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130-723: The Balangiga bells ( Spanish : Campanas de Balangiga ; Tagalog : Mga Batingaw ng Balangiga ; Waray : Lingganay han Balangiga ) are three church bells that were taken by the United States Army from the Church of San Lorenzo de Martir in Balangiga, Eastern Samar , Philippines, as war trophies after reprisals following the Battle of Balangiga in 1901 during the Philippine–American War . One church bell
260-403: A tropical rainforest climate ( Köppen : Af) but due to the numerous cyclones present in the area, the climate is not equatorial. Tropical rainforest climates are tropical climates in which there is no dry season – all months have mean precipitation values of at least 60 millimetres (2.4 in). Tropical rainforest climates have no pronounced summer or winter; it is typically wet throughout
390-460: A typhoon swept through the central Philippines and "practically destroyed" Tacloban. In Tacloban and Capiz on the island of Panay , the death toll was 15,000, half the population of those cities at the time. On May 25, 1942, Japanese forces landed in Tacloban, signalling the beginning of their two-year occupation of Leyte. They fortified the city and improved its airfield. Since San Pedro Bay
520-405: A "comfort station" in the city, where they kidnapped local girls, teenagers and young adults who they then forced into becoming sex slaves under the gruesome " comfort women " system. Leyte was the first to be liberated by the combined Filipino and American troops. General Douglas MacArthur 's assault troops landed in the Tacloban and Palo beaches (White Beach and Red Beach, respectively) and in
650-455: A "flight bell" used to sound warning in times of peril. The Spanish word refundió means that the bell had been recast from scrap bronze. On September 28, 1901, Philippine Republican Army soldiers, and irregular military forces and/or the Pulahan from Balangiga and nearby towns ambushed Company C of the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment while they were at breakfast, killing 48 and wounding 22 of
780-440: A 13 ft (4 m) storm surge largely destroyed the airport , though it functioned soon after as a makeshift command and evacuation center. After taking a helicopter flight over the city, US Marine Brigadier General Paul Kennedy was quoted as saying, "I don't believe there is a single structure that is not destroyed or severely damaged in some way – every single building, every single house." Widespread looting and violence
910-707: A Spanish-based creole language called Chavacano developed in the southern Philippines. However, it is not mutually intelligible with Spanish. The number of Chavacano-speakers was estimated at 1.2 million in 1996. The local languages of the Philippines also retain significant Spanish influence, with many words derived from Mexican Spanish , owing to the administration of the islands by Spain through New Spain until 1821, until direct governance from Madrid afterwards to 1898. Tacloban Tacloban ( / t æ k ˈ l oʊ b ə n / tak- LOH -ban ; Tagalog pronunciation: [tɐkˈloban] ), officially
1040-596: A beam and are rung using a rope attached to the clapper. The third and smallest bell may have been acquired in 1895 through the initiative of Fr. Bernardo Aparicio. Estimates of its size deduce a 23-inch (580 mm) to 24-inch (610 mm) height and a mouth diameter of about 20 inches (510 mm). It bears the Franciscan emblem. The following inscription appears on this bell: "Se Refundio Siendo Parroco P. Bernardo Aparicio Año 1895" . Bells of this type are known as esquila (small bell) or Campana de vuelo , literally
1170-550: A considerable number of words from Arabic , as well as a minor influence from the Germanic Gothic language through the period of Visigoth rule in Iberia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Latin through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Latin and Renaissance Latin , the form of Latin in use at that time. According to
1300-522: A dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants , known in Spanish as the reajuste de las sibilantes , which resulted in the distinctive velar [x] pronunciation of the letter ⟨j⟩ and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental [θ] ("th-sound") for the letter ⟨z⟩ (and for ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ ). See History of Spanish (Modern development of
1430-482: A first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos ( Ilustrados ). Despite a public education system set up by the colonial government, by the end of Spanish rule in 1898, only about 10% of the population had knowledge of Spanish, mostly those of Spanish descent or elite standing. Spanish continued to be official and used in Philippine literature and press during the early years of American administration after
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#17328010559361560-506: A flight operated by Philippine Airlines. Tacloban is located on the northeastern tip of Leyte island , with its easternmost part facing Cancabato Bay. The bay is at the east mouth of San Juanico Strait . The Tacloban territory follows the length of the strait, along with Babatngon municipality north of the city. The strait divides the islands of Leyte and Samar . Tacloban is politically subdivided into 138 barangays . Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios . Tacloban has
1690-542: A key role in the return of the bells...arranging the refurbishment and transportation of the Bells, and providing duplicate Bells to honor the 9th Infantry Regiment”. The resolution also noted that “The US Department of Defense through the efforts of Lieutenant Colonel Theodore T. Liebreich of the United States Army, Dr. Joseph H. Felter, Deputy Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, returned
1820-612: A letter to the Thirteenth Air Force's command historian Chip Wards at Clark Air Force Base stating that the bells belonged to the Franciscans and that they should be returned to the Philippines. The following year, a group of American Franciscans based in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental again wrote to Wards, stating that the two large bells were Franciscan. In 1987, Tomas Gomez III, then serving as Consul General of
1950-478: A long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century. In the wake of the 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty , hundreds of thousands of Spanish speakers became a minoritized community in the United States. The 20th century saw further massive growth of Spanish speakers in areas where they had been hitherto scarce. According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of
2080-623: A plea for the return of the bells: "...one of the bells which were rung on that memorable day of the heroic battle, was taken by the Americans to the United States. Could we secure its return? That depends on the patriotism of our leaders and the good will of the American people" In November 1957, Fr. Horacio de la Costa of the Department of History at the Ateneo de Manila University wrote
