Corregidor
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Corregidor is an island in the entrance of the Philippines' Manila Bay.
The island is about 48 kilometers west of Manila which is strategically located at the entrance of Manila Bay. It is shaped like a tadpole, with its tail running eastward. With a land area of 9 km², it is under the jurisdiction of Cavite City. Along with Caballo, which lies 2 km south of the "tail's" tip, this island partially blocks the entrance to Manila Bay, and thus forming a northern and southern entrance.
Corregidor was the location of Fort Mills. Because of the fortifications and rocky landscape, the island was also known as "the Rock".
During the Battle of the Philippines (1941-42), General Douglas MacArthur used Corregidor as Allied headquarters in the Philippines until March 11, 1942. From December 24, 1941 to February 19, 1942, it was also the temporary location of the government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. On December 30, 1941, outside the Malinta Tunnel, President Manuel L. Quezon and Vice-President Sergio Osmeña were inaugurated for a second term. The Voice of Freedom, the radio station of the Usaffe (United States Army Forces in the Far East) broadcast from Corregidor, including the famous announcement of the fall of Bataan. Japanese troops forced a surrender of the remaining American and Filipino forces on Corregidor on May 6 after the Battle of Corregidor.
The island was liberated in 1945 by the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment. They landed on February 16, 1945, and by March 2 had completed the capture.
Today, Corregidor is a historic monument as well as a tourist destination. Many travel companies offer day tours on the island featuring military installations and infrastructures used during the 2nd World War. Most of the war ravaged buildings have not been restored, but have instead been left in reverence to the soldiers that died there. Two US presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, have visited the island.
The Malinta Tunnel, which is the last stronghold of the joint Philippine and American military prior to the Japanese takeover during the last world war, is also located in Corregidor. Today it is home to an audio-visual presentation of the events that took place on the island, including the reluctant departure of General Douglas MacArthur and the evacuation of the Philippine president Manuel L. Quezon and his family to unoccupied areas of the Philippines and then to exile in the United States.
The Island's Name
The term, it should be noted, referred more to a magistrate in colonial Spain than to someone who teaches wayward people to cultivate the paths of rectitude. The Spaniards were the dominant presence in Philippines between the 1560s, when they began to colonize the islands, and 1898, when control passed over to the United States in the wake of the Spanish-American War.With a rule that lasted over three centuries, the Spaniards had a chance to appoint many corregidores -- and it is completely logical that an isle in that extensive archipelago should bear such a name.
See also
External links
- [Recapture of the island]
- [Corregidor Photos]
- [Tour Corregidor Island thru Sun Cruises Inc.]
- [Corregidor Island, the Fortress of Freedom]
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