast monsoon (November to April);
• southwest monsoon (May to October)

mean elevation:

442 m

elevation extremes:

0 m lowest point: Philippine Sea; 2954 highest point: Mount Apo

• population concentrated where good farmlands lie;
• highest concentrations are northwest and south-central Luzon, the southeastern extension of Luzon, and the islands of the Visayan Sea, particularly Cebu and Negros;
• Manila is home to one-eighth of the entire national population

• astride typhoon belt, usually affected by 15 and struck by five to six cyclonic storms each year;
• landslides;
• active volcanoes;
• destructive earthquakes;
• tsunamis volcanism: significant volcanic activity;
• Taal (311 m), which has shown recent unrest and may erupt in the near future, has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations;
• Mayon (2,462 m), the country's most active volcano, erupted in 2009 forcing over 33,000 to be evacuated;
• other historically active volcanoes include
  • Biliran,
  • Babuyan Claro,
  • Bulusan,
  • Camiguin,
  • Camiguin de Babuyanes,
  • Didicas,
  • Iraya,
  • Jolo,
  • Kanlaon,
  • Makaturing,
  • Musuan,
  • Parker,
  • Pinatubo,
  • and Ragang
  ;
• see note 2 under "Geography - note"

• uncontrolled deforestation especially in watershed areas;
• illegal mining and logging;
• soil erosion;
• air and water pollution in major urban centers;
• coral reef degradation;
• increasing pollution of coastal mangrove swamps that are important fish breeding grounds;
• coastal erosion;
• dynamite fishing;
• wildlife extinction

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants

noun:

Filipino(s)

adjective:

Philippine

• unspecified Filipino (official; based on Tagalog) and English (official);
• eight major dialects - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan

0-14 years:

33.07% (male 17,870,983 /female 17,151,096)

15-24 years:

19.17% (male 10,360,704 /female 9,934,798)

25-54 years:

37.11% (male 19,987,460 /female 19,312,673)

55-64 years:

6.04% (male 2,932,572 /female 3,462,832)

65 years and over:

4.61% (male 2,001,964 /female 2,878,299) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

58.2 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

51 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

7.2 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

13.8 (2015 est.)

• population concentrated where good farmlands lie;
• highest concentrations are northwest and south-central Luzon, the southeastern extension of Luzon, and the islands of the Visayan Sea, particularly Cebu and Negros;
• Manila is home to one-eighth of the entire national population

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

15-24 years:

1.04 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

25-54 years:

1.03 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

55-64 years:

0.84 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

65 years and over:

0.72 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

degree of risk:

high (2016)

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever (2016)

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever and malaria (2016)

water contact diseases:

leptospirosis (2016)

conventional long form:

Republic of the Philippines

conventional short form:

Philippines

local long form:

Republika ng Pilipinas

local short form:

Pilipinas

etymology:

named in honor of King PHILLIP II of Spain by Spanish explorer Ruy LOPEZ de VILLALOBOS, who visited some of the islands in 1543

name:

Manila

geographic coordinates:

14 36 N, 120 58 E

time difference:

UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• Independence Day, 12 June (1898);
• note - 12 June 1898 was date of declaration of independence from Spain;
• 4 July 1946 was date of independence from the US

history:

several previous; latest ratified 2 February 1987, effective 11 February 1987 (2017)

amendments:

• proposed by Congress if supported by three-fourths of the membership, by a constitutional convention called by Congress, or by public petition;
• passage by either of the three proposal methods requires a majority vote in a national referendum;
• note - the constitution has not been amended since its enactment in 1987 (2017)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of the Philippines

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

10 years

highest courts:

Supreme Court (consists of a chief justice and 14 associate justices)

judge selection and term of office:

justices are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Judicial and Bar Council, a constitutionally created, 6-member body that recommends Supreme Court nominees; justices serve until age 70

subordinate courts:

• Court of Appeals;
• Sandiganbayan (special court for corruption cases of government officials);
• Court of Tax Appeals;
• regional, metropolitan, and municipal trial courts;
• sharia courts

chief of state:

• President Rodrigo DUTERTE (since 30 June 2016);
• Vice President Leni ROBREDO (since 30 June 2016);
• note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Rodrigo DUTERTE (since 30 June 2016); Vice President Leni ROBREDO (since 30 June 2016)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president with the consent of the Commission of Appointments, an independent body of 25 Congressional members including the Senate president (ex officio chairman), appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

• president and vice president directly elected on separate ballots by simple majority popular vote for a single 6-year term;
• election last held on 9 May 2016 (next to be held in May 2022)

election results:

