REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

Name of the Country: Republic of the Philippines

National Flag of the Republic of the Philippines

Emblem of the Country

Capital: Manila

Currency: Peso equivalent to 46 peso for one US dollar

Official language: Tagalog, but English language is being used widely as the major language of instruction in higher education, as well as official communications.

Location: The Philippines comprises an archipelago of some 7,107 islands located off Southeast Asia, between the South  China Sea on the west and the Philippine Sea on the east. The major islands are Luzon in the north, the Visayan Islands  in the middle, and Mindanao in the south.

Size: the total area is about 300,000 square kilometers, including  about 298,000 square kilometers of land and about 2,000 square  kilometers of water. The Philippines stretches about 1,850  kilometers from Y'Ami Island in the north to Sibutu Island  in the south and is about 1,000 kilometers at its widest point  east to west. The bulk of the population lives on 11 of the  7,107 islands.

Land Boundaries: The Philippines has no land boundaries. Nearby neighbors are Taiwan to the north, Malaysia and Indonesia to the south, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest.

Topography: The Philippines consists of volcanic islands, including active volcanoes, with mostly mountainous interiors surrounded by flat lowlands and alluvial plains of varying widths along the coasts. The elevation ranges from sea level to the highest point of Mount Apo on Mindanao Island, at 2,954 meters above sea level.

As of 1 January 2016, the population of Philippines was estimated to be 101 498 763 people. This is an increase of 1.58 % (1 579 720 people) compared to population of 99 919 043 the year before.

The current population of the Philippines is 102,352,186 as of Wednesday, July 27, 2016, based on the latest United Nations estimates.

Population growth rate: The annual growth rate is 2.1 percent, slightly slower than the 2.42 percent rate from 1990 to 1995.

local time: +5 Saudi time, +8 GMT.

Religions: Over 86% of the citizens in the Philippines are Roman Catholics while 9% practice different Protestant denominations.

Catholics: Over 86%.

Islam: 11%

Protestant: 8-9%.

Buddhism: 2%

Protestant: 11%.

Iglesia ni Kristo: 2%.

Major cities: Metro manila, Davao Cebu.

Climate: The Climate of the Philippines is either tropical rainforest, tropical savanna or tropical monsoon, or humid subtropical (in higher-altitude areas) characterized by relatively high temperature, oppressive humidity and plenty of rainfall. Temperature is usually between 21c/f and 32 c/f.

Number of Universities and Colleges (Public and Private): (2,299) 28.53% are Public, the rest are Private. There are four Universities in the Philippines that are Internationally recognized, these are: University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Santo Tomas and De la Salle University.

Number of Army Soldiers: (165,500).

Number of Police Personnel: (160,00) 

Number of Traffic Officers: (6,825) from the Police and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

Number of Hospitals: (1,800), 40% are public, 60% are private. Among the most prominent hospitals are: St. Lukes Hospital, Makati Medical Center, Asian Medical Center.

Number of hotels: (14,998), among the most prominent hotels are: Shangri La, Manila Peninsula, Hayyat, Sofitel, Manila Hotel, Diamond Hotel, Holiday Inn, Dusit Thani, Asott, Pan Pacific, Marriot, Resort World, etc.

Number of Airports: (71) Air Ports, most of them are domestic, among the International Air Ports are: NAIA  International Air Port, Clark International Air Port, Mactan/ Cebu International Air Port, Davao  International Air Port, Caticlan International Air Port, Laoag International Air Port, Zamboanga International Air Port and Laguindingan International Air Port.

Number of Sea Ports: (1,622) Sea Ports, most of them are domestic, among the International Sea Ports are: Manila International Cargo Terminal, Cebu International Sea Port, Davao  International Sea Port, , Zamboanga International Sea Port, Cagayan International Sea Port, Batangas International Sea Port and Subic International Sea Port.

National Holidays:

There are (22) National Holidays:

Other information:

Official working times in Public and Private sectors: from Monday to Friday, from 8:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m.

