CEBU, Philippines – Fr. Pedro Galende, head of the Urdaneta 500 Philippine Commission, announced the proposal of naming the route used in the Manila-Acapulco trade, for 250 years, after its discoverer - Fray Andres de Urdaneta of Spain.
Fray Urdaneta, who accompanied the conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi as he journeyed and established the first Spanish settlement in the Philippine islands, was also a navigator.
Through his experiences on the Loaysa and Saavedra expeditions, he discovered the return route north of the Westerlies used by traders to carry Asian goods, as well as the culture, to the rest of the world. This discovery made Fray Urdaneta a pioneer in globalization.
According to Fr. Galende, “Fray Urdaneta’s discovery is equal to that of [Christopher] Columbus’.”
Jose Miguel Santamaria, the mayor of Ordizia City in Spain which is the birthplace of Fray Urdaneta, added that the Augustinian priest completed all commercial and cultural routes in the world. - Karen Grace H. (THE FREEMAN)