Treaty of 1836 with the Sultan of Sulu
Text of the treaty
Articles of agreement arranging the duties to be paid by Sulu craft in Manila and Zamboanga, and by Spanish craft in Jolo, which schedule can not be changed except by a new agreement.
Article 1. Sulu craft which, with proper license, go to Manila, may import products of the Islands subject to the Sultan, by paying a consumption duty of 2½%.
Article 2. Wax and cacao may be deposited in the Manila Custom-House by paying 1%; but if these articles are imported the established 14% will be paid.
Article 3. Sulu craft that trade in Zamboanga will pay a duty of 1% on products of the islands subject to the Sultan.
Article 4. All these duties will be paid in silver to the Protecting Spanish Government on the basis of one-half the appraised value.
Article 5. Spanish craft in Jolo will pay the following duties in kind:
| Pesos | |
| Ships of three masts from Manila, with Chinese passengers | 2,000 |
| The same, without passengers | 1,800 |
| Brigantine from Manila, with Chinese passengers | 1,500 |
| The same, without passengers | 1,300 |
| Schooner from Manila, with Chinese passengers | 1,400 |
| The same, without passengers | 1,200 |
| Pontin (small trading boat) from Manila, with Chinese passengers | 1,400 |
| The same, without passengers | 1,200 |
| Galley from Manila or other ports of the Philippines, with cargo of rice (palay), sugar and saguranes[76] | 300 |
| The same for the Philippine Islands with cargo of merchandise | 500 |
Article 6. These duties fixed for Spanish craft will be paid in kind in accordance with the values laid down in the following schedule, one-half of which will be selected by the Sultan’s government officials from the cargo and the other half shall consist of such articles as the captain of the boat may select, valuation to be in accordance with the schedule. Articles not in the schedule can not be exacted from the captain, nor will he give such payment:
| Articles | Quantity | Value |
| (pesos) | ||
| Rice | One laga | 2.00 |
| Sugar | One pilon | 5.00 |
| Coconut oil | One tinaja | 6.50 |
| Chapas (plates) | Per thousand | 1.00 |
| Cambayas ordinarias (cloth) | Per thousand | 9.00 |
| Carancali (cloth) | Per piece | 11.00 |
| Coco, black and blue, (cloth) | 11 yards | 4.50 |
| Coquillo blanco, (cloth), 6 brazas (12 yards) | 1 piece | 6.50 |
| Coco blanco, (cloth), 22 brazas (44 yards) | 1 piece | 16.50 |
| Javal de caranclan (cloth) | 1 piece | 26.00 |
| Cacha (cloth) | 1 piece | 4.00 |
| Manta coleta (shirting) | 1 piece | 1.00 |
| Plain muslin, 12 varas | 1 piece | 10.00 |
| Fancy muslin | 1 piece | 5.00 |
| Colored muslin, 12 varas | 1 piece | 15.00 |
| Unhusked rice | One laga | 1.00 |
| Paños de Costa (cloth) | 1 piece | 11.00 |
| Ordinary cambric kerchiefs | 1 kerchief | .50 |
| Ordinary stamped kerchiefs | Per dozen | 3.00 |
| Woolens | 1 piece | 6.00 |
| Common woolens | 1 piece | 5.00 |
| Printed cotton with flowers | 1 piece | 9.00 |
Article 7. Sulu ships found trading in ports without a license or passing contraband will be treated as smugglers in accordance with the Spanish laws laid down for such. Spanish schooners and small trading craft (galeras) that show by manifest in Jolo that they carry a cargo of Philippine produce, and are afterward discovered to have, in place thereof, a cargo of merchandise (géneros), and to have discharged such cargo in the port to be sold therein, will be fined 500 pesos as per values in Jolo, two-thirds of said sum to go to the Sultan, and one-third to the Royal Treasury of the Protecting Spanish Government.
Article 8. Should the import duties on any articles of commerce produced in the Sulu Islands be reduced in Manila or Zamboanga to a lower rate than that now established, the Spanish Government will also make a reduction so that Sulu ships may always pay less, as has been agreed.
Should the Sultan of Sulu collect smaller duties from any foreign ship than those established for Spaniards, either as a tax or by a reduction of the valuation of the dutiable articles, he will be obliged to make such a reduction in duties for Spanish craft as will give the advantage to the flag of His Catholic Majesty as stipulated.
Last Article. Should the text of these articles of agreement differ in the two languages, the Spanish text will be literally adhered to.
