After arriving to Samar on March 16, 1521, Magellan decided to explore more of the islands that will later become the Philippines. On April 7, 1521 Magellan reached Cebu and meet with Rajah Humabon. The two performed a sacred tradition of the native people called the blood compact as part of the tribal tradition to seal their friendship and treaty.
Seven days later,Rajah Jumabon and 500 of his men were baptized as the first Christians (Catholics) in the Philippines. Humabon was named Carlos in honour of king Charles I of Spain, while his principal wife Hara Amihan was named Juana, after king Charles' mother, Johanna.
According to Antonio Pigafetta, a Venetian scholar born in Vicenza who was traveling with Magellan, it was Humabon who had requested Magellan to kill his rival Datu Lapu Lapu, the Datu (chieftain) of nearby Mactan island. Humabon's conversion to Christianity however, had an adverse affect of allowing the Spaniards to control Humabon and his people. After quarrel and mis-understanding erupted between the Spaniards and the Cebuanos, Rajah Humabon and his warriors plotted to poison the remaining Spanish soldiers in Cebu after the death of Magellan at the Battle of Mactan.
On April 7, 1976, the Philippines Arts Center was inaugurated in Mt. Makiling, Laguna by First Lady Imelda Marcos as a haven for young and aspiring artists. Its various buildings and facilities are scattered over 13.5 hectares of the Makiling Forest Reservation and also houses the Philippine High School for the Arts, a government-run secondary educational institution for gifted young artists.
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