REPRESENTATION OF FILIPINAS IN THE SPANISH CORTES
Preliminary Note: The account of the first two Cortes is drawn largely from notes made by James A. LeRoy from Diario de las sessiones de las Cortes generales y extraordinarias, and other sources, and kindly sent by him to the Editors. For the first Cortes see also Montero y Vidal, Historia general, ii, pp. 388–390, 392, 396–398, 400–409, 411–413,422–435, and Guia oficial de España, 1813, pp. 21, 22, where the Philippine deputies are named. For the second Cortes, see also Montero y Vidal, ut supra, ii, pp. 444–452, 457–462, 476–481. For the third Cortes, see Montero y Vidal, ut supra, ii, pp. 544, 545, 552–560, 563–573; and Filipinas y su representacion en Cortes (Madrid, February 8, 1836), which although published anonymously is by Camba.
The Cortes of 1810–1813
Three times in their history have the Philippines had representation in the Spanish national Cortes,[1] namely, for the years 1810–1813, 1820–1823, and 1834–1837. In the first two periods is emphasized the backwardness of the Philippines politically as compared with the Spanish-American colonies. In all three periods, one cannot point to any single great measure that was enacted solely at the initiative of the Philippine representatives (unless with the possible exception of the suppression of the Acapulco galleon), and indeed, not to a great many in which they took part.[2]
With Fernando virtually a prisoner in France (where he remained for five years), the nationalists in Spain being without a ruler, since they refused to consider Joseph Bonaparte as king, organized a provisional government known as the central governing assembly (Junta central), with headquarters in the south. This Junta, taking the necessary steps for the reorganization of government, and the calling of a Cortes, proceeded, on June 25, 1809, to rehabilitate the old Consejo de España, and on January 29, 1810, to constitute the supreme Consejo de Regencia. The delegates to the first session of the Cortes, for which final orders were issued by decree of June 18, 1810, and in which, by a decree of January 22, 1829, all the Spanish domain was to have equality of representation, assembled on the island of León during the month of August, 1810. On account of the distance of the American countries and the Philippines and the impossibility of regularly-appointed delegates reaching Spain in time for the opening of the session, substitutes were chosen from residents of those countries then in the Peninsula. Consequently, at the opening of the Cortes, September 24, 1810, the Philippines were represented by Pedro Pérez de Tagle, an officer in the corps of the Spanish Royal Guards, and Dr. José Manuel Couto, prebend of La Puebla. The election at Manila (held by order of the Regency, February 14, 1810), resulted in the choice of Ventura de los Reyes, a wealthy merchant of Manila, and on the whole an active representative, who, despite his seventy years, set out immediately for Cádiz. The two substitutes above mentioned took but little part in affairs.[3]
Several general measures enacted by the Cortes touch the Philippines incidentally.[4] The first matter, however, specifically connected with the Philippines was the receipt by the Cortes (March 16, 1811) of the report of the governor of the Philippines (dated August 8, 1809) in regard to the French vessel “Mosca,” which had been captured by the parish priest of Batangas (Fray Melchor Fernandez), and the despatches carried on that vessel. The reading on April 26, 1812, of the proposed decree prescribing the manner of holding elections in the regular Cortes to be convened in 1813, aroused lengthy discussion.[5] On May 6, Reyes moved that a special form of election be granted for the Philippines because of their distance and the character of their inhabitants. The islands had neither the funds nor the men to send by which equality of representation would be justified, and he requested that it only be declared that they must not send less than two. An amendment offered by the committee on the Constitution proposed that to the instructions regarding the elections in Ultramar be added a clause to meet Reyes’s wishes, but the matter was hotly contested by the American representatives who feared that such a clause might sometime lead to the cutting down of their own representation, and as a consequence the proposal of the committee was not voted on.[6]
In January, 1813, after recommendation by the committee on Ultramar, it was resolved to grant the petition of the board (mesa) of the Misericordia of Manila (which had been hanging fire in the Cortes since September 25, 1812), asking for certain reforms, among them that the number of persons voting for the electors of the board itself be reduced.[7] On January 6, 1813, the proposed ordinances for the hospice for the poor at Manila (the establishment of which was provided for by royal order of December 27, 1806), were declared unconstitutional by the committee on Ultramar,[8] and that committee’s report was adopted. A minute in the records of March 11, 1813, shows that the suppression of the brandy monopoly had been decreed by the governor of the Philippines and that it could be manufactured freely in the provinces of Tondo, Cavite, Bulacan, and Pampanga.
By far the most important measure affecting the Philippines, however, was the suppression of the Acapulco galleon.[9] The discussion on the matter was lengthy and bitter, and arose over one of twelve propositions submitted by Reyes on February 11, 1813, to the effect that the determined suppression of the Acapulco galleon be published, and in its place those engaged in that commerce be allowed to fit up private vessels at their own cost to continue the trade with Nueva España, through the ports of Acapulco, San Blas, or any other, under the old terms of 500,000 pesos for the outgoing voyage and 1,000,000 for the return, and a lowering of the duties by one-half. The matter was debated in the presence of the secretaries of the Peninsula and Ultramar, and after full discussion, in which many of the delegates took part, and in which the American delegates generally favored a liberal policy for the Philippines, the decree suppressing the galleon was finally issued on September 14, 1813.[10]