On July 6, 1765, the new proprietary governor, José Raon, a military officer of high rank, relieved Torre; he appears to have been able but unscrupulous.[5] He is most conspicuous for his revision of the “Ordinances of good government” drawn up by Arandía (see post, pp. 191–264), the revision being dated February 26, 1768; and for the expulsion of the Jesuits from the islands (1768), in pursuance of the orders received from Madrid dated March 1, 1767—which matter is related in detail in the last document of this volume. In 1769 he also decreed the expulsion of the Chinese from Filipinas, although this was not fully enforced. Early in October, 1766, the French astronomer Le Gentil, whose Voyage (Paris, 1781) is a valuable contribution at once to science and to the history of Filipinas at that time, arrived at Manila, commissioned by the French government to make observations on the approaching transit of Venus. “On account of the scarcity of copper money in Manila, the senior regidor of the municipal council, Domingo Gómez de la Sierra, in 1766[6] requested authorization to make the said coins, with the name of barrillas, because their shape was that of a parallelogram. The government complied with this request, ordaining that only [the amount of] 5,000 pesos should be coined, to be used only in Tondo and Cavite. From that time, the Indians gave the name barrilla to copper coins.” “The municipal council again asked for authority to make the barrillas, for use in various provinces; and by royal decree of December 19, 1769, order was given to send from Mexico 6,000 pesos in cuartillos (that is, fourths of silver reals)—with the provision that the coin [previously] made should be gathered in, and that what should be necessary should be made with the royal arms, within the limits allowed to San Domingo, as appears in ley 8, tit. xxiv, [book iv,] of the Recopilación de Indias.” In 1766 there were two very fierce eruptions of the volcano Mayón, in Albay, occurring on July 20 and October 23; in the second, vast quantities of water were ejected, forming rivers and torrents, which destroyed some villages and many lives, and ruined many homes and farms.[7]
On July 22, 1767, the new archbishop, Basilio Sancho de Santa Justa y Rufina,[8] took possession of the see of Manila, and immediately undertook to subject the regular curas to his diocesan visitation, thus reviving the Camacho controversy of 1697–1700 (see VOL. XLII, pp. 25–116) with the religious orders; but Santa Justa had the support of the civil authority, which had orders to enforce the royal rights of patronage. “The governor of the islands, on his side, communicated to the provincials of the religious orders rigorous commands that they must submit to the royal rights of patronage: that within a short time-limit they should present their lists of three names each [sus ternas] for appointments to all the curacies; and that in future they might not remove any religious from his post without informing the viceregal patron of the causes, whether public or private, for such action.” The Dominican province, in a provincial council of August 5, 1767, yielded to the archbishop’s claims, and during the following year he visited all the parishes administered by them; but some individuals refused to obey the council. The other orders obstinately resisted the episcopal visitation, declaring that they would abandon their curacies if it were enforced. Thereupon, the archbishop appointed secular priests to the vacant curacies, including those of the Parián, Binondo, and Bataan, which were in charge of the Dominicans.[9] As the number of Spanish priests was so small, the archbishop made up the deficiency by ordaining natives from the seminaries; but this measure caused great resentment among the regulars and their supporters, and Santa Justa himself was disappointed in its effects, as the native clergy were generally so unfit for the office of priest in both education and morals.[10] Complaints to the king were made by both the religious orders and the archbishop, filled with mutual accusations and recriminations; and Raon withdrew his support from the latter, ceasing to press the claims of the royal patronage—influenced thereto, according to Montero y Vidal, by the intrigues of the Jesuits, who were enemies to Santa Justa. The support given by the Dominicans to the Jesuits in the Puch affair was censured by the Dominican general (Fray Tomás de Bojadors), who punished the Philippine provincial, Fray Joaquín del Rosario, and two of his brethren by depriving them of office and recalling them to Madrid. They availed themselves of various technicalities to delay their return for a long time; but finally two of them were sent from Manila late in December, 1778. Fray Joaquín del Rosario (his companion having died on the voyage) was captured by the English, but afterward regained his liberty and proceeded to Madrid, where the dispute was finally settled in an amicable manner.
After the capture of Manila by the English, the Moros renewed their piratical incursions, the Spanish authorities being so burdened with the insurrections of the natives and the Chinese, the lack of revenues, and the general disturbance of the colony’s affairs, that they could do nothing to curb the insolence of the Moros. Those cruel pirates therefore ravaged the entire archipelago, even capturing fishing-boats in Manila Bay; and everywhere the coast villages were destroyed or depopulated, and the native population kept in continual terror of this inhuman foe. Bishop Ezpeleta, while temporary governor, had disbanded the little fleet at Iligan commanded by the Jesuits Ducós, which had been some check on the enemy, but Governor Rojo reëstablished the Pintados fleet, with headquarters at Cebú; nevertheless, this could do little to restrain them. There was a general attack by the Joloans and Mindanaos,[11] well aided by the Tirones and Malanaos; and so insolent did they become that they captured two richly-laden champans on the Mariveles coast, and entrenched themselves at Mamburao, on Mindoro Island, and sold their Filipino captives to the Macasar traders who resorted thither. A small squadron was collected at Cavite, which conveyed over 1,200 men to attack this Moro fort;[12] after several days of skirmishing, the enemy fled, and the Spaniards seized their stronghold, finding therein sufficient rice and other property to more than pay the expenses of the expedition. Another Moro band, however, made amends for this loss by gaining possession of the fort at Cateel, with all its contents; but on going to besiege that at Tandag they were repulsed and defeated, leaving behind all their arms and supplies.
