[At the beginning of VOLUME L may be found a brief summary of events
during the latter third of the eighteenth century, a record which
is here continued as above. As before, we epitomize from Montero y
Vidal's Hist. de Filipinas (tomo ii, pp. 360-573; iii, pp. 6-32),
using his own language wherever practicable, usually distinguished
by quotation marks.]
Under Governor Aguilar the "Ordinances of good government," as
revised by Governor Raon in 1768 (for which see VOL. L, pp. 191-264),
were reprinted in the year 1801. "On September 8, 1804, Don Fray
Juan Antonio Zulaibar, a Dominican, and formerly a professor in
the university of Alcalá, took possession of the archbishopric of
Manila." In November following, the governor sent despatches to
the king explaining his action in appointing to certain curacies
regular instead of secular priests, saying that the latter were seldom
qualified for those charges. He said, in regard to this: "No one is
ignorant how different are the appearance and the degree of prosperity
of all the churches and settlements administered by religious from
those in the villages which are in charge of Indian clerics. Of the
latter, some are doubtless men of virtue and pious intentions; but
in general it is notorious that, on account of their origin, lack of
education, the very obscure condition in which they are reared, and the
little (if any) knowledge that they possess, they do not inspire in
their parishioners that respect and veneration with which the latter
regard the religious--who, on account of being Spaniards, possess the
art of dominating the minds of the Indians, in order to maintain them
in those conditions on which depends the preservation of these your
Majesty's dominions. The religious know how to guide the Indians,
without violence, to whatever ends are expedient for both religion
and the State, as the results of never becoming too familiar with the
natives. The Indian clerics not only follow the opposite course, but,
lacking the dignity that belongs to their character as priests, they
mingle familiarly with their parishioners not only in their sports,
but in feasting and other things which are entirely unfitting; and not
seldom they dress themselves in the same manner as do the natives,
abandoning the very garb of their priestly estate." He proceeded to
say that only deplorable consequences could result from the surrender
of the curacies entirely to the native priests; and that the religious
of the orders must be employed therein, unless they could be supplied
with properly qualified secular priests who were Spaniards. The same
ideas were expressed by the municipal council of Manila, who said of
the native priests: "The weak and yielding disposition which has been
for so long a time noticed in these islanders does not permit in them
that steadfastness which is so proper for the priestly character and
the difficult office of the care of souls."
"In June, 1805, the Frenchman Félix Renouard de Sainte-Croix was
commissioned to examine the gold mines in Mambulao (in Camarines);
and in his report he explained that various gold mines existed there,
with very rich veins, but some were difficult to develop and others
had been abandoned. By royal order of July 5, 1805, was decreed
the total independence of the Manila custom-house, ordaining that
its manager should be under the immediate orders of the [treasury]
superintendent." [1] On December 20, 1806, Aguilar created a Bureau of
Vaccination at Manila, of which he was president; and regulations were
made for public vaccination, which had a marked effect in diminishing
the ravages of the smallpox. This governor gave much attention to
the construction of public works, one of the more important of these
being the highway from Manila to Cavite. He caused the streets of the
capital to be lighted at public expense, and paved sidewalks to be
built, and made the police system more efficient; he also did much
to promote domestic industries.
Aguilar endeavored, throughout his term of office, to check the
incursions of the Moros. The pirates attacked even the coasts of Luzón
in 1793, and an expedition sent out against them in December of that
year accomplished almost nothing, being too late and ineffective. In
the following year the governor called a council of the leading
military officers and other persons experienced in Moro wars and the
affairs of the southern islands, where it was shown that the Moros made
captive some 500 persons a year, whom they rendered slaves--excepting
the old, who "were sold to the inhabitants of Sandakan, who sacrificed
these captives to the shades of their deceased relatives or of
prominent personages, [2] preserving the skull of the victim as
a proof that they had complied with so barbarous a usage." It was
shown at this council that during the time from the establishment
of the vintas in 1778 until the end of 1793 the colony had spent
the sum of 1,519,209 pesos fuertes for vessels, expeditions, wages,
etc., in the warfare with the Moros, to say nothing of the losses and
destruction caused by the pirate raids. The council resolved to abolish
the present equipment of vintas and pancos, replacing these by lanchas
carrying cannon, in six divisions of six lanchas and one panco each,
with extra pay and honors to the crews; and to repair and strengthen
all the forts on the coasts liable to attack. Aguilar attempted to open
negotiations for peace with the Moro sultans; but these had no effect,
the piracies still continuing. In the summer of 1794, a Portuguese
trader of Manila who had carried goods to Joló was treacherously
attacked on his return, when near Iloilo, by the same Moros with
whom he had traded at Joló; but he defended his vessel bravely, and
one of the leading dattos of Joló was killed in the fray. In August,
1795, two vessels of the Spanish royal navy arrived at Manila, with
tidings that the English, again at war with Spain, were planning to
occupy the Filipinas Islands; this compelled Aguilar to desist from
further proceedings against the Moros, for the time. It was hoped
that Álava and his powerful squadron (who remained at Manila during
1797-1802) might chastise the Moros, but nothing was accomplished in
this direction--either through fear of another English invasion, or
because of the disagreements between Aguilar and Álava. [3] On January
21, 1798, two English ships attacked the Spanish post at Zamboanga,
but were bravely repulsed with much damage to the invaders. In that
year a strong force of Moros attacked the village of Baler and others
inland from the eastern coast of Luzón [where now is the province of
Principe], constituting the oldtime missions of Ituy; they devastated
these towns, and seized four hundred and fifty captives, among them
three parish curas, one of whom was sold by them for 2,500 pesos. These
pirates were established in Burías Island for four years, from which
center they harried the neighboring coasts. In 1799, the authorities
decided that it was more expedient that the warfare with the Moros
be carried on by the provincial authorities, with the direction and
aid of the central government; and instructions to this effect were
sent to all the alcaldes-mayor. In 1800 Aguilar established friendly
and commercial relations with Bandajar, sultan of Borneo; and on
November 4, 1805, his governor at Zamboanga, Francisco Bayot, made
a treaty of peace with Mahamad Ali Mudin, sultan of Joló, in which
the latter agreed to forbid any foreigners to reside in his dominions
without the consent of the Spanish government, and in case of war to
close his ports to enemies of Spain. In 1804-05 English cruisers were
frequently seen off the coasts of Filipinas, and they even attempted
to capture several villages on the Mindanao coast, but were repulsed.