2210-420: A politico-military province. Due to its strategic location, Tacloban became a vital trading point between the two provinces. The capital of Leyte was transferred from one town to another with Tacloban as the last on February 26, 1830. The decision to make Tacloban the capital was based on the following reasons: 1) ideal location of the port and 2) well-sheltered and adequate facilities. On June 20, 1952, Tacloban
2340-508: A primarily Hassaniya Arabic -speaking territory, Spanish was officially spoken as the language of the colonial administration during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Spanish is present in the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its secondary official language, and in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ( Algeria ), where the Spanish language is still taught as
2470-617: A second language features characteristics involving the variability of the vowel system. While far from its heyday during the Spanish protectorate in Morocco , the Spanish language has some presence in northern Morocco , stemming for example from the availability of certain Spanish-language media. According to a 2012 survey by Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), penetration of Spanish in Morocco reaches 4.6% of
2600-531: A second language, largely by Cuban educators. The number of Spanish speakers is unknown. Spanish is also an official language of the African Union . Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973. During Spanish colonization , it was the language of government, trade, and education, and was spoken as
2730-769: A statement objecting to the proposal embodied in Philippine Senate Resolution No. 965 introduced by Senator Migz Zubiri on December 6, 2018, which urged the Philippine government to place one of the three bells in the National Museum of the Philippines in Manila, "to be shared with the Filipino people". The representatives of the Catholic Church stated that the bells are historical artifacts, but they are also sacred objects that "call
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#17328010559362860-416: Is cognate to the root word of satisfacer ("to satisfy"), and hecho ("made") is similarly cognate to the root word of satisfecho ("satisfied"). Compare the examples in the following table: Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table: In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish underwent
2990-590: Is January and February, with an average (nighttime) temperature of 23.4 °C (74.1 °F). The highest recorded temperature was 38.0 °C (100.4 °F), recorded on April 6, 1924, and in August. The lowest recorded temperature in Tacloban is 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) which was recorded in December. The average rainfall for the year is 2,659.3 millimetres (104.7 in), with the most rainfall on average in December with 386.0 millimetres (15.2 in) and
3120-666: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe . Today, it is a global language with about 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain , and about 600 million when including second language speakers. Spanish is the official language of 20 countries , as well as one of the six official languages of
3250-657: Is accompanied by the ritual of giving the medallion containing the names of all Hermanos Pasados and the Standartes. Fireworks and grand parades mark the occasion. Every house in the city prepares a feast and opens its doors to guests and well wishers. Tacloban is served by air, multicabs, taxis, jeepneys, buses, tricycles and pedicabs. The city host the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport . The New Transport Terminal of Tacloban City or New Bus Terminal located in Abucay district serves as
3380-495: Is also the lingua franca used in the city among Filipinos of various ethnic groups. Tacloban is culturally and linguistically diverse. A decade before the end of Spanish sovereignty, it was largely a typical colonial community: most of its residents were either pure Iberian families or the new generations of Spanish-Filipino blood. Today's population consists of a mix of Spanish and Chinese mestizos, foreign expatriates and native Leyteños. Other Filipino ethnic groups who migrated to
3510-454: Is estimated that about 486 million people speak Spanish as a native language , making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers . An additional 75 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language , making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 538 million speakers. Spanish is also
3640-761: Is heavily influenced by Venezuelan Spanish. In addition to sharing most of its borders with Spanish-speaking countries, the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s induced a favorable situation for the promotion of Spanish language teaching in Brazil . In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President , making it mandatory for schools to offer Spanish as an alternative foreign language course in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil. In September 2016 this law
3770-732: Is related to Castile ( Castilla or archaically Castiella ), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The name Castile , in turn, is usually assumed to be derived from castillo ('castle'). In the Middle Ages , the language spoken in Castile was generically referred to as Romance and later also as Lengua vulgar . Later in the period, it gained geographical specification as Romance castellano ( romanz castellano , romanz de Castiella ), lenguaje de Castiella , and ultimately simply as castellano (noun). Different etymologies have been suggested for
3900-509: Is reported to have taken place and local government virtually collapsed, as many city officials were victims. President Aquino declared a state of emergency in Tacloban. The official final death toll stood at 6,201. On January 17, 2015, Pope Francis , the leader of the Roman Catholic Church , arrived in Tacloban to celebrate Mass with the survivors of Haiyan (Yolanda) . The pope arrived at Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport on
4030-844: Is spoken by very small communities in Angola due to Cuban influence from the Cold War and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned for their country's independence. Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands , located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 km (62 mi) off
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4160-813: Is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico . The language has a strong influence in major metropolitan areas such as those of Los Angeles , Miami , San Antonio , New York , San Francisco , Dallas , Tucson and Phoenix of the Arizona Sun Corridor , as well as more recently, Chicago , Las Vegas , Boston , Denver , Houston , Indianapolis , Philadelphia , Cleveland , Salt Lake City , Atlanta , Nashville , Orlando , Tampa , Raleigh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C. due to 20th- and 21st-century immigration. Although Spanish has no official recognition in
