THE Spanish and American colonizers were dependent on Filipino talent, skills and labor but did not concede freedom to Filipinos until pushed to the brink of irrelevance.

From the time that Spain inaugurated the Manila Galleon Trade route in 1565 until the independence movements emerged in Latin America, the Spanish colonizers harbored and exploited the shipbuilding and navigating techniques of maritime craftsmen, artisans and seafarers to keep the spice- and Asian merchandise-laden ships afloat.

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