On Aguilar's death (August 8, 1806), the rule of the islands was
assumed by the king's lieutenant at Manila, Mariano Fernández de
Folgueras; and his first measures were for the defense of Manila, as
there were rumors of another attack by the English. In the summer
of 1807, there arose a rebellion in the mountains of Ilocos Norte,
begun by certain Spanish deserters from Vigan in conjunction with
some vagabond Indians; afterward it spread to many of the Ilocans,
who resented the government monopoly of wine and prohibition of native
manufacture of basi (a liquor produced by the fermentation of the juice
of sugar cane). This revolt was put down without much difficulty,
and the leaders were hanged at Manila; much was accomplished by the
Augustinian fathers of Ilocos in restoring peace. In February, 1809,
the news arrived at Manila of the French invasion of Spain, and the
captivity of Fernando VII; the Manila authorities promptly declared
their loyalty to that monarch. Somewhat later a French schooner of war
was captured off the coast of Batangas, and the French authorities at
Isle de France endeavored to persuade those at Manila that England,
not France, was the enemy of Spain, and that the people of Filipinas
ought to support the French interests. Folgueras answered, refusing
to accept any such propositions, and would do no more than to return
the French prisoners from the captured vessel.
On March 4, 1810, the new proprietary governor Manuel González Aguilar,
assumed his office. On February 14 preceding, a decree had been issued
by the Spanish government granting to all the colonies in America
and to Filipinas representation in the Spanish Cortes by deputies
chosen by the various capital cities. The sessions of this Cortes
began on September 24, 1810, and Filipinas was represented therein by
acting deputies; afterward, one was duly chosen (Ventura de los Reyes)
by the municipality of Manila, according to the forms required. [4]
"In the jurisdiction of each village in the Philippine archipelago,
there are extensive communal lands, in which the natives can keep,
almost without cost and easily guarded, their herds of cattle and
horses. In regard to these lands (which in that country are called
estancias ["ranches"]), the new governor framed a useful ordinance,
which remained in force, with good results, during a long period. (It
has now fallen into disuse, and many of the communal lands have become
the property, illegally acquired, of private persons.) Important
service was rendered [to the country] by these ranches, on account
of the increase of live-stock and its great cheapness; and a positive
source of wealth for the provinces was initiated with the exportation
of their cattle." In the sessions of Cortes in 1811, a decree was
issued (January 26) that trade in quicksilver should be free in all
the Spanish dominions of Indias and Filipinas. In the summer of 1811,
a new rebellion broke out among the natives of Ilocos Norte, some of
whose chiefs attempted to found a new religion, in behalf of a deity
whom they called Lungao; [5] they endeavored to persuade the heathen
mountain-dwellers of Cagayan to join them, but the insurrection was
quelled promptly by the Spaniards, and the ringleaders put to death. It
was in González Aguilar's time that the Indians were allowed to render
the services required from them for public works on those in their
neighborhood. In order to relieve the public anxiety and impatience
caused by the dearth of news from the mother-country, the authorities
of the colony undertook to publish a sort of gazette containing such
information as was available from Europe--mostly received through
English publications that came from Bengal. Accordingly, "the first
newspaper in Filipinas made its appearance on August 8, 1811," [6]
the second number appearing three days later; it was published during
the rest of 1811 and part of 1812, and must have ceased for lack of
material. [7] "On account of the war which España was sustaining
against the French invaders, the religious corporations agreed to
contribute with their donations toward the expenses of so great an
undertaking; the Order of Dominicans gave with that object, in August,
1812, the sum of 36,000 pesos. On March 19 the Constitution of 1812
was promulgated at Cádiz, and orders were issued that allegiance to
it should be sworn in all the towns of the monarchy. The deputies
signed it on the eighteenth, and among the signatures appears that of
Don Ventura de los Reyes." The Constitution was solemnly proclaimed
in Manila on April 17, 1813, and the oath of allegiance was taken on
the following day. A decree in Cortes (July 3, 1813) extended to the
veteran troops of the over-seas colonies the same scale of rewards
as had been recently granted to the soldiers of the Peninsula. In
that same year a special effort was made by the Spanish government
to add to its revenues by pushing in the colonies the sale of bulls
of the Crusade. [8]
A new governor arrived at Manila assuming command on September 4,
1813; this was José de Gardoqui Jaraveitia, who also had appointment as
chief of the naval station. This exasperated the treasury officials,
for thus the entire naval force was under one head, that sent against
the pirates [which Aguilar had stubbornly kept separate from the
naval bureau--see "Events in Filipinas," VOL. L, pp. 23-74] being
now taken from their control, with all its opportunities for their
personal profit; and they opposed Gardoqui in whatever he proposed or
undertook. [9] On February 1, 1814, a fearful eruption occurred in the
volcano Mayón, which partially or wholly destroyed many villages in
Albay and Camarines; hot stones, sand, and ashes were poured forth from
the crater, and villages were thus set on fire, and their inhabitants
killed. The slain numbered 12,000, besides many more seriously injured;
and those who escaped lost all their possessions. The most fertile and
beautiful districts of Camarines were converted into a desert of sand.
