Ruy López de Villalobos

Ruy López de Villalobos was a Spanish explorer who led a failed attempt to colonize the Philippines in 1543, attempting to assert Spanish control there under the terms of the treaties of Tordesillas and Zaragoza. Unable to feed his men through barter, raiding, or farming and unable to request resupply from New Spain due to poor knowledge of the Pacific's winds and currents, Villalobos abandoned his mission and fled to the Portuguese-held Moluccas, where he died in prison. He is chiefly remembered for some sources crediting him with naming Leyte and Samar "Las Islas Filipinas" in 1543 in honor of the Spanish crown prince Philip. The name was later extended across the entire Philippine Archipelago and its nation.