Limahong - A Chinese Pirate Who Invaded the Philippines - Part 1

Limahong, or Lin Feng, also known as Lim Ah Hong or Limahon was a Chinese pirate and warlord who invaded the northern islands of the Philippines and also established a short-lived kingdom in Pangasinan. He built up a reputation for his constant raids to ports in Guangdong, Fujian and southern China. He is noted to have twice attempted and failed to overthrow the Spanish city of Manila in 1574.

There are different stories about Limahong with some degrees of historical accuracy. According to some legends, Limahong was from a Chinese Noble family; did something that offended the Emperor or Empress of the day which made them hire a pirate to rush him away from danger. He was leaving his homeland forever. This pirate sailed south to the natural harbor at Batangas, and as far north as safe harbor in Pampanga with Lim Ah Hong in tow. Lim Ah Hong, took to the pirate who saved him and was treated as a son. When the pirate died, Lim Ah Hong inherited the fleet and being of noble birth was a natural leader.

He was very successful at relieving the Spanish Armada of their gold which is why he began to appear in history books and ships logs. One of his safe harbors was Batangas with its deep waters. Lim Ah Hong found the local ladies to his liking. He took a wife but as a Chinese warlord was allowed as many concubines as he could afford, he populated the province of Batangas with his wife and countless concubines who gave forth progeny of whom there are several direct descendants.

Another tale is that Limahong was born as Dim Mhon. Since he was young, he started to do criminal activities, including robbery. He met and became a protege of an old pirate, Tial-lao. When Tial-lao died, Lim became his heir, inheriting the old pirate's fleet and around 2,000 pirates. His numerous attacks on ports and ships throughout southern China made the authorities issue a warrant for his capture. This brought him to pursue his criminal activities on higher seas, far from China's reach.

And there’s another tale that Li-ma-hong also known as Lin Feng or Li Tao Kiem, was born in the port town of Tiuchiu in the province of Cui Tam. At an early age he manifested a martial spirit and joined a band of corsairs which for a long time had been the terror of the China coasts. On the demise of his chief, Tai -La Ong, he was unanimously elected the new leader. Pursued at length in all directions by the imperial ships of war, he was determined to conquer the Philippines. Presumably the same incentives which encouraged the Spanish conquistadores to conquer lands and overthrow dynasties, the vision of wealth, glory and empire, awakened a like ambition in the Chinese corsair. He was able to accumulate 40 ships which increased to 95 ships when he took over the fleet of another pirate, Vin To Quiam. He came to be the notorious king of the waters of southern China.

On the death of Governor-General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the Government of the Colony was assumed by the Royal Treasurer, Guido de Lavezares. During this period, the possession of the Philippine Islands was unsuccessfully challenged by a rival expedition under the command of a Chinese pirate, Limahong. For the many attacks committed by him against private traders and property, the Celestial Emperor of China outlawed him.

It was in late 1573 that an army of 3,000 outlaws, bandits, and pirates led by Limahong fled to the island of Luzon. There, he and his band of outlaws sought refuge, established their own kingdom and waged war with the Spanish Empire.

By this time, a force of 40,000 soldiers and 135 ships was sent by the Wanli Emperor to kill and capture the pirates. Limahong and his troops first arrived in Ilocos Sur in early 1574 where they had a run-in with the Spanish commander, Juan de Salcedo.

A few troops were sent ashore to get provisions. While returning to the junks, they sacked the village and set fire to the huts. The news of this outrage was hastily communicated to Juan Salcedo, who had been pacifying the Northern Provinces since July 1572, and was at the time in Villa Fernandina (now called Vigan). Li-ma-hong continued his course and anchored on the Ilocos coast of Cagayan where a few Spanish soldiers were stationed under the orders of Juan Salcedo, who was still in the town of Vigan. Under Salcedo’s direction, preparations were made to prevent the enemy entering the river, but such was not Li-ma-hong's intention. After that brief struggle with the Spanish army, his troops set sail again.

