Editing Corregidor (section)

==History==

===Spanish colonial era===
The island came under Spanish sovereignty on May 19, 1570, when [[Miguel Lopez de Legazpi]] and his forces arrived in Manila Bay.  Legazpi was authorized by the Spanish Crown to establish the capital of the Philippines in Manila, and to convert the Muslims in Luzon and [[Mindanao]] to [[Christianity]]. Corregidor was used as a support site for the nine Spanish [[galleon]]s used during the campaign.

Under [[Spain|Spanish]] rule, Corregidor served not only as a fortress of defense, a penal institution, and a station for [[customs]] inspection, but also as a signal outpost to warn [[Manila]] of the approach of hostile ships.

The name "Corregidor" comes from the Spanish word ''corregir'', meaning "to correct". ''Isla del Corregidor'', the old name of the place, literally means "the Corregidor's island".

Several explanations for how the island was named have been suggested. One story states that the island was called ''Isla del Corregidor'' (literally, Island of the Corrector) due to the Spanish customs system, wherein all ships entering Manila Bay were required to stop and have their documents checked and "corrected". Another version claims that the island was used as a penitentiary or correctional institution by the Spanish government, and thus came to be called ''El Corregidor''.<ref name="site">[http://www.corregidorisland.com/history.html History], Corregidor Island.com.</ref> ''[[Corregidor (position)|Corregidor]]'' is also a specific position of authority within the former Spanish administrative structure, the title for the man who was the head of a territorial unit known as ''un [[corregimiento]]''. The institution of administrative districts called ''corregimientos'' (with each district chief known as ''El Corregidor'') was in use throughout Spanish America and the Philippines. For example, the Philippines had "''corregidores''" in charge of Bataan and Zambales, among others.<ref>Felipe M. de Govantes. Compendio de la Historia de Filipinas. Manila, 1877, [https://archive.org/stream/compendiodelahis00gova#page/294/mode/2up p.294] (in Spanish).</ref>

On November 23, 1574, the Chinese pirate [[Limahong]] and his 65-vessel fleet with 3,000 men anchored between Corregidor and Mariveles. From that site, he launched two successive attacks against Manila, commanded either by Limahong himself or by the Japanese pirate Sioco. Both attacks failed due to a fierce battle defense led by the governor, [[Juan de Salcedo]].

In November and December 1600, during the [[Eighty Years' War]] between the Netherlands and Spain, the Dutch privateer and Admiral [[Olivier van Noort]] used the surroundings of Corregidor Island as an anchorage for his last two ships, ''Mauritius'' and ''Eendracht''. From there he engaged in activities that the Spanish considered to be piracy, targeting ships on the sailing route to and from Manila. This situation ended after the naval combat of [[Fortune Island (Philippines)|Fortune Island]] on December 14, 1600. The Spanish lost their flagship, the hastily converted [[Manila galleon]] [[San Diego (ship)|''San Diego'']], as the unbalanced weight of her extra cannon caused a permanent list and put her gun ports below the waterline. But they captured the Dutch ship ''Eendracht'', and Admiral van Noort retreated from the Philippines. Continuing the three-year voyage in his one remaining ship and arriving home with 45 men still alive, van Noort became the first Dutch sea captain to [[Circumnavigation|circumnavigate]] the world.<ref name=Quanchi>Quanchi, ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands'', page 246</ref> The [[Dutch East India Company]] was formed a few months later.

In response to these events, and also to prevent sudden attack by Muslims from Mindanao, a watch vessel was posted at Corregidor to control the entrance to the bay. According to data from 1637, this vessel had a crew of twenty men, who were paid 540 pesos a year for this task.

Corregidor Island was taken over by the Dutch in June 1647, and from there they launched an offensive against [[Cavite]] which was repelled by the Spanish garrison under the command of Andre Lopez de Azalduigui. The Dutch would remain on the island for seven more months, however, as it served them well as an operations base from which to intercept Chinese merchant traffic in the vicinity of [[Luzon]] and [[Cebu]]. Finally they withdrew with few of their expectations fulfilled.

