To our humble allies, the United states, and to my fellow pacific islanders, I am here to speak on behalf of my country, the Philippines. My name is president Manuel L. Quezon, and I was the first president to be elected by my people but the second president of my country. I am a prime example of a typical filipino, as I have direct relation to a spanish heritage. Our history has been influenced by foreigners from the beginning of our existence, as my country is made up of thousands of islands. The Philippines was first discovered by a spanish explorer named Ferdinand magellan, who was later killed by native tribes that inhabited the island. The Philippines was then occupied by spain from 1521-1898, and spain brought with them many traditions and culture that left a major imprint on the filipino society. The spaniards most importantly brought religion, which was their justification for coming into our islands. We filipinos are for the most part, dedicated christians and similar to the spaniards our lives are deeply influenced by christian ideals. Spanish influence is still seen daily, as much of the architecture is still standing, as our buildings are modelled after their designs. Also our predominant language, tagalog, has many spanish roots which is all attributed to the colonization. The spanish also influenced our cuisine and even our work ethic and mentality. Later on in 1896 the Filipino people began to revolt and the spaniards and later was seized by the americans. The americans then occupied the Philippines from 1902 until the Japanese came in and brutally murdered thousands of americans to later take control of our wonderful islands. On another note the filipino economy is mostly based off it's arable lands, agriculture and rich minerals. To be precise, timber, petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, and copper. At the time of the invasion the Philippines was allied with the Americans as the filipinos began to accept the Americans. We can see the bond that was formed with the filipinos through the relationship General Douglas MacArthur had with my country. Mr. MacArthur you love the Philippines just as much as I do, as you were given control over my forces and when we were forced to retreat to Bataan, you swore you would come back. And without a doubt, because of your passion for these islands, you returned and swept the japanese out of our islands. The Philippines is a country that has been pushed around and colonized, but the japanese intended to over throw and upset our way of life through any means necessary. We are a people Show More
