Corregidor is a Spanish term which means corregir — “to correct”. The Spanish lighthouse and the marker nearby, as well as the flagpole at Topside taken from a Spanish warship, are witnesses to the fact that before Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States in 1898, after the Spanish-American War, Corregidor Island used to be a checkpoint for vessels entering Manila Bay.

The marker reads in part: “Corregidor Island became a part of the Spanish Crown on May the 19th 1571 after its occupation by the dauntless Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, who found the City of Manila. Due to its strategic position, Corregidor, which was a Spanish island for 327 years until May 2, 1898, served as a fortress, guarding Manila Bay. And, as such, it witnessed a great deal of heroism to which the history of the Philippines and that of Spain were gloriously merged.”