Strolling Between the Walls in Downtown Manila

I was wandering around central Manila a few weeks back and found myself in Rizal Park, heading for… well, I’m not sure where. Rizal Park, you’ll remember if you read my last blog, is situated slap bang next to the National Museum and along Roxas Boulevard, adjacent to Manila’s old walled city of Intramuros.

 

Something that had caught my eye on my previous visit was a sign to the old Orchidarium; and as I love gardens and plant exhibits, I had determined to visit it as soon as time permitted.

 

The sign had caught my eye before as, not only did it point the way to the Orchidarium itself, but at the bottom it warned, rather ominously in my opinion, “Government Property Do Not Remove. Mere possession of this sign is punishable by law”.
 

Now, although I cannot fathom for one minute why anyone would cast a covetous eye over such a ramshackle old billboard, I had to keep reminding myself that I was, after all, in Manila and anything that isn’t bolted down is liable to be lifted.

 

Slap bang in the middle of this object of desire was the word Barbara’s, added, I suspect, somewhat haphazardly at some date after the board had originally been created.
 

Barbara’s, for those in the know, is a catering chain that claims to specialise in Filipino and Spanish dishes, though house specialties apparently also include other European-inspired dishes. Barbara's also claims to “cater to people who enjoy good food served in a grand manner”. The most recent addition to the company’s projects is the Orchidarium outlet, whose plaza can accommodate functions for up to 500 people.
 

Alas, the well laid plans of mice and men are invariably thwarted; and with tears in my eyes I soon discovered the Orchidarium was well and truly locked for ‘rehabilitation’. So the garden has once again returned to my list of must-see-places-some-time-in-the-future.

 

So what else can one do in this part of downtown Manila? What else, apart from explore the old area of Intramuros, just along the road!
 

Over four centuries ago, Intramuros WAS Manila. From its founding in 1571, to the end of Spanish rule in 1898, it was the exclusive preserve of the Spanish ruling classes, while the native populace was settled in surrounding areas such as Paco and Binondo, while the 'troublesome' Chinese were kept under permanent supervision in a ghetto called the Parian.
 

For some 400 years, Intramuros served as the capital of the Spanish East Indies. It was the centre of commerce, education, government, and religion in Spain's most distant imperial possession. Within its massive walls were imposing government buildings, stately homes, churches, convents, monasteries, schools, hospitals and cobbled plazas. Life there was the standard against which all other lifestyles in the rest of the country were judged.
 

But time was not kind to Intramuros. It suffered gunfire, earthquakes, fires and a world war or two, followed by neglect; and it’s surprising that so much still stands today, given that it was only in 1979 that there was finally an attempt made to rebuild it, starting firstly on the old walls.

 

Also known as the Ciudad Murada (Walled City), Intramuros is almost completely surrounded by this massive three-mile-long circuit of walls and fortifications, that were begun in the late 1500s to protect the inhabitants from attack. The Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi laid the foundations of the new capital on the former site of Maynilad, a palisaded riverside settlement, being the remnants of an Islamic settlement by the mouth of the Pasig River.
 

The walls enclosed a pentagonal area approximately 0.67 sq km in size – or some 64 hectares – within which lay a tight grid-like system of streets and a main square surrounded by government structures. The defensive curtain was more or less completed by the 1700s, although improvements and other construction work continued well into the next century.
 

Not that it stopped it being invaded by Chinese pirates, threatened by Dutch forces, and held by the British, Americans and Japanese at various times. But it did survive until the closing days of WWII, when it was finally heavily damaged by US bombing during the battle to recapture the city from the Japanese Imperial Army, by which time the walls were almost all that remained.
 

Reconstruction of the walls was started in 1951 when Intramuros was declared a National Historical Monument; but that didn’t stop the Global Heritage Fund identifying the place as one of 12 worldwide sites "on the verge of irreparable loss and destruction" in its 2010 report entitled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, citing poor management together with development pressures.
 

Anyway, one of the most famous gates in the wall is the Postigo del Palacio, which was built in 1662, and renovated 120 years later. On 30 Dec 1896, the Philippines’ national hero José Rizal was taken through this gate from Fort Santiago en route to the place of his execution at Bagumbayan, in what today has become Rizal Park. Damaged in the battle of Manila in 1945, the gate was restored in 1968, with further restorations made in 1982.

 

Except for a brief period under British rule (1762-1764), Intramuros remained a Spanish city until 1898, when the U.S. took control of the Philippines at the end of the Spanish-American War.
 

