resists conversion or does not desire it. But, as above stated,
baptism has been postponed in some districts, for lack of workers
to remain with the people, in order that they may not retrograde and
return to their idolatries. In this work, the best that is possible
is done, for the mission-fields are very large and extensive. In many
districts the religious make use, in their visitas, of certain of the
natives who are clever and well instructed, so that these may teach
the others to pray daily, instruct them in other matters touching
religion, and see that they come to mass at the central missions; and
in this way they succeed in preserving and maintaining their converts.
Hitherto, the orders who control these missions in virtue of the
omnimodo and other apostolic concessions [368] have attended to the
conversion of the natives, administered the sacraments, looked after
the spiritual and temporal and ecclesiastical affairs of the natives,
and absolved them in cases of difficulty. But now that there are an
archbishop and bishops, this is being curtailed, and the management
of these affairs is being given to the bishops, as the archbishop's
vicars--although not to such an extent, nor has the administration
of these natives been placed in their charge, in matters of justice,
and under the inspection and superintendence of the bishops, as they
have endeavored to obtain. [369]
The governor and royal Audiencia of Manila attend to what it is
advisable to provide and direct for the greatest accomplishment and
advancement of this conversion, and the administration of the natives
and their missions--both by causing the encomenderos to assist
the religious and churches, in the encomiendas that they enjoy,
with the stipends and necessary expenses of the missions; and by
furnishing from the royal revenues what pertains to it, which is no
less a sum. [370] They also ordain whatever else is required to be
provided and remedied for the said missions and for the advancement
of the natives. This also is attended to by the archbishop and the
bishops in what pertains to them in their duty and charge as pastors.
The Holy Office of the Inquisition, residing in Mexico of Nueva
España, has its commissaries, servants, and helpers in Manila and
in the bishoprics of the islands, who attend to matters touching
the Holy Office. They never fail to have plenty to do there because
of the entrance of so many strangers into those districts. However,
this holy tribunal does not have jurisdiction of the causes pertaining
to the natives, as the latter are so recently converted.
All these islands are subdued, and are governed from Manila by means
of alcaldes-mayor, corregidors, and lieutenants, each of whom rules
and administers justice in his own district and province. Appeals from
their acts and sentences go to the royal Audiencia. The governor and
captain-general provides what pertains to government and war.
The chiefs, who formerly held the other natives in subjection,
now have no power over them in the tyrannical manner of former
days. This was not the least benefit received by these natives in
having been freed from such servitude. However, it is true that
matters touching the slavery of former days have remained on the
same footing as before. The king our sovereign has ordered by his
decrees that the honors of the chiefs be preserved to them as such;
and that the other natives recognize them and assist them with certain
of the labors that they used to give when pagans. This is done with
the lords and possessors of barangays, and those belonging to such and
such a barangay are under that chief's control. When he harvests his
rice, they go one day to help him; and the same if he builds a house,
or rebuilds one. This chief lord of a barangay collects tribute from
his adherents, and takes charge of these collections, to pay them to
the encomendero. [371]
Besides the above, each village has a governor [372] who is elected. He
and his constables who are called vilangos [373] comprise the
usual magistracy among the natives. The governor hears civil suits
where a moderate sum is involved; in appeal, the case goes to the
corregidor or alcalde-mayor of the province. These governors are
elected annually by the votes of all the married natives of such
and such a village. The governor of Manila confirms the election,
and gives the title of governor to the one elected, and orders him to
take the residencia of the outgoing governor. [374] This governor,
in addition to the vilangos and scrivener (before whom he makes his
acts in writing, in the language of the natives of that province),
[375] holds also the chiefs--lords of barangays, and those who are
not so--under his rule and government, and, for any special service,
such as collections of tributes, and assignments of personal services,
as his datos and mandones. [376] They do not allow the chiefs to
oppress the timaguas or slaves under their control.
The same customs observed by these natives in their paganism, are
observed by them since they have become Christians, in so far as
they are not contrary to natural law, especially as to their slavery,
successions, inheritances, adoptions, wills, and lawful trading. In
their suits, they always allege and prove the custom, and are judged
by it, according to royal decrees to that effect. In other causes
which do not involve their customs, and in criminal cases, the matter
is determined by law as among Spaniards.
All of these islands and their natives, so far as they were pacified,
were apportioned into encomiendas from the beginning. To the royal
crown were allotted those which were chief towns and ports, and the
dwellers of the cities and towns; and also other special encomiendas
and villages in all the provinces, for the necessities and expenses
of the royal estate. All the rest was assigned to the conquerors and
settlers who have served and labored for the conquest and pacification,
and in the war. This matter is in charge of the governor, who takes
into consideration the merits and services of the claimants. [377]
In like manner the villages that become vacant are assigned. There
are many very excellent encomiendas throughout the islands, and they
offer many profits, both by the amount of their tributes and by the
nature and value of what is paid as tribute. [378] The encomienda
lasts, according to the royal laws and decrees, and by the regular
order and manner of succession to them, for two lives; but it may
be extended to a third life, by permission. After it becomes vacant,
it is again assigned and granted anew.
