Came across a couple of films that show pre-war Manila, when it was a beautiful city untouched by today's historically illerate barbarian administrators at City Hall. They give a good idea of what it was like as the Pearl of the Orient and one of the most advanced cities in SE Asia. A travelogue from the 1930s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA_Cfs0eMmE Manila and elsewhere http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tinii3Yk_60
I've seen that one before, but there is still a lot of that to be found in the old city amid the mess, no doubt one of the reasons General MacArthur was so much in love with the place back then. When you have a sustainable size of population it is amazing the difference it can make to a place.
I think I may have mentioned this before, but Freddie Clemo, who moved to Manila in 1950, remembered swimming in the Pasig. He also used to point out that the population at that time was fifteen million -"...and i only added three!" Photos and films of Intramuros before the Japanese destruction of the old city are always interesting, as is the "pre-Jeepney" traffic. There is a very quick few seconds in the Coca-Cola film of bancas under sail - rather an impressive sight.
Here's a nice US Army briefing for 1945 that's well worth a look. http://archive.org/details/ThisIsThePhilippines1945