"The introduction into Filipinas of the political reforms established
at the metropolis [of Madrid] were the occasion, in certain localities
of the archipelago, of lamentable disturbances of public order. The
Indians understood that the proclamation of the political creed of
1812, solemnly made known to the country, signified exemption from
tributes and public services; and this absurd belief spread to such
an extent that the governor of the islands found himself obliged to
publish an edict on February 8, 1814, explaining the extent of the
benefits conferred [by the Constitution], and the necessity which
exists in every nation for paying contributions for supporting
the expenses of the State. These explanations did not satisfy the
Indians, and uprisings occurred in various places, principally in
Ilocos Norte; the people claimed that they ought to be relieved,
as were the notables, from polos and services, or the obligation of
laboring on public works, as bridges, highways, churches, convents,
school-houses, etc.,--an exaction which, according to them, did not go
with the equality which was established among all by the Constitution;
and it cost the alcalde-mayor of the province his utmost efforts to
restrain the Ilocanos from violence." Still worse were the effects
of the renewal of absolutism in Spain, on the return of Fernando VII
from his captivity in France; for on May 4, 1814, he issued a decree
abolishing the Cortes, and nullifying its acts, and immediately began
a course of persecution and condemnation, even to death, of all the
prominent Liberals in the country. He also reëstablished in Spain the
Inquisition [10] (which had been abolished by the Cortes on February
22, 1813), and the Society of Jesus. When the royal decrees were
received in Filipinas, the Indians believed that they were false,
and concocted in Manila; one thousand five hundred Ilocanos seized
their arms, and began plundering, killing, and destroying throughout
the province. This was mainly, however, a rebellion of the common
people (Tagal, cailianes) against the ruling class, the principalía
or notables; and the latter finally took arms against the rebels,
aiding the Spaniards to suppress the insurrection. On July 20, 1814,
a treaty of peace was made between Spain and France. "Gardoqui, by an
edict of December 1, 1814, prohibited the introduction of opium into
Filipinas, imposing on those who should violate this law six years
of confinement in a presidio and the confiscation of the opium; and
to those who were found smoking the drug a fortnight's imprisonment
for the first offense, thirty days for the second, and four years
in presidio for the third. A term of eight days was allowed in order
that persons who might possess unsold stocks of the said drug could
deposit them in the custom-house for reshipment to China. In the said
year of 1814, there was built in the environs of the town of Laoag
(Ilocos Norte) a leper hospital, at the expense of the charitable
parish priest there, Fray Vicente Febras, an Augustinian; and this
act is worthy of note, since this was the first establishment of the
kind in the provinces of the Archipelago." A royal decree of August
22, 1815, reëstablished the Jesuit order in the Indias and Filipinas;
and another, dated December 11, commanded the seizure in the colonies
of various political books and pamphlets, with penalties for their
use in schools. After the death of Governor Aguilar, the Moro pirates
were comparatively quiet for a time, but in 1813 they renewed their
attacks on the Spanish territories, and during several years they
harassed the latter, taking many captives, and even seizing several
vessels, both Spanish and English, on the seas. Governor Raffles,
of Java, after the restoration of that island by England to Holland,
proposed to Gardoqui that they coöperate in occupying Joló and
Mindanao; but the Spaniard declined this, protesting against any
operations by the English in Spanish territory. "Gardoqui, during his
term of office, caused the fortifications of Cavite to be repaired,
making them very strong; he issued orders regulating weights and
measures; he created the general administration for the revenues
from wine; and he occupied himself greatly with the improvement and
development of the tobacco plantations. The bandits, smugglers, and
gamblers had been increasing at an alarming rate; and, in order that
they might be promptly punished the governor appointed a military
commission, headed by a lieutenant-colonel. Thanks to their energetic
proceedings, the desired object was attained." Gardoqui's last days
were embittered, and his end hastened, by the treacherous act of one
of his secretaries, who, by substituting a false report for the one
which Gardoqui had dictated in favor of retaining the naval bureau,
procured the governor's unwitting signature to the former and thus
made him appear to report adversely to the bureau; as a result,
the bureau was suppressed by a royal decree of March 23, 1815. His
disappointment and wounded honor so grieved him that his death soon
resulted (December 9, 1816).
