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