Banking office hours: From Monday to Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

President of the Republic of the Philippines: H. E. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, he assumed the Presidency on June 30 2016.
Brief history of President Duterte:
Rodrigo Duterte
Rodrigo "Rody" Roa Duterte (born March 28, 1945), also known by the nickname Digong, is a Filipino lawyer and politician of Visayan descent serving as the 16th President of the Philippines since 2016. He is the first Mindanaoan president of the country.
Duterte was among the longest-serving mayors in the Philippines and was Mayor of Davao City, a highly urbanized city on Mindanao island, for seven terms, totalling more than 22 years. He has also served as vice-mayor and as congressman for the city.
Nicknamed "The Punisher" by Time, an alleged vigilante group called the Davao Death Squad has been tied to Duterte by human rights organizations and are responsible for the extrajudicial killings of petty criminals and drug dealers. Over a period of 20 years, he turned Davao City from the "murder capital of the Philippines" to what tourism organisations now describe as "the most peaceful city in southeast Asia," and what numbeo.com ranks as the world's fourth safest place. Nonetheless, Duterte has drawn criticism from various sources, particularly the press and the Philippine National Police leadership in the Aquino government, which contest the effectiveness of his policies.
Duterte was urged to run for the Philippine presidency numerous times, but he refused these offers until well into 2015 on the grounds of a "flawed government system", old age and opposition from his family. Nevertheless, on November 21, 2015, he declared his candidacy in the 2016 election contest for the office of the President of the Philippines, and won with a landslide victory, garnering 16,601,997 votes (39.01% of total votes cast, and 6.6 million votes ahead of closest rival Mar Roxas). Duterte took office on June 30, 2016, for a term of six years.

Education
Duterte went to Laboon Elementary School in Maasin, for a year. He spent his remaining elementary days at the Santa Ana Elementary School in Davao City, where he graduated in 1956. He finished his secondary education in the High School Department of the then Holy Cross College of Digos (now Cor Jesu College) in today's city of Digos in the now defunct Davao province, after being expelled twice from previous schools, including one in Ateneo de Davao University High School due to misconduct. At the tertiary level, he graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science at the Lyceum of the Philippines in Manila. He also obtained a law degree from San Beda College of Law, still in Manila, in 1972. In the same year, he passed the bar exam. Duterte eventually became Special Counsel at the City Prosecution Office in Davao City from 1977–79; Fourth Assistant City Prosecutor from 1979–81; Third Assistant City Prosecutor from 1981–83; and Second Assistant City Prosecutor from 1983–86.
Duterte claimed publicly to have shot a fellow student while in law school for allegedly bullying him because of his Visayan origins. His victim, however, survived, and although Duterte was prohibited from participating in the commencement march, he did graduate.

Early political career
Davao City mayor
After the 1986 People Power Revolution, Duterte was appointed officer-in-charge vice mayor. In 1988, he ran for mayor and won, serving until 1998. He set a precedent by designating deputy mayors that represented the Lumad and Moro peoples in the city government, which was later copied in other parts of the Philippines. In 1998, because he was term-limited to run again for mayor, he ran for the House of Representatives and won as Congressman of the 1st District of Davao City (under the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino coalition). In 2001, he ran again for mayor in Davao and was again elected for his fourth term. He was re-elected in 2004 and in 2007.
Davao City under Duterte won the National Literacy Hall of Fame Award for being a three-time first-place winner in the Outstanding Local Government Unit, Highly Urbanized City category. In 2013, Davao City sent rescue and medical teams to Tacloban to give aid to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, locally known in the country as Typhoon Yolanda. Financial assistance was also given to Bohol and Cebu for the earthquake victims.
One article of Time magazine shows him patrolling in Davao City's streets on one of his big motorcycles, leading a convoy complete with blaring sirens and M16 rifles. Local news reports show him foregoing the pomp, opting to inspect in a regular taxi, surprising his would-be passengers.
Though vocally supportive of the extra-judicial killings of habitual drug users and dealers, Duterte used city government funds to build a ₱12-million drug rehabilitation and treatment center which provides 24-hour services. In 2003, he offered a ₱2,000 monthly allowance to drug addicts who personally approached him and committed to kick the habit. Duterte is also publicly known for visiting remote New People's Army camps negotiating peace transaction efforts and advocating diplomacy.
Duterte was also the first mayor in the Philippines to give formal representation to the indigenous Lumad and Muslim community, designating deputy mayors to represent their interests in the local government. The anti-discrimination ordinance he mandated, was reportedly a response to news he received that Muslims were being discriminated against by real estate agents.
In 2010, he was elected vice mayor, succeeding his daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, who was elected as mayor. He has been offered the Interior Secretary post 4 times, by presidents Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Benigno S. Aquino III but rejected all of them. In April 2014, he also declined a nomination for the World Mayor Prize, given by an international body to outstanding mayors saying "he was just doing his job."
Among the other awards Duterte also refused to accept for Davao City include the one given by the American Cancer Society and the 2010 anti-smoking award in Singapore.

