A History of the Philippines

by David P. Barrows

Weakening of the Governor’s Power.—This power of private and religious classes to intimidate and overawe the responsible head of the Philippine government was an abuse which continued to the very close of the Spanish rule. This, together with the relatively short term of the governor’s office, his natural desire to avoid trouble, his all too frequent purpose of amassing a fortune rather than maintaining the dignity of his position and advancing the interests of the Islands, combined decade after decade to make the spiritual authority more powerful. In the end the religious orders, with their great body of members, their hold upon the Filipinos, their high influence at the court, and finally their great landed wealth, governed the Islands.

The Educational Work of the Religious Orders.—In any criticism of the evils connected with their administration of the Philippines, one must not fail to recognize the many achievements of the missionary friars that were worthy. To the Dominicans and the Jesuits is due the establishment of institutions of learning. The Jesuits in 1601 had planted their College of San José. The Dominicans, here as in Europe, the champions of orthodox learning, had their own institution, the College of Santo Tomas, inaugurated in 1619, and were the rivals of the Jesuits for the privilege of giving higher instruction.

In 1645 the pope granted to the Dominicans the right to bestow higher degrees, and their college became the “Royal and Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas.” This splendid name breathes that very spirit of the Middle Ages which the Dominican order strove to perpetuate in the Philippines down to modern days.[10] Dominicans also founded the College of San Juan de Letran, as a preparatory school to the University.

We should not pass over the educational work of the religious orders without mention of the early printing-plants and their publications. The missionary friars were famous printers, and in the Philippines, as well as in America, some noble volumes were produced by their handicraft.

Founding of Hospitals by the Franciscans.—Nor had the Franciscans in the Philippines neglected the fundamental purpose of their foundation,—that of ministration to the sick and unprotected. A narrative of their order, written in 1649, gives a long list of their beneficent foundations.[11] Besides the hospital of Manila, they had an infirmary at Cavite for the native mariners and shipbuilders, a hospital at Los Baños, another in the city of Nueva Caceras. Lay brethren were attached to many of the convents as nurses.

In 1633 a curious occurrence led to the founding of the leper hospital of San Lazaro. The emperor of Japan, in a probably ironical mood, sent to Manila a shipload of Japanese afflicted with this unfortunate disease. These people were mercifully received by the Franciscans, and cared for in a home, which became the San Lazaro hospital for lepers.

Life and Progress of the Filipinos.—Few sources exist that can show us the life and progress of the Filipino people during these decades. Christianity, as introduced by the missionary friars, was wonderfully successful, and yet there were relapses into heathenism. Old religious leaders and priestesses roused up from time to time, and incited the natives to rebellion against their new spiritual masters. The payment of tribute and the labor required for the building of churches often drove the people into the mountains.

Religious Revolt at Bohol and Leyte.—In 1621 a somewhat serious revolt took place on Bohol. The Jesuits who administered the island were absent in Cebu, attending the fiestas on the canonization of Saint Francis Xavier. The whisper was raised that the old heathen deity, Diwata, was at hand to assist in the expulsion of the Spaniards. The island rose in revolt, except the two towns of Loboc and Baclayan. Four towns were burned, the churches sacked, and the sacred images speared. The revolt spread to Leyte, where it was headed by the old dato, Bancao of Limasaua, who had sworn friendship with Legaspi. This insurrection was put down by the alcalde mayor of Cebu and the Filipino leaders were hung. On Leyte, Bancao was speared in battle, and one of the heathen priests suffered the penalty, prescribed by the Inquisition for heresy—death by burning.

Revolt of the Pampangas.—The heavy drafting of natives to fell trees and build the ships for the Spanish naval expeditions and the Acapulco trade was also a cause for insurrection. In 1660 a thousand Pampangas were kept cutting in the forests of that province alone. Sullen at their heavy labor and at the harshness of their overseers, these natives rose in revolt. The sedition spread to Pangasinan, Zambales, and Ilocos, and it required the utmost efforts of the Spanish forces on land and water to suppress the rebellion.

Uprising of the Chinese.—In spite of the terrible massacre, that had been visited upon the Chinese at the beginning of the century, they had almost immediately commenced returning not only as merchants, but as colonists. The early restrictions upon their life must have been relaxed, for in 1639 there were more than thirty thousand living in the Islands, many of them cultivating lands at Calamba and at other points on the Laguna de Bay.