7,100 islands, the Philippines

PRINTED IN SINGAPORE/ISBN 0 7016 0608 8/NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA CARD NUMBER ISBN 07016 0608 8/NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA/TEST AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY DEREK TOWNSEND DESIGNED BY STUART HARRISON/FRONT JACKET: A PSYCHEDLIC JEEPNEY-IT IS THE CHEAPEST FORM OF TRANSPORT AND UNIQUE TO THE PHILLIPINES/BACK JACKET: NELIA SANCH, A BEAUTIFUL FILIPINO WHO WAS CROWNED QUEEN OF THE PACIFIC//THE PHILLIPINES IS AN ARCHIPELAGO OF MORE THAN 7,100 ISLAND WHERE CENTURIES HAVE COME AND GONE, LEAVING BEHIND THEIR VARIED ARTIFACTS. THERE ARE REMAINS FROM THE ANCIENT EMPIRES OF SHRI-VISHAYAN AND MADJAPATIT, ELEGANT MOSQUES WHICH REFLECT ISLAMIC EXPANSION OF A BYGONE AGE AND ARCHITECTURAL REMNANT OF SPANISH GLORY. AT FIRST, IT MAY SEEM INCONGRUOUS TO COME ACCORSS A STONE CHURCH WITH BAROQUE FACADE, OR A BEAUTIFUL FILIPINO GIRL WITH CHINESE-MALAY FEATURES AND A SPANISH NAME, OR A NARROW COBBLED STREETS WHICH ARE LITTLE CHANGED SINGE THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, YET MERGE INTO WIDE BOULEVARDS WHERE FLASHING NEON SIGNS ADVERTISE NIGHTCLUBS, THEATRES AND RESTAURANTS. IN ONE WORK, THESE ISLANDS ARE A PARADOX; GEOGRAPHY HAS MADE THE PHILLIPINS AN ASIAN COUNTRY BUT HISTORY HAS MADE IT A FASCINATING BLEND OF ORIENTAL AND OCCIEDENTAL CULTURES FOUND NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH