The first official report sent by Governor Francisco de Sande to
the home government is dated June 7, 1576. It is introduced by a
description of the winds prevalent in the Indian Archipelago. Arriving
at Manila (August 25, 1575), he finds that much of the city has
been destroyed by a Chinese pirate named Limahon; and he relates,
in a graphic manner, the circumstances of this affair. In the first
attack (September, 1574), fourteen Spaniards and more than eighty
Chinese are slain. The enemy renew the attack a few days later,
but are repulsed with much loss. The Moros of the vicinity rebel,
insulting and robbing the friars and defiling the churches. The
Chinese proceed to Pangasinan, where they erect a fort, determining
to establish themselves there. All the Spanish forces are assembled,
and an expedition is sent (March 23, 1575), under Juan de Salcedo,
to attack the marauders. In the first encounter the Spanish are
victorious; but through mismanagement they fail to follow up their
success, and finally the Chinese depart from Luzón. A Chinese officer
named Omocon comes to search for the pirate Limahon; on his return,
he carries some Augustinian friars to China, but they return in
a few months. The Chinese bring certain presents to the governor,
which he turns over to the king. He does not like that people, saying
that they are mean, impudent, importunate, and deceitful. He relates
many interesting particulars regarding the country and people of
China--derived from the various reports which have come to him from
traders, missionaries, and the Filipino natives.
Sande has a poor opinion of the trade with China; the only useful
article which the Chinese bring to the Philippines is iron. He urges
here, as in the letter preceding this report, that the king should
at once send an expedition for the conquest of China, for which four
thousand to six thousand men would be needed. He argues that this
enterprise would be an act of justice, for several curious reasons:
it would free the wretched Chinese from the oppressive tyranny and
cruelty of their rulers; it is right to punish them for their many
crimes and vices; and they ought to be compelled to admit foreigners
to their country. The governor is not troubled by any scruples of
conscience respecting the Line of Demarcation; for he affirms that
all the region from the Moluccas to the islands of Japan, inclusive,
with Borneo and all the coast of China, is "within the demarcation
of Spain." He is ready to drive the Portuguese out of the Moluccas,
if the king will consent thereto.
Sande gives further details as to the Philippines and their people. The
climate is healthful, for those who live temperately. The culture
of rice is described, and the fertility of the soil praised. Much
interesting information is given regarding the characteristics,
habits, and customs of the people; he regards most of them as drunken,
licentious, and idle, and avaricious and murderous. The governor has
rebuilt the ruined fort at Cebu; but he thinks that a settlement
there is useless and expensive. He asks for oared vessels, with
which to navigate among the islands; and he is anxious to seize
the Moluccas for Spain. He complains of the reckless manner in
which repartimientos had been assigned by Legazpi and Lavezaris,
an abuse which he is trying to reform. He has revoked many of these
allotments, and placed them under the control of the crown. He has
established two shipyards, which have done good work in building and
repairing vessels. He needs artillery, or else skilled workmen to
make it; also fifty good gunners, two master-engineers, and more
troops. Sande has founded a hospital at Manila, mainly for the
soldiers--apparently the first in the islands; and is planning to
build a house in which convalescents may be properly cared for. He
has begun to fortify Manila, and is making other preparations for its
defense. The province of Pampanga, almost the only source of supply
of food for the Spaniards, has been appropriated by Sande for the
crown; he asks the king to confirm this action. He is endeavoring
to stop various leaks in the royal treasury, and is providing for
the worthy poor. He mentions the royal order that all the Indians
should be induced to settle near the districts already pacified, in
order to render them sedentary and to convert them to the Christian
faith--a plan which he considers quite impracticable. The governor
is greatly annoyed by the careless and extravagant administration
of the royal funds by the officials at Manila; he makes various
recommendations for securing better and more economical conduct of
the public service. He reports the religious status of the land, and
calls for more priests, especially recommending the Franciscans, "since
they live among the natives, and we need not support them." Certain
concessions and exemptions should be continued, as the people are so
poor; and for that reason customs duties ought not to be levied until
the people can afford to pay them. The two friars whom the Chinese
captain Omocon had consented to convey a second time to his country,
not having means to satisfy with gifts his avaricious nature, had
been therefore abandoned on a lonely island, where they are rescued
by a passing troop of Spaniards. Sande enumerates various documents,
maps, etc., which he is sending to the king; and he again appeals for
consent to his proposal for the conquest of China. A paper containing
memoranda for reply to this letter indicates that the king declines
to entertain this scheme, and advises Sande to expend his energies
upon the preservation and development of the lands already conquered.
