Who Ruled the Philippines? Complete Timeline of Leaders

The Philippines was the world's longest running colony until the Philippines achieved its independence in 1946 .

It had been under the rule of foreign powers for an incredible 425 years .

The islands were discovered by the famed European explorer Magellan , who was working for the King of Spain , in 1521 .

The idea of there even being a single unified country called the Philippines is basically a colonial idea.

In 1762 , the Spanish were unprepared and surrendered Manila to the UK in October , which briefly put the islands under British occupation.

In 1764 , after just a year and a half , the country was handed back to Spain as it would remain for another 134 years and another six dozen governor generals.

In 1821 , Mexico became independent from Spain , which meant that Spain now had to administer the islands directly, and this is often seen as ushering in a period where the Filipino colonial government became more bumbling and corrupt.

The Philippines has been a relatively stable democracy for 35 years .

Marcos 's wife Imelda is often considered to be a kind of Co ruler with him.

He declared martial law in 1972 in response to what he claimed was a worsening domestic insurrection, he proclaimed martial law and suspended most basic civil liberties and democratic institutions.