Manila Under Spanish Rule
Manila, the capital of the Philippines, is situated on the Island of
Luzon at the mouth and on the left (south) bank of the Pasig River,
at N. lat. 14 deg. 36' by E. long. 120 deg. 52'. It is a fortified city,
being encircled by bastioned and battlemented walls, which were
built in the time of Governor Gomez Perez Dasmarinas, about the
year 1590. It is said that the labour employed was Chinese. These
walls measure about two miles and a quarter long, and bore mounted
old-fashioned cannon. The fortifications are of stone, and their solid
construction may rank as a _chef d'oeuvre_ of the 16th century. The
earthquake of 1880 caused an arch of one of the entrances to fall in,
and elsewhere cracks are perceptible. These defects were never made
good. The city is surrounded by water--to the north the Pasig River,
to the west the sea, and the moats all around. These moats are paved
at the bottom, and sluices--perhaps not in good working order at the
present day--are provided for filling them with water from the river.
The demolition of the walls and moats was frequently debated by
commissions specially appointed from Spain--the last in October,
1887. It is said that a commission once recommended the cleansing of
the moats, which were half full of mud, stagnant water, and vegetable
putrid matter, but the authorities hesitated to disturb the deposit,
for fear of fetid odours producing fever or other endemic disease.
These city defences, although quite useless in modern warfare with
a foreign Power, as was proved in 1898, might any day have been
serviceable as a refuge for Europeans in the event of a serious revolt
of the natives or Chinese. The garrison consisted of one European
and several native regiments.
There are eight drawbridge entrances to the Citadel [162] wherein
were some Government Offices, branch Post and Telegraph Offices,
the Custom-house (temporarily removed to Binondo since May 4, 1887,
during the construction of the new harbour), Colleges, Convents,
Monasteries, a Prison, numerous Barracks, a Mint, a Military Hospital,
an Academy of Arts, a University, a statue of Charles IV. situated
in a pretty square, a fine Town Hall, a Meteorological Observatory,
of which the director was a Jesuit priest, an Artillery Depot, a
Cathedral and 11 churches. [163] The little trade done in the city
was exclusively retail. In the month of April or May, 1603, a great
fire destroyed one-third of the city, the property consumed being
valued at P1,000,000.
Manila City was a lifeless capital, with narrow streets all running at
right angles with each other, of sombre, monastic aspect. It had no
popular cafes, no opera-house or theatre; indeed absolutely no place
of recreation. Only the numerous religious processions relieved the
uniformity of city life. The whole (walled) city and its environments
seem to have been built solely with a view to self-defence. Since
1887 it had been somewhat embellished by gardens in the public squares.
Besides the churches of the walled city, those of the suburbs are of
great historical interest. In the Plaza de Santa Cruz is established
the _Monte de Piedad_, or Public Pawnshop--a fine building--erected
under the auspices of Archbishop Pedro Payo.
The great trading-centre is the Island of Binondo, on the right (north)
bank of the Pasig River, where the foreign houses are established. On
the city side of the river, where there was little commerce and
no export or import trade whatever, a harbour was in course of
construction, without the least hope of its ever being completed by
the Spaniards. All the sea-wall visible of these works was carried
away by a typhoon on September 29, 1890. To defray the cost of making
this harbour, a special duty (not included in the Budget) of one per
cent. on exports, two per cent. on imports, 10 cents per ton on vessels
(besides the usual tonnage dues of eight cents per register ton), and a
fishing-craft tax were collected since June, 1880. For eighteen years'
dues-collection of several millions of pesos only a scrap of sea-wall
was to be seen beyond the river in 1898, of no use to trade or to
any one. In 1882 fourteen huge iron barges for the transport of stone
from Angono for the harbour were constructed by an English engineer,
Mr. W. S. Richardson, under contract with the Port Works, for P82,000.
The Port of Manila was officially held to extend for 27 miles
westward from the mouth of the Pasig River. This tortuous river,
about 14 miles long, flows from the Laguna de Bay.
The anchorage of the port was in the bay, two to two and a half miles
south-west from the red light at the river-entrance, in about six
fathoms. There was no special locality reserved for warships.
Ships at the anchorage communicated with the shore by their own
boats or steam-launch, and the loading and discharging of vessels was
chiefly effected in the bay, one to three miles off the river mouth,
by means of lighters called _cascoes_.
Manila Bay has a circumference of 120 nautical miles, and is far too
large to afford adequate protection to ships. The country around it
is flat in character and has really nothing attractive.
On October 20, 1882, a typhoon drove 11 ships and one steamer ashore
from their anchorage, besides dismasting another and causing three
more to collide. When a typhoon is approaching vessels have to run
to Cavite for shelter.
The entrance to the bay is divided into two passages by the small
Island of Corregidor, on which was a lighthouse showing a revolving
bright light, visible 20 miles off. Here was also a signal-station,
communicating by a semaphore with a telegraph station on the opposite
Luzon coast, and thence by wire with Manila. North of Corregidor
Island is situated the once important harbour of Mariveles. [164]
The entrance to the Pasig River is between two moles, which run out
westward respectively from the citadel on the south bank and from the
business suburb of Binondo on the north bank. At the outer extremity
of the northern mole was a lighthouse, showing a fixed red light,
visible eight miles.