4290-506: Is the economic center of the entire Eastern Visayas , with an economy largely focused on agriculture, commerce, and tourism. Proximal to the city proper is the 237-hectare Eastern Visayas Agri-Industrial Growth Center (EVRGC), which was approved and accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 1210 on April 23, 1998. EVRGC serves as an eco-industrial hub with
4420-482: Is the hill where the city hall now sits. The combined settlements acquired the name Kankabatok , meaning "property of Kabatok ' s ". The constant threat of pirates due to its lack of a natural barrier hindered the development and progress of the settlement. And so the place never figured out the early centuries of the Spanish colonization of Leyte. When the Jesuits (the first evangelizers of Leyte) left in 1768,
4550-695: Is the regional center of the Eastern Visayas region and also the largest city and capital of the province of Leyte wherein it is geographically situated and grouped under the province by the Philippine Statistics Authority , but the city is governed and administered independently from it. Tacloban City was briefly the capital of the Philippines under the Commonwealth Government, from October 20, 1944, to February 27, 1945. In an extensive survey conducted by
4680-461: Is the symbol of the city's identity when it became a city under Republic Act No. 760 on June 20, 1952. The city's emblem stands for the following physical attributes and character: The week-long celebrations peaks on June 30, the Grand fiesta of Tacloban celebrated with the traditional turn-over ceremonies of the "Teniente" made by the immediate past Hermano Mayor to the incoming Hermano Mayor. This
4810-547: The Asian Institute of Management Policy Center and released in July 2010, Tacloban City ranks as the fifth most competitive city in the Philippines, and second in the emerging cities category. On November 8, 2013, the city was largely destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan , having previously suffered similar destruction and loss of life in 1897 and 1912. On January 17, 2015, Pope Francis visited Tacloban during his Papal Visit to
4940-517: The City of Tacloban ( Waray : Syudad han Tacloban ; Filipino : Lungsod ng Tacloban ), is a highly urbanized city on Leyte island in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, Tacloban has a population of 251,881, making it the most populous city in the Eastern Visayas . The city is located 360 miles (580 km) southeast from Manila . Tacloban
5070-568: The Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005. Spanish has historically had a significant presence on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao ( ABC Islands ) throughout the centuries and in present times. The majority of the populations of each island (especially Aruba) speaking Spanish at varying although often high degrees of fluency. The local language Papiamentu (Papiamento on Aruba)
5200-508: The Spanish–American War but was eventually replaced by English as the primary language of administration and education by the 1920s. Nevertheless, despite a significant decrease in influence and speakers, Spanish remained an official language of the Philippines upon independence in 1946, alongside English and Filipino , a standardized version of Tagalog . Spanish was briefly removed from official status in 1973 but reimplemented under
5330-548: The United Nations . Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese ; the world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English , Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ); and the world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers is Mexico . Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance language group , in which
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5460-706: The Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion , although not a legal requirement of the 2018 National Defense Appropriations Act, emerged with both organizations passing resolutions supporting the return of the Balangiga bells after the changes to the 2018 National Defense Appropriations Act and the announcement by Secretary Mattis that the bells would be returned. Rolando Borrinaga and former United States Navy officers Brian Buzzell, Dennis Wright, and Dan McKinnon are described as those who "campaigned to have
5590-480: The 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to the Americas. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is Latin in origin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Alongside English and French , it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout
5720-404: The 2021–2022 school year alone. The local business process outsourcing industry has also helped boost the language's economic prospects. Today, while the actual number of proficient Spanish speakers is around 400,000, or under 0.5% of the population, a new generation of Spanish speakers in the Philippines has likewise emerged, though speaker estimates vary widely. Aside from standard Spanish,
5850-595: The 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara , and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City . For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language . Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2023, it
5980-403: The 78 men of the unit, with only four escaping unhurt and four missing in action. The villagers captured about 100 rifles and 25,000 rounds of ammunition. An estimated 20 to 25 of them died in the fighting, with a similar number of wounded. In reprisal, General Jacob H. Smith ordered that Samar be turned into a "howling wilderness" and that they shoot any Filipino male above ten years of age who
6110-449: The 90th Missile Wing, had a curved red brick wall constructed in the F. E. Warren AFB trophy park for the bells, with a bronze plaque on the wall between them telling the story of the massacre at Balangiga. In 1987, a faint inscription was visible on the back of both bells, reading: USED BY PHILIPPINOS [ sic ] TO SOUND SIGNAL FOR MASSACRE OF COMPANY "C" NINTH INFANTRY AT BALANGIGA P.l. 28TH SEPTEMBER 1901 In 1979, it
6240-551: The Air Force , but received a negative reply. By sharing the bells, we share the agonies they represent, and then we can close this chapter of our history. Domingo Siazon Jr. , Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, quoted from the Los Angeles Times , 1998 The administration of Philippine President Fidel Ramos initiated attempts to recover one or more of the bells from Bill Clinton 's administration in
6370-495: The American people and the Filipino people". The three church bells were returned to the San Lorenzo de Martir Parish Church in the afternoon of December 15, 2018. On Sunday the next day before dawn, one of the bells was rung for Simbang Gabi for the first time in the church since 1901. The return of the bells sparked an economic renaissance in Balangiga, leading to opening of new businesses. The United States ambassador to
6500-775: The Augustinians took over, and in 1770 they established the barrio with a chapel (visita) of Tacloban under the jurisdiction of Palo. The Augustinians who came from the Province of the Holy Name of Jesus based in Cebu were also responsible in introducing the devotion to the Santo Niño becoming therefore the heavenly patron of the settlement. With the Moro raids in check, the place became a hub for commercial activity and soon after