In his sea-wanderings he happened to fall in with a Chinese trading junk returning from Manila with the proceeds of her cargo sold there. This he seized and learned that Manila was a new and relatively unprotected city though already occupied by the Spaniards. From this information and the knowledge that China had a no-war policy with its neighbors during that time, he decided to capture Manila and make it his kingdom. The captive crew were constrained to pilot his fleet towards the capital of Luzon. From them he learnt how easily the natives had been plundered by a handful of foreigners, the probable extent of the opposition he might encounter, the defenses established, the wealth and resources of the district, and the nature of its inhabitants.

Salcedo, naturally supposing his course would be towards Manila, also started at the same time for the capital with all the fighting men he could collect, leaving only 30 men to garrison Vigan and protect the State interests there. With the remainder he reached the coast at Parañaque, a village seven miles south of Manila.

It was November 29, 1574. The inhabitants of the town of Paranaque, a royal encomienda, was under heavy attack from the forces of this Chinese corsair, who were on their way to Intramuros, the seat of Spanish rule in the Philippines. Folk accounts have it that the inhabitants were at first disorganized, until a man from a barrio, by the name of Galo, came forward and took command. Under his able leadership, and with the arrival of Spanish forces led by Captain Juan de Salcedo from Ilocos, Limahong was repulsed and the occupation of the town was prevented.

The strong resistance of the barrio residents shocked the Chinese pirate, who thought that capturing Manila would be easy. What Limahong did not expect was that the defenders of the community, that would later be known as Don Galo, despite being ill-equipped, would fight to the end, so much so that the sea in front of the barrio turned red with their blood. The battle became known as the "Red Sea Incident".

The Parañaqueños not only saved their town, but they contributed decisively to Limahong's abandoning his plans to conquer the area. In appreciation for Galo's leadership and heroic deeds, the Spanish authorities granted him the title of "Don". The barrio later on was named after him - Don Galo or Dongalo.

Sources:

Wikipedia

http://www.tsinoy.com

https://kahimyang.com

Until next time. The Philippine history continues. . .

Rosalinda

The Philippines and Its Species-Rich Ecosystem - Part II

FAUNA

Philippine fauna forms a distinct subdivision within the Malayan region and provides evidence of the land bridges that once linked the archipelago with mainland Asia via Borneo. Palawan is especially rich in wildlife, which is closely related to Borneo’s. The wildlife of mainland Mindanao and Sulu also show affinity with Borneo, while northern Luzon has species in common with Taiwan and the Asian mainland.

Although the fossilized remains of elephants, have been found, the Philippines today has few large mammals. The absence of major predators means an abundance of small animals.

Tarsier - Photo by Wikipedia

There is a variety of fauna. Each September, migratory birds stop over on their way south from a chilling China. The Philippines is home to several indigenous birds and animals: sea turtles, mouse deer, tarsiers, and the Philippine eagle to name a few.

Carabao - Photo by Wikipedia

The strong domesticated carabao (water buffalo) is widely used in farms – as a form of transport and for tilling the soil. The carabao have no sweat glands and they cannot work in intense heat. In areas where it is too hot for carabao, farmers use zebu (Brahma cattle). In many places you will see ponies providing transportation.

Tamaraw - Photo by Wikipedia

Wild water-buffalo, probably descended from domestic animals, can be seen in Luzon, Mindoro, the Calamian group, Masbate, Negros and Mindanao, but a very small buffalo, called the tamaraw, on Mindoro, is native to the Philippines. This tiny buffalo, savage and untameable, often attacks and kills the larger water-buffalo, nearly twice its size.

The Philippine has quite a few kinds of mammals, but no marsupials. On the tiny islands of Balabac, between Palawan and Borneo, a kind of mouse deer ranges, one of the smallest deer in the world. Axis deer found on Sulu were probably introduced a century or two ago. On the islands of Basilan, Mindanao, Leyte, Samar and the Calamian group, red and brown deer occur, related to the sambar deer of Asia. Another deer, found on Masbate, Panay and Guimaras (between Panay and Negros), and native to the Philippines, is dark-colored with buff spots.

