| Born in Zumarraga, Guipuzcoa,
Spain around 500 years ago, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi went to Mexico in 1545
where he became clerk of the Cabildo or municipal government. He was appointed
in 1561 to lead an expedition to discover the islands of the West called
Is/as Poniente. He formally colonized the Marianas and the Philippines
in 1565 and established a settlement in Cebu, which was first named as
the Villa del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus.
He founded the city of Manila
in 1571. Upon arriving in the Philippines, Legazpi initiated pacts of friendship
between native chiefs, the most famous of which was the blood compact with
Sikatuna in March 1565. The treaties assured peaceful relationships between
the Spaniards and the natives which greatly facilitated Spanish settlement
in the Philippines. During the same year, Legazpi dispatched the first
vessel which sailed across the Pacific back to Mexico. The vessel, the
San Pedro, blazed the route of the Manila galleons which carried trade
between Spain and Asia for the next 250 years. The first Spanish Governor
General of the Philippines, Legazpi died in Manila on August 20, 1572.
His mortal remains lie inside the San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila. |
