A historical perspective of the Philippine nation and beyond.

Before Ferdinand Magellan set foot on Mactan Island, Cebu, the Filipinos have a rich culture. Philippine society has developed their own form of government, written and spoken language, a religion based on animism and Islam, and trading to other nations in the Far East. Christianity was brought into the archipelago by the Spaniards. Francisco Dagohoy of Bohol was the first Filipino Christian who led the revolt against the colonists after the Spanish friars refused to initiate burial ceremonies for his brother. There were lots of uprisings in various points in the Philippines that led to the Philippine Revolution inspired by Gat Jose Rizal and Gat Andres Bonifacio. The two led the revolution in opposite directions. One used the pen and one used the sword. In June 12, 1898, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo established the First Philippine Republic after the crushing defeat of the Spanish stronghold in Manila Bay. It has been said that the Americans liberated the Philippines for the first time.

There are many conflicting stories about the history of the Philippines. After Spain ceded its authority of the archipelago to the United States, the United States established its colony and began to rule over the Filipinos. The Filipino-American War broke out on the night of February 4, 1899, after two American privates on patrol killed three Filipino soldiers in a suburb of Manila. Thus began a war that would last for more than two years. The Filipinos were outgunned and haven’t been into war like this. If the Americans used bolos and spears by that time, the Filipinos may have won. The last Filipino general to surrender to the Americans was Gen. Miguel Malvar and the war ended and American rule flourished. Remnants of Americanistic ideology is found in the highest law of the land. Japan invaded the Philippines in 1942. Three years of chaos. Japan left nothing for the Filipinos except vast amounts of treasures
looted by the Japanese Imperial Army led by Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, the Tiger of Malaya, from other neighboring Asian nations.

American General Douglas McArthur returned to the Philippines in October 1945 and landed in Leyte to liberate the Philippines for the second time from the Japanese. No traces of Japanese culture were retained in the Philippine society because the Japanese has a homogeneous society.

On July 4, 1946, the United States of America brought down its flag and raised the Philippine flag with the red, white, and blue over the Philippine skies as the national hymn was being played. Did the Filipinos gain full independence? No. Under the treaty, the U.S. was given the right to share with the new Philippine Republic its rich natural resources. American intervention in the country’s internal affairs was a common thing. In 1991, the Americans left the Philippines after the Philippine Senate voted against the extension of the Military Bases Agreement. Was it a total gain of independence? The Filipinos believed that they can stand in their own feet without foreign intervention.

The Filipino people took over the Philippines. Since 1946, drastic changes in the Philippine society. Filipinos were eager of independence that they ended up to dependence to their former colonists. The next wave of colonists are the Filipinos. Having synthesized the various mentalities of the Arab, Chinese, Spaniard, American, and the Japanese, the Filipino has evolved a colonizer of its own people.

Virtualipinas is a nation without boundaries. Aside from being free from the colonial mentalities that has gone through the ages. Virtualipinos has evolved from being Filipinos and has set themselves apart from the mainstream. Virtualipinas–is the last frontier of the struggle towards a decolonized Philippines.