Glossary -- Philippines
- barangay
- Malay term for boat; also came to be used for the communal
settlements established by migrants who came from the Indonesian
archipelago and elsewhere. The term replaces the word
barrio, formerly used to identify the lowest political
subdivision in the Philippines.
- Brady Plan
- A plan proposed by United States Treasury secretary Nicholas
Brady for lending by the International Monetary Fund
(q.v.), World Bank (q.v.), and creditor
governments to finance debtor country purchase of their foreign-
currency debt at the discounted prices at which the debt
instruments were trading in secondary markets.
- colorums
- Folk Christian religious communities derived from the 1839-41
Cofradía de San José movement, which spread through the islands
thereafter and were the focus of resistance to American rule in
the early twentieth century. Term derived from the phrase per
omnia saecula saeculorum (world without end), which Roman
Catholic priests used to close their Latin prayers.
- Cominform (Communist Information
Bureau)
- An international organization of communist parties, founded
and controlled by the Soviet Union in 1947 and dissolved in 1956.
The Cominform published propaganda touting international
communist solidarity but was primarily a tool of Soviet foreign
policy.
- crony
- A term used to describe an individual who was able to exploit
connections with former President Marcos to gain wealth and
economic position.
- current account
- Exports and imports of goods and services, net factor income
from abroad, and unilateral transfers (gifts and foreign aid).
- EDSA Revolution
- The February 1986 uprising, also called People's
Power(q.v.) , that ousted President Ferdinard E. Marcos.
EDSA stands for Epifanio de los Santos, a ring road around Manila
that was the site of confrontation between pro-Marcos and anti-
Marcos forces.
- exclusive economic zone (EEZ)
- A wide belt of sea and seabed adjacent to the national
boundaries where the state claims preferential fishing rights and
control over the exploitation of mineral and other natural
resources. Boundary disagreements with neighboring states
sometimes prevent the extension of the EEZ to the full limits
claimed. The Philippines claims a 200-nautical mile EEZ, now
considered the international standard.
- fiscal year (FY)
- Calendar year.
- gross domestic product (GDP)
- A value measure of the flow of domestic goods and services
produced by an economy over a period of time, such as a year.
Only output values of goods for final consumption and investment
are included because the values of primary and intermediate
production are assumed to be included in final prices. GDP is
sometimes aggregated and shown at market prices, meaning that
indirect taxes and subsidies are included; when these have been
eliminated, the result is GDP at factor cost. The word
gross indicates that deductions for depreciation of
physical assets have not been made. See also gross
national product.
- gross national product (GNP)
- Gross domestic product (q.v.) plus the net income or
loss stemming from transactions with foreign countries. GNP is
the broadest measurement of the output of goods and services of
an economy. It can be calculated at market prices, which include
indirect taxes and subsidies. Because indirect taxes and
subsidies are only transfer payments, GNP is often calculated at
factor cost by removing indirect taxes and subsidies.
- Huks, or Huk
- Short form of Hukbalahap, itself the abbreviated form of the
Tagalog name for the guerrilla force established in 1942, known
as the People's Anti-Japanese Army (Hukbong Bayan Laban sa
Hapon). In 1946 renamed the People's Liberation Army (Hukbong
Mapagpalaya ng Bayan).
- ilustrados
- Literally, enlightened ones, the Philippine elite during the
Spanish colonial period.
- International Monetary Fund
(IMF)
- Established along with the World Bank (q.v.) in
1945, the IMF is a specialized agency affiliated with the United
Nations and is responsible for stabilizing international exchange
loans to its members (including industrialized and developing
countries) when they experience balance of payments difficulties.
These loans frequently carry conditions that require substantial
internal economic adjustments by the recipients, most of which
are developing countries.
- liberation theology
- An activist movement led by Roman Catholic clergy who trace
their inspiration to Vatican Council II (1963-65), where some
church views were liberalized, and the Second Latin American
Bishops' Conference in Medellín, Colombia (1968), which endorsed
greater direct efforts to improve the lot of the poor. Advocates
of liberation theology have introduced a radical interpretation
of the Bible, one that employs Marxist terminology to analyze and
condemn the wide disparities between the wealthy elite and the
impoverished masses in most underdeveloped countries. This
reflection often leads advocates to organize to improve living
standards through cooperatives and civic improvement projects.
- mestizos
- The offspring of Filipino and non-Filipino marriages;
includes those of Spanish-Filipino parentage (Spanish mestizos)
and Chinese-Filipino parentage (Chinese mestizos).
- Metro Manila
- Metropolitan Manila; also called the National Capital Region.
Includes the cities of Manila, Pasay, Caloocan, and Quezon City
and several other major population centers.
- Moro
- Spanish word for Moor; name given by Spanish to Muslim
Filipinos and still used. Moros mostly inhabit southern and
eastern Mindanao, the Sulu Archipelago, and Palawan and have not
become assimilated into the mainstream of Philippine society.
- net domestic product/net national product
(NDP/NNP)
- Gross national product (q.v.) or gross domestic
product (q.v.) less capital consumption allowance and
indirect taxes or subsidies.
- People's Power
- The popular uprising that ousted President Ferdinard E.
Marcos in February 1986. The movement was best known as People's
Power in the United States, but in the Philippines it was also
referred to as the EDSA Revolution (q.v.).
- peso (P)
- Philippine currency, which is subdivided into 100 centavos.
In December 1991, the official exchange rate was US$1 equals
P26.70.
- structural adjustment loan
- A program loan, often by the World Bank (q.v.), to
effect a structural adjustment program to liberalize an economy.
Programs involve maintaining a flexible exchange rate, lowering
tariffs, removing quantitative restrictions on international
trade, and relaxing price and other market controls.
- Sunni (from sunna,
orthodox))
- A member of the larger of the two great divisions of Islam.
- Tagalog
- Large ethnolinguistic group indigenous to central and
southern Luzon, particularly around Manila. The Tagalog language
is the basis for Pilipino, the national language of the
Philippines.
- terms of trade
- The average price of exports divided by the average price of
imports; the quantity of imports that can be purchased per unit
of exports.
- value added
- Price of output less purchased inputs; valuation of
contribution by enterprise to the product; sum of wages,
interest, rent, and profit.
- World Bank
- Informal name used to designate a group of three affiliated
international institutions: the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International
Development Association (IDA), and the International Finance
Corporation (IFC). The IBRD, established in 1945, has the primary
purpose of providing loans to developing countries for productive
projects. The IDA, a legally separate loan fund but administered
by the staff of the IBRD, was set up in 1960 to furnish credits
to the poorest developing countries on much easier terms than
those of conventional IBRD loans. The IFC, founded in 1956,
supplements the activities of the IBRD through loans and
assistance designed specifically to encourage the growth of
productive private enterprises in the less developed countries.
The president and certain senior officers of the IBRD hold the
same positions in the IFC. The three institutions are owned by
the governments of the countries that subscribe their capital. To
participate in the World Bank group, member states must first
belong to the International Monetary Fund (IMF--q.v.).