A Visit to the Philippine Islands

by John Bowring

The approach to Iloilo is by a channel between a sandbank (which has spread nearly a mile beyond the limits given in the charts) and the island of Guimaras. The town appears adjacent as it is approached, but the river by which vessels enter makes a considerable bend and passes round close to the town. We observed a large fortification, but it had not the means of saluting us, and we were therefore exonerated from the duty of exploding H. M.’s gunpowder; but if not in the shape of noisy salutations, the courtesies of the Spanish authorities were displayed in every possible way towards the officers and crew of our frigate, for whose service and entertainment everything was done. We were soon waited on by a gentleman from the British vice-consulate. The vice-consul returned to Iloilo the day after our arrival. It would indeed be well if all British functionaries possessed as much aptitude, knowledge and disposition to be useful as we found in Mr. Loney, to whom the commerce of the Philippines generally, and the port of Iloilo especially, is under great obligations. To him, more than to any other individual, the development of the trade of Panay will be due.

From the Governor of Iloilo, Colonel José Maria Carlès, especially I experienced great kindness. He was Buffering under a sore affliction—for affliction holds sway over every part of the world—the loss of an only and beloved son who had preceded him as governor of the province and was an object of so much affection that the people earnestly implored the Captain-General to allow the father to succeed him, which was granted. It was touching to hear the tales of the various displays of popular sympathy and sorrow which accompanied the death and the interment of Don Emilio Carlès, whom no less than fifty carriages followed to his grave in Arévalo. I passed the village more than once with the mourning father; at a time, too, when sorely suffering from sorrows of my own, I felt the consolation which is found in remembering and helping others to remember the virtues of the dead. These are their best monuments, though not written on tablets of stone.

The principalia of Molo came to invite us to a ball, and very prettily the ball was got up. It is a most industrious locality; in ancient times was a Chinese colony, and is now occupied by mestizos and their descendants, most of them having a mingling of Chinese blood. The pueblo has 16,428 inhabitants, of whom the mestizos are 1,106. It is one of the busiest towns in the island, and everything has a prosperous and active look. Some of the buildings have in the same apartment many looms occupied in making the piña stuffs. The place was gaily illuminated on occasion of the ball, and the gobernadorcillo made an oration in Spanish to the effect that the locality had been much honoured by our presence, and that the memory of the day would be long preserved. Many of the mestizos keep their carriages, which were placed at the disposal of our friends, and which fell into the procession when music and firing of guns and muskets accompanied us through the town. Molo is an island formed by two creeks, and entered by bridges on both sides. I believe it is one of the few localities served by a secular curate. It is about four miles from Iloilo, the road being good, and many Indian houses are seen on both sides of the way. Almost all these have their gardens growing plantains, cocoa-nuts, bread-fruits, cocoa, betel and other vegetable productions. Sugar planting appeared to be extending, and there are many paddy-fields and much cultivation of maize.