Before the American Era, entrance to the city was through eight gates. Drawbridges were raised and the city was closed from 11 pm till 4 am every night, continuing in this way until 1852, when, following a major earthquake, it was decreed that the gates should thenceforth remain open 24/7.
 

Amazingly, there has not been that much commercialisation taking place inside the walls. The exception is the establishment of one or two fast food outlets such as Jollibee, McDonald's and Starbucks which are all full to bursting due to the patronage of the student population within Intramuros.
 

But apart from the Golden Arches et al, there has been quite a bit of effort made to restore Intramuros to its former glory. You would be hard pressed to know that many of the buildings have been almost entirely rebuilt. And the Spanish colonial architecture is surely what makes this area so attractive.
 

Here, for instance, is the ECJ Building, which is one of my favourites. It was formerly the site of Casa Nueva – the provincial house of the Augustinian Order. When it was destroyed by a fire in 1932, a two-story building belonging to Adamson University was constructed, but this was also destroyed in the 1945 bombings. The Institution was founded in 1932 by George Lucas Adamson, a Greek national living in the Philippines, as a School of Industrial Chemistry and Engineering. The first school building was located at San Miguel, then transferred here to Intramuros, and during the war, to Meralco.
 

If you’re wondering what ECJ is all about, I’m told it stands for Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. who is the chairman of San Miguel Corporation (the largest food and beverage corporation in the Philippines and Southeast Asia), former Philippine ambassador, and a former governor of Tarlac. It has been estimated that, at one time, his business empire accounted for 25% of the gross national product of the Philippines. He was a candidate for the presidency in 1992, ultimately losing to Fidel Ramos, who got 23.6% of the vote. Miriam Defensor Santiago (my heroine!) came in second with 19.7% and Cojuangco came in third with 18.2%.

 

Actually there are loads of attractive buildings. This, for instance, is the Bagumbayan Light and Sound Museum showcasing the life of José Rizal. It used to be the site of the first Filipino congregation of religious women, called Beaterio de la Compañia de Jesus which was founded in 1684, but it too was destroyed in 1945.

 

But wherever you are in this city-within-a-city, you are never far away from the walls which enclose the 160 acres. An inner moat (or foso) surrounds the perimeter of the wall and an outer moat (contrafoso) surrounds the walls that face the city.
 

Several bulwarks (baluarte), ravelins (ravellin) and redoubts (reductos) are also strategically located, following the design of medieval fortifications. The seven bastions were constructed at different periods of time, which is why they all appear so different from one another.
 

One of the future plans of the Intramuros Administration is to complete the perimeter walls that surround the city so that visitors will be able to completely circumnavigate the area from the walkway on top of the walls.

 

Although most of the walkways are still solid enough, many of the walls, gates and bulwarks are covered in weeds and are crying out for a bit of TLC. Given the amount of visitors coming every day you would think that a bit of sprucing up of the said stonework would be money well spent…

 

When the Americans took over, they made drastic changes to the city, such as in 1903, when the walls from the Santo Domingo Gate up to the Almacenes Gate were removed, as the wharf on the southern bank of the Pasig River was improved. The double moats that surrounded Intramuros were deemed unsanitary and were filled in with mud dredged from Manila Bay where the present Port of Manila is now located. The moats were then transformed into a municipal golf course!

 

Along the top of one wall are metal picture casts of past Philippine presidents, starting with the first President – Emilio Aguinaldo – and going through to Gloria Arroyo. Here are the mugshots of Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Acquino…

 

Actually, it's all but impossible to get lost in Intramuros, thanks to the district's orderly street plan. General Luna is the main street cutting a swathe through to most of the major attractions, including San Agustín Church and Manila Cathedral, the latter being the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila and one of the most important churches in the Philippines. Although it was reconstructed in the 1950s, it has also been locked tightly shut for urgent structural repairs since February 2012, and no definite date has been given for its reopening, which probably means it will be closed for a very long time to come!

 

Although somewhat less imposing than the Cathedral, San Agustin Church (originally known as "Iglesia de San Pablo") is arguably much more attractive. It was founded in 1571 and built by 1589 and is the oldest stone church in the Philippines. It is said that from 1565 to 1898 close to 3,000 Augustinians worked in the Philippines. They founded 328 parishes, and in 1897 it is estimated that some three million Filipinos were under their care.
 

The church is steeped in history. It has witnessed major events – for instance it was in the sacristy of the church that the Spaniards and Americans discussed and signed the terms of surrender of the city of Manila to the Americans in 1898. And during the last days of the Battle of Manila in 1945, hundreds of Intramuros residents were gathered and held hostage in the church by Japanese soldiers.
 

