Story & photo by Recto Mercene
THE arrival of Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan to our shores in 1521 was a watershed in Philippine history because, although he was slain by Mactan chieftain Lapu-Lapu, the Spaniards came back decades later to Christianize and unify the country.
Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his 1542 expedition, named the islands of Leyte and Samar Felipinas after then-Prince of Asturias. Eventually, the name Las Islas Filipinas would be used to cover all the islands of the archipelago, in homage to his King Philip II.
Compatriot Miguel López de Legazpi, at the head of an expedition, came 44 years later and eventually integrated the geographically fragmented country after burning down Cebu, apparently in retaliation for Magellan’s death.
Not long ago, Rotary Club president Jose “Jimmie” Policarpio invited three speakers who discoursed about our past history with Spain and how we are preparing to celebrate the half-century of colonialism that also placed the country on the world map.
One of the speakers was Filipinas Quincentenario Project proponent Andronico Pecho Alviso Jr., on the “Quincentennial Symposium of the Discovery of the Philippines and the Circumnavigation of the World.”
The other speakers were economist, business analyst and management consultant Dr. Gil R. Ramos, as well as Philippine Quincentenario Center Inc. Corporate Secretary Emmanuel Sto. Domingo Lopez.
According to Ramos, before the Spaniards came, the Philippines was part of the Sri Vijaya Empire. The seat of power of this thalassocracy, or a government composed of thousands of islands, is in the island of Java.
The Sri Vijaya Empire included the Indonesian archipelago, Brunei Darussalam, Java and the Philippines up to Northern Visayas. Luzon then was a part of China’s Song Dynasty; hence the name, Lu Song. Lu means “province” in China.
Ramos said the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade began when Spanish navigators Alfonso de Arellano and Andres de Urdaneta discovered the eastward return route in 1565.
“Reasoning that the trade winds of the Pacific move in a gyre as the Atlantic winds did, they had to sail north from Manila to the 38th parallel north, off the east coast of Japan, to catch the eastward-blowing westerly wind that would take them back across the Pacific.”
“Upon reaching the west coast of the North American continent, Urdaneta’s ship, the San Pedro, sailed south to Acapulco, arriving on October 8, 1565. By the 18th century, it was understood that a less northerly track was sufficient and galleon navigators steered well clear of the rocky and foggy California coast. It made the trip shorter and less hazardous.”
The Manila trade, Lopez said, was so lucrative that Seville merchants petitioned King Philip II of Spain to protect the monopoly. This led to the passing of a decree in 1593, limiting two ships sailing each year from either port, of which one was kept in reserve in Acapulco and the other in Manila.
Spain was forced to find a westward route because the eastern half of the globe at that time belonged to Portugal.
An epochal event
THIS writer referenced Wikipedia, which provided the following information: “The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed at Tordesillas on June 7, 1494, and authenticated at Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa. This line of demarcation was about halfway between the Cape Verde islands [already Portuguese] and the islands entered by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage [claimed for Castile and León], named in the treaty as Cipangu and Antilia [Cuba and Hispaniola].
“The lands to the east would belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Castile. The treaty was signed by Spain [on] July 2, 1494, and by Portugal [on] September 5, 1494. The other side of the world was divided a few decades later by the Treaty of Zaragoza, signed on April 22, 1529, which specified the antimeridian to the line of demarcation specified in the Treaty of Tordesillas.”
“This treaty would be observed fairly well by Spain and Portugal, despite considerable ignorance as to the geography of the New World; however, it omitted all of the other European powers. Those countries generally ignored the treaty, particularly those that became Protestant after the Protestant Reformation.”
Those events transpired 500 years ago, and there had been so much shared history between the Philippines and Spain that it is but fitting that the two countries should celebrate this epochal event.
Through the galleon trade, Manila became an entrepot of expensive merchandise coming from China and other Asian countries that found their way to the Iberian Peninsula. The goods consisted of porcelain, silk and tea from China, ivory from Africa, spices from the Moluccas and feathers from rare birds, tobacco and hornbill, among others, from the Philippines.
On the other hand, Lopez said that between 1609 and 1616, nine galleons and six galleys were constructed in Philippine shipyards in Cavite. Some 2,000 local hardwood were cut down per galleon, with a total cost of P78,000.
“The galleon trade was nourished by merchants largely coming from China and other Asian ports to Manila to sell porcelain, ivory, silk, cloth, spices and other commodities. The cargoes arrived in Acapulco and were transported by land across Mexico to the port of Veracruz in the Gulf of Mexico, where they were sold in New Spain, or loaded onto the Spanish fleet bound for Spain.”
Lopez continued, “Trading primarily functioned on a silver standard and as such, goods were bought by silver mined from Mexico. The Manila-Acapulco galleon trade ended in 1815, a few years before Mexico gained independence from Spain.”
‘Mother of all festivals’
THIS early, preparations are underway and according to Alviso, “Filipinas Quincentenario is aimed to promote the Philippines on its 500th year, starting now until 2021.”
“It is envisioned to enjoin every Filipino and those in all corners of the globe to come home to the Philippines and celebrate on March 16, 2021, the ‘mother of all Filipino festivals.’”
To start with, he said local Quincentanario councils are encouraged across the country and the Rotary Club is helping in the preparations.
Abroad, Spain and Portugal took the lead in commemorating the fifth Centenary of the First Circumnavigation of the World, which is considered by both countries as their contribution to mankind.
He said in the spring of 2007, Spain started the Sevilla 2019-2022 initiative, while Portugal launched its Red Mundial de Ciudades Magallanica (RMCM) or the General Network of Magellanic Cities.
Italy and Turkey are also preparing for this event.
Alviso said Filipinas Quincentanario tied up with the RMCM Asia and established the first local “Q” council in Catbalogan City. Works are under way for the Philippines’s Q to partner with the Spanish group in Seville and the Spanish Commission for the global celebration of this momentous event.
Alviso said the 500th birthday of our Motherland would assert the following:
1.) The assertion of freedom from foreign intervention in the Battle of Mactan by Lapu-Lapu in 1521, avenging the defeat of the Malay race in the battle of Malacca, which was conquered by the Portuguese in 1511;
2.) Filipinas Quincentenario constitutes the marker as we make an insightful review of the seminal nodes in our history that led to our nationhood, which is a national reflection of all our struggles in the past 500 years; and
3.) The arrival of Christianity in the Philippines and how it evolved as the main Christian belief system in our country.
Alviso revealed the chairman of the Philippine Quincientenario Center Inc., Jackie Rodriguez Sr., has informally invited King Felipe VI of Spain to grace the Filipinas Quincentenario in 2021, “to which the Spanish monarch has agreed. He said that to position our country in the global celebration, Filipinas Quincentenario is working to hold a World Summit in the Philippines next year, to be participated in by the circumnavigation nations.”
“It is ardently hoped in the World Summit that an organization of the Circumnavigation Nations of the World will be created. If Spain and Portugal view these extraordinary feats as their country’s contribution to mankind, it is thereby hoped by mankind that these ‘Circumnavigation’ nations will be in the forefront to foster peace and address the challenges confronting mankind in the 21st century, such as threats to world security and environmental problems, to name a few,” the Quincentenario Project proponent proclaimed.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes