Q 01/05

Which explorer's expedition made the first documented European arrival, sighting Samar in March 1521?

A) Ferdinand Magellan

B) Vasco da Gama

C) Francis Drake

D) Juan Sebastián Elcano

Answer · why

A) Ferdinand Magellan

His fleet anchored at Homonhon Island the next day; Elcano would finish the circumnavigation after the commander's death.

Q 02/05

Which datu of Mactan defeated the Spanish expedition on the beach in April 1521?

A) Rajah Humabon

B) Lapulapu

C) Rajah Sulayman

D) Datu Zula

Answer · why

B) Lapulapu

He refused to pay tribute while his rival Zula did; the only primary source that names him is Antonio Pigafetta's account.

Q 03/05

Who led the 1565 expedition that founded the first permanent Spanish settlement, in Cebu?

A) Ruy López de Villalobos

B) Juan de Salcedo

C) Miguel López de Legazpi

D) Martín de Goiti

Answer · why

C) Miguel López de Legazpi

He became the first governor-general of the Spanish East Indies and moved the capital to Manila in 1571; Albay's capital bears his name.

Q 04/05

Who named Leyte and Samar 'Las Islas Filipinas' in 1543, honoring a Spanish prince?

A) Andrés de Urdaneta

B) Hernán Cortés

C) García Jofre de Loaísa

D) Ruy López de Villalobos

Answer · why

D) Ruy López de Villalobos

The prince was Philip of Asturias, the future Philip II; the name later spread to the whole archipelago.

Q 05/05

In what year did Spanish forces take Maynila and make Manila the capital of the Spanish East Indies?

A) 1571

B) 1540

C) 1521

D) 1565

Answer · why

A) 1571

Mexico-born Juan de Salcedo helped lead the attack; Maynila had been a vassal of the Brunei Sultanate.