The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 43, 1670-1700 / 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 XLIX

New reënforcement of religious, which arrived at this province, and the voyage of two of them to Kun-King.

[In 1699 a band of thirty-seven missionaries reaches the province. They have been collected by Fray Francisco Villalba (his third mission) who escorts them to Acapulco.[23] Those missionaries are as follows:]

The father lector, Fray Thomas Tocho, son of the royal convent of Santo Domingo, of Mallorca.

The father lector, Fray Francisco de Barrera, son of the convent of Santa Maria, of Nieva.

The father preacher, Fray Juan Martinez, son of the convent of San Pablo, of Burgos.

The father lector, Fray Juan de Toro, son of the royal convent of San Pablo, of Sevilla.

The father lector, Fray Antonio Diaz, son of the convent of San Pablo, of Valladolid.

Father Fray Antonio Gonçalez Laso, son of the convent of La Puebla de los Angeles.

Father Fray Phelipe Fernandez, son of the royal convent of Santa Maria, of Nieva.

Father Fray Diego Perez de Matta, son of the royal convent of Santo Domingo, of Mexico.

Father Fray Antonio de Argollanes, son of the convent of Santo Domingo, of Oviedo.

Father Fray Joseph de Rezabal, son of the convent of San Pablo, of Victoria.

Father Fray Domingo Salzedo, son of the convent of San Pablo, of Burgos.

Father Fray Balthasar de Andueza, son of the convent of San Pablo, of Valladolid.

Father Fray Antonio Rodriguez, son of the convent of Santo Domingo, of Ciudad de San-Tiago.

Father Fray Juan Pinta, of the convent of San Pablo, of Valladolid.

Father Fray Andres Gonçalez, of the convent of Santo Domingo, of San-Tiago.

Brother Fray Francisco Petite, deacon, of the convent of San Pablo, of Valladolid.

Brother Fray Bartholome Sabuquilla, deacon, of the convent of Santo Thomas, of Madrid.

Brother Fray Manuel de Esqueda, deacon, of the convent of Santo Domingo, of Cadiz.

Brother Fray Antonio Perez, deacon, of the convent of Santo Domingo, of Zamora.

Brother Fray Mauro Falcon, deacon, of the convent of Santo Domingo, of San-Tiago.

Brother Fray Antonio Zabala, deacon, of the convent of San Pablo, of Burgos.

Brother Fray Juan Crespo, subdeacon, of the convent of San Pablo, of Valladolid.

Brother Fray Francisco Cavallero, subdeacon, of the same convent.

Brother Fray Francisco Molina, subdeacon, of the same convent.

Brother Fray Bernardino Membride, subdeacon, of the same convent.

Brother Fray Gregorio Vigil, acolyte of the convent of Santo Domingo, of Oviedo.

Brother Fray Juan Matheos, acolyte, of the convent of San Estevan, of Salamanca.

Brother Fray Pedro Campueñas, acolyte, of the convent of San Pablo, of Valladolid.

Brother Fray Andres de Lubitero, acolyte, of the convent of San Estevan, of Salamanca.

Brother Fray Miguel Velasco, acolyte, of the convent of Santo Domingo, of Mexico.

Brother Fray Joseph de Palencia, acolyte, of the convent of San Pablo, of Valladolid.

Brother Fray Joachin de la Torre, acolyte, of the convent of Santo Domingo, of Oxaca.

Brother Fray Joseph Barba, lay-brother, of the convent of San Pablo, of Valladolid.

Brother Fray Joseph Barba, lay-brother, of the convent of San Ildephonso, of Zaragoça.

Brother Fray Domingo Sena, lay-brother, of the convent of San Pablo, of Valladolid.

Brother Fray Martin de San Joseph, lay-brother, of the convent of Burgos.

Brother Fray Joseph Pina, lay-brother, of the convent of Burgos.

Besides these thirty-seven religious, came another, a Genoan, who was sent by the Propaganda, one Fray Thomas Sextri, of the Dominican convent of Turin. [The remainder of the chapter is occupied with the relation of the voyage to Tun-King by two of the above religious.]

[Chapter l mentions the intermediary chapter of May 1, 1700, and the state of the Philippine and other missions of the order. In Cagayan the missions of Zifun and those to the Mandayas are in a flourishing condition. Through the efforts of Fray Francisco de la Vega,[24] the earnest work of Fray Pedro Ximenez is carried on, and the fierce dwellers of the village of Calatug are reduced to the faith. The assembly earnestly charges the missionary at Fotol to bend all his energies to the conversion of the Mandayas. Fray Vicente de el Riesgo[25] is appointed to the mission of Ytugug, and he is charged with the reduction of Yogat and Paniqui; and well does he obey those injunctions. Not only does he reduce again the villages of Ytugug, Santa Rosa, and San Fernando, but also villages of Cagayan. “Besides that mission of Ytugug or Paniqui, another harvest field, no less abundant, had been discovered, in the very center of those mountains, on the side looking toward the east, in an extensive field called Zifun. There the venerable father, Fray Geronimo Ulloa, vicar of the village of Tuguegarao, filled with zeal for the reduction of those infidels, had made various raids in those mountains. That father was very fond of missions and had labored in others with zeal and fervor, and although he was now very old, and had in his charge so large a village as Tuguegarao, and was very far from those mountains, yet he was unable to restrain his zeal, and his desire for the welfare of souls. Hence burning with the ardor of youth, as soon as he was freed from the obstacles of the necessary occupations of his ministry, he entered those mountains alone in search of those straying souls in order to lure them to the flock of Christ, without stopping to consider dangers or discomforts in order that he might gain some souls for heaven.” So great is his success, and so many the souls that he reduces that the intermediary chapter gives him an associate, in order that the father may give all of his time to the mission work of Zifun.]