In October 1762, during the [[Battle of Manila (1762)|British invasion of Manila and Cavite]] led by [[Sir Samuel Cornish, 1st Baronet|Samuel Cornish]] and  [[William Draper (British Army officer)|William Draper]], Corregidor was used as an anchorage for warships, particularly [[HMS Panther (1758)|HMS ''Panther'']] and [[HMS Argo (1758)|HMS ''Argo'']]. It was also used as an anchorage for the fully loaded Spanish treasure galleon ''[[Spanish ship Santísima Trinidad (1751)|Santisima Trinidad]]'' [[Action of 30 October 1762|they had captured]], during November 1762. The British sailed the captured galleon to [[Portsmouth]], [[England]], where it was sold for a fortune.

The arrival of the Spanish fleet led by General Ignacio Mario de Alava, with the mission to place the Philippine Islands on alert, did not affect the fortunes of Corregidor Island. He limited his activity to the setting up of a [[naval station]] at [[Cavite]].

On January 18, 1853, the [[Corregidor Island Lighthouse]] was first lit on the highest part of the island, to mark the entrance of Manila Bay for vessels coming in from the South China Sea. The Spanish government built this [[Lighthouse#Fresnel lens|Second-Order]] light, which is situated {{convert|639|ft|m}} above [[sea level]] and visible for {{convert|20|miles}}.<ref name="Archipielago">"El Archipielago Filipino", pp.525–527. Washington: Impriento del Gobierno, 1900.</ref>

===Spanish–American War===
Corregidor Island was included in the Philippines' defense plan prepared in 1885 by General Cerero, but no action was taken to implement it. When the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]]'s attack was thought to be imminent, a [[Gonzalez Hontoria de 12 cm mod 1883|12&nbsp;cm gun of the "Hontoria System"]], which came from the [[Spanish Navy]]'s [[cruiser]] ''[[Spanish cruiser Don Antonio de Ulloa|Antonio de Ulloa]]'', and two shorter [[QF 4.7-inch Gun Mk I–IV|12 cm guns]] of the same [[caliber]] from the Spanish [[gunboat]] ''General Lezo'', were installed on the rocky island of El Fraile. On [[Caballo Island]], south of Corregidor, the [[Spanish army]] installed three [[BL 6 inch gun Mk II – VI|15&nbsp;cm naval guns]] from the Spanish navy cruiser ''[[Spanish cruiser Velasco|Velasco]]'', which was undergoing repairs.<ref>[http://www.northamericanforts.com/West/pi.html Philippine forts at American Forts Network]</ref>

At midnight on the night of April 30 to May 1, 1898, U.S. Navy Commodore [[George Dewey]] led his naval squadron, with his flag hoisted on board the [[protected cruiser]] {{USS|Olympia|C-6|6}}, eastward along the southern coast of Corregidor Island, beyond the reach of Spanish batteries and with no navigational lights on, preparing to fight the [[Battle of Manila Bay]].

At a distance about one mile off El Fraile, Dewey's fleet changed course to the northeast, steaming towards Manila. When they were discovered, the Spaniards fired from El Fraile's artillery. An American response followed immediately, first by {{USS|McCulloch|1897|6}} and then by {{USS|Boston|1884|6}}, {{USS|Raleigh|C-8|6}} and {{USS|Concord|PG-3|6}}. Since the flotilla's speed was ten knots, they were soon far away from the Spanish batteries. Dewey sailed for Cavite where he destroyed the naval forces of [[Patricio Montojo y Pasarón|Admiral Montojo]].

Once the Cavite shipyard was subdued by means of a stipulated pact, two American ships went ashore at Corregidor Island on May 3 forcing the Spaniards on the island to surrender. Colonel Garces, chief of the coast batteries at the entrance of Manila Bay, and the island's governor, First Class Naval Lieutenant Augusto Miranda, were urged to come to terms with the Americans, and so they did. Therefore, Miranda remained on the island with only 100 soldiers under the Spanish flag; Garces and officers under his command, as well as 292 men with their weapons and ammunition, were transferred to Mariveles port. From there they moved through the provinces of Bataan and Pampanga until they reached Manila on May 5. There they joined the Spanish navy battalion which was already quartered in Sampaloc.

