In
1521 Magellan landed and with accompanying priests, he set up a colony and
converted the local chieftain and family to Christianity. This was depicted at the National Museum in
Manila.
In
1526 a more determined expedition by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi established a foothold
in Luzon Island and the Visayas; he
named the islands the Philippines in honor of King Philip II of Spain.
Spain
ruled until in the 1800’s there were local resistance until June 12, 1898 when
the first Philippine Republic was proclaimed.
The
Spanish-American War broke out and in 1848 US
Commodore Dewey sailed into Manila Bay and defeated the Spanish naval
fleet. The Philippines sided with the US
hoping for independence, but instead Spain ceded Philippines to the US.
Emilio Aguinaldo declared the first
Philippine Republic, but the US refused to acknowledge that, so Philippines
went to war with the US. Aguinaldo was
captured; and the Philippine-American War ended in 1902, though there was still
some resistance to the US until 1913, when Aguinaldo was exiled. The US introduced US political institutions
and opened the Philippine market to the West.
More importantly the US built schools and made education compulsory to
all Filipinos.
US
had made a promise to Manuel Quezon for
independence by 1946, but unfortunately the Japanese interferred. Three days after the bombing of Pearl
Harbor, the Japanese landed in the Philippines.
12,000 Filipino Scouts and 16,000
US soldiers under General George MacArthur were unable to stop the relentless
advance of the Japanese. Their last defense was done was at Corregidor
and Bataan; but MacArthur was forced to
retreat in 1942, vowing to return, which he did in 1944.
The Philippines was granted
independence on July 14, 1946, however the Philippines was forced to seek
financial help from the US in rebuilding—so perhaps there was a love/hate
relationship for a while??
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