Juan Niño de Tabora

Juan Niño de Tabora (died July 22, 1632), was a Spanish general and colonial official. From June 29, 1626 until his death on July 22, 1632, he was governor of the Philippines.

Juan Niño de Tabora was born in Galicia. Like many Spanish noblemen of the day, he spent part of his early years in the Habsburg Netherlands, where he served in the Army of Flanders and at the court of the Archdukes Albert and Isabella. Due to the influence of his powerful uncle, Rodrigo Niño y Lasso, Count of Añover, he became a Gentleman of the Archduke's Bedchamber and was given the command of a company of lancers as well as a knighthood in the Order of Calatrava.

Nominated governor and captain general of the Philippines and president of the Royal Audiencia of Manila, he left New Spain for the Philippines on March 25, 1626 aboard the galleon El Almirante. He brought with him a wooden statue, carved in New Spain, of the Virgin Mary. During a three-month voyage beset by storms and one shipboard fire, this statue was thought to have protected the ship. After his arrival on June 29, 1626, Niño de Tabora ordered that it be welcomed into the colony with pomp and ceremony. This statue became known as Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage). It became the patron of the Manila-Acapulco galleons. It is located today in the church in Antipolo City.

In 1627 he was in command of a naval squadron sent to Formosa (Taiwan) to resupply the Spanish fort there and to attempt to dislodge the Dutch from their fort on the island. This squadron originally included four galleons, three pataches and two galleys. However, the intended flagship, the galleon, Concepción, was heavily loaded with a cargo of tiles that caused it to spring a leak. It was left behind when the other ships sailed. Niño de Tabora was aboard the new flagship, the San Yldefonso. The ships sailed on August 17. This was late in the season, and contrary weather was expected. The governor sent the small ship Rosario on ahead, with a considerable quantity of food for the Spanish and Filipino colonists.

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