<PHILIPPINES,
island republic off the coast of S.E.
[Some Jews on Philippine islands -
Spanish Inquisition and Jews from the Philippines at stake in Mexico
City]
Asia. Marranos are known to have lived in Manila among the early
Spanish settlers and they soon came under the surveillance of the
Spanish Inquisition. The first public auto-da-fé was held in Manila in
1580, but it is not known whether there were Jews among the seven
persons accused. In 1593 two Marrano brothers, Jorge and Domingo
Rodriguez, old-established residents of Manila, appeared at an
auto-da-fé held in Mexico City because the Inquisition did not have an
independent tribunal in the Philippines. They were sentenced to
imprisonment. At least eight Marranos from the Philippines are known to
have been tried by the Inquisition by the end of the 17th century.
[last quarter of the 19th century:
significant Jewish immigration from Alsace, Middle East, Russia and
Central Europe]
Significant Jewish immigration to the Philippines did not begin until
the last quarter of the 19th century. The first Jews known to arrive on
the islands were the three brothers Levy, natives of Alsace, who went
to Manila in the early 1870s to establish a jewelry business and
brought additional people for their store. They were joined by groups
of Turkish, Syrian, Lebanese, and Egyptian Jews, by families from
Russia and Central Europe (either directly or via Harbin and Shanghai),
and by U.S. Jews in the first few decades of the 20th century. By the
early 1930s the Jewish community numbered approximately 500.
[Synagogue - Jewish cemetery -
Temple Emil]
The Manila congregation, organized formally in 1922, purchased land for
a synagogue and a burial plot, and in 1924 erected Temple Emil, named
after a benefactor, Emil Bachrach.
[1933-1945: Philippines become country for refugees
from NS persecution]
As a result of strenuous activity by the community, the friendliness of
the then governor of the Philippine Commonwealth, Manuel Quezon y
Molina (who donated some land for the purpose of refugee settlement),
encouragement by the U.S. authorities, and the lack of better
alternatives, the Philippines became a center for refugees from Nazi
persecution. By the end of World War II the Jewish community had grown
to more than 2,500. Among the refugees were a rabbi, Joseph Schwartz,
and a cantor for the community.
[1944-1945: Japanese misuse the
synagogue - 10% death rate in war fights]
Late 1944 and the first two months of 1945 were calamitous for the
Jewish community. The Japanese had used the synagogue and adjacent hall
as an ammunition store, and both buildings were completely destroyed in
the fighting. Ten percent of the Jews fell victim to atrocities
perpetrated by the retreating Japanese or to the shelling of the
advancing Americans. After the war the community reorganized, and its
temple was rebuilt.
In 1968 the community numbered approximately 250, about a quarter of
whom were Sephardim. About 80 children attended the religious school.
The majority of Jews in the Philippines are not permanent residents of
the country, but work on contract with U.S. companies, diplomatic
missions, and other assignments. Only a handful live outside of Manila.
U.S. military personnel stationed at bases in the islands are served by
a Jewish chaplain at Clark Air Base, 50 mi. (c. 80 km) north of Manila.
[W.Z. / E.E.S.]> (col. 395)
Relations with [[Zionist]] Herzl
Israel.
The Republic of the Philippines was the only Asian country to vote for
the partition of Palestine in 1947, and it recognized the State of
Israel in 1949. Relations between the two countries have been cordial.
Formal diplomatic ties developed from the exchange of honorary consuls
and honorary consuls-general in the early 1950s, to nonresident
ministers in the later 1950s, the establishment of an Israel legation
in Manila in 1958, and finally to the appointment of resident (col. 395)
ambassadors in Manila and Tel Aviv in 1962. An aviation agreement was
signed between the two countries in 1951, a friendship treaty was
contracted in 1958, several consular agreements and a technical-aid
agreement were signed in 1964. Technical cooperation includes the
participation of Israel experts in the establishment of a model
village.
Israel has sent experts to the Philippines in the service of various UN
agencies, and Philippine trainees in community development,
agriculture, and cooperation studied in Israel.
[SU.TU.]
Bibliography
-- G.A. Kohut; in: AJHSP, 12 (1904), 145-56
-- N. Robinson: Jewish Communities of the World (1963), 46
-- H.C. Lea: The Inquisition in the Spanish Dependencies (1908)>
(col. 396)
| Sources |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Jews on the Philippines, vol. 13, col.
395-396 |
