BEAUTIFUL PHILIPPINES A Handbook of General Information MANILA BUREAU of PRINTING 1923 Prepared by the Philippine Commission of Independence Manila, P.I. CONTENTS Page Foreword 15 I. Historical Background 17 Discovery 17 The Spanish Rule--A Tale of Wars and Uprisings 17 Reforms in the 19th Century 18 Last Decades of Spanish Rule--The Coming of the Americans 19 Filipino-American War 20 The establishment of Civil Government 20 II. The Material Spain Found 21 Power of Propaganda to Misrepresent 21 Non-Christian Population 21 Literacy 22 Facts of Filipino Attainments in Pre-Spanish Days 22 Religion, Alphabet, and Books 23 Traders and Artisans 24 Able Agriculturists 24 Written and Unwritten Laws 24 The Code of Calantiao 25 Testimonies of Occidental Writers 26 Progress During the Spanish Rule 27 Schools and Colleges 27 Filipino Record Abroad 28 Opinions of Foreign Writers 28 Background on Which America Had Built 29 III. The First Philippine Republic 30 Causes of Earlier Revolutions 30 The Revolution of 1896 30 The Pact of Biac-na-Bato 30 The Republic 31 The Governmental Machinery Set Up 31 The Malolos Constitution--Its Salient Features 32 Comments of Foreigners 34 IV. Population of the Islands 37