Two kinds of wild pigs and a kind of monkey can be seen on most of the larger islands, and tiny primates called tarsiers are found from Basilan to Samar. Squirrels live on the eastern islands, and also on Palawan, and a strange anteater called the pangolin, on Palawan.

Colugo - Photo by Wikipedia

Carnivorous animals of the Philippines include shrews and otters, two kinds of civet cat, and a small wild-cat. Bats and flying foxes are very common, and another strange flying mammals is found in the Philippines – the colugo, which looks vaguely like a cross between a bat and a flying squirrel, and is sometimes called a “flying lemur”.

Sadly, most of these animals face extinction. The incessantly over-expanding human population, however, encroaches relentlessly on natural habitats. Deforestation and hunting have caused many species of animals that once ranged broadly to be confined to specific areas. Wild pigs are an exception: they have adapted well to the changing environment.

Bird life in the Philippines is abundant – over 700 species have been recorded. Pheasants are confined to Palawan, but jungle fowls are found almost everywhere, and a strange megapode (or incubator bird) builds next mounds in the warm ash on volcano slopes. Water and shore birds include snipe, plover, turnstone, herons, bitterns, and ducks.

About 50 kinds of birds of prey live in the Philippines, ranging in size form a sparrow-sized falcon to the large monkey-eating eagle – twenty kinds of birds of prey are found nowhere else in the world. Some twenty kinds of kingfishers, most of them native to the Philippines, live along the streams and waterways.

A dozen kinds of hornbills occur only in the Philippines. One kind of cockatoo and about twenty kinds of parrots and parakeets live in the forests, as well as larks, barbets, broadbills, starlings, orioles, weaver finches, nuthatches, titmice, shrikes, tailor birds, thrushes, flycatchers, swallows and swifts. The swift whose nest, collected for soup, is eaten with relish in Asian countries, lives in some parts of the Philippines.

About twenty kinds of woodpeckers, and the same number of cuckoos and honeyeaters are found here, and some twenty-eight species of colorful sunbirds. Some of the other kinds of birds in the Philippines are frogmouths, beebirds, and night-hawks.

The Philippines has over 20,000 types of insects, including ants, termites, locusts, land-leeches, butterflies, moths, beetles, cockroaches, mosquitoes, and wasps. One of these wasps, the tiger hornet, is among the most feared of jungle creatures in the Philippines – just as terrifying as any of the venomous snakes of the region. Nesting in small colonies low to the ground, these large black insects have a four-inch wingspan, and a bright orange strips across the abdomen. Occasionally they nest on a jungle path, where an unwary person might disturb them. One or two bites cause intense pain but, if the whole group of wasps attack, they can kill the strongest of men in a very short time.

Filipinos are very fond of honey, especially in places where sugar cane does not grow. Honey bees are encouraged to nest in trees with easy access.

Philippine Crocodile - Photo by Wikipedia

Land and freshwater reptiles include many small lizards, such as skinks and geckoes, and large goannas, venomous snakes, the reticulated python and other pythons and boas, and the only sea-snake in the world known to have adapted itself to a life in fresh water (found in lake Taal). Land turtles are also common, and a crocodile grows to a length of 25 feet, and may measure about three feet across the back.

About 40 kinds of frogs live in the Philippine region – most of them closely related to species found in Borneo. Scientists believe that these reached the islands on canoes laden with produce, or crossed many centuries ago when the Philippines region was connected to Borneo by land bridges.

The seas on the western side of the Philippines and between the islands, fairly shallow and warm, support a huge variety of marine creatures. Sea mammals are represented by dolphins, dugongs, and whales. The largest marine animal in these waters is the striped whale. Turtles, sea snakes, coral snakes, and the huge estuarine or sea-going crocodile are also common. Over 2,000 varieties of fish live in the Philippine region, including the smallest fish in the world, only half an inch long when fully grown. Most of the fish are of Indonesian origin, with some Chinese and Japanese kinds, and others similar to fish found near Tonga, Samoa, and Hawaii. Tereapon, catfish, perch, mudfish, mullet, milkfish, trevally, long-tom or garfish, shrimps, crabs, oysters, and squid are caught close to shore by commercial fishermen. Salmon, herrings, and other fish are farmed in tidal pools. Oceanic fish are anchovy, bonito sailfish, marlin, sharks, mackerel, barracuda, jewfish, bass, snapper, tuna, and many others. Many kinds of colorful reef shells come from the warm seas close to the islands.