On May 4, the American ships opened fire against the 100 men who, according to the pact, had been left on Corregidor and demanded the garrison forces be reduced to 25 men. The Spanish governor consulted Manila authorities, and they ordered the evacuation of the island. The troops were sent to [[Naic]], [[Cavite]] on boats while the island's governor was transferred to the American cruiser [[USS Baltimore (C-3)|USS ''Baltimore'']] and became a prisoner with his family. The Americans offered to free him but the governor rejected this. Shortly afterwards, he was disembarked in [[Balanga, Bataan]]. In this way the Spanish presence on Corregidor Island, which had lasted 328 years, came to an end.

A cannon that had guarded the residence of the Spanish colonial governor on Corregidor, the [[Dewey Cannon]], was taken as a prize of war to the United States.  It was later awarded to the rural town of [[Three Oaks, Michigan]], where it was remounted as a historical display.<ref name="Miller">{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Randy |date=June 18, 1999 |title=Three Oaks' Dewey Cannon notes a blast from the past |work=[[The Herald-Palladium]] |location=[[St. Joseph, Michigan]] |url=http://www.heraldpalladium.com/three-oaks-dewey-cannon-notes-a-blast-from-the-past/article_17875677-a662-5dd5-846c-147e470166be.html |access-date=November 28, 2017}}</ref>

===American colonial period===
[[Image:Malinta Tunnel.JPG|thumb|250px|The entrance to [[Malinta Tunnel]]]]
In 1902, the island was organized as an American [[military reservation]]. In 1903, a convalescent hospital was established by the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]].

The [[Board of Fortifications]] chaired by [[William H. Taft]] recommended that key harbors of territories acquired after the [[Spanish–American War]] be fortified.<ref>McGovern, pp. 8</ref> Consequently, Corregidor was fortified and incorporated into the [[Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays|harbor defenses Manila and Subic Bays]]. In 1908, a Regular Army post was established on the island, designated as [[Fort Mills]], in honor of Brigadier General [[Samuel Meyers Mills, Jr.]], Chief of Artillery of the U.S. Army from 1905 to 1906. By early 1909, H Company of the 2nd Battalion of the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Corps of Engineers]] was assigned to Corregidor and started on the construction of concrete emplacements, bomb-proof shelters, and trails at various parts of the island. This pioneer engineer company left Fort Mills on March 15, 1912. All or part of 35 different numbered [[Coast Artillery Corps]] companies served tours at Fort Mills between 1909 and 1923.

The defense of Corregidor was the immediate responsibility of the Philippine Coast Artillery Command, commanded by Major General George F. Moore at the start of World War II. Stationed on the island after the return to the regimental system in 1924 were the following regular units:
* [[59th Coast Artillery Regiment (United States)|59th Coast Artillery]] (U.S. Regular Army)
* [[60th Coast Artillery (United States)|60th Coast Artillery]] AA (U.S. [[Regular Army (United States)|Regular Army]])
* [[91st Coast Artillery (United States)|91st Coast Artillery]] ([[Philippine Scouts]])
* [[92nd Coast Artillery (United States)|92nd Coast Artillery]] (Tractor Drawn) (Philippine Scouts)
* Headquarters, [[Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays]] and the Seaward Defense Command.

In addition to [[Fort Mills]]; the army post on [[Caballo Island]] was named [[Fort Hughes]]; on [[Fort Drum (El Fraile Island)|El Fraile]], Fort Drum; and on Carabao Island, [[Fort Frank]]. According to the war plan, these forts could withstand a six-month-long siege, after which the [[United States]] would provide aid. The fortifications on Corregidor were designed solely to withstand seaborne attack. Though American military planners realized that airplanes would render Fort Mills obsolete, the United States was restricted from improving the fortifications by the [[Washington Naval Treaty]] of 1922. In 1932–1934, the U.S. Army constructed the [[Malinta Tunnel]], with its series of related laterals, to protect its military stores and vital installations in the event of war.

Fort Mills's defense installations had cost the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] more than $150&nbsp;million, which did not include the expense of fortifying the neighboring islands of Caballo, Carabao, and El Fraile.

====Infrastructure====
There were {{convert|65|mi|km|0}} of paved roads and trails on the island and {{convert|19.5|mi|km|1}} of electric railroad track. The latter were used largely to haul heavy equipment and ammunition from Bottomside to the different Batteries. The Corregidor High School was where children of both Filipino and American servicemen assigned on the island studied. The island also had an electric trolley system as public transport, a movie house (Cine Corregidor), a baseball field and a swimming pool. The business and social center of this community was found on Topside.

