Persecution of Muslims
The Philippines is predominantly a Christian society with a complicated history of relations between Islam and Christianity. Despite historic evidence of Islamization spreading throughout the islands in the 13th–16th centuries, the archipelago came under Spanish rule in the 16th century. The Spanish proselytized many natives, and labelled those who remained Muslims as "Moro", a derogatory term recalling the Moors, an Islamic people of North Africa who occupied parts of Spain for several centuries. Today, this term "Moro" is used to refer to the indigenous Muslim tribes and ethnic groups of the country. When the Spanish came to the Philippine islands, most of the natives in Luzon and Visayas were pagans with Muslim minorities, and while Spanish proselytized many natives, many Muslims in Luzon and Visayas were not exempted by the Spaniards from the Spanish Inquisition, wherein Muslims to become Catholics or die for their faith. Those who remained Muslims are only the natives of Mindanao and Sulu which the Spaniards did not invade or had control of only briefly and partially.
Philippines
In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan's expedition arrived in the Philippines, claimed the islands for Spain and was then killed at the Battle of Mactan. Colonization began when Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi arrived from Mexico in 1565 and formed the first Hispanic settlements in Cebu. After relocating to Panay island and consolidating an alliance of native Filipino (Visayan) allies, Hispanic soldiers and Latin-American recruits, led by conquistadors such as Mexico-born Juan de Salcedo who was inspired by his love for the beautiful princess of Bruneian-besieged Tondo, Kandarapa, the Spanish-Mexican-Filipino coalition then invaded Islamic Manila, liberated and incorporated Tondo, and afterwards put down the Conspiracy of the Maharlikas and exiled the conspirators to Guam and Guerrero. Under Spanish rule, they established Manila as the capital of the Spanish East Indies (1571).