Note 63 — The Printing of the Books

Diego Ordoñez Vivar came to the Philippines in 1570, filled various ministries there, and according to Agustin Maria de Castro was in Japan in 1597, where he witnessed the martyrdom of the Franciscans; he died in 1603, Pérez, p. 10. Juan de Medina, p. 74, says, “Father Diego de Ordoñez learned this language [Tagalog] very quickly.” Alonso Alvatado had been on the unsuccessful 1542 expedition of Villalobos, and returned to the Philippines in 1571. Pérez, p. 11, records that he became familiar with the Tagalog language, was the first prior of Tondo, ministered to the Chinese there, and was the first Spaniard to learn the Mandarin dialect. He was elected provincial in 1575, and died at Manila the following year. Jéronimo Marín came to the islands with Alvarado, acquired skill in the Visayan, Tagalog and Chinese languages, accompanied Rada on his first expedition to China, was in Tondo in 1578, and later returned to Spain to recruit new missionaries for the province, dying in Mexico in 1606, Pérez, pp. 11–12.