THE PHILIPPINES

on the 4th of July 1946 every man woman and child in the Philippines turned out to celebrate the most significant holiday in their country's history in Manila citizens witnessed the fulfillment of a dream that was centuries old their country nurtured by the United States for 48 years at last became an independent nation a new democracy with the government like ours based on an enlightened Constitution and Bill of Rights [Applause] [Music] the New Republic of the Philippines consists of more than 7,000 islands lying between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea [Music] the largest of them are Luzon in the north where Manila the capital is situated and Mindanao in the South the islands lie in the torrid zone they have little variation in temperature which in nearly all of them ranges between 70 and 90 degrees humidity is high and the annual rainfall is heavy discovered over 400 years ago by the Explorer Magellan who named them after his king philip ii of spain the Philippines were ruled by the Spaniards for more than 200 years Spain left its mark upon the architecture the language and the people in many different ways then in 1898 under the command of Admiral Dewey the American fleet defeated the Spaniards and the United States occupied the Philippines during the years that followed our country encouraged that Filipinos to become strong enough to be free at their military academy modeled after our own West Point we help them train their own officers [Music] and their own army [Music] most important we guided them in educating their people and in establishing a democratic political system [Music] yet before the dream of independence could be realized came World War two the bombing of the open city of Manila on 26 December 1941 [Music] in the fierce and hopeless battles that followed there were four Philippine soldiers for every American soldier [Music] the brave struggle of the Filipinos before the American surrender and during the long years of occupation that followed earned the deserved respect of the whole world when at last the islands were liberated the people of the Philippines have contributed as much toward the victory as any other group of Americans with the help of the United States they said about the tremendous job of rehabilitating their people and reconstructing their war-torn country most of the 20 million Filipinos like ourselves are a mixture of races except for a handful of pygmies the negritos who keep to themselves in the mountain forests the Filipinos are descended from peoples who came from Indonesia and the mainland of Asia the vast majority of Filipinos have been Christians ever since the Spaniards ruled the country some 15 million Catholics almost 2 million members of the Philippine independent church and about half a million Protestants make the Philippines the only Christian nation in the Far East [Music] there are also over half a million pagans some Buddhists and Shintoists and mainly in the south of Mindanao about 800,000 mohammedans the Morrow's the Morrow's biggest town by the way is a place you've heard of Zamboanga where the monkeys have no tales [Music] most of the Filipinos live north of Mindanao in the Visayan group of islands and in Luzon the greatest number of them are farmers living in countless small towns and Barrios [Music] their basic crop like that of other people throughout the Orient is rice [Music] although their living standards are higher than those of most Asiatics they live simply and work hard for many thousands of other Filipinos fishing is a means of livelihood from the sea and from the inland waters of the islands and increasing harvest of fish is sent to market each year [Music] it is an essential addition to the rice which is the main course in almost every meal to improve the living standards of the people of the Philippines the new republic with the help of the United States is encouraging the development of the natural resources of the islands that the pod Rafi is varied mountains hills and Plains are found on nearly all the larger islands in every area there is a wealth of natural resources [Music] minerals are one of the most important raw materials in western Luzon ore deposits of chromite used in the manufacture of steel iron ore is found on almost all the larger islands there are also it was it's a goal with the help of new mining equipment gold production is increasing nearly half of the land area of the Philippines is forested besides mahogany there are other hardwoods practically unknown abroad coconut palms which grow through the country make the New Republic the world's leading producer of coconut products from dried coconut or copra is extracted a valuable oil much used in making soap ibaka flourishes in the southern islands the tough Ibaka fiber is one of the Philippines best known products Manila hemp the raw hemp is prepared for market on the plantations later the fibers will be woven into marine rope which has an extraordinary resistance to water damage sugarcane is a crop of great importance to the Philippine economy the present yearly sugar production has already passed the pre-war peat electricity is a public service now available in most large cities and in many smaller communities the power of the country's rivers and streams helped supply an ever growing quantity of electric power to the expanding Philippine industries 50 years ago shoes were a luxury which only a small proportion of the Philippine people could afford today shoe manufacturing is becoming an important industry employment in the hemp industry is growing all the time as factories become electrified the hemp fibers are woven into tough Manila rope famous around the world since the days of the old clipper ships a growing quantity of other goods are making the words made in the Philippines an important trademark throughout the world Manila is a great trading centre it's magnificent harbor is known as the pearl of the Orient rebuilt since the war it now handles twice its pre-war cargo the Philippines ships and their modern air fleet carry visitors and goods from every corner of the world knowing that the future of any country depends mainly on the strength skill and imagination of its people the New Republic has spared no efforts to educate its citizens with American help the Filipino colleges and public schools excellent in pre-war days have been restored and expanded [Music] English is the language used for teaching in the schools Tagalog one of the 87 languages and dialects spoken throughout the islands is however a required subject in all elementary grades medical schools graduate an increasing number of doctors and nurses public health education teaches the people by every educational means how to avoid disease the Filipinos justly proud of what they have accomplished still face many problems some are natural to a new country others are created by the Communists the New Republic a member of the United Nations was one of the first to denounce the red aggression in Korea [Music] ship loads of Filipino troops were sent to Korea to fight side by side with other United Nations soldiers [Music] other Filipino soldiers remained at home to fight the Hutt's groups of Communists organized guerrillas who raid and plunder villages and then retreat into the hill the Philippine Islands are an essential link in the free worlds defense arc in the Far East because they lie only 65 miles from communist threatened Formosa and only 400 miles from Communist held China their own army is not sufficient for their defense for the mutual protection of the New Republic and the u.s. American bases have been set up throughout the islands already the people of the Philippines have met as great a test as any nation ever encountered with their resources human as well as material their prosperity need face no limitations [Music] devoted to their country and loyal to their friends in other free lands they are building a firm foundation for their progress and for the defense and peace of the free world [Music]