The tributes paid to their encomenderos by the natives were assigned
by the first governor, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, in the provinces of
Vicayas and Pintados, and in the islands of Luzon and its vicinity;
they were equal to the sum of eight reals annually for an entire
tribute from each tributario. The natives were to pay it in their
products--in gold, cloth, cotton, rice, bells, fowls, and whatever
else they possessed or harvested. The fixed price and value of each
article was assigned so that, when the tribute was paid in any one
of them, or in all of them, it should not exceed the value of the
eight reals. So it has continued until now, and the governors have
increased the appraisements and values of the products at different
times, as they have deemed advisable.
The encomenderos have made great profits in collecting in kind, for,
after they acquired possession of the products, they sold them at
higher prices. By this they increased their incomes and the proceeds
of their encomiendas considerably; until a few years ago his Majesty,
by petition of the religious and the pressure that they brought to
bear on him in this matter, ordered for this region that the natives
should pay their tribute in whatever they wished--in kind or in
money--without being compelled to do otherwise. Consequently, when
they should have paid their eight reals, they would have fulfilled
their obligation. Accordingly this rule was initiated; but experience
demonstrates that, although it seemed a merciful measure, and one
favorable to the natives, it is doing them great injury. For, since
they naturally dislike to work, they do not sow, spin, dig gold,
rear fowls, or raise other food supplies, as they did before, when
they had to pay the tribute in those articles. They easily obtain,
without so much work, the peso of money which is the amount of their
tribute. Consequently it follows that the natives have less capital
and wealth, because they do not work; and the country, which was
formerly very well provided and well-supplied with all products,
is now suffering want and deprivation of them. The owners of the
encomiendas, both those of his Majesty and those of private persons
who possess them, have sustained considerable loss and reduction in
the value of the encomiendas.
When Gomez Perez Dasmariñas was appointed governor of the Filipinas,
he brought royal decrees ordering the formation of the camp in Manila,
with an enrollment of four hundred paid soldiers, with their officers,
galleys, and other military supplies, for the defense and security
of the country. Before that time all the Spanish inhabitants had
attended to that without any pay. Then an increase of two reals to
each tributario over the eight reals was ordered. This was to be
collected by the encomenderos at the same time when they collected
the eight reals of the tribute, and was to be delivered and placed
in the royal treasury. There this amount was to be entered on an
account separate from that of the other revenue of his Majesty, and
was to be applied in the following manner: one and one-half reals for
the expenses of the said camp and war stores; and the remaining half
real for the pay of the prebendaries of the Manila church, which his
Majesty pays from his treasury, until such time as their tithes and
incomes suffice for their sustenance. [379]
These tributes are collected from all the natives, Christians and
infidels, in their entirety--except that in those encomiendas without
instruction the encomendero does not take the fourth part of the eight
reals (which equals two reals) for himself, since that encomienda has
no instruction or expenses for it; but he takes them and deposits
them in Manila, in a fund called "the fourths." [380] The money
obtained from this source is applied to and spent in hospitals for
the natives, and in other works beneficial to them, at the option of
the governor. As fast as the encomiendas are supplied with instruction
and religious, the collection of these fourths and their expenditure
in these special works cease.
Some provinces have taken the census of their natives; and according to
these the tributes and the assignment of the two reals are collected.
In most of the provinces no census has been taken, and the tributes
are collected when due by the encomenderos and their collectors,
through the chiefs of their encomiendas, by means of the lists and
memoranda of former years. From them the names of the deceased and of
those who have changed their residence are erased, and the names of
those who have grown up, and of those who have recently moved into the
encomienda, are added. When any shortage is perceived in the accounts,
a new count is requested and made.
The natives are free to move from one island to another, and from
one province to another, and pay their tribute for that year in which
they move and change their residence in the place to which they move;
and to move from a Christian village that has instruction to another
village possessing it. But, on the other hand, they may not move from
a place having instruction to one without it, nor in the same village
from one barangay to another, nor from one faction to another. In
this respect, the necessary precautions are made by the government,
and the necessary provisions by the Audiencia, so that this system
may be kept, and so that all annoyances resulting from the moving of
the settled natives of one place to another place may be avoided.
Neither are the natives allowed to go out of their villages for
trade, except by permission of the governor, or of his alcaldes-mayor
and justices, or even of the religious, who most often have been
embarrassed by this, because of the instruction. This is done so that
the natives may not wander about aimlessly when there is no need of
it, away from their homes and settlements.
