CHAPTER XXXI
Don Francisco Joseph de Obando, a native of Caceres in Extramadura, went with a squadron to the Southern Sea, and was in Lima at the time when that great earthquake occurred in which Callao was submerged.[16] There the favor of the king was extended to him, in appointing him governor of Manila; he went to Mexico, and in that kingdom married Doña Barbara Ribadeneyra; and, accompanied by his wife, he embarked for Philipinas to render service in the government, of which he took possession in July, 1750. As soon as he arrived, the archbishop presented to him the royal decree in which his Majesty charged him with the expulsion of the Sangleys. The governor held a council for the discussion of this subject, and in it was stirred up a controversy over a seat, which frustrated the excellent intention of his Majesty to expel the Chinese, who are so injurious to these his dominions. The archbishop attempted to seat himself on a chair at the left of the governor, at the head of the table [en la testera]; the latter would not allow this, nor that the guards should form in ranks when the archbishop entered the palace or passed through the gates of the city; and these points of etiquette were sufficient to prevent the execution of the order to expel the Sangleys from Philipinas. Information of this controversy was sent to the court, and on both points came decisions in favor of the archbishop. The royal Audiencia had a dispute with the governor on another point, because he had by his own authority appointed Don Domingo Nebra temporary warden of Cavite, when he should have conferred this post after consulting the royal Audiencia, as his Majesty had commanded. The governor did not gainsay this royal order, but he said that there was no person competent for the building of the vessels which it was necessary to construct for the commerce of Acapulco and the defense of the islands against the Moros, except Nebra; that the latter was seventy years old, and could not be compelled to take charge of the construction of boats unless he wished; and that in no case would he accept the post under consultation of the royal Audiencia, because in that case he would be subject to residencia. The governor concluded that, in an extraordinary case like this, he ought not to adhere to the usual rules, but decide what was most expedient for the royal service.[17] The royal Audiencia made their remonstrances and protests, but, seeing that the governor was the stronger, they yielded, and appealed to his Majesty. In spite of the knowledge which the governor so highly extolled in Nebra, the fragata “Pilar,” which he careened and which was despatched to Acapulco, perished at sea, without any news about her having come here.
Another and very noisy controversy occurred in Manila about this time. A lady who had made profession in the beaterio of Santa Cathalina, where she was called Mother Cecilia, became enamored of Don Francisco Figueroa;[18] and presented herself before [the ordinary, during] the vacant see (Señor Arrechedera being then the governor), alleging that her profession was null. The provisor, who did not desire controversies with the Dominican fathers (to which order the governor belonged), pacified her, [arguing] that she should be silent for the time, and wait for a better opportunity to press her claim. As soon as Señor Obando arrived, seeing that the difficulties had ceased which until then had made her keep silent, she presented herself before the archbishop, asking, as she had done before with the provisor, that he would annul her profession. His illustrious Lordship commanded that the beata should be placed [for the time] in Santa Potenciana, but this was vigorously opposed by the Dominican fathers. They had recourse to the superior government, but, not finding support in that tribunal, they gave way and surrendered the lady to the provisor, to whom was entrusted this sequestration. The lawsuit followed, and the archbishop decided that, in view of the fact that his Majesty had forbidden that the beaterio of Santa Cathalina should be erected into a convent, Mother Cecilia, who had made profession in it, could not be truly a religious, and therefore her profession was null.[19] The Dominican fathers lodged an appeal before the [papal] delegate, who was the bishop of Zebú;[20] and the appeal was admitted to allow another trial in the former court, but not to suspend its decrees [en lo devolutivo, y no en lo suspensivo]. In order to follow up their appeal with vigor they sent a religious who might carry on active judicial proceedings against the beata, because they thought that to do otherwise was a disgrace to the beaterio; but that bishop declined to hear so vexatious a lawsuit, under pretext of his poor health. There was no other bishop in Philipinas to whom they could have recourse, for which reason they carried the suit to the archbishop of Mexico; and he summoned Mother Cecilia before his tribunal, demanding that she be sent to Mexico in order that he might hear and decide the case there. As the appeal had not been admitted for the suspension [of the first sentence], the beata contracted matrimony, and with her husband embarked for Mexico, where the marriage was considered valid and her profession as null.[21] The documents in the case [el espediente] having been carried to the Council of Indias, orders were given that the beaterio of Santa Cathalina should be extinguished with the death of the beatas who [then] were its inmates—which has not been done, because the Dominican fathers have obtained the revocation of this order.[22]
