Historian says Colon Street is not the oldest in PH

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

CEBU CITY — For more than a century, Colon Street in this city has been considered as the oldest street in the Philippines, a claim reinforced by official markers and written in school textbooks and postcards.

However, Cebu-based historian Jobers Reyes Bersales said this widely accepted narrative is incorrect.

He calls the belief "probably by far the oldest fake news in the country today," asserting that Magallanes Street, not Colon, holds the true distinction of being the oldest street in the country.

This is what Colon Street looks like in Cebu City today. PHOTO BY KAISER JAN FUENTES

Bersales argues that no Spanish-era document or map, published or unpublished, has ever identified Colon street as the first trail, road, or street established by the Spanish in the Philippines.

Despite this, the claim took hold in the early 20th century.

The myth's origins can be traced back to 1910 when a shop called American Bazar in Cebu sold postcards labeled "Oldest Street in Cebu," featuring an image of Colon's Parian section.

This was followed by American soldier Dean Curran Tatom, who had returned to Cebu and revived a photo studio he had established in 1901.

His photos of Colon further spread the claim and by 1933, the American Express Company included it in its first-ever guidebook of the Philippines.

Bersales notes that international travel agencies, along with local businesses, helped solidify the myth.

Over time, even the National Historical Institute (now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines) placed official markers on Colon in 1961 and again in 1999, giving the claim an air of legitimacy despite the lack of historical evidence, Bersales said.

Bersales questions why historians never challenged the idea that the country's oldest street could be located a kilometer inland, far from Cebu's original trading center.

Cebu was a well-known port city in Rajah Humabon's time, and Spanish settlements followed a clear pattern based on the Laws of the Indies.

These laws required cities to be built around a central plaza (plaza mayor), with streets radiating outward in a grid pattern.

"If there is a veritable candidate as the oldest street in the Philippines, therefore, it is without doubt Calle Magallanes," Bersales wrote.

He explains that this street was part of the original Spanish layout in Cebu, connecting the central plaza, now known as Plaza Sugbu, with key structures such as the Casa Tribunal (seat of civilian authority).

This area was also the site where Rajah Humabon offered to hold the first Catholic baptism in 1521, making it a significant historical location.

Bersales points out that when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived in Cebu in 1565, he established a fort near the waterfront, marking the beginnings of a Spanish ciudad.

The earliest known map of Cebu, dated 1699, places the Spanish settlement near the Estero de Parian, between what is now Manalili and Colon Streets.

However, Colon itself was clearly outside the original city center.

Following Spanish city-planning traditions, Legazpi and his successors constructed streets in a grid pattern surrounding a public square or plaza, which does not fit Colon's layout.

Magallanes street, on the other hand, aligned with this standard and was directly linked to the Spanish fort and the Catholic mission, making it the more historically probable choice as the country's oldest street.

Bersales also highlights another inconsistency in Colon's claim to be the country's oldest street.

Its name itself.

Colon street was named after Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón in Spanish), the Italian explorer who never set foot in the Philippines.

In contrast, Magallanes street was named after Ferdinand Magellan (Fernando de Magallanes), the Portuguese navigator who led the first European expedition that reached the islands in 1521.

Bersales finds it ironic that the supposed oldest street in the Philippines honors an explorer with no connection to the country, while Magallanes Street, which played a direct role in Cebu's early history, has been overlooked.

While debunking Colon's status as the oldest street, Bersales acknowledges its historical significance.

During the Spanish era, it became an important commercial hub, lined with balay nga tisa (stone houses with tile roofs) and tapangko (wooden canopies that extended over sidewalks).

However, much of Cebu's original cityscape, including its streets and buildings, was destroyed in the aftermath of the 1898 Tres de Abril Revolt.

Spanish gunboats bombarded Cebu's waterfront and business district, leaving the city in ruins.

By the early 20th century, as Cebu rebuilt, commercial activity centered around Magallanes Street and its intersections.

However, as new businesses flourished along Colon, the false narrative that it was the country's oldest street gained traction.

Bersales sees the long-standing belief in Colon's status as an example of how misinformation, when repeated enough times, can become accepted as fact.

He stresses that myths like this highlight the importance of historical scrutiny.

"But, like most fake news, this one had a very simple but ingenious beginning," he noted.

Despite the deep-rooted belief that Colon is the country's oldest street, Bersales asserts that historical records tell a different story.

By presenting evidence, he hopes to correct this misconception and give Magallanes street the recognition it deserves as the true oldest street in the Philippines.