The Philippine Islands / A Political, Geographical, Ethnographical, Social and Commercial History of the Philippine Archipelago, Embracing the Whole Period of Spanish Rule

by F.R.G.S. John Foreman

Amongst other reforms concerning the Chinese which the Spanish colonists and Manila natives called for in 1886, through the public organs, was that they should be forced to comply with the law promulgated in 1867, which provided that the Chinese, like all other merchants, should keep their trade-books in the Spanish language. The demand had the appearance of being based on certain justifiable grounds, but in reality it was a mere ebullition of spite intended to augment the difficulties of the Chinese.

The British merchants and bankers are, by far, those who give most credit to the Chinese. The Spanish and native creditors of the Chinese are but a small minority, taking the aggregate of their credits, and instead of seeking malevolently to impose new hardships on the Chinese, they could have abstained from entering into risky transactions with them. All merchants are aware of the Chinese trading system, and none are obliged to deal with them. A foreign house would give a Chinaman credit for, say, £300 to £400 worth of European manufactured goods, knowing full well, from personal experience, or from that of others, that the whole value would probably never be recovered. It remained a standing debt on the books of the firm. The Chinaman retailed these goods, and brought a small sum of cash to the firm, on the understanding that he would get another parcel of goods, and so he went on for years.[6] Thus the foreign merchants practically sunk an amount of capital to start their Chinese constituents. Sometimes the acknowledged owner and responsible man in one Chinese retail establishment would have a share in, or own, several others. If matters went wrong, he absconded abroad, and only the one shop which he openly represented could be embargoed, whilst his goods were distributed over several shops under any name but his. It was always difficult to bring legal proof of this; the books were in Chinese, and the whole business was in a state of confusion incomprehensible to any European. But these risks were well known beforehand. It was only then that the original credit had to be written off by the foreigner as a nett loss—often small when set against several years of accumulated profits made in successive operations.

The Chinese have guilds or secret societies for their mutual protection, and it is a well-ascertained fact that they had to pay the Spanish authorities very dearly for the liberty of living at peace with their fellow-men. If the wind blew against them from official quarters the affair brought on the tapis was hushed up by a gift. These peace-offerings, at times of considerable value, were procured by a tax privately levied on each Chinaman by the headmen of their guilds. In 1880–83 the Gov.-General and other high functionaries used to accept Chinese hospitality, etc.

In December, 1887, the Medal of Civil Merit was awarded to a Chinaman named Sio-Sion-Tay, resident in Binondo, whilst the Government for several years had made contracts with the Chinese for the public service. Another Chinaman, christened in the name of Cárlos Palanca, was later on awarded the Grand Cross of Isabella the Catholic, with the title of Excellency.

Many Chinese have adopted Christianity, either to improve their social standing, or to be enabled thereby to contract marriage with natives. Their intercessor and patron is Saint Nicholas, since the time, it is said, that a Chinaman, having fallen into the Pasig River, was in danger of being eaten by an alligator, and saved himself by praying to that saint, who caused the monster to turn into stone. The legendary stone is still to be seen near the left bank of the river.

There appears to be no perfectly reliable data respecting the number of Chinese residents in the Archipelago. In 1886 the statistics differed largely. One statistician published that there was a total of 66,740 men and 194 women, of whom 51,348 men and 191 women lived in Manila and suburbs, 1,154 men and 3 women in Yloilo, and 983 men in Cebú, the rest being dispersed over the coast villages and the interior. The most competent local authorities in two provinces proved to me that the figures relating to their districts were inexact, and all other information on the subject which I have been able to procure tends to show that the number of resident Chinese was underrated. I estimate that just before the Rebellion of 1896 there were 100,000 Chinese in the whole Colony, including upwards of 40,000 in and around the capital.

Crowds of Chinese passed to these Islands via Sulu (Joló), which, as a free port, they could enter without need of papers. Pretending to be resident colonists there, they managed to obtain passports to travel on business for a limited period in the Philippines, but they were never seen again in Sulu.

In Spanish times the Chinaman was often referred to as a Macao or a Sangley. The former term applied to those who came from Southern China (Canton, Macao, Amoy, etc.). They were usually cooks and domestic servants. The latter signified the Northern Chinaman of the trading class. The popular term for a Chinaman in general was a Suya.

In Manila and in several provincial towns where the Chinese residents were numerous, they had their own separate “Tribunals” or local courts, wherein minor affairs were managed by petty governors of their own nationality, elected bi-annually, in the same manner as the natives. In 1888 the question of admitting a Chinese Consulate in the Philippines was talked of in official circles, which proves that the Government was far from seeing the “Chinese question” in the same light as the Spanish or native merchant class. In the course of time they acquired a certain consideration in the body politic, and deputations of Chinese were present in all popular ceremonies during the last few years of Spanish rule.

Wherever the Chinese settle they exhibit a disposition to hold their footing, if not to strengthen it, at all hazards, by force if need be. In Sarawak their Secret Societies threatened to undermine the prosperity of that little State, and had to be suppressed by capital punishment. Since the British occupation of Hong-Kong in 1841, there have been two serious movements against the Europeans. In 1848 the Chinese murdered Governor Amiral of Macao, and the colonists had to fight for their lives. In Singapore the attempts of the Chinese to defy the Government called for coercive measures, but the danger is small, because the immigrant Chinaman has only the courage to act in mobs.