Legend of the Spanish soldier who “teleported” to Mexico from the Philippines
A legend holds that in October of 1593, a soldier of the Spanish Empire (named Gil Pérez in a version from 1908) was mysteriously transported from Manila in the Philippines to the Plaza Mayor (Zócalo) in Mexico City.
The soldier’s testimony was not believed by Mexicans until they learned of the murder of the governor of the Philippines, confirmed months later by passengers of a ship that had crossed the Pacific Ocean with the news.
The folklore expert Thomas Allibone Janvier described the legend in 1908 as “current among all classes of the population of Mexico City.”
The mysterious night of October 24, 1593
On October 24, 1593, the soldier was doing his job protecting the Governor’s palace in Manila. The night before, the Governor had been murdered, but the guards were still protecting the palace and waiting for the proclamation of a new governor.
The soldier began to feel dizzy and exhausted. He leaned against the wall and rested for a moment, closing his eyes.
When he opened his eyes a few seconds later, he found himself in a place that seemed unfamiliar. The scenery, the architecture, and the atmosphere were entirely different from what he had known in Manila. He was no longer in the Philippines.
From the Philippines to Mexico City
Disoriented and confused, Pérez wandered the streets of this unknown land until he was stopped by soldiers. Noticing his bewilderment and unusual uniform, they began questioning him.
Pérez, still reeling from his inexplicable situation, explained that he was a Spanish soldier stationed in the Philippines. But to his great astonishment, the soldiers told him he was in Mexico, thousands of miles across the ocean.
The soldiers, skeptical of his story and unsure of his identity due to his lack of documentation, arrested him. Authorities in New Spain (Mexico) interrogated him for days, suspecting him to be a deserter or, a servant of the devil.
The news of the governor’s murder in the Philippines was still unknown in Mexico City. The transported soldier reportedly wore the guard’s uniform from Manila and knew of the death of Governor Pérez Dasmariñas.
Historical fact: Governor Pérez Dasmariñas was killed at sea, some distance from Manila.
Pérez, however, stuck to his story, insisting that he had been in the Philippines moments earlier, with no idea how he ended up in Mexico. His tale was considered absurd, and he was imprisoned for two months.
The authorities took him to prison for being a deserter and on charges of being a servant of the devil.
An inexplicable turn of events
News of this strange prisoner soon spread and reached the Philippines.
Months later, news of the governor’s death arrived in Mexico aboard a galleon from the Philippines. A ship carried word that Gil Pérez was a soldier in Manila and that his sudden disappearance had been a mystery.
On the same ship was another Spanish soldier who recognized Gil Pérez, confirmed his identity, and said he had seen him in the Philippines a day after the governor’s death.
Faced with this undeniable proof, the authorities in New Spain had no choice but to release Pérez. Gil Pérez was finally released from prison by the authorities and was allowed to return home.
He returned to the Philippines, but his extraordinary story became an enigma that has yet to be explained. In his time, many believed his experience to be a demonic act, while others viewed it as evidence of teleportation or even alternate realities.
The mystery lives on
The story has been recounted throughout the centuries by writers such as the American folklore expert Thomas Allibone Janvier, Washington Irving, Luis González Obregón, Gaspar de San Agustín, Antonio de Morga, and José Rizal.
Thomas Allibone Janvier rewrote the story as The Legend of the Living Ghost in the 1908 edition of Harper’s Magazine, naming the soldier Gil Pérez. The story was part of a series titled Legends of Mexico City, published in a complete volume in 1910.
Janvier then warned that similar motives are common in folklore. Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra includes the story The One-Armed Governor and the Soldier, which shares similarities with the legend.
Janvier’s 1908 version was based on a Spanish account by the Mexican folklorist Luis González Obregón published in 1900: México viejo: noticias históricas, tradiciones, leyendas y costumbres, under the title A Ghostly Apparition.
Obregón, in turn, based it on a 1698 narration (100 years after the supposed event) told by Fray Gaspar de San Agustín following the Spanish conquest of the Philippines, recounting the story as a factual event.
San Agustín does not name the soldier but attributes the incident to witchcraft and satanic practices.
Janvier asserts that Obregón claimed in 1609 that Antonio de Morga (a judge and colonial official in New Spain) had written that the death of Pérez Dasmariñas was known the same day in Mexico, but Morga still ignored how this could have happened and did not mention the soldier.
José Rizal also mentions many other miraculous stories from the Spanish Philippines of the time, and Luis Weckmann also observes the same connection with Spanish Mexico. A 1936 collection, Historias de vivos y muertos, includes a version by Obregón’s successor, Artemio de Valle Arizpe: Through the air it came, through the sea it went.
Several writers have offered paranormal explanations for the story. Morris K. Jessup and Brinsley Le Poer Trench, 8th Earl of Clancarty, suggested an alien abduction, while Colin Wilson and Gary Blackwood suggested it was a case of teleportation.
The legend of Gil Pérez has fascinated historians, scientists, and curious minds for centuries. Was it an act of supernatural power? A glitch in the fabric of reality? Or simply a tale of an exhausted soldier caught in an extraordinary circumstance?
To this day, the case remains unsolved, continuing to spark debates and wonder about the limits of the human experience. The mystery of Gil Pérez, the soldier who ‘teleported’ to Mexico, remains one of the most baffling and intriguing stories in history.
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