Source:
The Philippines by John Cockcroft
Philippine Handbook by Carl Parkes
Philippine Guide by Jill & Rebecca Gale de Villa

The Philippines and its Species-Rich Ecosystem - Part 1

FLORA

The Philippine offers nature lovers tremendous biodiversity. Its tropical rainforest is the most species-rich ecosystem on earth. Substantial parts of the archipelago remain unexplored, both on land and under water. The country is remarkable for its dwarf and pigmy species of many ecological families. Unfortunately, the natural environment is being destroyed at an alarming rate. Logging and mining, dynamiting of coral reefs, and enormous population pressures are having a devastating ecological effect. For the conservationist, a journey through the islands may be both exciting and depressing.

Fertile volcanic soil of the Philippines, abundant rain and sunshine, and the wide range of habitats and elevations give rise to an incredible variety of plant life in every category, from mosses and lichens (including 1,000 species of fern) to giant trees (about 3,000 species).

Plants are mainly of the type found in Indonesia and Malaysia, although Australian (e.g. eucalyptus) and Sino-Himalayan (e.g. rhododendron) types are also found. Over 10,000 species of plants have been recorded from the region and about 60% of the 10,000 plant species are grown only in the archipelago. The Philippines has 54 species of bamboo, a fast-growing woody grass, throughout the islands. It’s used for an incredible variety of purposes: houses, bridges, fences, furniture, fish traps, wall-matting, baskets, hats, flutes, and much more.

At sea level, bays and estuaries are fringed by dense mangrove. Nipa palms, commonly used in the construction of native huts, also thrive in brackish water.

Most of the forests of the region, tropical evergreen rainforests, yield many kinds of commercial hardwood timbers. In the higher forests grow pines, and on the lower slopes bamboos, coconut palms and banyan trees.

Coconut palms are generally found below 30 meters elevation, while at 300-1000 meters dense tropical rainforest contains vines, ferns, orchids, and huge trees with buttressed trunks. The dipterocarp hardwoods, known collectively as Philippine mahogany, predominate here. The molave group of hardwoods is also important. Above 1000 meters the trees change from tropical hardwoods to temperate species like the Benguet pine of northern Luzon. Above 5,800 meters trees become progressively stunted and finally give way to scrub and grassy upland on the highest slopes.

Coconut trees are almost everywhere, constant that you are in the tropics. Unquestionably the Philippines’ most important tree, it has many uses: coconut milk to drink, meat to eat, wine to imbibe, heart of coconut for salad and lumpia (egg roll), coconut oil for tanning and cooking, and cocowood for building.

The now scarce beautiful narra is the national tree and has bright yellow flowers, and its durable wood is much favored for furniture and flooring. Other plants used for building and furniture include nipa palms, (important for roofing); rattan (for furniture); mahogany (for building and carving) and bamboo (for housing and furniture).

The land also produces a bounty of delicious fruits. A visit to Manila’s markets will introduce you to the wealth of tropical fruits available: avocado, bananas, breadfruit, chico, duhat, guava, langka, lanzones, papaya, pineapples, mangoes, siniguelas and the hugely smelly durian.

Filipinos also use many different herbs for medicinal and culinary purposes. Mountains and lowlands that are not farmed often have a thick covering of cogon – a tough grass with razor sharp edges.

Flowering plants include gumamela (hibiscus), kalachuchi (frangipani), bougainvillea, water lilies, water hyacinth and over 1,000 species of orchid. Many of these are found nowhere in the world. Wild orchids grow in mountainside rain forests, especially in Mindanao.

