Diego de Salcedo, a Spanish army officer during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

, was the

Governor-General of the Philippines The Governor-General of the Philippines (Spanish: ''Gobernador y Capitán General de Filipinas''; Filipino: ''Gobernador-Heneral ng Pilipinas/Kapitan Heneral ng Pilipinas''; Japanese: ) was the title of the government executive during the colon ...

from 1663 to 1668. He reinforced the army of the archipelago and promoted trade with America. In his participation during the

, he was made Governor of Jülich after the Spanish victory at the Siege of Jülich in August 1621.

Sail to the Philippines

On December 2, 1661, King Philip IV appointed him as the new

. He sailed to

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

before sailing for 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 ...

. The galleon ''San José'', however, was delayed in its voyage from

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 populate ...

until 1662, and docked in

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

in 1663. Salcedo was forced to sail on March 25, 1663. Aboard the ship with Salcedo were 11

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

friars bound for the

. One of them was José de Paternina Samaniego, appointed commissioner of the

Holy Office of the Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

Governor-General of the Philippines

Due to the rainy season, Salcedo did not land in

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

, which was the usual landing place. Instead, he was brought up North, to Cape Engaño. He reached

in September 1663. In a letter written by Salcedo to his friend Francisco Yzquierdo in 1664, Salcedo mentioned the situation of the

. In the letter, Salcedo stated that the treasury only had 35,000 pesos. The Spanish in the archipelago were tired of the many rebellions in North

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, and the soldiers have not received any pay. Trade in the

was dull so Salcedo tried reviving Philippine trade by sending envoys to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

for negotiations on trade status. In 1665, Salcedo heard of the existence of gold mines in the Cordilleras, an area dominated by people called . So, Salcedo formed an expedition of around 100 men led by Admiral Pedro Duran de Monforte to go Christianize the people in the area and excavate the gold at the same time. The mission, however, failed due to difficult terrain met by the expedition. In order to contain the serious Zambal uprisings, Salcedo ordered a fort be built in Paynauen. Fort Paynauen was once the most formidable Spanish garrison in Central Luzon during the first century of the Spanish regime in the Philippines. Also known as Playa Honda, the fort was constructed on the advice of Admiral de Monforte. Mexican convicts were usually shipped to the

to serve involuntary military service for the Spanish army in the archipelago. Salcedo raised 100,000 pesos in order to acquire real soldiers for the Spanish in the

. Salcedo also obtained 120,000 pesos, which is the subsidy of

for the

. Officials got 30,000 pesos from the subsidy upon consent of Salcedo.

Last years

In Salcedo's last year as

(1668), a coup was organized by Paternina to topple Salcedo from power. The ''master of arms'' of Intramuros, Agustin de Zepeda, was allied with Paternina, as well as General Sebastian Rayo, Nicolas de Pamplona (one of the ''alcalde ordinarios'' of

), and other men. Salcedo was caught immediately and

Juan Manuel de la Peña Bonifaz Juan Manuel de la Peña Bonifaz (died 1669) was a Spanish politician who served as the ad interim 26th governor and captain-general of the Philippines from September 28, 1668 to September 24, 1669. Prior to his term being the governor-general, h ...

succeeded him. Peña went on giving all the wealth acquired by Salcedo to Paternina and his allies, including 10,000 pesos for himself. Salcedo was imprisoned for a year before being shipped to

to face the

. He died during the voyage due to his failing health.

Legacy

Salcedo, a 4th class municipality in the province of

Ilocos Sur Ilocos Sur, officially the Province of Ilocos Sur ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Sur; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Sur), is a province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in Luzon. Located on the mouth of the Mestizo River is the capital o ...

, was named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salcedo, Diego De Spanish generals 17th-century Spanish people