That the incomes of the bishops were scant, and were collected at the will of the governors, who paid them poorly, and curtailed them. Therefore arrangements should be made to let the bishops themselves collect their dues from the tributes, as these were paid in.
That the cost of the bulls ought to be paid from the royal treasury.
That appointments ought to be given to persons not over forty years of age.
That they should be given to Dominican friars, who would obtain the bulls without any delay.
That the third part of the income of the vacancies should be given to the persons appointed, in order to pay for the bulls.
That the power of exiling bishops should be taken from the governors and Audiencia.
That three auxiliary bishops should be appointed, who should succeed, according to their seniority, [in case of vacancies] in the archbishopric and bishoprics, and should begin to govern immediately.
The father procurator, Fray Pedro del Cosio, set forth those claims, but no one took any notice of them. The memorial was presented to the Council, October 26, 1674. Having been investigated by the fiscal—whom, as well as the other persons who intervened in it, Father Cosio visited—it was examined in the Council, March 11, 1675, and gave rise to the following resolutions:
That the governors of Filipinas should report promptly to the Council the vacancies of the bishoprics, under penalty of a fine of two thousand pesos.
That the archbishop of Manila should appoint governors ad interim in the vacancies of the three bishoprics of Filipinas; and his Holiness should be petitioned for despatches, so that in such case the ecclesiastical spiritual authority should be exercised by the consecrated bishops left.