In another report, dated June 8, 1577, Sande furnishes some information
additional to that in the preceding document. The Moros of Luzon
are very shrewd traders, and are skilful in alloying the gold which
they obtain in that island. This practice causes the governor much
perplexity regarding the currency question. He has succeeded, during
the past two years, in putting "the affairs of the royal estate into as
good order as in Mexico;" and has reformed various abuses, small and
great. He explains the manner in which he has aided needy soldiers
and other persons in want, and reassigned encomiendas of persons
deceased. As for the natives, Sande says that they are not simple,
foolish, or timorous; "they can be dealt with only by the arquebuse,
or by gifts of gold or silver." He has maintained good discipline
among the soldiers, and reformed them from the vicious habits which
had been prevalent among them. He asks that the concessions made
regarding the customs duties and the royal fifths be continued,
on account of the poverty of the colony. He renews his request for
more religious teachers, and asks not only for secular priests,
but more friars--especially those who cannot own property, as the
Indians will have more regard for such. He explains in detail his
difficulties regarding the proper disposal of the crown funds by the
royal officials, and the heroic treatment made necessary by their
inefficiency and mismanagement. The property of Guido de Lavezaris
is confiscated, and the goods of other wrong-doers are seized. The
city is now surrounded by a palisade and rampart; and the river-bank
has been protected against the action of the waves. He has built,
or has now in the shipyards, vessels worth in New Spain one hundred
thousand ducats, which have cost him less than fifteen thousand. The
resources of the land are being developed; the rebellious natives
have been pacified; churches, and a house for the friars, have been
erected; and a residence for the governor has been built. In all
these undertakings, he finds it necessary to watch everything, and
superintend the workmen; this care and oversight has enabled him to
secure good returns from the expenditure of the public funds.
A papal bull dated February 6, 1578, erects the diocese of Manila,
and constitutes its church a cathedral; the duties and privileges
of the bishop thereof are enumerated. He shall be subordinate to
the archbishop of Mexico; and the usual tithes and other dues are
remitted. Sande writes to the king (July 29, 1578) a brief report
of his expedition to Borneo in the months of March to May preceding;
and requests rewards and promotion for himself and his brothers. By
a decree dated November 15, 1578, Pope Gregory XIII grants "plenary
indulgence to all the faithful who visit churches" of the Franciscans
in these Oriental regions. On May 13, 1579, King Felipe issues a
decree regarding the foundation of monasteries in the Philippines. Fray
Domingo de Salazar (a Dominican) has been appointed bishop of Manila,
and will soon go thither with friars. The governor is ordered to
ascertain where monasteries are needed, and there to erect buildings
for this purpose.
Sande informs the king (May 30, 1579) of the result of his efforts
to subdue other and neighboring islands. The city in Borneo which
he attacked in the preceding year has been rebuilt, and the king of
that land is ready to submit. The king of Jolo (Sulu) has become a
vassal of Spain, and peace has been made with the people dwelling on
the Rio Grande of Mindanao. Sande is still eager to set out for the
conquest of the Moluccas and of China, and is doing all that he can
to accumulate shipping and artillery for that purpose.
