in company with his close friend Blancas de San Jose
in 1595, went back to Spain as procurator of his order in 1607, and
returned to Manila in 1628, staying in the Orient until his death in
1636. His history was continued and edited after his death by a fellow
Dominican, Domingo Goncalez, who had it printed in 1640. Summarizing
the life and accomplishments of Blancas de San Jose, Aduarte wrote:

"So he was sent to Bataan, which is near there [Manila],
where he learned the language of the Indians, called Tagalog,
which is the most common in this country and is used among the
Indians for many leagues around the city. So rapid was his
study of the language that he began to preach in it within
three months, and could teach it to others in six.... And
believing that he was the instrument needed to bring the holy
gospel to the Indians, he spared no pains to investigate the
fitness of their words, the way to use them, and all the rest
so that he could succeed in mastering it.... He wrote many
books of devotion for them, and since there was no printing
in these islands, and no one who understood it or who was
a journeyman printer, he planned to have it done through a
Chinaman, a good Christian, who, seeing that the books of
P. Fr. Francisco were sure to be of great use, bestowed so
much care upon this undertaking that he finally succeeded,
aided by those who told him whatever they knew about it,
in learning everything necessary to do printing; and he
printed these books. . . . He [Blancas de San Jose] printed
a grammar to learn the Tagalog language, a memorial of the
Christian life, a book on the four last things, another on the
preparation for the communion, a confessionary, another on the
mysteries of the Rosary of Our Lady, and another to teach the
Tagalog Indians the Spanish language, and he left many very
pious and curious works in the language of these Indians." [20]

Blancas de San Jose, [21] as we have noted, came to the Philippines in
1595. He was at Abucay in Bataan from 1598 until 1602, and then spent
several years in and about Manila, preaching to the Indians and the
Chinese, whose language he also mastered. In 1614 he set out for Spain,
but died on the voyage before reaching Mexico. Of the books which he is
said to have had printed, only two are known to be extant, the _Arte
y Reglas de la Lengva Tagala_ [22]