Besides this, I have in the same manner heard of the unjust and vile bargains which the usurers make in regard to the cultivated lands, and even the trees which the farmers cultivate in their gardens, and their houses, binding them with the agreement of retrovendendi,[2] as it is commonly called, exacting from him who is bound—sometimes for many years, and sometimes forever—the produce and the ownership [of those possessions], for a small amount which the lender has furnished. They also exact a premium for the money which they lend, sometimes in valuables, and sometimes besides these. This is done by a multitude of usurers who overrun the island, with great offense to God and injury to their neighbors. In order to redress such evils, which provoke divine justice against the islands, this chief executive has also resolved to ordain that in future such contracts shall not be made, either by writing or in words; for they are null and void, and usurious. And we forbid all the magistrates of these islands to give hearing to any claim arising from these contracts; if they contravene this order, they remain responsible for all losses and injuries, with the penalty, besides, of a fine of five hundred pesos.
Besides this, the inhabitants of all the islands ought to have understood that the lands which they obtained are all royal [realengas] or communal, with the exception of those which they possess through inheritance, or through legitimate purchase from the native chiefs [caciques] who were cultivating them at the time when the Catholic faith was established in Filipinas, and when they rendered fidelity, obedience, and vassalage to the august Spanish monarchs; and of those which were purchased from his Majesty with title of ownership from the royal Audiencia. [They should also understand] that for this reason the royal lands cannot be absolutely sold or alienated, since they only enjoy the use and usufruct of them; consequently, those who fail to cultivate them for the years appointed by the Audiencia lose this right of use, and the magistrates ought to assign these lands immediately to another person. As for the rest of the lands, no one can obtain them except by right of purchase and agreement with the tribunal of indults and compositions[3] of lands, which his Majesty has established for this purpose. In the same manner, the lands which they hold by this tenure, as those inherited, or purchased from native chiefs, they cannot sell without the intervention of the court of justice. For this reason, warning is given that in the house-lots of the villages also they have no more than the use of the land; on this account, whenever the term of three years has passed without those who had formerly lived on them building houses on these lots, it has been and is the duty of the court to assign these lots to other persons—without allowing or accepting lawsuit or claim, when this neglect is evident, either through general report or by the verbal deposition of witnesses who have resided there a long time and are conscientious; for these house-lots are common property of the villages in which they are located, and for this reason the ownership of them cannot be sold, because this title does not belong to those who dwell in them. In regard to this matter, and with observation and knowledge of the injuries connected with it, this chief executive (having been actually present in this, province of Pampanga, and in the others that have been named) likewise ordains that the house and house-lot cannot be seized from any debtor, of whatever class he may be, as is commonly done—leaving in the street, and exposed to beggary and other evils, a multitude of Indians who perhaps would again be self-supporting, if they could have recourse to their own sheltering roof (which hardly would be worth as much as ten pesos), and the trees which they enjoyed on their own land. Proceedings must be taken only against their goods, without leaving them or their wives destitute; for it is very well known (as those who lend ought to know) that no one can lend to a native more than five pesos—an amount which he can easily pay with his work, or with some article of luxury which he may possess. This regulation must serve for the magistrates, as they are ordained and commanded, in order that they may conform to it; and, in virtue of the ordinance by his Majesty that in cases involving from one to five hundred pesos formal claim shall not be brought into court, the alcaldes-mayor shall decide these verbally, without receiving formal complaints, or anything else except the [original] documents, or the verbal declaration or confrontation of the parties. It must be noted that in cases where this is necessary, and the complaining party shall name some valuable article which is worth the amount of his demand, the magistrate shall proceed to sell it in the public square; and by selling it to the highest bidder, in one day (which shall be announced by the public crier), payment shall be made to the claimant, handing over the rest to the debtor, and deducting only such fees as are proper for the few hours of time which the judge may have spent on the case. By this, however, must be understood that in such cases their wooden houses which may have some value (as they actually do in most of the villages) shall not remain exempt from seizure; for it is certain that the owners of such houses, if through ill-luck or calamity they come to misfortune, can never lack some means among their own relatives for establishing themselves in some humble house, which they can erect as cheaply as I have just stated.
