Spain
ruled the Philippines for 300 years. At the end of the Spanish-American
War in 1898, Spain ceded the Philippines to the Americans. The Americans
governed the country for 48 years. The Philippines finally gained her
independence on July 4, 1946. In 1986, the Marcos dictatorship ended when
a small military mutiny, led by General Fidel V. Ramos, triggered off the
People's Power Revolution of EDSA, catapulting Corazon C. Aquino to the
presidency. This phenomenon was a culmination of the people's sympathies
sparked into action by the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr. - the
husband of former President Aquino. Ramos then succeeded Aquino in 1992.
In the last 1998 presidential elections, former movie actor Joseph Ejercito Estrada was popularly elected and became the third president since the EDSA Revolution. His 2-year administration had sparked a mass revolt against the unconstitutional practice of governance to which the former President was tried in the first impeachment trial ever held in the Philippines. He was then succeeded by his former vice-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Caloocan City was formerly part of Tondo, Manila. She became an independent municipality in 1815. Under the American Regime, Caloocan became a town of the province of Rizal. In 1949, when Quezon City was created to be the Philippine capital, Caloocan lost some of her territories. This redefinition resulted to the City having two separate territories. In 1962, the humble town of Caloocan became a City under the former late Mayor Macario Asistio Sr through house bill 6038 which propelled the new city towards economic development. A few years ago, the long-ruling Asistio mayoralty (more than 40 years) was democratically deposed by the people of Caloocan by a landslide vote in favor of Reynaldo O. Malonzo, former city Vice-Mayor. From being a premier part of the metropolis in the 1960s, Caloocan was left behind in terms of economic progress by her Metro Manila neighbors. At Mayor Malonzo's election in early 1995, renewed vigor and vision-focused governance has started to propel the City in the economic direction