Till I arrived in Philippines yesterday, for me this was just another Asian nation - chaotic and crowded. I never realised that there was something remarkable about this place. Not only does the place have a positive energy, it also has a rich history, unknown to many foreigners like me.
And that proves the point that you've gotta visit a place to know what it truly is...
That's what I discovered on my visit to the Ayala Museum in Makati.
The Spanish Revolution and the appointment of Carlos Maria de la Torre as the Governor General in 1869 brought around many social changes. For the first time, Filipinos were invited as guests to the Malacañang Palace, which today is the presidential palace...
Tranvias or horse-driven carriages were introduced in Manila in 1881...
Freemasonry came to the Philippines in the 1870s...
You can't keep a nation subjugated for long - the Katipunan, a revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892. They aimed to gain independence from Spain through revolution...
The revolution against the Spanish colonists began in 1896, led by Andres Bonifacio...
And the young revolutionary Jose Rizal was executed in 1896 by a firing squad...
Alarmed by the popularity of the Katipunan, the Spanish put Andres Bonifacio on trial...
The revolution resulted in a food crisis and that prompted a truce. The Pact of Biak-na-Bato was signed in December 1897, between the Spanish colonial Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera and the revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo to end the Philippine Revolution...
And the Spanish-American war came to the shores of the Philippines in 1898...
Emilio Aguinaldo declared independence on June 12, 1898 at Kawit in Cavite. However, the Americans had other intentions...
In 1898, Spain surrendered to the United States and Manila fell into American hands. The Spanish felt surrendering to the revolutionaries would be an affront. And the hopes of the revolutionaries were dashed...
With the intentions of the Americans becoming clearer by the day, the revolutionaries organised the Malolos Congress in a church in Bulacan...
And then in 1899, the Philippine-American War began, after the Treaty of Paris was signed under which Spain sold the Philippines to the United States for USD 20 million...
Imagine buying a nation - you don't buy land, but you end up trampling ambitions of a nation. That is tragic...
The fighting between the revolutionaries and the Americans spread out of Manila to the Visayas and Mindanao. And destruction followed - Americans set ablaze Iloilo City on the island of Panay...
The Battle of Quingua in 1899...
Infighting within the revolutionaries...
Fighting in the mountains...
The Americans take possession of the Sultanate of Sulu as a protectorate in 1899...
The revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo who was called president was taken captive by the Americans in 1901 while he was celebrating his birthday...
The revolutionaries practiced guerrilla warfare and there was a surprise attack at Balangiga in 1901 with a massive loss of American lives...
And the Americans retaliated in Samar...
While the war raged, there was an advancement in performing arts - the performances had revolutionary undertones...
And revolutionaries were rounded up, jailed and put to death...
Self-governance came in 1935 with the installation of Manuel L. Quezon as the president...
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour led to the collapse of American forces in the region and Manila fell to the Japanese...
Meanwhile on the islands, the Americans resisted...
The battle hardened guerrilla-revolutionaries continued their struggle against a new belligerent - the Japanese...
Americans under General Douglas MacArthur reoccupied Manila in 1945...
And on July 4, 1946, the Americans recognised the independence of the Philippines...
With the crash course in Pinoy history done, I went on to see the section called Gold of Ancestors. The section displays more than a thousand gold objects from cultures that existed in the Philippines before colonization in the 16th century.
The exhibits include adornments of individuals and their deities - golden sashes, necklaces, earrings, headgear and finger rings, bracelets and anklets.Many of the exhibits depicted a strong Indian influence. Sadly, that influence does not find a mention in history books...
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