Visit the Adventure

Modern Manila is a teeming metropolis, with huge towerblocks crowding those few examples of colonial architecture that survived the bombing of the city during WWII. Many people use it only as a base for further travel, but the more persistent will discover its friendliness and charm.

Many people dismiss Manila as nothing more than an entry point to more interesting rural destinations in the Philippines. While the less built-up areas do have a lot to offer, those who stop to smell the incense and pollution find that the capital city has a few hidden treasures of its own.

Manila is a modern-looking place (a result of virtual destruction during WWII), but the sprawling city boasts its fair share of colonial ruins - enough to keep those historically inclined amused for a while, anyway.

If you’re looking for a good time, Manila could be just the ticket: bars and entertainment venues will keep you well fed, well greased and in the party mood for months on end. There is a high-profile tacky downside to the flashing neon, but there are plenty of options open to you.

Orientation

Manila, like most of the world’s large cities, suffers from a huge and problematic urban sprawl. Typically, urban sprawl also creates nightmares for travellers, although the main points of interest to visitors are centralised, making suburban navigation unnecessary. Manila sprawls east from Manila Bay along the Pasig River, and immediately south of the river is Intramuros, the old walled Spanish town where many of the city’s historical sites are found. Further south again and you’ll find yourself in the ’tourist belt’ of the Malate and Ermita districts, where you’ll find restaurants, accommodation and travel agencies.

Arriving in Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport is about as far as you’ll ever get from a streamlined process. Poor signage, crowds and an illogical layout all contribute to the chaos, but if you’re confused, you won’t be alone. Once you finally make your way to the street, things begin to look up. The airport, only about 8km (5mi) south of the centre of Manila, is well served by buses and taxis, and there is a metrorail station about 2km (1.2mi) away.

Attractions

Intramuros

The original Chinese settlement on this site was rebuilt as a fort in 1590 by the Spanish, who replaced the wooden buildings with stone. Gradually the area was expanded until it became a walled city containing 15 churches and six monasteries.

The walls are 3km (1.8mi) long and 6m (20ft) high, and are about all that remains after WWII finished off what General Douglas MacArthur had started. MacArthur used Intramuros as his base, tearing down old buildings and widening the roads.

Casa Manila has been restored to its former glory, while the church and monastery of San Augustin has remained virtually untouched since the earliest construction at the site. The Manila Cathedral has been damaged or destroyed six times since it was built. You can also see the ruins of Fort Santiago, which is now a pleasant park, and the interesting Rizal Shrine Museum, devoted to the Filipino martyr.

Rizal Park

Rizal Park is spread over some 60 hectares (148 acres) of open lawns, ornamental gardens, paved walks and wooded areas, dotted with monuments to almost every Filipino hero you care to mention. Every day hundreds of Filipinos come here to stroll, jog, picnic, sing, play music or just relax away from the swarming traffic.

It separates Intramuros and the city beyond from the tourist centre of Ermita. On a pleasant Sunday it seems that all 12 million of them have come down to enjoy the peace and quiet. In the north-west corner of the park is Rizal’s execution site, marked by dramatic statues of the event. The park also features a planetarium, a Chinese and Japanese garden, fountains, a floral clock and an area for roller-skaters. Don’t miss the impressive dinosaurs at the Children’s Amusement Park, in the south-east corner of the park.

Off the Beaten Track

Angeles

A couple of events in 1991 could have seen the collapse of the sprawling city of Angeles, north of Manila. The most violent eruption ever of nearby Mount Pinatubo sent steam and ejecta 40km (25mi) into the stratosphere, darkening the sky and leaving the ground around it a virtual lunar surface.

Frightened off by something even it couldn’t contain, the US Air Force closed its Clark Air Base following the eruption, leaving the city’s many hotels without clientele. However, the residents and businesses of Angeles proved resilient. The surrounds of Pinatubo are now an eerie tourist attraction - the coagulated material has formed streams of rock up to 20m (65ft) high - and an increase in civilians passing through means there are still plenty of hotels doing business.

Corregidor

This small island at the mouth of Manila Bay was the site of the US-Filipino last stand against the invading Japanese. The island certainly didn’t turn out to be as impregnable as the defenders thought, but they did hold out for a considerable time. Now the island is a national shrine. Visitors can look around the network of underground bunkers and inspect the rusty relics of the old fortress armaments. The MV Sun Cruiser ferry to Corregidor leaves daily from the dock near Manila’s cultural centre; an extra service operates on weekends. The island is about 50km (30mi) from the capital across the Bay of Manila.

Olongapo & Subic

Located northwest of Manila, Olongapo is where the huge US naval base, Subic, used to be stationed. Subic Bay is a great area for divers, with 20 wrecks strewn across its floor. The highlight is the wreck of the USS New York, sunk in 1941 and lying at a depth of 27m (89ft).

In a controversial move, the Philippine Senate decided in 1992 not to extend the Military Base Agreement that had been in place since the end of WWII. Some historians claim that the handover of the base to the Philippine government was the true moment of independence from the US for the Philippines. After the handover, the transformation of the base into the Subic Bay Freeport became a national priority. The base was huge, with much of the area covered with virgin rainforest. The Americans put that to good use for survival training, while now it’s open to sightseers.