The command ad interim was again assumed by Folgueras, who held it
during nearly six years. On December 17, 1819, he reëstablished the
"Royal Economic Society of Filipinas," as a result of royal orders
to that effect issued in 1811 and 1813; and five days later its
first session was held, the governor presiding, only two members
of the original society being still alive. [11] A month later, it
met again, with sixty new members, and Manuel Bernáldez was chosen
director of the association; and its new ordinances were approved by
the governor on July 24 following. Folgueras, learning that certain
immunities and advantages had been granted to Cuba and Puerto Rico for
the encouragement of agriculture, requested from the home government
similar help for Filipinas; the crown decreed an investigation of the
subject, but the fulfilment of this was delayed from time to time,
so that not until 1848 was even a definite statement and proposal
for action in this direction made. [12] (This was done by Rafael
Díaz Arenas, one of the four members of the Economic Society--to
which the investigation had been referred--who had been appointed
to prepare the data for a report to the crown; "but we do not know
whether the Society accepted his proposal, or whether it reached any
definite conclusion on the subject.") In October of the year 1820,
Manila was ravaged by a terrible epidemic of smallpox, which was
especially fatal in the villages along the Pasig River; the corregidor
of Tondo therefore issued an edict prohibiting the use of the river
water. A public relief committee was organized to give the sick
medical treatment and to furnish food to the poor; and the friars
and the private citizens vied with the authorities in ministering
to the victims of the pest. The medical men belonging to the ships
anchored in the bay came to the city, and did all in their power to
aid these benevolent efforts; but all these things only confirmed in
the ignorant natives the fatal idea, already spread among them, that
the disease was caused by the foreigners having poisoned the waters
and used to this end the specimens of insects and other creatures
which they had collected for scientific purposes. A crowd of armed
Indians therefore gathered in the square of Binondo on October 9,
attacked the houses of the foreigners, and murdered twenty-seven
persons--among whom was not one Spaniard; nor did they, in plundering
the houses, rob any Spaniard. The governor sent out some troops,
but they accomplished nothing in checking the riot, which ended only
at nightfall; and he did nothing to prevent further crimes of this
sort, so that the mob renewed their acts of violence the next day,
[13] plundering and killing many Chinese of the suburbs. This aroused
Folgueras to activity, and he sent out a large force of soldiers to
pursue the assassins; but the latter at once dispersed. A council
of the authorities was called, but there were discordant opinions
among them, and they seem to have taken no definite action. The
municipal council of Manila called upon the governor for the proper
legal proceedings in regard to this scandalous and lawless uprising;
and for this purpose he appointed a commission. [14]
In October, 1820, was created the office of general intendant of
army and treasury, separate from the superior government; and it was
conferred upon Colonel Luis Urréjola, with a salary of 5,000 pesos. In
May, 1821, the Constitution of 1812 was again proclaimed in Filipinas,
only to be again abrogated in 1824, as a result of Fernando VII's
triumph (with French aid) over the Liberal party in Spain. "Folgueras
gave great impulse to the Economic Society of Friends of the Country;
and he attempted to found in Manila a school of medicine, surgery, and
pharmacy, commencing for this purpose the indispensable documentary
evidence [expediente], but he did not succeed in carrying out this
plan--a failure much to be regretted, because nearly all of the
towns [in the islands] had neither physician nor drug-store. As a
compensation, the creation of the nautical academy was an excellent
idea, for its practical results are of great value." "In 1821 appeared
the second periodical which was published in the country, entitled El
Noticiero Filipino; [15] [i.e., "The Philippine Intelligencer"]; and
in the same year were published two others, El Ramillete Patriótico
["The Patriotic Bouquet"] and La Filantropía ["Philanthropy"]. The
life of all was of short duration."
Folgueras was replaced by a proprietary governor, Juan Antonio
Martinez, who began to exercise that office on October 30, 1822. He
brought with him many military officers from the Peninsula, "a measure
counseled by Folgueras, in view of the deficiency of officers in the
regiments of Filipinas, and the little confidence which they inspired;
and this was the cause or pretext which he advanced to the court to
exculpate himself for not having adopted more energetic measures when
the melancholy assassinations were committed by the Indians among the
foreigners in 1820. The body of officers in the army of Filipinas was
almost entirely composed of American Spaniards. These were greatly
displeased at the increase of Peninsular officers, partly because they
supposed that thus their own promotions would be stopped, and partly on
account of race antagonisms." They talked so much against the newcomers
that the governor became distrustful, and finally discovered that the
American officers were plotting and conspiring against authority;
he consequently arrested the persons suspected of this intrigue,
and sent them to Spain (February 18, 1823)--among them being Luis
Rodríguez Varela, styled El Conde Filipino ["The Filipino Count"]; [16]
and the factor of the Company of Filipinas, José Ortega. Nevertheless,
the plots continued, and the authorities sent him who appeared to be
the leader in these, Captain Andrés Novales, to fight the pirates in
northern Mindanao; he embarked (June 1, 1823), but was driven back
by a storm, and immediately he and his accomplices determined to
"declare themselves openly against the authority of España," and set
up a government of their own. The insurgents (some eight hundred in
number) seized the cabildo house, and incarcerated therein the leading
military chiefs and some magistrates; then they murdered Folgueras,
and took from his pockets the keys of the city; and they fortified
themselves in the royal palace, and attempted to seize the artillery
quarters. Here they were resisted bravely by a few loyal officers
and men, and word was conveyed to the governor, who collected the
troops available and sent these against the palace. The insurgents
there were soon overcome, and many abandoned their posts and fled;
Novales was made a prisoner, taken before a court-martial--to whom
he declared that he had no accomplices, and was alone guilty of
seducing the troops--and with the sergeant Mateo (who had commanded
the insurgent force in the palace) was shot that afternoon, as
also was Lieutenant Ruiz, who had assassinated Folgueras. Amnesty
was extended to all the remaining prisoners, except six officers,
who were shot soon afterward. On October 26, 1824, great damage was
done in Manila by a severe earthquake, which destroyed the barracks,
several churches, and many houses; and this was followed (November
1) by a fearful hurricane, which ruined many buildings and wrecked a
multitude of sailing vessels. In this same year the Economic Society
founded a monthly periodical entitled Registro Mercantil [17] ["The
Mercantile Register"].
The ravages of the Moro pirates continuing, and becoming each year more
menacing, [18] Martínez sent out an expedition against them (February
29, 1824), which laid waste the shores of Joló and southern Mindanao,
and killing a considerable number of Moros, among whom were three of
their fiercest and most treacherous dattos. Martínez advocated such
operations as this, as the only means of stopping the piracies of the
Moros. During the period of 1823-29, the Augustinian missionary Fray
Bernardo Lago succeeded in reducing to village life and converting
more than eight thousand Tinguianes and Igorrots in the province of
Abra, forming the mission of Pidigan. In 1825 Martínez was replaced
by Mariano Ricafort Palacín y Abarca, and departed for Spain; a few
days after leaving Manila he died, and was buried in Cochinchina.