Those natives who possess slaves pay their tributes for them if the
slaves are saguiguilirs. If the slaves are namamahays living outside
their owners' houses, they pay their own tributes, inasmuch as they
possess their own houses and means of gain.
The Spaniards used to have slaves from these natives, whom they had
bought from them, and others whom they obtained in certain expeditions
during the conquest and pacification of the islands. This was stopped
by a brief of his Holiness [381] and by royal decrees. Consequently,
all of these slaves who were then in the possession of the Spanish,
and who were natives of these islands, in whatever manner they had
been acquired, were freed; and the Spaniards were forever prohibited
from holding them as slaves, or from capturing them for any reason, or
under pretext of war, or in any other manner. The service rendered by
these natives is in return for pay and daily wages. The other slaves
and captives that the Spaniards possess are Cafres and blacks brought
by the Portuguese by way of India, and are held in slavery justifiably,
in accordance with the provincial councils and the permissions of
the prelates and justices of those districts.
The natives of these islands have also their personal services, which
they are obliged to render--in some parts more than in others--to the
Spaniards. These are done in different ways, and are commonly called
the polo. [382] For, where there are alcaldes-mayor and justices, they
assign and distribute certain natives by the week for the service of
their houses. They pay these servants a moderate wage, which generally
amounts to one-fourth real per day, and rice for their food. The same
is done by the religious for the mission, and for their monasteries
and churches, and for their works, and for public works. [383]
The Indians also furnish rice, and food of all kinds, at the prices
at which they are valued and sold among the natives. These prices
are always very moderate. The datos, vilangos, and fiscals make the
division, collect, and take these supplies from the natives; and in
the same manner they supply their encomenderos when these go to make
the collections.
The greatest service rendered by these natives is on occasions of war,
when they act as rowers and crews for the vireys and vessels that go
on the expeditions, and as pioneers for any service that arises in
the course of the war, although their pay and wages are given them.
In the same way natives are assigned and apportioned for the king's
works, such as the building of ships, the cutting of wood, the trade
of making the rigging, [384] the work in the artillery foundry, and
the service in the royal [385] magazines; and they are paid their
stipend and daily wage.
In other things pertaining to the service of the Spaniards and their
expeditions, works, and any other service, performed by the natives,
the service is voluntary, and paid by mutual agreement; [386] for,
as hitherto, the Spaniards have worked no mines, nor have they given
themselves to the gains to be derived from field labors, there is no
occasion for employing the natives in anything of that sort.
Most of the Spaniards of the Filipinas Islands reside in the city
of Manila, the capital of the kingdom, and where the chief trade
and commerce is carried on. Some encomenderos live in provinces or
districts adjacent to Manila, while other Spaniards live in the
cities of Segovia, Caçeres, Santisimo Nombre de Jesus (in Sebu),
and in the town of Arevalo, where they are settled, and where most
of them have their encomiendas.
Spaniards may not go to the Indian villages, [387] except for the
collection of the tributes when they are due; and then only the
alcaldes-mayor, corregidors, and justices. It is not permitted these
to remain continually in one settlement of their district, but they
must visit as much of it as possible. They must change their residence
and place of abode every four months to another chief village and
settlement, where all the natives may obtain the benefit of their
presence; and so that the natives may receive as slight annoyance
as possible in supporting them and in the ordinary service that they
render them. [388]
The governor makes appointments to all offices. When the term of office
expires, the royal Aurdiencia orders the residencia of each official
to be taken, and his case is decided in accordance therewith; and
until the residencia is completed, the incumbent cannot be appointed
to any other duty or office. The governor also appoints commandants
of forts, companies, and other military officials, in all the cities,
towns, and hamlets of the islands. [389]
Certain offices of regidors and notaries have been sold by royal decree
for one life. But the sale of these offices has been superseded,
as it is now considered that the price paid for them is of little
consideration, while the disadvantage of perpetuating the purchasers
in office by this method is greater.
Elections of alcaldes-in-ordinary for all the Spanish towns are held
on New Year's day by the cabildo and magistracy. The residencias
of these alcaldes-in-ordinary and their cabildos are ordered by
his Majesty to be taken at the same time as that of the governor
and captain-general of the islands is taken; and they give account
of the administration of the revenues and the estates under their
care. However, the governor may take it before this, every year,
or whenever he thinks it expedient and cause the balances of their
accounts to be collected. With the governor's advice and permission
the expenses desired by the towns are made.
