Manila, Queen of the Pacific 1938 

1938: Manila - Queen of the Pacific 2019: Manila - Queen of Traffic

Everything was taken for granted. We were once a rich country, now we are just enjoying its former glory through black and whites.

I feel sad for those people,died thinking philippines have great future.

I've noticed that with every country in the world, our ancestors used to dress more smartly and have more pride in their appearance. Classy and stylish despite social class.

It's not WW2, it's not the colonizers, its not the corrupt politicians... It's the Filipino value. Long gone with the glory that is Philippines... We have to realize that Pinoy "Pride" is crushing our society. As a young professional, I realized Philippines is the worst place for an intellectual to be born in because Filipinos do not reward excellence, they denounce it because on their innate stubbornness.. Brain Drain is not an issue, in fact, it was never an issue. It was their superiority complex. They seek recognition, and yet they don't work for it. They live a lifestyle they can't afford. They demand change and yet they defy it. And its always gonna' be someone else's fault. Not theirs.

Nakakamiss yung mga karawahe at mga kabayo. Sabi ni lolo malinis at ilegante ang mga tao noon kahit mahirap,

1930s was the Golden Era of the Philippines. Manila along with Shanghai managed to evade the ravages of the Depression and thrived. With the rising nationalism and the promise of independence came pride and Filipinos wanted to compete and show it to the world. Men and women dressed to the nines. Filipino high end society flourished. Manila had a distinguished cafe culture. Commonwealth infrastructure projects were grand and elegant. It was the height of Philippine society. Then WWII came....

This is how Filipino without internet. living unified and classy.

Damn, Manila was once so beautiful

Admit it, manila back then was the paris of asia but now it looks like dubai in low budget

Manila in early 1900's is not only beautiful but also a clash of Spanish-American-Filipino architectures. probably one of the most diverse city in that era.

This camera is still better than most cctv cameras

Look at their fashion. Almost all of them have white blazers, under the afternoon sun. Today, people just go topless.

Manila was then dubbed as the "Paris of Asia" The most beautiful city in this part of the world, I hope Manila can still rise up to its former glory.

Hi a Hong konger here. Just learned about the history of Manila and the intramuros in a documentary. So sad to know so much was destroyed in the war, but I still would love to visit the Philippines one day when I have the chance! The people of Philippines imo are the most passionate and friendly people I know in Asia!

You wouldn't think that this is the philippines before What i’m saying here is if you don’t know the history or the past of the philippines and you just know the present philippines you wouldn’t think its the philippines past(just look at how they dressed and how clean the road is).

the man who voice over was like in the tom and jerry scenario where in tom listening to the radio plus the background music as well .. so nostalgic !!

Imagine 1938 we are already ahead in Asia, Singapore was established 1965, 27years ahead but what happen Philippines...😔😔😔

I feel like I would have rather enjoyed living in this era than today.

My Spanish abuela would be 14 years old at that time. Enjoying her life as a student in an all-girls Catholic school in Manila🇪🇦🇵🇭😊

The fact that this video is black and white we can still notice the beauty of Manila on that era..

Notice how old Filipinos dress, very elegant, proper and presentable. I hope we could bring back this in our new era :)

The fact that Manila was this beautiful in the past made want to go back, and the fact that you cannot go back in the past made me want go back MORE :(((

How ironic as time progressed, we had lost the once beautiful city of Manila

Parang ang sarap huminga nung mga panahon na yan.

As a millennial this footage is such a gold, Thank you for this. I cant even compare the old and current manila

6:24 love how they cherished local products for now they just think lowly of them.🙃

If only WW2 didn't happen, Manila would have been one of the most beautiful cities in the orient

Everyone looked so classy back then

I wanna go in the past to see the beautiful manila

I wish this is remastered to where color is added to really show the beauty of Manila back then

The Philippines is so f*cking beautiful. Haysss.

They forgot Urban Planning after ww2. Just build build build residential and commercial areas without planning.

My mum & dad grew up in Thailand in the late the 50's. They told me that back then all Thai elites sent their children to the Philippines for education. Manila was known among Thais back then as rich and prosperous country. I can clearly see that from this VDO, even from the 30's! Thank you very much. Love it!

Just imagine if the Philippines continue To be like that... We will be considered 1st world countrie!!!!

The problem is that the Philippines abandoned the Burnham Plan (1905) after the American occupation in 1946. It contains the urban plans for Manila and was supposed to make the city a combination of Paris, Venice, and Naples, with a tropical setting.

1930: Queen of the Pacific 2020: Servant of Pacific Corrupt Officials brought the Manila down.

1938,the Filipinos are very formal...

Manila was so beautiful until Japanese came and never recovered, til now.

oh bless to you who posted this is here ❣️

1938: Manila queen of pacific 2018: Manila queen of robberies

My wife is a Filipina so I have visited there 3 times over the last ten years. Though her family lives a couple of hours outside Metro Manila we have spent a fair amount of time there . It is humongous and a little overwhelming but there is a certain vibrant energy there,wealth,poverty,new and old everything existing side by side.So many restaurants! Obviously you have to be street smart and use common sense esp. when you are a foreigner but hat goes for any big city. In my opinion the Philippines is on the way up-there is a lot of industry and a lot of wealth moving in . Obviously there are still significant problems with corruption(like every country) and infastructure,brain drain- but these can be overcome. The Philippines has a MASSIVE advantage over other SE Asian countries in that most people are pretty well educated and speak and understand English. Maybe I'm wrong about this but it seems to me like even poorer people manage to send their kids to school.

The time when you drive on the left side of the road. Glory days.

