Tomorrow, we celebrate 438 years of the founding of Maynila.
The first Araw ng Maynila was on June 24, 1571, a year after Spanish troops under Martin de Goiti defeated the forces of Rajah Sulayman in what is known as the First Battle of Manila. It was on this day that the city was first proclaimed as the capital of the Spanish colonial administration in the Philippines and the first government was established here.
Many people take it to mean that the founding of Manila by the Spaniards was literally its beginning. History tells us that Maynila, when the Spaniards came, was already a progressive city ruled by three Muslim kings. Trade and commerce were flourishing activities, carried out by the inhabitants, mostly traders, investors, mercenaries and seafarers who traded with nearby commercial centers in Southeast Asia as early as the 14th century. The commercial routes that these natives plied later became the foundation of the lucrative Manila galleon trade carried out by the Spaniards. Historians talk of existing landscaped areas surrounding the city suggesting some system and order. A military fort built with hard wood, logs and bamboos by Raja Sulayman secured the city. Finding a strategic domain located at the mouth of the Pasig River, which the Spaniards later found was the key factor in defeating Chinese warlords under the command of Limahong 3 years later, it is then no wonder that King Phillip of Spain gave it the grandiose title “Insigne a siempre leal Ciudad de Manila” (the noble and ever loyal city).
Manila’s name was derived from two Tagalog words: “may”, meaning “there is”, and “nilad”, the name of a shrub that grew abundantly along the shores of the Pasig River and the Manila Bay. Through the centuries, Manila grew into a thriving city, enriched by wealth generated by the world’s first global economy — the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade.
My own memories of Maynila are plenty and pleasant. I was born and raised in Oroquieta Street, where our house was located at the corner of Zurbaran street, located a block away from the commercial center known as Cervantes Street. This later became what we now know as Rizal Avenue. In 1933, our family moved to a Spanish colonial style house at the corner of Taft Avenue and Remedios street which was destroyed during World War II. Manila was the most devastated city next to Warsaw, Poland after the war.
Through more than four centuries of Spanish rule, succeeding years of occupation by the Japanese and Americans and several years of independence thereafter, Manila remains as the premier center of business and culture, where the rich traders and old wealthy businesses operate. It is the most premier and sought after location considered by both local people and enterprising foreigners for their business and eco-tourism activities. But urbanization and globalization have consequences — landmarks are obliterated, historic buildings torn down, street names depicting history are changed indiscriminately and the architectural landscape and its previous magnificence lost to inevitable development arising from more profitable endeavors. In the process, land is destroyed, increased activities causing pollution and garbage in the process. I think we should preserve Maynila’s rich historical past for the sake of the new and future generations. We owe it to them.