longapo, saved from the plague and in search for their leader, one of the villagers came upon the Apo’s headimpaled on the tip of a bamboo pole. Appalled upon seeing the head, the natives ran crying around the village, “Ulo ng Apo! Ulo ng Apo!”.The contracted phrase stuck and the village was named, as it is today – OLONGAPO.

Juan de Salcedo, grandson of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi arrived in the country in 1572 to collect tributes for Spain‘s King, Philip II. This paved the way to the discovery of Subic Bay, for upon his return to Manila, Salcedo reported on Subic Bay‘s deep water, sheltered anchorages, and strategic location. A Spanish military expedition was sent to Subic Bay in 1868 to inves-tigate if the bay could be a possible location for a naval station because of the unhealthy living conditions in the main Spanish naval base in Cavite. The expedition team informed the naval command that Subic Bay was superior to Cavite and and ideal place for a new base. This resounding report, however, was not well received in Manila. The Spanish com-mand was reluctant to give up the aesthetic and conveniences in Manila and move to the provincial isolation of Subic Bay.