Vessels drawing up to 13 feet could enter the river. In the middle of
1887 a few electric lights were established along the quays from the
river mouth to the first bridge, and one light also on that bridge,
so that steamers could enter the river after sunset if desired. The
wharfage is wholly occupied by steamers and sailing-craft trading
within the Archipelago. The tides are very irregular. The rise and
fall at springs may be taken to be five feet.
Up to 1887 ships needing repairs had to go to Hong-Kong, but in that
year a patent slip was established at Canacao Bay, near Cavite, seven
miles southward from the Manila Bay anchorage. The working capacity
of the hydraulic hauling power of the slip was 2,000 tons.
At Cavite, close by Canacao, there was a Government Arsenal and a
small slip, having a hauling power of about 500 tons.
Up to the year 1893 the streets of Manila City and suburbs were
badly lighted--petroleum lamps, and sometimes cocoanut oil, being
used. (The paving was perhaps more defective than the lighting.) In
1892 an Electric Light Company was formed, with a share capital of
P500,000 (P350,000 paid up) for illuminating the city and suburbs and
private lighting. Under the contract with the Municipality the company
received a grant of P60,000, and the concern was in full working order
the following year. The poorest working class of Manila--fishermen,
canoemen, day labourers, etc.--live principally in the ward of Tondo,
where dwellings with thatched roofs were allowed to be constructed. In
the wet season the part of this ward nearest to the city was simply
a mass of pollution. The only drainage was a ditch cut around the
mud-plots on which the huts were erected. Many of these huts had
pools of stagnant water under them for months, hence it was there
that the mortality from fever was at its maximum ratio in the dry
season when evaporation commenced. Half the shore side of Tondo
has been many times devastated by conflagrations and by hurricanes,
locally termed _baguios_.
Binondo presents an aspect of great activity during the day. The import
and export trade is still largely in the hands of British merchants,
and the retail traffic is, to a great extent, monopolized by the
Chinese. Their tiny shops, grouped together in rows, form bazaars. At
each counter sits a Chinaman, casting up accounts, with the ancient
_abacus_ [165] still serving him for practical reckoning. Another
is ready at the counter to strike the bargain, whilst a third crafty
Celestial lounges about the entrance to tout for custom, with a margin
on his prices for haggling which is high or low according to whether
the intending purchaser be American, European, half-caste, or native.
There is hardly a street without Chinese dealers, but their principal
centre is the _Rosario_, whilst the finest American and European
shops are to be found in the _Escolta_. [166]
In 1881 a great fire occurred in the _Escolta_, and since then
the class of property in that important thoroughfare has been much
improved. In October, 1885, a second serious fire took place in this
street, and on the site of the ruins there now stands a fine block of
buildings formerly occupied by the Central Post Office and Telegraph
Station, and a row of good shops in European style.
During the working hours were to be seen hundreds of smart Chinese
coolies, half-naked, running in all directions with loads, or driving
carts, whilst the natives dreamily sauntered along the streets,
following their numerous occupations with enviable tranquillity. In the
doorways here and there were native women squatting on the flag-stones,
picking lice from each other's heads, and serving a purchaser
between-times with cigars, betel-nut, and food, when occasion offered.
Certain small handicrafts are almost entirely taken up by the Chinese,
such as boot-making, furniture-making, small smith's-work and
casting, tin-working, tanning, dyeing, etc., whilst the natives are
occupied as silversmiths, engravers, saddlers, water-colour painters,
furniture-polishers, bookbinders, etc. A few years ago the apothecaries
were almost exclusively Germans; now the profession is shared with
natives, half-castes, and one British firm.
The thoroughfares were crowded with carriages during the whole day
drawn by pretty native ponies. The public conveyance regulations in
Spanish times were excellent. The rates for hiring were very moderate,
and were calculated by the time engaged. Incivility of drivers was
a thing almost unknown. Their patience was astonishing. They would,
if required, wait for the fare for hours together in a drenching rain
without a murmur. Having engaged a vehicle (in Manila or elsewhere)
it is usual to guide the driver by calling out to him each turn he has
to take. Thus, if he be required to go to the right--_mano_ (hand)
is the word used; if to the left--_silla_ (saddle) is shouted. This
custom originated in the days before natives were intrusted to drive,
when a postilion rode the left (saddle) pony, and guided his right
(hand) animal with a short rein.
Through the city and suburbs ran lines of tramway with cars drawn
by ponies, and (from October 20, 1888 until 1905) a steam tramway
operated as far as Malabon.