In regard to the repartimientos of people for the royal works, which are constructed in the provinces near Manila, as also in regard to the domestic servants [tanores], and other people who are assigned for work on the churches, government buildings, and jails, and guards [bantayes], etc., various regulations have been made; but, knowing that these are not sufficient to uproot so many wrongs, injuries and oppressions as the Indians suffer from the magistrates of their villages, and from the heads of barangay—making the villages contribute a greater number of people than is needed and required, and exempting from their turn of service those who should render it (both of these proceedings serving to defraud the poor, who, in order not to leave their grain fields, yield whatever the magistrates and chiefs ask from them, according to their caprice and the extent of their greed)—it is ordained and commanded that both these repartimientos be carried out with the knowledge and consent of the parish curas. To each individual cura must be sent a statement of the number of people necessary, and of the quota from each village; and the headmen shall be under strict obligation to obtain certificates from the said father curas that they have carried out the repartimiento in conformity with the decrees. It must be understood that these repartimientos cannot be made in conscience, and without contravention of the law, among the farmers and artisans who are occupied in their tasks, so long as there are wandering and idle people, since these last are the ones assigned by the law for these necessities. As little are the sons of the chief exempt, or the heads of barangay who have no occupation, or those who have held an official position, if, relying on this sort of privilege, they do not return to their former occupation or duties in the field.
Finally, it is ordained and commanded to all the governors, corregidors, alcaldes-mayor, and other magistrates throughout the island, that they most punctually observe and fulfil whatever is here decreed, in order thus to render greater service to God, and to the king—who has entrusted to the carefulness, conscience and vigilance of this supreme government the welfare of these islands and of all their inhabitants; also their social condition, just government, promotion, and reputation. And the said governors, corregidors, alcaldes-mayor and other magistrates here mentioned are warned to fulfil whatever is here decreed, under a penalty of five hundred pesos fine; and on the alcaldes of the natives, the mestizos, and others of their class a fine of twenty pesos is imposed, both fines to be applied in the usual manner. These fines shall be exacted from them whenever any application shall be presented that is founded upon any transgression of this decree, or when its infraction shall be proved in any manner. And as it is necessary that the parish priests shall aid, on their side, and shall be zealous for its fulfilment, the reverend and illustrious archbishops and bishops and the devout provincials of the islands shall be urgently requested to incite and oblige their parish priests to the observance of these wholesome regulations and ordinances, charging upon their consciences that if they know of any failure to observe the decree, they shall communicate it to the supreme government. The said reverend prelates shall also be notified that this supreme government expects—from their well-known zeal and love for their flocks, and because they have resigned all else for the greater service of God and of the king—that they will coöperate by their utterances and with their effective persuasions in fulfilling by all means the desires and intentions of the governor, who considers himself under the strictest obligation to issue this ordinance, and to command that it be carried out until his Majesty shall be pleased to confirm it. Before his royal throne will be presented the merit and activity of each one of those who excel in solicitude for its observance, a full account of which will be given to his Majesty in our next despatches. And, in order that this decree may be known in all the villages and in all the districts of the island, and published with all possible fulness and clearness, it shall be translated into all the dialects; and as many copies as shall be necessary shall be printed, in two columns, the first in Castilian, and the second in the respective idiom of the province to which it shall be sent. Copies of these shall be posted everywhere in the magistrates’ offices of the villages, and printed copies shall be supplied to all the courts of the capital, in order that they may observe and fulfil the decree, so far as it belongs to them.
At the village of Arayat, on the twentieth day of the month of March, 1784,
Don Joseph Basco y Vargas
By command of his Lordship:
Vizente Gonzales de Tagle, notary-public ad interim of the government.[4]
Agricultural conditions in 1866
[The following article is taken from Jagor’s Reisen, pp. 303–306.]