[Recopilación de leyes, lib. ii, tit. xv, ley lviii, contains the following law on vacancies in the government. It is dated Madrid, April 2, 1664.]
Inasmuch as representation has been made to us of the inconveniences resulting from the viceroys of Nueva España anticipating appointments among persons who reside in the Filipinas Islands, so that, in case of the absence of the president and governor and captain-general of the islands, those persons may enter upon and exercise those charges until the arrival of the person who is to govern—ad interim or by royal appointment, according as we may decide: therefore we order and command that, in case of the absence of the governor and captain-general of those islands, by death or any other accident, our royal Audiencia resident in the city of Manila shall govern them in political affairs, and the senior auditor in military. The latter, in any cases of war arising for the defense and conservation of the said islands, and in any preparations or other precautions that it shall be advisable to make for this purpose, shall take the advice of the military leaders there, and shall communicate with them for the better direction of matters. We order the viceroy of Nueva-España to use no longer the authority that he has had hitherto by virtue of our decree of September thirteen, one thousand six hundred and eight, and the other decrees given to him, to have persons appointed by means of the ways hitherto practiced. Those we now revoke by this our law, and annul, but he shall still be empowered to send the person who shall exercise the said duties ad interim. And as it is advisable that the Audiencia of Manila regulate in conformity to this the execution of the contents of this our law, we order the said Audiencia that, in case of the death of the president, it shall maintain that state in all peace, quiet and good government, administering justice to all parties. The senior auditor who shall exercise the president’s duties during his absence, shall exercise very especial care and vigilance in all that pertains to military matters, and shall try to keep the presidios well manned, and supplied with the defenses necessary for their conservation, and the soldiers well disciplined for any occasion that may arise.
Some Things Worth Knowing About the Governors of the Filipinas Islands
[Juan José Delgado, in his Historia (chapter xvii, pp. 212–215), makes the following remarks about the governors.]
In no kingdom or province of the Spanish crown do the viceroys or governors enjoy greater privileges, superiority, and grandeur than in Filipinas. That is advisable because of the long distance from the court, and their proximity to so many kingdoms and nations, some of them civilized but others barbaric. Consequently those assigned to this government should be well tested and picked men; for, because of the difficulty of appeal, as so many seas and lands have to be passed, where shipwrecks are continually suffered, there are great setbacks. Therefore it is very difficult and at times impossible to remedy quickly the disadvantages which may arise (and which have been experienced) from an absolute and selfish governor—who has no one to oppose him in his cupidity, cruelty, headlong disposition, or other vices to which the disordered condition of these so distant lands inclines one. Father Alonso Sánchez of the Society of Jesus, ambassador of this community at the two courts [i.e., Spain and Rome], presented to his Majesty Don Felipe II a standard or description of the qualities which should adorn the person who should be appointed governor of Filipinas. That most judicious monarch thought it so difficult to find a man of so many and such gifts, that he bargained with the father, and arranged that the latter himself should seek and select the man. Those same gifts and qualities must be found in those appointed as governors, especially in these times,[3] when it seems as-if cupidity, ambition, pride, and haughtiness have fortified themselves in these lands. For it often happens that the governor is so facile, that he allows himself to be governed by one whom he should not [allow to do so]. Consequently it is very advisable that he should have great courage, in addition to goodness and disinterestedness, so that he may act and judge in his government without subjecting himself to any private person—whether he need such for his temporal advancement, or, through friendship or relationship, incurs that disadvantage by undue intimacy.
