Loaisa Expedition

Shortly after the Victoria retuned to Spain, another expedition was prepared. It was
commanded by Fray Juan Garcia Jofre de Loaisa and consisted of seven ships and 450
men. In the crew were Sebastian del Cano and Andres de Urdaneta.
The expedition left Corua, Spain, on July 24, 1525. The fleet stopped at Gomera
Island, in the Canary Islands, and stayed there seven or eight days. After loading on
some provisions, the fleet left on August 14, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and sailed
along the coast of Brazil. The fleet lost two ships in doing so, and when it entered the
Strait of Magellan, a third ship deserted. Still another ship was forced to discontinue the
voyage for lack of supplies, shortly after entering the Pacific Ocean. On July 30, 1526,
Loaisa died in mid-ocean. Del Cano then took over the command, but he too died on
August 4 and succeeded by Toribio Alonzo de Salazar.
Continuing their voyage, the crew soon came upon an island, which they called San
Bartolome. Twelve days later, the crew reached the Marianas Islands and rested there.
In one of the islands, they found Gonzalo de Vigo, the lone survivor left there by the
Magellan expedition. On September 9, Alonzo de Salazar died and Martin Eiguez de
Zarquizano took over the command. The expedition reached Mindanao, and anchored
at a port called Bizaya on the eastern coast.
Sailing south, they reached the island of Talao and secured provisions there. Then they
sailed on and reached the Moluccas Islands. The Portuguese refused to let them enter
the port, saying that the Moluccas belonged to them by treaty. The Spaniards, however,
insisted that the Moluccas were on the Spanish side of the demarcation line set by the
Treaty of Tordesillas. Instead of leaving they anchored at the port of Tidore on New
Years Day in 1527. Here Zarquizano died and Hernando de la Torre succeeded him as
the last commander of the expedition. The expedition stayed there to await help from
Spain.
Sebastian Cabot
Failing to hear from the Loaisa Expedition, King Charles I sent another expedition. He
put Sebastian Cabot, another famed Italian navigator, in charge. The expedition
consisted of four ships and 250 men. The expedition left Seville, Spain, on April 3, 1526.
During the trip to South America, Cabot quarreled with his captains. The men had been
discontented because of the poor food. They mutinied when the expedition reached
Brazil. But Cabot succeeded in suppressing the mutiny and the expedition continued its
voyage. Cabot explored the Rio de la Plata (River of Silver) in Argentina and stayed in
that region for three years. Cabot thought there was a passage to the Pacific Ocean.

The crew was attacked by the hostile Indians, and Cabot eventually lost his flagship.
Half of his men perished from famine and disease.
Discouraged by his failure to find the way to the Pacific, Cabot returned to Spain in
August 1530. His expedition had been a dismal failure.
Alvaro de Saavedra
The next expedition to the Far East was fitted to the East was lifted out in Mexico by
Hernando Cortes on orders from the Spanish colonizer, King Charles I. Cortes, famous
as the conqueror of the Aztec Empire in Mexico, was the viceroy of that Spanish colony.
He appointed a cousin of his, Alvaro de Saavedra, to command the expedition, the first
to the Far East to be lifted out on Mexican soil: it consisted of three ships-the Florida,
the Santiago, and the Espiritu Santo-and it had 120 men.
The Saavedra expedition had four goals: (1) to see what might have happened to the
survivors of the Magellan expedition; (2) to look for Trinidad which had not been heard
from; (3) to inquire about what became of the Cabot expedition; and (4) to see what
happened to the Loaisa Expedition.
The expedition left port of Zihuatanejo, Mexico on November 1, 1527. Saavedra carried
a letter from Cortes addressed to the King of Cebu. In his letter, Cortes solicited the
friendship of the Cebuanos, asked to be allowed to trade with them, and offered pay a
ransom for any Spaniard who might be a prisoner in Cebu.
A violent storm in mid-pacific sank two of the ships. With only one ship remaining, the
expedition reached Guam on December 29 and took possession of Yap Island in the
name of the King of Spain. Early in 1528, the ship reached Mindanao, where the men
rescued two survivors of the Magellan expedition. Saavedra ransomed them $70 in
Mexican gold.
From Mindanao, Saavedra steered his ship to Cebu, but unfavorable winds drove it to
Tidore, in present day Indonesia, where they found the Survivors of the Loisa
expedition.
Twice Saavedra tried to return to Mexico but failed. He died at sea on October 9, 1529.
Before his death, he instructed his men to return to Tidore in case the weather did not
permit them to sail for Mexico. The survivors of his expedition, together with Loaisas
men, landed at Tidore but were captured there by the Portuguese. A few escaped and
the others returned to Europe on board Portuguese ships.
Villalobos Expedition

