Law LIV
We order that the governors of Filipinas shall not allow slaves to be sent to Nueva España as a business transaction or for any other reason—except that, when the governor goes there, his successor may give him permission to take as many as six slaves with him; to each of the auditors who shall make the voyage, four; and to other respected persons, merchants with capital, and officials of our royal treasury who go and do not return, two. We order the viceroy, alcalde-mayor and officials of Acapulco, to see to the fulfilment and execution of this law, and to confiscate the slaves in excess of this number. [Felipe II—Madrid, April 10, 1597]
Law XL
We order that there be but one commander and one lieutenant (who shall be admiral) for the two ships from Filipinas to Nueva España; that each ship shall take no more than one military captain, besides the ship master and as many as fifty effective and useful soldiers in each ship with pay, and the sailors necessary to make the voyage properly each way—who shall be efficient and examined—and one pilot and assistant to each ship; for both ships one purser [veedor] and accountant. All appointments to the said posts shall be made by the governor and captain-general alone, without the intervention of the archbishop, or of any other person, notwithstanding what shall have been provided to the contrary. We order that choice be made from among the most respected and influential inhabitants of those islands, and of those most suitable for the said offices and the duties that the appointees must exercise. If they shall not be such, the matter shall be made an article in the governor’s residencia. [Felipe III—Barcelona, June 15, 1599; Valladolid, December 31, 1604; San Lorenzo, April 22, 1608; Madrid, May 23, 1620.]
Law XXVII
We charge and order the viceroys of Nueva Espanña that the troops that they send to Filipinas be useful, and that they go armed; and that the men go to the governor of the islands to ask for the pay that the captains take from their soldiers. In regard to this the governor shall take legal action and punish those whom it touches. [Felipe III—Denia, August 16, 1599.]