The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 23 of 55 / 1629-30 / 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

Chapter XXV

Of the great oppositions suffered by the province in that time

[However, in these early days, even, peace and quiet are not for the religious; and they find their work hindered and even opposed by encomenderos and other Spaniards who work much evil against them, and turn the natives against them. Our author mentions certain cases, for the entire truth of which he vouches, which show the manner in which some Spaniards act.]

It happened while I was prior of Passi in the Bisayas, an encomienda belonging to his Majesty, that some Indians had been drafted from that district to man a fleet which was being built. Some of the poor wretches, on the return from the expedition, desirous of returning to their homes—seeing that after so long an absence they were detained for other private works, now by this Spaniard and now by that one, who seized them—fled. For the Indian acts without counsel, as he lacks understanding. Very often, after having worked one month, and when, within one or two days, they would be exchanged, they run away—thus giving occasion to seek and punish them, and losing their wages, and abandoning the axes with which they were working. It appeared to a gentleman who was chief commander and lieutenant-governor in Ylong-ylong, a port of Panay, an infringement of his rights that the Indians should flee. Therefore, he sent two soldiers to look for them, at the cost of the poor wretches. They came to the place where I was, and told me why they came. I replied to them that they could look for them immediately. They seized the governor,[107] and wandered for three days amid the hills and valleys, stupidly, as if the Indians would appear; for not only those Indians, but the peaceful ones had abandoned their houses, and fled to the mountains. They returned, worn out after three days, without a single Indian. The Spaniard who acted as leader put the wretched governor, holding in his hands his Majesty’s rod of justice, in the stocks; and there he beat him at his pleasure, now with a club, and now with his dagger. Thereupon the Indian began to cry out so loudly that I heard his cries in the convent. As 1 was about to go down, his relatives with tears informed me of what was being done. I went alone to the government house, for my companion was on a visit, this being the eve of the feast of the Holy Spirit in 1623. I began to ascend and to reprimand the soldier and to tell him that he had no authority to put that governor in the stocks, nor to maltreat him. Then the soldier pointed his sword at my breast, and gave me a very impudent message from the commandant. Among other things, he told me that he would send for me and bind me with double shackles. I laughed, brushed aside the sword, went to the stocks, and took my Indian, all covered with his own blood, and so ill-used that even yet he knows no well day, but is constantly ailing and dispirited, and in a bed. Next morning, they took the governor away, saying that the commandant would condemn him to the galleys, as if he were the cause of the Indians fleeing. Fearful of the case, I went down the river, and talked with the commandant. After talking with him, he returned the Indian to me. Since then 1 have received innumerable favors from him there, which I shall not name, as they are not of interest. Nevertheless, the Indian spent more than six taels of gold, or more than forty granos, in the journey. Let this true account and fact be considered, and who serves his Majesty, who protects the Indians, to what we religious are exposed, and what we endure in the fulfilment of our duties, and in the preservation of the country—which the Spaniards themselves are inciting to hostilities by such oppressions. The soldier was not commended, but neither did the commandant punish him. Within a short time he died, without his hopes being obtained, and as they are wont to die here. May God in His goodness have pity on his soul.