San Agustin Church also survived looting by the British forces, who occupied Manila in 1762 during the Seven Years' War. In 1863, a strong earthquake hit Manila leaving San Agustin Church as the only public building left undamaged in the city. The earthquake of 1880 left a huge crack in the left bell tower of the church but it was eventually repaired. The church also withstood many other major earthquakes that struck Manila in 1645, 1699, 1754, 1796, 1825 and 1852. In 1993, it was one of four Philippine churches constructed during the Spanish colonial period to be designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
 

Mind you, San Agustín's neighbouring monastery was damaged during the war and was subsequently refashioned into exhibition space which is used for the San Agustín Museum.

 

They say the museum's pretty impressive, if rather poorly labelled. There are collections of Spanish colonial-era ecclesiastical vestments, sacred vessels, religious art, manuscripts, and other important cultural artefacts. But I’m afraid I gave the museum a miss this time – not being that turned on by ecclesiastical memorabilia – and headed instead to the main part of the church.
 

I particularly like the four stone lion statues guarding the entrance, in particular this one on the right picking his teeth with what looks like a 17th century sex toy (not, you understand, that I am an expert in such things!).

 

There’s loads of wooden carvings, both inside and outside – as found here on the main entrance portal whose carvings are quite intricate.

 

The inside of the church is also intricate, and has a very Spanish feel to it and is much more welcoming than some of the more austere churches you can find around the place.

 

And this gate leading into the nether reaches of the church looks like it was made by a metalsmith who just didn’t know when to stop. I quite like it though!

 

The ceiling of San Agustín Church is also attractive, with its trompe l'oeil murals throwing out a seemingly 3D image to the worshippers below…

 

Having absorbed my fill of culture at this splendid church, I moseyed outside once more and turned a corner to come face to face with another restaurant in the Barbara's chain, this one located at the Plaza San Luis.

 

Apparently this restaurant elicits very mixed emotions, if those on the web are anything to go by. “Food is normal, but good entertainment” says one, referring to the cultural performances that are part and parcel of the evening fayre.
 

“Too dirty, too old and some areas need repair,” gushes another. “Unfriendly staff but the food is okay.”
 

“Food is not stunning but is not bad either,” begrudgingly agrees a third; while yet another recorded “very basic meals by the look of them. We only had quesadillas and taquitos that were somewhat bland but expensive.”
 

Further research makes me somewhat relieved that I didn’t give in to my hunger pangs after my morning constitutional. “The water is dirty since their is something floating in my drink,” wrote one customer, while another reported “Disappointing service, so-so food, dirty water, and baby cockroaches.”
 

Well that does it! Why only baby cockroaches? Surely everyone knows that you can find big fat juicy ones all over Manila? No, I think I will well and truly keep this eatery on my list of restaurant nearly-rans. Now, where did I see those Golden Arches? I’ll bet they don’t use babies in their roachburgers!

Manila’s National Museum of the Philippines

Fans of your favourite blogger know that I am well into visiting museums. During my time in Beijing, I must have visited over 50 of them; but for some reason, the same can not be said of museums in the Philippines. I’m not sure what it is that makes them – for me, at least – less desirable as must-see sites; but on a recent trip to Manila I decided the time was right to correct this negative feeling. I headed out for the National Museum, no less, as a good way to start my Pinoy education.

 

The National Museum was actually designed in 1918 as a public library by an American consulting architect of the Bureau of Public Works called Ralph Harrington Doane, and his assistant Antonio Toledo. But work having been suspended several times because of lack of funds, it was eventually decided that the building should be used by the Legislature. The building was inaugurated on the 16th July 1926, and by then had cost four million pesos – way over the original estimates.

 

Upon its completion, the upper floors were occupied by the Senate and House of Representatives while the ground floor was occupied by the National Library. During the shelling and bombing of Manila in 1945 it suffered severe damage, but was reconstructed in 1946 following the original plans but with some revisions. In 1996, the Senate moved out of the building, and in 2003, renovation started to transform it into the National Art Gallery of the National Museum.

 

 

The Museum lies just outside Rizal Park in downtown Manila, not a stone’s throw (well, not if thrown by someone who’s relatively fit) from the statue of the Sentinel of Freedom, a monstrosity in the park itself which was erected in 2004 during President Aroyo’s tenure of office. It was part-funded by the Korean Freedom League, no doubt to show their solidarity with another country in the region which suffered under the occupation of the Japs during the Second World War.

