[The following is taken from Sinibaldo de Mas, [101] _Informe
sobre el estado de las Islas Filipinas en 1842_ (Madrid, 1843), tomo
ii. Portions of it are apparently embodied in translation and abstract
in Bowring's _Visit to the Philippine Isles_ (London, 1859), p. 87-93.]
The government of the Filipinas Islands, together with the group of
the Marianas, is in charge of a military chief, who, to the title
of governor, joins those of president of the Audiencia, and royal
vice-patron; subdelegate judge of the revenue, and of post-offices,
posts, and express [_correos, postas y estafeta_]; and director of
the troops, captain-general, and commander-in-chief of the navy. His
authority, then, embraces all the powers derived from these titles,
both for administration and for the security and defense of the
territory.
To discharge these duties he has three secretaryships--one of
government, another of the captaincy-general, and the third of the
navy--one military auditor, one adviser in government matters, one
fiscal, and one scrivener. One may appeal from his gubernatorial
measures to the royal Audiencia, which often alters or annuls those
measures by means of sentence. But there is a law that provides that
in case that the governor-general undertakes to have his order put
into effect, it must be observed until the superior decision, so that
no uneasiness and confusion may result from it in the country. The
collection of taxes and the disbursement of money is in charge of
a superintendent of the treasury [_hacienda_], under the immediate
orders of the government at Madrid. In sudden or doubtful cases, the
resolutions of the superior council [_junta_] of the treasury--composed
of the superintendent, the accountant-in-chief of accounts [_contador
mayor de cuentas_], the accountant of the army and treasury, the
newest auditor of the Audiencia, and the fiscal of the treasury--decide
the matter.
The islands are divided by provinces, in each of which there is
a subordinate chief who is styled governor or alcalde-mayor. These
exercise jurisdiction in the first instance, in matters of government
and litigation. They are military captains, and have in charge the
collection of the royal revenues, under a responsibility guaranteed by
bonds to the satisfaction of the accountant-general of the army and
royal treasury. The province of Cavite is an exception to this rule,
for the collection of the tribute there is now made by an assistant
of the chief justice. Therefore he who rules in a province exercises
all the attributes of political chief, and as such is subject to
the governor-general; those of judge of first instance, and as such
is dependent on the Audiencia; those of subdelegate of treasury
(although he does not have the disposal of the monopolized incomes),
and as such has to render accounts, bonds, and obedience to the
chiefs of the treasury; and finally, if he is of military rank,
he is commandant-of-arms, and subaltern of the captain-general;
and even though he be not of military rank he obtains the rank of
military commander [_capitan á guerra_] by virtue of his rank of
alcalde-mayor. He has charge of the company assigned to his province,
and, in the absence of his Majesty's troops, he commands the troops
that he equips upon extraordinary occasions.
Each province is subdivided into a greater or less number of
towns. Each town has a gobernadorcillo [i.e., little or petty
governor], with assistants and alguacils of justice, whose number is
fixed. They discharge various functions, among them the administration
of justice in regard to fields and palm-trees, and that of police. In
some towns where there are a sufficient number of Sangley mestizos
(who are the descendants of the Chinese), they form, when they
obtain permission from the government, a separate community, with a
gobernadorcillo and other members of the magistracy taken from their
own midst. In the towns which are the capitals of the province there
is often a gobernadorcillo for mestizos and one for natives. This
latter always takes command of the province in case of the sickness
or absence of the alcalde-mayor. The gobernadorcillos have in their
towns all the municipal responsibility proper to the authority which
is conferred upon them by their appointment. They are especially bound
to aid their parish priests in everything pertaining to worship and
the observance of religious laws. They try civil causes up to the
value of two taels of gold, or forty-four pesos. They take action in
criminal cases by collecting the preliminary evidence, which they
submit to the provincial chiefs. They are under obligation to see
to the collections of the royal revenue, and further to give notice
of the ordinances for good government. They are permitted to collect
certain dues that are specified in their own credentials. Each town
has also other citizens known under the name of cabezas [_i.e._, heads]
de barangay. Each cabeza is obliged to look after forty-five or fifty
tributes which comprise as many families, and that is the signification
of barangay. The cabezas must reside with them in the district or
street assigned; must attend in person to the good order and harmony
of their individuals; must apportion among them all the services
that are due from them collectively; must settle their disputes; and
must collect the tribute under a fixed bond, in order to effect its
delivery afterward in entirety to the gobernadorcillo, or directly