For thirteen years the Treaty of Zaragoza was signed, Spain respected the provision of
this treaty and set no expedition to Asia. But from 1538 to 1541, King Charles I Of Spain
entered into an agreement with Pedro de Alvarado, his viceroy in Mexico, regarding the
fitting out of colonial expeditions to the Far East. An expedition was fitted out in Mexico
upon orders of the king. It consisted of six ships and 200 men. Appointed its
commander was Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, brother-in-law of the Mexican viceroy.
Sailing from the port of Natividad, Mexico, on November 1, 1542, Villalobos had a
pleasant voyage across the Pacific and reached Mindanao without incident on February
2, 1543. The Spaniards, however, found the natives of the locality hostile, refusing to
barter with them. Faced with starvation, Villalobos ordered his men to plant corn. But
their crop failed and Villalobos was forced to send one of this captains, Fernando de la
Torre who reached Tandaya (now called Samar) and met the chieftain there,
Makandala, who was kind enough to give him provisions. In his happiness, Villalobos
named both Samar and Leyte Felipinas, in honor of Prince Felipe II of Asturias, the son
of King Charles I who was later to become King Philip II of Spain.
Failing to colonize the islands, Villalobos ordered his men to sail on the Moluccas.
When they reached Gilolo Island, they were captured by the Portuguese. Set free,
Villalobos then tried to return to Mexico, but a heavy storm drove his fleet to Amboina
where, tired, sick, and hungry, he died on Good Friday, April 4, 1546. Except for giving
the name Felipinas to the Philippines, the Villalobos expedition was a failure.
Spanish Expeditions to the Philippines

The Magellan Expedition

Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of the Spanish crown, was looking for
a westward route to the to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. On March 16, 1521,
Magellan's expedition landed on Homonhon island in the Philippines. He was the first
European to reach the islands. Rajah Humabon of Cebu was friendly with Magellan and
embraced Christianity, but their enemy, Lapu-Lapu was not. Humabon wanted Magellan
to kill Lapu-Lapu while Magellan wanted to convert Lapu-Lapu into Christianity. On April
17, 1521, Magellan sailed to Mactan and ensuing battle killed Magellan by the natives
lead by Lapu-Lapu. Out of the five ships and more than 300 men who left on the
Magellan expedition in 1519, only one ship (the Victoria) and 18 men returned to
Seville, Spain on September 6, 1522. Nevertheless, the said expedition was considered
historic because it marked the first circumnavigation of the globe and proved that the
world was round.

Juan Sebastian de Elcano, the master of ship "Concepcion"

took over the command of the expedition after the death of
Magellan and captained the ship "Victoria" back to Spain. He
and his men earned the distinction of being the first to
circumnavigate the world in one full journey. After Magellan's
death in Cebu, it took 16 more months for Elcano to return to
Spain. The Magellan expedition started off through the
westward route and returning to Spain by going east; Magellan
and Elcano's entire voyage took almost three years to
complete.
Spain sends other expedition
After the Spain had celebrated Elcanos return, King Charles I decided that Spain
should conquer the Philippines. Five subsequent expeditions were then sent to the
Islands. These were led by Garcia Jofre Loaisa (1525), Sebastian Cabot (1526), Alvaro
de Saavedra (1527), Rudy Lopez de Villalobos (1542) and Miguel Lopez de Legazpi
(1564). Only the last two actually reached the Philippines; and only Legazpi succeeded
in colonizing the Islands.
The Villalobos Expedition
Ruy Lopez de Villalobos set sail for the Philippines from Navidad, Mexico on November
1, 1542. He followed the route taken by Magellan and reached Mindanao on February
2, 1543. He established a colony in Sarangani but could not stay long because of
insufficient food supply. His fleet left the island and landed on Tidore in the Moluccas,
where they were captured by the Portuguese.
Villalobos is remembered for naming our country Islas Filipinas, in honor of King
Charles son, Prince Philip, who later became king of Spain.
The Legazpi Expedition
Since none of the expedition after Magellan from Loaisa to
Villalobos had succeeded in taking over the Philippines, King
Charles I stopped sending colonizers to the Islands. However,
when Philip II succeeded his father to the throne in 1556, he
instructed Luis de Velasco, the viceroy of Mexico, to prepare a
new expedition to be headed by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi,
who would be accompanied by Andres de Urdaneta, a priest who had survived the
Loaisa mission.

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.
Legaspi was able to obtain spices and gold in Bohol due to his friendship with Sikatuna.
On April 27, 1565, Legaspi returned to Cebu; destroyed the town of Raja Tupas and
establish a settlement. 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.
Hearing of the riches of Manila, an expedition of 300 men headed by Martin de Goiti left
Cebu for Manila. They found the islands of Panay and Mindoro. 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 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. 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. 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 Espaa" (Distinguished and ever
loyal city of Spain) by King Philip II of Spain.
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. Continue to Spain as Colonial
Masters.