Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines - La Cámara

the spanish chamber of commerce in the philippines was established on july 16, 1899, shortly after the american occupation of manila. at that time, there was a substantial spanish community in the country, which actively participated in industry, trade and commerce. world war ii dealt a very hard blow to the spanish community in the philippines. many spaniards were killed during the war, particularly during the liberation of manila and most of their business establishments and personal properties were destroyed. as there were no damage claims paid to spanish citizens (although japan eventually agreed to pay some compensation to spaniards killed during the war), spanish businessmen, particularly the smallest ones, found it difficult to rebuild after the war. in 1946, the spanish government offered to repatriate all spanish citizens wishing to return to spain, many took advantage of this offer, thus reducing the spanish community to a fraction of what it had been before the war.