Miguel Lopez de Legazpi's Voyage to the Philippines

1. THE
EUROPEAN
EXPEDITIONS

2. The Magellan Expedition
The Jofre de Loaisa Expedition
The Alvaro de Saavedra Expedition
The Ruy Lopez de Villalobos Expedition
The Miguel Lopez de Legazpi Expedition – The only
expedition that was successful in colonizing the Philippines.
After the unsuccessful expedition of Villalobos, King Charles
I decided to stop sending colonizers to the Philippines.
When his son, King Philip II took over, he continued the
expeditions.
Philip sent Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Fray Andres de
Urdaneta. Urdaneta survived the de Loaisa expedition.

3. On February 13, 1565, Legaspi's expedition landed in Cebu
island.
After a short struggle with the natives, he proceeded to
Leyte, then to Camiguin and to Bohol. There Legaspi made
a blood compact with the chieftain, Datu Sikatuna as a sign
of friendship.

4. Legaspi was able to obtain spices and gold in Bohol
due to his friendship with Sikatuna.

5. On April 27, 1565, Legaspi returned to Cebu.
He destroyed the town of Raja Tupas and
established a settlement.

6. On orders of the King Philip II, 2,100 men arrived from
Mexico.
They built the the port of Fuerza de San Pedro which
became the Spanish trading outpost and stronghold for the
region.

7. Hearing of the riches of Manila, an expedition of
300 men headed by Martin de Goiti left Cebu for
Manila.

8. Goiti arrived in Manila on May
8, 1570.
At first they were welcomed by
the natives and formed an
alliance with Rajah
Suliman, their Muslim king.

9. But as the locals sensed the true objectives of the
Spaniards, a battle between the troops of Suliman
and the Spaniards erupted.
Because the Spaniards are more heavily
armed, the Spaniards were able to conquer Manila.
Soon after Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived to join
Goiti in Manila.
Legaspi built alliances and made peace with Rajahs
Suliman, Lakandula and Matanda.

10. In 1571, Legaspi ordered the construction of the walled city
of Intramuros and proclaimed it as the seat of
government of the colony and the capital of the islands.

11. In 1572, Legaspi died and was buried at the San Agustin
Church in Intramuros.
In 1574, Manila was bestowed the title:
"Insigne y Siempre Leal Ciudad de España"
or DISTINGUISHED AND EVER LOYAL CITY OF SPAIN
by King Philip II of Spain.

12. Why the Philippines was easily conquered
Through largely outnumbered, the Spaniards who came to
colonize the Philippines easily took control of our country.
How did this happen?
The best possible explanation is that the natives lacked unity
and a centralized form of government. Although the
barangays already functioned as units of governance, each
one existed independently of the other, and the powers that
each Datu enjoyed were confined only to his own barangay.
No higher institution united the barangays, and the
Spaniards took advantage of this situation. They used the
barangays that were friendly to them in order to subdue the
barangays that were not.