manila, philippines —
Without Filipino seafarers, much of the world’s commercial shipping fleet would come to a standstill, and with it, the global economy.
Seafarers from the Philippine Islands make up 25% to 30% of the crews on ships worldwide, from tankers to bulk carriers to cruise ships.
This is a statistic with deep historical roots, stretching back hundreds of years to the days of Spanish explorers and conquistadors, when Manila, the capital of the Philippines, became a hub for the trade routes that gave rise to today’s global economy.
Tourists visiting Manila can now immerse themselves in what made that trade tick: the Manila Galleon and its crew at the newly opened Galleon Museum, part of the vast Mall of Asia on the edge of the South China Sea.
The museum is an unexpected and quiet respite from the mall, one of the largest shopping and entertainment complexes in the Philippines, if not the world.
With over 660 shops and restaurants in the main mall alone, it can be an overwhelming experience for many visitors. But there is a way out.
It’s just a short walk from where the mall’s marching band plays Taylor Swift songs (yes, there’s a marching band). As you step into the ground floor entrance of the museum, the decibels drop several levels and your mind travels back several centuries.
As you take the escalator up one level from the ticket counter, you find yourself staring at the life-size bow of the Galeon Espiritu Santo, which sailed the Pacific from 1603 to 1618.
Roughly 100 feet tall and more than 130 feet long, the Espiritu Santo sits beneath a soaring starry ceiling, recreating the views the 200-person crew would have seen as they crossed the Pacific Ocean on one of their 10 voyages on a route between Manila and Acapulco, Spain’s trading post on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Asia’s riches, such as porcelain, silk, and spices, were exchanged there for New World silver and sent westward.
Goods from Asia were transported on mulebacks across Mexico to the Atlantic coast, then put back on ships and transported to markets and palaces in Europe.
“This is thought to be one of the earliest global trade networks in history,” the museum says.
Although there were fewer ships, 181 ships made 798 voyages over 250 years, the museum said. A map in the exhibit shows that this route was not much different from the one used by Filipino sailors today, except that the Panama Canal eliminated the overland crossing into Mexico.
For visitors, the experience is immersive and interactive. Not only will you be drawn in by the Pacific night, but your senses of touch and smell will also be activated.
A spice rack with six different stations commands “smell me” and allows visitors to associate the aromas coming out of the fist-sized jars with food and locations across Asia.
Once aboard a galleon, a touchscreen explains how these ships used the sun, stars, and primitive instruments to navigate the vast Pacific Ocean.
This museum documents how Manila’s galleon trade operated more than a century before reliable ocean-going clocks were invented. As a result, determining longitude was a difficult calculation that could lead sailors hundreds of miles off course.
Although the experience includes touchscreens, it’s not hard to imagine yourself traveling on a galleon when you’re standing on the deck of the Espiritu Santo. LED screens on the museum’s roof create a rich visual experience, even without the rolling waves or tropical humidity.
The original Espiritu Santo was built in Cavite, a peninsula jutting into Manila Bay south of mainland Manila, and was constructed using Luzon hardwoods such as teak, molave, and lanang. According to research, it took 2,000 trees to build one ship.
Historical records show that, like the ship’s crew, the shipyard workforce was primarily comprised of Filipinos, although skilled workers such as carpenters and blacksmiths also came from countries such as Japan and China. The museum’s exhibits provide a detailed look at the makeup of the Cavite shipyard and how the ships were ultimately launched.
The Espiritu Santo replica is made of fiberglass. The piece was built in Pampanga, north of Manila, then dismantled, trucked into the city, and reassembled in the mall’s exhibition space.
A galleon can carry between 50 and 400 people, depending on its size, at least at the beginning of the voyage.
In the galleon trade, about two-thirds of the crew were Filipino or of Southeast Asian origin. They filled the lower ranks with Spaniards as officers.
Filipinos won praise for their skills on the water. “There is not a person in these islands who does not have a marked inclination towards the sea,” wrote Francisco Leandro de Viana, the Spanish attorney general who was stationed in Manila during the galleon trade.
The crew often paid a deadly price for their work, sometimes half of them did not survive the voyage across the Pacific.
But those Filipinos laid the foundation for generations to come.
According to the International Maritime Labor Organization, approximately 400,000 to 500,000 Filipinos are currently merchant seafarers, the most of any country on earth. According to the museum, they continue to move 90% of the world’s trade.
The museum has sticky notes and bulletin boards where current and aspiring sailors can leave messages and share their passion for the sea and the traditions of their homeland.
Someone once said, “Don’t be afraid to travel. Don’t be afraid of unknown waters. Don’t be afraid of missing out on opportunities you don’t know what you’ll become.”
“Be strong and courageous! Fulfill your dreams and keep sailing! You are a hero!” said another.
The Galleon Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets are 675 pesos for adults and 375 pesos for children under 18 years old. Children under 2 feet tall are free. Discounts are available for students, senior citizens, and people with disabilities.