Fortunately, Easter week brought two days of rest every year for
the ponies, namely, Holy Thursday and Good Friday. As in Spain also,
with certain exceptions, such as doctors, urgent Government service,
etc., vehicles were not permitted in the streets and highways on those
days. Soldiers passing through the streets on service carried their
guns with the muzzles pointing to the ground. The church bells were
tolled with muffled hammers; hence, the vibration of the metal being
checked, the peal sounded like the beating of so many tin cans. The
shops were closed, and, so far as was practicable, every outward
appearance of care for worldly concerns was extinguished, whilst it was
customary for the large majority of the population--natives as well as
Europeans--who went through the streets to be attired in black. On Good
Friday afternoon there was an imposing religious procession through
the city and suburbs. On the following Saturday morning (_Sabado de
Gloria_), there was a lively scene after the celebration of Mass. In a
hundred portals and alleys, public and private vehicles were awaiting
the peal of the unmuffled church bells. The instant this was heard
there was a rush in all directions--the clanking of a thousand ponies'
feet; the rumbling sound of hundreds of carriages. The mingled shouts
of the natives and the Chinese coolies showed with what bated anxiety
and forced subjection material interest and the affairs of this life
had been held in check and made subservient to higher thoughts.
An official computation in the year 1885 stated the average number
of vehicles which passed through the main street of the city (_Calle
Real_) _per day_ to be 950; through the _Escolta_, the principal
street of Binondo, 5,000; and across the bridge, connecting Binondo
with Manila City (where the river is 350 feet wide), 6,000.
Sir John Bowring, in the account of his short visit to Manila in 1858,
says he was informed on good authority that the average number of
vehicles passing daily at that date through the _Escolta_ amounted to
915; across the bridge, between Binondo and Manila, 1,256; so that
apparently in 27 years the number of vehicles in use had increased
by about five to one.
The Pasig River is navigable by steam-launches and
specially-constructed steamers of light draught, which go up the whole
distance into the Laguna de Bay. The river is crossed at Manila and
suburbs by three bridges, the chief of which is the _Puente de Espana._
[167]
In the suburbs there were four Theatres, in none of which a dramatic
company of any note would consent to perform. In one (the _Teatro
Filipino_) the performance could be partly seen from the street;
another (the _Teatro de Tondo_) was situated in a dirty thoroughfare
in a low quarter; the third (the _Teatro del Principe_) usually gave
an entertainment in dialect for the amusement of the natives; and the
fourth (the _Teatro Zorrilla_), located in Tondo, was built to serve
as theatre or circus without any regard to its acoustic properties;
hence only one-third of the audience could hear the dialogue. There
was a permanent Spanish Comedy Company (on tour at times in Yloilo
and Cebu), and occasionally a troupe of foreign strolling players,
a circus, a concert, or an Italian Opera Company came to Manila to
entertain the public for a few weeks.
In 1880 there used to be a kind of tent-theatre, called the _Carrillo_
where performances were given without any pretence to histrionic
art or stage regulations. The scenes were highly ridiculous, and
the gravest spectator could not suppress laughter at the exaggerated
attitudes and comic display of the native performers. The public had
full licence to call to the actors and criticize them in loud voices
_seance tenante_--often to join in the choruses and make themselves
quite at home during the whole spectacle. About a year afterwards
the _Carrillo_ was suppressed. The first Spaniards who systematically
taught the Filipinos European histrionics were Ramon Cubero and his
wife, Elisea Raguer (both very popular in their day), whose daughter
married the Philippine actor and dramatic author Jose Carvajal. The
old-fashioned native play was the "_Moro Moro_," which continued in
full vogue, in the provinces, up to the end of Spanish dominion. [168]
In the suburb of Paco there was a bull-ring, which did not generally
attract the _elite_, as a bull-fight there was simply a burlesque
upon this national sport as seen in Spain. I have witnessed a Manila
_espada_ hang on to the tail of his victim, and a _banderillero_ meet
the rush of the bull with a vault over his head, amidst hoots from the
shady class of audience who formed the _habitues_ of the Manila ring.
The Civil Governor of the Province had full arbitrary power to enforce
the regulations relating to public performances, but it was seldom he
imposed a fine. The programme had to be sanctioned by authority before
it was published, and it could neither be added to nor any part of
it omitted, without special licence. The performance was given under
the censorship of the Corregidor or his delegate, whose duty it was
to guard the interests of the public, and to see that the spectacle
did not outrage morality.
The ostensible purpose of every annual feast all over the Colony
was to render homage to the local patron Saint and give thanks for
mercies received in the past year. Every town, village, and suburb
was supposed to be specially cared for by its patron Saint, and when
circumstances permitted it there was a religious procession, which
was intended to impress on the minds of the faithful the virtue of
the intercessors by ocular demonstration. Vast sums of money were
expended from time to time in adornment of the images, the adoration
of which seemed to be tinctured with pantheistic feeling, as if these
symbols were part of the Divine essence.
Among the suburban feasts of Manila, that of Binondo was particularly
striking. It took place in the month of October. An imposing
illuminated procession, headed by the clergy, guarded by troops, and
followed up by hundreds of native men, women and children carrying
candles, promenaded the principal streets of the vicinity. But the
religious feeling of the truly devoted was shocked by one ridiculous
feature--the mob of native men, dressed in gowns and head-wreaths,
in representation of the Jews who persecuted our Saviour, rushing
about the streets in tawdry attire before and after the ceremony in
such apparent ignorance of the real intention that it annulled the
sublimity of the whole function.