Palace of Jolo, September 23, 1836, which is the 14th of the moon Jamadul Akir, 1252.—José M. Harun,—Rubric,—Sultan Mohammed Jamalul Kiram,—Datu Mohammed Harun,—Datu Mohammed Buyuk,—Datu Bandahala,—Datu Muluk,—Datu Sabalmar,—Datu Mamancha,—Datu Juhan,—Datu Maharaja-Layla,—Datu Sabuwayan,—Datu Muluk Kahar,—Datu Nay.
I, Don José María Halcon y Mendoza, Frigate Captain of the Royal Navy, etc., Special Commissioner appointed by the Captain General of the Philippines to establish these articles of agreement (capitulaciones),
Certify that when I received from the hands of the Sultan of Sulu the copy herewith, in the act of the exchange, by which I handed him the duplicate with the ratification of the Governor General, I remarked at the end of the present a writing in Malay, on the page following that of the seals and signatures which is the reverse of folio six, on which it can be seen.
I also certify that having examined the contents of said improper addition which, although unauthorized, appears in writing in the present document, it was found to be the text of the circular of the Sultan to his people, in four articles, whose translation, made by the Datu Muluk-Bandarasa, and verified separately by several persons, reads as follows:
Article 1. The people of Sulu who wish to go to Zamboanga or Mindanao shall ask the Sultan of Sulu for a passport so that they may suffer no harm if they meet ships belonging to the Navy.
Article 2. Passports shall be issued stating the number of people on board and the cargo when requested.
Article 3. I give this order for the safety of those who travel by sea, as instead of being pursued by the ships of the Navy, they shall be helped.
Article 4. I give you the present patent so that when you meet the ships of the Navy of the King of Spain, my brother, they may not harm, but help you.
And in proof thereof, I make out the present certificate, written of my hand and attached to the Articles of Agreement, of which it is impossible to make a new copy, on account of the absence of some of the Datus who were present when they were agreed to, and approved them.
Given on board her Majesty’s schooner “Tirol” in the roadstead of Jolo on the 29th of March 1837.
José Ma. Halcon,
(His flourish).
Ratification of the treaty of 1836 by the Queen Regent of Spain
Isabel II, Queen of Spain, by the Grace of God and the Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy, and in her Royal name and during her minority, the Queen Dowager her mother, Doña María Cristina of Bourbon, Regent of the Kingdom:
Whereas on the twenty-third of September of last year, at the palace of Jolo, a treaty of peace, protection and commerce having been drawn up, concluded and signed by the frigate-captain of the national fleet, Don José María Halcon, commander in chief of the naval forces anchored in the roadstead of Jolo, representing the Captain General of the Philippine Islands, and the Sultan Jamalul Kiram and Datus; which said treaty, composed of six articles, word by word, is as follows:
Capitulations of Peace, Protection and Commerce, executed to the most Excellent Sultan and Datus of Sulu, by his high Excellency the Captain-General, Governor of the Philippine Islands, in the name of the high and powerful Sovereignty of her Catholic Majesty, being drawn up and agreed to by both parties, to wit: representing the Spanish Government as plenipotentiary of his high Excellency the Captain General, Don Pedro Antonio Salazar, Governor of the Philippines, the frigate-captain of the royal fleet, Don José María Halcon, commander in chief of the naval forces anchored in the roadstead of Jolo; and upon the other part, the Sultan Jamalul Kiram, Raja of Sulu and Datus who subscribe, which parties enacted as follows:
Article 1
His high Excellency the Captain-General, Governor, for her Catholic Majesty, of the Philippine Islands, assures the most excellent Sultan and Datus of Sulu, for the present and forever, of the most stable peace between the Spaniards and natives of all the islands subject to the Crown of Spain and the tributaries of the lands governed by the Sultan and Datus. He offers the protection of his Government and the aid of fleets and soldiers for the wars which the Sultan shall find necessary to wage against enemies who shall attack him, or in order to accomplish the subjection of the peoples who rebel in all the confines of the islands which are found within Spanish jurisdiction, and which extend from the western point of Mindanao as far as Borneo and Palawan, except Sandakan and the other lands tributary to the Sultan on the coast of Borneo.
The Sultan of Sulu, upon his part, accepting the friendship of the Spanish Government, binds himself to keep peace with all the vassals of her Catholic Majesty, and further binds himself to consider as his enemies those who hereafter may be such to the Spanish nation, the Sulus proceeding with armed men to the wars which may arise, in the same manner as if they were Spaniards; in case of his furnishing such aid, the provisions for the support of the Sulus shall be supplied by the Royal exchequer of her Catholic Majesty, as they are for the other soldiers and people of her army and navy.
The sense of the second clause of the Capitulations of one thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven, that they are not bound to furnish assistance for wars against European nations, is hereby renewed and affirmed.
