Note 34 — EVENTS IN FILIPINAS, 1764–1800

Huerta gives his name (Estado, p. 437) as Juan Antonio Gallego or de Santa Rosa, and Orbigo as the place of his birth (1729). He came to the islands in 1759, and after serving in both the missions and Manila, spent the years 1771–79 as procurator of his province to the court of Madrid. Returning to Filipinas, he took possession of the bishopric of Nueva Cáceres (which had been vacant during thirteen years) on April 27, 1780. In his first official visit of that diocese he showed so much devotion and zeal that even the hardships of travel in mountains and forests there did not prevent him from completing his task, and he was the first bishop to set foot in the Catanduanes Islands. After nine years of this service he was promoted to the archbishopric of Manila, where he was beloved for his virtues. He died at Santa Ana, on May 15, 1797. Montero y Vidal says (Hist. de Filipinas, ii, p. 353) that this prelate was “very peaceable, and of excellent character; learned, and plain in his habits; on which account he had no enemies.” ↑