All Saints' Day--November 1--brought a large income to the priests in
the most frequented parish churches. This is one of the days on which
souls can be got out of Purgatory. The faithful flocked in mobs to the
popular shrines, where an effort was made to place a lighted wax candle
at the foot of the altar, and on bended knee to invoke the Saints' aid
on behalf of their departed relatives and friends. But the crowd was
so great that the pious were not permitted this consolation for more
than two or three minutes. Sacristans made them move on, to leave room
for new-comers, and their candles were then extinguished and collected
in heaps, Chinese infidel coolies being sometimes employed to carry
away the spoil to the parish priest's store. The wax was afterwards
sold to dealers. One church is said to have collected on November 1,
1887, as much as 40 cwts., valued at P37 per cwt. This day was a
public holiday, and in the afternoon and evening it was the custom
to visit the last resting-places, to leave a token of remembrance on
the tombs of the lamented.
The Asylum for Lepers, at Dalumbayan, in the ward of Santa Cruz, was
also visited the same day, and whilst many naturally went there to
see their afflicted relations and friends, others, of morbid tastes,
satisfied their curiosity. This Asylum, subsidized by Government
to the extent of P500 per annum, was, in the time of the Spaniards,
under the care of Franciscan friars.
In January or February the Chinese celebrate their New Year, and
suspend work during a week or ten days. The authorities did not
permit them to revel in fun to the extent they would have done in
their own country; nevertheless, Chinese music, gongs, and crackers
were indulged in, in the quarters most thickly populated by this race.
The natives generally have an unbounded passion for cock-fighting,
and in the year 1779 it occurred to the Government that a profitable
revenue might be derived from a tax on this sport. Thenceforth it
was only permitted under a long code of regulations on Sundays and
feast days, and in places officially designated for the "meet" of
the combatants. In Manila alone the permission to meet was extended
to Thursdays. The cock-pit is called the _Gallera_, and the tax was
farmed out to the highest bidding contractor, who undertook to pay
a fixed annual sum to the Government, making the best he could for
himself out of the gross proceeds from entrance-fees and sub-letting
rents in excess of that amount. In like manner the Government farmed
out the taxes on horses, vehicles, sale of opium, slaughter of animals
for consumption, bridge-tolls, etc., and, until 1888, the market
dues. Gambling licences also brought a good revenue, but it would
have been as impossible to suppress cock-fighting in the Islands as
gambling in England. [169]
The Spanish laws relating to the cock-pit were very strict, and
were specially decreed on March 21,1861. It was enacted that the
maximum amount to be staked by one person on one contest should be 50
pesos. That each cock should wear only one metal spur. That the fight
should be held to be terminated on the death of one or both cocks,
or when one of them retreated. However, the decree contained in all a
hundred clauses too tedious to enumerate. Cock-fighting is discussed
among the natives with the same enthusiasm as horse-racing is in
England. The majority of sportsmen rear cocks for several years,
bestowing upon them as much tender care as a mother would on her
infant. When the hope of the connoisseur has arrived at the age of
discretion and valour, it is put forward in open combat, perhaps
to perish in the first encounter. And the patient native goes on
training others.
Within twenty minutes' drive from Manila, at Nagtajan, on the
right bank of the Pasig River, there was a good European club (since
removed to Ermita), of which the members were chiefly English-speaking
merchants and employees. The entrance-fee was [Pesos]30; the monthly
subscription was [Pesos]5, and [Pesos]1 per month extra for the use
of a fairly good library.
The principal hotel--the "Hotel de Oriente"--was opened in Binondo
in January, 1889, in a large two-storeyed building, with 83 rooms
for the public service, and stabling for 25 horses. It was the
first building specially erected in the Colony for an hotel. The
accommodation and board were good. It ranked with the best hotels
in the East. [In 1903 the building was purchased by the (American)
Insular Government for public offices.] In Manila City and Binondo
there were several other Spanish hotels where the board was tolerable,
but the lodging and service abominable. There was a telephone system
established throughout the city and its environs.
The press was represented by five dailies--_El Diario de Manila,
La Oceania Espanola_, three evening papers, _El Comercio, La Voz de
Espana_, and (from March 3, 1889) _La Correspondencia de Manila_--also
a bi-weekly, _La Opinion_. Some good articles appeared at times
in the three dailies first mentioned, but as newspapers strictly
so-called, the information in all was remarkably scant, due to the
strict censorship exercised jointly by a priest and a layman. There
was also a purely official organ--the _Gaceta de Manila_.
The first news-sheet published in Manila appears to have been the
_Filantropo_, in the year 1822, which existed only a few years. Others
followed and failed in a short time. The first Manila daily paper was
the _Estrella_, which started in 1846 and lasted three years. Since
then several dailies have seen the light for a brief period. The
_Diario de Manila_, started in 1848, was the oldest newspaper of
those existing at the end of the Spanish regime.
