Born in Zumarraga, Guipuzcoa, Spain around 500 years ago, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi went to Mexico in 1545 where he became clerk of the Cabildo or municipal government. He was appointed in 1561 to lead an expedition to discover the islands of the West called Islas Poniente. He formally colonized the Marianas and the Philippines in 1565 and established a settlement in Cebu, which was first name as the Villa del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus. He founded the city of Manila in 1571.

The turn of the twentieth century brought about dramatic changes in the life of the Philippines. In I898, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States. Then in 1902 the Philippine Education Act established the system of public schools, and no religious instruction was allowed in those schools. There was a great need for English-speaking teachers, new Catholic schools and missionaries as most of the Spanish missionaries and clergy had left the country.