 

 

Anyway, that apart, the museum itself (which is badly signposted, and has railings blocking the entrance in the most unlikely places) is actually rather a nice building.

 

 

It’s built round a courtyard, and inside the main building is a circular staircase which positively invites the visitor to climb up it.

 

 

The corridors are long and semi-ornate and the whole place has a grandiose feel to it. Already I’m warming to the museum, before having actually seen anything of note.

 

 

But before going any further, there is time first of all to inspect a typical Ifugao house, which the Petron Corporation (the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines, supplying more than a third of the country's oil requirements) has taken upon themselves to park in the central courtyard for all to wonder at. (Ifugao is a landlocked province in northern Luzon, famed for its 2000-year-old rice terraces which have been carved into the mountains and which in 1995 were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.)

 

 

You can climb up a little ladder and stare up into the one roomed house (or studio apartment as the yuppies might call it). The heavily thatched roof serves as protection against rain and cold; but apart from the craftsmanship of the building, there’s not a great deal to see.

 

 

So it’s back inside once again where we start with a gallery on the ground floor featuring a walk-in diorama depicting the wrecksite of a Spanish ship called the "San Diego".

 

San Diego was a 3-masted trading vessel built in Cebu in 1590 by European builders. It was about 40 metres long, 12 metres wide and eight metres high, with four decks and was capable of hauling some 700 tons of cargo. It was converted into a warship by the then Vice-Governor General of the Philippines, Antonio de Morga; but unfortunately it then clashed with a Dutch ship on December 14th, 1600, just off Manila Bay, where it promptly sank.

 

It appears the beastly Dutch were intent on competing with the poor Spaniards in the trade of goods from Asia. A certain Olivier van Noort had sailed his fleet into Philippine waters and the incensed Spaniards ordered de Morga to prepare for battle, which he duly did with a small ship called the San Bartolome, together with the San Diego.

 

The Dutch also had two ships – the Mauritius and the Eendracht. Mauritius fired the first shot, (effectively proving that they were the bad guys) and the San Diego returned fire and rammed it – which it turned out a short while later, was not really the best of ideas.

 

All odds were in favour of the Spanish. The San Diego was four times larger than the Mauritius; it had a crew of 450 rested men and massive fire power with 14 cannons taken from the Manila fortress. But despite the quantity and variety of artillery on board, only one shot was fired by the San Diego. It appears there was so much cargo on board that the newly installed gunports had to be kept shut in order to prevent water from entering the submerged portholes!

 

After six hours of skirmishing, San Diego disengaged to avoid catching fire from the Dutch ship. But due to the fact that no one had thought to remove that heavy cargo from its hold before going into battle, it sank before it could reach Fortune Island, Batangas – not helped by the additional fact that there happened to be a gaping hole in its bow. The Mauritius managed to escape to Borneo, but the Eendracht was captured.

 

 

According to the exhibition blurb, the artefacts on display were all recovered from the sunken vessel; but I have to say that quite apart from the lack of security on some of the exhibits (which seems amazing in a country like the Phils) some of the plates and other bits and pieces look like they have come straight out of a Woolworth’s Christmas sale, rather than having lain on the ocean floor for some four centuries. Anyway, why let the facts get in the way of a good story?

 

 

Even the cannon look like they have come out of a second rate film set factory.

 

 

Having marvelled at the sale bargains of Woolworth’s San Diego branch, we are signposted upstairs to Exhibit Gallery II on the second floor (a.k.a. first floor, if talking in H.M.the Q.’s vernacular). Here on display are countless more artefacts from the San Diego, such as ceramics, coins, pottery, jewellery, armaments and other miscellaneous odds and ends. The San Diego contained over 5,000 objects, essentially representing a time capsule of Asia, Europe and America in those heady days of yesteryear.

 

 

Anyway, lest you overdose on San Diego fun, the next gallery suddenly changes track and concentrates on five centuries of maritime trade in the Philippines before the arrival of westerners. On display are rare pieces recovered by the National Museum from five wrecksites reflecting maritime trade among East Asian countries, before the arrival of the Spaniards to the Philippine archipelago.

 

Some pieces are exquisite – such as this carved wooden table top…

 

 

But it’s not long before the Spaniards rear their heads up once again as we walk in to a gallery with a display of pictures of boats, such as this one…

 

 

The body of water between Mexico, Peru and the Philippines became known as the Spanish Lake and served as a route for the galleon trade that made use of the winds and sea currents in the area. From 1565 to 1813, westward voyages were made from Acapulco beginning in February or March and lasting three months. The return trip from Manila to Acapulco would leave in June or July and take twice as long. Up to four ships were used all year round. Mule trains were then used to transport goods overland from Acapulco to Vera Cruz, where they were then shipped to Seville in Spain – their final destination.