6630-534: The Balangiga Church, but from other churches in the Philippines. The Bangahon church bell of Gandara, Samar is believed to be one of the creation along with the Balangiga bells. This bell was sequestered by the Americans on September 29, 1901, at Balangiga. 11°06′34″N 125°23′07″E / 11.1095°N 125.3853°E / 11.1095; 125.3853 Spanish language Spanish ( español ) or Castilian ( castellano )
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#17328010559366760-588: The Bells of Balangiga to the people of Balangiga”. Eugenio Roy Daza, the grandson of Captain Eugenio Daza , a member of Vicente Lukbán 's staff who helped organize the surprise attack on the 9th Infantry garrison in 1901, claims that based on the memoirs of his grandfather and on documents he found in US archives, the American soldiers took but a single bell; the bells that had been displayed in Wyoming came not from
6890-654: The Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business. Whereas it is not the mother tongue of virtually any of its speakers, the vast majority of the population is proficient in Spanish. The Instituto Cervantes estimates that 87.7% of the population is fluent in Spanish. The proportion of proficient Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea exceeds the proportion of proficient speakers in other West and Central African nations of their respective colonial languages. Spanish
7020-729: The Filipinos in the Balangiga massacre. The 11th Infantry gave it to the 9th Infantry Regiment at their headquarters in Calbayog a few months before the 9th Infantry's departure for home. They arrived in San Francisco on June 27, 1902. The unit was returned to its old Madison Barracks in Sackets Harbor, New York where they built a brick pedestal to display it. In 1928, it was moved to Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington . The bell
7150-577: The Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Proto-Basque , Iberian , Lusitanian , Celtiberian and Gallaecian . The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Spanish are from the 9th century. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era , the most important influences on the Spanish lexicon came from neighboring Romance languages — Mozarabic ( Andalusi Romance ), Navarro-Aragonese , Leonese , Catalan/Valencian , Portuguese , Galician , Occitan , and later, French and Italian . Spanish also borrowed
7280-424: The Old Spanish sibilants) for details. The Gramática de la lengua castellana , written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija , was the first grammar written for a modern European language. According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I , she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire. In his introduction to
7410-406: The Philippine Consulate in Honolulu , Hawaii received correspondence from John Witeck concerning the bells. Walter Kundis, a friend of Witeck's, had discovered the bells at the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. Witeck also wrote to Hawaii Senator Spark Matsunaga , seeking his assistance in having the bells returned to the Philippines. Senator Matsunaga in turn wrote to the Department of
7540-531: The Philippines and held a mass at Barangay San Jose, and later he led mass of 30,000 people in front of the airport . The area got its name from the word taklub , a bamboo tray used to catch crabs or shrimp. Tacloban was first known as Kankabatok , an allusion to the first inhabitants – Kabatok . They established their dwellings in the vicinity of the present day Santo Niño Church . Others who came later were Gumoda , Haraging and Huraw who erected their own settlements in nearby sites. Huraw 's domain
7670-400: The Philippines , MaryKay Carlson , visited the bells on 2022. The successful campaign to return the bells came about due to lobbying efforts of Dr. Henry B. Howard to change the 2018 National Defense Appropriations Act and the implementation of such changes by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Dr. Joseph Felter. Subsequent to these efforts, support of veterans organizations, including
7800-459: The Philippines until the complete liberation of the country. The provincial government of Leyte and the municipal government of Tacloban were re-established. Paulo Jaro was the Liberation mayor of Tacloban. The first mayor of this capital upon inauguration of the Philippine Republic was Epifanio Aguirre. On January 8, 1960, MacArthur made his "sentimental" journey to Leyte. He was greeted with cheers by locals when he visited Tacloban. The city
7930-484: The Philippines, quoted from his remarks at the Ceremony of the Return of the Balangiga Bells, 11 December 2018 During the 2017 ASEAN Summits , Philippine Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana met with United States Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis , and Lorenzana raised the issue of the Balangiga bells. Mattis made a personal commitment to secure the bells' return in a meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte , and he then sought legislation to enable
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#17328010559368060-497: The Philippines. The next morning, the US Embassy in the Philippines stated that the bells were on board a US Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules on the way to Manila . The bells arrived in the Philippines at Villamor Air Base on December 11, 2018; and were returned to the Balangiga Church on December 15, 2018. While in Manila, the bells were put on display at the Philippine Air Force Aerospace Museum until December 14. On December 13, 2018, Borongan Bishop Crispin Varquez released
8190-413: The President to authorize the transfer of ownership of one of the bells to the people of the Philippines. The resolution died on January 3, 2007, with the adjournment of Congress. On September 26, 2006, Congressmen Bob Filner, Dana Rohrabacher , and Ed Case co-sponsored House Concurrent Resolution No. 481 urging the President to authorize the return of the church bells, but it died on January 3, 2009, with
8320-424: The Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also castellano (Castilian), the language from the Kingdom of Castile , contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician , Basque , Asturian , Catalan/Valencian , Aragonese , Occitan and other minor languages. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of
8450-402: The Tacloban city government as its developer and operator. Several regional broadcasters are also based in the city including ABS-CBN TV-2 Tacloban, GMA TV-10 Tacloban and PRTV-12 Tacloban. The Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport also makes the city a key regional transportation hub. Tacloban is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Philippines, and has one of the lowest poverty incidence rates in
