Philippines and Guam: Pacific Cousins at a Crossroads of History
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The author at Fort Soledad in Guam (Photo courtesy of Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr.)
Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the land of the Chamorros on March 6, 1521, just ten days before his landfall in Homonhon. He and his crew were welcomed with alacrity by the local inhabitants, who had (for the Spaniards) the unnerving cultural habit of helping themselves to whatever seemed to be available on board itinerant ships. Rather than focusing on the fact that the natives had also been eager and generous in providing Magellan’s starved crew with much-needed victuals and water, the commander chose to besmirch them with the name “Isla de Ladrones” or Isle of Thieves, which was later replaced in the 17th century with a more charming reference to the Queen Regent of the Hapsburg family, Mariana. Hence, Marianas, now divided into the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas and Guam.
Fort Nuestra Señora de la Soledad in Guam (Photo courtesy of Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr.)
I had occasion to visit this storied island in July 2018, when Covid-19 was not even a glimmer in the eye of the Wuhanese. I had long wished to explore Guam’s historical ties to the Philippines; now was the time to do this. I was aware that Guam was a way-station in the 250-year Galleon Trade that plied between Manila and Acapulco. Our second canonized saint, Pedro Calungsod, was martyred in Guam together with the Spanish Jesuit priest, Padre Diego de Sanvitores in their missionary efforts to convert the natives in 1672. This was a full century after the Legazpi landing in the Philippines in 1565, meaning that Christianization took place much later in Guam than in the Philippines.
I also knew that many of our revolutionaries, notably Gat Apolinario Mabini, were exiled to these climes by either the Spanish or the Americans in their respective colonial regimes. I also had a long-lost distant relative, Cesar Pereyra y Reyes, who had retired to this island after working in the United States. I was fortunate to interview him on our family history before he passed in 2019. Moreover, I was welcomed with hospitality by the staff of Philippine Consul General Marciano de Borja and his deputy, Mark Francis Hamoy, who was my wise Baedeker.
Guam did not disappoint. The lush green terrain is no different from ours, dotted with magnificent beaches, exotic ferns and swaying coconut trees. Its low mountains and rolling hills are identical to ours and its azure skies are as clear as in our rural regions. Typhoons also periodically upset the calm of this verdant paradise.
What strikes one is the absence of colonial buildings dating from the Spanish era in its capital. Agana—or Hagatna in Chamorro—took a major hit from the Japanese. Its modern reconstruction of the Cathedral Dulce Nombre de Maria, though beautiful in its own way, has little to remind us of what it must have looked like in colonial times. Gone is the Hispanic plaza around which the principalia would have built their houses “under the sound of the bells” and where the main church and the Ayuntamiento, or principal civil building, would have stood. In vain does one look for the equivalent of our bahay na bato (stone houses), which one saw in historic prints and photographs. To find a Fort Santiago, one would have to go up the hills to discover their own Fort Soledad.
The World War II Japanese Invasion Exhibit (Photo courtesy of Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr.)
What impresses in Agana’s center is a sparkling, neat, modern square brightened up with bougainvillas and punctuated by remnants of old Hispanic-era walls, as well as a splendid museum that records Guam’s history, spruced up with Yankee-style flare and efficiency.
It is interesting that on its outskirts, Guam has only the most modest of monuments to Magellan’s landing but still officially marks March 6 as Discovery Day in his honor. Compare this to the drama of the clash between Magellan and Lapulapu marked by separate monuments in Mactan and Cebu (Magellan’s Cross). Yet March 16 is not honored as a significant date in Philippine history except by historians. Lapulapu obviously won the day in the Philippines.
The author and the Magellan monument in Guam (Photo courtesy of Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr.)
With just around 1,000 miles of distance between them, Guam was effectively part of the Philippines during the colonial era. Under the tutelage of the friars, both emerged with Catholicism as their main religion, mixing native beliefs with European doctrines. Spanish was their administrative language and bore a strong influence on their present-day respective idioms. About 50 percent of modern Chamorro is derived from Castilian.
Guam also emerged as the place of exile for perceived dissidents and rebels from the Philippines. In American times the Malolos Congress architect Apolinario Mabini and high military officers of the Revolution were exiled to Guam in 1901.
Today, there is a 1961 monument to Apolinario Mabini, whose dedication reads: “On this site, Asan Point, Apolinario Mabini, immortalized in Philippine history as the Sublime Paralytic, the Brain of the Philippine Revolution and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the First Philippine Republic under Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo,” was exiled “together with 51 other Filipino heroes, among them Generals Artemio Ricarte, Pio del Pilar, Mariano Llanera, Colonel Maximo Hizon, Pablo Ocampo, Maximo Flores, Pancracio Palting and Maximo Tolentino.” It further notes that they were quartered in what was formerly a leper hospital and were only returned to the Philippines in 1903 when they, except for General Ricarte, swore an oath of allegiance to the United States. Mabini died shortly after he returned to his home country.
The 1961 monument to Apolinario Mabini (Photo courtesy of Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr.)
Like the Philippines, Guam came under American rule and suffered a devastating Japanese invasion during the Second World War. Like the Filipinos, the Guamanians were treated harshly by the Japanese due to their loyalty to the United States.
Even today, with a huge U.S. military base occupying one third of its territory, Guam suffers the peril of close identity with the United States. Kim Jong-Un has threatened to lob a nuclear missile at this vulnerable island. A similar menace has been aimed at Hawaii, which actually experienced a false nuclear alert. It is claimed that even China has practice videos for a nuclear attack on Guam.
Guam remains in the crucible of modern history, coping with climate change, economic distress (since it is dependent on tourism and the U.S. military base, both affected by COVID-19) and the exodus of its youth to more hospitable climes. Chamorro as a language and culture is a threatened species. Marking the 500th year of Magellan’s arrival, Guam may well reflect on what lies ahead for its inhabitants.
A career diplomat of 35 years, Ambassador Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr. served as Philippine Ambassador to South Africa (2003-2009) and Italy (2011-2014), his last posting before he retired. He is now engaged in writing, traveling, and is dedicated to cultural heritage projects.
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