In Spain journalism began in the 17th century by the publication,
at irregular intervals, of sheets called "_Relaciones_." The first
Spanish newspaper, correctly so called, was established in the 18th
century. Seventy-eight years ago there was only one regular periodical
journal in Madrid. After the Peninsula War, a step was made towards
political journalism. This led to such an abuse of the pen that in
1824 all, except the _Gaceta de Madrid_, the _Gaceta de Bayona_, the
_Diario_, and a few non-political papers were suppressed. Madrid has
now scores of newspapers, of which half a dozen are very readable. The
_Correspondencia de Espana_, founded by the late Marquis de Santa
Ana as a Montpensier organ, used to afford me great amusement in
Madrid. It contained columns of most extraordinary events in short
paragraphs (_gacetillas_), and became highly popular, hundreds of
persons eagerly waiting to secure a copy. In a subsequent issue, a
few days later, many of the paragraphs in the same columns were merely
corrections of the statements previously published, but so ingeniously
interposed that the hoax took the public for a long time. Newspapers
from Spain were not publicly exposed for sale in Manila; those which
were seen came from friends or by private subscription, whilst many
were proscribed as inculcating ideas dangerously liberal.
There was a botanical garden, rather neglected, although it cost the
Colony about P8,600 per annum. The stock of specimens was scanty,
and the grounds were deserted by the general public. It was at least
useful in one sense--that bouquets were supplied at once to purchasers
at cheap rates, from 25 cents and upwards.
In the environs of Manila there are several pleasant drives and
promenades, the most popular one being the _Luneta_, where a military
band frequently played after sunset. The Gov.-General's palace [170]
and the residences of the foreign European population and well-to-do
natives and Spaniards were in the suburbs of the city outside the
commercial quarter. Some of these private villas were extremely
attractive, and commodiously designed for the climate, but little
attention was paid until quite the latter days to architectural beauty.
Very few of the best private residences have more than one storey
above the ground-floor. The ground-floor is either uninhabited or
used for lodging the native servants, or as a coach-house, on account
of the damp. From the vestibule main entrance (_zaguan_) one passes
to the upper floor, which constitutes the house proper, where the
family resides. It is usually divided into a spacious hall (_caida_),
leading from the staircase to the dining and reception-rooms; on
one or two sides of these apartments are the dormitories and other
private rooms. The kitchen is often a separate building, connected
with the house by a roofed passage; and by the side of the kitchen,
on the same level, is a yard called the _azotea_--here the bath-room
is erected. The most modern houses have corrugated-iron roofs. The
ground-floor exterior walls are of stone or brick, and the whole of the
upper storey is of wood, with sliding windows all around. Instead of
glass, opaque oyster-shells (Tagalog, _capis_) are employed to admit
the light whilst obstructing the sun's rays. Formerly the walls up to
the roof were of stone, but since the last great earthquake of 1880
the use of wood from the first storey upwards has been rigorously
enforced in the capital and suburbs for public safety. Iron roofs
are very hot, and there are still some few comfortable, spacious,
and cool suburban residences with tile roof or with the primitive
cogon-grass or nipa palm-leaf thatching, very conducive to comfort
although more liable to catch fire.
In Spanish times there were no white burglars, and the main entrance
of a dwelling-house was invariably left open until the family
retired for the night. Mosquitoes abound in Manila, coming from the
numerous malarious creeks which traverse the wards, and few persons
can sleep without a curtain. To be at one's ease, a daily bath is
indispensable. The heat from 12 to 4 p.m. is oppressive from March
to May, and most persons who have no afternoon occupation, sleep the
_siesta_ from 1 to 3 o'clock. The conventional lunch-hour all over
the Colony is noon precisely, and dinner at about 8 o'clock. The
visiting hours are from 5 to 7 in the evening, and _reunions_ and
musical _soirees_ from 9. Society was far less divided here than
in the British-Asiatic Colonies. There was not the same rigid line
drawn as in British India between the official, non-official, and
native. Spaniards of the best families in the capital endeavoured,
with varying success, to europeanize the people of the country, and
many of them exchanged visits with half-breeds, and at times with
wealthy pure natives. Spanish hospitality in the Philippines was far
more marked than in Europe, and educated foreigners were generally
received with great courtesy.
Since the year 1884 the city and suburbs are well supplied with
good drinking-water, which is one of the most praiseworthy modern
improvements undertaken by the Spanish Government. To provide for
this beneficial work, a Spanish philanthropist, named Carriedo--a
late commander of an Acapulco galleon--left a sum of money in the
18th century, in order that the capital and accumulated interest might
one day defray the expense. The water supply (brought from Santolan,
near Mariquina), being more than sufficient for general requirements,
the city and suburbs were, little by little, adorned with several
public fountains. Although Manila lies low the climate is healthy,
and during several years of personal observation I found the average
maximum and minimum temperature at noon in the shade to be 98 deg. and 75 deg.
Fahr. respectively. The climate of Manila may be generally summed up as
follows, viz.:--December, January, and February, a delightful spring;
March, April, and May, an oppressive heat; June, July, August, and
September, heavy rains and more tolerable heat; October and November,
doubtful--sometimes very wet, sometimes fairly dry. Briefly, as to
climate, it is a pleasant place to reside in.
In 1593 Manila already had a coat-of-arms, with the title of "_Muy
Insigne y siempre leal Ciudad_" and in the beginning of the 17th
century King Philip III. conferred upon it the title of "_La muy noble
Ciudad _"; hence it was lately styled "_La muy noble y siempre leal
Ciudad_" (the very noble and always loyal city).
