By order of the king our sovereign:
Don Gabriel de Ocaña y Alarcon
Oppression of the Indians
The King. To the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia of the city of Manila: in a letter written to me by the archbishop of that church, July 31 of the past year, 638, he states that the natives of those islands are greatly exhausted and burdened by the many assessments made on them every year, in all the products of the country, by my governors. The latter take the products from them at a loss, gathering and collecting them with great trouble to the natives, and no money is given them; while they are seized and beaten, and thrust into prison for many days, because they do not give what they do not possess—although the goods can be bought at a somewhat higher price in the market-place. On account of this, and by the hardships consequent on sending them to the forests to cut wood, the natives are being exterminated, and are dying off. The matter having been examined in my royal Council of the Yndias, I have considered it fitting to issue the present. By it I order you not to make any innovation; and you shall not, under any consideration, cause new troubles or burdens to the Indians. Madrid, December 17, 1639.
I the King
By order of the king our sovereign:
Don Gabriel de Ocaña y Alarcon
[1] This was Fray Francisco de Zamudio, who had come to Manila in 1636, and acted as provisor-general during the temporary exile of Archbishop Guerrero.