The Governor and British vice-consul accompanied us in our pleasant excursions to the interior, during which we visited some of the most populous pueblos of the provinces. We travelled in comfortable carriages, the friars or the gobernadorcillos providing us with relays of horses, and the convents were generally the places appointed for our reception, in which we invariably found most hospitable cheer. One day it was determined to visit Janiuay, and we first stopped at Jaro, a pueblo of more than 22,000 souls. The roads had their usual adornings: the Indian cottages exhibited their flags, the equestrian principalia came out to escort us, and the native bands of music went before us when we entered and when we quitted the populous part of the town. Jaro is deemed the most opulent place in the island of Panay. It was founded in 1584 or 1585. Cultivation extends to some distance around it. It boasts of its stone bridge, more than 700 feet in length and 36 feet in breadth, the erection of which, as well as the excellent roads by which the pueblo is approached, are due to the munificence of a curate knighted by his sovereign for his patriotic sacrifices. Though the country is level, the rich vegetation on the banks of the streams and by the borders of the highway make the scenery picturesque. The manufacture of fine stuffs and cotton, piña and silk, is very considerable. These fabrics are exposed for sale at a weekly market, held on Thursdays, which is crowded by people from every part of the province, being the largest of the Iloilo marts. From Jaro we proceeded to Santa Barbara, a pueblo of 23,000 souls. Here we were received at the convent of the Augustine friars, in whose hands are all the cures of Iloilo, to one of whom we had the pleasure of giving a passage to Manila, whither he was bound as the delegate to the annual assembly of the fraternity. Here, too, other Augustine friars visited us, all inviting us to partake of the hospitalities of their spacious convents. Santa Barbara is a modern town, built in 1759, and placed under the special protection of the saint whose name it bears. It has shared in the general prosperity of the province: in 1820 it had no manufactures; but it has now a weekly market for the sale of the produce of its looms, consisting principally of cottons, sail-canvas, quilts, coverlets, &c. The forests furnish fine timber for building and for cabinet work, and are crowded with wild bees, whose wax and honey form a considerable article of traffic. Excellent were the carriages and horses of the friars. Our next resting-place was Cabatuan, somewhat larger than Santa Barbara. Cabatuan was founded in 1732. It is on the banks of the river Tiguin; sometimes nearly dry, and at others deluging the country with its impetuous torrents. The numerous crocodiles make fishing unsafe; and the navigation even of small boats is often interrupted, either by the superfluity or insufficiency of its waters. There is a large production of rice and of cocoa-nut oil for lighting. From Cabatuan we went to Janiuay, which was the limit of the day’s journey, and of our visit to the interior. It is called Matagul in the ancient maps of the province, and has about the same number of inhabitants as Santa Barbara. The convent and church are on a slightly elevated ground, and offer a pretty view of the pueblo and surrounding country. Many of the women are engaged in the labours of the loom, but agriculture is the principal industry of the neighbourhood. We had hoped to visit the Dingle mountain, one of whose caves or grottos is said to present the character of a temple of fantastic architecture, adorned with rock crystal and exhibiting masses of marble and alabaster which form its walls; another cave is formed of granite, which abounds in the locality: but we had to return to Iloilo to meet the principal people at a late dinner, succeeded as usual by a ball. The Governor’s house being at some distance from the town, we were kindly accommodated at that of one of the native merchants, conveniently situated on the quay of the river. Several of the friars, who had been our hosts, were the guests of the merchants; and the kind hospitality we experienced did not justify the constant expression of courteous regrets for the inadequacy of the entertainment, the blunders of the native servants (sometimes amusing enough), and the contrasts between the accommodations of Europe and those which a remote Spanish settlement in the Philippines could afford; but there was so much of courtesy, good breeding and cordiality that it was impossible to feel otherwise than grateful and contented, and, after all, in this world to do all we can is to discharge every duty.

The next day we made our arrangements for visiting the different pueblos on the coast, and, starting in our carriages soon after daybreak, we passed through Molo and Arévalo to Oton. Arévalo has some celebrity in the annals of the Philippines, and had a special interest for the Governor, as here had been lately displayed the affection of the Indians for his son, whose funeral they had honoured with such special marks of sympathy and regret. Arévalo was formerly the residence of the governor—built by Ronquillo in 1581, who gave it the name of his birth-place. Molested by the Indians, attacked by pirates and the government quite disorganized, it was for a long time abandoned; and the seat of authority being removed to Iloilo, Arévalo presents few signs of activity: there are about 8,000 inhabitants in this district. At Oton we saw from the Augustine convent an interesting ceremony. It was on a Sunday; and on quitting the church the inhabitants were summoned by beat of drum to attend the reading of a proclamation of the government. They were all in their holiday garments, and men, women and children formed a circle round one of the native Indian authorities, who, in a loud voice, read in the Bisayan tongue the document which he had been ordered to communicate to the people. There was perfect silence during the reading, and a quiet dispersion of the crowd. Fortifications are erected along the coast, and a great variety of manufactures were brought to us for examination. A good deal of English cotton twist is sold, which forms the warp of most of the fabrics.[2] There were rugs of silk and cotton; varieties of coloured ginghams; tissues, in which the fibres of the abacá and the piña were mixed with our cotton thread, whose importation is, however, confined to the colours which the Indians are themselves not able to dye. Oton has nearly 23,000 inhabitants. I observe the proportion of births to deaths is as nearly four to one, and that while there are five births to one marriage, the deaths exceed the marriages by less than one-third, so that the increase of population must be very great. In 1818, it was less than 9,000. Tigbauan, with its 21,000 inhabitants, was our next halting place. Its general character resembles that of Oton. Rice is the principal agricultural production, but the women are mostly employed in weaving stuffs, which find markets in Albay and Camarines. We were accompanied from the Augustine convent by a friar of Guimbal, who obviously exercised much influence over his brethren and over the whole community. His conversation was both entertaining and instructive. He had a good stud of horses, a handsome carriage, and he certainly employs his large revenues with generous hospitality. Not to repeat what has been repeated so often, the Indians, on the whole line of our journey, made a holiday time for our reception, which partook everywhere of the character of a public festivity. After the principalia had accompanied us to the convents, and received their thanks from me, and their dismissal from the Governor and the friar, a number of little girls were introduced, to whom the service of the table and attendance on the guests were confided. There was a strange mixture of curiosity, fear and respect in their deportment; but they gathered round my arm-chair; their bright black eyes looked inquiringly into my face, and asked for orders; while one, who seemed rather a pet of the ghostly father, put her hand into the curls of my white hair, which she seemed to consider worthy of some admiration: but the friar told me they were discoursing among themselves whether it was possible I could be a general and a great man, who had no gold about my clothes; I was not dressed half as finely as the officers they had been accustomed to see. They were very proud of some of the piña garments they wore, and one after another came to display their finery. They took care to supply me with cigars, and that light should be ready whenever the cigar was extinguished, and when we sat down to our well-furnished repast, several of them were at hand to remove the plates, to provide others, and to see that we were well provided with the delicacies of the day. On our way back to Iloilo, we learnt that the principalia of Molo were to escort us in their carriages to our domicile; they were waiting for us in the main road, so that we made together quite a procession. They had before invited Captain Vansittart and the officers of the Magicienne to their ball, and many attended, keeping up the dance to an early morning hour.

