I, Don José María Halcon y Mendoza, Frigate Captain of the Royal Navy, etc., Special Commissioner appointed by the Captain General of the Philippines to establish these articles of agreement (capitulaciones),
Certify that when I received from the hands of the Sultan of Sulu the copy herewith, in the act of the exchange, by which I handed him the duplicate with the ratification of the Governor General, I remarked at the end of the present a writing in Malay, on the page following that of the seals and signatures which is the reverse of folio six, on which it can be seen.
I also certify that having examined the contents of said improper addition which, although unauthorized, appears in writing in the present document, it was found to be the text of the circular of the Sultan to his people, in four articles, whose translation, made by the Datu Muluk-Bandarasa, and verified separately by several persons, reads as follows:
Article 1. The people of Sulu who wish to go to Zamboanga or Mindanao shall ask the Sultan of Sulu for a passport so that they may suffer no harm if they meet ships belonging to the Navy.
Article 2. Passports shall be issued stating the number of people on board and the cargo when requested.
Article 3. I give this order for the safety of those who travel by sea, as instead of being pursued by the ships of the Navy, they shall be helped.
Article 4. I give you the present patent so that when you meet the ships of the Navy of the King of Spain, my brother, they may not harm, but help you.
And in proof thereof, I make out the present certificate, written of my hand and attached to the Articles of Agreement, of which it is impossible to make a new copy, on account of the absence of some of the Datus who were present when they were agreed to, and approved them.
Given on board her Majesty’s schooner “Tirol” in the roadstead of Jolo on the 29th of March 1837.
José Ma. Halcon,
(His flourish).