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

by Charles Henry Cunningham

They were instructed, in short, to do all for the provinces under their charge[6] that the king, himself, might do. The laws of the Indies ordered the audiencia, the religious authorities and the civil officials to acknowledge the governor [or viceroy] as their chief. The laws emphasized as the special duties of the governor the supervision and augmentation of the finances, the defense of the colony, and general supervision over all officials, executive and judicial, central and provincial.

Foremost among the responsibilities of the executive was that of supervising the administration of the colonial exchequer. In this, however, he was assisted by the audiencia. The customary oficiales reales were among the first officials created for the Philippine government, and they were responsible to the governor. At the time of the creation of the audiencia, it was ordered that the governor and two oidores should audit the accounts of the oficiales reales, but this power was transferred to Governor Dasmariñas when the audiencia was removed in 1589. In 1602 the right of inspection of accounts was returned to the oidores,[7] but the governor, it was stated, as executive head of the government, was responsible, and he exercised direct intervention in these matters, limited only by the annual inspection of the oidores. During the greater part of the history of the Islands the governor exercised supervision over the collection and the administration of the public revenue, in accordance with the law,[8] and he was required to be present at the weekly meetings of the junta de hacienda, of which two magistrates were members, there to pass on all financial measures and to authorize expenditures.[9] The governor had control over the sale of offices, jointly with the oficiales reales, but from the correspondence on these subjects it is clear that the audiencia was designed to check the governor’s authority in that particular.[10] The governor was forbidden to authorize extraordinary expenditures from the treasury without express royal permission, except in cases of riot, or invasion.[11] This regulation was almost impossible of faithful execution, and as his duties increased and became more complicated, the governor was unable to give as complete attention to these matters as the laws of the Indies prescribed. Although the governor had these financial powers, he could not decide cases appealed from the oficiales reales. These were regarded as contentious cases and as such were resolved by the audiencia.[12] In Mexico and Lima, wherein there were higher tribunals of accounts than in Manila (contaduría mayor), the audiencia did not have this jurisdiction.

From 1784 to 1787 the governor was temporarily deprived of the leadership in financial matters by virtue of the Ordinance of Intendants, but the oidores retained membership in the colonial board of audits, together with the intendant, who had taken the governor’s former place as the responsible head of the colony’s finances. In 1787 the governor was restored to his former position with respect to the exchequer, with the official title of superintendente subdelegado de real hacienda. It is sufficient to say that the governor’s relation to this new department did not materially lessen the authority of the audiencia with regard to the finances of the colony.

Although the appointing power was claimed by many governors as their sole prerogative, the audiencia imposed a very decided check on their exercise of this authority. The governor had the right to make appointments in all departments of the government, except in certain so-called offices of royal designation, to which the governor made tentative appointments, subject to subsequent royal confirmation.[13] Although the law of February 8, 1610, exempted appointments made by the governor of the Philippines from the necessity of royal confirmation,[14] in practice these nominations were sent to the court for approval in the same manner as were those from Spain’s other colonies.

The audiencia intervened in the matter of appointments in two ways. In case it succeeded to the government on the death of the governor the tribunal exercised all the prerogatives of appointment.[15] When the governor was present he was obliged to refer the names of all candidates to the acuerdo.[16] This was made necessary because the governor, being new to the Islands and unfamiliar with local conditions, was not so well fitted to pass upon the merits of candidates for office as were the oidores who had become permanently identified with the interests of the colony and whose opinion was of weight in these matters. Thus it came about that the audiencia exercised joint authority with the governor in making appointments.[17] The question of the relative authority of the audiencia and governor in making appointments was a source of conflict throughout the history of the Islands.

When the governor submitted the name of a candidate to the acuerdo it was the duty of the magistrates to furnish all the information possible regarding the character, fitness, and ability of the person under consideration for the position. If the audiencia and the governor should disagree and the latter still persisted in an appointment, it was the duty of the audiencia to submit, forwarding all evidence relative to the candidate to the Council of the Indies, the latter body ultimately taking such action as it deemed best. When the nominations of the governor reached the Council of the Indies for confirmation, that tribunal relied extensively upon information furnished by the audiencia concerning the candidates under consideration.

