[53] Montero y Vidal, Historia general, II, 253–258. Anda, as it will be noted later, spent an earlier term of service in the Philippines. He first came to the Philippines during the administration of Governor Arandía, as oidor of the audiencia. He had therefore been obliged to submit to residencia on a previous occasion; in 1764 a review was made of his official conduct as oidor, and especially of his acts in defiance of Archbishop Rojo, in setting up claims to the governorship of the Islands and resisting the British. His conduct was approved, and he received high honor and promotion at the court, being advanced to membership in the Council of Castile. On November 19, 1769, he was granted an annual pension of 3000 pesos for life. On September 8, 1777, this pension was continued in favor of his eldest son (A. I., 106–4–4).
[54] Anda had more than the usual number of residencias to supervise at the beginning of his term. Owing to some misapprehension on the part of his predecessor, Governor Raón, no residencia was required of La Torre, the teniente del rey who took over the government in 1764. Owing to the anarchical condition in Manila consequent upon the invasion of the British, and the ecclesiastical rule preceding that event, neither Arandía, Espeleta, nor Rojo had given residencia. The audiencia and Raón in acuerdo on October 26, 1768, voted that governors’ residencias should be dispensed with, and apparently believed that this action settled the matter. On November 9, 1770, the Council of the Indies disapproved of this stand, fined Raón (who had died the preceding July), and ordered Anda to take the residencias of Arandía (governor, 1754–1759), Espeleta (archbishop-governor, 1759–1761), Rojo (archbishop-governor, 1761–1764), Oidor Villacorta, and Governor Raón. These orders he complied with, conducting the investigations with his characteristic thoroughness, though Rojo and Raón were dead. Villacorta was imprisoned and heavily fined. The sentences against Arandía, Raón and Villacorta were moderated by the Council of the Indies on September 9, 1772.—A. I., 105–2–31.
[55] As we shall note in another chapter, José Basco y Vargas inaugurated the reforms of the intendancy in the Philippines, retaining the post of governor, while Ciriaco Gonzales Carvajal was first intendente de guerra y real hacienda.—A. I., 105–3–5 and 107–5–19; see Chapter V, note 20, of this work.
[56] This residencia was held under the same laws that had prevailed throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A feature common to them all, particularly, was the fact that the regent, or some other colonial magistrate conducted the investigation and gave sentence, which might be appealed to the Council of the Indies. This gave an opportunity for great injustice to be done to the governor by his enemies, and it did not give him an impartial hearing. The laws of 1799 still permitted a local magistrate to collect the evidence, but the decision was rendered by the Council of the Indies.
[57] Audiencia to the King, June 28, 1791, A. I., 108–4–18.
[58] Instructions to Amparán, February 19, 1792, A. I., 105–2–10.
[59] Instructions were also given at the same time for investigations of the official conduct of numerous persons who had been identified with the government of Marquina. Among these were Helarión Pastor, fiscal de la real hacienda. Manuel de Sota, contador de cuentas. Francisco Múñoz, teniente del rey. Rufino Suárez Rivera, asesor, and Miguel Formento, clerk of the treasury. A separate commission was made for the residencia of each of these.
[60] The just and honorable conduct of Marquina’s successor on this occasion may be contrasted with that of his various predecessors, whose unfairness, bigotry, and stupidity had caused governors Corcuera, Silva, and Torralba, victims of residencia, to be seized, imprisoned, and exiled without opportunities for defense, while their investigations were being conducted. This case serves well to illustrate the fact that by the close of the eighteenth century the residencia had grown more humane.
[61] He was charged with having entered into a conspiracy with an Armenian merchant to secure trade which should have gone to Spanish merchants. In this particular venture he had made a profit of 16,000 pesos and in so doing he had not only violated the laws of the Indies which forbade officials to trade (Recopilación, 2–16–54, 62), but he had connived at the infraction of another law which forbade trade to foreigners (ibid., 9–27–1, 5, 7 and note 2).
[62] It is an interesting commentary on Spanish methods that, notwithstanding Marquina’s misgovernment in the Philippines, he was promoted to the post of viceroy of New Spain, which position he held from 1800 to 1803.