We left Iloilo the following day. The Governor and several of the principal people, among whom was a large group of Augustine friars, accompanied us with music to the ship. Three loud shouts of grateful hurrah broke forth from our decks, cordially responded to by our hosts—and so farewell! and all happiness to Iloilo.

I have sent to Sir William Hooker, for the museum of the Royal Gardens at Kew, sixty specimens of woods grown in the northern and western districts of the island of Panay and the province of Antique, of which the most notable are—the molave, the most useful and compact of the Philippine woods, and applied to all purposes of building; bancaluag, for fine work; duñgon, for ship-building and edifices; bago-arour, building and cabinet-work; lumati, a species of teak; guisoc, a flexible wood for ships and houses; ipil has similar merits; naga, resembling mahogany, used for furniture; cansalod, planks for floors; maguilomboy, for the same purpose; duca, baslayan, oyacya, for ship-building; tipolo, for musical instruments; lanipga, a species of cedar used for carving and sculpture; bayog, spars for masts and yards; bancal, for internal roofs and carving; malaguibuyo, for flooring; ogjayan, flexible for joints, &c.; lanitan, guitars, violins, &c.; janlaatan, furniture; lauaan, spars for shipping; basa, in large blocks for building and shipping; talagtag, cabinet-work; nino, the bark used for dyeing both red and yellow; bacan, spars; panao, a medicinal wood used for sore eyes by the Indians; banate, a fine and solid box-wood, used for billiard-maces, has been exported to Europe; bancolinao, ebony; casla has a fruit resembling a French bean, whose oil is used by the natives for their lamps; jaras, for construction of houses. It will be observed that all these bear their Indian names, which are generally applied to them by the Spaniards.

As regards the commercial position and prospects of the whole of the central and southern islands of the Philippine Archipelago, the most satisfactory details which have reached me are those furnished in 1857 by the Vice-Consul of Iloilo, Mr. Loney, to the Consul of Manila, from which I extract the following information.

That portion of the Philippines called the Bisayas may be generally described as including the whole of the islands to the southward of Luzon, though, strictly speaking, it is understood to comprehend only those of Samar, Leyte, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol (with their dependencies, Tablas, Romblon, Sibuyan, &c.), and four provinces—Misamis, Caraga, Zamboanga, and Nueva Guipuzcoa—of the important island of Mindanao, next to Luzon the finest and largest of the archipelago.

The administration of the revenue of the Bisayas was formerly in charge of a separate Government Intendency (Gobierno Intendencia de Bisayas) established in the city of Cebu; but this being abolished in 1849, all the provinces, as regards revenue, are now equally under control of the Superintendencia at Manila. While, however, the provinces and districts of Luzon (with the exception of Cavite, La Isabela, Nueva Viscaya, El Abra, San Mateo, and La Union) are presided over by civil functionaries (alcaldes mayores), those of the Bisayas are governed by military officers (gobernadores militares y politicos) of the rank of captain to that of colonel, assisted in most instances by a lieutenant-governor, a civilian, and usually a lawyer, who takes cognizance of all ordinary civil and criminal cases.