Plan of the city of Manila and its environs and suburbs on the other side of the river, by the pilot Francisco Xavier Estorgo y Gallegos, 1770
[From original MS. map (in colors) in Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla]
In 1767 Anda went to Madrid, where he was praised and richly rewarded for his brave conduct during the English invasion; and the king made him a member of the Council of Castilla. Later, the post of governor of Filipinas was offered to him; he several times refused the honor, but finally yielded to the urgent request of the government, and in July, 1770 made his entry into Manila, where he was received with unbounded enthusiasm. His instructions made it necessary for him to institute legal proceedings against his predecessor Raon, who was accused of having warned the Jesuits of their intended expulsion, and of having secreted important official documents. Raon was held a prisoner in his house, but died before the suit could be tried in court. In this suit were also included two auditors and the royal fiscal, and they and their friends attacked Anda bitterly, causing him numberless vexations in his efforts to fix on them the responsibility for misconduct in the affair of the Jesuit expulsion. It was reported in Spain that the English intended to make another attack on Manila; Anda therefore repaired the walls of the city[13] and constructed ships, and within eight months had built and equipped twelve armed vessels of various sizes, besides several smaller craft. Notwithstanding this enterprise, the public revenues were greatly increased during the first year,[14] and thus Anda was able to send several expeditions against the Moro pirates. An earthquake[15] occurred on the night of February 1, which fortunately did no great damage.
“The religious corporations, notwithstanding the support which they generally lent to Anda during the war with the English, regarded with displeasure his appointment as governor of Filipinas. That strict magistrate, obeying the dictates of his conscience (which some persons attribute, but without sufficient grounds, to feelings of personal revenge), had addressed to the king on April 12, 1768, an exposition which treated of ‘the disorders which exist in Filipinas, and which ought to be corrected.’ In this document he points out most serious abuses among the friars; in the university, which was in their charge; among the Jesuits; among the Chinese, protected by the friars, who preferred them before the Spaniards, driving away and expelling the latter from their villages; and he censures certain frauds and practices in the public administration in specified branches of the civil service. The seventy with which Anda laid bare those abuses drew upon him the hatred of the friars.[16] In this document he demanded a remedy for the disorders which he denounced, pointing out the method by which this might be effected, and declared that ‘for the radical correction of these evils it is indispensable to draw up and introduce here a form of procedure which is clear, and capable of securing the just system which corresponds thereto, conferring upon the governor all the powers necessary for carrying it into execution, by those measures which prudence and the actual condition of affairs shall dictate to him.’ He added: ‘The choice of a zealous governor will materially contribute to laying the foundations of that great work; but it is necessary to reward him and give him authority, so that he can work to advantage, and without the hindrances which have often, by means of secret communications, cunning and disloyal maneuvers, and other malicious proceedings, frustrated the best and most carefully formed plans.’ This exposition[17] by Anda was certainly taken into account, for in the ‘royal private instructions’ which were given to him when he was appointed governor of Filipinas we see that he was ordered to put an end to specified abuses and disorders, the king using the same terms which Anda had employed in describing those evils.”
“The archbishop Santa Justa, a man of unparalleled firmness and energetic character, from the first moment assailed the new governor of Filipinas on the question of the diocesan visitation, to which the friars continued their opposition, and demanded his support in order to make it effectual. Anda, who regarded obedience to the laws as a rule of conduct, and who brought orders from the court to subject the regulars to the royal patronage, addressed an explicit communication to the superiors of all the religious institutes, requiring their obedience to the mandate of the sovereign, and assigning a definite term, which could not be prolonged, for the presentation of their lists of appointees, in order that the curacies might be filled in this manner. All the orders of regulars openly refused to yield obedience of this sort, excepting the Dominicans—who, more circumspect, and endeavoring to avoid the dangers which they foresaw in resistance, agreed to submit to this command—although many of the parish priests of the order soon were disobedient to this decision of their superiors.”
The archbishop convened a provincial council at Manila, which held six sessions during the period May 19–November 24, 1771; various matters of ecclesiastical administration came before it, the chief of which was the diocesan visit. In the fifth session, the subjection of the parish priests to the diocesan visitation and the royal patronage was ordained; and at the final one it was ordered that the decrees of the council should immediately be promulgated, declaring that those of the council of Mexico (which Urban VIII had ordered to be observed in Filipinas) were not now binding. In the first session the bishop of Nueva Cáceres, Fray Antonio de Luna (a Franciscan), became involved in disputes over the appointment of secretaries, and was expelled from the assembly; he then retired to his diocese, and during the entire period of the council opposed its proceedings, with protests, legal formalities, and official edicts. Bishop Ezpeleta of Cebú died soon after the opening of the council, and the government of that diocese devolved upon Luna, but, it seems, not its representation in the council. A secretary of that body, Father Joaquín Traggia, was sent to Madrid as its agent and bearer of its despatches; but the king refused to accept his credentials, and ordered him to go to his convent at Zaragoza, forbidding him to return to Filipinas. (Toward the end of this council, the archbishop, in concert with his suffragans, drew up a tariff for the parochial fees to be collected by the curas.) The religious orders finally secured, through influence at the court, the revocation of the order given to Anda in regard to the regular curas, which had resulted in many of them being removed from the Indian villages and replaced by native priests; but no change was made in regard to the diocesan visitation. The bishop of Nueva Segovia, Fray Miguel Garcia,[18] claimed this right, and convened a diocesan council in 1773; the only result was, to arouse a hot controversy between Garcia and the Dominicans, to which order he belonged. That order also had a dispute with the archbishop over his attempt to visit the beaterio of Santa Catalina; but in 1779 the king decided that this institution should continue to enjoy its exemption from visitation.