Abstract: This paper examines the Spanish geographical perception on the Philippine Islands in the early part of colonization based on six source documents. The findings are fourfold. Firstly, the source documents, except the one for founding new bishoprics, explain regions by focusing on encomiendas, an important colonial institution. Secondly, the Spaniards perceived the Filipinas by dividing it into four to eleven provinces. These perceptions exhibit a strong similarity with contemporary administrative regions of the Philippines, provided that the present boundaries of the provinces are applicable to those at the turn of the sixteenth century. Thirdly, shaped the outline of contemporary Philippines is the first Governor, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. Fourthly, the Spanish grand ambition to occupy Western Islands lasted until the early seventeenth century. They targeted the annexation of Borneo, Celebes, and Moluccas to Filipinas, but all attempts were in vain. Las Islas Filipinas expanded its sway by annexing nearby islands, being called Filipinas instead of Felipinas by early 1570s. As a consequence, Las Islas del Poniente became equivalent to Las Islas Filipinas in the early seventeenth century but the term has since disappeared.