Ricafort assumed office on October 14, 1825, and by royal orders also
took possession of the intendancy of exchequer, although Urréjola
was continued in its charge; but in the following January Ricafort
concluded that "this dual command was impossible," and restricted the
intendant to certain routine functions, at the same time asking the
approval of the home government for this proceeding. He had brought
with him a portrait of Fernando VII, presented by the king to his
colony of Filipinas; the municipal council of Manila decided to pay
this portrait the same honors as if the king himself had visited the
islands, and during the week of December 19-25 festivities of every
kind were conducted, with the utmost display and magnificence. (Five
years later, orders from the Spanish government were received at
Manila, censuring the extravagant expenditures on that occasion, said,
to amount to some 16,000 pesos, as an unwarranted and blamable use of
municipal funds, and regulating, for the future, expenditures of this
sort.) A royal decree of June 8, 1826, ordained that the secularization
of parish curacies should cease, and that those ministries should
be restored to the religious orders, which was accordingly done. On
September 15 of that year Fray Hilarión Diez, an Augustinian, took
possession of the archbishopric of Manila, replacing Zulaibar,
who had died on March 4, 1824. In June a circular letter was sent
by Ricafort to the provincial governors, reminding them of the law
(art. 26 of the "Ordinances of good government") which forbade them
to hinder in any way the trade in the products of the provinces,
whether by Spaniards, natives, or mestizos, and whether in kind or
with money, ordering them to permit trade freely everywhere, without
any delays or exactions against those doing business. In 1827 Ricafort
sent an expedition against Joló, which was kept off by the valor of
the Joloans; but the Spaniards burned and ravaged the settlements
on the shores of Illana Bay, doing the Moros much damage. In that
same year the Spanish government reëstablished the naval bureau at
Manila, independent of the captain-general, and Pascual Enrile was
appointed as its chief; he proceeded to reorganize all branches of
the service, including that intended to serve against the pirates,
whom he was able to restrain to a great extent; and he constructed
several cruisers and other vessels, one of which remained in active
service for forty years. He established the jurisdiction of the bureau
throughout the archipelago, creating port-captains for Iloilo, Capiz,
Cebú, and Pangasinán. Ever since the insurrection of 1744 in Bohol,
caused by the imprudence of the Jesuit Morales, the insurgents had
(under their chief Dagohoy) maintained hostilities, not only against
the Spaniards, but even harassing their own countrymen who occupied
the coastal villages of that island. The Recollects, in charge of
the missions of Bohol after the expulsion of the Jesuits, tried
to persuade the rebels to submit to Spanish authority, and secured
from Governor Raon a general amnesty for them; but it resulted only
in their defying further the authority of the government, which was
long unable to take any measures for subduing them. Finally, in 1827,
the danger to the loyal villages of Bohol was so menacing that the
authorities were compelled to protect them and reduce the insurgents;
and to this end Ricafort sent powerful expeditions (May, 1827, and
April, 1828), which after strenuous efforts compelled the rebels to
submit. [19] That governor accomplished much during his term of office
for the promotion of agriculture. He ordained (1825 and 1826) that the
native gobernadorcillos should furnish to agriculturists the idle and
unoccupied Indians within their jurisdictions, to work on the estates,
these laborers being paid their daily wages; and on October 30, 1827,
that all complaints in civil cases relating to farm laborers should
be settled by the magistrates as promptly and simply as possible,
"observing the contracts and usages of the Indians, when these
are not unjust," and that no Indian laborer should be imprisoned
for a purely civil debt (save those to the royal exchequer), nor
should his animals, tools, lands, or house be seized therefor. The
Spanish minister of the exchequer, Luis López Ballesteros, also took
a paternal interest in the islands, and secured royal decrees for
the benefit of their industries. One of these (dated April 6, 1828)
encouraged the importation into Filipinas of all machinery suitable for
spinning and weaving cotton, offered public aid to private enterprises
for improvement in weaving and dyeing, and promised protection and
encouragement to all projects for promoting native manufactures of
cloth; and made the exportation of raw cotton from the islands free,
in order to promote the cultivation of that plant. Another decree
(of the same date) permitted the free importation of all kinds of
agricultural machinery and implements into Filipinas; and authorized
premiums and rewards from the public funds to Filipino farmers who
should first make large plantations of coffee, cacao, cinnamon,
and cloves, as also to those who should make most progress in the
plantations of Chinese cinnamon [canelón], tea, and mulberry-trees,
and in raising silk, etc. Those who kept in cultivation a certain
area of land, and day-laborers who continued to work for a certain
number of years, were exempted from paying tributes; and the native
farmers were allowed to keep cockpits in operation daily and without
tax, on the estates which they cultivated. "In spite of so many
privileges, not many of them were inclined to the cultivation of
their fields." Another royal order (April 6, 1828) made important
regulations regarding the Chinese residing in the islands; they
were to be gathered into villages, as were the Indians; their heads
of barangay were to collect the tributes, as in the Indian villages,
being allowed three per cent of the collections for their trouble; they
were classified into three groups--those who were engaged in foreign
or wholesale trade, those in domestic or retail trade, and artisans
of all classes--who were obliged to pay a monthly tax of ten, four,
and two pesos respectively; those who had settled in the islands,
but were not married, must return to China within six months; and
any Chinaman who failed to pay his tax for three months was to be
sent to compulsory labor on some estate, at a specified wage, from
which should be deducted two pesos a month until his tax dues should
be paid. [20] Still another royal order of the same date gave free
permission to any person of sufficient means to cultivate the opium
poppy in Filipinas and export its product therefrom; and ordered that
its culture should begin on lands close to Manila. Another decree
ordained the establishment of a mint at Manila; but this desirable
measure was not carried out until many years afterward, and the islands
meanwhile had to suffer from the wretched clipped and debased currency
which had so long prevailed there. On October 13, 1828, Ricafort
published an edict that all money which came to the islands coined by
the revolted Spanish colonies of America should be recoined at Manila,
taxing it one per cent for this recoinage. On November 9 following,
a long but not destructive earthquake occurred. In that same year a
conspiracy was set on foot by some civil officials; it was discovered,
and its promoters sent to Spain. As a result, the authorities created
a public vigilance commission, and demanded more troops from Spain;
a regiment was accordingly sent to Manila in 1830. By royal decree
of October 27, 1829, it was provided that the post of superintendent
of the exchequer should be filled by the intendant of the army and
treasury; accordingly this charge was assumed (September 9, 1830) by
Francisco Enriquez, who for two years had been intendant succeeding
Urréjola. In January, 1829, an officer named Guillermo Galvey (whose
duty it was to follow up smugglers in Pangasinán and Ilocos) conducted
an expedition into the district of Benguet; an interesting account of
this is found in the diary left by him. By royal decree of April 5,
1820 Spanish vessels were permitted to enter British ports just as
British vessels were admitted to Spanish ports. Ricafort, having
finished his government of Filipinas, sailed for Spain at the end
of 1830. He was a governor of good judgment and much energy, and did
much to improve the condition of Manila and of the country. He issued
edicts imposing penalties on those who should sing obscene songs,
and on blasphemers, gamblers, beggars, and parents who brought up
their children in evil ways; and he "made provision for a general
domiciliary visitation of Manila and the formation of a list of its
citizens, which measure resulted in many persons of bad antecedents
abandoning the capital. He also decreed standards for weights and
measures, which unfortunately soon fell into disuse; and he created a
military commission with power to execute evildoers, which fulfilled
the object of its creation."