to the provincial chief, as happens in that of Tondo. The cabezas are
ex-officio attorneys for their barangays in all matters that concern
them collectively, and electors of the gobernadorcillos and other
officials of justice. For that interesting function, only the twelve
oldest men of each town or the substitutes whom the ordinance assigns,
have a vote. In some provinces the cabezas appoint only the three who
have to compose the _terna_ [i.e., three nominees for any office] for
the gobernadorcillo. These, with the outgoing gobernadorcillo, proceed
to the election of the deputies, alguacils, and their committees. The
cabecerías [_i.e._, headships], much more ancient in origin than
the reductions [_i.e._, native villages of converts], were doubtless
hereditary. At present they are hereditary and elective. When they
fall vacant, whether for want of an heir or through the resignation of
the regularly appointed incumbent, the substitute is appointed--by the
superintendent, in the provinces near the capital; and in those distant
from it by the respective subdelegate chief, but at the proposal of
the gobernadorcillo and other cabezas. This same plan is followed
in the creation of any cabecería in proportion to the increase in
population, and as the number of tributarios in each town demands
it. The cabezas, their wives, and first-born sons (who are their
assistants in the collection of the royal revenues), enjoy exemption
from the payment of tribute. The cabezas in some provinces serve in the
cabecerías for three years; and, if they do not prove defaulters, they
are recognized as chiefs in the towns, with the titles of ex-cabeza
and don. Such system offers the serious disadvantage of multiplying
the privileged class of chiefs, which, being exempted from personal
services, increases the tax for the common people or the _polistas_
[102] in proportion to the increase of the privileged class.
The offices of gobernadorcillo, deputies, and alguacils of justice
are elective, and last one year, with superior approbation. It is
stipulated that the elections take place exactly at the beginning
of each year, in the royal houses or halls of justice in the towns,
and not elsewhere. The electors are the outgoing gobernadorcillo and
the twelve senior cabezas de barangay. For gobernadorcillo three
individuals have to be nominated by a plurality of votes, and the
respective place of each one in the terna must be expressed. It is to
be noted that the nominee must be able to speak, read, and write the
Spanish language. If he cannot do that, the election of the one who
lacks this express condition will be considered null and void, where
such election has been made. For the other officials of justice, those
needed by the town are elected by the same convention. The balloting
must be secret, and is authorized by the notary and presided over by
the provincial chief. The parish priest may be present, if he wishes,
to express what opinions he may consider fitting, but for no other
purpose. In sealed envelopes the election returns are sent to the
superior governments of the provinces of Tondo, Bulacan, Pampanga,
Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, Batangas, and Cavite, so that
after choosing one of those proposed as gobernadorcillo, the respective
government orders the credentials corresponding to each class to be
despatched. In the other provinces, because of their distance from
the capital, the chief of each one appoints the nominee in the first
place, and making use of the blank credentials entrusted to him by
the superior government, writes therein the names of those interested,
and places them in possession [of their offices].
The cabezas of barangay can be elected, if they preserve their
cabecerías and the collection of tributes, by the rule in the royal
decree of October 17, 1785.
The Chinese community may elect from among its Christian individuals,
and in a meeting presided over by the alcalde-mayor of Tondo,
one man as gobernadorcillo, one as chief deputy, and a third as
alguacil-mayor. The government grants those elected the proper
credentials, by virtue of which they exercise jurisdiction. The
officials of justice in this community are called _bilangos_, and are
appointed by the new gobernadorcillo. The electors are also thirteen
in number, and are composed of the outgoing gobernadorcillo, the
ex-captains, and the petty chiefs [_cabecillas_] of the tribute and
of champans, both past and present. When any number is lacking, it is
made up from the petty heads of the trades. At present the collection
of tribute or the poll-tax from the Chinese is in direct charge of
the alcalde-mayor in the province of Tondo, with a supervisor chosen
from among the officials of administration of the royal treasury. In
the other provinces it is attended to in person by the chief of each
province. This levy of taxes is managed by a register, where the
Chinese are enrolled and classified, and that register determines
the quota of each, who contributes according to his class.
The gobernadorcillos and officials of justice deserve the greatest
consideration from the government. The provincial chiefs are under
obligation to show them the honor corresponding to their respective
duties. They are allowed to sit in the houses of the latter, and in
any other place, and are not suffered to remain standing. Neither
is it permitted to the parish priests to treat these officials with
less consideration.