In my opinion the above are the means which, if faithfully followed out, will reduce the pernicious influence of the Moros to a cipher, and in a few years would cause an infinite number of villages to flourish, which could be formed from the great multitude of heathens of the various races who are scattered about the extensive gulf of Dávao. With that system, I also shelter the hope that very many Moros, who do not belong to the class of the datos and panditas, will enter, if it is not delayed, the net of Jesus Christ.
With the half company which is on duty here, together with the cuadrilleros and the marine forces who guard these waters, there is more than sufficient for the accomplishment of all that I have stated in the present letter.
I commend myself many times to the holy prayers of your Reverence.
Your Reverence’s servant in Christ,
[1] Fray Tomás Ortiz took the Augustinian habit at the age of nineteen, at the Valladolid convent in 1687. Within a short time after his arrival in Manila he became lecturer there (1695), and acted as secretary of the province. Soon however he went to China to engage in the mission work of that empire, and upon the expulsion of the missionaries in 1713, he was appointed prior of Manila, and in 1716 provincial. He filled other important posts in the mission work of the islands, and died at Manila in 1742. He composed numerous works in Spanish, Tagálog, and Chinese. See Perez’s Catálogo, pp. 167–173. A fuller account of his life is also given in vol. xxix of Revista Agustiniana.
[2] The calumpang tree (Sterculia fœtida—Linn.) grows to a great size; its roots branch out half way up the trunk, and are so large that a roof could be laid over them so that they could be used as a dwelling. The fruit of this tree resembles a pomegranate, which divides when ripe into four quarters having certain kernels, from which an oil is extracted which is used for medicine, and which the natives use to anoint the hair. The wood is easy to work but is not very durable. See Delgado’s Historia, p. 457; Blanco’s Flora, p. 524; and Official Handbook of the Philippines, p. 346.
[3] Many instances of ancestor worship by the peoples of the Philippines are recorded in this series. There is no evidence that suggests that the custom was borrowed from the Chinese. It had become the general rule almost in the Philippines to refer many things, the origin of which was unknown, to the Chinese.
[4] This is the anting-anting. See Retana’s Aniterías, which gives examples of formulas, most of which are a meaningless conglomeration of words.