Ricafort was succeeded (December 23, 1830) by Pascual Enrile y Alcedo,
a most zealous and able governor. He personally visited the northern
provinces of Luzón, accompanied by his relative and adjutant, José
María Peñaranda (afterward the governor of Albay), a military engineer,
who afterward made journeys and surveys in a large part of the rest
of that island; this resulted in carefully prepared itineraries,
plans, and maps, which were utilized in the construction of highways
and bridges, and the establishment of postal routes, which opened up
communication between regions before destitute of such facilities,
and sometimes in places heretofore deemed impassable. The navigable
rivers and bayous of Pangasinán were explored and mapped; a highway
was made in Pampanga which should be safe from the overflow of Lake
Canarem; and explorations were made from east to west in Luzón for
the sake of bringing the shores of the island into communication
with the fertile plains of the interior. On May 14, 1834, Peñaranda
was made corregidor or governor of the province of Albay, "which
experienced a complete transformation during his just and beneficent
rule. To him it owed its most important roads, bridges, and public
edifices, and the promotion of its agriculture, on which account his
name is venerated by the inhabitants of Albay; they perpetuated the
memory of this illustrious but modest patriot by erecting, some years
after his death, a monument to him in the plaza of the capital of the
province." The Economic Society of Friends of the Country contributed
to the development of agriculture, in the time of Enrile, by its
reports, memoirs, and material support. We read with surprise, however,
that in 1833 this Society, in an opinion requested from it by the home
government, opposed the establishment of a mint at Manila, and informed
Enrile that such institution was at that time unnecessary. In March,
1831, Galvey made an expedition into the country of the Igorrots;
and in the following December, to the district of Bacún. A decree
of May 9, 1831, established a custom-house in Zamboanga, "in order
to prevent the frauds committed by foreigners in the port of Joló,
and to facilitate and promote expeditions to that point." A royal
decree of April 24, 1832, substituted the garrote for the gallows in
capital punishments. Another, dated February 16, 1833, provided for
the adjustment and management of the funds belonging to the obras
pías, which charge was entrusted later to a committee composed
of the governor of the islands, some of the treasury officials,
and the archbishop. [21] The treasury officials, by a decree of
July 3, 1833, accepted the proposal of certain persons to establish
"a lottery, at their own account and risk, offering to pay to the
treasury forty per cent [of the receipts?], besides twenty-five per
cent of the value of the tickets which composed each drawing, after
furnishing adequate security as a guarantee for the fulfilment of
their promise." The exclusive privilege of this lottery was granted
to these persons for a period of five years. Enrile created the
Guía de forasteros ["Guide for Strangers"] of Filipinas; it first
appeared in 1834. Our author reproduces (t. ii, pp. 539, 540) the
table of contents of this annual. Fernando VII died on September 29,
1833, and was succeeded by his daughter Isabel II, to be until her
majority under the regency of her mother, Maria Cristina; this was
quickly followed by the Carlist insurrection, the reactionary party
being headed by the young prince Carlos, who was proclaimed king
as Carlos V, and civil war ensued, which for seven years stained
the soil of Spain with the blood of her own sons. By royal order of
August 10, 1834, the Chinese traders were restricted to the Parián,
and those Chinese who were allowed to reside in the provinces
must devote themselves to agricultural pursuits. Enrile issued an
edict on October 1, 1834, removing the special duties imposed on the
Chinese champans, and placing them under the same regulations as the
vessels of other foreign nations. On February 2, 1835, the official
despatches arrived from Spain which decreed the restoration of the
constitutional regime and the convocation of the Cortes. Enrile
strengthened the naval forces sent against the pirates [la marina
sutil, composed of light-draught vessels], and was able to drive them
away from the coasts of Visayas. He also increased the area planted
in tobacco, enforced just weights and measures, endeavored to correct
the evils resulting from the debased money of the islands, and caused
a light-house to be erected on Corregidor Island. Our writer commends
this governor as being "one of the most intelligent and industrious
who have ever ruled Filipinas." "To him the country owes material
improvements of the utmost value, of so much importance as the great
highways of Luzón, which have facilitated the intercourse between
the provinces, bringing them into postal communication, one after
another, by means of the mail-routes established by him; and the
administration of the colony is indebted to him for regulations and
procedures that are scientific and orderly, in all the branches that
have contributed to the development of the general welfare, making
considerable increase in the public wealth. Agriculture, commerce,
and navigation likewise experienced the beneficial results of this
illustrious governor's judicious management; and his term of office was
the source of the rapid progress which has been made from that time by
these most important factors of the general welfare--in great part,
thanks to the impulse received from the measures, dictated by him,
which conduced to the natural development of those industries." Enrile
resigned his post, and returned to Spain early in 1835.
