Part I
In which is shown the deplorable condition of the Philipinas Islands; the necessity of preserving them, with respectable forces; and the method for attaining this, without the costs which hitherto [have been incurred], and with increase to the royal exchequer.
Chapter First: Of the present unhappy condition of these islands[1]
1. There is no greater misfortune in the world than poverty; all have a contempt for it, and all regard it with displeasure. No one honors the poor man, however heroic and eminent he may be; his subordinates serve him unwillingly, and readily show him insolence. He has no success, for lack of money; and, in fine, every undertaking costs him immense labors, fatigues, vigilance, and sorrow.
2. It is literally this which is occurring in these islands. The Moros deride us, and display their superiority compared to our weakness, which certainly is ignominious to the Catholic arms, and to the reputation of the [Spanish] nation. When we had forces for punishing them, they were curbed and humiliated; since they have seen us poor and weak they have displayed their perfidy and boldness, and are treating us with the greatest insolence ever seen—for they invade even the villages along this bay, without there being, on our side, any means to prevent this.
3. The vassals of his Majesty, both Spaniards and natives, live in the sorrow which is aroused in them by their melancholy reflections on our poor and miserable condition. The Indians, who are civil only when they fear some punishment, regard their sovereign with little respect, and the Spanish nation with disgust at seeing it humiliated by the English, the Dutch, the French, and even the Moros; and they judge that the Spaniards are somewhat more than the Indians, but much less than the other nations. And, although they are confounded at the glorious successes which our armies have gained against the English since the capture of this military post, and at the heroic valor with which the unfaithful provinces have been punished, when they become aware of our actual poverty that will be enough to destroy their reverence and respect for the acts of the superior government, and to make them bold to commit any insolence, for our lack of means to restrain them from it.
4. For this same reason, nothing can be undertaken that will avail against the Moros who harass us,[2] or against the Indians who refuse obedience to the commands laid on them. The consequence of this is, that the scanty funds in the royal treasury are being consumed; that it is deprived of the receipts which it could have if we were in a respectable condition; and that a zealous governor of these islands labors and watches, in weariness and grief, to procure the remedy for so many evils, under the impossibility of finding it.
5. If we look at the condition of this fort and of that at Cavite, we shall lament, as is natural, the necessity of repairing their fortifications and building some new ones, of clearing out the ditches, of tearing down buildings, and of other works which will be deemed indispensable. If we turn our view to the artillery, we shall find it so defective, and part of it so useless, that for the defense of these forts it will be necessary to spend many thousands of pesos. If the gun-carriages which are needed and are actually lacking are built; if the forts are supplied with the gunpowder, balls, grapeshot, bombs, grenades, and other implements of war, and with iron, nails, mantelets, cordage, and oil, and, in short, with everything which ought to abound in the [royal] storehouses: the cost of all these things, which are necessary, will be enormous. If attention is given to the need of ships for transporting [hither] the situado, and of other smaller vessels for sending aid to the military posts, providing them with supplies, driving away the Moros, and transporting property from the provinces, one will be astounded at the contemplation of these expenses. And, after all, he will draw the conclusion that nothing of what I have mentioned can be undertaken, for lack of money; that the Moros will keep us in a state of continual fear; and the Indians will act as caprice leads them; that at the first outbreak of war the forts will be found entirely defenseless; that the military posts will be exposed to destruction; and, in one word, that the lack of troops and money places these islands in imminent risk of their total destruction, by various paths, and our sovereign and the Spanish nation in grievous danger of losing their honor, reputation, and influence—which must be averted by such means as are possible; and one of these is, the abandonment of these domains.
6. If, then, they produce nothing; if to maintain them must cost so much that it weakens the royal exchequer, to the injury of other and more important domains; if for lack of money the honor of the Catholic arms cannot be maintained in these distant regions; if we are exposed to being the plaything of all the nations; if we cannot resist or confront the feeblest enemy who may attack us; and finally, if we must endure the ignominy of being discreditably deprived of these faithful vassals, with the loss of all that they have: it is better to anticipate these losses in good time, to abandon or sell these regions, and allow to all [their inhabitants] free opportunity to make their property secure and take refuge in other dominions, where the power of our beloved kings and lords may shield and defend them.
7. This is the method of saving expenses, and employing those funds for other and more useful purposes, and averting the ignominies to which we are exposed—with danger not only to our property but to our lives. For we are surrounded by ferocious and inhuman enemies, such as are the English—who, warned by the events of the late war, will give no quarter if they return to these islands, on account of not exposing themselves to remain as prisoners within the walls of Manila and Cavite—the Moros, who will come to the aid of the said English, or alone by themselves if they see us very weak (and in every way those people are terrible, for they know not what humanity is); the Sangleys or Chinese, who are equally barbarous and bloodthirsty; and even the Indians, who also are cruel and ferocious.