According to Gironniere, [171] the civilized population of this Colony
in 1845 was as follows, namely:--
Europeans (including 500 Friars) 4,050
Spanish-native half-breeds 8,584
Spanish-native-Chinese half-breeds. 180,000
Chinese 9,901
Pure natives 3,304,742
Total civilized population 3,507,277
In the last Spanish census, taken in 1876, the total number of
inhabitants, including Europeans and Chinese, was shown to be a little
under 6,200,000, but a fixed figure cannot be relied upon because it
was impossible to estimate exactly the number of unsubdued savages
and mountaineers, who paid no taxes. The increase of native population
was rated at about two per cent, per annum, except in the Negrito or
Aeta tribes, which are known to be decreasing.
In Manila City and wards it is calculated there were in 1896 about
340,000 inhabitants, of which the ratio of classes was approximately
the following, namely:--
Per cent.
Pure natives 68.00
Chinese half-breeds 16.65
Chinese 12.25
Spaniards and Creoles 1.65
Spanish half-breeds 1.30
Foreigners (other than Chinese) 0.15
100.00
The walled city alone contained a population of about 16,000 souls.
Typhoons affect Manila more or less severely about once a year,
nearly always between April and middle of December, and sometimes
cause immense destruction to property. Roofs of houses are carried
away; the wooden upper-storey frontages are blown out; ships are torn
from their moorings; small craft laden with merchandise are wrecked,
and the inhabitants flee from the streets to make fast their premises,
and await in intense anxiety the conclusion of the tempest. A hurricane
of this description desolated Manila in October, 1882, and, at the same
time, the wind was accompanied by torrents of rain, which did great
damage to the interiors of the residences, warehouses, and offices. A
small house, entirely made of wood, was blown completely over, and the
natives who had taken refuge on the ground-floor were left, without a
moment's notice, with the sky for a roof. Two Chinamen, who thought to
take advantage of the occasion and economically possess themselves of
galvanized-iron roofing, had their heads nearly severed by sheets of
this material flying through the air, and their dead bodies were picked
up in the _Rosario_ the next morning. I was busy with the servants
all that day in my house, in the unsuccessful attempt to fasten the
windows and doors. Part of the kitchen was carried away; water came
in everywhere; and I had to wait patiently, with an umbrella over me,
until the storm ceased. The last similarly destructive hurricane,
affecting Manila, occurred on September 26, 1905.
Manila is also in constant danger of destruction from earthquakes. The
most serious one within the last century occurred in June,
1863. The shock lasted half a minute, and the falling _debris_ of
the upheaved buildings caused 400 deaths, whilst 2,000 persons were
wounded. The total loss of property on that occasion was estimated at
P 8,000,000. Official returns show that 46 public edifices were thrown
down; 28 were nearly destroyed; 570 private buildings were wrecked,
and 528 were almost demolished. Simultaneously, an earthquake occurred
in Cavite--the port and arsenal south-west of Manila--destroying
several public buildings. In 1898 many of the ruins caused by this
earthquake were still left undisturbed within the City of Manila. In
1863 the best buildings had heavy tiled roofs, and many continued so,
in spite of the severe lesson, until after the shock of 1880, when
galvanized corrugated iron came into general use for roofing, and,
in fact, no one in Manila or Binondo now builds a house without it.
In 1880 no lives were lost, but the damage to house property was
considerable. The only person who suffered physically from this
calamity was an Englishman, Mr. Parker, whose arm was so severely
injured that it was found necessary to amputate it.
Prior to 1863 the most serious earthquakes recorded happened in
November, 1610; November, 1645; August, 1658; in 1675; in 1699; in
1796, and in 1852. Consequent on the shock of 1645, all the public
buildings were destroyed excepting one monastery and two churches,
some 600 persons were killed, and the Gov.-General was extricated
from the ruins of his palace.
[172]According to the Jesuit Father Faura, Director of the Manila
Observatory, the following slight quakes occurred in 1881, viz.:--3
in July, 7 in August, 10 in September, and 3 in October. Earth-tremors
almost imperceptible are so frequent in these Islands that one hardly
heeds them after a few months' residence.
In a cosmopolitan city like Manila--the temporary home of so
many different races--it was interesting to observe the varied
wearing-apparel in vogue. The majority of the Spaniards wore the
European costume; the British generally dressed in white drill, with
the coat buttoned up to the neck, and finished off with a narrow
collar of the same material. The Chinese always preserved their own
peculiar national dress--the most rational of all--with the pig-tail
coiled into a chignon. The pure natives and many half-breeds wore
the shirt outside the trousers. It was usually white, with a long
stiff front, and cut European fashion; but often it was made of
an extremely fine yellow-tinted expensive material, called _pina_
(_vide_ p. 283). Some few of the native _jeunesse doree_ of Manila
donned the European dress, much to their apparent discomfort. The
official attire of the headman of a Manila ward and his subordinates
was a shirt with the tail outside the trousers, like other natives
or half-breeds, but over which was worn the official distinction of
a short Eton jacket, reaching to the hips. All this is now changing,
with a tendency to imitate the Americans.