He was succeeded ad interim (March 1, 1835) by Gabriel de Torres, at
the time the commander of the army [segundo cabo] under Enrile; as a
military officer, he immediately proposed plans for the improvement
of the military service; but these were checked by his premature
death, [22] less than two months after entering on his office. In
his place, the command was assumed (April 23) by the officer next
him in rank, Juan Crámer; but he surrendered this office on September
9 following to the new segundo cabo, Pedro Antonio Salazar Castillo
y Varona. The latter, on April 25, 1836, issued an edict that "the
plain [sencillas] pesetas coined in the Peninsula should be accepted
[in the islands] at their lawful value of four reals vellón instead
of five, as if they were pillar coins [columnarias]; [23] accordingly
they began to circulate, having been recently introduced into the
islands." On June 11, 1836, the superintendency of treasury affairs
was assumed by Urréjola in place of Enríquez. [24] On July 28,
Salazar found it necessary to issue an edict for the enforcement
of the laws which prohibited carrying gunpowder and firearms to
the Indias, and selling them in countries hostile to Spain; this
referred especially to Moroland, where evidently the pirates had
been thus aided by unscrupulous traders to make their raids against
the northern islands. Salazar thought that he could restrain those
piracies by carrying on commerce with the Moros, and therefore made a
treaty with the sultan of Joló, Mahamad Diamalud Quiram (September 22,
1836), which stipulated "that every three-masted ship which made port
at Joló with Chinese passengers from Manila should pay 2,000 pesos
fuertes, and smaller vessels in proportion to their size;" but "the
most important cargo which went from Manila to Joló never exceeded
2,500 pesos. The Joloan barks which should go to Zamboanga were to
pay a duty of one per cent, and those which entered at Manila two
per cent; but no Joloan bark was accustomed to go to Manila." The
governor of Zamboanga also made a treaty with another Moro ruler;
but it resulted only in increasing the insolence of the pirates,
who paid no attention to their treaties. At the beginning of 1836,
Salazar sent an expedition under Galvey to occupy the Igorrot country;
but it was, despite Galvey's remonstrances, sent in too great haste,
and without adequate preparations, and too near the beginning of the
rainy season; they reached that region, and built some forts, but so
many of the soldiers were attacked by sickness that the expedition
was forced to give up the undertaking and retire, "without any other
result than the expenditure of several thousand dollars." [25]
In that same year, Peñaranda conducted with brilliant success an
expedition to dislodge the pirates from Masbate Island, where they
had fortified themselves. "Afterward, he established a system of
signals in the provinces of the south, to watch the movements of those
pirates." On January 26, 1837, Salazar sent an urgent request to the
Spanish government for the despatch of Spanish regulars to supply the
parish curacies throughout the archipelago, as (for the same reasons
advanced by former governors) he considered the Indian clerics unfit
for that purpose. In view of the secularization of the orders that
had been decreed in Spain, [26] he desired that some two hundred of
the friars there should be sent to Filipinas, which, added to those
already in the islands, would be sufficient for the parishes. The
political disturbances in Spain found some reflection in the distant
colonies; and in February, 1837, there was danger of a tumult arising,
"some insisting that the Constitution should be proclaimed, in order
that they might utilize the change to their own advantage;" among these
were several officers of high rank. Absurd reports were circulated
throughout Manila: that the governor was opposed to the proclamation,
and was intending to banish certain persons from the country, and that
he was a Carlist, etc. Violent measures were proposed by some of the
radicals, but these were resisted by some of the cooler heads; and
many citizens opposed the proclamation of the Constitution, fearing
that serious disturbances would result. Salazar, being informed of
these things, promised that when the royal despatches arrived he
would open them in the presence of all, and fulfil whatever orders he
should receive from the home government. This occurred on August 26
of that year, and the royal orders decreed that no change in political
affairs should be made in Filipinas until the Cortes should decide the
matter; this and Salazar's tact reconciled the contending factions. At
the same time he received a decree reducing in all departments the
military forces of the islands; the authorities resolved to suspend
the execution of this order, and sent an envoy to remonstrate with
the government on this subject--for this purpose choosing one of the
officers who had been most prominent in the recent controversy, and
thus removing from Manila a person whose presence there was regarded
as dangerous. By royal order of February 1, 1836 (published in the
islands on March 31, 1837), order was given that there should be
compiled and published in Manila every year tables of the values of
the moneys from the new provinces of America, in order that their
value might, in their circulation in Manila, be properly adjusted
to the Spanish peso; consequently, the recoinage of American money
was stopped. A later edict ordered that from June 1, 1837, "the coin
called cuarto should circulate at the rate of twenty to the real,
[27] instead of seventeen as hitherto, on account of the greater
size and weight of the new coins; and to this new subdivision were
adjusted the prices of the measures of tobacco established therefor,
and the revenues from wine. Also the circulation of cigars [tabacos]
in place of money was forbidden; the Indians had introduced this on
account of the scarcity of copper coin, and because the greater part
of that then current was counterfeit, on which account a multitude of
disputes had arisen. The governor decided, moreover, that the Spanish
peseta should be accepted at thirty-two cuartos, five [pesetas],
therefore, corresponding to the peso fuerte." A royal order of May
31, 1837, declared certain jurisdictions--Caraga, Samar, Iloilo,
Antique, Capis, Albay, Camarines Sur, and Tayabas--to be those of
governors, at once military and political, who should be military
officers appointed by the War Department; all the rest (excepting
Cavite, Zamboanga, and the Marianas, which also were filled like
the foregoing) were classed as alcaldeships, and appointments thereto
should be made from the attorney-general's office [Ministerio de Gracia
y Justicia]. The Constitution of 1837 was decreed and sanctioned by
the Cortes on June 8 of that year; and it was ordained by that body
that the provinces of Ultramar should be governed by special laws,
a provision reiterated by succeeding constitutions. "From that time
Filipinas lost its representation in the Cortes."
