A History of the Philippines

by David P. Barrows

In that year a rebellion broke out, in which the Chinese in Manila participated. They seized the church of San Pedro Mecati, on the Pasig, and fortified themselves. From there they were routed by a combined Filipino and Spanish force. The Chinese then broke up into small bands, which scattered through the country, looting and murdering, but being pursued and cut to pieces by the Filipinos. For five months this pillage and massacre went on, until seven thousand Chinese were destroyed. By the loss of these agriculturists and laborers Manila was reduced to great distress.

Activity of the Moro Pirates.—The task of the Spaniards in controlling the Moro datos continued to be immensely difficult. During the years following the successes of Corcuera and Almonte, the Moros were continually plotting. Aid was furnished from Borneo and the Celebes, and they were further incited by the Dutch. In spite of the vigilance of Zamboanga, small piratical excursions continually harassed the Bisayas and the Camarines.

Continued Conflicts with the Dutch.—The Dutch, too, from time to time showed themselves in Manila. In 1646 a squadron attacked Zamboanga, and then came north to Luzon. The Spanish naval strength was quite unprepared; but two galleons, lately arrived from Acapulco, were fitted with heavy guns, Dominican friars took their places among the gunners, and, under the protection of the Virgin of the Rosary, successfully encountered the enemy.

A year later a fleet of twelve vessels entered Manila Bay, and nearly succeeded in taking Cavite. Failing in this, they landed in Bataan province, and for some time held the coast of Manila Bay in the vicinity of Abucay. The narrative of Franciscan missions in 1649, above cited, gives town after town in southern Luzon, where church and convent had been burned by the Moros or the Dutch.

The Abandonment of Zamboanga and the Moluccas.—The threat of the Dutch made the maintenance of the presidio of Zamboanga very burdensome. In 1656 the administration of the Moluccas was united with that of Mindanao, and the governor of the former, Don Francisco de Esteybar, was transferred from Ternate to Zamboanga and made lieutenant-governor and captain-general of all the provinces of the south.

Six years later, the Moluccas, so long coveted by the Spaniards, and so slowly won by them, together with Zamboanga, were wholly abandoned, and to the Spice Islands the Spaniards were never to return. This sudden retirement from their southern possessions was not, however, occasioned by the incessant restlessness of the Moros nor by the plottings of the Dutch. It was due to a threat of danger from the north.

Koxinga the Chinese Adventurer.—In 1644, China was conquered by the Manchus. Pekin capitulated at once and the Ming dynasty was overthrown, but it was only by many years of fighting that the Manchus overcame the Chinese of the central and southern provinces. These were years of turbulence, revolt, and piracy.

More than one Chinese adventurer rose to a romantic position during this disturbed time. One of these adventurers, named It Coan, had been a poor fisherman of Chio. He had lived in Macao, where he had been converted to Christianity, and had been a cargador, or cargo-bearer, in Manila. He afterwards went to Japan, and engaged in trade. From these humble and laborious beginnings, like many another of his persistent countrymen, he gained great wealth, which on the conquest of the Manchus he devoted to piracy.

His son was the notorious Kue-Sing, or Koxinga, who for years resisted the armies of the Manchus, and maintained an independent power over the coasts of Fukien and Chekiang. About 1660 the forces of the Manchus became too formidable for him to longer resist them upon the mainland, and Koxinga determined upon the capture of Formosa and the transference of his kingdom to that island.

For thirty-eight years this island had been dominated by the Dutch, whose fortresses commanded the channel of the Pescadores. The colony was regarded as an important one by the Dutch colonial government at Batavia. The city of Tai-wan, on the west coast, was a considerable center of trade. It was strongly protected by the fortress of Zealand, and had a garrison of twenty-two hundred Dutch soldiers. After months of fighting, Koxinga, with an overpowering force of Chinese, compelled the surrender of the Hollanders and the beautiful island passed into his power.