This chapter discusses the brief reign of the Bishop of Cebu, Fr. Pedro de Arce Ibáñez (1560–1645), during the vacancy of the see (1630–34), highlighting two things: first, that the Augustinian friar was unwilling to leave the miter of Manila in the hands of the cathedral chapter; and second, that the pious Spanish monarchs, through their bishops, did not want to leave the ecclesiastical government at the mercy of the local powers. The ecclesiastical tensions and conflicts in the archbishopric of Manila were a constant feature, mainly because negotiation and patronage became an essential mechanism for the granting of permanent prebends and benefices involving the care of souls, as well as for the balance of power in the vacant sees of the cathedral chapters of Manila.