Santiago de Vera was a native of

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and the sixth Spanish governor of the

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, from May 16, 1584, until May 1590.

Governorship

Governor Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa and

Domingo de Salazar Domingo de Salazar (1512 – December 4, 1594) was a Catholic Dominican prelate who served as the first Bishop of Manila (1579–1594), ''(in Latin)''Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court (; colloquially referred to as the ' (also used in formal writing), is the highest court in the Philippines. It was established by the Taft Commission on June 11, 1901, through the enactment of Act No. 136, which abolished th ...

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

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

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 (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...

) 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. 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 tenure of Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas.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