====Water supply====
Before the war and during the siege, Corregidor depended on Bataan for most of its potable water. For this purpose, barges were used to haul water either from [[Mariveles, Bataan|Mariveles]] or Cabcaben, Bataan.

===World War II===
During [[World War II]], Corregidor was the site of two costly [[siege]]s and pitched battles—the first during the first months of 1942, and the second in February 1945—between the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] and the U.S. Army, along with its smaller subsidiary force, the [[Philippine Army]].
[[File:Malinta Tunnel Surrender, Corregidor Island (1942).jpeg|thumb|right|350px|The surrender of U.S. forces at the Malinta Tunnel on May 6, 1942.]]
During the [[Battle of the Philippines (1941–42)]], the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] invaded Luzon from the north (at [[Lingayen Gulf]]) in early 1942 and attacked Manila from its landward side. American and Filipino troops under the command of General [[Douglas MacArthur]], retreated to the [[Bataan Peninsula]], west of Manila Bay. The fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942, ended all organized opposition by the [[United States Army Forces in the Far East|U.S. Armed Forces in the Far East]] (USAFFE) and gave way to the invading Japanese forces in Luzon in the northern Philippines. They were forced to surrender due to the lack of food and ammunition, leaving Corregidor and its adjacent islets at Manila Bay as the only areas in the region under U.S. control.

Between December 24, 1941, and February 19, 1942, Corregidor was the temporary location for the Government of the Philippines. On December 30, 1941, outside the Malinta Tunnel, [[Manuel L. Quezon]] and [[Sergio Osmeña]] were inaugurated respectively as president and vice-president of the [[Philippines Commonwealth]] for a second term. General [[Douglas MacArthur]] also used Corregidor as [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] headquarters until March 11, 1942. The Voice of Freedom, the radio station of USAFFE broadcast from Corregidor, aired the infamous announcement of the fall of [[Battle of Bataan|Bataan]]. In April 1942, one battalion of the [[4th Marine Regiment (United States)|Fourth Marines]] was sent to reinforce the island's beach defenses.

The [[Battle of Corregidor]] was the culmination of the Japanese campaign for the conquest of the Philippines. The fortifications across the entrance to Manila Bay were the remaining obstacle for the [[Japanese Fourteenth Area Army|14th Area Army]] of the Imperial Japanese Army led by Lieutenant General [[Masaharu Homma]]. American and Filipino soldiers on Corregidor and the neighboring islets held out against the Japanese to deny the use of Manila Bay, but the Imperial Japanese Army brought heavy artillery to the southern end of Bataan, and proceeded north to [[blockade]] Corregidor. [[Japan]]ese troops forced the surrender of the remaining American and Filipino forces on May 6, 1942, under the command of Lieutenant General [[Jonathan M. Wainwright (general)|Jonathan Wainwright]].

The [[Battle of Corregidor (1945)|battle for the recapture of Corregidor]] occurred from February 16 to 26, 1945, in which American and Filipino forces successfully recaptured the island fortress from the Japanese occupying forces.

===Jabidah massacre===
{{main|Jabidah massacre}}
In 1968, an area near Kindley Airfield at Tailside was the site of the [[Jabidah massacre]], a key event in the history of the [[Bangsamoro]] and the Moro people.<ref name="MoroStory">{{Cite news |last=Antonio |first=Nicolas Basilio |date=April 10, 2021 |title=The Moro Story During Martial Law |work=The [[Philippine Collegian]] |url=https://phkule.org/article/12/the-moro-story-during-martial-law |url-status=live |access-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210925165425/https://phkule.org/article/12/the-moro-story-during-martial-law |archive-date=September 25, 2021}}</ref><ref name="George1980">{{cite book|author=T.J.S. George|title=Revolt in Mindanao: The Rise of Islam in Philippine Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HmYKAQAAIAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-580429-4}}</ref>

In connection with the [[North Borneo dispute]], the President of the Philippines at the time, [[Ferdinand Marcos]], had secretly authorized the execution of [[Operation Merdeka]], in which a secret Moro commando unit code-named "Jabidah" would be trained in Corregidor to destabilize and take over Sabah.