8580-502: The U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin. In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population. Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico , where it is also an official language along with English. Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included. While English
8710-431: The US troops from the town of Balangiga, Province of Samar in 1901". Give us back those Balangiga bells. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage. Isauli naman ninyo. Masakit 'yan sa amin. (Please return it. That is painful for us.) Rodrigo Duterte , Philippine President, quoted from his State of the Nation Address, 24 July 2017 The townspeople of Balangiga asked
8840-407: The United States Congress, and the Helsinki Commission requesting them to facilitate the return of the bells. That same year, the Wyoming Veterans' Commission favored the return of the Filipino-American War relics, but Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal stated that he disagreed with the Commission and opposed returning the bells. On January 13, 2005, Congressman Bob Filner introduced H.Res.313 urging
8970-535: The United States Raul Rabe visited Cheyenne, Wyoming twice, trying to win support for this proposal. However, he was not successful. In 2002, the Philippine Senate approved Senate Resolution No. 393, authored by Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and urging the Arroyo administration to undertake formal negotiations with the United States for the return of the bells. In 2005, Bishop of Borongan, Samar , Bishop Leonardo Medroso, and Balangiga parish priest Saturnino Obzunar wrote an open letter addressed to President George W. Bush ,
9100-461: The United States to return the church bells when they received relief from the U.S. military after Typhoon Haiyan hit the town in 2013. President Duterte demanded the bells' return in his State of the Nation Address on July 24, 2017, but he did not raise the issue in a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump in November 2017 during the 31st ASEAN Summit . In February 2018, politicians Randy Hultgren and Jim McGovern , to no avail, objected to
9230-411: The adjournment of Congress. In 2007, Napoleon Abueva , the Philippines' National Artist for sculpture, wrote to American Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney asking for her help in the bells' recovery. Senator Manny Villar filed Senate Resolution No. 177 on October 25, a resolution "expressing the sense of the Senate for the return to the Philippines of the Balangiga Bells which were taken by
9360-457: The administration of Ferdinand Marcos two months later. It remained an official language until the ratification of the present constitution in 1987, in which it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language. Additionally, the constitution, in its Article XIV, stipulates that the Government shall provide the people of the Philippines with a Spanish-language translation of
9490-400: The bells are US government property, that it would take an Act of Congress to return them, and that the Catholic Church has no say in the matter. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines hold the position that the bells are inappropriate as trophies of war. In 1998, Ramos proposed casting two new bells, then having each country keep an original and a duplicate. Philippine Ambassador to
9620-490: The bells being returned to the Philippines due to the current human rights record established by Duterte's Philippine Drug War . The bells were restored and returned by December 2018. The history of these bells spans the entire relationship between the United States and the Philippines. In the process, they have touched many lives. And their return underscores the enduring friendship between our countries, our shared values, and shared sacrifices. Sung Kim , US Ambassador to
9750-565: The bells repatriated" via lobbying of the veterans organizations; these same American ex-servicemen had spearheaded the recovery from West Point in 2016 of another church bell taken in 1901 from the Saints Peter and Paul Church in Bauang, La Union . The Balangiga Research Group's work was important in convincing US veterans to support the effort to return the bells. The group includes Borrinaga, British journalist Bob Couttie, and E. Jean Wall,
9880-485: The church. The bells were taken because one had been used by the Filipinos to signal the attack on Company C, 9th Infantry and because the metal could have been turned into weapons such as cannons and bayonets. All three bells remained under the charge of quartermaster Captain Robert Alexander at their Tacloban headquarters. The small signal bell was the bell that signaled the attack against American troops by
10010-805: The city are the Cebuano/Kana/Visayan speaking populace accounts for 6.08% of the total population, 0.80% are Tagalog, 0.10% are Ilocano, 0.07% are Kapampangan, and 2.95% come from other ethnic origins, including Hiligaynon, Maguindanaon, Maranao and Tausug. 88.52% of the residents of Tacloban City are Roman Catholic; 6.12% are Muslims (most are Maranao migrants from Mindanao); 0.83% are of the indigenous Christian denomination, Iglesia ni Cristo; 0.94% are Evangelicals (born-again Christians); Baptists 0.80%; 0.49% Seventh-Day Adventists. Others comprise 3.10%. Poverty incidence of Tacloban Source: Philippine Statistics Authority Tacloban
10140-399: The city council has the legislative power to create city ordinances. It is a unicameral body composed of ten elected councilors and certain numbers of ex officio and sectoral representatives. It is presided by the vice mayor, the mayor and the elected city councilors who are elected-at-large every three years. The current city mayor is Alfred Romualdez. The city government ceased to be under
10270-413: The civilian population of Samar. Waller was charged specifically of tying one of the natives to a tree and shooting bullets into their body for three straight days, before finally killing them on the fourth. Waller was acquitted of the charges. Smith was found guilty, admonished and retired from service, but charges were dropped shortly after. He was later hailed as a war hero. After the Balangiga massacre,
10400-684: The classic hispanus or hispanicus took the suffix -one from Vulgar Latin , as happened with other words such as bretón (Breton) or sajón (Saxon). Like the other Romance languages , the Spanish language evolved from Vulgar Latin , which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War , beginning in 210 BC. Several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages )—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages , and some that are not related at all—were previously spoken in
10530-500: The consonant written b (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic b and v . Typical of Spanish (as also of neighboring Gascon extending as far north as the Gironde estuary , and found in a small area of Calabria ), attributed by some scholars to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial f into h- whenever it
10660-485: The country (at roughly 9%, while the national poverty incidence stands at 30%). After its massive devastation on November 8, 2013, Tacloban was declared by its local government as a start-up city , which means everything had to start back from scratch. Currently the city is experiencing a rapid economic recovery. The executive power of the City Government is vested in the mayor. The Sangguniang Panlungsod or
