ABSTRACT
On 15 December 1587, Fr Alonso Sánchez, SJ, had arrived in Spain from the Philippines – a special envoy sent by the people of Manila to ask the king for help against the many difficulties they were facing there. His arrival and its aftermath were to take Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas and his son to the Philippines. 1 And the galleon that was to take him there from Acapulco was the Santiago. Santiago, St James the Apostle and the patron saint of Spain, figured throughout the life of Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas.
