 The Augustinian friars were the first Christian missionaries to settle in what is now regarded as Asia's only Catholic nation, and the leader of these first missionaries was the navigator Andrés de Urdaneta (1498June 3, 1568, Mexico), an Augustinian friar.He was navigator on the journey that established the first permanent Spanish settlement in the Philippines.The historic Augustinian Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of the Philippines was officially formed on December 31, 1575, as an offshoot of the establishment of the first permanent Spanish settlements.