The Audiencia in the Spanish Colonies / As illustrated by the Audiencia of Manila (1583-1800)

by Charles Henry Cunningham

[46] This was true of San Luís Potosí and Guadalajara in New Spain. See Bancroft, History of Mexico, III, 520; History of Central America, I, 297; Moses, Establishment of Spanish rule in America, 83.

[47] Bancroft (History of Central America, I, 297) defines the corregidor as a magistrate with civil and criminal jurisdiction in the first instance, and gubernatorial inspection in the political and economic government of all the towns of the district assigned to him. There were corregidores letrados (learned in the law), corregidores políticos (political and administrative), de capa y espada (military) and políticos y militares (administrative and military). When the corregidor was not a lawyer by profession, unless he had an asesor of his own, the alcalde mayor, if possessed of legal knowledge, became his advisor, which greatly increased the importance of the last-mentioned official. The alcalde mayor was appointed by the king. It was required that he should be a lawyer by profession, twenty-six years of age, and of good character. Practically, in cases of this kind, when the governor was not a letrado, civil, criminal, and some phases of military authority devolved on the alcalde mayor; the first two ex-officio, and the latter as the legal advisor of the military chief. In new colonies this officer was invested with powers almost equal to those of the governor.—See Recopilación, 5–2.

CHAPTER II

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AUDIENCIA OF MANILA (1583–1598).

The conditions which determined the establishment of an audiencia in the Philippines differed little, if at all, from those in Spain’s other colonies. All of Spain’s dependencies were situated at great distances from the mother country; the Philippines were farther away than any. Furthermore, the Philippines were isolated and could not be successfully maintained, if dependent on, or identified with any other colony; distance and other factors which we shall note made undesirable and impracticable a continuance of established relations with New Spain. If, however, the governor of the Philippines came to be almost absolute in his authority, his absolutism differed in degree rather than in kind from that of the governors and viceroys of other colonies. The contiguity of China and Japan, the constant danger of military invasion and naval attack by outside enemies and the dependence of the colony on the commerce of China also made the case of the Philippines somewhat different from that of the colonies in America. In general, the situation in the Philippines called for a distinct audiencia with the same powers and functions as were exercised by the audiencias of the other colonies.

A system for the administration of justice in the Philippines had been definitely established and organized before the audiencia was inaugurated in 1584. Many prominent features of the judicial and administrative systems of Spain and America had been already introduced into the Islands. At the head of both judicial and administrative affairs was the governor and captain-general, who was practically absolute, and whose authority was final except in certain matters of litigation which could be appealed to the Audiencia of Mexico. Subordinate to him were the alcaldes mayores and corregidores, whose functions have been already noted. In the Philippines, as elsewhere, the latter officials acted as magistrates and governors of provinces, combining judicial and administrative attributes. Directly subordinate to them were the encomenderos, whose holdings, including lands and Indians, may be said to have constituted the unit of the Spanish colonial land system until the close of the eighteenth century.[1] As in Spain, so in the Spanish towns of the Philippines, there were alcaldes ordinarios, or municipal judges, elected by the citizens in some cases, or appointed by the governor in others.[2]

But the system as established was defective in many respects. The governor and captain-general was chief judge, executive, and commander of the military forces. In him were centralized all the functions of justice and government, exercised in the provinces through the alcaldes mayores and corregidores. The latter officials he appointed ad interim, supervised their administrative duties, and heard judicial cases appealed from them. He likewise exercised supervision over the oficiales reales, who were entrusted with the collection, care and expenditure of the funds of the colony.[3] During the period before the establishment of the audiencia, the governor exercised complete control over all branches and departments of the government,—provincial, municipal, and insular—in matters of justice, administration, and finance. The centralization of all this authority in the person of one official made his position responsible and powerful, but capable of much abuse. And it was the abuses incidental to the exercise of absolute power by the governor that led to the establishment of the Audiencia of Manila.

Probably the most important indirect reason for the establishment of an audiencia in the Philippines may be noted in the abuses connected with the administration of the encomiendas. These may be attributed both to the powerlessness and inefficiency of the governors, and to their cupidity and deliberate favoritism to the encomenderos. As a result of the rapid spread of these encomiendas,[4] settlements, or agricultural estates, for such they were, and their location in distant and widely separated parts of the Archipelago, the encomenderos came to have increased responsibilities and powers. They were far removed from the central authority at Manila. They were infrequently inspected by the alcaldes mayores and corregidores in whose districts they were situated. Indeed, the encomiendas had spread so rapidly in the Philippines that the governmental machinery provided by Spain was unable to provide for them. In 1591, for example, there were 267 encomiendas containing 667,612 souls. These were supervised by twelve alcaldes mayores.[5] One hundred and forty priests were provided to minister to this large congregation of natives. The Philippine government, with an autocratic military governor at its head, had been originally designed for one settlement or province, and not for an extensive military possession, distributed over a widely separated area, with insufficient means of communication and transportation. Under the conditions outlined above, the encomenderos were permitted to forget the benign purposes for which they had been originally entrusted with the care and protection of the natives. The Indians on the encomiendas were reduced to the condition of slaves. They were mistreated, overtaxed, overworked, cheated, neglected, flogged, and abused.[6] Their protectors had become their exploiters. The churchmen who were supposed to act as their guardians and spiritual aids were insufficient in number to render effective service. Many of the latter served the interests of the encomenderos, and the latter were decidedly unfavorable to the introduction of more priests. The local officials of government and justice were in most cases too far away to care for and protect the natives, or even to visit the more remote encomiendas in their districts. Moreover, many of them were themselves encomenderos, perpetrating abuses on their own tenants, and accordingly little inclined to sacrifice their own interests for the protection of the natives on other encomiendas. Finally, the governor, located at the distant capital, was possibly ignorant of the real state of affairs; at any rate, he failed to enforce the laws which commanded humane treatment of the natives, leaving to the encomenderos, the alcaldes mayores, and corregidores the administration of the provinces and the supervision of the encomiendas.[7]

Efforts had been made for the correction of these abuses and to bring about a more effective control of the encomiendas by the governor. Early in the history of the Islands the king had empowered governors and viceroys to grant encomiendas for life, with thirty years’ remission of tribute, to those who had participated in the conquest. Legaspi and Lavezares, the first two governors of the Philippines, had given encomiendas without limit to favorites, relatives, and friends; consequently, when Sande became governor, he was obliged to direct much of his attention to the eradication of the resultant evils, and he attempted to establish the encomiendas on a profitable and honest basis. He dispossessed many of the holders of these large tracts, and reserved them for the crown, as royal encomiendas, thus creating a revenue for the newly established and financially embarrassed government.[8] Sande made royal many of the hitherto unprofitable encomiendas which had been in private hands.[9] On account of these acts Sande became very unpopular in Manila, and so unpleasant were his relations with the residents that, having no protection or recourse, he was obliged to give up his command, practically driven from the Islands by his enemies.