This letter is accompanied by a bulky document containing the official
notarial record of the expedition which Sande mentions. The governor
learns from Filipino natives of Luzon that the king of Borneo oppresses
and plunders their countrymen who visit his land--thus wronging vassals
of Spain; and that the Borneans, being Mahometans, are spreading their
heresy among the peoples of the archipelago. Sande writes a letter
to this ruler, announcing his desire to confer with him, and to make
a compact of peace and friendship. He demands from the king not only
free opportunity for Christian preachers to evangelize the Borneans,
but also the cessation of any further Mahometan propaganda by Borneans
among the Filipinos. The king must also surrender any persons whom he
has forcibly detained, with all their possessions; and must provide
the Spaniards with food--for which, however, he will receive pay. No
answer being made by the Borneans, and Sande's envoys not returning to
the fleet, he enters the port, despite the resistance of the native
vessels therein. The people thereupon flee inland, and the Spaniards
enter the town, seizing there various possessions of the king--among
them letters from the Portuguese, one of which is signed "El Rey" ("the
King"). Sande takes possession of all Borneo for Spain. He then sends
(May 23, 1578) one of his officers, Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa,
to subdue the Sulu Islands. He is instructed to reduce, as gently
as he can, the pirates of that group to peaceful agriculturists,
and secure from them the payment of tribute. Next, he is to go
on a similar errand to Mindanao; and, as many of its inhabitants
are Mahometans, he must strive to uproot "that accursed doctrine"
there. Sande returns to Manila, whence in the following year (February
28, 1579) he despatches Juan Arce de Sadornil with a fleet to Borneo,
giving him detailed instructions for his conduct on this expedition. He
is to ascertain the condition of affairs there, and gently endeavor
to gain the submission of the king as a vassal of Spain. Sadornil
goes to Borneo, and conducts various negotiations with the king, but
cannot induce the latter to confer with him in person. Finally, seeing
that he can accomplish nothing, and that his men are suffering from
confinement and illness, he decides to return to Manila; and he advises
Sande that a settlement of Spaniards in Borneo must, to be successful,
be made in the town where the Moro court resides. In June, 1578, the
king of Sulu submits to the Spanish power. From the Moluccas comes the
news that the people of Ternate have revolted against the Portuguese,
who have been compelled to abandon their fortress there and retreat
to Amboina. Their trade in spices is therefore greatly injured, for
the time; and other Malayan peoples are also hostile to the Portuguese.
Sande again sends (January, 1579) an expedition to Mindanao and
Sulu, under Captain de Ribera, to secure their submission to Spanish
authority. His instructions lay special stress on proper care for the
health of the troops. The tribute desired from Sulu consists of "two or
three tame elephants." Ribera goes to the Rio Grande of Mindanao, but
can accomplish nothing; for the natives, in terror of the Spaniards,
have abandoned their villages, fleeing to the mountains. Ribera erects
a fort at the delta of the river, and receives the submission of a few
neighboring chiefs; but, as his men are being prostrated by sickness,
he obtains from a friendly _dato_ (chief) a list of the Indian villages
and their population, with such information as he can gather, and
departs--sending a small detachment of troops to pacify the district
of Butuan. Going to Cavite, Ribera finds there a deputation from Sulu,
who bring a little tribute saying that their people have been harassed
by famine ever since Figueroa came, a year before, to demand tribute
from them. Finding upon investigation that this story is true, he
gives back their tributes, receiving instead a cannon which they had
taken from a wrecked Portuguese galley. Ribera then returns to Cebu.
A royal decree of March 26, 1580, provides for appointments to
fill vacant benefices in the cathedral at Manila The new governor,
Ronquillo de Peñalosa, writes to the king (July 17, 1581), asking
whether Manila is to be regarded as his capital and head-quarters,
and giving advice in various matters. Like many such documents,
this is endorsed: "Seen; an answer is unnecessary."
As some of the Franciscan friars who have come to the Philippines
have preferred to labor in China, Peñalosa orders (March 2, 1582)
that no person shall leave the islands without his permission. In a
letter dated June is of that year, he complains to the king that he
has not received the expected reënforcements of men from New Spain;
that the Audiencia of that country (in which is now Sande, superseded
by Peñalosa as governor of the Philippines) meddles with his government
and threatens to make trouble for him; and that he needs a competent
assistant in his office. Ternate is now under Spanish control,
and Spain monopolizes the rich spice-trade; Panama is the best
route therefor. An "English pirate," presumably Sir Francis Drake,
has been intriguing with the Malays at Ternate, and the post there
should be more heavily fortified. The newly-appointed bishop, Salazar,
has arrived; on account of his austerity and his wish to dominate,
he is not a favorite with the people.
_The Editors_
April, 1903.