Governor-General of the Philippines

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Governor-General of the Philippines
Gobernador y Capitán General de Filipinas Gobernador-Heneral ng Pilipinas フィリピン総督
Residence	Fort San Pedro (1565–1572) Palacio del Gobernador (1572–1863) Malacañang Palace (1863–1945) Mansion House (1942–1945)
Appointer	Viceroy of New Spain Monarch of Spain Monarch of Great Britain President of the United States Emperor of Japan
Precursor	Various, the barangay system
Formation	April 27, 1565
First holder	Miguel López de Legazpi (under Spain) Dawsonne Drake (under Great Britain) Wesley Merritt (under the United States) Masaharu Homma (under Japan)
Final holder	Diego de los Ríos (under Spain) Dawsonne Drake (under Great Britain) Frank Murphy (under the United States) Tomoyuki Yamashita (under Japan)
Abolished	October 6, 1945

The governor-general of the Philippines (Filipino: Gobernador-Heneral ng Pilipinas / Kapitan Heneral ng Pilipinas; Spanish: Gobernador y Capitán General de Filipinas; Japanese: フィリピン総督, romanized: Firipin sōtoku) was the title of the government executive during the colonial period of the Philippines, governed by Mexico City and Madrid (1565–1898) and the United States (1898–1946), and briefly by Great Britain (1762–1764) and Japan (1942–1945). They were also the representative of the executive of the ruling power.

On November 15, 1935, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was established as a transitional government to prepare the country for independence from American control. The governor-general was replaced by an elected Filipino president of the Philippine Commonwealth, as the chief executive of the Philippines, taking over many of the duties of the governor-general. The former American governor-general then became known as the high commissioner to the Philippines.

From 1565 to 1898, the Philippines was under Spanish rule. From 1565 to 1821, the governor and captain-general was appointed by the viceroy of New Spain upon recommendation of the Spanish Cortes and governed on behalf of the monarch of Spain to govern the Captaincy General of the Philippines. When there was a vacancy (e.g. death, or during the transitional period between governors), the Real Audiencia in Manila appointed a temporary governor from among its members.

After Mexico won its independence in 1821, the country was no longer under the Viceroyalty of New Spain (present-day Mexico) and administrative affairs formerly handled by New Spain were transferred to Madrid and placed directly under the Spanish Crown.