Our history book is based on the mistaken assumption that 1521 is the year when Spanish colonization of the Philippines began.
While Magellan and his crew came upon the islands, which Magellan initially called the Isles of San Lazaro (it was the saint’s feast day when they first sighted the islands), his attempts to assert Spanish sovereignty failed when he was killed in a battle against Lapu Lapu and his men.
Three more failed voyages were undertaken before Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, departing from Mexico, arrived in Cebu in 1565. He and his men based themselves there, before heading north to Manila (or Maynilad) and founding in 1572 the Hispanicized walled city of Intramuros on the ruins of the settlement commanded by Rajah Sulaiman. It is from 1565 then that Spanish colonization began, and it ended in 1898, a period of 333 years.
The archipelago was named in honor of Prince Felipe by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, head of the third failed expedition. In 1543 Felipe was still the crown prince at the time, son and heir to Carlos Primero. He was king by the time of the Legazpi expedition.
(Mr. Luis H. Francia is an alumnus of Ateneo de Manila University and is a regular columnist of Philippine Daily Inquirer. He is the author of “A History of the Philippines” and “Eye of the Fish.” He is based in New York and teaches at the New York University.)