By Bianca Marie France E. Viadan 

The Intramuros is a 160-acre walled city located in Manila, the Capital City of the Philippines offers a historical and cultural experience. Built by the Spanish Government within a defensive wall for protection against potential attack, it is a heritage site that holds one of the most important parts of our country’s history. 

During the Colonization of the Spanish Government, this walled city used to be the residence of the Spanish governor-general from its founding in 1571 until 1865, and the Real Audiencia of Manila until the end of Spanish rule during the Philippine Revolution of 1898. It is known in history that Miguel Lopez de Legazpi planned the construction of Intramuros, where six meters of high stone walls were built by the Spaniards act as a defensive wall or reinforcement while cannons can be found in the streets to defend the occupants and government offices from outside attacks and invasion. Fort Santiago was then built in 1571, equally an important historical structure, including its being the place of imprisonment of our National Hero Jose Rizal before his execution.

A clear decline of the Spanish Empire took place during the 19th century, where during the Spanish-American War, Spain surrendered the Philippines and other territories to the United States under the Treaty of Paris, and it was then the American Flag that was raised at the Fort Santiago as a sign of American rule. In the year 1941, the invasion of the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines brought destruction and casualties in Intramuros, leaving in their retreat during the Battle of Manila in 1945 the wake of destroyed structures in Intramuros.

In 1979, Presidential Decree No. 1616 was signed and established by the government to lead the restoration of the remaining original gates and walls with the help of the local government of Manila. Throughout the years, churches, schools, plazas, and parks were built inside the walls, and due to its stylish architecture, it attracted locals and tourists including churchgoers where Manila Cathedral was located.

Intramuros is known as the oldest district in Manila, where the original campus of the University of Santo Tomas and the Ateneo de Manila resided before transferring. Today, prestigious universities and colleges’ main campuses are still within the grounds of Intramuros like the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and the University of the City of Manila. 

An agency of the Department of Tourism known as Intramuros Administration (IA) is responsible for the orderly restoration and development of Intramuros as a monument to the Hispanic period of Philippine history, with a mission to protect and conserve the historical and cultural value and significance of Intramuros while advancing and guiding urban development within and contributing to the strengthening of the Filipino’s national identity and sense of belonging and pride. They envision Intramuros as a model urban site of national historical and cultural heritage, sustaining people and life systems within, and contributing to national cultural and socio-economic progress. 

This Historical Monument and National Shrine within the bustling city of Manila is a symbol of how many wars our country has known, and the unknown heroes who have fought for us to have the independence we have in the present. They have sacrificed not only their own lives but also the safety and lives of their families to give us the sovereignty of our country today. Many lives were taken by the war, women and children were abused, and a father and a brother chose to face the war with the hope of setting their loved ones and their countrymen free from invasions, slavery, and abuse by those empires that wanted to make us forget and change our identity as Filipinos. 

May we never forget to remember the heroes we grew up reading and learning from books. May we never lose that gratefulness in our hearts and continue to fight for the greater good and stand for what is right. This freedom our ancestors have fought so hard for is the same freedom that our creator from up above has given us since the day we were born, but we his children were also the same people who made each country and its people divided. We humans are thirsty for power, wealth, success, and knowledge and we rather choose to define a person’s worth by what he has to offer rather than the goodness he brings to the world.  

They say that History repeats itself, but I hope that the only history our families and future children will experience is the good ones and not the wars written in our history books. One day I wish that we choose peace over power, I hope that we all learn to love one another equally as brothers and sisters, and I pray that we will have the same goal of not making the same mistakes of the past that may bring another history of pain and regrets. 

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew Chapter 5 Verse 9 

Sources:

Intramuros Administration Official Website, Wikipedia, Hike to Mountains Official Website, Official Website, Guide to The Philippines Official Website, Research Publish Official Website, Bible Study Tools Official Website, The Manila Cathedral Official Website, Arquitectura Manila Official Blogspot, Lakansining Official WordPress

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