Lorenzo Ruiz was a 17th-century Chinese Filipino layman and member of the Dominican Third Order. Born in Binondo, Manila, in 1594, he worked as a church scrivener before fleeing to Japan in 1636. While there, he was arrested by the authorities of the Tokugawa shogunate. He eventually died in Nagasaki on September 29, 1637, after being subjected to execution by hanging and pit torture. He is recognized as the first Filipino saint and serves as a patron of the Philippines.