• Rodrigo DUTERTE elected president;
• percent of vote - Rodrigo DUTERTE (PDP-Laban) 39%, Manuel "Mar" ROXAS (LP) 23.5%, Grace POE (independent) 21.4%, Jejomar BINAY (UNA) 12.7%, Miriam Defensor SANTIAGO (PRP) 3.4%;
• Leni ROBREDO elected vice president;
• percent of vote Leni ROBREDO (LP) 35.1%, Bongbong MARCOS (independent) 34.5%, Alan CAYETANO 14.4%, Francis ESCUDERO (independent) 12%, Antonio TRILLANES (independent) 2.1%, Gregorio HONASAN (UNA) 1.9%

• Akbayon [Machris CABREROS]
• Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Struggle of Filipino Democrats) or LDP [Edgardo ANGARA]
• Lakas ng EDSA-Christian Muslim Democrats or Lakas-CMD [Ferdinand Martin ROMUALDEZ]
• Liberal Party or LP [Francis PANGILINAN]
• Nacionalista Party or NP [Manuel "Manny" VILLAR]
• Nationalist People's Coalition or NPC [Eduardo COJUNGCO, Jr.]
• National Unity Party or NUP [Albert GARCIA]
• PDP-Laban [Aquilino PIMENTEL III]
• People's Reform Party or PRP [Narcisco SANTIAGO]
• Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino (Force of the Philippine Masses) or PMP [Joseph ESTRADA]
• United Nationalist Alliance or UNA

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jose Manuel del Gallego ROMUALDEZ (since 29 November 2017)

chancery:

1600 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036

telephone:

[1] (202) 467-9300

FAX:

[1] (202) 328-7614

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands), San Francisco, Tamuning (Guam)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Sung KIM (since 6 December 2016)

embassy:

1201 Roxas Boulevard, Manila 1000

mailing address:

PSC 500, FPO AP 96515-1000

telephone:

[63] (2) 301-2000

FAX:

[63] (2) 301-2017

• two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red;
• a white equilateral triangle is based on the hoist side;
• the center of the triangle displays a yellow sun with eight primary rays;
• each corner of the triangle contains a small, yellow, five-pointed star;
• blue stands for peace and justice, red symbolizes courage, the white equal-sided triangle represents equality;
• the rays recall the first eight provinces that sought independence from Spain, while the stars represent the three major geographical divisions of the country:
  • Luzon,
  • Visayas,
  • and Mindanao
  ;
• the design of the flag dates to 1897

note: in wartime the flag is flown upside down with the red band at the top

agriculture:

25.4%

industry:

18.3%

services:

56.3% (2017 est.)

lowest 10%:

29.5% (2015 est.)

highest 10%:

29.5% (2015 est.)

general assessment:

good international radiotelephone and submarine cable services; domestic and interisland service adequate (2016)

domestic:

telecommunications infrastructure includes the following platforms: fixed line, mobile cellular, cable TV, over-the-air TV, radio and Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), fiber-optic cable, and satellite for redundant international connectivity (2016)

international:

• country code - 63;
• a series of submarine cables together provide connectivity to the US, and to countries like Hong Kong, Guam, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Brunei, and Malaysia, among others;
• multiple international gateways (2016)

• multiple national private TV and radio networks;
• multi-channel satellite and cable TV systems available;
• more than 400 TV stations;
• about 1,500 cable TV providers with more than 2 million subscribers, and some 1,400 radio stations;
• the Philippines adopted Japan’s Integrated Service Digital Broadcast – Terrestrial standard for digital terrestrial television in November 2013 and is scheduled to complete the switch from analog to digital broadcasting by the end of 2023 (2016)

number of registered air carriers:

11 (2015)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 158 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

32,230,986 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

484,190,968 mt-km (2015)

total:

77 km (2017)

standard gauge:

49 km 1.435-m guage (2017)

narrow gauge:

28 km 1.067-m gauge (2017)

total:

216,387 km (2014)

paved:

61,093 km (2014)

unpaved:

155,294 km (2014)

total:

1,508 (2017)

by type:

bulk carrier 64, container ship 33, general cargo 627, oil tanker 184, other 600 (2017)

major seaport(s):

Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Liman, Manila

container port(s) (TEUs):

Manila (4,523,339) (2016)

• 17-23 years of age (officers 20-24) for voluntary military service;
• no conscription;
• applicants must be single male or female Philippine citizens with either 72 college credit hours (enlisted) or a baccalaureate degree (officers) (2013)

• the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the South China Sea as high risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships;
• during 2017, 22 attacks were reported in and around the Philippines including 19 ships that were boarded, one fired upon, 10 crewman kidnapped for ransom, and two killed;
• an emerging threat area lies in the Celebes and Sulu Seas between the Philippines and Malaysia where it is believed the pirates involved are associated with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) terrorist organization;
• numerous commercial vessels have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and while underway;
• hijacked vessels are often disguised and cargo diverted to ports in East Asia;
• crews have been murdered or cast adrift

Jemaah Islamiyah (JI):

aim(s): enhance its networks in the Philippines and, ultimately, overthrow the Philippine Government and establish a pan-Islamic state across Southeast Asia

area(s) of operation:

maintains an operational and recruitment presence, especially in the south (April 2018)