794. The one who made the greatest efforts in this direction was father Fray Phelipe Pardo, both times that he held the Dominican provincialate in the years 1662 and 1673. Although all of his efforts were then frustrated, he obtained great headway by them to obtain his purposes later. For May 30, 1676, his Majesty presented him for the office of archbishop of Manìla. Thereupon he formed the notion that the new marks of the ecclesiastical dignity would be sufficient to add authority to argument. For, because of the respect to his person, surely worthy of the greatest promotion, we did not dare to condemn his attempt as unjust; and more even, when he obtained it, making amends to our reformed order for the wrong we received by a recompense which was fully justifiable in his eyes. A chance offered him a suitable occasion for his project in the following manner. Don Diego de Villatoro represented to the Council of the Indias that the island of Mindòro was filled with innumerable heathens all sunk in the darkness of their paganism; and that if its conquest were entrusted to any order, it would be very easy to illumine its inhabitants with the light of the faith. Therefore a royal decree was despatched, under date of Madrid, June 18, 1677, ordering the governor of the islands, together with the archbishop, to entrust the reduction of Mindòro to the order which appeared best fitted for it, before all things settling the curas who resided there in prebends or chaplaincies. That decree was presented to the royal Audiencia of Manìla by Sargento-mayor Don Sebastian de Villarreal, October 31, 78, and since his Majesty's fiscal had nothing to oppose, it was obeyed without delay, and it was sent for fulfilment to the said archbishop, December 14 of the same year. On that account, his Excellency formed the idea of taking Zambàles from us in order to augment his order and give the island of Mindòro to our discalced order.