Official Miguel Sabah To

What was Jose Rizal’s point for fighting our freedom?

Although he initially joined Marcelo H. del Pilar in the Propaganda Movement, he never lost his sights on eventual independence. This was encapsulated with his concept of “liwanag-dilim-liwanag” (light-darkness-light). The first “liwanag” corresponds to the pre-Hispanic period, where Philippine societies exist in peace and prosperity and its inhabitants are free from the yokes of colonialism. The “dilim” came with the arrival of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. This “dilim” lasted for three hundred years until Rizal’s time. The second “liwanag”, Rizal believe, would also bring peace and prosperity to Filipinos only if they ultimately destroy the yoke of Spanish imperialism. Rizal believed that the ushering of “liwanag” will inevitably occur, but in his meeting with Pio Valenzuela, he argued that Filipinos should be prepared to rule themselves before that time comes; hence, his initial support of del Pilar’s drive for equal representation for both Spanish and Indios.Some of the members of Propaganda Movement became frustrated at the lack of progress of their lobbying and the movement eventually split into two: the “assimilationist” faction headed by del Pilar and the “separatist” faction headed by Rizal and Antonio Luna. Rizal’s faction eventually parted ways and went on to establish La Liga Filipina.Upon his final return to Philippines, Rizal even attempted bringing “liwanag”, that is, realizing his dream of uplifting fellow Filipinos by conducting several civil projects during his exile in Dapitan, even including a plan to establish a Filipino colony in Sabah. This would be cut short when he have to face charges filed against him in Manila.

Hypothetical Question: What would the Philippines be like if it was Muslim predominant country?

We'd be Brunei. Historically, 30% of the Philippines was already conquered by the Bruneian empire when the Spaniards led by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi arrived in the Philippines, including Manila. There will be no Philippines because a large portion will have been part of Brunei along with Palawan, Sulu, Sabah and Sarawak. While the few islands in the north (Pampanga, Pangasinan, Ilocos, the Mountain Province) will probably be part of Taiwan. Or it is also possible that the Bruneian empire will take those islands. The reason Brunei conquered Manila is because Pampanga and Mindoro were controlling the monopoly of Chinese goods and trades and it was aftecting the industry in Brunei. Mindoro and Pampanga were tributary states to China at that time.So what would have happened to the Philippines? There will be no lechon, no fiestas in every island each month, we wont be as attached to showbizness, no leche flan, no longest Christmas, no serenades and other latin-styled romantic courtship, no mestizos, no touchy-feely friendship, no penchant to playing guitars or singing karaoke. We certainly won’t have Quezon city/province nor will Manuel Quezon exist.(Manuel L. Quezon - Philippine president 1933–1945)Our matriarchal ancestors wont be wearing this:Circa: 1800sNo Filipina great-grandma will look like this:We wont have classic stars that look like these:Here is the former Philippine president Joseph Estrada in his heydays.Our architectural landscape wont have this:There even used to be a bullring in Manila.In short, Philippines and Filipinos will cease to exist.

Can the Philippines defeat Malaysia in a war?

Nope. Neither of these countries can defeat the other. This has to do with water. Again.Sure, they are quite close. However, Nazi Germany was quite close to Great Britain in 1940. There was no attempted invasion then, despite the Nazis having the superior air force and army.According to the website at the very bottom, Malaysia has a higher military budget than the Philippines. Malaysia spends 1.13% of their budget a year on the military. This amounts to 3.6 billion dollars US. The Philippines spend 1.3% of their GDP on the military a year. This amounts to 3 billion dollars US. Malaysia 1, Philippines 0.Malaysia has fewer men in the field. 110,000 Malaysians are in active duty, while 125,000 Filipinos are currently in active duty. The Malaysians have more than double the number of Filipino reserves, 296,300 to 131,000. However, the Philippines has more people to mobilize. More than 25 million Filipinos can be mobilized, while about 14.8 million Malaysians can also be mobilized. Malaysia 1, Philippines 1.Malaysia has more heavy equipment for their army. The Philippines has no tanks, rocket artillery, and no self propelled. Malaysia has 74 tanks, 30 SPGs, and 54 rocket artillery pieces. Malaysia 2, Philippines 1.Malaysia also has more aircraft. Malaysia has 48 fighters to the Philippines’s 2. Malaysia has 45 multi-role craft to the Philippines’s 0. The Philippines does have 23 attack planes to Malaysia’s 0. The Philippines also has 124 helicopters to Malaysia’s 72. I would say that this could go either way. Malaysia will have air dominance. But the Philippines will have more ground support weapons. Malaysia 2.5, Philippines 1.5.Naval superiority would be in the hands of the Philippines with double the total number of ships, 132 to 63. The Philippines has double the numbers of frigates and corvettes than Malaysia does. Malaysia has two submarines to Philippines zero. Malaysia 2.5, Philippines 2.5.It would be a stalemate. However, Malaysia would gain an advantage over time, due to the superior economy of the Malaysia. Malaysia could buy up more and better equipment. Malaysia could afford to buy up a navy that is superior to the Philippines. Also, Malaysia is probably in a better position politically and will gain allies over time.Malaysia vs Philippines | Comparison military strength.No, the Philippines cannot defeat Malaysia in a war.

What are the most commonly spoken languages in Southeast Asia?

Thanks for the A2A, Miguel Paraz. :)I presume you mean as a region, right?  According to John Hartmann, Professor of Thai at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at Northern Illinois University, there are four main indigenous language families spoken in Southeast Asia, with some samples of the largest languages (official languages in bold):Sino-Tibetan: Burmese, Tai–Kadai languages (Thai, Lao)Austroasiatic (Mon–Khmer): Mon, Khmer, VietnameseAustronesian: Malay, Indonesian, Philippine languages (Tagalog/Filipino, Ilokano), ChamPapuan: Timor–Alor–Pantar languages ("Timorese")Meanwhile, the most common foreign languages are dialects of Chinese, especially in Singapore and other major cities in the region, and English.