El Polvorin

Flanked by an elementary school and a local shopping mall on the other side of the road, this looks like an ordinary site except for a prominent watchtower that seems to belong to another era. Indeed this tower, more than a century old, served as the entry point to the gunpowder depot that once held power over a nation that ached for freedom and liberty after three centuries of colonial rule.

When the Katipunan (officially the Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan and abbreviated as the KKK) decided to rise against the colonial Spanish government, they targeted to strike the El Polvorin first because it would cut off one of the most important military depots—and provide them with supplies of their own. On August 29, 1896, the Katipuneros led by Andres Bonifacio attacked El Polvorin.

The battle is considered the first major battle of the Philippine Revolution, which led to Philippine independence from Spain in 1898.