26 MAY

1609 - A law during the early period of the Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines regulates the services of the Indians (natives/filipinos) by prioritizing the hiring of Chinese and Japanese for public works; however, the Augustinian Recollects will attempt to thwart this order by later asking the king that they be released from such restrictions on the use of natives for work only under certain conditions, claiming that such law will ruin their work in the archipelago; Spanish colonization of the Southeast Asian archipelago began in 1565 after establishing  settlements in Cebu following a series of expeditions commissioned by the Spanish crown;  the Philippine islands were first "discovered" [translation: first learned about]  by Spain following  the ill-fated 1521 expedition of Ferdinand Magellan who was killed by Mactan island chieftain Lapu-Lapu and his forces during the Battle of Mactan, and then followed up with several other expeditions, with the 1565 expedition by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi as signalling the beginning of the actual or successful Spanish colonization of the Philippines.  

Photo credit: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_iQHecWCWt0M/TEqnuXkBWNI/AAAAAAAAA3I/Z1S80p6Mec8/s1600/chinese_chow-chow.jpg