1987 Edition

Boundary disputes

none; involved in complex dispute over Spratley Islands with China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei

Budget

revenues, $4.3 billion, expenditures, $5.7 billion, deficit, $1.4 billion (1986)

Climate

tropical marine; northeast monsoon (December to May); southwest monsoon (July to October)

Coastline

36,289 km

Comparative area

slightly larger than Nevada

Continental shelf

to depth of exploitation

Environment

astride typhoon belt, affected by 15 and struck by five to six cyclonic storms per year; subject to landslides, active volcanoes, destructive earthquakes; deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution

Extended economic zone

200 nm

Fiscal year

calendar year

Land use

26% arable land; 11% permanent crops; 4% meadows and pastures; 40% forest and woodland; 19% other; includes 5% irrigated

Maritime claims

(measured from claimed archipelagic baselines)

Monetary conversion rate

(floating) 20.43 pesos=US$1 (December 1986)

Special notes

none

Terrain

mostly mountains with narrow to extensive coastal lowlands

Territorial sea

irregular polygon up to 285 nm in breadth

Total area

500 km ’ Philippine South Sea China SND Sea Seone Say 3 Cab Pal 4 ‘ aa Negros (a) ¥ Sulu Sea 4 a Zamboangaf/ A) Mindanao “es © CelebesSea .

300,000 km?; land area: 298,170 km?

Ethnic divisions

91.5% Christian Malay, 4% Muslim Malay, 1.5% Chinese, 3% other

Infant mortality rate

59/1,000 (1982)

Labor force

21,643 million (1985); 47.0% agriculture, 20% industry and commerce, 13.5% services, 10.0% government, 9.5% other; 6.1% official unemployment rate (1985); much underemployment

Language

Pilipino (based on Tagalog) and English (both official)

Life expectancy

64

Literacy

about 88%

Nationality

noun—Filipino(s); adjective— Philippine

Organized labor

2,064 registered unions; total membership 4.8 million (includes 2.7 million members of the National Congress of Farmers Organizations)

Population

61,524,761 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.70%

Religion

83% Roman Catholic, 9% Protestant, 5% Muslim, 3% Buddhist and other

Administrative divisions

73 provinces and 61 chartered cities

Branches

constitution provides for a bicameral legislature and a presidential form of government with a directly elected President and Vice President; judicial branch headed by Supreme Court with descending authority in a three-tiered system of local, regional trial, and intermediate appellate courts

Communists

the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) controls about 23,200 full-time insurgents; not recognized as legal party; a second Communist party, the pro-Soviet Philippine Communist Party (PKP), has quasi-legal status

Elections

presidential election held on 7 February 1986; Ferdinand Marcos initially declared winner; following civil unrest and military rebellion, he left office and Aquino assumed presidency; legislative elections scheduled for May 1987, with local elections to follow in August

Government leaders

Corazon AQUINO, President (since February 1986); Salvador LAUREL, Vice President and Foreign Minister (since February 1986)

Legal system

based on Spanish, Islamic, and Anglo-American law; new constitution passed 1987; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Member of

ADB, ASEAN, ASPAC, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, 1HO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day

Official name

Republic of the Philippines

Political parties

national parties are PDP-Laban; United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO), Liberals, Nacionalistas; Partido Ng Bayan (PNB)

Suffrage

universal and compulsory

Type

republic Capital; Manila (de facto), Quezon City (designated)

Agriculture

rice, corn, coconut, sugarcane, bananas, abaca, tobacco; illegal producer of cannabis for the international drug trade

Electric power

6,350,000 kW capacity; 22,000 million kWh produced, 370 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$4.6 billion (f.0.b., 1986 est.); coconut products, sugar, logs and lumber, copper concentrates, bananas, garments, nickel, electrical components, gold

Fishing

catch 1.8 million metric tons (1983)

GNP

$34.5 billion, $580 per capita; 1% real growth, (1986 est.)

Imports

$5.2 billion (f.0.b., 1986 est.); petroleum, industrial equipment, wheat

Major industries

textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, electronics assembly

Major trade partners

(1983) exports— 36% US, 20% Japan; imports—23% US, 17% Japan

Natural resources

timber, petroleum, nickel, iron, cobalt, silver, gold

Airfields

319 total, 270 usable; 69 with permanent-surface runways; 9 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 5] with runways 1,220-2,439 m Telecommunications; good international radio and submarine cable services; domestic and interisland service adequate; 872,900 telephones (1.5 per 100 popl.); 267 AM stations, including 6 US; 55 FM stations; 33 TV stations, including 4 US; submarine cables extended to Hong Kong, Guam, Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan; 1 international satellite ground station; 1] domestic satellite stations

Civil air

53 major transport aircraft

Highways

156,000 km total (1984); 29,000 km paved; 77,000 km gravel, crushed stone, or stabilized soil surface; 50,000 km unimproved earth

Inland waterways

3,219 km; limited to shallow-draft (less than 1.5 m) vessels

Pipelines

refined products, 357 km

Ports

10 major, numerous minor

Railroads

378 km operable on Luzon (1982), 34% government owned; 116 km on Panay, privately owned

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Constabulary—Integrated National Police

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 December 1987, $585 million; about 9.3% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 14,926,000; 10,557,000 fit for military service; 649,000 reach military age (20) annually (1986)