Saint Mary’s University

Bayombong, Nueva Vizacaya

SCHOOL OF TEACHER EDUCATION & HUMANITIES

Readings in the Philippine History

FILM ANALYSIS

Rudolph C. Benito Elizardo Saldivar May 3, 2019

Ramel Salon Melissa Guillermo
Vergil Santullo

1. List five new interesting facts about the video.

The five interesting facts about the video are the following.
A. Manila is the price of loyalty to America.
This statement by Carlos P. Romulo shows how the Philippines is devoted to America. It
signifies the strong relationship of America as colonizers and the Philippines because Americans helped
the Philippines in fighting the Japanese forces in Manila and in the other parts of the country.

B. Manila is one of the progressive cities in Asia

It is proven in the video how impressive and progressive Manila was in the past century.
It is interesting to know how Manila is capable to be on par with other cities in Asia economically and
socially.

C. The devastated condition of Manila after the encounter of Japanese and Americans.
The horrors of war are visibly seen in the video and some of horrors shown on the video
are the destruction of structures and the death of innocent individuals. Manila has suffered immensely
because of the war and basing Manila at present it showed that Manila have risen from the casualties and
holds one of the most advanced cities in the orient.

D. Japanese are very loyal to their country.

 Basing from the video, Japanese didn’t hesitate to attack gain the city but with more
murderous intentions, even if it cost their lives. It manifest what are the behaviors of Japanese and how
they apply it in reality.

E. Manila offers the one of the best Christmas shop.

It is fun to know that the Christmas spirit of Filipino is widely seen from the past times. It
portrays that even back then Filipinos are very into Christmas celebrations that they even have one of the
best Christmas shop in Asia.
2. Which is the best part of the video? Why?
The best part in the video is about how the narrator Dave Griffin describes Manila, literally and
creatively, through his personal experiences. He showed very flattering description about some structures
in Manila, especially Heacock, which was the finest shop in purchasing Christmas related items and also
the best Christian city in the orient. It is blissful to see Manila, in its prominent and glory days before the war
that destroyed the city. It is a piece of evidence that Manila is one of the cities that are modernized and
advanced, because as stated in the video Manila, harbors ships from around the world through Manila Bay,
has beautiful parks, broad avenues, modern buildings. Manila also has the National Assembly building,
University of the Philippines with its 8000 students. He further stated Manila is a city of happy and free
people who are carefree and love fashion shows, pageants and races. It clearly shows how Manila can be
a city of various contexts, a place for everyone.

3. Is the video worth viewing?

The video is worth watching because it is a piece of evidence that is very crucial in understanding
and critiquing the occurrences in World War II. It is part of the record to justify any arguments about the
Japanese and American’s involvement in the war, particularly on how the Americans protected the city and
how the Japanese fought back. The video brought many views about how terrifying war and how abusive
it’s nature, especially on the view about how suicidal Japanese are when it comes to battles. It is a worth to
watch for it gave more knowledge about what really happened on the side of the Americans in battling
Japanese’s squadrons in Manila. It also presented how Manila looked back then, how economically and
politically important the city was before the war. In conclusion, the video is not only worthy but also helpful.
It is helpful for historians, professional (history, social sciences, and social studies) teachers or for students.