The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 08 of 55 / 1591-1593 / Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century

by Unknown

Lawsuits in the Philippine Islands

Don Phelipe, etc. When I ordered the suppression of my royal audiencia and chancilleria resident in the city of Manila of the Filipinas Islands, and established there a governor and lieutenant-governor (the latter of whom is a lawyer), to take care of matters of justice, one of my decrees was ordered to be promulgated, in which was declared the order to be followed in the hearing of suits and causes that might arise in the said islands. This is of the following tenor:

“Don Phelipe, by the grace of God, king of Castilla [his other titles follow]. Inasmuch as, for certain reasons advantageous to my service, I have resolved to order the suppression of my royal audiencia, at present established in the Philipinas Islands, and have appointed as my governor and captain-general of them Gomez Perez Dasmarinas, knight of the order of Santiago, and you, the licentiate Pedro de Rojas (at present my auditor in my said royal Audiencia), as his lieutenant-governor and counselor, to determine matters of justice; and inasmuch as, the said Audiencia not having existence, it is advisable that for the peace and tranquillity of the said islands Page 295and the citizens and inhabitants thereof, and the good administration of justice therein, you should understand the system that you are to observe and follow in the hearing and determination of the suits, which were moved and were pending in the said Audiencia, or that will be moved hereafter: I declare, desire, and will that in all cases you shall hear, sentence, determine, and execute in the following form and manner. All the suits that were pending in the said Audiencia, and were not concluded on trial, you shall resume in the condition in which they were left, and they shall be prosecuted before you. You shall pass sentence upon them; and if appeal is made by the parties, or either one of them, from your decisions, you shall submit the appeal to the president and auditors of my royal Audencia residing in the city of Mexico, in Nueba España. You shall likewise refer to my said Audiencia of Mexico the suits that may have received sentence on trial in the said Audiencia, if appeal has been made from the sentence, so that the cases may be prosecuted before it, and sentenced in review. And if any suits were sentenced in review in the said Audiencia of the said Philipinas Islands, and the execution of the sentences is demanded, then you are authorized to have them executed, as well as the sentences given on trial in the said Audiencia in suits pending therein, and on which no appeal was made, and if the said sentences on trial were passed in a case where judgment was rendered. Likewise I declare, and it is my will, that you may hear and try the suits regarding Indians which shall be moved in the said islands henceforth, and those which might come before you on appeal from the corregidors that are and were in the said islands. In hearing the said suits Page 296regarding Indians, you shall observe the royal decree and edict given at Malinas, and the declarations that were made regarding it. In this and in all the abovementioned cases, as well as in all other suits and causes that the said Gomez Perez Dasmarinas can and ought to try, as being governor and captain-general, and you, the said licentiate Pedro de Roxas, as his counselor and lieutenant-governor, for the determination of the said suits and matters of justice, you shall observe the laws and ordinances of these kingdoms, and the instructions, provisions, and decrees, given by the emperor and king, my sovereign (may he rest in peace), and by me, and those that shall be given. And for authorization to perform and fulfil all that is above mentioned, and any portion and part of it, and all else annexed and pertaining to it, I grant you as complete and sufficient power as is required and as is needed. I order the presidents and auditors of my royal audiencias of the said Nueba España, and all the councils, magistrates, regidors, knights, esquires, officials, and good men of all cities, towns, and hamlets of Nueba España and of the said islands, to keep and observe this my decree in every point, according to the tenor of what is contained and declared therein; and that, for its fulfilment, they give and cause to be given to you the help and assistance that you request and that is necessary. And I order my said presidents and auditors of my said royal Audiencia of Mejico to hear the said suits that shall be sent there, in accordance with the above order; and that they give sentence and conclusion to them in accordance with the law and ordinances of these kingdoms, and with the said ordinances, provisions, and decrees; and none of you shall violate them. Given at San Lorenzo, Page 297August twenty-one, one thousand five hundred and eighty-nine.

I The King

I, secretary of the king, our sovereign, had this written by his order.

Juan de Ybarra”

I have been informed recently that, because of the great distance of those islands from the city of Mexico (to whose Audiencia must be sent appeals in the said causes), many, especially the poor, refuse to prosecute their suits; for in some of them the costs amount to more than the principal, besides the annoyance of the delay. This serves as a cause for grief and annoyance, from which the wealthy profit to the injury of most of that community. As I desire the relief of this state of things, I order, with the concurrence of my royal Council of the Indias, for the present that henceforth all suits for the value of one thousand ducados or less be concluded in the courts of the said Philipinas Islands. If appeal be made from the sentences given at the first instance, and substantiated in the second, in conformity with law, the case shall be regarded as closed with the sentence imposed by the said lieutenant-governor in the second instance, and no appeal can be taken from it. In suits and causes for more than one thousand pesos [sic], appeal may be made to my said royal Audiencia of Mexico, in accordance with the tenor of the decree inserted above. In order that this may be public and manifest, I order this my decree to be published in the said city of Manila. Given at Madrid, January seventeen, one thousand five hundred and ninety-three.

I The King Page 298

Countersigned by Juan Bazquez, and signed by the council.

[In the margin: “In order that suits and causes of one thousand ducados and less may be concluded in the court of the Philipinas islands; and, if the amount be in excess of the above sum, they may be appealed to the royal Audiencia of Mexico.”]