Celebrated varieties include the waling-waling (vanda sanderiana orchid) of Mindanao, whose blooms measure up to 12.5 cm. across and last six weeks, and those of the Cattleya genus. It is said that no other archipelago has as rich a variety of orchids and other plants as the Philippines. These flowering plants enhance the beauty of rural Philippines.

The national flower of the Philippines is the sampaguita (jasmine) – a small star-shaped white blossom with a pleasant, lingering fragrance, made into garlands worn by Filipino girls and given as a gesture of welcome to visitors. Mabuhay!

Sources:

Source: Philippine Handbook by Carl Parkes

Philippine Guide by Jill & Rebecfa Gale de Villa

The Philippines by John Cockcroft

Other Spanish Expeditions to the Philippines

After Ferdinand Magellan, other Spanish expeditions were dispatched to the Philippines over the next decades. In 1543, Ruy Lopez de Villalobos gave the name Las Islas Filipinas to the islands of Samar and Leyte. However, it was not until 1565 that the Spaniards, under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, founded a colony on Cebu, and extended the name Filipinas to the whole group of islands after King Philip II of Spain.

Although the Portuguese navigator Magellan had discovered the Philippine archipelago in 1521, neither Portuguese or Spanish had settled there and so Don Luis de Velasco, the viceroy of New Spain (Mexico), sent Miguel Lopez de Legazpi to claim it in 1564.

Legazpi's Statue outside Fort San Pedro, Cebu

Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, Spanish explorer who established a Spanish dominion over the Philippines that lasted for more than three centuries, until the Spanish-American War of 1898 went to New Spain in 1545. He served for a time as clerk in the government of the viceroy. Legazpi left Acapulco in November 1564 with a fleet of five ships and 500 men including six Augustinian missionaries in addition to Fr. Andres de Urdaneta who served as navigator and spiritual adviser, and Guido de Lavezarez, a survivor of the Magellan’s expedition. They reached Cebu, one of the southern islands of the archipelago, in April 1565, founding the first Spanish settlement on the site of the modern city, Cebu naming it “Villa del Santissimo Nombre de Jesus" (Town of the Most Holy Name of Jesus) after an image of Santo Niño in one of the native houses.

He remained in Cebu until compelled to move out to Panay by Portuguese pirates. Searching for a suitable place to establish his capital and hearing of the rich resources in Luzon, he sent an expedition to the northern island of Luzon in 1570 under Martin de Goiti and Juan de Salcedo to explore its location and potentials. He did not accompany his men during their conquest of Manila because of health problems and advanced age.

Landing in Batangas , Goiti with a force of 120 Spaniards explored the Pansipit River which drains Taal Lake. They then proceeded north and on May 8, they arrived at Manila Bay. There, they were welcomed by the natives. Goiti's soldiers camped there for a few weeks while forming an alliance with the Muslin leader, Rajah Sulayman, a vassal under the Sultan of Brunei and the Muslim ruler of the Kingdom of Maynilad, a pre-historic state at the mouth of Pasig River facing what is now Manila Bay. Rajah Sulayman, along with his co-ruler Rajah Matanda and Lakan Dula, was one of three monarchs who figured most significantly in the Spanish conquest of the Port of Manila and the Pasig River delta. Spanish accounts describe him as the most aggressive of the three rulers - a characteristic chalked up to his youth relative to the other two rulers.

However, the Rajah's ally in northern shores of Manila Bay, historically known as the young Bambalito of Macabebe, Pampanga, asked Rajah Sulayman to revoke his alliance with the Spaniards. Rajah Sulayman refused because of the "word of honor" to the Spaniards. Rajah Sulayman had his conditions for Bambalito that if they were able to kill as least 50 Spaniards, he would revoke his alliance with Goiti, and Rajah Sulayman would help expel the conquerors. Bambalito rode back to Macabebe and formed a fleet of two thousand five hundred moros consisting of soldiers from the villages along Manila Bay particularly from Macabebe and Hagonoy, Bulacan. On May 30, 1570, Bambalito sailed to Tondo and encountered the Spaniards headed by Martin de Goiti at Bangkusay Channel on June 3, 1570. Bambalito and his fleet lost the battle, and after disputes and hostility had erupted between the two groups, the Spaniards occupied the Islamized states of Tondo and Maynilad.

