ANNO DOM. 1626.
Of the Administration of Don Juan Nino de Tabora.
Don Juan Nino de Tabora, knight of the order of Calatrava, was named
as Governor of the Philippines. He embarked for his government with
six hundred troops, and several officers, who had served with him
in Flanders, among whom were Don Lorenzo Olaso y Ochotegui, who came
with the appointment of Colonel. Tabora arrived safely at Manila, and
entered upon his government on the 29th of June, 1626. He possessed
a fund of military knowledge, which was of great importance, at this
period, to the Philippines, and he immediately provided a sufficient
force to protect their commerce, and secure the respect of their
neighbours. In ten months after his arrival, he had collected eight
large ships of war, four smaller for the commerce of Acapulco, and two
still smaller for the protection of the intercourse with Molucca. With
this armament, and with two ships, which were expected from New Spain
with men and money, he determined to attack the Dutch on the island
of Formosa; but the arrival of the two ships being retarded very
considerably, he was not ready to proceed with the expedition, until
the middle of August. The Royal Audience, considering the approach
of the monsoon, and apprehensive of the loss of the squadron, and
that the object of the expedition might be thus defeated, represented
their fears to the Governor, and passed an order that it should not
sail. Having no faith, however, in what he considered as idle chimeras,
Tabora left Cavite, and arrived at Cape Boxeador; where, finding the
north winds had set in, and that it was impossible to make head against
them, after repeated unsuccessful attempts, he bore away for Cavite;
and the only advantage resulting, from his pertinacious opposition
to the opinion of the Royal Audience, was the relief he sent in some
small vessels, to the Spaniards in the island of Formosa.
A vessel soon after arrived from China, and gave the intelligence that
the Dutch were lying in wait at Macao, for the merchantmen expected
from Manila in China. The Portuguese requested, that part of the
armament might be allowed to convoy them, offering to contribute to
the expenses. The Governor, accordingly, sent with them two large
galleons, with a patache, ordering the commodore, after he had seen
the Portuguese safe, to run up the coast from Macao to Sincapura
in search of the Dutch, wintering at Siam, for which indulgence he
was ordered to make the necessary presents to the King. Don Juan
de Alcaraz, who was the commodore, punctually obeyed his orders: he
arrived at Macao, and not meeting with the Dutch, who had quitted it
precipitately, on notice of his appearance in this quarter, he passed
on to Siam, where, finding the Dutch protected by the Siamese, he
burned some of their junks, and made prisoners the ambassadors whom
the Siamese were accustomed, at certain periods, to send to China,
with their acknowledgment of the sovereignty of the Emperor. Upon this
occasion our arms acquired such credit, that, during the whole of this
government, the Dutch made no further attempt against these islands.
In the year 1628 two ships arrived with the usual supplies from
Acapulco, and in them came Friar Hernando Guerrero, of the order of
St. Augustine, Bishop of Cagayan, and the Governor's intended bride,
Dona Magdalena Zaldivar y Mendoza, with whom he had entered into a
treaty of marriage while at Mexico, and had obtained leave from the
King for that purpose. The wedding feasts, however, were no impediment
to the operations of the government. The Moors of Jolo continually
infested these islands; those, in particular, which were the more
remote from the capital, were kept in perpetual alarm, and nothing was
talked of but the depredations committed, and the prisoners taken. To
chastise these insults, a squadron was sent against Jolo, under the
command of Don Christoval de Lugo. He arrived safe, and landed all
his people without any resistance, the Indians having, in a cowardly
manner, abandoned their town, and retired, with their King, to a fort
situated on the top of a hill. The Spaniards plundered these houses, in
which the friendly Indians diligently assisted, enriching themselves by
the spoils, which consisted of rice, gunpowder, brimstone, small-arms,
&c. They did not pursue them to the fort on the top of the hill, in
which they had taken refuge; but, after having completely destroyed the
town, they embarked for Manila. In passing by the island of Basilan,
they landed, burned the principal town, and destroyed all the trees,
as a punishment for the aid which these Indians had afforded to those
of Jolo, in the last incursions they made.
The following year, a sacrilege was committed in the cathedral, which
affected the mind of the Archbishop to that degree, that he died of
melancholy. He was one of the most devout prelates who had occupied
the archbishopric. He was interred in the church of St. Augustine.
