Note 21 — The Conquest of Mindanao

Pedro Gutierrez was a Mexican; he was born at Colima on April 24, 1593. He was sent to the Jesuit college at Valladolid, Spain, for his education, which resulted in his entering that order, in May, 1611. In 1622 he arrived in the Philippines, and labored long in the Visayas. In 1629 he was assigned to the residence at Dapitan, Mindanao, from which he soon undertook the conversion of the savage Subanos, and later of the Lutaos of Mindanao, with whom he achieved notable success. He visited the captive Vilancio in Jolo, and tried in vain to ransom him; but he gained the goodwill of the Joloans. He aided in the establishment of the Spanish fort at Zamboanga, and accompanied the Visayan fleet sent to Mindanao to reënforce Corcuera. In 1638 he went with Corcuera’s expedition to Jolo, and afterward with others to various parts of Mindanao. He filled important posts in Bohol, Zebu, and Mindanao; and died at Iligan, July 25, 1651. See Murillo Velarde’s account of this missionary’s life, in Hist. de Philipinas, fol. 198 verso–207.