Article 2
In accordance with the friendship and protection which unite Sulu with the Spanish provinces of the Philippines, the Sulu boats shall navigate and trade freely with the open ports of Manila and Zamboanga, and the Spanish vessels with Jolo, where not only will both be well received, but shall find protection and the same treatment as the natives.
In a separate Capitulation are determined the duties which the Spanish vessels shall pay in Jolo, and those which the Sulus shall pay in Manila and Zamboanga; but by these Capitulations it is agreed that whenever the Sulus convey cargoes of products of the islands, they shall pay in Manila and Zamboanga less than foreign vessels, and the Spanish vessels shall not pay in Jolo as much as is charged the ships of other nations.
Article 3
In order that the traffic of Spanish vessels in Jolo shall not suffer the injuries and delays occasioned by the difficulties of their market, the Sultan and Datus consent to the construction of a factory or trading house, with safe warehouses, where merchandise may be stored without risk: and the Sultan and Datus agree always to respect this place, in which there will be a resident Spanish agent, who shall assume charge of all the business entrusted to him. If the Sulus should desire to do likewise in Manila, they shall be permitted; but the Spanish Government receives for storage merchandise from the Custom-house of that city upon payment of fees of but one per centum.
The Sultan shall designate the proper place for the location of the warehouses, which shall be convenient for loading and unloading and the Government shall request the Sultan to furnish, and shall pay for, the materials and workmen that may be necessary.
Article 4
In order that the Spanish and Sulu vessels may navigate and trade with safety, free from the piracies of the Hanuns and Samals the Spanish Government will strengthen its fleets in Mindanao waters, which same will protect equally those of both nations; and in order that good may not be confused with evil persons, the following rules shall be observed:
1st. All Spanish vessels arriving at Jolo shall show to the Sultan their permit upon anchoring, and the same shall be sealed upon sailing; without which the captain shall be punished at Manila.
2d. All Sulu vessels which proceed to Manila or Zamboanga, shall carry the permit of the Sultan, and in possession of the same shall be free and unmolested.
3d. All Spanish or Sulu vessels which shall proceed for trading to Mindanao, shall go first to Zamboanga to notify the Governor, who shall sign their permit without cost.
4th. Every Spanish or Sulu vessel which shall be found by the fleets of Illana or Sindangan bays, without permit of the Governor and Sultan as aforesaid, shall be seized and shall lose all her merchandise, of which two-thirds shall be awarded to those making the capture and one-third to the Sultan of Sulu, if the vessel is Sulu, and to the Spanish Government if the vessel is Spanish.
5th. The Governor of Zamboanga shall determine the procedure in the case of vintas [small sail boats] of the towns of Pilas and Basilan Islands friendly to said Plaza [Zamboanga].
6th. Sulu merchant vessels proceeding outside the islands of the Sultan or to Mindanao with a permit, should not flee from the fleets which they encounter, because the latter are intended to defend them and run down evil-doers. Commanders of the fleets shall be ordered to receive and aid the advice-boats of the Sultan.
Article 5
The Sultan and Datus of Sulu pledge themselves to prevent the piracies of the Ilanuns and Samals in the Philippines, and if they are unable, the Sultan shall so report in order that the Spanish Government may afford assistance or undertake the task alone.
Last Article
If the sense of these Capitulations is not conformable in both languages, the same shall agree with the literal Spanish text.
Palace of Jolo, September 23, 1836, which is the fourteenth of the moon Jamadul Akir of one thousand two hundred and fifty-two. The seals.—Sultan Mohammed Jamalul Kiram.—Seal—signed.—José María Halcon.—Datu Mohammed Harun.—Seal.—Datu Mohammed Buyuk.—Seal—Datu Bandahala.—Seal—Datu Amilbahar.—Datu Muluk.—Datu Sabalmar.—Datu Mamancha.—Datu Juhan.—Datu Maharajah-Layla.—Datu Sabuwayan.—Datu Muluk Kahar.—Datu Nay.
Therefore, the Government of our August Daughter, having been duly authorized by the decree of the Cortes of the thirteenth of the present month, for the ratification of the inclosed treaty, and the same having been seen and examined by Us, we have approved and ratified and by these presents do hereby approve and ratify the contents thereof as a whole, in the best and most complete form possible, promising on the faith and the word of Queen Regent, in the name of our August Daughter, to comply with and observe the same, and compel wholly the compliance with and observance of the same. In witness whereof, we command the disposition of the same, signed with our hand, and sealed with our own private seal by the First Secretary of State. Done at Madrid, this October twenty-ninth, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
I the Queen Regent.
[A shield in wax.]
Eusebio de Bandaxi y Azara.