10790-404: The country's constitution. In recent years changing attitudes among non-Spanish speaking Filipinos have helped spur a revival of the language, and starting in 2009 Spanish was reintroduced as part of the basic education curriculum in a number of public high schools, becoming the largest foreign language program offered by the public school system, with over 7,000 students studying the language in
10920-522: The daughter of Adolph Gamlin, an American soldier of the 9th Infantry who survived the Filipino attack in 1901. In 2021, the Philippines Senate issued resolution 653 expressing "profound gratitude of the Senate of the Philippines for the return by the United States government of the bells and recognizing the efforts of those who facilitated its return." The resolution specifically acknowledged
11050-690: The efforts of Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle , Rear Admiral Daniel W. McKinnon Jr., Captain Dennis L. Wright, and Captain Brian V. Buzzell, who led the initiative and provided information on the law and history related to the bells' presence in Wyoming and South Korea. The resolution also acknowledged that “the US-Philippine Society through Mr. Edwin Mason (Hank) Henderson, Dr. Henry B. Howard, and Ms. Ludmilla L. Kasulke, Esq. also played
11180-528: The faithful to prayer and worship" and therefore rightfully belong in a church. Zubiri characterized the statement as "arrogant"; National Museum director Jeremy Barns expressed sadness over the incident, and stated that the National Museum had not been involved in Zubiri's resolution, nor had they been informed about it before the fact. The bells were airlifted by a Philippine Air Force C-130 plane to
11310-485: The fishermen would answer, "(to) tarakluban" , which meant the place where they used the device to catch these marine resources. Eventually, the name Tarakluban or Tacloban took prominence. It is not known when Tacloban became a municipality because records supporting this fact were destroyed during a typhoon. It is commonly believed that Tacloban was officially proclaimed a municipality in 1770s. In 1768, Leyte and Samar were separated into two provinces, each constituting
11440-683: The following table: Spanish is marked by palatalization of the Latin double consonants ( geminates ) nn and ll (thus Latin annum > Spanish año , and Latin anellum > Spanish anillo ). The consonant written u or v in Latin and pronounced [w] in Classical Latin had probably " fortified " to a bilabial fricative /β/ in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with
11570-466: The former British colony of Belize (known until 1973 as British Honduras ) where English is the sole official language, according to the 2022 census, 54% of the total population are able to speak the language. Due to its proximity to Spanish-speaking countries and small existing native Spanish speaking minority, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented Spanish language teaching into its education system. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government launched
11700-604: The grammar, dated 18 August 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire." From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Spanish-discovered America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America . Miguel de Cervantes , author of Don Quixote , is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). In
11830-594: The language is also known as Castilian ( castellano ). The group evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century, and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo , a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile , in
11960-549: The language's hegemony in an intensely centralising Spanish state were established from the 18th century onward. Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra . Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Germany . Spanish is an official language of the European Union . Today,
12090-458: The least on average in April with 115.2 millimetres (4.5 in). According to the 2020 census, Tacloban has a population of 251,881 inhabitants. Tacloban is predominantly a Waray-speaking city. The language is also officially called Lineyte-Samarnon ("Leyte-Samarnon") and is spoken by more than 90% of the total city population. Waray-Waray , aside from being the native language of the city,
12220-731: The legal repatriation of the bells. Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez , however, disclosed in an interview with CNN Philippines that President Duterte personally told Mattis to return the bells during the ASEAN Summit meeting in Clark, Pampanga in October 2017. The US National Defense Authorization Act was changed as a result of the 2017 lobbying efforts of Dr. Henry B. Howard and lobbying firms hired by him to expressly permit
12350-694: The majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America . Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure —of Argentina , Bolivia (co-official with 36 indigenous languages), Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní ), Peru (co-official with Quechua , Aymara , and "the other indigenous languages"), Puerto Rico (co-official with English), Uruguay , and Venezuela . Spanish language has
12480-483: The mid-1990s. In 1994, during a one-on-one between Ramos and Clinton in the Philippines, Clinton offered to return the Balangiga Bells to the Philippines "in the spirit of fair play." However, Roy Daza, a representative of Ramos sent to the U.S. on the matter of the bells, was informed that Clinton's offer was considered "illegal" in some State Department circles. The United States government has been adamant that
12610-523: The name of the religious order of Franciscans. The second bell was cast around 1889 with a mouth diameter of 27.75 inches (705 mm) and height of 27.5 inches (700 mm). The town acquired it in 1889 through the initiative of Fr. Agustín Delgado, whose name is inscribed on it. The following inscription appears on this bell: "Se Refundió Siendo Cura Parroco El M.R.P.F Agustín Delgado Año 1889" . The bells were referred to as campanas colgantes in Spanish, meaning "hanging bells". These are usually hung from
12740-406: The nearby town of Guiuan , arriving on December 14. These were then delivered to Balangiga in a two-hour journey via road. The bells were then turned over to the Balangiga town the next day. In a ceremony attended by President Rodrigo Duterte , the transfer certificate was given to Mayor Randy Graza. Duterte then rang one of the bells, and remarked that the credit for the return of the bells "goes to
12870-510: The neighboring town of Dulag (Blue Beach) on October 20, 1944. These landings signaled the eventual victory of the Filipino and American forces and the fulfillment of MacArthur's famous promise: "I Shall Return." Three days later, on October 23, at a ceremony at the Capitol Building in Tacloban, MacArthur, accompanied by President Sergio Osmeña , made Tacloban the temporary seat of the Commonwealth Government and temporary capital of
