It is Ferdinand Magellan who arrived in the Philippines to head a Spanish expedition searching for the Spice Islands in 1521. Magellan never completed the journey by himself; he was then killed in an encounter with natives in the Philippines after having claimed the Philippines is for Spain.

Gift of Magellan to Queen JuanaBaptism of King Humabon

However, Magellan’s plans to claim the whole of the Philippines Islands for Spain encountered stiff resistance from other natives, particularly from Lapu-Lapu, the chieftain of neighboring Mactan Island. In what is known as the Battle of Mactan that was fought on April 27, 1521, Magellan and his 100 soldiers fought Lapu-Lapu and his 1,000 warriors. Clearly outnumbered, Magellan and most of his soldiers were killed.

In 1565, when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi concluded treaties of friendship with the native chiefs or what we called the datus. Spain’s primary aim and intention in the Philippines was to spread their religion the Roman

Catholicism.

Many missionary works in the Philippines were pushed by the Spaniards, for them to help the natives toward the advancement of education, culture, and architecture. It was also at this point when the Spanish missionaries tried to

eliminate the ancient written literature of the Filipinos. Because of the destruction of ancient writings, in their eagerness to erase the previous cultural

records of the Philippines, only the orally transmitted literature has survived.

Laguna Copperplate

During the colonization of the Spaniards in the Philippines they Centralized and form a government and Divided into

two units; The Central government in which the King entrusted the colony to the governor-general, who had the highest position in the government. The Royal Audiencia

was the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

The Philippines were named after King Philip II of Spain.

Royal Audiencia

The Residencia and the Visitador were the special courts that investigated on the conduct of the governor-general and other high-ranking Spanish officials. Local Government (provinces, cities, towns and barrios) The provinces were divided into two; Alcaldia which recognized Spain's possession over the land. Corregimiento where the people had not succumbed to its ruling power. Ayuntamiento or the city government was the center of the society, religion, culture and business. The pueblo was governed by the gobernadorcillo, the highest position for Filipino politicians and the Cabeza de Barangay governed the barrios. During the Spanish regime, there was union of church and state; The governor-general had power over the church. The friars, on the other hand, played a very important role in the government. The Archbishop was only the most powerful in the church. However, it seemed that the church exercised more power than the government and because of this; the government in the Philippines was called "Frailocracia," a government controlled by the friars.

References;

Teodoro A. Agoncillo, (1990). History of the Filipino People. (8th Edition) Quezon City: Garotech Publishing Company.Michael R. Irwin, Philippine History http://www.livecebu.com/philhistory.htmPhilippine History (2012), http://www.philippine-history.org/The Spanish Era in the Philippines (2010), http://history.factoidz.com/the-spanish-era-in-the-philippines/http://www.philippinecountry.com/philippine_history/spanish_colonization.htmlPhilippines History (2008), http://kwentongpinas.wordpress.com/tag/spanish-period-in-the-philippines/Paul Morrow (2002), Baybayin The Ancient Script of the Philippines http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/bayeng1.htm

Final History 1 Project by

John Edward Kenneth M. Ragaza2011-82209