Captain Gabriel de Rivera [25] beseeches your Highness on behalf of the
Filipinas islands, kindly to see that due attention and consideration
be given to the advancement and preservation of those islands, upon
which his Majesty has set his eyes so fixedly, and which have cost so
many thousands of ducats and Spanish lives. May what has been asked
be provided, according to the memorials which I have presented to
the royal person and to your Highness; for it befits the service of
God our Lord, that of your Highness, and the advancement and good
government of those islands.
The appointment of Don Gonzalo Ronquillo [26] by your Highness as
governor for life, and the many sentences, decrees, and favors in his
behalf, greatly injure the said islands in their advancement; they
harass and totally ruin them as we have seen with our own eyes. Such
an appointment is contrary to the orders and laws given for the new
discoveries; for the Filipinas islands were discovered more than
fifty years ago, and were settled at the time of the emperor (may he
rest in peace). Since a way of return to Nueba España had not been
discovered, the settlers for lack of sustenance abandoned the land,
until the viceroy, Don Luis de Belasco, by order of your Highness
despatched a fleet to the said islands, and sent Miguel Lopez de
Legazpi as governor, who made a settlement and discovered a way of
return. He went there at his own expense. All favors granted him in the
meantime were so small and inadequate that he was not even allowed to
take a repartimiento. The islands have been settled for twenty years,
and have enjoyed peace and quiet. [27] The appointment may have been a
very lawful one, but it should not be forgotten that it is injurious
to the said islands and their advancement. God alone can remedy the
abuses perpetrated every day, for, as is well known by your Highness,
they are beyond any other remedy--inasmuch as Don Gonzalo has carried
out no part of the agreement he made with his Majesty. In regard to
this, and the papers and memorials which I have presented, may your
very Christian Highness take the measures befitting the service of God,
and the advancement and good government of those islands.
_Gabriel de Ribera_