The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898; Volume 50 / 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

FOURTEENTH ABUSE

Consequent upon this notion of theirs is this abuse, that when the gobernadorcillos of the villages (these are the deputies of the alcaldes) who exercise the royal jurisdiction, go to see the father, they have to leave their staffs or rods of justice at the entrance; for the fathers do not permit even tokens of the royal authority in their presence. The fathers compel those officials to accompany them quite to the sacristy, and, when they return to their house, make them serve them at table, and never allow them to sit down or to keep their hats on; and they address those officials by tu [i.e., “thou”] as they do servants. Let one estimate what they will do with the other Indians.

Remedy for this evil

To order that, when the gobernadorcillos go to see the father, they be compelled to go into his house with their badges of justice, under penalty of [the father’s] expulsion if they are forbidden to do so; for, representing as they do the king, the father must treat them with suitable decorum, and must give them a seat, and under no pretext be served by them at table.