History of Manila
Long before the Spaniards arrived in Manila in 1571, headed by Adelantado Governor Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, a town called ‘Maynilad’ prospered. Later, this was shortened to Manila, as the capital city is known today. Originally, pre-Spanish Maynilad was a Muslim settlement ruled by Rajah Sulayman, a Muslim sultan and member of the Borneo nobility. A small but thriving trading port, it is ideally located between two large bodies of water, Manila Bay and the Pasig River.
The Spanish
When the Spaniards got wind of this Muslim settlement on the shore of a large bay in Luzon, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi (who then was in Panay Island) sent his men, led by Marshal Martin de Goiti and Captain Juan de Salcedo, on the first voyage to Maynilad on May 8, 1570. On arrival, the friendly Filipino-Muslim natives welcomed and feted the Spanish flotilla. On the morning of May 24, 1570 however, a ferocious fight ensued.
The Spaniards overpowered the natives and took control of Maynilad in the name of the King of Spain. But the brave Filipino-Muslims, who had escaped to nearby Bagumbayan and Tondo, didn't give up and fought back. Martin de Goiti did not stay long in Maynilad and in 1571, Governor General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi led his whole force to Maynilad and conquered the city for the second time on June 24, 1571.
He declared it the country's capital and the permanent seat of the Spanish administration in the East. Under Spanish rule, Manila became the hub of the Far East. The Manila-Acapulco galleon trade between the Philippines and Mexico prospered from the years 1571 to 1815. As a result, Manila was called Intramuros from the 16th to the 19th centuries.
The Japanese
Manila’s existence has been far from peaceful. After Legazpi's take-over, it was attacked by a series of Chinese warlords, Dutch and Portuguese armadas from Indonesia, and a British occupation force. It then went through a facelift in 1898, when American signs sprung up and mostly replaced the Spanish signs for the next 50 years.
In the 1940s, a four year-long occupation by the Japanese Imperial Forces followed, who declared Manila an ‘Open City’. The Japanese occupation led to the destruction of the city towards the end of WWII, which made Manila one of the world’s most heavily destroyed capital cities. In 1946, the country emerged as independent and the city was bestowed with the title: ‘Premiere City of the Philippines’.
Disaster
In 1966 Manila was restored as the capital, but in 1968, it was hit by a major earthquake, which killed scores of people and caused widespread damage to property. In 1972, the city was struck again by a natural disaster, this time floods resulting from more than three weeks of torrential rains.
One way or another, the city always carries on and one of Manila's most appealing traits is its unflappability. Manila is where a true Filipino experience can be felt first hand, and despite its many upheavals, it continues to captivate all those who visit.