13000-734: The northwest of the African mainland. The Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands traces its origins back to the Castilian conquest in the 15th century , and, in addition to a resemblance to Western Andalusian speech patterns, it also features strong influence from the Spanish varieties spoken in the Americas, which in turn have also been influenced historically by Canarian Spanish. The Spanish spoken in North Africa by native bilingual speakers of Arabic or Berber who also speak Spanish as
13130-654: The other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language castellano . The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by the Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms— español and castellano —are regarded as synonymous and equally valid. The term castellano
13260-417: The parade ground near the flagpole along with other relics from the Philippines "to include the famous bell which gave the signal for the massacre of a whole company. Two large bells three feet tall and a seven-foot cannon were proudly displayed in front of the flagpole on the parade ground of the fort." A sign was installed over one of the bells: This bell hung in the church at Balangiga, Samar, PI, and rung
13390-422: The place was renamed Tacloban becoming an independent municipality and then capital of the province of Leyte. In 1843, the Augustinians ceded the administration of the parish to the Franciscans. The change of the name came about in this manner: Kankabatok was a favorite haunt of fishermen. They would use a bamboo contraption called a "taklub" to catch crabs, shrimps or fish. When asked where they were going,
13520-533: The population. Many northern Moroccans have rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, with Spanish being particularly significant in areas adjacent to Ceuta and Melilla. Spanish also has a presence in the education system of the country (through either selected education centers implementing Spain's education system, primarily located in the North, or the availability of Spanish as foreign language subject in secondary education). In Western Sahara , formerly Spanish Sahara ,
13650-555: The return of the Balangiga bells by giving Secretary of Defense Mattis the authority to decide on the matter. In August 2018, Secretary Mattis informed Congress that the Department of Defense intended to return the bells to the Philippines. That month the US Embassy in the Philippines issued a statement that the Department of Defense had notified Congress that it planned to return the bells to the Philippines at an unspecified date. The U.S. Department of Defense subsequently announced that
13780-478: The signal for the attack on Company C, 9th U.S. Infantry, Sept 29, 1901. Taken by Company L, 11th Infantry and detachment of Company K, 11th Infantry, the first units to reach the scene after the massacre. The sign erroneously credited units of the 11th Infantry with being the first to reach Balangiga after the battle, but it was changed in 1911 giving proper credit to Company G, 9th Infantry for recapturing Balangiga. The 11th Infantry reposted to Texas in 1913, leaving
13910-509: The supervision of the provincial government after it became a highly urbanized city in 2008. The city is now under the direct supervision of the national government. Tacloban City is part of the 1st District of Leyte , alongside seven other municipalities: Alangalang , Babatngon , Palo , San Miguel , Santa Fe , Tanauan , and Tolosa . The district is currently represented by Congressman Martin Romualdez . The official Seal of Tacloban
14040-537: The term español (Spanish). According to the Royal Spanish Academy, español derives from the Occitan word espaignol and that, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin * hispaniolus ('of Hispania'). Hispania was the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula . There are other hypotheses apart from the one suggested by the Royal Spanish Academy. Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal suggested that
14170-444: The theories of Ramón Menéndez Pidal , local sociolects of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish, in the north of Iberia, in an area centered in the city of Burgos , and this dialect was later brought to the city of Toledo , where the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century. In this formative stage, Spanish developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese , and, according to some authors,
14300-768: The third most used language on the Internet , after English and Chinese. Spanish is the official language of Spain . Upon the emergence of the Castilian Crown as the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the Middle Ages, the Romance vernacular associated with this polity became increasingly used in instances of prestige and influence, and the distinction between "Castilian" and "Spanish" started to become blurred. Hard policies imposing
14430-407: The town was recaptured on September 29, 1901, by 55 men of Company G, 9th Infantry. That unit departed the town the same day and was replaced by 132 men from Companies K and L of the 11th Infantry Regiment which garrisoned the town until relieved on October 18, 1901. When the 11th Infantry departed, they took the bells removed from the burned-down Balangiga church and a cannon from the plaza in front of
14560-790: The two bells at the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base would be turned over by Secretary Mattis to Ambassador Romualdez on November 15, 2018, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The third bell in South Korea was also ready for repatriation. The two bells in Wyoming were then shipped to Philadelphia for restoration work at the expense of Dr. Howard before being sent to Japan, where they joined the third bell. On December 10, 2018, all three church bells were in Kadena Air Base in Japan awaiting repatriation to
14690-491: The two large bells behind. In 1927, Fort D.A. Russell was renamed Fort Francis E. Warren. The Army left Fort Francis E. Warren in 1941, again leaving the bells where they were. On October 7, 1949, the former Army base became Francis E. Warren Air Force Base , and the bells became artefacts in the collection of the National Museum of the United States Air Force . In 1967, Colonel Robert J. Hill, commander of
14820-585: The whole of Spain, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. "the other Spanish languages "). Article III reads as follows: El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. ... Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas... Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. ... The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities... The Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española ), on