After his death, there was a dispute between the ecclesiastical
Cabildo and the Bishop of Zebu, as to who should succeed ad interim
to the archbishopric, when the Royal Audience determined in favour of
the Bishop, conformable to the bull of Pius V. The Moors in Jolo and
Caumocones again commenced their ravages in the islands: nothing was
secure in the towns on the coasts; neither friars, Indians, churches,
or ornaments; all were objects of their enmity. Notice was, without
loss of time, given to the Governor; he despatched a fleet, commanded
by Don Lorenzo Olaso, for the double purpose of making peace with the
Indians of Mindanao, as they requested, and to retaliate upon those
of Jolo. He arrived at Jolo, landed his people, and marched up to the
fort on the hill, to which, as usual, the Indians had retired. The
General believed it no difficult matter to reduce the fort, and
gave orders to attack it accordingly; he shewed, in the attack,
great personal valour, and acting the part of a common soldier,
as well as a general, was, with two of his captains, killed. As no
officer remained to command them, the men retired to their ships;
and, without doing anything else than laying waste the country, they
returned to Manila in haste, and in disgrace, the Moors becoming more
insolent than they were before. The Indians of the province of Caraga,
in Mindanao, observing that the Spaniards were unable to subdue their
countrymen, put to death some of the friars and Spaniards who were
living among them, and declared open rebellion in most of the towns of
the province.--The remaining friars and Spaniards, took refuge in the
towns which continued faithful to their cause; and, in a short time,
relief arriving from Manila, order was again restored.
This year several embassies arrived at Manila: one from Japan
from the Governor of Nangasaquy; and the King of Saxuma, likewise,
sent ambassadors, seeking redress for the ravages our galleons had
committed in the harbour of Siam, on two junks of his nation, and
out of which had been taken some of the royal merchandize, which
they considered a great sacrilege, and which had so irritated them,
that the real object of the embassy was to reconnoitre the place,
with a view to take vengeance for this insult. A Governor of one of
the Chinese provinces, sent an embassy to request the continuation of
the commercial intercourse; and the King of Cambodia, who was at war
with the King of Siam, sent to request the protection of the Spaniards,
offering the commerce of his kingdom, and liberty to form a dock for
the building of ships. The Governor received all these with presents,
and dismissed them with urbanity and kindness: he accepted the offer
of the King of Cambodia, and sent some ship-builders for the purpose
of constructing a vessel there: with them went four Dominicans to
preach the gospel; but when they arrived, finding the King dead, and
little disposition in his son, who succeeded him, to admit the catholic
religion, they all returned to Manila without effecting any thing.
The Governor, who was determined to lose no opportunity that offered
to build ships, finished one in the port of Cavite; but so badly
constructed, that, at the commencement of her voyage for Acapulco,
she foundered in the port: she was, however, hove up, and sufficiently
repaired to proceed on her voyage the following year. By this means,
and the arrival here of the other ships in 1631, no ship remained
in Acapulco to send to the Philippines; and the Viceroy of Mexico
despatched two pataches with the ordinary relief. In one of these came
Don Francisco Roxas y Onate, Oidor of Mexico, as inspector of the
Royal Audience, and other tribunals; and his office to continue two
years. He was well received, and the Governor supported his authority
whilst he lived; by means of which, he made his visit pleasant,
although he suspended two Oidors. His Excellency, on the 22d of July
1632, died of a dysentery, occasioned by being exposed to the rain
and sun, during his visits to and from Cavite, in the performance of
his office, in which he was extremely diligent, having made a bridge
over the river of Manila, repaired the fortifications of the town,
and constructed several works in Cavite.
Don Lorenzo Olaso had been named by the Viceroy of Mexico to succeed
him pro tempore. Nothing particular occurred under his administration,
which only lasted a year, when Don Juan Zerezo of Salamanca was
appointed to succeed as Governor ad interim. Immediately on his arrival
at Manila, with a view to repress the insults of the Moors, and on
the representation of the Jesuits, he determined to form a garrison
at Zamboanga. He appointed Don Juan de Chaves to the command, with an
adequate force, and orders, after destroying the towns of the Moors,
to erect a fort in the situation which Friar Vera had pitched upon,
a little distant from the port of Caldera, where it was necessary
to maintain a detachment to guard the shipping. This situation is
most beautiful; but, having no water, the defect was supplied by
digging a channel from the river, through which the water flows in
great abundance, and, passing by the wall of the fort, falls into
the sea. The first stone of the fort was laid on the 23d of June,
1635. Many of the Spaniards opposed this plan under different pretexts,
and experience has shewn what little purpose this fort has answered,
its only use being to enrich one military man, who is Governor for
three years, and who draws twenty or thirty thousand dollars profit
from the supplies furnished the soldiers. The Moors, not in the
least checked by the fort of Zamboanga, have continued, to this hour,
committing the same ravages as before; and the Indians, who are each
taxed a measure of rice for its maintenance, have received neither
security or benefit from it.
It has been too justly observed by Senor Solorzano, that whatever is
established with a view to benefit the Indians, universally fails of
attaining that end; nor is this to be wondered at, as every regulation
brought forward with this avowed intention is always so contrived,
as to contribute not to the advantage of the oppressed Indian, but
solely to that of the person exercising the chief authority.