As already stated, the king retained the right to appoint certain so-called “officials of royal designation.” These varied at different times, but, in general, included corregidores, alcaldes mayores, oficiales reales, oidores, regents, and, of course, viceroys, governors, and captains-general.[18] All these officials, except those last named, could be temporarily designated by the executive. Although the law placed corregidores, alcaldes mayores, and oficiales reales in this category, their designation by the court, like the confirmation of encomiendas, was usually nominal. Many of these offices were filled in Spain and Mexico, while some appointees were named from the Philippines, and probably in the majority of the latter cases the royal appointment merely amounted to a confirmation of a temporary appointment made by the governor. The post of governor of the Philippines was filled temporarily by the viceroy of New Spain until about 1720. In the same manner the governor of Ternate was named by the Philippine executive, with the advice and consent of the audiencia. These ad interim appointments were valid until the king made them regular by confirmation, or sent persons from Spain to hold them permanently.

When a vacancy occurred among the offices of royal designation, it was the governor’s duty to forward a list of candidates, or nominees, and from this list the king, or the Council of the Indies in his name, made a permanent appointment.[19] In the meantime a temporary appointment was often made by the governor, in acuerdo with the audiencia, and the name of the appointee was placed first on the list remitted to the court. This procedure was followed in the appointment of encomenderos, corregidores, alcaldes mayores, and treasury officials. It was seldom done in the cases of oidores and fiscales, who, because of their special or professional character, were usually sent directly from Spain or from New Spain. Unless there were special reasons to the contrary, for instance, the filing of an adverse report by the audiencia, or a protest on the part of residents, the governor’s temporary appointments were usually confirmed and made permanent. Temporary appointees with salaries exceeding 1000 pesos a year only received half-salary until their appointments were confirmed.[20] At least two years and frequently four transpired before the regular appointment arrived, and as the terms were from three to five years for the majority of these offices, the governor’s candidate was usually the incumbent a considerable portion of the time, whether his nomination were confirmed or not. Neither relatives nor dependents of governors or oidores could be legally appointed to any office.[21] This mandate was often violated, as we shall see. It was the duty of the regent and the fiscal to certify to the court that appointees were not relatives of the governor or oidores.[22]

In an instruction directed exclusively to the Philippine audiencia, the king ordered the tribunal to see that offices were bestowed only upon persons “who by fitness or qualifications are best able to hold them.”[23] It appears that this law, or another promulgated about the same time, gave to the fiscal and the oidores the right to pass on the qualifications of encomenderos, alcaldes mayores, corregidores, and other minor officials, on condition that preference should be given to conquerors, settlers, and their descendants. Governor Alonso Fajardo remonstrated that this new practice hampered the work of the governor, and created difficulties between him and the oidores.[24] A yet later law, dated October 1, 1624, gave the governor (and viceroy) the right to make temporary appointments of all judicial officials, without the interposition of the audiencia.[25] On February 22, 1680, the power of making permanent appointments of alcaldes mayores and corregidores was vested in the governor and the audiencia.[26] In view of this law, the Audiencia of Manila claimed and actually exercised authority in the appointment of provincial officials from that time onward.

Vacancies in the audiencia itself were filled temporarily by the governor. In case the audiencia were governing ad interim it could designate magistrates from the outside to try cases, but the power of the audiencia, as provided by these laws, was secondary to that of the governor if he were present. Under no circumstances were permanent appointments to the audiencia to be made by any authority other than the king and Council. In case there were a vacancy in the office of fiscal the junior oidor was authorized to fill the place.[27] Conversely, it also occurred that when an extra oidor was needed, the fiscal might be temporarily designated to fill the place.[28] It was also ordered that if the fiscal could not be spared from his office on account of his numerous and important duties, a lawyer might be named to act as fiscal ad interim.[29] In New Spain an alcalde del crimen took the place of the junior oidor when the latter occupied the fiscalía. There were no alcaldes del crimen in the Philippines, but the cédula of February 8, 1610, above cited, was always quoted as furnishing justification for the appointment of oidores ad interim by the governor.[30] In a subsequent chapter we shall refer to several occasions on which this was done; indeed, entire audiencias were re-constituted by certain governors.