With Ferdinand Magellan's arrival in the Philippine Island in 1521, Spanish colonization and an era of

Spanish authority officially began. For more than three centuries, the Philippines was a Spanish colony,
and the Spaniards left a lasting impression on Filipino culture. Beginning in 1896, the Philippine
Revolution was initially successful in forcing the Spaniards out of most of the nation. Violence and
rebellion increased in the Philippines during the latter years of Spanish colonial authority, at that point,
the United States had joined the fight on the side of the Filipinos. The Spaniards were only eventually
driven out of the Philippines in 1898. The Spanish colonial era in the Philippines lasted from 1565 to
1898, which signaled the start of the American colonial era.

America formally established itself as a colonial authority in the Philippines on December 10th, 1898.
The Filipino people were eager to have a government that would be more attentive to their interests
after more than 300 years of Spanish control in the nation. Unfortunately, the American government
was more concerned with using the Philippines as a source of economic advantage for itself. This
sparked several ultimately unsuccessful revolutions against American power. On the other side, an
American architect Daniel Burnham saw a great potential in Manila with its vast natural resources. He
saw a unique beauty in Manila that's why Burnham’s plan for Manila held the promise of a "City
Beautiful". Besides that, it also provided a framework to facilitate efficient governance and signify the
power and prestige of the American colonial regime within the Philippine Archipelago. The Burnham
plan's legacy endures to this day, and it is fascinating to think about what Metropolitan Manila may have
become if all its components had been carried through. It was a dream that was abandoned in the
middle, and it still isn't complete.

Filipinos travelled to the US to attend American universities beginning in 1900. These were mainly
students from elite families in the Philippines. Eventually these American-educated students became
known as pensionados, named after the Pensionado Act of 1903, which provided US colonial
government funds to sponsor Filipino students to study in the United States. The aim of the Pensionado
Program was to train the future leaders of the Philippines. The US colonial government wanted to create
a group of qualified, highly educated civil servants that would represent American ideals and carry out
the US colonial vision for the Philippines. Given this purpose, most students returned to the Philippines
after finishing their education.

Beginning in 1900, Filipino students came to the US to study at American universities. Most of these
students came from wealthy Filipino households. Following the Pensionado Act of 1903, which granted
US colonial government funds to sponsor Filipino students to study in the US, these American-educated
students eventually came to be known as pensionados. The Pensionado Program's main objective was
to develop the country's future leaders. To implement the US colonial administration's plans for the
Philippines, the US colonial authority sought to assemble a corps of competent, highly educated civil
workers. After completing their studies, the majority of students went back to the Philippines for this
reason.