The Philippines
The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization. In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the first Hispanic settlement in the archipelago was established.The Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Catholicism becoming the dominant religion. During this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons.
As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, there followed in quick succession the Philippine Revolution, which spawned the short-lived First Philippine Republic, followed by the bloody Philippine–American War of conquest by US military force. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, when the Philippines was recognized as an independent nation.
Today, the Philippines is a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country which is in chronic crisis. It is agrarian and underdeveloped, and the majority of people live in the countryside as peasants. The current President, Rodrigo Duterte, is a lawyer and behaves as a bureaucrat capitalist, capable of saying and doing anything – pleasing the left, the middle, or the right, depending on what serves him from moment to moment.
YPRC supports the revolutionary movement for a self-determining Philippines, especially those efforts led by Anakbayan, the comprehensive national democratic mass organization of Filipino youth and students in the US. YPRC aligns with the following statement presented by Anakbayan: “Philippine society today is not truly free nor democratic. It is under the control of U.S imperialism, along with local landlords, big capitalists, and corrupt government officials. The National Democratic Struggle seeks to realize true national liberation for the country and the realization of the democratic rights of the people.”
Young People's Resistance Committee 