[The following summary is made from Concepción's Historia de
Philipinas, viii, pp. 299-391:]
[Don Fausto Cruzat y Gongora is succeeded, after eleven years as
governor, by Don Domingo de Zabalburú y Echeverri, a knight of
the Order of Santiago; he was appointed in 1694, but does not take
possession until September 8, 1701. Finding considerable money in the
royal treasury, he employs it on important public works. He constructs
wharves at Cavite, completes the royal storehouses, and rebuilds the
powder-factory lower down from Malate, with suitable fortifications
for its defense; and he pays careful attention to the construction of
galleons for the Acapulco trade-route. A quarrel arising between the
petty kings of Mindanao and Joló, the former (named Curay) is slain,
and his successor asks Governor Zabalburú for aid against the Joloans,
which the governor prudently declines to furnish. In the year 1705
the Manila galleon "San Xavier" departs from Acapulco, and is never
heard from, being lost with all it contains, to the great sorrow and
loss of the citizens of Manila. One of the auditors goes (1702) as
official visitor to the province of Camarines, [35] and disturbs its
affairs with his "scandalous proceedings," especially his accusations
against the Franciscan friars who are in charge of the Indian villages
there. In consequence, they hasten to Manila to secure the aid of the
courts there, leaving their charges without spiritual ministrations;
the Franciscan provincial is therefore despatched to that province
with orders to station ministers therein. Those missions had previously
been for forty-five years in the hands of the Recollects.]
[In September, 1704, arrives at Manila the papal legate Carlos
Thomas Tournon, on his way to China for the settlement of various
ecclesiastical difficulties there; he treats the governor and other
officials [36] with arrogance, refusing to exhibit his credentials,
and exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction to such an extent that
he antagonizes the religious orders and infringes on the royal
prerogatives. These proceedings are tolerated by both governor
and archbishop, although manifestly improper and objectionable;
but when they are reported at Madrid the king is greatly displeased,
and decrees that the governor be removed from office, and disqualified
for holding it, and those of the auditors who assented to his acts be
punished. Archbishop Camacho also incurs the displeasure of the king,
which is increased by his having meddled with the affairs of the
royal seminary of San Phelipe, and used at his own pleasure certain
ecclesiastical revenues properly in charge of the secular government;
and the governor fails to check him, and even to notify the home
government of these unwarranted proceedings, which are reported at
Madrid by ecclesiastical channels. Camacho is accordingly removed
from his see, and transferred to the bishopric of Guadalaxara in
Mexico. [37] (He is regarded by Concepción as a very zealous and
charitable prelate; he collected from various sources more than
40,000 pesos, which he spent in the adornment and improvement of the
cathedral church at Manila, and for this and other pious purposes he
incurred debts amounting to over 20,000 pesos more. He promoted the
missions of Paynaan and San Isidro, going in person to persuade the
Aetas (or Negritos) to be converted.) Zabalburú, having undergone
his residencia, leaves Manila in the year 1710, and, after having
suffered shipwreck in the Bahama Channel, reaches Spain, where he dies
after a few years. In 1707 the Acapulco galleon "Rosario" arrives,
"with so much silver that it made that fair [at Acapulco] famous;"
it also brings a new archbishop, Fray Francisco de la Cuesta,
"a professed religious in the distinguished monastic order of San
Geronimo," who wins golden opinions from all. [38] Before long,
however, the old question of the right of episcopal visitation of
the regular curas again arises; Cuesta tries to enforce this right,
but with little result. [39] A full account of this is given by
Concepción, with the arguments adduced therein.]
[In 1709 the new governor arrives, Conde de Lizarraga (appointed in
1704); he is equitable, upright, and of affable manners. He finds an
undesirable surplus of Chinamen in the islands, and sends back many
of them to their own country, although many others buy permission to
remain in Luzón. [40] During his term occurs the controversy between
some of the friar orders and the bishop of Nueva Segovia, Fray Diego
de Gorospe y Irala (himself a Dominican), over the claim of the latter
to include the regulars in his official visitations. The matter is
carried to the Audiencia, the decision of which is unfavorable to the
bishop; he dies soon afterward (early in 1714?), after having occupied
his see nine years. Little else appears to mark the official term of
Lizarraga, who dies in 1715.]