  Rajah Sulayman by Flickr

After deposing Rajah Sulayman, Goiti occupied their settlements before returning to Panay. Legazpi then sailed to Luzon after hearing that the villages had been conquered and established the city of Manila on June 24, 1571.

In Manila, he formed a peace pact with the native councils as well as the local rulers, Rajah Sulayman and Lakan Dula. Lakan and Rajah are the same title of the native royalty. He also ordered the construction of the walled city of Intramuros.

Within a year, with the help of his grandson, Juan de Salcedo, Legazpi had almost the whole country under Spanish rule, with the exception of the Sulu islands and parts of Mindanao and interior Luzon. Legazpi overcame native resistance with little difficulty, since there was no sizable organized political power among the Philippine Malays. Islam was weak in Luzon and the northern islands but the Muslins in the southern islands resisted Spanish rule right up to the 19^th century.

Legazpi and his chaplain, Padre Andres de Urdaneta, were able to lay the foundation for the conversion of the people to Christianity, the Spain’s most durable legacy.

The country was soon divided into religious zones of influence. The Augustinians received Batangas, Bulacan, Pampanga, Ilocos, Cebu and Panay. The Franciscans acquired Bicol and parts of Laguna and Tayabas. The Jesuits operated in Cavite, Marinduque, Samar, Leyte, Bohol, Negros, and some areas in Mindanao. The Dominicans took Bataan, Pangasinan and the Cagayan Valley. The Recollects occupied Romblon and points of northern Palawan, Luzon, and Mindanao. By the end of the 16^th century, much of the archipelago was under Spanish control.

Subsequently, Manila became the capital of the new Spanish colony and Spain’s major trading port in East Asia. Legazpi governed the Philippines for a year before dying suddenly of a heart attack on August 20, 1572. He was laid to rest in San Agustin Church in Intramuros.

  

References:

Philippine Guide by Jill and Rebecca Gale de Villa

Insight Guide Philippines by Discovery Channel

Encyclopedia Britannica

Wikipedia

Until next time. The Philippine story continues.

Rosalinda

Legaspi Built Intramuros, the Seat of Spanish Rule

Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founded the city of Manila in 1571, 50 years after the Spanish discovery of the Philippines. Manila, being better positioned than Cebu for trade with China, was made the original capital of the Philippines.

Intramuros - Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Here the colonizers built Intramuros, an impregnable European style thick stone-walled city which was the seat of Spanish rule located south of the Pasig River. Although Intramuros was laid out as a pentagon, its uneven sides more approximate a triangle. The twenty-foot-high walls stretched for nearly 4.5 km (3 miles). In some places, they reached twenty-five feet in height and had a thickness of up to forty feet at the bottom. Inside, following Legaspi’s blueprint for the capital, succeeding Spanish governors built churches, chapels, convents, palaces for the governor-general and the archbishop, schools, university (in as early as 1611), printing press, hospitals and soldiers’ barracks, and grand houses for the assorted elite all surrounded by baluartes (battlements) and puertas (gates).

Casa Manila

Now a ruin, Intramuros was once a well-planned city, with cobbled lanes, streets and plazas, and tiled roofed houses. Outside the city’s high walls flowed a moat, in the old European style of protection. Only Spaniards and Spanish mestizos (mixed race) were permitted to live within the confines of the walls. Drawbridges went up each night. Natives were moved elsewhere, while the Chinese, necessary for financial matters, trade, and menial jobs “not good enough for a Spaniard,” were moved outside the walls, but within canon range.

Street inside Intramuros - Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Though Intramuros is a far cry from the bustling Spanish city it once was, it has come a long way from the ravages of wartime. During WWII, effectively utilizing the Intramuros District together with the city’s strongly reinforced concrete buildings of prewar construction, the Japanese brought in heavy-caliber guns from damaged and sunken ships in the harbor. But during the Philippine liberation, the US employed every available artillery piece against the enemy inside the Intramuros walls from Feb. 17 to Feb. 23. The shelling finally breached the thick walls in several places in the northeast corner of the walled city.

