PHILIPPINES

Republic of the Philippines

Republika ng Pilipinas

CAPITAL : Manila

FLAG : The national flag consists of a white equilateral triangle at the hoist, with a blue stripe extending from its upper side and a red stripe extending from its lower side. Inside each angle of the triangle is a yellow five-pointed star, and in its center is a yellow sun with eight rays.

ANTHEM : Bayang Magiliw (Nation Beloved ).

MONETARY UNIT : The peso ( P ) is divided into 100 centavos. There are coins of 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavos and 1 and 2 pesos, and notes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 500 pesos. P 1 = $0.0191 (or $1 = P 52.30;as of May 2003).

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES : The metric system is the legal standard, but some local measures also are used.

HOLIDAYS : New Year's Day, 1 January; Freedom Day, 25 February; Labor Day, 1 May; Heroes' Day, 6 May; Independence Day (from Spain), 12 June; Thanksgiving, 21 September; All Saints' Day, 1 November; Bonifacio Day, 30 November; Christmas, 25 December; Rizal Day, 30 December; Last Day of the Year, 31 December. Movable religious holidays include Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

TIME : 8 PM = noon GMT.

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