[Chapters li–lvii (which complete the volume) treat of the lives of various fathers and sisters of the order. In the biographical notices of these chapters, as well as in all the other biographical chapters of this volume, there is necessarily much on the mission work of the Dominicans; but the method of treatment is almost entirely from the standpoint of the individual, and offers no view of the mission work as a whole, or at least nothing new is added to the broader aspects of the work. Consequently, we do not present anything from those chapters in this survey of Dominican missions.]

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[1] The translation of the title-page of the above book is as follows: “History of the province of Santissimo Rosario de Philipinas [i. e., most holy rosary of the Philipinas], China, and Tunking, of the holy order of the Preachers. Third part. In which are treated the events of said province from 1669 to 1700. Composed by the Reverend Father Fray Vicente de Salazar, rector of the college of Santo Thomas of the city of Manila, and chancellor of its university. Dedicated to the sovereign queen of the angels, the most holy Mary, in her miraculous image of the rosary, which is venerated with the universal devotion of the people in the church of Santo Domingo of the said city of Manila. Printed by the press of the said college and university of Santo Tomas of the said city, in the year 1742.” The first two parts of this history (those by Aduarte and Santa Cruz) have been given in translation and synopsis in preceding volumes in this series.

Fray Vicente Salazar was born in Ocaña and professed at Valladolid. He became a professor in Spain. Arriving in Manila in 1727, he became a professor in the college of Santo Tomàs and in 1742 was its rector. Later he became prior of the Manila convent. The last years of his life were spent in the Ituy missions, his death occurring between the years of 1755–1759. See Retana’s edition of Zúñiga’s Estadismo, ii, p. 615.

[2] For sketches of the members of this mission, see Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 101–194.

[3] See Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 194–230, for sketches of these missionaries.

[4] See the Recollect account of these transactions in VOL. XLI.

[5] Fray Alarcón was a native of Archidona, and professed in the convent at Madrid June 30, 1661. On arriving at the islands (1666), he was assigned to the province of Pangasinan. In 1669 he was appointed master of novitiates in Manila, but resigned the post that same year. In 1673 he went to Formosa intending to enter the Chinese missions, but finding that impossible he returned to Manila in 1674. From 1675–1678 he labored in the missions of the province of Bataán, being sent the latter year to the Chinese missions; but finding it necessary to return to Manila shortly after, his subsequent efforts to return again to China were unavailing. He died in Manila September 15, 1685, after a lingering illness. See Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 59–61.

[6] The Zambals were not Negritos, although they may have been a mixture of Negrito blood. They were probably somewhat the same as the Igorots, and hence a race of Malay extraction.

[7] i.e., in Aduarte’s Historia; see VOL. XXXII, p. 55.

[8] Fray Jerónimo de Ullóa was a Galician, who professed at Coruña March 13, 1665, at the age of twenty-one. He was a zealous missionary in various Cagayan missions and in the Babuyanes. His death occurred in 1700 or 1701. See Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 175–179.

[9] Fray Pedro Jiménez took the Dominican habit in 1658, and arrived in the Philippines in 1666. He labored principally in the province of Cagayan where he was at different times assigned to different missions. He died December 20 without being able to receive the last sacraments. See Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 61–77.

[10] W. A. Reed says ([Negritos of Zambales], pp. 40, 41): “He is repulsively dirty in his home, person, and everything he does. Nothing is ever washed except his hands and face, and those only rarely. He never takes a bath, because he thinks that if he bathes often he is more susceptible to cold, that a covering of dirt serves as clothing, although he frequently gets wet either in the rain or when fishing or crossing streams. This is probably one reason why skin diseases are so common.”

[11] See sketches of these missionaries in Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 230–256.

[12] This is an error, as the Mandayas are a Mindanao tribe. Probably the Apayaos, who live in the district of Ayangan in the comandancia of Quiang̃án are meant. In Bontoc and other northern provinces of Luzón the word Ĭ-fu-gao means “the people;” it is the name which the Bontoc Igorots apply to themselves. The name Apayao, in northern Luzón, is another form of the same word. See Census of Philippines, i, p. 469; Blumentritt’s List of Tribes in Philippines (Mason’s translation); and Jenks’s [Bontoc Igorot], p. 33.

