The Fourth Centennial of the Christianization of the Philippines
It was on April 28, 1965 that the Philippines held the glorious commemoration of the Fourth Centennial Anniversary of the farreaching Christianization of the Philippines.
The commemoration was held in Cebu, actively organized and participated by the Roman Catholic Church and the Government of the Province of Cebu and Cebu City.
The commemoration inspired lawyer, journalist, and historian Gervacio Lira Lavilles, The Brains of the Cebu City Charter to write a book released that same year entitled "CEBU: History of its Four Cities & Forty-Nine Municipalities" it had the sub-title: With a Trimmed Tableau: Christianization of the Philippines.
The book of Lavilles narrated what happened to the men of Magellan after he was killed in Mactan: "Immediately after Magellan's death, the remnants of his expedition selected Duarte Barbosa, his brother-in-law, and Captain Juan Serrano as joint commanders, and prepared to sail away, but Humabon requested that they first attend a banquet which he was tendering as a gesture of friendship, Serrano suspected treachery, but Barbosa urged that they accept the invitation, otherwise they might be accused of cowardice. In the banquet held on May 1 (1521), four days after the debacle on the beach of Mactan, 27 Spaniards, including their two commanders, were massacred."
Lavilles continues with his narration: "Seeing what happened on shore, the Spaniards on the ships hastily selected Sebastian del Cano as commander and raised sail homeward bound. The return journey, made on the ship Victoria, sailed via the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope and reached Spain on September 6, 1522. It was the first circumnavigation of the world made by continually sailing westward. And it also proved, for the first time, the roundness of the earth."
Then it continues with the next expedition: "It was not nearly 40 years later that another Spanish expedition under Legaspi and Urdaneta was sent to take possession of the Islands, The expedition sailed from Mexico on November 21, 1564, and reached the port of Cebu on April 27, 1565."
It was Legaspi who established the first Spanish settlement, San Miguel, later renamed the City of the Most Holy Name of Jesus after the discovery of the image of the Holy Child of Jesus in an unburned house.