Although the country has remained a democracy since the fall of President Marcos, it enjoyed little stability for decades thereafter. President Joseph Estrada was forced out of office in 2001 after months of protests at his corrupt rule, and there were a number of coup attempts against his successor, Gloria Arroyo.
On the southern island of Mindanao, Moro rebels fought for 40 years for a separate Islamic state within the mainly-Catholic country. The decades-long conflict claimed more than 120,000 lives before a peace deal in 2012 laid the ground for greater Muslim autonomy in the south.
The radical Islamist Abu Sayyaf group, which is linked to Al-Qaeda, continues intermittent attacks on the island of Jolo.
Since 1969, the government has also faced a protracted guerrilla campaign across much of the country by the communist New People's Army (NPA). A serious effort at talks in February 2011 resulted in an agreement with the NPA to work towards a peace deal by 2012, although mutual distrust remains a problem.