The governor, being informed of the ravages which the Moros were committing in the provinces of Bisayas, determined to attack them with a powerful squadron, which could at the same time reëstablish Don Fernando Alimudin (whom, now become a Christian, Señor Obando had found in Manila) on the throne of Joló, of which he had unjustly been despoiled. There was a diversity of opinions on this latter point, because many persons believed that no confidence could be placed in his fidelity, and suspected that on the first occasion that might arise he would practice some treachery, as his fathers had done. But the decision was made in favor of the exiled king, and he was carried to Joló in the almiranta of the armada, which sailed from Cavite under command of the master-of-camp of the royal regiment, who bore commissions for both these offices. The armada reached Zamboanga, but the almiranta did not make its appearance; and, in order not to lose the monsoon, and not to give the Moros time to fortify themselves, the fleet, without waiting for the almiranta, sailed from that port on June 13, 1751, and on the twenty-sixth anchored in the cove of Joló, at a mile distant from the forts of the enemy. They began to fire the cannons at these, and those who were in command were so intimidated that they began negotiations for peace; and they signed a letter in which they bound themselves to obey their king and receive him as faithful vassals, and to surrender to the Spaniards all the captive Christians who might be in the island. With this compact the master-of-camp returned, much elated, to Zamboanga in nine days; and carried with him two champans of Chinese[23] whom he found trading there, seizing them under the pretext that they had sold a cannon to our enemies the Joloans, with whom treaties of peace had just been made.
The almiranta had been delayed because it had met some damage, and had remained at Calapan repairing its rudder, for which reason it did not arrive at Zamboanga until July 25; but the king of Joló, impatient at waiting so long, had embarked with two caracoas and arrived there twelve days before. In spite of his activity, the governor of Zamboanga was very doubtful of his fidelity; and, having found two letters which Alimudin wrote to the king of Mindanao—one in the vulgar tongue, [written] by order of the governor of Manila, and the other in the Arabic language, which he had learned in Batavia, where he had spent some time—the commandant became curious to know what he was saying in this language, [now] obsolete in our islands. He sought for someone to translate the letter, and found that Alimudin said that what he wrote in the other was in obedience to the governor of Manila and to his commands; and he could not avoid obeying him, or excuse himself, because he was in a foreign dominion. To this suspicion was added the fact that a brother of his named Asin, and the chiefs of Joló who had made the compact with the master-of-camp to receive their king and surrender the captive Christians, came to Zamboanga to visit him; and they not only brought no captive, but it was said that, under pretext of this visit, they were bringing in arms, in order to gain possession of the fort. The governor, influenced by these reports, arrested the sultan with all his following,[24] and searched the house in which they lived, but he found only a few arms, which gave no indication of an uprising; but other faults were discovered, which gave plausible ground for their arrest. Various despatches and presents which he had sent to the Moros were considered as suspicious; and the commander and two passengers of the almiranta declared that he was on very bad terms with the people in Manila, from whom he had received many kindnesses, to whom on all occasions he showed himself ungrateful; that he said the new governor had kept him like a prisoner; that he gave no sign of being a Christian, since he went every night to sleep with his concubines, did not hear mass, and had taken away the crosses from the rosaries belonging to the people of his household; and, finally, that he had apostatized from the faith by offering a Mahometan sacrifice at Calapan, where he killed a goat, divided it into twelve parts, with many superstitious ceremonies, and gave them to his followers to eat, in order to celebrate Easter.
The governor of Zamboanga made report to Manila regarding these charges and his arrest of the sultan and his household; and answer was made to him that he should send Alimudin and all his people to Manila as prisoners, and that war should be declared on the Joloans[25]—giving authority to every one who wished to equip his vessel as a privateer, and allowing him to keep for himself whatever he should seize as plunder; and any persons who should thus be seized should remain captives,[26] since the Moros of Joló had been declared not only enemies to the Spaniards, but pirates, who ought to suffer captivity, just as they imposed this lot on the Christians whom they seized. The extermination of the Moros was undertaken with so much ardor that pardon [indulto] for their crimes was granted to those who should present themselves to serve against the enemy. The armada which the master-of-camp had at Zamboanga was reënforced,[27] and a second expedition was made to Joló, more unfortunate than the first—for the Spaniards attempted to land in that island, and the Moros received them with such valor that they compelled our people to retreat, with heavy loss and great disgrace to the Spanish arms, to the fort of Zamboanga.
