PHL featured in 'Dia del Pacifico' in Spain

The Philippines was featured in Spain's commemoration of "Dia del Pacifico" (Pacific Day) in Madrid on March 6, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday. "Dia del Pacifico" celebrates the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano in the Marianas Islands on March 6, 1521.  It was the first encounter between Pacific islanders and Europeans. Meanwhile, Philippine and Spanish officials also tackled the 200th anniversary on March 19 of the  Cadiz Constitution of 1812. In a news release, the DFA said "Don Ventura de los Reyes, a Vigan-born wealthy merchant and member of the Royal Artillery Corps of Manila, was the Philippine delegate to the convention which drafted the Cadiz Constitution.  It was also De los Reyes who signed the Cadiz Constitution of 1812 on behalf of the Philippines."   According to the website philippine-history.org, Spain reigned over the Philippines for 333 years, from 1565 to 1898. As the Philippines was geographically far from Spain, "the Spanish king ruled the Islands through the viceroy of Mexico, which was then another Spanish colony. When Mexico regained its freedom in 1821, the Spanish king ruled the Philippines through a governor general," the site explained. - VVP, GMA News