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But long haul flights damage the environment, so better take this virtual tour instead...

Actually, people have been visiting the Philippines for thousands of years. Many of them liked what they found & stayed put:

"Like the other island groups of southeast Asia, the Philippines have very early human inhabitants - perhaps even as long as 60,000 years ago. In more recent history the main outside influences are Chinese, Hindu and - from the 15th century - Muslim. But no external power tries to dominate or unify the scattered islands (more than 7000 in the archipelago) until the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century."

(Source: History of the Spanish Empire, historyworld.net)

Ma'i or Ma-i = pre-Spanish name of what became the Philippines

Ancient Immigrants

"The Negritos are believed to have migrated to the Philippines some 30,000 years ago from Borneo, Sumatra, and Malaya. The Malayans followed in successive waves. These people belonged to a primitive epoch of Malayan culture, which has apparently survived to this day among certain groups such as the Igorots. The Malayan tribes that came later had more highly developed material cultures.

In the 14th cent. Arab traders from Malay and Borneo introduced Islam into the southern islands and extended their influence as far north as Luzon…." The first Europeans to visit (1521) the Philippines were those in the Spanish expedition around the world led by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. Other Spanish expeditions followed, including one from New Spain (Mexico) under López de Villalobos, who in 1542 named the islands for the infante Philip, later Philip II."

(Source: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.)

A sad chronology of conquest & colonisation:

· "1521 Magellan discovers the Philippine Islands March 15^th , tries to subdue the native chief Lapulapu, wades ashore on Mactan April 24^th with 48 men in full armour, and is killed in a skirmish with Mactan warriors. Only three of Magellan's original five ships have made the Pacific crossing, the other two have been lost, his men have come close to starvation, but survivors of the Mactan encounter sail on in two remaining ships to the Moluccas, or Spice Islands.

· 1524 Maize grows in the Philippines where Magellan's men introduced the plant 2 years ago.

· 1543 Spanish conquistador Ruy de Lopez Villalobos is driven out of the Philippine Islands by the natives a year after discovering the islands and giving them their name. He is captured by the Portuguese. Miguel_Lopez_de_Legazpi_Conquistadores.jpg (18352 bytes)

· 1564 Miguel López de Legazpe, 54, leaves New Spain with four ships to colonize the Philippines.

· 1565 A colony at Cebu in the Philippines is established by Miguel López de Legazpe, who has been sent out from New Spain by the viceroy Luis de Velasco on orders from Philip II , has conquered the islands for Philip and heads for home with a cargo of cinnamon.

· 1571 Manila is founded May 19 by Miguel López de Legazpe. He has subjugated the Philippine natives and moves his capital from Cebu to the new city, using it as a base for colonization."

(Source: The People's Chronology, James Trager)

The rest, as they say, is history. The Spanish converted the natives to Catholicism (with its dubious gifts of guilt & Original Sin...& the promise of postmortem Salvation to keep them quiet) and bequeathed a legacy of Spanish surnames & place names (San Francisco, Santiago etc.) They stayed for 300 years, only to be replaced by the Americans, who ruled for another 50 years.

Soundtrack: Conquistador (The Shamen )

"Ah Conquistador is it only gold you're looking for

Or may you still yet see

The treasure long concealed within thee? ConquistadorHat.jpg (5819 bytes)

Ah Conquistador campaigns you waged to win the war

To gain the world and lose your soul

What were you fighting for?"

[NB to hear embedded sound enable audio in your browser]

Philippines

Man in Manila

Travels on a Tricycle

Rabbit Bus

San Francisco?

Boy in the Boondocks \ Word from the Waterpump

Waterpump II

Waterpump III

Under the Southern Cross

to be continued...

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