A native woman wore, as she does now, a flowing skirt of gay
colours--bright red, green, and white being the common choice. The
length of train, and whether the garment be of cotton, silk, or
satin, depends on her means. Corsets are not yet the fashion, but a
chemisette, which just covers her breast, and a starched neckcloth
(_panuelo_) of _pina_ or _husi_ stuff are in common use. The _panuelo_
is square, and, being folded triangularly, it hangs in a point down the
back and stands very high up at the neck, in the 17th century style,
whilst the other two points are brooched where they meet at the top of
the chemisette _decolletee_. To this chemisette are added immensely
wide short sleeves. Her hair is brushed back from the forehead,
without a parting, and coiled into a tight, flat chignon. In her
hand she carries a fan, without which she would feel lost. Native
women have an extravagant desire to possess jewellery--even if they
never wear it. The head is covered with a white mantle of very thin
material, sometimes figured, but more often this and the neckcloth
are embroidered--a work in which they excel. Finally, her naked
feet are partly enveloped in _chinelas_--a kind of slipper, flat,
like a shoe-sole with no heel, but just enough upper in front to put
four toes inside. Altogether, the appearance of a Philippine woman of
well-to-do family dressed on a gala day is curious, sometimes pretty,
but, in any case, admirably suited to the climate.
Since 1898 American example, the great demand for _pina_ muslin, at
any price, by American ladies, and the scarcity of this texture, due
to the plants having been abandoned during the wars, have necessarily
brought about certain modifications in female attire.
There is something very picturesque in the simple costume of a peasant
woman going to market. She has no flowing gown, but a short skirt,
enveloped in a _tapis_, generally of cotton. It is simply a rectangular
piece of stuff; as a rule, all blue, red, or black. It is tucked in
at the waist, drawn very tightly around the loins, and hangs over
the skirt a little below the knees, the open edges being at the back.
At times the better class wear the more becoming short skirt and
_tapis_ of silk or satin, with gold-lace embroidered _chinelas_. This
dress is elegant, and adds a charm to the wearer.
The _tapi_ is smaller. It is not used in the street; it is a sort
of _neglige_ apparel worn in the house only, or for going to the
bath. The poorest classes go to the river-side to bathe in it. It is
drawn all around from the waist downwards.
The _patadiong_ is more commonly worn by the Visaya than the northern
woman. It is somewhat like the _tapis_, but is drawn round the waist
from the back, the open edges meeting, more or less, at the front. In
Luzon Island the old women generally prefer this to the _tapis_.
On feast days and special occasions, or for dances, the young women
who can afford it sport the gaudy flowing gown of bright particoloured
striped silk or satin, known as the _saya suelta_, with the train
cut in a peculiar fashion unknown in Europe.
The figure of a peasant woman is erect and stately, due to her habit
from infancy of carrying jars of water, baskets of orchard produce,
etc., on her head with a pad of coiled cloth. The characteristic
bearing of both sexes, when walking, consists in swinging the arms
(but more often the right arm only) to and fro far more rapidly than
the stride, so that it gives them the appearance of paddling.
A "first class" Manila funeral, before the American advent, was
a whimsical display of pompous ignorance worth seeing once. There
was a hideous bier with rude relics of barbarism in the shape of
paltry adornments. A native driver, with a tall "chimney pot" hat,
full of salaried mournfulness, drove the white team. The bier was
headed by a band of music playing a lively march, and followed by
a line of carriages containing the relations and friends of the
deceased. The burial was almost invariably within twenty-four hours
of the decease--sometimes within six hours.
There is nothing in Manila which instantly impresses one as strikingly
national, whether it be in artistic handicraft, music, painting,
sculpture, or even diversions. The peculiar traditional customs of
an Eastern people--their native dress, their characteristic habits,
constitute--by their originality and variation, the only charm to
the ordinary European traveller. The Manila middle-class native,
in particular, possesses none of this. He is but a vivid contrast
to his vivacious Spanish model, a striking departure from his own
picturesque aboriginal state, and an unsuccessful imitator of the
grace and easy manners of his Western tutor. In short, he is neither
one thing nor the other in its true representation compared with the
genial, genuine, and natural type to be found in the provinces.
Many years' residence in Manila, or in any one particular locality of
the Archipelago, will not enable either the alien or the native to form
a just opinion of the physical, social, or economic conditions of the
Colony; they can only be understood after extensive travelling through
and around the Islands. Nor will three or four tours suffice for the
intelligent inquirer, because first impressions often lead to false
conclusions; information obtained through one source must needs be
verified by another; the danger of mistaking isolated cases for general
rules has to be avoided, and, lastly, the native does not reveal to the
first-time traveller the intricacies of Philippine life. Furthermore,
the traveller in any official capacity is necessarily the least
informed person concerning the real thought and aspirations of the
Filipino or true Philippine life; his position debars him from the
opportunity of investigating these things.
It would be beyond the scope of this work to take the reader mentally
through the thousand or more miles of lovely scenery, and into the
homes of the unsophisticated classes who still preserve, unalloyed,
many of their natural characteristics and customs. But within half a
day's journey from the capital there are many places of historical
interest, among which, on account of its revived popularity since
the American advent, may be mentioned Los Banos, on the south shore
of the Laguna de Bay.
Los Banos (the baths) owes its origin to the hot springs flowing from
the volcanic Maquiling Mountain, which have been known to the natives
from time immemorial when the place was called Maynit, which signifies
"hot."
