Villalobos Expedition

villalobos expedition


In spite of this treaty, however, Charles I made one more effort to obtain a foothold in the East. Heartened by the return of the survivors of the Loaysa Expedition in 1536 and the glowing report of Andres de Urdaneta, the chronicler of the expedition, he dispatched an expedition headed by Ruy de Villalobos, which sailed in 1542 from Navidad, Mexico. The expedition was instructed to establish permanent settlements in the Islas de Poniente (the western islands) or the Philippines. In 1543, Villalobos reached the island of Sarangani, South of Mindanao, where he attempted to establish a settlement. The hostility of the natives in the region, the scarcity of provisions and the mutinous threats of his men who had not expected to lead an agricultural life in coming to the East, forced Villalobos to withdraw and sail southward tot he Moluccas where he was forced to surrender to the Portuguese.

Villalobos also touched at the island of Leyte and Bernardo de la Torre, a member of the expedition, gave to the Samar-Leyte region the name Felipinas, in honor of Philip, the Spanish Crown prince and later, Philip II, successor to Charles I. Later on, the name was applied to the entire archipelago. 

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