Beer in the Philippines as technical director. San Miguel's brew won its first major award at 1895's Philippines Regional Exposition. After six years of operation, the fledgling brewery was outselling imported brands five to one. At the outbreak of World War I, San Miguel was exporting its beer to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guam. The company was incorporated in 1913. When the Pacific War broke out in the 1940s, the Japanese military seized San Miguel Brewery and renamed it the Balintawak Beer Brewery where they used up their supply of raw materials before they had to resort to importing materials from Manchuria. After the
Germans in the Philippines Manila—leaving the Philippines ripe for German picking. Following the American victory in the war, the Philippines and the Far East were brought to the attention of the world and Germany recognized the great potentialities of the islands as a major commercial market. On 12 June, the day the Philippines declared its independence from Spain, Vice-Admiral Otto von Diederichs arrived in Manila Bay. The number of German war vessels in Philippine waters increased to three. Earlier, on 6 and 9 May, respectively, the German ships "Irene" and the "Cormoran" arrived in the bay with a separate instruction from the German government,