The Philippine Islands. A majestic archipelago nation with thousands of islands of many kinds. North and south, big and small. Mountains range across valleys and rice farms, while volcanoes stay silent for a long time, waiting to blow up someday. Hopefully never. Species, both common and rare, roam the lands through land, water, and air. This is where the mighty Philippine Eagle, the largest in the world resides, and the tough carabao, a farm animal and the national animal of the country.

With over seven thousand of them, this nation has become a cradle of different cultures and religions, from the indigenous Igorots in the Cordilleras, to the Muslim Davaoeños in Davao.

You can see fiestas are in the streets of barangays, celebrating their patron saints, along with many kinds of food in the party pantry like the big, meaty lechon and the sweet caramel taho. Then, by night, the locals would often burst into music through their karaoke machines, dueting songs, both OPM and foreign, bringing light to even the darkest evenings. Just be careful not to sing "My Way." They say that song is cursed, and whoever sings it dies a terrible death.

I'm just kidding. It's just a myth. You can sing any song that's available in the karaoke machine.

This is a nation of many wonders, indeed! How exciting it would be to live here and experience all of this! But you, my fellow reader, may be wondering, "Where did this all come from? What made the Philippines the Philippines? How did all of this came to be?"

Well, it's pretty simple. But first, we have to go 500 years into the past, in the 1500s during the time of Henry VIII and his sixth wife. For centuries, whole country was an archipelago of different kingdoms and societies, from the mighty Tondo Empire to the humble Sultanate of Maguindanao. But in 1565, a Spanish conquistador by the name Miguel Lopez de Legaspi conquered the islands and united them under Spanish rule, as part of the Spanish East Indies colony.

During their rule, they introduced a sweet new religion that's all about Jesus, the Messiah. Yes, I'm talking about Christianity, Roman Catholicism specifically. They also brought new education, Hispanic customs, and even Hispanic surnames, which is the reason Filipinos have last names like Diaz, Reyes, Garcia, Quezon, and Duñgo. They even introduced their legit new Baroque-style architecture, spanning from churches to mansions like. Just look at the church at Paoay and the old townhouses of Vigan! Aren't they awesome? Delightful? Stunning?