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Site any relevance of our history in today’s situation catering the following periods:

1. Spanish Colonization

The Spaniards ruled the Philippines for almost 333 years. The influence of Spanish colonization has
become permanently embedded in Filipino culture. Before Spaniards came here in the Philippines, our
ancestors were worshipping to Bathala and Anitos. The Spanish colonization introduced the Roman
Catholic religion in the Philippines and almost 80 % of the Filipinos being Roman Catholic at present day.

Under the Claveria Decree of 1849, Filipinos are required to adapt Spanish names such as Cruz, River,
Santos and etc.. .Also, many words that were used today were borrowed from Spanish language like
mesa, asul, berde and etc..

2. American Period

In American Period, the people began to be free to join whatever religion they wanted. (During the
Spanish rule, the Catholic church was established as the national religion and was strongly enforced).
Because of this new found religious freedom, there began to be many different churches besides
Catholicism. Protestantism became widespread, since majority of schoolteachers appointed by the
Americans were Protestant ministers. In addition, Jehovah's Witnesses and the Seventh-day Adventist
Church were introduced by their respective American missionaries, both of which are still active in the
Philippines up to this day. Currently, the majority of Filipinos are Catholics, while the remaining fraction
is composed of Muslims, as well as members of Evangelicalism, Iglesia ni Cristo, Philippine Independent
Church (Aglipayan), and various other religions. Today, it’s remarkable to see just how many different
Christian churches there are in the Philippines – this religious diversity has become a big part of the
culture.

In the field of infrastructure, boulevards, cone district, urban planning and centers of leisure were
established. Free education is considered the greatest influence of Americans to Filipinos. Siliman
University is said to be the oldest university that have been established under the American Period.

3. World War II (Japanese Occupation)

Japan invaded the Philippines from about January 1942 until October 1944. This short period of time
was not enough for the Japanese to establish the foundation of their culture into our already-shaped
Filipino culture. Despite of this, the Filipinos were still able to learn some things from the Japanese.

During Japanese Occupation, Curfew was implemented in Manila. It has become a Filipino practice to
remove the slippers from one’s feet before entering the house. This is in fact an Asian custom that the
Filipinos learned from the Japanese – they were the only Asian colonizers of the Philippines. Back then,
the Japanese introduced martial arts to the people of the Philippines. Famous examples of which include
Aikido, Judo, and Karate.

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 4. Martial Law under Marcos Regime

When Filipinos hear “Martial Law” the first thing that pops up to their mind is Marcos Regime while in
other countries it means safety and order. Marcos Regime was considered the golden age of the
Philippines. Marcos embarked on an exceptional level of infrastructure spending, building roads, bridges
and other civil works throughout the country. While it’s true that infrastructure spending surged in the
mid-1970s (as indicated by gross fixed capital formation), this was accompanied by soaring external
debt, which proved to be the misery of the economy when the country can no longer pay for these in
the 1980s. By then, infrastructure spending plunged to its lowest levels, taking years to recover.

In conclusion, this debt can be somehow compared to debt of Philippines in the Build, Build, Build
program of Duterte Administration.

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