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| Written by Moslemen Macarambon Jr. | |
| Monday, 26 November 2007 | |
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The Philippines was one of the earlier landfalls of the Western Voyagers. The Spaniard Ferdinand Magellan sighted Homonhon Island in the Western Visayas less than a generation after Vasco da Gama's breakthrough to southwestern India in 1498. From the time the conquistadores set up their capital in what is now Manila in 1571, the western presence in the archipelago was constant and pervasive. After ruling for over three centuries, the Spaniards were displaced by the Americans in 1898, who themselves stayed for 48 years. This protracted colonial experience imprinted itself deeply on Filipino religion, language and mass culture. The experts now concede that the state of Philippine culture at the coming of the Spaniards was generally higher than had been believed. There is evidence of Chinese trade. Hindu influences have been traced in Agusan and Palawan, while Islam had been introduced into the southern islands almost 200 years before Miguel de Legazpi's arrival at Manila Bay. |