At the close of the 16th century these mineral waters attracted the
attention of Martyr Saint Pedro Bautista (_vide_ p. 64), who sent
a brother of his Order to establish a hospital for the natives. The
brother went there, but shortly returned to Manila and died. So the
matter remained in abeyance for years. Subsequently a certain Fray
Diego de Santa Maria, an expert in medicine and the healing art, was
sent there to test the waters. He found they contained properties
highly beneficial in curing rheumatism and certain other maladies,
so thenceforth many natives and Spaniards went there to seek bodily
relief. But there was no convenient abode for the visitors; no
arrangements for taking the baths, and the Government did nothing. A
Franciscan friar was appointed chaplain to the sick visitors, but
his very incommodious residence was inadequate for the lodging of
patients, and, for want of funds, the priest abandoned the project
of establishing a hospital, and returned to Manila. In 1604 the
Gov.-General, Pedro Bravo de Acuna, gave his attention to this
place, and consented to the establishment of a hospital, church,
and convent. The hospital was constructed of bamboo and other light
material, and dedicated to Our Lady of Holy Waters.
Fray Diego de Santa Maria was appointed to the vicarage and the charge
of the hospital. The whole was supported by gifts from the many sick
persons who went there, but the greatest difficulty was to procure
food. Several natives made donations of lands, with the produce of
which the hospital was to be maintained. These gifts, however, proved
insufficient. The priests then solicited permission from the villagers
of Pila (on the lake shore near Santa Cruz) to pasture cattle on the
tongue of land on the opposite coast called Jalajala, which belonged
to them. With their consent a cattle-ranche was established there;
subsequently, a building was erected, and the place was in time known
as the _Estancia de Jalajala_. Then the permission was asked for and
obtained from the Pila natives to plant cocoanut palms, fruit-trees,
and vegetables. Later on the Austin and Franciscan friars quarrelled
about the right of dominion over the place and district called Maynit,
but eventually the former gave way and ceded their alleged rights in
perpetuity to the Franciscans.
In 1640 Los Banos (formerly a dependency of Bay, under the Austin
friars) was constituted a "town." The Franciscans continued to
beg one concession after another, until at length, in 1671, stone
buildings were commenced--a church, convent, hospital, bathing-pond,
vapour-house, etc., being constructed. Natives and Europeans flocked in
numbers to these baths, and it is said that people even came from India
to be cured. The property lent and belonging to the establishment,
the accumulated funds, and the live-stock had all increased so much in
value that the Government appointed an administrator. Thenceforth the
place declined; its popularity vanished; the administrator managed
matters so particularly for his own benefit that food again became
scarce, and the priest was paid only 10 pesos per month as salary. In
Jalajala a large house was built; the land was put under regular
cultivation; tenants were admitted; but when the property was declared
a royal demesne the Pila inhabitants protested, and nominally regained
possession of the lent property. But the administrator re-opened
and contested the question in the law-courts, and, pending these
proceedings, Jalajala was rented from the Government. During this
long process of legal entanglements the property had several times
been transferred to one and another until the last holder regarded
it as his private estate.
At the beginning of last century Jalajala came into the possession of
M. Paul de la Gironniere, from whom it passed to another Frenchman,
at whose death a third Frenchman, M. Jules Daillard, became owner. On
his decease it became the property of an English Bank, from whom it was
purchased by the Franciscan friars, in 1897, for the sum of P.50,000,
and re-sold by them to a Belgian firm in 1900.
The bathing establishment was gradually falling into decay, until
its complete ruin was brought about by a fire, which left only the
remnant of walls. The priest continued there as nominal chaplain
with his salary of 10 pesos per month and an allowance of rice. The
establishment was not restored until the Government of Domingo
Moriones (1877-80). A vapour bath-house and residence were built,
but the hospital was left unfinished, and it was rotting away from
neglect when the Spaniards evacuated the Islands.
The portion of the Hospital of Los Banos which remained intact, and
the house attached thereto, which the natives called "the palace,"
served to accommodate invalids who went to take the cure. These baths
should only be taken in the dry season--December to May.
Besides the convent and church the town simply consisted of a row of
dingy bungalows on either side of the highroad, with a group of the
same on the mountain side. Since the American advent the place has
been much improved and extended.
On his way from Manila to Los Banos the traveller will pass (on
the left bank of the Pasig River) the ruins of _Guadalupe Church_,
which mark the site of a great massacre of Chinese during their
revolt in 1603 (_vide_ p. 114). The following legend of this once
beautiful and popular church was given to me by the Recoleto friars
at the convent of the Church of La Soledad, in Cavite:--During the
construction of the world-famed _Escorial_, by order of Philip II.,
the architect's nephew, who was employed by his uncle on the work,
killed a man. The King pardoned him on condition that he be banished
to the Philippines. He therefore came to Manila, took holy orders,
and designed and superintended the building of Guadalupe Church,
from the scaffolding of which he fell, and having been caught by the
neck in a rope suspended from the timbers he was hanged.
During the wars of the Rebellion and Independence this ancient building
was destroyed, only the shot-riddled and battered outer walls remaining
in 1905.