Presidency
On May 30, 2016, the 16th Congress of the Philippines proclaimed Duterte as the President-elect of the Philippines after he topped the official count by the Congress of the Philippines on May 27, 2016, with 16,601,997 votes, 6.6 million more than his closest rival, Mar Roxas.
At the age of 71, Duterte became the oldest person ever elected to the presidency, after former President %311Sergio Osmeña. Duterte is also the first local chief executive to get elected straight to the Office of the President, the second Cebuano to become president (after Osmeña), the third Cebuano-speaking president (after Osmeña and Garcia), the first Visayan from Mindanao and the fourth Visayan overall (after Osmeña, Roxas and Garcia).
Duterte's presidency began following his inauguration on June 30, 2016 at the Rizal Ceremonial Hall of the 1%31%Malacañang Palace in Manila, which was attended by more than 627 guests.
Shortly after his inauguration, Duterte held his first Cabinet meeting to lay out their first agenda, which included the country's disaster risk reduction management, decongesting the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, the country's main gateway, and expressed his ideas and concerns regarding the territorial disputes in the South China Sea prior to the announcement of the verdict of the Philippines' arbitration case against China over the issue, which the Philippines later won. Four days later, on July 4, Duterte issued his first executive order entitled "Reengineering the Office of the President Towards Greater Responsiveness to the Attainment of Development Goals", allowing his Cabinet Secretary, Leoncio Evasco, Jr., to supervise over several agencies that focus on poverty reduction. On July 23, Duterte signed an executive order on the freedom of information. In August 1, Duterte plans to launch a 24-hour complaint office accessible to the public through a nationwide complaint hotline, 8888, while also changing the country's emergency telephone number from 117 to 911911.
While adjusting to working and residing at the Malacañang Palace, Duterte divides his workweek between Manila and Davao City by spending three days in each city, utilizing the 1%31%Malacañang of the South while in Davao. 

Here's the Complete Line-up of Pres. Rody Duterte's Cabinet:
    Cabinet Secretary – Leoncio "Jun" Evasco
    Executive Secretary – Salvador Medialdea
    Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary – Martin Andanar
    Presidential Spokesperson – Ernesto Abella
    National Security Adviser – Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
    Secretary of Agrarian Reform – Rafael V. Mariano
    Secretary of Agriculture – Emmanuel "Manny" Piñol
    Secretary of Budget and Management – Benjamin Diokno
    Secretary of Education – Leonor Briones
    Secretary of Energy – Alfonso Cusi
    Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources – Regina "Gina" Lopez
    Secretary of Finance – Carlos "Sonny" Dominguez III
    Secretary of Foreign Affairs – Perfecto R. Yasay, Jr.
    Secretary of Health – Paulyn Jean Rosell Ubial
    Secretary of Information and Communications Technology – Rodolfo Salalima
    Secretary of the Interior and Local Government – Ismael Sueño
    Secretary of Justice – Vitaliano Aguirre II
    Secretary of Labor and Employment – Silvestre "Bebot" Bello III
    Secretary of National Defense – Delfin Lorenzana
    Secretary of Public Works and Highways – Mark Villar
    Secretary of Science and Technology – Fortunato de la Peña
    Secretary of Social Welfare and Development – Judy Taguiwalo
    Secretary of Tourism – Wanda Corazon Teo
    Secretary of Trade and Industry – Ramon Lopez
    Secretary of Transportation and Communications – Arthur Tugade
    Presidential Assistant for the Visayas – Michael Diño
    Special Assistant to the President/Presidential Management Staff chief – Christopher "Bong"
 Go
National security Adiser - Hermogenes Esperon
National Economic and Development Authority - Ernesto Pernia
Presidential Spokesman - Salvador Panelo
Presidential Adviser for Peace Process - Jesus Dureza
Prsidential Assistant for Visayas - Mechail Denio
Bureau of Custom - Nicanor Faeldon
Bureau of Inetrnal Revenue - Cesar Dulay
Bureau of Immigration - Jaime Morente
Nantional Bureau of Investigation - Dante Guerran
Philippine Drug Enforecement Agency - Isedro Lapenia
Land Tranportation Office - Edgar Galvante
Land Transportation and Franshising Regulatory Board - Martin Deleigra
National Disaster Reduction and Risk Management Council - Recardo Jalad
Assistant DILG Secretary for Police Affairs - Catalino Coy
Solicitor General - Jose Calida
National Intillegence Coordinating Agency - Alex Montiagudo