[1]: 286–287 Governor Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa and Domingo de Salazar, the first bishop of Manila, had requested the King of Spain to establish the Supreme Court of the Philippines then called the Audiencia, to settle disputes between the Church and State.

As the chief justice of the court, Santiago de Vera succeeded as the governor of the islands on May 16, 1584.

[3]: 16 Following the great fire of Manila on March 19, 1583, which started during the wake of Governor Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa at the San Agustin Church, Santiago de Vera made an order that all construction in Manila should be of stone.

He also built the first stone fort of Manila called Nuestra Señora de Guia (Our Lady of Guidance) in 1587 located at the present location of San Diego Bastion (Baluarte de San Diego) at the southwestern corner of Intramuros with plans by a Jesuit named Sedeño.

The great wall was not begun till the tenure of Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas.