Santiago de Vera was a native of

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish city in the Community of Madrid. Straddling the Henares River, it is located to the northeast of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated municipality ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and the sixth Spanish governor of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, from May 16, 1584, until May 1590.

Governorship

Governor

Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa (died 10 March 1583), sometimes spelled as Gonçalo Ronquillo Peñaloza, was the fourth Spanish governor and captain-general of the Philippines from April 1580 until his death in 1583. He was succeeded by his nephe ...

and

Domingo de Salazar Domingo de Salazar (1512 – 4 December 1594) was a Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Manila (1579–94) ''(in Latin)''Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court ( fil, Kataas-taasang Hukuman; colloquially referred to as the ''Korte Suprema'' lso used in formal writing is the highest court in the Philippines. The Supreme Court was established by the Second Philippine Commission on J ...

then called the ''Audiencia'', to settle disputes between the Church and State. In 1584, three judges arrived from Mexico and started the justice court with De Vera serving as the chief justice. After the sudden death of Governor Peñalosa,

Diego Ronquillo Diego Ronquillo was the fifth Spanish governor of the Philippines, from March 10, 1583, until May 1584. He was the brother (or nephew) of his predecessor, Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa, and served as interim governor for little more than a yea ...

, his nephew became the governor ''ad interim'' but was later charged for defalcation in the trust of Peñalosa's estate and was sent back to Spain as a prisoner. As the chief justice of the court, Santiago de Vera succeeded as the governor of the islands on May 16, 1584.

First houses of stone

Following the great fire of Manila on March 19, 1583, which started during the wake of Governor

at the San Agustin Church, Santiago de Vera made an order that all construction in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

should be of stone. It was found that stone could be easily cut near the banks of the Pasig in Guadalupe (now Guadalupe Viejo in

Makati Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...

) and brought to Manila in boats.

Fort of Nuestra Señora de Guia

He also built the first stone fort of Manila called ''Nuestra Señora de Guia'' (Our Lady of Guidance) in 1587 located at the present location of San Diego Bastion ''(Baluarte de San Diego)'' at the southwestern corner of Intramuros with plans by a Jesuit named Sedeño. The artillery for this fort was cast by

Panday Pira Panday Pira ( Kapampángan: ''Pandeng Pira''; 1488–1576) was a Filipino Kapampángan Muslim blacksmith His name literally translates as "Blacksmith Pira", ''panday'' being the Tagalog word for "blacksmith". Panday Pira was a native of the south ...

. De Vera also began to dig the moat which surrounded the city. He also built a stone breastwork along the Pasig riverfront. The great wall was not begun till the rule of

Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas (1 January 1519 – 25 October 1593Some sources say October 19 or October 23) was a Spanish politician, diplomat, military officer and imperial official. He was the seventh governor-general of the Philippines from Ma ...

.Jernegan, Prescott F. (1905)
"A Short History of the Philippines for use in Philippine schools"
p.104. D. Appleton and Company, New York.

References

Captains General of the Philippines 16th-century Spanish people {{Philippines-politician-stub