The History of Fort Bonifacio

The old walled city of Manila, the Intramuros, has always held a certain fascination for Manileños. It displays the architecture of the Spanish colonial period and has that atmosphere of the laid back, horse and buggy days of the early 20th century. However, its history started with Fort Santiago, the main defense to the port of Manila. How lucky we are that of all the beautiful landmarks that have gone by the wayside in Manila, there has been a concentrated effort to restore and save this historic portion of “Maynila”.

On 19 May 1571, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and his troops occupied Rajah Sulayman’s village. They took over the palisade (kuta) in which the Rajah’s residence was built. That year, Manila was constituted a city of the Spanish realm, formalizing the occupation of the city. Temporary fortifications at the site of Sulayman’s palisade began as soon as the Spanish took charge of the settlement. They started building Fort Santiago (Fuerte de Santiago) after the establishment of the city of Manila under Spanish rule on June 24, 1571, and made Manila the capital of the newly colonized islands.

The first fort was a structure of palm logs and earth. Most of it was destroyed when the city was invaded by Chinese pirates in 1574, led by Limahong. After a fierce conflict, the Spaniards under the leadership of Juan de Salcedo, eventually drove the pirates out of the country. The Spanish colonials brought to Manila their rich experience in stone construction and urban planning. The early plans of the city of Intramuros were shaped by its location surrounded on two sides by the Pasig River and the Manila Bay and included a central plaza with the focus on the cathedral and government buildings. Importantly, it maintained a strategically defensive position at the mouth of the Pasig by the old wooden fortification. The first architect of Intramuros was Antoñio Sedeño, a Spanish Jesuit, who in the 1580s, provided guidance in design and construction of buildings in Manila along traditional Western influences. After designing the impressive residence of Manila’s first Bishop Salazar (1580-1594), he started reconstructing buildings into bahay-na-bato (stone houses) that gave Intramuros its monumentality and grandeur.

Father Sedeño drew the plans for the fort himself and directed the construction by showing the natives and Sangley (Chinese) laborers how to quarry stones, finish and lay them. The stones used were consolidated volcanic ash quarried from Guadalupe (now Guadalupe Viejo in Makati). The construction of Fort Santiago with hard stone, together with the original fortified walls of Intramuros, commenced in 1590 and finished in 1593 during the reign of Governor-General Gomez Perez Dasmariñas. In 1591, there were some three thousand Chinese in the islands, two-thirds of whom lived in the Chinese Parián Quarter (about where the Post Office and Metropolitan Theater stands).

The Sangleys were the merchants, laborers and artisans of the Spanish period. Think of them as the first OCWs (overseas Chinese workers) who hoped to earn enough money to provide for their families back home.The presence of these excellent Chinese artisans and skilled laborers in the Chinese Parián proved most helpful in building fine houses and buildings of hewn stone at a low cost and in short construction time.

Governor Dasmariñas (1590-1593) brought with him royal decrees that led to one of the largest building projects ever to be realized in the city and which finally enclosed it with stone walls and principal gates. Under him, the construction of Fort Santiago was finished. Thousands of native Filipinos and Chinese were forced to work in quarries, to manufacture bricks and roof tiles, and to cut wood. In 1590, Leonardo Turriano was sent to take charge of supervising and designing the construction of the city. With the enthusiastic support of Gov. Dasmariñas, he finished the construction of Fort Santiago, Parian Gate and its Ravelin, and completed 2 kilometers of walls. The old wooden fort was made into a stone bulwark (baluarte) with a castle called Castillo de Santiago. Additional forts like Bastion de San Gabriel, Bastion de San Fernando, and Bastion de San Andres were constructed facing the surrounding land, while Bastion de San Diego, Bastion de San Jose, and Bastion de San Eugenio were directed toward the sea. As additional defense, a moat was dug that was filled with seawater from the incoming tide by means of watergates, which later proved to be a tool used in torture and execution.

In the ensuing century, not much was done in the way of maintenance or improvement of the old city. In the 18thcentury during the reign of Charles III, after several threats to Manila’s security, including the attack and occupation of British forces in 1762, additional fortifications and plans for repair and maintenance were instituted upon return of Spanish rule in 1764.

When the Japanese invaded the Philippines, the Kempe Tai (Military Police Corps) was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army which entered and occupied Manila on January 2, 1942. As soon as they entered the city, they immediately set up the headquarters of the Philippine Kempei Tai Unit at the Jai Alai Club and on January 11, 1942, it was moved to Fort Santiago under the direction of Major Kazuo Nishimura. There were several reputed Kempei Tai prison centers around the Philippines. Among these centers, Fort Santiago (known as the “Bastille of Pasig”) was the biggest and most well-known detention center with at least 12 dungeons or prison cells.

During the occupation, many Americans and other Allied civilians as well Filipinos were imprisoned within the dank walls. No one, regardless of social status, rank or prominence was immune. Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr., Tomas Morato (mayor of Quezon City), Manuel Elizalde, Elpidio Quirino, Jovito Salonga, Jose Buenaventura and Raul Manglapus. All were eminent Filipinos. It was documented through accounts and testimonies that a suspect would be arrested late at night, had their belongings confiscated then followed by intensive interrogation, beatings and finally, torture. Below, one of the dungeons discovered after the Battle of Manila.

Article From: http://www.lougopal.com/manila/?p=635