[13] Fray Juan Iñiguez was a native of Antequera, and made his profession at Sevilla, September 21, 1671. Reaching the Philippines (1671) at the age of twenty-four, he was immediately assigned to the province of Cagayan where he labored until 1720, the year of his death. See Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 211–215.

[14] These are not a separate tribe as one would be led to suppose by Blumentritt, but a branch of the Igorot people. See Census of Philippines, i, pp. 456–459.

[15] The natives of Malaoeg and Tuao revolted at the end of 1718 under their leaders Magtangaga and Tomás Sinaguingan. They were put down by Captain Don Juan Pablo de Orduña, and the rebels were punished. See Montero y Vidal, i, p. 414.

[16] Fray Mateo González made his profession September 5, 1667, and arrived at the Philippines in 1671 at the age of twenty-seven. He was assigned to Cagayan, where he labored extensively. He also worked in the Babuyanes and introduced the mission work into the Batanes, his death occurring in the latter islands July 25, 1688. See Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 155–157.

[17] A correspondent, William Edmonds, principal of schools in the Batanes Islands, says in a letter of April 9, 1906: “I have an idea that either the formation of the land [of the Batanes] is entirely changed (two islands then being one now) or that there is some serious error in Dampier’s topography [see VOL. XXXIX, pp. 96–115]. The names of many of the islands now are not those given by Dampier.” Of the later history of the Batanes Islands Mr. Edmonds says: “In 1791, Governor-general Don José Basco sent an expedition with an alcalde, two Dominican missionaries, mechanics, and artificers to establish civil government. In a short time the people were instructed in material arts, constructing tribunals, churches, convents, schools, and houses, all of stone walls, one vara thick, to resist typhoons. Five municipalities were established, the islands forming a district of the province of Cagayan. In September, 1897, these pacific islands fell an easy prey to the Revolutionary expedition which sacked the churches and convents, and carried away the priests as prisoners to Cagayan. The Katipunan government ruled until December, 1899, when the American government took possession. In October, 1903, the various towns were united into one municipality of the province of Cagayan.” As references concerning these islands, Mr. Edmonds gives El Correo Sino Anamita (Manila, 1866–1892), xxix, p. 483; and Marin’s Ensayo (Manila, 1901), ii, pp. 690, 801: both publications of the Dominicans.

[18] Fray Diego Piñero was assigned upon his arrival at the islands in 1684 to the convent of Malaueg in Cagayan. His stay in the Babuyanes was short as is related in the text. His remaining missionary labors were in the province of Cagayan. His death occurred at Lallo-c at the beginning of 1712 or a trifle before. See Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 236, 237.

[19] The island of Calayan was taken formal possession of for the United States by the government ship “Princeton,” January 10, 1900. It is one of the islands of the Babuyanes group, and is lofty and uneven. See Gazetteer of Philippine Islands, p. 418.

[20] Fray José Galfarroso (or Halfarroso de la Trinidad, as his name is given in Reseña biográfica) made his profession September 10, 1664. Upon his arrival at the Philippines in 1671, he was assigned to the Cagayan field, where he held various posts, and where most if not all of his missionary labors were passed. He died, probably in Cagayan, early in 1700. See ut supra, ii, pp. 160, 161.

[21] Fray Juan de Santo Domingo was born in 1640 near Calatayud, and professed in the convent of Ocaña October 22, 1661. He went to the Philippines in 1666, his first two years being occupied in duties in Manila. Assigned to the province of Pangasinan, he labored there for eighteen years, and exercised various duties. In 1682 he was chosen definitor, and in 1686 he was transferred to the Manila convent. He was the real founder of the Beaterio of Santa Catalina de Sena, and ordained its rules July 26, 1696, while provincial. During his term as provincial he also organized the tertiary branch of his order. After his term as provincial he was appointed vicar of the beatas and president of the college of San Juan de Letrán. In 1702 he was again elected prior of Manila convent, and because of the death of the provincial exercised the duties of that office, to which he was regularly elected again in 1706. At the end of his second term he again took up his duties as head of the beaterio and college. Besides the above posts and offices he was also commissary of the Holy Office and definitor in the chapters of 1682 and 1716. His death occurred at Manila, January 15, 1726. See Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 26–34.

[22] See sketches of these missionaries in Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 363–457.

[23] Sketches of these missionaries will be found in Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 457–497.

[24] Fray Francisco de la Vega was assigned to Cagayan in 1686, where he labored in various missions there and in the Babuyanes. He died at Fotol in the beginning of 1710. See Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 249, 250.

[25] Fray Vicente del Riesgo was a native of San Félix de Valdesoto. On arriving at the Philippines at the age of twenty-six, he was assigned to the Cagayan field where he spent the rest of his life (with the exception of a brief period spent in Manila as prior of that convent, and master of novitiates), and where he occupied various posts. He died in Cabagan, June 24, 1724. See Reseña biográfica, ii, pp. 440–446.