An expedition set sail, with the sultan on board, and went as far as Zamboanga, but accomplished nothing. Here the conduct of the sultan served to confirm the doubts of the Spaniards as to the sincerity of his friendship. He was arrested, and returned to Manila, and imprisoned in the fortress of Santiago. With varying treatment he remained in the hands of the Spaniards until 1763, when he was returned to Jolo by the English.
Great Increase in Moro Piracy.—The year 1754 is stated to have been the bloodiest in the history of Moro piracy. No part of the Bisayas escaped ravaging in this year, while the Camarines, Batangas, and Albay suffered equally with the rest. The conduct of the pirates was more than ordinarily cruel. Priests were slain, towns wholly destroyed, and thousands of captives were carried south into Moro slavery. The condition of the Islands at the end of this year was probably the most deplorable in their history.
Reforms under General Arandía.—The demoralization and misery with which Obando’s rule closed were relieved somewhat by the capable government of Arandía, who succeeded him. Arandía was one of the few men of talent, energy, and integrity who stood at the head of affairs in these islands during two centuries.
He reformed the greatly disorganized military force, establishing what was known as the “Regiment of the King,” made up very largely of Mexican soldiers. He also formed a corps of artillerists composed of Filipinos. These were regular troops, who received from Arandía sufficient pay to enable them to live decently and like an army.
He reformed the arsenal at Cavite, and, in spite of opposition on all sides, did something to infuse efficiency and honesty into the government. At the head of the armament which had been sent against the Moros he placed a Jesuit priest, Father Ducos. A capable officer was also sent to command the presidio at Zamboanga, and while Moro piracy was not stopped, heavy retaliation was visited upon the pirates.
Arandía’s most popular act of government was the expulsion of the Chinese from the provinces, and in large part from the city. They seem to have had in their hands then, perhaps even more than now, the commerce or small trade between Manila and provincial towns. To take over this trade, Arandía founded a commercial company of Spaniards and mestizos, which lasted only for a year. The Christianized Chinese were allowed to remain under license, and for those having shops in Manila Arandía founded the Alcayceria of San Fernando. It consisted of a great square of shops built about an open interior. It stood in Binondo, on the present Calle de San Fernando, in what is still a populous Chinese quarter.
Death of Arandía and Decline of the Colony.—Arandía died in May, 1759, and the government was assumed by the bishop of Cebu, who in turn was forced from his position by the arrival of the archbishop of Manila, Don Manuel Rojo. The archbishop revoked the celebrated orders of good government which Arandía had put into force, and the colony promised to relapse once more into its customary dormant condition. This was, however, prevented by an event which brought to an end the long period of obscurity and inertia under which the colony had been gradually decaying, and introduced, in a way, a new period of its history. This was the capture of the Philippine Islands by the British in 1762.
[1] See the account of the “Settlement of the Ladrones by the Spaniards,” in Burney’s Voyages in the Pacific, vol. III.
[2] Some of the benefits of such a trade are set forth by the Jesuit, Alonzo de Ovalle, in his Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Chili, printed in Rome, 1649. In Churchill’s Collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. III.