The city of Manila has sufficient public funds for certain years,
through the fines imposed by its judges; in its own particular
possessions, inside and outside the city; in the reweighing of the
merchandise and the rents of all the shops and sites of the Sangleys
in the parián; and in the monopoly on playing cards. All this was
conceded to the city by his Majesty, especially for the expenses of
its fortification. [390] These revenues are spent for that purpose; for
the salaries of its officials, and those of the agents sent to España;
and for the feasts of the city, chief of which are St. Potenciana's
day, May nineteen, when the Spaniards entered and seized the city,
and the day of St. Andrew, November 30, the date on which the pirate
Limahon was conquered and driven from the city. On that day the city
officials take out the municipal standard, and to the sound of music go
to vespers and mass at the church of San Andres, where the entire city,
with the magistracy and cabildo and the royal Audiencia, assemble
with all solemnity. The above revenues are also used in receiving
the governors at their first arrival in the country, in the kings'
marriage feasts, and the births of princes, and in the honors and
funeral celebrations for the kings and princes who die. In all the
above the greatest possible display is made.
The other cities and settlements do not possess as yet so many
sources of wealth or revenue, or the occasions on which to spend
them--although, as far as possible, they take part in them, in all
celebrations of the same kind.
The Spaniards living in the islands are divided into five classes of
people: namely, prelates, religious, and ecclesiastical ministers,
both secular and regular; encomenderos, settlers, and conquerors;
soldiers, officers, and officials of war (both on land and sea),
and those for navigation; merchants, business men, and traders; and
his Majesty's agents for government, justice, and administration of
his royal revenue.
The ecclesiastical prelates have already been stated, and are as
follows: The archbishop of Manila, who resides in the city, as
metropolitan, in charge of his cathedral church; he has a salary
of four thousand pesos, [391] which is paid from the royal treasury
annually. Likewise the salaries paid to the holders of the dignidades,
[392] canonries, and other prebends, and those performing other
services, are paid in the same manner. They are all under royal
patronage, and are provided in accordance with the king's orders. The
archbishop's office and jurisdiction consists of and extends to all,
both the spiritual and temporal, that is ecclesiastic, and to its
management. [393]
The bishop of the city of Santisimo Nombre de Jesus in Sibu, that
of Segovia in Cagayan, and that of Caceres in Camarines, have the
same rights of jurisdiction and enjoy the same privileges in their
dioceses, since they are suffragans of the archbishop of Manila;
appeal from their judgments is made to the latter, and he summons and
convokes them to his provincial councils whenever necessary. They
receive each an annual salary of five hundred thousand maravedis
for their support, which is paid from the royal treasury of Manila,
besides their offerings and pontifical dues. All together it is quite
sufficient for their support, according to the convenience of things
and the cheapness of the country. At present the bishops do not possess
churches with prebendaries nor is any money set aside for that. [394]
The regular prelates are the provincials of the four mendicant orders,
namely, St. Dominic, St. Augustine, St. Francis, the Society of
Jesus, and the discalced Augustinians. [395] Each prelate governs
his own order and visits the houses. The orders have nearly all the
missions to the natives under their charge, in whatever pertains to
the administration of the sacraments and conversion--by favor of,
and in accordance with, their privileges and the apostolic bulls, in
which until now they have maintained themselves--and in what pertains
to judicial matters, as vicars of the bishops, and through appointment
and authorization of the latter. The discalced Augustinians as yet
have no missions, as they have but recently entered the islands.
The monasteries are supported by certain special incomes that they
possess and have acquired--especially those of the Augustinians
and those of the Society--and by help and concessions granted by
his Majesty. The Dominicans and Franciscans do not possess or allow
incomes or properties; [396] and for them, as for the other orders,
the principal source of revenue is in the alms, offerings, and aid
given by the districts where they are established and where they have
charge. This help is given by both Spaniards and natives, very piously
and generously. They are aided also by the stipend given them from
the encomiendas for the instruction that they give there. Consequently
the religious of the orders live well and with the comfort necessary.
The first encomenderos, conquerors, and settlers of the islands,
and their issue, are honorably supported by the products of their
encomiendas, and by certain means of gain and trading interests that
they possess, as do the rest of the people. There are a great number of
them, each one of whom lives and possesses his house in the city and
settlement of Spaniards in whose province he has his encomienda. This
they do in order not to abandon their encomiendas, and thus they are
nearer the latter for their needs and for collections.
Now but few of the first conquerors who gained the country and went
there for its conquest with the adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legaspi
remain alive.
The soldiers and officers of war and of naval expeditions formerly
consisted of all the dwellers and inhabitants of the islands, who
rendered military service without any pay or salary. They went on all
the expeditions and pacifications that arose, and guarded the forts
and presidios, and cities and settlements. This was their principal
exercise and occupation. They were rewarded by the governor, who
provided them with encomiendas, offices, and profits of the country
according to their merits and services. [397]
At that time the soldiers of the islands were the best in the
Indias. They were very skilful and well-disciplined by both land
and sea, and were esteemed and respected by all those nations. They
gloried in their arms, and in acquitting themselves valiantly.