14950-582: The world. Spanish is well represented in the humanities and social sciences . Spanish is also the third most used language on the internet by number of users after English and Chinese and the second most used language by number of websites after English. Spanish is used as an official language by many international organizations , including the United Nations , European Union , Organization of American States , Union of South American Nations , Community of Latin American and Caribbean States , African Union , among others. In Spain and some other parts of
15080-485: The year and rainfall is both heavy and frequent. One day in an equatorial climate can be very similar to the next, while the change in temperature between day and night may be larger than the average change in temperature between "summer" and "winter". The average high (daytime) temperature for the year in Tacloban is 31.1 °C (88.0 °F). The warmest month on average is May with an average daytime temperature of 32.3 °C (90.1 °F). The coolest month on average
15210-467: Was capable of bearing arms. This was the most widespread killing of Filipino civilians in the entire duration of the war. The aftermath of the massacre also led to the increased use of the water cure in Samar. The American soldiers seized three church bells from the town church and moved them back to the United States as war trophies. The 9th Infantry Regiment maintained that the single bell in their possession
15340-412: Was cast around 1853 and bears the Franciscan coat of arms. It has a mouth diameter of 31.25 inches (794 mm) inches and height of 30 inches (760 mm). The following inscription appears on this bell: "R. San Francisco Año El 1853" ("R. San Francisco The Year 1853"). R. San Francisco could have been the parish priest at that time, or the term may represent Religioso de San Francisco , a reference to
15470-634: Was developed in the cities of Toledo , in the 13th to 16th centuries, and Madrid , from the 1570s. The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages , including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin vīta > Spanish vida ). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short e and o —which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in
15600-628: Was discovered that a bronze cannon that was also taken from Balangiga had been cast in London in 1557 and bore the monogram of Mary I of England . As of 2001, a glass case housed the bells along with the 400-year-old Falcon cannon . On December 23, 1935, Eugenio Daza , a leader in the Balangiga Encounter, gave a sworn statement detailing the Balangiga Encounter and the surrounding events, entitled " Balangiga su Historia en la Revolucion el 28 de Septiembre la 1901 ". Daza's memoir ended with
15730-622: Was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages ). This distinctive dialect spread to southern Spain with the advance of the Reconquista , and meanwhile gathered a sizable lexical influence from the Arabic of Al-Andalus , much of it indirectly, through the Romance Mozarabic dialects (some 4,000 Arabic -derived words, make up around 8% of the language today). The written standard for this new language
15860-713: Was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The h- , still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects, it is still aspirated in some words. Because of borrowings from Latin and neighboring Romance languages, there are many f -/ h - doublets in modern Spanish: Fernando and Hernando (both Spanish for "Ferdinand"), ferrero and herrero (both Spanish for "smith"), fierro and hierro (both Spanish for "iron"), and fondo and hondo (both words pertaining to depth in Spanish, though fondo means "bottom", while hondo means "deep"); additionally, hacer ("to make")
15990-542: Was ideal for larger vessels, the Japanese Imperial Naval Forces made Tacloban a port of call and entry. This time was considered the darkest in the history of Tacloban and the country due to the incidences of torture among civilians, including the elderly. In response, guerrilla groups operated in Leyte – the most notable of which was the group of Nieves Fernandez . The Japanese established
16120-610: Was in the possession of the 9th Infantry Regiment at Camp Red Cloud , their base in South Korea, while two others were on a former base of the 11th Infantry Regiment at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming . People representing the Catholic Church in the Philippines , the Philippine government, and the residents of Balangiga had sought to recover the bells since the late 1950s, but their efforts were met with frustration for decades. Progress in negotiations
16250-616: Was later kept at the 2nd Infantry Division Museum in Camp Red Cloud , Uijeongbu , South Korea. It had previously been displayed at the unit's Camp Hovey headquarters. The 11th Infantry left the Philippines in February 1904 taking the two larger bells with them and redeployed to Fort D.A. Russell in Wyoming on March 23, 1904. On May 16, 1905, the Cheyenne Daily Leader reported that the cannon had been mounted on
16380-474: Was made in 2018, and the bells finally returned to the Philippines on December 11, 2018, after 117 years. The Balangiga church was dedicated in 1854 to Roman martyr San Lorenzo , and in 1863, Fr. Cristobal Mirrales, a Jesuit Missionary maybe an Architect too, rebuilt the Balangiga Church consisting of Haligues o Poste de Madera , with four towers inside a quarangle or fort, and that the church bell as told took four years probably by raising fund to acquire it. It
16510-486: Was presented to the regiment by villagers when the unit left Balangiga on April 9, 1902. The bell had been actually given to them by the 11th Infantry Regiment, which had taken all three bells when they left Balangiga for Tacloban on October 18, 1901. Smith and his primary subordinate, Major Littleton Waller of the United States Marine Corps , were both court-martialled for war crimes against
16640-572: Was proclaimed a chartered city by virtue of Republic Act No. 760. The arrival of Colonel Arthur Murray in 1901 made him the first military governor of Leyte. His first official act was the opening of Tacloban port to world commerce. Before World War II , Tacloban was the commercial, education, social and cultural center of the Province of Leyte. Copra and abaca were exported in large quantities. The leading institutions were: Leyte Normal School, Leyte High School, Leyte Trade School, Holy Infant Academy and Tacloban Catholic Institute. In November 1912,
16770-415: Was proclaimed as a highly urbanized city by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on October 4, 2008 and ratified by the people on December 18, 2008. Tacloban was officially declared an HUC at 10:40PM of that day. On November 8, 2013 ( PST ), Tacloban was hit by the full force of Typhoon Haiyan , causing massive destruction across the city. Dead bodies were scattered on the streets, trees were uprooted, and
16900-462: Was revoked by Michel Temer after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff . In many border towns and villages along Paraguay and Uruguay, a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken. Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period . Enshrined in the constitution as an official language (alongside French and Portuguese), Spanish features prominently in
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