Before the time had expired, however, World War II had brought devastation. In 1947 in exchange for enormous rehabilitation funds, the countries signed pacts guaranteeing equal trading rights and leases on military, air, and naval bases. Language Some seventy native languages are spoken in the Philippines, and the language barrier has often been cited as a barrier to national unity. The nine most important languages, however, bear similarities that enable Filipinos to learn speech groups other than their own with a great deal of facility. In 1946, the Philippine government adopted Tagalog as the basis of the new national language, which is known as Filipino.
Many people speak English, which is the nation's second language.
Spanish is also spoken by a small percentage of the people. Religion Because of Spanish colonization, the Philippines inherited the Roman Catholic religion, and it is the only country in Asia with a Catholic majority. Catholicism is professed by about 83 percent of the people, while Protestants number about 9 percent. Since 1974 there has been dramatic growth in Protestant churches, and people immigrating to the United States bring that vibrancy with them. Eighty-five percent of U.S. Filipinos say they are Catholics, because it is their traditional religion.