Building a strong republic

It's been 127 years since the founders of the Philippine Republic declared independence from Spanish colonial rule.

- 

Since then, making the republic strong has been tortuous, and to this day remains an uphill struggle.

Independence was meant to improve the lives of Filipinos in their own land and to make the nation strong. Spain, however, was replaced by the United States as an occupying power, and full Philippine independence became a reality only in 1946, a year after the end of World War II, when Americans fought alongside Filipinos for freedom.