Legazpi begins Spanish colonization of the Philippines

In 1565 a Spanish fleet commanded by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi reached Cebu and established the first lasting Spanish settlement in the Philippines. The expedition had sailed from Mexico, then called New Spain, with five vessels and several hundred men. Legazpi became the first governor of the islands, and he was joined by the Augustinian friar and navigator Andres de Urdaneta.¹²

Spain had tried before. Magellan's 1521 visit ended in his death, and later voyages from Mexico failed to settle. The king, Philip II, wanted a base near the Spice Islands and in reach of Chinese trade, and ordered a new attempt. Legazpi founded his post on Cebu, used force and alliances with local rulers, and then moved to Panay in 1569 and to Luzon in 1571, where he took the Muslim ruled port of Maynila and founded Manila as the capital. Urdaneta did what no one had done before: he sailed north from the Philippines to catch the westerlies and returned across the Pacific to Acapulco in 1565, finding the route that would carry Spanish ships for centuries.¹²

That route made the Manila galleon trade possible, linking Asia, Mexico and Spain, and it moved silver from the Americas to China. The Spanish ruled the islands until 1898, about three hundred thirty years, mostly through the Catholic church and a system of local officials. Spanish rule created a Christian majority in the Philippines, which among Southeast Asian countries it shares only with East Timor, and left deep marks on language, land and law.¹