Insular Southeast Asia - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 482

Figure 16-24
The Philippines. Note the focus of activity
on Luzon and the Visayan Islands. From
H. J. de Blij and P . O. Muller, Geography:
Realms, Regions and Concepts , 14th edition,
2010, p. 574. Originally rendered in color.
© H. J. de Blij and P . O. Muller. Reprinted
with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

116 ° 120 °

THE PHILIPPINES

Batan
Islands

Areas affected by
Muslim insurgency

20 °

Core area

Babuyan
Islands

Railroad Road

National capital is underlined

vz

Cape Engaño

Laoag

Aparri
Tuguegarao

0 100 200 300 Kilometers

Vigan 0 100 200 Miles

Luzon

Baguio

Cape Bolinao

Dagupan

16 ° 16 °

San Carlos

Cabanatuan

Mt. Pinatubo
1,486 m.
(4,874 ft.)

Quezon
City

Polillo
Islands

Bataan
Peninsula

Manila

Daet

Lucena

Catanduanes

Batangas

Lipa

Mt. Mayon
2,421 m.
(7,943 ft.)

Calapan Naga

Iriga

Legazpi

Mindoro

Bulan

Catarman

Samar

Calbayog

Masbate

12 ° 12 °

Calamian
Group

Catbalogan

Visayan

Spratly

Roxas

Taclob a n

C uyo

Panay

Ormoc

Flat I.

Bacolod

Iloilo

Cebu

Leyte

Islands

Islands San

Carlos

C e bu

Islands

Palawan

Negros Bohol

Surigao

Puerto
Princesa

Dumaguete

Butuan

Dipolog
Ozamiz
Pagadian

Cagayan
de Oro

Iligan

8 ° 8 °

Mindanao

Cotabato

Davao

Datu
Piang Zamboa n ga

Basilan

General
Santos

MALAYSIA

Tinaca Point

INDONESIA

120 ° 124 ° Longitude East of Greenwich

or Mexican-Filipino mix) organized the entrepôt' s trade
and soon became the most influential political and eco-
nomic force in the Philippines.
Power was vested in Luzon in the north. Efforts to
control the Muslim-controlled Sulu archipelago and
Mindanao were repeatedly rebuffed by the Islamic sul-
tanate. These regions were not incorporated into the
Philippines until the American takeover at the end of the
nineteenth century .
Spanish control was based on a close relationship be-
tween church and state. Jesuit, Dominican, and Colom-

bian friars were sent into the countryside to proselytize
and at the same time establish plantations. T Today, , more
than 80 percent of Filipinos are Roman Catholic. Eventu-
ally , a state-controlled tobacco monopoly was established
in northern Luzon with local people forced to provide
the labor.
As the galleon trading monopoly came to a close, the
islands were open to private investors and traders. In
1785, the Spanish established the Royal Philippine Com-
pany to invest in export crops such as sugar, coffee, indigo,
and pepper. By exporting these crops, the Philippines