The haughty Bantilan, who ruled the kingdom of Joló in the absence of his brother, undertook to induce, by the victory which he had gained over the Spaniards, the men of Mindanao to break the peace which they were observing with us, and to harry us as much as they could; and he urged all the pirates who were in those islands to take up arms against the Spaniards, whom he represented as conquered, and in fear of their arms. Then the seas of Bisayas were seen covered with little fleets of Moros, who carried desolation everywhere. Nothing was heard of save plundering, the burning of villages, the seizing of vessels, captivities, and [other] acts of violence, which the Moros committed in our territories[28]—so that Señor Obando wished to go forth in person to restrain them, and to repair the many injuries which they were inflicting on us. His Majesty had commanded that a fortified post should be established in the island of Paragua, in order to shut off the pirates from entrance [into Bisayan waters] on that side, just as it was closed on the other side by the post of Zamboanga. In order to proceed in all respects with moderation, the governor sent an ambassador to the king of Borney, in order that the latter should cede to us the territory that he possessed in that island; and when it was ceded he made ready a squadron to build the fortified post, and from that place to follow up the Moros who were plundering our islands. He intended to go out in person at the head of this armada, and consulted the royal Audiencia on this point; but the auditors were of opinion that it was not expedient to hazard his person, and that he could entrust this expedition to another person, who by carrying an engineer to draw plans for the fort which it was necessary to build on the island of Paragua could accomplish all that was expected from the expedition. In accordance with this advice, the governor appointed, as its commander, Don Antonio Fabea, [sc. Faveau] who sailed from Cavite with eleven vessels; he took with him Don Manuel Aguirre, who went with an appointment as commandant of the military post which was to be established, and bore orders to go to Igolote, in the same island [of Paragua], to dislodge the Moros, who usually took refuge in that place. Here his men fell sick, to such an extent that, without doing more than to take possession of that district, they went back to Manila, leaving behind two hundred and seventy dead, and carrying home many sick men in the squadron.[29]
The king of Joló had already reached Manila, and was imprisoned in the fort of Santiago,[30] to the great satisfaction of those who had been opposed to his baptism and had always doubted his fidelity; but he obtained from the governor permission that his daughter the princess Faatima, who was imprisoned with him, might go to Joló with letters from him for his brother and other chiefs, in order [to urge them] to make a stable peace with the Spaniards; and for this permission he bound himself to surrender fifty Christian captives.[31] The princess accomplished the return of the captives, and obtained from her uncle Bantilan the despatch of an ambassador to Manila, to attend to her father’s affairs. The envoy carried authority to conduct, jointly with Bantilan’s brother the king, negotiations for peace with the governor, and to solemnize the treaties which they should regard as expedient, [the chiefs] binding themselves to obey whatever the two should sign. It was stipulated with the king and the ambassador that the Moros of Joló should surrender all the Christian captives who were in their island, and send back all the arms which they had taken from the Spaniards, and the ornaments which they had plundered from the churches; and, in order to make these treaties effective, permission was granted to one of the chiefs who were prisoners with the king to go to Joló in company with the ambassador whom Bantilan had sent.
The governor had very little confidence in the promises of the Moros or in their treaties, because they had always broken them with the same facility with which they had made them; and he prepared a strong squadron [to go] against them, in order to compel them by force to observe the treaties which he did not expect they would keep of their own accord. Nor did his suspicions prove to be groundless, for in that year (which was 1754) occurred the worst inroad which those islanders had made into Philipinas. In all districts they made raids with blood and fire, killing religious, Indians, and Spaniards, burning and plundering villages; and taking captive thousands of Christians, not only in the islands near Joló, but throughout our territories, even in the provinces nearest to the capital Manila.[32] The fleet which the governor had made ready went out against them, but, before they could do anything, his successor came, at the end of his four years’ term of office; for this reason, he left the islands in the most deplorable condition that had ever been known, the cause of these evils being either his own misconduct or the unfitness of those to whom he gave appointments, or perhaps his misfortune. What is certain is, that he experienced a very grievous residencia, and many charges against him resulted; and in the following year he embarked in the galleon “Santisima Trinidad” for Acapulco, and died on the way, without reaching España.