TIMELINE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

1542	Spanish claim the islands
1898	Spain cedes the Philippines to the US
1902	The US establishes civil government to replace military rule
1935	The Commonwealth of the Philippines is established under President Manuel Quezon and the US promises independence in 10 years
1941	Japanese forces invade the islands
1944	The US retakes the islands
1946	The US grants the new Republic of the Philippines full independence
1965	Ferdinand Marcos becomes President
1969	Marcos is reelected despite allegations of elections fraud, Vietnam protests begin, Muslim separatists, begin the guerrilla war in the south
1972	Marcos declares martial law, suspends parliaments, arrests opposition leaders, and imposes censorship regulations
1973	The new constitution adopted granting Marcos broad powers
1981	Marcos wins reelection, martial law lifted
1983	Opposition leader Benigno Aquino killed as he returns to the Philippines from exile
1986	Marcos opposed in elections by Aquino’s widow Corazon, mass protests of election results in favor of Marcos forces him into exile
11 February 1987	New Constitution passed
1992	Aquino replaced as President by defense minister Fidel Ramos
1996	The peace agreement signed with the Muslim separatist group
1998	Joseph Estrada, former film star, elected President
January 2000	Impeachment trial against Estrada suspended, leading to mass protests which replace Estrada with Vice-President Gloria Arroyo
April 2001	Estrada found guilty of stealing more than 80 million dollars of state funds during Presidency, but later pardoned
June 2004	Arroyo elected to Presidency
2005	Arroyo resists the attempt to impeach her under allegations of vote-rigging, declares a state of emergency in response to an alleged military coup
2007-2009	Ethnic tensions mount between Islamic separatist groups and Christian majority
June 2010 2016	Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, son of Corazon Aquino, elected President Rodrigo Roa Duterte elected President