|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
The
Early Philippines
No
central power arose to make the Philippines a single
country. Instead, the people lived in autonomous clusters of
villages, or barangay, each with its own chieftain.
In time, some places became important trading centers, often
outposts of the Indianized empires of South-east Asia. These
places became tied into the developing Asian maritime trade
routes very early on. There is evidence, for example, of
trade between the Philippines and Cham (in today’s
Vietnam) in 500BC.
more» |
|
 |
The
Arrival of the Spanish
Ferdinand
Magellan, a Portuguese working in the service of
Spain, left Spain in 1519 intent on finding a route
to the Spice Islands, today's Moluccas in Indonesia.
He set off with five ships, though he soon lost two, and
sailed around Cape Horn, eventually reaching the
Philippines. He and his men arrived off the coast of Samar
on 16 March 1521. Their first landfall was on Homonhon, an
island just south of Samar, and from here they sailed to
Limasawa, and then to the trading port of Cebu, where they
arrived on 7 April. The chief of Cebu, Rajah Humabon, was
remarkably friendly, and within days Magellan had baptized
him and many of his followers.
more» |
|
 |
The
Nation's First Flag
On
exhibit at the Aguinaldo Museum at Happy Glen in Baguio
City is an old flag identified by a caption as the "First
Philippine National Flag." A historical note says:
"Sewn in Hongkong by Dona Marcela Marino Agoncillo, this
flag was brought to the Philippines by General Emilio
Aguinaldo on May 19, 1898. It was first unfurled by Aguinaldo
in his headquarters in Cavite (now Cavite City) on May 28
before victorious Filipino revolutionists and more than 270
Spanish soldiers of the Marine Corps who surrendered to them
in the Battle of Alapan, Imus, Cavite. A large group of
officers and men of the U.S. Asiatic Squadron under ...
more» |
|
|