On August 4, 1837, arrived at Manila the new governor of the islands,
Andrés García Camba, a knight of the Order of Santiago. He had already
spent ten years in Filipinas (April, 1825, to March, 1835), and had
gone to Spain as the deputy of Manila to the Cortes, an honor twice
again conferred upon him. He was received with the utmost enthusiasm,
although the Liberals at Manila were irritated by the action of the
Cortes in depriving the islands of representation therein; but Camba
himself had liberal views, as well as a generous and kindly nature,
and gained the good-will of that party. This made trouble for him,
however, in another direction. The civil war in Spain aroused there
great partisan bitterness, which spread to the colonies; and in
Filipinas was a Carlist and reactionary faction, who opposed Camba
in every way. "The regular clergy, as a body, were partisans of the
Pretender, and not only gave him their sympathy but aided him, as well
as the Carlist publications, with their money. The court of Madrid
was aware of this attitude of the friars, and had already sharply
censured Salazar for his indulgence and lenity toward them. Several
Carlist partisans had been banished from Spain to the Marianas,
but had gone to Manila instead, and were not only unmolested there,
but visited and entertained by many of the most prominent people of
the city, and especially by the ecclesiastical element. Camba found
that Carlist reunions were being held in the convents of San Juan
de Dios and Santo Domingo, and that even the archbishop, [Fray José
Segui] was an avowed adherent of the Pretender; the governor tried
to conciliate the disaffected, but with little success, since the
clergy, the Audiencia, and many influential persons, both citizens and
officials, were jealous and hostile toward him." [28] He was obliged to
compel the archbishop to deposit certain funds, belonging to the Cavite
hospital, in the royal treasury, instead of the Dominican convent; also
to arrest a Dominican friar for conducting treasonable correspondence
with Carlists, and to send to Spain a military officer concerned
therein. Notwithstanding Camba's ability, integrity, and devotion to
the interests of the islands, and his patience with his opponents,
they exerted so much influence and carried on so many intrigues against
him, not only in Manila but at Madrid, that they procured his recall to
Spain; [29] and on December 29, 1838, he surrendered the governorship
to his successor, Luis Lardizábal y Montoya. Notwithstanding the
obstacles and difficulties which Camba continually encountered, he
accomplished some important improvements in the administration, [30]
the chief of these being the reorganization of the postal service,
which from 1838 was conducted under one bureau and on modern lines;
he improved the means of communication between the provinces, and
pushed forward the reduction of the heathen tribes. He informed the
Spanish government that the attempts to make treaties and alliances
with the sultans of Joló were of no use in bringing any permanent or
substantial advantage to Spanish navigation and commerce. In 1837 was
published the Flora de Filipinas of the Augustinian Fray Manuel Blanco,
the first attempt to form a compendium of Philippine botany. [31]
A royal decree of October 24, 1838, "created in Spain a consulting
committee for the administration of colonial affairs, as members of
the same being appointed, among others, the ex-governors of Filipinas
Ricafort and Enrile."
A royal order of November 16, 1838, had prohibited the holding of
provincial chapter-sessions in Filipinas; the Recollect procurator at
Madrid remonstrated with the government against this, and the matter
was referred to the governor and archbishop of Manila. Lardizábal
decided that the chapters should meet, and that the senior auditor
of the Audiencia should attend those sessions, as the representative
of the vice-regal patron. By a decree of August 31, the governor
regulated the status of the Chinese in the islands. They were
"classified as transients, those spending the winter [in the islands],
and permanent residents. They were allowed to choose the occupation
which best suited them, without any restriction. The resident
Chinese who should be arrested [as being] without official permit
[cédula] or passport were condemned to labor on the public works;
and deportation to Zamboanga, Misamis, Paragua, and Calamianes was
decreed for all those who were serving a prison term for failure to
pay their capitation-tax, in both Manila and Cavite, with the object
of securing by this means a larger population for those places." On
July 6, 1839, a weekly publication was begun in Manila entitled,
Precios corrientes de Manila [i.e., "Prices current at Manila"], [32]
in the Spanish and English languages. A royal decree of October 4,
1839, provided for the introduction and circulation of books in the
islands; the fiscal must designate those that merited examination,
and then they must be passed upon by two censors, appointed by
the governor and the archbishop respectively, whose opinion must
be submitted to the fiscal; and if "there shall appear sufficient
ground for prohibiting the circulation of any work, because it may
contain principles, opinions, or doctrines opposed to the rights of
the legitimate government or to the religion of the State, it shall be
not only seized but reshipped." [33] On July 15, 1840, was opened the
School of Commerce, established at the request of the Board [Junta]
of Commerce. "On November 11 Lardizábal repeated Ricafort's edict of
1828, prohibiting foreigners from selling merchandise at retail and
entering the provinces to trade." At the end of this year important
changes were made in the administration of financial affairs, all
the revenues arising from government monopolies being united under
one bureau; and another bureau was likewise created for the general
administration of the tributes and some other branches of revenue, as
those from cockpits, tithes, etc.; while in all the general offices of
supervision was introduced the system of bookkeeping by double entry,
which had been established in the royal accountancy of the exchequer
in 1839. The governor also issued instructions for more careful and
accurate accounting being made of municipal property and local imposts,
in order to prevent abuses and waste of funds. Lardizábal was soon
weary of his command, although faithful to his duties while governor,
and so earnestly entreated the home government to allow him to return
to Spain that finally he gained this permission; and he departed on
that voyage (February, 1841), only to die a few days after leaving
Manila; he was buried on an islet near Java. He was succeeded by
Marcelino de Oráa Lecumberri.