José Antonio Raón y Gutiérrez (c. 1700 – 4 January 1773) was a Spanish general who served as Royal Governor of Panama, and the 50th Governor-General of the Philippines.

[5] He was responsible for the expulsion of Jesuits in the Philippines, pursuant to the royal decree made by Charles III of Spain in 1767, as well as revising the "Ordinances of Good Government" in 1768, a document drafted by former Governor-General Pedro Manuel de Arandía Santisteban.

[6][2] The delay in the arrival of the decree, which was received in the Philippines by 1768, allowed the Jesuit priests to hide all of their possessions and destroy documents that could be held against them, which were supposed to be confiscated.

[9] The lack of Jesuits in Spain and the colonies prompted José Moñino, 1st Count of Floridablanca, the reformist chief minister of Charles III of Spain, to undertake a program of hiring new teachers and modernizing the Spanish educational system.

However, he chose not to implement the decree in full measure, and Chinese and other foreign vessels continued to anchor in Manila Bay.

At this time, French astronomer Guillaume Le Gentil visited the Philippines.

"[11] In 1770, the Real Audiencia sent Simón de Anda y Salazar to assume Raón's position.

The subsequent investigation (residencia) into Raón and three other associates, namely Francisco Henriquez de Villacorta, Domingo Blas de Basaraz (special commissioner for the expulsion of Jesuits), and Juan Antonio Cosio (Raón's secretary), was one of Anda's first acts as the new governor.