The King. To Don Juan Niño de Tavora, member of my Council of war, my
governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands, and president of
my royal Audiencia therein, or the person or persons in whose charge
their government may be: Fray Melchor de Manzano, of the Order of
St. Dominic, has reported to me, in the name of the Chinese living
in those islands, that the said Chinese pay me annually sixty-four
reals in silver for the sole purpose of remaining in that country,
in addition to five more, which is the usual tribute, and twelve
more for the treasury, which are spent in assessments for affairs
of my service; and that, for a few years back, the alcaldes-mayor
have introduced the practice that no Chinese enter or live in their
districts without their permission (even though they have yours),
and the permission given by the alcaldes-mayor is for a very short
period, in order to get from them the fees for the said permission very
frequently. Although orders have been issued in this matter by that
Audiencia of mine, prohibiting the granting of the said permissions,
those orders have not been obeyed. On the contrary, those officials
proceed in their own interest, and oblige the Chinese at the same time
to attend to the service of the city, by going to fish and to provide
all the necessaries of life; and, whenever they go they experience
many annoyances. He petitions me that I will be pleased to order that,
since the Chinese pay so large fees to live in that country, the
permissions that you shall grant them be valid in all the districts
of the said alcaldes-mayor; and that the latter take no other fee,
or the former have no need of any other permission, besides yours;
and that for yours not more than one real in silver be collected. If
the expedition made by the said Chinese should not last longer than
one month, the permission of the alcalde-mayor of their district
will be sufficient, and they shall not be obliged to get another in
that place to which they go, within the said month. That given by
the said alcalde-mayor shall not carry fees in excess of one-half
real. If the alcalde-mayor of the Parián grant such permission, he
shall collect no fee, since the said Chinese pay ten pesos to him,
and the same amount to the clerk of the salary fund. Having examined
the matter in my royal Council of the Indias, I have considered
it advisable to refer the matter herein contained to you, so that
you may provide that the said Chinese be not annoyed or molested,
in order that there may be no occasion for their coming to complain;
and you shall advise the said my royal Council of the Indias of the
correction that you shall apply in this matter. Madrid, June 8, 1628
_I The King_
By order of the king our sovereign:
_Don Fernando Ruiz de Contreras_
The King. To the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia resident
in the city of Manila of the Filipinas Islands: Fray Melchor Manzano,
of the Order of Preachers, in the name of the Chinese living in those
islands has reported to me that it has been ordered for the security
of the islands that the Chinese live in the village of the Parián,
outside the walls of that city; but that for a few years past they
have been scattered among different settlements outside of the said
village. There with difficulty can the wrongs experienced at various
times by such settlements be righted, as many of them do not go to mass
or hear the word of God, but indulge in excessive gambling, to their
own hurt and that of the inhabitants of that city. Any insurrection can
easily be feared because they can arrange one very safely in the said
settlements, where they can hold secret assemblies and meetings--from
which resulted the impositions, false testimonies one against another,
and false witnesses; and the fortifications of the walls of that city
are in great danger. For if the said Chinese live in the village of
the Parián, one can derive from that means to fortify the walls and
prevent destruction and losses; but if they live outside the Parián,
that will be lacking, and consequently the safety of that city [will
be endangered]. I have been petitioned that I be pleased to order,
under severe penalties, that no Chinese be permitted to have a dwelling
outside the Parián; and that those now outside return there, except
the married Christians who may live in the village of Vindanoc [i.e.,
Binondo], which has been assigned to them. Having examined the matter
in my royal Council of the Indias, I have considered it fitting to
refer the matter to you, so that you may proceed in it with all the
haste that may be advisable for the service of God our Lord and my
own, in order that those troubles cease. You shall advise me of what
you shall do, on the first opportunity. Madrid, August 17, 1628.
_I The King_
By order of his Majesty:
_Don Fernando Ruiz de Contreras_
The King. To Don Juan Niño de Tavora, member of my Council of War, my
governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands, and president of
my royal Audiencia therein, or the person or persons in whose charge
their government may be: I ordered you by a decree of September 10,
627, to appoint to the office of protector of the Sangley Chinese
(which was held by the fiscal of that Audiencia) a person who should
prove competent, with the salary that was assigned to him; and to order
that my said fiscal of those regions exercise the office no longer. You
were ordered to charge the person whom you thus appointed to watch
over the said Sangley Chinese most carefully, so that they might not
be troubled or annoyed, or any ill-treatment shown them; and that any
balance left any year in the fund that he keeps should remain there,
in order that the Sangleys may be assessed so much less the following
year. When that order was executed, you were to inform me of what had
been done and what took place in respect to those who are mentioned
in the said decree, as well as the advantages or troubles that its
execution might cause, as is contained more in detail in the decree,
to which I refer. Doctor Don Juan de Quesada Hurtado de Mendoza,
whom I have appointed as my fiscal of that Audiencia, has reported to
me that, having petitioned that the documents be given to him as to
his predecessors, and one of them being the decree that orders that
the fiscal of that my Audiencia be the protector of the natives and
the Sangleys, he found that the above decree had been despatched,
ordering you to appoint a competent person. The cause therefor was
that Fray Melchor Manzano, of the Order of St. Dominic, urged it for
private purposes, until he actually obtained it. The fiscal declared
that it was advisable for my service to have the decree suspended,
and that my fiscals of that Audiencia exercise the said office, as
they had always done; and that the said Fray Melchor Manzano, while he
was in those islands, and other religious of his order, having made
themselves protectors of the said Sangleys, and having petitioned
the governor to order that the fiscal be not the protector of them,
and that the salary of whoever should be protector be moderated,
the said governor did not change the custom of whether the fiscal
should or should not be the protector. In regard to the salary,
it was moderated only to eight hundred pesos. When the matter came
before that my Audiencia, it declared by acts of examination and
review that the said protection pertained to the said my fiscal. In
consideration of that, Don Fernando de Silva, my governor _ad interim_
of those islands, ordered that the said acts be executed; and that, in
conformity with them, the office of protector of natives and Sangleys
be exercised by Licentiate Marcos Zapata de Galvèz, my fiscal of that
my Audiencia at that time. I am petitioned, in consideration of that,
to be pleased to have a decree despatched ordering that he and other
fiscals who shall succeed him in that my Audiencia be protectors of
the said Sangleys and natives, as they have been, notwithstanding
the ruling of the said decree of September 10, 627. Having examined
the matter in my royal Council of the Indias, together with what
Licentiate Juan Pardo, my fiscal therein, stated and alleged--for
I wish to know whether the Sangleys have need of that protector and
whether they ask for him--I order you to inform me of what you find
out concerning this; and in case that it appears necessary that they
have one, I order you and that Audiencia to appoint six persons who
may be suitable for such protector. You shall cause such nominations
to be sent to the said my Council, so that it may indicate that one
of the six appointees who is most suitable. He must not have trade
or business relations with the said Sangleys; and the one named by
the said Council shall be, for the time being, the one who shall seem
most suitable to the Council. Madrid, March 27, 1629.
_I The King_
By order of his Majesty:
_Andres de Rozas_