Varying accounts<ref name="Larousse2001">{{cite book|author=William Larousse|title=A Local Church Living for Dialogue: Muslim-Christian Relations in Mindanao-Sulu, Philippines : 1965–2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qyo-Hti0-KAC|year=2001|publisher=Gregorian Biblical BookShop|isbn=978-88-7652-879-8}}</ref> say 18 to 69<ref name="Smith2015">{{cite book|author=Paul J. Smith|title=Terrorism and Violence in Southeast Asia: Transnational Challenges to States and Regional Stability: Transnational Challenges to States and Regional Stability|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nG6sBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT5|date=March 26, 2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-45886-9|pages=5–}}</ref><ref name="Asani">{{cite journal|title=The Bangsamoro People: A Nation in Travail|author=Abdurasad Asani|year=1985|journal=Journal Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs|volume=6|issue=2|pages=295–314|doi=10.1080/13602008508715944}}</ref> recruits, mostly [[Tausug people|Tausug]] from Sulu,<ref name="Smith2015"/><ref name="Asani"/> eventually refused to take orders from their officers - variously explained as due to the non-payment of their salaries or the discovery of the specifics of their final mission, which they found morally unacceptable.<ref name="Gross-2007">{{cite book |last1=Gross |first1=Max L. |last2=National Intelligence University |last3=National Intelligence University Staff |title=A Muslim Archipelago: Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia |date=2007 |publisher=United States Department of Defense |isbn=978-1-932946-19-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aJHaAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA183 |page=183 |access-date=February 4, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>  The officers then allegedly shot all of the men to death, with only one witness, Jibin Arula, managing to escape by pretending to be dead.<ref name="Smith2015"/>

Jibin Arula was rescued by fishermen near Caraballo Island when he attempted to swim to escape, and his account eventually became the subject of numerous trials and hearings. Despite this, the officers implicated in the massacre were never convicted which served as a clear indication to the Muslim community that Marcos' government had little regard for them.<ref name="Larousse2001" /> This created a furor within the Muslim community in the Philippines,<ref name="MuslimPresident1994">{{cite book|author1=Macapado Abaton Muslim|author2=Philippines. Office of the President|author3=Mindanao State University. College of Public Affairs|title=The Moro armed struggle in the Philippines: the nonviolent autonomy alternative|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ERxAAAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=Office of the President and College of Public Affairs, Mindanao State University|isbn=978-971-11-1130-4}}</ref> and eventually triggered calls for Moro independence; the rise of separatist movements such as the [[Muslim Independence Movement]], the [[Moro National Liberation Front]], and the [[Moro Islamic Liberation Front]]; and the [[Moro conflict]] in general.<ref name=JabidahBangsamoroHistory/><ref name="George1980"/> The government of the now-autonomous  [[Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao]] (BARMM) acknowledges the Jabidah Massacre as a key moment in Bangsamoro history.<ref name=JabidahBangsamoroHistory>{{Cite web |last=Bangsamoro Information Office |first=Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao |date=March 17, 2021 |title=Remembering Jabidah and the seeds of the struggle |url=https://bangsamoro.gov.ph/news/latest-news/remembering-jabidah-and-the-seeds-of-the-struggle/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318025403/https://bangsamoro.gov.ph/news/latest-news/remembering-jabidah-and-the-seeds-of-the-struggle/ |archive-date=March 18, 2021 |access-date=March 18, 2021 |website=BARMM Official Website |publisher=Republic of the Philippines |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2015, during a ceremony marking the 47th anniversary of the massacre, a symbolic peace marker: 'Mindanao Garden of Peace: Corregidor Island' was turned over to the families of the survivors of the massacre.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://mindanaotimes.net/47th-jabidah-massacre-groups-call-for-stop-on-mindanao-offensives/|title=47th Jabidah massacre Groups call for stop on Mindanao offensives|date=March 18, 2015|newspaper=Mindanao Times|access-date=November 8, 2022|archive-date=February 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202090149/http://mindanaotimes.net/47th-jabidah-massacre-groups-call-for-stop-on-mindanao-offensives/|url-status=dead}}</ref>