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 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 April 1580 until his death in 1583. He was succeeded by his nephew, Diego Ronquillo. Before arriving in the Philippines he served as Royal Court Marshal in Mexico.

Governorship

His first official action was to order

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 ...

to become

's political and economic capital in 1582. That same year, he established the ''Palacio del Gobernador'' (Governor's Palace) in

Intramuros Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Present-day ...

, Manila to integrate all governmental activities in the Philippines. On 30 March 1582 he issued a decree stating that no person may leave the country without his permission. Ronquillo de Peñalosa, according to the content of his order, was informed that some

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

priests headed by Fray Pedro de Alfaro left the country in 1579 heading for mainland China. Around March 1582, as he continues, Franciscan Fray Pablo de Jesus and other missionaries re-entered China where they disseminate scandalous talks about the colony. In June 1582, the first bishop of Manila

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)''Jesuit missionaries successfully entered the Islands. Ronquillo de Peñalosa also reported that they successfully conquered and annexed the last of

Moluccan Islands The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...

—the

Tidore Tidore ( id, Kota Tidore Kepulauan, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island ...

. He also reported to the King that the other island,

Ternate Ternate is a city in the Indonesian province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands. It was the ''de facto'' provincial capital of North Maluku before Sofifi on the nearby coast of Halmahera became the capital in 2010. It is off the ...

was threatened by conquests and invasions from the British through

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ( ...

. In his dated letter of 16 June 1582, Ronquillo de Peñalosa suggested to the King of Spain of further fortifications of Spanish footholds in the country. He also said that the Spaniards must dominate the Portuguese in Moluccas, and planned for possible seizing of

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

from Portugal. In a reply letter from the King,

Philip II Philip II may refer to: * Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC) * Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor * Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374) * Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) * Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497) * Philip ...

instructed the governor on how to initiate the ''

repartimiento The ''Repartimiento'' () (Spanish, "distribution, partition, or division") was a colonial labor system imposed upon the indigenous population of Spanish America. In concept, it was similar to other tribute-labor systems, such as the ''mit'a'' of t ...

'' (forced labor) among

Indio Indio may refer to: Places * Indio, Bovey Tracey, an historic estate in Devon, England * Indio, California, a city in Riverside County, California, United States People with the name * Indio (musician), Canadian musician Gordon Peterson * Índio ...

s. In 1582, the Spaniards won and defended

Cagayan Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region, covering ...

from

Sino Sino as a prefix generally refers to: * China * Chinese people * Two Chinas * Culture of China * History of China Sino may also refer to: * Sino Group, a property company in Hong Kong * ''Sino'' (Café Tacuba album), the 7th studio album by M ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

pirates from possible terrorism and invasion.

Post-governorship and death

Former governor-general Francisco de Sande's chief enemy and Manila's attorney-general Captain Gabriel de Rivera filed a complaint against Ronquillo de Peñalosa for being the captain-general of the Philippines for life. In 1583, upon processing of Rivera's complaint, Ronquillo de Peñalosa died at his house in

. He was succeeded by his own nephew, Diego Ronquillo in office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ronquillo De Penaloza, Gonzalo Year of birth missing 1583 deaths Captains General of the Philippines