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Why is Manila of the Philippines the true “Pearl of the Orient”?
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Why is Manila of the Philippines the true “Pearl of the Orient”?
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When it was officially tagged in the ‘50s, Asians saw this as a city of opportunity. Source: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries (2004.) Without a doubt, Asians went to Manila to learn. Almost all the things that Asia leads in today were learned in Manila. For instance, the Philippines hosted the first Asian Airline, Philippine Airlines. They also led the world in agriculture. South Korea now prospers, but they actually took advice from the Philippines. Southeast Asia was also mesmerized by the beauty of farming and the efficiency of Filipinos in growing crops. But most importantly, the Philippines was not a Communist country. During the 1900s, the Philippines had grown used to conquerors, so they decided to be accepting of refugees. How the Philippines saved 1,200 Jews during Holocaust – CNN They also accepted Vietnamese refugees, while the Philippines was under the Marcos dictatorship. You see, the situation in Asia was so terrible, that countries like Vietnam and South Korea thought that it would be paradise to live in the Philippines. Now you may ask, “how about Japan?” It’s simple really, if a nation takes over your place, your neighbor’s place and your friend’s place, would you like to live there? Except, Vietnam was in a bad situation. While South Korea and Japan got help from the US, communism was pushing through Vietnam. (Philippines was also helped, but the US gave unfair conditions.) All in all, even if Manila was the second most devastated allied capital, it trumps all the other capitals of Asia, and had the most developed population. Later years however will prove it wrong. Even if Manila isn’t as good as before, it still has greater potential under the recent GDP growth rates of 6.7% – similar to China and Vietnam. As Nick Joaquin said about Manila, it is a matter of “challenge and response.” Here in Manila we usually solve problems, only to be faced with new problems, and that is completely fine considering that the Philippines is only a developing country in comparison to its previous status. P.S. It’s actually a a few days now after I submitted this answer, and I wanted to say that some of my info were actually wrong, and a few years away from the correct info. For instance, Philippine Air Lines is not the oldest airline, but the Philippines does have old airlines such as Cebu Pacific and PAL. What I’m sure of however, is that PAL was one of the best airlines and that Asians came to the Philippines to learn.
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Under Spanish rule, Manila was known as 'The Pearl of the Orient', the jewel of Spain's empire in the Pacific. Early tourists, like the 19th-century traveller Fedor Jagor, described it as a splendid, fortified city of wide, cobbled streets and regal townhouses.