Governor-General of the Philippines

Governor-General of the Philippines
Former political post
Miguel López de Legazpi First Governor-General of the Philippines
Predecessor	Barangay
Successor	President of the Philippines
First officeholder	Miguel López de Legazpi
Last officeholder	Tomoyuki Yamashita
Office began	27 April 1565
Office ended	6 October 1945
Current pretender	Position abolished

The Governor-General of the Philippines (Tagalog: Gobernador-Heneral ng Pilipinas) was the title of the government executive during the colonial period of the Philippines, governed mainly by Spain (1565–1898) and the United States (1898–1946), and briefly by Great Britain (1762–1764) and Japan (1942–1945).

Spanish Colonial Government (1565–1761)

From 1565 to 1898, Spain governed the Philippines. The governor was appointed by the Viceroyalty of New Spain (until Mexico separated from Spain in 1821) upon recommendation of the Spanish Cortes, governed in behalf of the King of Spain. In case of vacancy (i.e. sudden death of the governor-general, or transitional period between the previous and upcoming governor from other parts of the Spanish Empire), the Royal Audiencia in Manila appoints the temporary governor among its members until the next governor serve in full capacity.

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Monarch
1		Miguel López de Legazpi	April 27, 1565	August 20, 1572	Philip II 25 July 1554 – 13 September 1598
2		Guido de Lavezaris	August 20, 1572	August 25, 1575
3		Francisco de Sande	August 25, 1575	April 1580
4		Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñaloza	April 1580	March 10, 1583
5		Diego Ronquillo	March 10, 1583	May 16, 1584
6		Santiago de Vera	May 16, 1584	May 1590
7		Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas	June 1, 1590	October 25, 1593
8		Pedro de Rojas	October 1593	December 3, 1593
9		Luís Pérez Dasmariñas	December 3, 1593	July 14, 1596
10		Francisco de Tello de Guzmán	July 14, 1596	May 1602
					Philip III 13 September 1598 – 31 March 1621
11		Pedro Bravo de Acuña	May 1602	June 24, 1606
12		Cristóbal Téllez de Almanza (Audiencia Real)	June 24, 1606	June 15, 1608
13		Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberrucia	June 15, 1608	April 1609
14		Juan de Silva	April 1609	April 19, 1616
15		Andrés Alcaraz (Audiencia Real)	April 19, 1616	July 3, 1618
16		Alonso Fajardo de Entenza	July 3, 1618	July 1624
					Philip IV 31 March 1621 – 17 September 1665
17		Jeronimo de Silva (Audiencia Real)	July 1624	June 1625
18		Fernándo de Silva	July 1624	June 29, 1626
19		Juan Niño de Tabora	June 29, 1626	July 22, 1632
20		Lorenzo de Olaza (Audiencia Real)	July 22, 1632	1633
21		Juan Cerezo de Salamanca	August 29, 1633	June 25, 1635
22		Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera	June 25, 1635	August 11, 1644
23		Diego Fajardo Chacón	August 11, 1644	July 25, 1653
24		Sabiniano Manrique de Lara	July 25, 1653	September 8, 1663
25		Diego de Salcedo	September 8, 1663	September 28, 1668
					Charles II 17 September 1665 – 1 November 1700
26		Juan Manuel de la Peña Bonifaz	September 28, 1668	September 24, 1669
27		Manuel de León	September 24, 1669	September 21, 1677
28		Francisco Coloma (Audiencia Real)	September 21, 1677	September 21, 1677
29		Francisco Sotomayor y Mansilla (Audiencia Real)	September 21, 1677	September 28, 1678
30		Juan de Vargas y Hurtado	September 28, 1678	August 24, 1684
31		Gabriel de Curuzealegui y Arriola	August 24, 1684	April 1689
32		Alonso de Avila Fuertes (Audiencia Real)	April 1689	July 1690
33		Fausto Cruzat y Gongora	July 25, 1690	December 8, 1701
					Philip V1 November 1700 – 15 January 1724
34		Domingo Zabálburu de Echevarri	December 8, 1701	August 25, 1709
35		Martín de Urzúa y Arizmendi, count of Lizárraga	August 25, 1709	February 4, 1715
36		José Torralba (Audiencia Real)	February 4, 1715	August 9, 1717
37		Fernando Manuel de Bustillo Bustamante y Rueda	August 9, 1717	October 11, 1719
38		Archbishop Francisco de la Cuesta (acting)	October 11, 1719	August 6, 1721
39		Toribio José Cosio y Campo	August 6, 1721	August 14, 1729
					Louis I 15 January – 31 August 1724
					Philip V 6 September 1724 – 9 July 1746
40		Fernándo Valdés y Tamon	August 14, 1729	July 1739
41		Gaspar de la Torre	July 1739	September 21, 1745
42		Archbishop Juan Arrechederra (acting)	September 21, 1745	July 20, 1750
					9 July 1746 – 10 August 1759
43		Francisco José de Ovando y Solis, 1st Marquis of Ovando	July 20, 1750	July 26, 1754
44		Pedro Manuel de Arandía Santisteban	July 26, 1754	1759
45		Miguel Lino de Ezpeleta	June 1759	May 31, 1761
					Charles III 10 August 1759 – 14 December 1788