Pagsanjan

About 70km (44mi) southwest of Manila in the Laguna Province is a popular spot for tourists to shoot the rapids in canoes. For a fee, you are paddled upriver to a waterfall (a good place for a swim), and then go rushing down the rapids, getting a good old soaking on the way. Many rich tourists have thrown the pesos around, so you can expect to be hassled for extra money. Some travellers have reported having an unpleasant time after refusing to pay extra to the boatmen. This part of the river was where the final scenes of Apocalypse Now were filmed, but you’re more likely to have a pleasant cruise than an existential encounter with pure evil.

History

Little is known of the society and history of the Philippines prior to the arrival of Europeans. Archaeological evidence shows a rich pre-colonial culture dominated by trade with Asian neighbours and with the powerful Hindu empires in Java and Sumatra. Trade ties with China were extensive by the 10th century, while contact with Arab traders reached its peak about the 12th century. By the time the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, Islam was well established in many parts of the island group.

Upon arrival, the Spanish really went out of their way to make their presence felt. They attempted (with reasonable success) to totally eradicate the terrible ’pagan’ Filipino society. It wasn’t all sangria and skittles, however, as the first attempt at colonisation ended with the swift death of explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. The Spanish grabbed what they could and high-tailed it out of there. Over 40 years later, with the Magellan incident just a bad memory, Spain headed in again. In 1565 Miguel de Legaspi made a more determined - and more successful - entry to the country on Cebu Island. Six years and innumerable skirmishes later, the Spaniards shifted base to Manila.

It is thought that the port of Manila, at the mouth of the Pasig River, was founded around the 12th century. The area along the river was by this stage already the site of exchange between local, Chinese and Arab traders. When Legaspi’s Spaniards arrived, trade along the river was being controlled by a local leader named Sulayman. He evidently wasn’t too happy about the arrival of the Europeans, torching everything in sight before fleeing to Tondo, across the river, to prepare a fighting force. The Battle of Bangkusay Channel on 3 June 1571 was fiercely fought, but the defenders’ spears and arrows were no match for Castilian muskets and cannons. Sulayman fell in combat and his death marked the beginning of Spain’s 327-year rule. Right after the Battle of Bangkusay Channel, Legaspi set about building Spanish Manila and spreading the Good News - and feudalism - far and wide. During the first two centuries of their occupation, trade was still the priority, with the Spaniards using the Philippines mainly as a connecting point for their China-Acapulco (Mexico) trade route.

With defeats in Europe adding to the decline in Spanish power, the Philippines became politically unstable through the 18th and 19th centuries. The 1896 execution of Jose Rizal - a noted scholar, doctor and passive supporter of independence - sparked a huge revolt that destabilised the Spanish even further. The Americans went to war with Spain two years later, and Spanish rule in the Philippines was abruptly ended.

The Americans took over from the Spanish in 1899, using it as their base for a newer form of cultural imperialism - or ’tutelage’, as they quaintly called it. The Philippines was quickly remodelled in America’s own image. The islands were occupied by the Japanese throughout WWII, but at the end of the war - with the American presence re-established - independence was granted.

Although the Americans were more enlightened than their Spanish predecessors, there was still considerable resistance to their active presence in the country. When independence was attained the US imposed certain conditions, including the establishment of US-style political parties, the retention of US military bases and the signing of economic agreements allowing the US continued control over the Philippines economy.

In 1972, elected President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, which soon became total dictatorial control. His government was riddled with corruption, cronyism and economic mismanagement. When Marcos’ main opponent, Benigno Aquino, was assassinated in 1983, opposition to his rule reached unprecedented heights with rioting on the streets of Manila. Marcos called an election in 1986 which both he and his rival, Corazon Aquino, claimed to have won. ’People Power’ won out in the end as tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Manila in a defiant display of support for the popular opposition leader. Within days Marcos and his shoe-fetishist wife Imelda went into comfortable exile in Hawaii. Ferdinand Marcos died in 1989, leaving his wife to eventually face graft charges back home, although, despite overwhelming evidence, she was never convicted.

Corazon Aquino was unable to stem the tide of corruption endemic in the post-Marcos Philippines and she eventually handed over party leadership to Protestant Fidel Ramos. His rule ended the communist guerilla war that had been raging in the Philippines, but he too fell to a groundswell of popular support for aging B-grade movie actor Joseph Estrada in 1998. The Filipinos who elected Estrada got more personality than they bargained for - the president was impeached and stood trial in December 2000 for allegedly pocketing millions of dollars worth of bribes from local gambling syndicates, much of which it was claimed he used to build a lavish house for one of his several mistresses.

Estrada tried to stymie the trial proceedings by using his political connections to block access to his bank accounts; the people responded by stymieing his political future through mass demonstrations in mid-January 2001 that swiftly saw Estrada replaced by former vice-President Gloria Arroyo.

With the country’s awful leadership problems, onging currency crisis and the kidnapping exploits of Muslim radical separatists based on the island of Mindanao, the Philippines look set for some interesting times. A military coup attempt on 27 July 2003 underscored the fact that Manila is vulnerable to the same tensions and conflicts that affect the more volatile and remote sections of the country.