 

Along a corridor on this floor there are some more full sized cannons and helmets used by Spanish soldiers, together with some of the armaments. And soon one comes face to face with the ill-fated Antonio de Morga, the commander of the San Diego. There are even some ancient navigational instruments here and a book that contains the historical account of the San Diego’s sinking, written by de Morga himself and called Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, which he published in Mexico in 1609. On display are two Spanish editions with three translations into English, which portray de Morga as a hero of the battle. Well, what a surprise!

 

 

But without a word we once again leave the San Diego, and this time head off into a totally different gallery stuffed full of nature… starting off with botanical drawings…

 

 

… and then move on to pressed dried plants indigenous to the islands. Here's a preserved sample of Flagellaria Indica which can be found in secondary forests across the archipelago and whose stems are used for tying things up.

 

 

 

Having viewed countless colourless remains of flora, there are displays of insects and butterflies pinned to boards, though I am left wondering why fifty of the same butterfly (Ideopsis Juventa Manillana, in case you are interested) should be any better than, say, 50 different species of butterfly, which might be a tad more interesting. I guess it all goes to prove that you can’t please everybody all the time.

 

 

Grasshoppity crickets anyone? At least these have some variety, I guess.

 

 

Next up it’s a very sad specimen of a Philippine Flying Lemur – which actually isn't a lemur at all and doesn't fly! Looks a bit moth eaten to me!

 

 

Talking of moth-eaten, there’s also a stuffed Tanygnathus Lucionensis (Blue naped Parrot to you and me!) nearby of which I am sure I have seen some in Palawan flying through the forest.

 

 

Next, it’s the turn of the Tokay Gecko - or Gekko Gecko Linnaeus, to give it its Latin name. It’s one of the largest species of geckoes in the world, reaching lengths of up to 35 cms. It is quite common in the Phils and, again, I am sure I have seen some in Palawan.

 

 

Oh no… once again we’re back to spoils from ship wrecks. If there’s one thing I find annoying about this museum, it’s this to-ing and fro-ing between exhibits, with little thought apparently having been given to leading the visitor through one subject before jumping off to another totally different area.

 

So, where was I? Oh yes! Centuries before the coming of the Spaniards, merchant vessels were already sailing through Southeast Asia bringing trade and commerce to the Philippine Islands. Some reached their destinations, while fortunately for historians, others sunk because of natural calamities or because they were attacked by pirates. These vessels carried various ceramics and other commodities from China, Vietnam and Thailand.

 

On display are large Spanish and Siamese jars that contained provisions for the passengers of the ship consisting of preserved fruits, sardines, salted meat, wine, vinegar and drinking water.

 

 

Plates, bowls, cups and bottles were mostly decorated with birds, cockerels, geese and deer designs, which were all popular during the 16th century. This bowl bears the reign mark of Emperor Wan Li of China who reigned from 1572 to 1620, during the latter portion of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).

 

 

And here's a "kendi" which you can drink from without it touching your lips. It comes originally from Malaysia and the word is derived fro the Sanskrit – Kundika, described as a ritual jug.

 

 

Not all the exhibits in the museum appear to have been retrieved from the sea bed or rescued from the taxidermists’ workshops. There are also a number of things that have been found in caves. We’re told that the Philippine archipelago was formed about 70 million years ago, the result of million of years of volcanic and tectonic activities. The earliest evidence of people in the Philippines can be dated to 750,000 years ago.

 

Here’s a picture of an early Filipino – obviously having a bad hair day. Problem is – is it a He or a She? The mammaries look pretty female to my untutored eye (!) but he/she/it is wielding a spear. Maybe she’s waiting for her hubby to get back home to give him hell for staying out late with the lads?

 

 

It appears that Filipinos – or is it the curators of this museum – are obsessed with breasts. Round the corner from the bad-hair-day-woman is an exhibit known as a Masuso pot, sporting (if that is the right word) four breasts. Because of looting and destruction of archaeological sites, the museum doesn't know what culture or historic period they actually belong to... "we can only guess" says the helpful card underneath!

 

 

In the Archaeological Treasures Gallery, we’re in for another treat… a collection of secondary burial jar collections … ooh! This involves digging up a dead body once the corpse has decomposed, and then cleaning, painting or treating the bones in a ritual ceremony.

