The History of Sulu

by Najeeb M. Saleeby

All these facts then will convince your Excellency that the expectations based by my acting predecessor upon the latest treaties referred to are too sanguine. They would produce no illusions on my part, in view of the experience of the past, neither does it seem to me that their results, looked at with calmness and in the light of the most exact data, could be of any great advantage to our commerce. Allowing that the treaties should be religiously complied with, never would they be of any value, in themselves, to improve the brutal condition of those islanders. This condition will always constitute, not only for the Spaniards but also for all civilized nations, a great drawback to mercantile relations, which, although founded on principles of utility and mutual advantage, cannot continue nor be developed except under the most favorable guaranties. How would our merchants, or the foreign merchants of Sulu obtain them, where there is neither good faith nor justice, and where cunning fraud makes even the Chinese dangerous traders? Commerce is the movement and circulation of wealth. The latter results from production, and production from the full and unrestricted utilization of property. Moreover, when property is insecure, when the laws do not protect it, when the agents of the Government are the first to disregard it, the mercantile spirit is the first to become alarmed and, when defrauded, to flee as far as possible from the place where it does not find that safe haven it requires to expand and to pursue with skill and perseverance the objects of its calling. Thus it is that during the period elapsed since the year cited, 1646, up to the present time, no Spanish merchant has himself had direct dealings with the inhabitants of Sulu, the Chinese alone being engaged in this trade, they being the only charterers of our vessels, so that we do not obtain from said commerce more than interest on the capital invested, subject to great exposure and risk, which has made and always will make, this commerce uncertain and of little value. While lack of security still sets a limit to the extent of our speculation in commerce with Sulu, lack of advantageous reciprocity adds another factor no less appreciable. At the time the Spaniards came to the Philippines, Sulu seems to have been rich in her own natural and industrial products, and richer still through the large commerce which their exchange enabled her to carry on with the Chinese vessels which in large numbers frequented her coasts. Situated almost midway between the Philippines and the Moluccas, close to two rich islands so fertile and densely populated as Mindanao and Borneo, it seemed destined by nature to be the emporium of the commerce of the south. Converted to Islamism by the Arab Sayed Ali,[62] who landed there from Mecca, how much ought this principle of civilization in the midst of barbarous nations have tended to their advancement! But times have changed greatly since then, and brought their always accompanying vicissitudes. As Spanish dominion was extended in the Philippines and the Portuguese penetrated into the Moluccas, they began attracting to their capitals the wealth and traffic that was accumulating in Sulu, and here begins a new era. War and desolation, which for a period of eighty years we inflicted on them, followed, and put in our power this island and its dependencies, and though independence was later restored, it could not divert this rich commerce from the trend it had taken. Meanwhile, their wars and internal dissensions resulted in corrupting their customs, and there only remained for them the habit of piracy, which ever since our appearance, they had embraced for the purpose of harassing us.

Since then Sulu has been converted into a refuge for pirates allured by its favorable position, and these barbarians, being more solicitous of carrying on their devastations than of cultivating their land, have not ceased to be the greatest scourge of our inhabitants of the south. This explains the impossibility of obtaining from them by entreaty anything in the way of peace and tranquillity, which to them as well as to us would be so beneficial.

For this reason, Sulu, which contains a population of pirates and slaves, is nothing more than a shipping point where certain products are collected from the other islands of the south. It is surrounded by islands and islets, which form the archipelago bearing its name, and has a length from east to west of about ten leagues, a width of four and a half, and a circumference of thirty-two. The total population credited to the Archipelago is from 149,000 to 150,000 souls, 6,800 of which inhabit Jolo, and in this number are included 800 Chinese.

The houses, or rather huts, of the principal place, are estimated to number 3,500, and that of the petty king, called Sultan, cannot be distinguished from the rest except for its greater size; all of bamboo and nipa, weak and poor as their owners, but with cannons of various calibers which mark the residences of the datus, descendants of the petty kings, and who themselves constitute the oligarchy of their Government. I have already stated that the Sultan can do nothing, all matters being decreed by the convention, or Rum Bichara of the datus, where the owner of the greatest number of slaves always decides the questions.[63] Wealth, influence and power, are measured among them solely by the number of slaves, and this is why they cannot but be pirates, in order to acquire this wealth, nor can they offer any guaranty, if it must be accompanied by the renunciation of this pursuit.

By this picture, which is corroborated by the Englishman Moor in his description of Sulu, it will be seen that we can expect nothing from our present relations with Sulu in the way of securing the tranquillity and prosperity of our islands of the south. Neither is a system of continual hostility the best way of procuring these precious gifts, but the promotion and throwing open of avenues of commerce, directing it to one of our ports, which, in view of its position, ought to be Zamboanga; and in this I coincide with the views of my predecessor. Zamboanga, with a different organization, the concession of a free port for all the products from the south and those brought in champanes from China, and the free admission of the exiles who seek refuge there as well as the Chinese traders, aiding the former in establishing themselves, and exempting the latter from all taxes for the first ten years, would be, in all probability, the most suitable point to which to divert from Sulu the little transit business which remains, to guard, from a shorter distance, against the piracy of its inhabitants, and to bring them in the course of time, perhaps, to a more humane mode of living.

But all this requires first the planning of a suitable and adequate system which, bringing nearer to the islands of the south the protection and vigilance of the Government of the capital by means of a subordinate Government embracing its chief characteristics, would relieve those precious islands from the calamities which up to the present time they have suffered by reason of their remoteness and possibly also because of our neglect.

This plan, which I desire to combine with a forward movement in the great and rich island of Mindanao, a large part of whose coast is surrounded by the districts of the corregidors[64] of Karaga and Misamis, will bring about without doubt a new and happy era for the Filipinos of the south, and place, without the sacrifice of people or money, a large number of faithful subjects under the illustrious Government of her Majesty, furnishing the same also with a greater abundance of resources.

To this end I shall hold in view and faithfully observe the policy which her Majesty outlines in her confidential Royal order, to which I reply; its application will be the constant object of everything I decree and execute. And very happy shall I be thus to make suitable return for the many proofs of co-operation and esteem, which, for the past thirteen years I have received from the Filipinos; infinitely more so, because working at the same time for the better service of her Majesty in accordance with her Royal plans in which these people have always found their greatest and surest well-being.

Your Excellency being convinced, then, that these are the sentiments which impel me and the plans I contemplate for the fulfillment of the important duties her Majesty has deigned to confer upon me, can from this reply assure her that as far as I am concerned, nothing shall be left undone to carry out to the letter the policy she has been pleased to outline to me, and to merit thereby her august confidence, which I so earnestly desire. May God preserve your Excellency many years.

Manila, February 23, 1838.