While I was prior in Santísimo Nombre de Jesús (the chief house of the province in the olden days), and while the chief commandant and lieutenant-governor was another gentleman whom I shall not name because of his influence, the latter struck a religious, whom I had there as the head preacher, between the eyes. In order to take away all opportunities for trouble, and that the commandant with his influence might cause none to the order—for whatever such an official wishes to do here, he does—I allowed the religious to go to the convent of Cárcar. It was necessary for this religious to go to San Nicolás, on that saint’s day, to preach, and he did so. As soon as he arrived, clad in his black habit, in all the propriety of an Augustinian religious, he went to the house of the foremost man of the city, both in position and wealth, and his wife, who were regarded most highly by the people, one of whose children had been baptized by the religious. He requested this man to give him the little loaves that the latter had been asked to make. The commandant heard of his arrival, and immediately sent two soldiers and an adjutant to seize him, and drag him with them, although he had retired. The commandant had prepared a champan and shackles to send the religious to Manila. I was advised of his arrest. I set out and went to tell Bishop Don Fray Pedro de Arce, who was at that time in his house, of the matter. He went out in his chair, followed him to the city and we found the religious surrounded by soldiers, who immediately opened the door and went away. We went to the convent, where the bishop began to write. Two seculars, who defended this action, and by whose authority the commandant did this, prevented the commandant from being excommunicated. Finally, in a meeting of the orders, the commandant was declared excommunicated. But the governor of Filipinas, Don Juan Niño de Tabora, who should have punished the commandant, neglected to do so. In this he did not imitate Don Juan de Silva, who, when a similar case happened, summoned the alcalde-mayor who was in llocos, took from him his office, and deprived him of all rights, although he was pardoned by having had the express order of the bishop of that province. But what men neglect to punish the Lord does not forget to punish. He ordered a change of fortune after certain days, so that the same governor, Don Juan Niño de Tabora, did not like this gentleman. Accordingly, following the dictates of his conscience, he made the latter leave Manila, under pretext of going to pacify an encomienda that he had given him. Finally, things became so linked together, that the above-mentioned man took refuge in our convent, for he had not found a kindly reception in any other. There dispossessed of his encomienda, which had been taken from him, he suffered for one year, what that same gentleman knows; until that, with the arrival at these islands of the inspector Don Francisco de Rojas, he left the cloister—saying that he had not sinned against king, governor, or state; but that, if he suffered, it was for his misconduct toward our order in Sugbú. I might write thousands of things concerning these events, where, as in the above, one might see the gain made by the religious, and at what cost to them, as said Christ: Eritis odio omnibus propter nomen meum.[108] Consequently, I cannot quite understand how the Spaniards should desire us in these ministries, so that, by our attending to our obligations, they could take pleasure therein. This people whom we have in charge are rustic, uncivilized, lawless, and have no more system of action than the will of their chiefs. Now, then, how can these people become Christians, unless they are gathered together, and restrained; and if the religious, as fathers and masters, do not punish them? And if a father has the well-known jurisdiction over his son—and this jurisdiction is extended much more in the case of a master—why do we not have something for these two titles? For if the Indians have no fear or respect for the religious, of what advantage is our stay here? And how can we compel those already christianized to fulfil their duties, if the Indian feels that the father can not punish him? For they detest, as a rule, church matters—to such an extent, that they would even pay two tributes to be free from the church. They love their old beliefs and revelries so strongly that they would lose their souls for them. Without any fear, how would they attend to their duties? The extensive kingdom of China is more densely populated than any other that is known, and there is the greatest poverty among the common people, who are given to theft, murder, and innumerable other sins. Yet it is the most peaceful kingdom known and has no gallows or execution, but [they are restrained] by means only of their fear of the bamboo with which they are beaten. Now if the Indian lack this fear, who can bring him to reason? The Indians are daily growing worse, for they are losing fear. Daily utterances are made against the religious that they cannot punish them, and should not do it. This reacts against the Spaniards themselves, for, once aroused, the Indians will rebel when least expected; and they know already how to wield a sword and use an arquebus.

It is quite true that the religious do not mix in things of importance belonging to other tribunals, and the fathers provincial are careful to advise them on this matter; but the opposition to them in their ministry is the cause of the devil and his work. Some persons, under the pretext of piety, try to destroy the religious, saying that the Indians are free, and protected in their liberty, and that their liberty must not be taken away, but that they may wander as they will. For the aim of the fathers is to have the Indians live in villages. All this means harm to the Indian, for he is naturally lazy and a friend of sloth. If he is allowed, he wanders about aimlessly like a vagabond without working; and, at tribute-paying time, he has not the wherewithal to pay. He begs a loan of the tribute, and thus he becomes a slave. This would not happen, were he forced to perform the work from which he flees. Thus in not allowing him to become a vagabond, his own good is sought. We know well that there are constables in España who arrest and search out the idle. Is that contrary to the liberty in which we are born? Certainly not, for idleness is the mother of all the vices, as St. Gregory insinuates, when he names it as the chief cause of the destruction of Sodom: fuit iniquitas sororis tutu superbia, abundantia et otium.[109] Then, how can what is not opposed to liberty in España be opposed to liberty here in a country which rears so remarkable natives? Therefore for his own good much care must be taken of the Indian. What the Indian should be, he would become with the knowledge of the priors, so that they may make him settle down, and perform the work that is to make him a Christian, support him, pay his tribute, and make him a man of reason and judgment.[110]

