Today in History : March 11th

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1565: Miguel López de Legazpi reaches Camiguin from Limasawa. Legaspi, also known as El Adelantado (The Governor) and El Viejo (The Elder), was a Spanish conquistador who established one of the first European settlements in the East Indies and the Pacific Islands in 1565. After obtaining peace with various indigenous tribes, López de Legazpi made the Philippines the capital of the Spanish East Indies in 1571.

1576: Juan de Salcedo, “the Hernan Cortes of the Philippines,” dies at Vigan. Juan de Salcedo was a Spanish conquistador. He was born in Mexico in 1549 and he was the grandson of Miguel López de Legazpi and brother of Felipe de Salcedo. Salcedo was one of the soldiers who accompanied the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in 1565.

1876: A protocol signed by England and Germany recognizes Spanish rights to the Tawi-Tawi group and the chain of islands stretching from Sulu to Borneo.

1876: A Supreme Court is established in the City of Cebu. Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands.

1892: A royal decree is issued creating the Superior Normal School for Women Teachers in Manila under the direction of the Augustinians. University of Wisconsin–Superior is it's name today.

1898: General Emilio Aguinaldo appoints General Ambrosio Flores as quarter master for the armed forces of the Philippine Revolutionary government.

1899: Premier Mabini sends telegrams to the municipal and military chiefs of the provinces along the coasts instructing them to admit foreign merchant ships which might want to take loads of merchandise. --Desultory firing occurs at San Pedro Makati and caloocan. Filipinos are driven from a trench they have begun to construct. A War Department order withraws permission for families of officers and enlisted of officers and enlisted men to accompany troops to Manila.

1942: General Douglas MacArthur and his family leave Corregidor for Australia.

1945: Romblon and Zamboanga are occupied by the Americans in World War II.

1946: Col. Akira Nagahama, terror of Fort Santiago and head of the kempeitai during the latter part of the Japanese occupation, is found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging by the U.S. military tribunal.

1947: The Filipino people, headed by Manuel A. Roxas, ratifies the nation-wide plebiscite on the “Parity Amendment” to the Constitution. This gives the Americans and Filipinos equal rights in the exploitation of the natural resources of the Philippines.

1988: To counteract the threat of war in Mindanao, the government creates the Regional Consultative Commission. The commission is given the task to draft a charter for an autonomous region in Mindanao. The body is composed of 55 members, 27 from electoral districts in Mindanao and 28 others chosen by President Aquino. The secretariat is based in Zamboanga City.

Today in History : March 9th

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1565: Miguel López de Legazpi and his men reach Limasawa, where the young King Bankaw welcomes them. Legazpi, also known as Adelantado|El Adelantado (The Governor) and El Viejo (The Elder), was a Spanish conquistador who established the first colony in the Philippine Islands in 1565.

1837: A bureau called “Inspección General de Minas” is created to develop still unexploited mineral resources of the country. Mines and Geosciences Bureau dates back during the Spanish regime, when it was then known as the “Inspeccion General de Minas”. Under the Philippine Revolutionary Republic, a Mines Section under the Director of Industry and Agriculture of the Departmento de Fomento was formed by a Presidential Decree of 1898.

1849: A royal decree is issued taking away from the seculars seven parishes in Cavite, namely Bacoor, Cavite Viejo, Silang, Santa Cruz de Malabon, San Francisco de Malabon, Naic, and Indang and transferring them to the Dominicians and the Recollects.

1851: Birth of General Paciano Rizal, Revolutionary leader and brother of Jose Rizal, in Calamba, Laguna. Paciano Rizal (full name: Paciano Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda) was a Filipino general and revolutionary, and the older brother of José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. Died on April 13, 1930.

1891: Birth in Tanauan, Batangas, of Jose P. Laurel, justice, lawyer, statesman, legislator, administrator, writer, educator, and wartime President of the Philippines. José Paciano Laurel y García was the president of the Japanese-Sponsored Republic of the Philippines during World War II, from 1943 to 1945. Laurel was not subsequently officially recognized as a Philippine president until the administration of Diosdado Macapagal. Died on November 6, 1959.

Today in History : March 8th

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1565: Felipe Salcedo takes possession of the island of Leyte. Felipe de Salcedo was a Spanish explorer who was a member of the López de Legazpi expedition to the Philippines in the 16th century. He accompanied his brother Juan de Salcedo and grandfather Miguel López de Legazpi in 1564 for their colonization of the East Indies and the Pacific. He commanded 1 ship, out of 5 fleets that sailed from Mexico to the Philippines.

1860: Birth of Antonio San Agustin, businessman, one of the “Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite,” in San Roque, Cavite. Antonio was a scion of a wealthy family. He studied at Letran College and University of Santo Tomas. He was married to Juliana Reyes. He owned the only bookstore, La Aurora, in the town which was used as a meetingplace by the Katipunan. Died on September 12, 1896.

1897: The Bishop of Vigan designates Fray J. Florentino Fernandez, a Dominican, the first Parish priest of Peñablanca, Cagayan.

1899: A citizenship certificate is made obligatory for all those holding official posts, entering into public or private contracts, registering and collecting remittances, salaries and pensions.

1901: From Palanan, President Emilio Aguinaldo instructs Apolinario Mabini to thank General Arthur MacArthur on his (Aguinaldo’s) behalf for the invitation extended to him to live in Malacañang Palace and to say that the Filipinos who have taken up arms have no other desire except Philippine independence.

1904: Artemio Ricarte y Garcia and an old friend, Aurelio Tolentino, write a long letter to Governor Wright setting forth their aspirations: the founding of a Filipino Republic.

1947: President Manuel Roxas, foremost leader of the Liberal Party, leaves for the southern provinces to campaign for the acceptance of the Parity Rights Bill.

Today in History : February 13th

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1565: López de Legazpi's troops arrived in the Philippines and landed in the shores of Cebu. After a brief struggle with hostile natives, they left the island in search of food, water, supplies and other resources.

1897: Patriotic Filipino journalist Isabelo de los Reyes, known for his stirring and pungent articles critical of the Spanish colonial friars, is jailed at the Bilibid Prison for supposed complicity in the Philippine Revolution that broke out in 1896; while in prison, he will write his Sensecional Memoria addressed to the Governor and wherein he points out that the friars are the ones responsible for sowing the seeds of discontent and revolution in the Philippines.

1917: Bagong Buhay Lodge was formally constituted and started to be referred as Lodge No. 17 under the unified Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands (fusion of the Filipino-dominated Grand Regional Lodge of the Philippines, and the American-dominated Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands, and other small jurisdictions) and became under the direct jurisdiction of American Masons with Bro. Emilio Basa as the Worshipful Master, Bro. Emilio Espinosa, and Bro. Ceferino Lorenzana as the Senior and Junior Warden, respectively.

1953: Enrico de Jesus Puno, better known as Rico J. Puno, was born. Rico Puno is a popular Filipino pop singing artist who is credited as a pioneer-promoter of original Filipino music. He started the trend of incorporating Tagalog lyrics in his rendition of the American song The Way We Were and other foreign songs. Also known as Rico J. and as The Total Entertainer, Puno is a singer who regularly infused his on-stage performance with comedy and jokes.