Note 6 — Events in the Filipinas, 1637–38

Melchor de Vera was born in Madrid about 1585, and entered the Jesuit order at the age of nineteen. Two years later, he departed for the Philippine mission, and after his ordination labored in the missions of Visayas and Mindanao. He was for a time minister of Manila college, and afterward rector of Carigara, and superior at Dapitan and Zamboanga. He was well versed in architecture and military defense, and several forts were built (especially that at Zamboanga) under his direction. He died at Cebú, April 13, 1646. See Murillo Velarde’s Hist. Philipinas, fol. 153 verso; and Combés’s Hist. Mindanao.