Back then when people still wearing decent clothes.

Saw this to my grandmother and she was very happy to see the old Philippines again ( she was born at 1937 )

I didn't know we have this kind of transportation before... Now its gone 4:40

WOW!!!! I can't believe that this is Manila because it's very classy and beautiful. I wish I'm living in this time to so I can still experience the beauty.

3:30 That woman is immortal, I still see her to this day selling talismans and trinkets. XD

I wish I can travel back so I can experience this peaceful life without gadgets and some harmful technologies

Let us all pray that Isko Moreno is the hope we've been waiting for, and of course we must help him by being disciplined and law abiding citizens.

We were so beautiful and great back then :(. As part of this generation let's all work together to make the country something to be proud of for the future generations.

It’s both so beautiful and heartbreaking. Manila is SO BEAUTIFUL here. The women are modest and dressed beautifully. The men are handsome and well put together. The whole scene looks like something out of a love story. As an American despite the atrocities that went on between my country and the Philippines, I am happy that we both came together to build this beautiful city. It’s just one more thing that WW2 took from this world. If only walls could talks

Look how they dress before, it's so elegant. I wish I was born In that era huhu

I still pray Manila will regain her former glory and grandeur...

Thanks to uploader...its a Treasure of our country

1938: Oueen Of The Pacific 2021: Queen Of The Quarantine

just let it sink for a moment, almost everyone in this footage are dead

Filipinos back then dressed filipino..👍🏻👍🏻 good part of our culture that is long gone in history

Beautiful manila no coke no Pepsi no burgers, no plastic such a beautiful life, well dressed Filipinos what a beautiful era. I wish I can visit your beautiful country phillipines. Love from India. Thanking Michael for this treasure.

Quarantine got me here to get back history of my country phillipines

I can’t believed that this is manila back then! I thought this is from europe!

3:00 "colorful traffic" 2020: pAtHeTiC

Wow... Sana all... Mga naiinggit sa mga Lola at Lolo natin🙌 ⬇️

1938 is when my Grandpa entered the Earth, still fascinates me about all of his stories about the old times.

I cannot believe how glorious Manila was then.

When i started reading "I love you since 1892"(wattpad story, hi wattpaders!!) Thats when i started to appreciate the history of the Philippines. The Filipinos in past time praises God fully time. The men are gentlemen. There is no traffic also.

Back then even the poor can speak fluent english

I was so amazed of how time passes fastly and there are alot of things changed from what the city were today...

look at the people, they are all very physically fit. obesity was not a problem then.

now 'Manila Queen of Plastic' 2019

This makes me appreciate the simplicity of life back then. Maybe that is why old folks would say 'the good ol' days.'

Friendly reminder that these types of documentaries often display the most presentable parts of Manila so not everything was this beautiful

I feel sad seeing how beautiful and clean Manila was before the WW2. The Jones bridge was intricately and artistically designed. Those statues were nowhere to be seen presently. Such a shame!

Those buildings were beautiful, I'm so shocked.

I Am An American man whom Married a Beautiful Wife from the Philippines. I Love Filipina People and their History and respect the Philippine Life .

Dapat ganito yung ginagawan ng movie. Hindi yung mga about drugs, crime at broken relationship.

"Sayang na sayang talaga" - Aegis

I really love how they wear casual attires like everyday!

The time when most of the Chinese immigrant lived in a boat. Due to Filipino hospitality they become God among Filipinos today.

This country: i believe philipines still have huge potential to grow and shine🥺🥺 Love from India 💕

People from the past knows how to dress properly unlike today🥺🥺

We lost our sense of *UNITY* and *NATIONALISM* for our "Inang Bayan". That's why Philippines had to suffer.

Manila From queen of Pacific to 2nd most destroyed city in ww2 after warsaw.

Wow this is amazing, the good old days!!

Good thing films like this were saved and archived for us to see. Bad thing is, I can't help but realize that Manila's potentials as one of the premiere city in this part of the world, were not met, more than 80 years after the film was created.

Never too late to rebuild, redevelop and restore. We shouldn't blame World War II nor the Spaniards, Japanese or the Americans. If Warsaw was able to reconstruct, why not Manila? Nobody to blame but ourselves. Reparations (money/materials/manpower) poured into the Philippines right after the war with the Burnham Plan intact for us to follow but we Filipinos chose the selfish path. But never lose hope. I still think Manila will someday become "the Queen of the Pacific"...again :)

Wow..I felt 10 minutes time travel..😊 thank you!

Enjoying watching this on yr2020.

5:04 reminds me of new york city back in the day

The Philippines would be one of the most beautiful countries in Asia if were spared during WW2. Full of culture, heritage, fashion, and architecture. But sadly, we were carpet bombed, and no efforts on rebuilding old Manila. The city never really recovered in terms of the loss of her heritage.

Wow just wow look how descent manila on that era everything is beautiful and looks progressive but its not too late to bring back that pride to our country we still have time to make Philippines as one of the asian tiger again just keep on working hard and do our part as a responsible citizen of this country. Long live Philippines!!! The Pearl of the Orient

This video deserve millions of views

1938, the administration under President Manuel L. Quezon

6:11 everyone looks elegant and they're just in the marketplace.

Your country is still beautiful ❤️

What a lovely memory, I'm glad it's recorded so the other people like me who didn't saw Philippines this rich and beautiy❤️ Thank you

Great manila before. Mayor Isko, is trying hard to bring back manila clean again.

Sad to think that everyone in this film are dead

thank you featuring this, more please, appreciate it for young people , young generations to see such documentary

Beautiful dresses, Philippine people had style in these times, especially those for women.