 

Some of these burial jars are made of earthenware with the design and form of human figures and they were recovered in Ayub cave in Saranggani (formerly South Cotabato) in 1991. The head-shaped covers are not found in other burial sites in the country, nor in any other Asian country.

 

 

The museum also focuses on ethnographic exhibits from around the Philippines, showcasing what it calls a tapestry of cultures. All ethnic groups in the Philippines speak languages that belong to the Austronesian family. But it is the variety of cultural diversity throughout the archipelago that makes the Philippines unique.

 

Unsurprisingly, tribute is made to the country’s number one hero – Dr. Jose P. Rizal, or José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, to give him his correct name – for his role in Philippine ethnography.

 

Rizal was a Filipino nationalist, writer and revolutionary who was born in 1861 and executed 35 years later for treason and sedition. He is widely considered the greatest national hero of the Philippines. He was the author of Noli Me Tángere, El Filibusterismo and a number of poems and essays, and a leading scholar of Filipino culture, collecting ethnographic specimens for his studies, some of which were given to friends abroad.

 

 

In this gallery, I particularly like the furry backpack or "Bango" used by the Ifugao to carry food and other personal items. Can you imagine mincing down the high street with one of these on your back? Magic!

 

Talking of Ifugao, there’s a model of an Ifugao house (just in case one missed the real thing in the courtyard outside) which the museum blurb describes as “an extraordinary structure built without a single nail and filled with ritual significance” … in front of a mock-up of one of the walls of the house held together with, errr, nails!

 

Another distinctive feature of the Ifugao house, we are told, “is the rat guard made of round wooden blocks fitted around the house posts just below the floor beams, keeping rats out of the house”.... and I can’t help but wish that the owner of one of the hotels in Coron, Palawan where I stayed had visited this museum. (When I opened up a packet of soap in the shower one evening, by the following morning it had “walked” into the bedroom and grown gnaw marks all around it.)

 

 

Also on display are some lovely musical instruments – this being a Filipino version of a gamelan… slowly collecting dust.

 

 

But enough of ethnography! As you make your way to the top floor, you can immerse yourself in a world of more plants, stuffed animals and … fashion!

 

But first you have to wade your way through some rather nice collections of dried plants, together with explanatory notices including what to take for hair loss, headaches, rheumatic pains, menstrual problems, itchy skin, hernias, dysentery and carbuncles!

 

 

No itchy skin and carbuncles? Ok, so move on to a couple of stuffed northern Luzon Cloud Rats – the largest rodents living in Asia, weighing in at over two and a half kilos each.

 

 

A couple of cases away, you can see a Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) stuffed in 1896 – one of the world's rarest, tallest, and most powerful bird of prey and one of the most threatened animals on earth. (Well, I guess they would be if everyone decided to stuff them in glass cases!) Those of my fans who studied Greek will know that “pithecus” means ape or monkey and "phagus" means eater of. (When it was discovered, the eagle was observed to prey almost exclusively on monkeys.) In 1995 President Ramos declared the Philippine Eagle to be the country's national bird.

 

 

Another endangered species captured for all to gawk at is a Spot-billed Pelican, a.k.a. Pelecanus Philippenses which, despite its name, has been extinct in the archipelago since the 1940s!

 

 

Having such a diverse ethnic background, it is not surprising that the country is rich in a variety of languages. And before the arrival of the Spaniards and the use of a Latin script was widely adopted, one of the more common writing forms was something called Baybayin (which even features on the 100 peso bank note). In this picture, someone called Doki Natividad had a prayer of guidance and protection for his family permanently tattooed on his back.

 

 

And just in case you want to practise your baybayin, there are guides posted up on the walls showing you how to write your name…

 

 

The final gallery features traditional Philippine textiles, together with some of the looms used to create them. Here's an outfit from the Bontoc Mountain Province – a "lufid ay sinangadam", or one of ten types of rectangular wrap skirts worn during official or religious events.

 

 

And here is an Ilokano foot loom from La Union

 

 

Finally, thanks to the American Museum of Natural History, there is also a small collection of photographs of various Philippine ethnic groups, shown at the St Louis World Fair of 1904.

 

 

And that, dear readers, is a blow by blow account of the types of things you are going to see if you ever get the urge to visit this museum.

 

In summary, I guess, there are plenty of things to gawp at, but – I'm sory to admit – I left feeling unsatiated by the stuff on offer. I fear I won’t be returning to this place any time soon.