The Editors
DOCUMENT OF 1721–1739
Events in Filipinas, 1721–1739. Compiled from various sources.
Source: This document consists of citations and synopses from various authors fully credited in the text.
Translation: The translations and synopses are made by Emma Helen Blair.
EVENTS IN FILIPINAS, 1721–1739
The Marqués de Torre-Campo “brought with him commission to take the residencia of Bustamante;[1] and as it found him already dead, many were the charges that resulted against him—which it would not be difficult to prove, since the minds of the people were so inflamed against him, as we have seen. Some of his friends, it appeared, were accomplices in his delinquencies; some denied the charges, and, as these could not be proved against them, it was necessary to declare them innocent; others excused themselves by his violent proceedings, and by their fear that he would kill them if they did not obey him. Don Esteban Iñigo, who was charged, among other things, with the exportation of rice, which caused a great famine in the islands, replied that he had undertaken this trade with the governor because he could not resist the latter, and feared that if he did not do so he would lose the rice and all his property. Other persons alleged other [reasons for their] exemption [from legal process], always blaming the deceased—who, as he had no one to defend him, came out of this residencia the most wicked man that can be imagined.”[2] (Zúñiga, Hist. de Philipinas, p. 469.)