Once a jumble of broken buildings, portions of the old city have been restored, including the Ayuntamiento (Municipal Hall), once the grandest structure here.

Fort Santiago, within the walled city, was built on the original site of Rajah Sulayman’s settlement and was used to control traffic along the Pasig River. The fort served as headquarters to several occupying armies. The Spaniards used it as headquarters of the Spanish ministry, which was ousted by British troops in 1762 and later housed Filipino Tayabas soldiers in 1843. Yet, Intramuros withstood attacks by the Dutch and the Portuguese, as well as Sulu pirates.

Entrance to Fort Santiago

Jail at Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago is kept in spotless condition today and is open to visitors. At one end is a museum housing the relics and personal effects of Jose Rizal, national hero of the Philippines. On another end is Jose Rizal’s cell where he was incarcerated for two months on charges of rebellion and sedition prior to his execution by the Spaniards in 1896 and where he wrote his last legacy of poetry , “Mi Ultimo Adios” to the Filipino people. It was smuggled out in the base of an oil lamp.

United States troops ran the fort after 1898, and it was an operational base for General Douglas MacArthur from 1936 to 1941. MacArthur resided in a penthouse atop the Manila Hotel, off the southwest corner of Intramuros from 1935 to 1941.

With its interrogation chambers, rat-infested holdalls and infamous dungeons that were below the high tide level, this was a place of terror and death throughout the centuries. It was the dreaded prison used by the Spaniards and later by the Japanese. Many atrocities have been committed here. Prisoners were left to drown as the tide rose and filled the lower dungeons. When the Japanese left, 600 bodies were found in the powder magazine chamber.

Rumors had persisted that the Japanese General Yamashita may have hidden his legendary – or as some say, mythical - gold here. In 1988, with President Aquino’s permission, American treasure hunters painstakingly searched and partially excavated Fort Santiago looking for clues, but nothing was uncovered.

Manila Cathedral

A few blocks from Fort Santiago, is the Manila Cathedral, an imposing Romanesque structure constructed of adobe. A plaque on its façade reveals a relentless history, beginning in 1571, of reconstruction after the repeated ravages of fire, typhoon, earthquake and war. Statues by Italian artists, of the saints to whom Manileños owe special devotion, grace the façade. Among them are St. Andrew the Apostle, on whose feast day in 1574 the Spanish repulsed Chinese invaders, and Santiago Matamoros (St. James the Greater), patron saint of Spain and the Philippines. The Dutch organ in the Cathedral, with its 4500 pipes, is one of the largest in Asia.

San Agustin Church Altar - Photo credit: Flickr

Ground of San Agustin Church

San Agustin Church, the church within the walled city of Intramuros, is the oldest stone church in the Philippines. First built of nipa palm and bamboo, in 1571, it was destroyed by the Chinese pirate Limahong during a raid in 1574. A second building, of wood, replaced it in 1583. Later in 1599, the present building was begun. This has adobe walls, with beautifully carved ceilings and columns, and imported European chandeliers. It was completed in 1601. The pulpit, a work of art, and the wooden seats in the choir loft are intricately hand-carved. In the vestry, with its long hall and high roof, the Spaniards officially handed over the Philippines to America. This building seems to be the only earthquake-proof structure in the islands. In the passageways at the side of the church hang old paintings, some still bearing the marks of bullets.

Inside the church stands the tomb of the founder of Manila, Legaspi. The remains of the other Spanish conquistadors, Martin de Goti and Juan de Salcedo were also interred here. The church was bombed, machine-gunned and shelled during WWII, but withstood the damage, though the convent beside the church was destroyed.

Sources:

The Philippines by John Cockcroft

Inside Guide Philippines by Discovery Channel

The Philippines Guide – Jill & Rebecca Gale de Villa

Traveler's Philippine Companion by Kristen Ellis