Thus it happened to Governor Don Diego Fajardo during his term, as is read in various provincial histories; but the experience that he continued to gain daily opened his eyes to the recognition of his error. Seeing certain disadvantages arising from his protection of certain individuals, he dismissed them from his favor to the prison in the redoubt of Santiago, and confiscated their property, without respect to, or fear of, the influence that they had acquired in the community because of their wealth and support. A governor, whom I knew and with whom I was familiar, was told in México that he would come to kiss the hand of a certain citizen distinguished for his wealth and rank. But he, being a man of great courage and spirit, who knew how to hold every one in his own position, without permitting him to rise to greater, immediately upon his arrival in these islands ordered that man in the king’s name to perform a certain necessary and useful service. As he, trusting in his favor among the citizens, did not obey the order, the governor condemned him to be beheaded. For that purpose he tore him from the church in which he had sought refuge, and would have executed the sentence, had not the ecclesiastical estate interposed all its influence by pointing out several disadvantages, upon which his punishment was lessened and the penalty commuted. Thus did he hold each one to his post, and all praised his rectitude, disinterestedness, and magnanimity; and he left his government with great honor and reputation.
These islands need disinterested military governors, not merchants; and men of resolution and character, not students, who are more fit to govern monasteries than communities of heroes. They should be men who can make themselves feared and respected by the enemies who surround us on all sides, and who can go in person to punish their opponents (as did the former ones, with so great glory to God and credit to the Spanish arms), so that in that way the islands may be conserved in peace and be respected and feared by the Moro and Indian chiefs—and those who are called kings or sultans of Joló and Mindanao, who go with feet and legs bare, and have to go to sea to cast their fishing nets in order to live, are that and nothing more. But if a governor comes to these islands with the intention of escaping his natural poverty by humoring the rich and powerful, and even obeying them, the wrongs accruing to the community are incredible, as well as those to Christianity, and to the country—which is at times on the point of being lost because of this reason—and especially since appeal is so distant, as was seen and experienced in the year of 1719.[4]
The governors of these islands are almost absolute, and like private masters of them. They exercise supreme authority by reason of their charge, for receiving and sending embassies to the neighboring kings and tyrants, for sending them gifts and presents in the name of their king, and for accepting those which those kings and tyrants send them. They can make and preserve peace, declare and make war, and take vengeance on all who insult us, without awaiting any resolution from court for it. Therefore many kings have rendered vassalage and paid tribute to the governors, have recognized them as their superiors, have respected and feared their arms, have solicited their friendship, and tried to procure friendly relations and commerce with them; and those who have broken their word have been punished. The legitimate king of Borney, who had been dispossessed of his kingdom, because his brother, who had no right to it, had usurped it, begged help from Doctor Don Francisco de Sande, governor of these islands. Governor Sande went with his fleet, fought with and drove away the tyrant, and put the legitimate king in possession [of his throne]; the latter rendered obedience to the governor, appointed in the place of the king of España, and subjected himself to this crown as vassal and tributary. The same happened during the term of Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas, to whom the king of Siao came to render homage. Governor Don Pedro de Acuña went to Ternate with a fleet, fought, conquered, and took the king of that island[5] prisoner to Manila, as a pledge that the Ternatans would not again admit the Dutch and English—who, with their consent, were beginning to engage heavily in that commerce, and were seizing the country. Although Don Juan Niño de Tabora had a royal decree ordering that that king be restored to his kingdom, he did not execute it, as that seemed unadvisable to him. Consequently the king died in Manila. One of his sons was also a prisoner of war, and the governor appointed a cachil to govern in his stead. That king, the king of Tidore, and others in the same islands of Ternate rendered homage to Don Pedro de Acuña, and became friends of the Spaniards. The said governor received them under the canopy in the name of the king of España, and took them under his protection and care. In the year of 1618, the same governor [i.e., Alonso Fajardo y Tenza] made peace and treaties with the king of Macasar, who also placed himself under España’s protection, so that the governor might protect him in his needs and necessities.
The country formerly had very peaceable relations with the emperor of Japón, and also a very rich and useful commerce; and his Majesty ordered by a royal decree of June 4, 1609, that it be preserved, although at the expense of gifts and presents of considerable price and value. That friendship lasted until the year 1634, when the Japanese were found lacking in it because of the Dutch—who, always following in our footsteps, introduced their commerce into that empire.