British Occupation of Manila (1761–1764)

Great Britain occupied Manila and the naval port of Cavite as part of the Seven Years' War.

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Monarch
46		Archbishop Manuel Rojo del Río y Vieyra (acting)	July 1761	October 6, 1762	Charles III
47		Simón de Anda y Salazar (Provisional Government in Bacolor, Pampanga)	October 6, 1762	February 10, 1764
48		Dawsonne Drake	November 2, 1762	May 31, 1764	George III

Spanish Colonial Government (1764–1898)

#	Picture	Name	From	Until	Monarch
49		Francisco Javier de la Torre	March 17, 1764	July 6, 1765	Charles III
50		José Antonio Raón y Gutiérrez	July 6, 1765	July 1770
51		Simón de Anda y Salazar	July 1770	October 30, 1776
52		Pedro de Sarrio	October 30, 1776	July 1778
53		José Basco y Vargas	July 1778	September 22, 1787
54		Pedro de Sarrio	September 22, 1787	July 1, 1788
55		Félix Berenguer de Marquina	July 1, 1788	September 1, 1793
					Charles IV
56		Rafael María de Aguilar y Ponce de León	September 1, 1793	August 7, 1806
57		Mariano Fernández de Folgueras	August 7, 1806	March 4, 1810
					Ferdinand VII
					Joseph Bonaparte
58	|	Manuel Gonzalez de Aguilar	March 4, 1810	September 4, 1813
59		José Gardoqui Jaraveitia	September 4, 1813	December 10, 1816
					Ferdinand VII
60		Mariano Fernández de Folgueras	December 10, 1816	October 30, 1822
61		Juan Antonio Martínez	October 30, 1822	October 14, 1825
62		Mariano Ricafort Palacín y Abarca	October 14, 1825	December 23, 1830
63		Pasqual Enrile y Alcedo	December 23, 1830	March 1, 1835
					Isabella II
64		Gabriel de Torres	March 1, 1835	April 23, 1835
65		Joaquín de Crámer	April 23, 1835	September 9, 1835
66		Pedro Antonio Salazar Castillo y Varona	September 9, 1835	August 27, 1837
67		Andrés García Camba	August 27, 1837	December 29, 1838
68		Luis Lardizábal	December 29, 1838	February 14, 1841
69		Marcelino de Oraá Lecumberri	February 14, 1841	June 17, 1843
70		Francisco de Paula Alcalá de la Torre	June 17, 1843	July 16, 1844
71		Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa	July 16, 1844	December 26, 1849
72		Antonio María Blanco	December 26, 1849	July 29, 1850
73		Antonio de Urbistondo y Eguía	July 29, 1850	December 20, 1853
74		Ramón Montero y Blandino	December 20, 1853	February 2, 1854
75		Manuel Pavía y Lacy	February 2, 1854	October 28, 1854
76		Ramón Montero y Blandino	October 28, 1854	November 20, 1854
77		Manuel Crespo y Cebrían	November 20, 1854	December 5, 1856
78		Ramón Montero y Blandino	December 5, 1856	March 9, 1857
79		Fernándo Norzagaray y Escudero	March 9, 1857	January 12, 1860
