To commemorate National Heroes Day is to evaluate the relevance to this day of a Filipino propagandist who was kept in this fortress before his walk to Bagumbayan (now Luneta) to die by musketry.
Fort Santiago, a 16th century military defense structure, stands witness to the valor and heroism of the Filipino through the centuries. Most prominent of this act of heroism is that of Dr. Jose Rizal despite debates whether it was appropriate to install him into national hero status.
Fort Santiago served as the military headquarters of the Spanish, British, American and Japanese regimes. During World War II, it was a dreaded place where hundreds of men and women were jailed, tortured and executed by the Japanese military police, the Kempeitai. But it was destroyed by American forces during the 1945 Battle of Manila and was restored as a public park after the Congress declared it a Shrine of Freedom in 1950.
For P40, the ticket entitles visitor to free entrance to all facilities including the Intramuros Visitors Center which gives an overview of various attractions in the Walled City. I had a romance again with Philippine History 101 when I relearned that before the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, communities prospered along the banks of the Pasig River. One of these was a palisaded fort called Maynilad. Ruled by Rajah Soliman, a native chieftain, the citadel was a trade center for Asian goods. But peace in the thriving community was shattered upon the arrival of the Spaniards led by master of camp Martin de Goiti and later by conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.
On June 24, 1571, Legazpi founded the city of Manila on the site of the old settlement. The city became the capital and seat of Spanish sovereignty in the Orient for over three hundred years. Threats of invasion by Chinese, Japanese, Dutch and Portuguese pirates prompted the construction of defenses consisting of high stone walls, bulwarks and moats. The walls stretched to 4.5 kilometers in length, enclosing a pentagonal area of approximately 64 hectares. The area consisted of residences, churches, palaces, schools and government buildings. Entry was made possible through gates with drawbridges which were closed before midnight and opened at the break of dawn. It was in this manner that the city earned the name Intramuros, meaning “within the walls”.
And there within Intramuros is the Fort. Adaptive use of this famous historical landmark makes certain areas ideal for open air theater, picnics, and promenades. The Baluartillo de San Francisco Javier where military supplies were kept when this was built in 1663 already serves as an attraction.
Other parts worth visiting are the Almacenes Reales or the Royal Warehouses where the Spaniards stored the goods brought in by the galleons just across the Plaza Moriones, a public promenade until it was fenced off by the Spanish military in 1864.
Next to the picnic area and refreshment kiosk is the archaeological excavation of Artilleria de Maestranza, a foundry which cast cannons and other ammunitions during the Spanish period.
In front of the main gate of Fort Santiago is the moat, the first line of defense surrounding the fortified city with water. The fort stands at the tip of the delta where the Pasig River meets the Manila Bay. It is named in honor of Spain’s patron saint James, Slayer of the Moors or Santiago Matamoros whose wooden relief decorates the main gate to the fort.
After the moat, the Medio Baluarte de San Francisco and Baluarte de San Miguel guarded the fort from the river and the bay, respectively. The Plaza Armas was the fort’s main square. North of the plaza is the Dulaang Rajah Soliman, an adobe building now used as a theater. At the western side of the building is the chapel-cell where Rizal spent his last night on earth. Brass shoeprints would help visitors trace the path of Rizal when he walked to his execution site at Bagumbayan on December 30, 1896.
Across the plaza is the Rizal Shrine. It stands on the site of a brick building where Rizal was imprisoned from November 3 to December 29, 1896. As always, no cameras are allowed inside the museum, so it would be best to stay for a moment longer to appreciate implements of the young Rizal when he was experimenting with insects and his collection of tools when he practiced ophthalmology.
There is also a collection of his notes from a young, curious child who questioned why the baby moth loves to dance with the lamp’s flame, to his books on social cancer, the “Noli” and the “Fili”; photographs of some of the women said to be beguiled by his wit and charm – puppy love Segunda Katigbak, Leonor Rivera, O Sei San and Josephine Bracken; and his habiliments that include winter clothes he wore in Germany as a medical student, and those he used while traveling to other parts of Europe and Hong Kong.
Also inside the fort is a terraced garden that occupies the site of the residence of the Fort Commander called Casa del Castellano. The dungeon below, which I find most interesting for its eerie atmosphere, was once the cellar where food supplies were kept.
A Memorial Cross marks the common grave of approximately 600 bodies of guerrillas and civilians found inside the powder magazine of Baluarte de Sta. Barbara after World War II. The bulwark began as a wooden platform which protected the entrance to the Pasig River in 1593. Storage vaults and the powder magazine were added in 1599. The Falsabragas de Sta. Barbara and Media Naranja were false walls which protected the main bulwark in case of heavy bombardment from the river.
The Fort opens at 8 a.m. Warning though: Just don’t get fooled by those caritela drivers who would charge “P250 only” for a trip to Malacañang or to Manila Zoo or to Luneta from the Fort. Matter of fact is that the “per hour” charge isn’t written on their so-called tariffs. We were charged P1,250 for the entire journey, but instead of arguing I haggled for a “pakapin” to Binondo or Chinatown to get a glimpse of Eng Bee Tin famous for its hopia and tikoy, and then straight to North Harbor where I set off for a return trip to Cebu. – Maria Eleanor E. Valeros