Besides this war waged on us by the secular element, that which was most feared and dangerous, and caused the religious most anxiety, was the spiritual war. This arose from the zeal of the bishop of Manila, Don Domingo de Salazar, the first bishop of this city a man of vast knowledge on all subjects, and who was not ignorant of the privileges of the mendicant orders in the administration of the natives. He was bishop in Manila, and thought that he ought not to allow the religious so much freedom in the office that they were administering. He tried to restrict them in many ways, and refused to concede much. The religious, however, did not do less than to answer by pointing to the bulls of the supreme pontiffs (called forth many times at the instance of the Catholic sovereigns of España), and other motus proprios—all made for the furtherance of good administration, and that the faith might be propagated throughout the new kingdoms of their domains. The bishop denied to the ministers everything pertaining to jurisdiction and power; for he imagined that we could not grant dispensation in that second degree for marriages, or exercise any judicial act of those which recently—that is, ordinarily—they exercise over the newly converted. This occasioned a great contention, and even scandal; for as the country was new, and there was no other learning than that of his Lordship—which doubtless was very great, and authorized by his dignity and person—and that of our fathers, some said “yes,” and others “no,” some that they could, others that they could not. Thus everything was in confusion, not only among Ours, but throughout the islands.

The father provincial was like a drowning man in this matter, and was obliged to give attention to so grave a necessity as the present. As he could devise no remedy here, he resolved to go to España, in order to settle the whole matter. The bishop, who wished only to do the proper thing, was glad of the voyage. He wrote some letters to religious of the province of Méjico, whom he thoroughly trusted and believed in. He set his doubts before them, and the arguments on which he grounded his position, in order that the controversy might be settled amicably; and that the province of Méjico, as the mother of this province, might correct what his Lordship considered as excesses.

The father provincial left Manila and reached Nueva España. He left his vicar in the Filipinas, namely father Fray Francisco Manrique. He pursued his voyage, and reached España in safety, where he despatched his business very favorably—both in the Roman court, where Gregory XIII was governing the Church of God; and in the court of España, where he obtained very favorable decrees from his Majesty, Felipe II, our king and sovereign. The latter approved everything that our religious had done in the churches of those kingdoms and seigniories of his. He granted many other favors and gifts, so that they might prosecute the undertaking with greater resolution, and by the self-same methods that had been used theretofore. While these matters were being negotiated at court, the religious of this province,[111] conferring upon the articles upon which the bishop and Ours disagreed, wrote to the bishop letters of complete submission, in which they begged him to moderate his anger, and await the decision that would soon arrive from España with other decisions approving what had until then been done by the religious, and encouraging them to go forward in the defense of truth. The most learned Master Veracruz, as the father and protector of the ministry, and defense of the privileges held by the religious, wrote so learned a letter to the bishop, that it proved sufficient to calm him. Later, that letter served as a primer for the ministers, and a protection against the difficulties that arose. Of so much value has been the opinion of this great man, and of all his writings.[112] In conclusion, I will say that father Fray Andrés de Aguirre returned from España, whereupon those hurricanes which had been aroused were laid. But he reached Méjico so broken from the journey that he did not dare to go immediately to the Filipinas. However he sent the promised news of what had been enacted concerning it, which was given a glad reception. Thereupon, our fathers, like men who had reached land after a great and severe storm, commenced to breathe. They gave thanks to the Lord that He had not forgotten them. Thanks were given likewise to his Majesty Felipe II; for by so many favors and privileges they were able to prosecute the works that had been undertaken, and to place their shoulders to works much greater for his service. This was not alone for the good of the Augustinian order, but for that of all the other orders; for if one order suffered shipwreck, all must do the same, as all were in the same boat, directed by the same helm in the same direction, and under the same winds.

[Father Aguirre returned to the islands in 1593, where he was received with joy. He died as was his wish, in the islands “which he loved greatly, as he was one of the founders of that province.”]