80		Ramón María Solano y Llanderal	January 12, 1860	August 29, 1860
81		Juan Herrera Dávila	August 29, 1860	February 2, 1861
82		José Lemery e Ibarrola Ney y González	February 2, 1861	July 7, 1862
83		Salvador Valdés	July 7, 1862	July 9, 1862
84		Rafaél de Echagüe y Bermingham	July 9, 1862	March 24, 1865
85		Joaquín del Solar e Ibáñez	March 24, 1865	April 25, 1865
86		Juan de Lara e Irigoyen	April 25, 1865	July 13, 1866
88		José Laureano de Sanz y Posse	July 13, 1866	September 21, 1866
89		Juan Antonio Osorio	September 21, 1866	September 27, 1866
90		Joaquín del Solar e Ibáñez	September 27, 1866	October 26, 1866
91		José de la Gándara y Navarro	October 26, 1866	June 7, 1869
					No Monarch
92		Manuel Maldonado	June 7, 1869	June 23, 1869
93		Cárlos María de la Torre y Nava Cerrada	June 23, 1869	April 4, 1871
					Amadeo I
94		Rafael de Izquierdo y Gutíerrez	April 4, 1871	January 8, 1873
95		Manuel MacCrohon	January 8, 1873	January 24, 1873
96		Juan Alaminos y Vivar	January 24, 1873	March 17, 1874
					No Monarch
97		Manuel Blanco Valderrama (acting)	March 17, 1874	June 18, 1874
98		José Malcampo y Monje	June 18, 1874	February 28, 1877
					Alfonso XII (December 29, 1874 – November 25, 1885)
99		Domingo Moriones y Murillo	February 28, 1877	March 20, 1880
100		Rafael Rodríguez Arias	March 20, 1880	April 15, 1880
101		Fernando Primo de Rivera (1st term)	April 15, 1880	March 10, 1883
102		Emilio Molíns 1st term, (acting)	March 10, 1883	April 7, 1883
103		Joaquín Jovellar	April 7, 1883	April 1, 1885
104		Emilio Molíns 2nd term, (acting)	April 1, 1885	April 4, 1885
105		Emilio Terrero y Perinat	April 4, 1885	1888
					Alfonso XIII (May 17, 1886)
106		Antonio Molto (acting)	1888	1888
107		Federico Lobaton (acting)	1888	1888
108		Valeriano Wéyler	1888	1891
109		Eulogio Despujol	1891	1893
110		Federico Ochando (acting)	1893	1893
111		Ramón Blanco	1893	December 13, 1896
112		Camilo Polavieja (acting)	December 13, 1896	April 15, 1897
113		José de Lachambre (acting)	April 15, 1897	April 23, 1897
114		Fernando Primo de Rivera (2nd term)	April 23, 1897	April 11, 1898
115		Basilio Augustín	April 11, 1898	July 24, 1898
116		Fermín Jáudenes (acting)	July 24, 1898	August 13, 1898
117		Francisco Rizzo (acting)	August 13, 1898	September 1898
118		Diego de los Ríos (acting)	September 1898	June 3, 1899

United States Military Government (1898–1901)

The American military government was established following the defeat of Spain in the Spanish-American War. During the transition period, executive authority in all civil affairs in the Philippine government was exercised by the military governor.

#	Picture	Name	From	Until
1		Wesley Merritt	August 14, 1898	August 30, 1898
2		Elwell S. Otis	August 29, 1899	May 5, 1900
3		Arthur MacArthur, Jr.	May 5, 1900	July 4, 1901
4		Adna Chaffee	July 4, 1901	July 4, 1902

Insular Government (1901–1935)

On July 4, 1901, executive authority over the islands was transferred to the president of the Philippine Commission who had the title of "civil governor", a position appointed by the President of the United States and approved by the United States Senate. For the first year, a military governor, Adna Chaffee, ruled parts of the country still resisting the American rule, concurrent with civil governor, William Howard Taft. Disagreements between the two were not uncommon. The following year, on July 4, 1902, the civil governor became the sole executive authority of the islands. Chaffee remained as Commander of Philippine Division until September 30, 1902.

The title was changed to "governor general" in 1905 by Act of Congress (Public 43 - February 6, 1905). From 1901 to 1935, the Philippines was under the authority of the U.S. Bureau of Insular Affairs. The term "insular", from the Latin word insula meaning "island", refers to islands that are commonwealth, freely associated state, possession or territory of the United States. On November 15, 1935, following the inauguration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines government, the title was changed to High Commissioner of the Philippines.

#	Picture	Name	From	Until
1		William Howard Taft	July 4, 1901	February 1, 1904
2		Luke Edward Wright	February 1, 1904	November 3, 1905
3		Henry Clay Ide	November 3, 1905	September 19, 1906
4		James Francis Smith	September 20, 1906	November 11, 1909
5		William Cameron Forbes	November 11, 1909	September 1, 1913
-		Newton W. Gilbert Acting Governor-General	September 1, 1913	October 6, 1913
6		Francis Burton Harrison	October 6, 1913	March 5, 1921
-		Charles Yeater Acting Governor-General	March 5, 1921	October 14, 1921
7		Leonard Wood	October 14, 1921	August 7, 1927
-		Eugene Allen Gilmore Acting Governor-General	August 7, 1927	December 27, 1927
8		Henry L. Stimson	December 27, 1927	February 23, 1929
-		Eugene Allen Gilmore Acting Governor-General	February 23, 1929	July 8, 1929
9		Dwight F. Davis	July 8, 1929	January 9, 1932
-		George C. Butte Acting Governor-General	January 9, 1932	February 29, 1932
10		Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.	February 29, 1932	July 15, 1933
11		Frank Murphy	July 15, 1933	November 14, 1935

Japanese military governors (1942–1945)

In December 1941, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was invaded by Japan as part of World War II. The next year, the Empire of Japan sent a military governor to control the country during wartime, followed by the formal establishment of the puppet second republic.

#	Picture	Name	From	Until
1		Masaharu Homma	January 3, 1942	June 8, 1942
2		Shizuichi Tanaka	June 8, 1942	May 28, 1943
3		Shigenori Kuroda	May 28, 1943	September 26, 1944
4		Tomoyuki Yamashita	September 26, 1944	October 6, 1945

Timelines

1750–1800

1800–1850

1850–1900

1900–1935

See also

• Audiencia
• Viceroyalty of New Spain
• List of Viceroys of New Spain
• Spanish Empire
• History of the Philippines
• Military History of the Philippines
• United States Territory
• Governor-General
• Lists of office-holders

References

• Governors of the Philippines
• Cahoon, Ben (2000). "Philippines". World's Statesmen.
• Don Peterson (2007-2nd Qtr), 1898: Five Philippine Governors-General Serve Rapid Fire Terms, Philippine Philatelic Journal.
• Tanner, Dr. J.M. (1901-11). Improvement Era Vol.5 No. 1. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
• Elliott, Charles Burke (1917). The Philippines: To the End of the Commission Government, a Study in Tropical Democracy. The Bobbs-Merrill Company.