The Philippine Islands, 1493 1898: Volume XVIII, 1617 1620 by Various

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1. He declares that having obtained two decrees from your Majesty
some years ago (while acting in this capital as procurator-general
of the kingdom), with regard to the trading-ships, ordering that your
governor and captain-general despatch them some time in the month of
June, as the greater part of their success in the voyage consists in
that, and as that country has no other fruits and harvests except that
commerce, for its conservation and increase, and also for the increase
of your royal treasury: not only have they not kept the said decrees
but have even done the very opposite. Thence have followed very many
great wrongs and annoyances; and that community is greatly exhausted
for that reason, and your royal treasury deeply in debt. [This affects
the community] not only in material possessions, but also in the loss
of your vassals, many citizens and sailors having perished for that
reason. Although it is believed that your governor and captain-general,
Don Alonso Faxardo, will (as is judged by his method of proceeding),
correct this matter, because he has entered upon his office with so
good beginnings, still, as he is mortal, and as a person may succeed
him who may not attend to this--as others of his predecessors have
failed to do, as has been seen hitherto:

He petitions your Majesty to order that this command be observed
inviolate. The most efficacious expedient would appear to be to place
the governors under a heavy penalty, which they would incur whenever
they did not observe it, and that it be made an important clause in
their residencias.

2. _Item_: That your Majesty issued a decree in the year 605, granting
favor to the citizens of that community, and ordering your governors
that the posts in the trading-ships be given to the deserving citizens
for their profit, and that many be rewarded with this. Inasmuch as
this is very advantageous to your Majesty's service and to the profit
of trade, and inasmuch as the ex-governor always gave them to his
relatives, and thus enriched them greatly, and the latter became
very arrogant; and since, as this was the affair of the governor,
no one dared to bring suit against them; and since this is greatly
to the harm of the royal treasury, because they lade quantities of
merchandise without registering it, and commit many illegal acts, and
will continue always to commit them, for no one dares to speak plainly:

He petitions your Majesty to order the observance of the said decree
by ordering the officials of your royal treasury, that should the
governor appoint to such offices other persons than those whom your
Majesty has ordered, no account be made of it in the royal books, that
no salary be granted them, and that those appointed to these offices
have their residencias taken at the end of the voyage; and that,
until these shall be taken, they cannot be appointed to other posts.

3. _Item_: That your Majesty has granted to the citizens the toneladas
of the said trading-ships, and that your governors allot these,
to each one according to his rank and wealth. The citizens have
been greatly injured in this, as happened in the year 613, when the
governor despatched two small ships, and did not give the citizens one
single tonelada; and under pretext of granting gratuities to retired
officers, the citizens were obliged to buy space for their freight
from those officers, at exorbitant prices. Further, he apportions
a considerable number of toneladas to charitable institutions, so
that they may sell the space and use, and the price obtained for
it; and thus these toneladas are given to the great injury of the
common welfare. The further disadvantage follows from this (besides
defrauding the citizens of the reward given them by your Majesty)
that the toneladas are sold to whomever will pay most for them, and
they are bought for this reason by merchants who have companies in
Mexico. Consequently, it is quite common for such men to own a great
part of the said merchandise of the ships, and thus the citizens are
deprived of the profits with which your Majesty has rewarded them.

He petitions your Majesty to order that these be not distributed at
will, but that the orders given in this regard by your royal decrees
be obeyed, and that the violation of your royal will in this be made a
clause of the residencia, with the penalty that may be assigned to it.

4. _Item_: That your Majesty has ordered that four vessels be built
for the trade, of 200 toneladas' burden; and that two of them make
voyages each year, while the other two remain in port getting ready
for the next year.

He petitions your Majesty that they be not employed in other matters
by your governors, unless it be an urgent necessity, as happened last
year, when they went out to drive off the Dutch enemy who had besieged
us. In such case the citizens themselves shall go out in them to defend
the city, since the profit of the citizens is so necessary in order
that that community may be settled, and have the sinews with which
to defend and preserve itself. They shall not be sent to Maluco or
any other district, since thus your Majesty is no less defrauded of
your royal duties.

6. _Item_: It happens that your governor and captain-general has to
send to Great China for ammunition and other articles very necessary
for your royal service. In order not to anger the Portuguese of the
city of Macan, the ships go to its port, although they could go to
another. There they are compelled to buy through the Portuguese,
and are not allowed to buy from the Chinese in the city of Canton,
the Portuguese alleging that the Chinese would charge them excessive
rates. But they, as we have experienced, buy the articles needed,
and afterward oblige our agents to take them at excessive rates,
reselling them to your Majesty to the great prejudice of your royal
treasury. That happened in my presence when Don Juan de Silva sent
Captain Francisco Lopez de Toledo for that purpose. He brought
back the supplies at prices more than thrice their value. While I
was acting as the said procurator in China, I bought nails for less
than sixteen reals per pico, or five arrobas, and Toledo brought them
hither at fifty-six; and other things after this manner, because the
Portuguese compelled him to buy through them.

He petitions your Majesty to issue a royal decree, so that the persons
sent on a similar commission by your governor may buy freely; and,
where they cannot buy freely, they may make another port, where they
can trade with the Chinese; and that the governor send an experienced
and practiced person on this errand.

7. _Item_: Inasmuch as the ships built in the Filipinas cause your
Majesty great expense, and have ruined and exhausted the natives;
and inasmuch as your Majesty owes them a great sum of money from the
time of Don Juan de Silva, for their personal services and things
that he took by force from them: it is very advisable, not only for
your royal service, but also for your royal conscience, to relieve
them from so great oppression.

He petitions your Majesty to order your governors that they be
prohibited from doing this, and that they send to Yndia to have the
said ships built; for besides their incomparably greater cheapness
there, one built there lasts as long as ten built in Filipinas, because
the woods in Yndia are incorruptible. In this your Majesty will save
a great sum of ducados, and the natives will be relieved of so much
hardship. For that a decree from your royal Council of Portugal is
needed, and it should be charged upon the governor of Filipinas to do
this with the mildness and prudence advisable. If it is desired it can
be easily effected, and it is of great importance. Of all this he has
more minutely treated in clause 7 (which corresponds to this clause)
in the memorial which he brings approved from Filipinas.

8. _Item_: He petitions your Majesty to do him the favor to order the
viceroy of Nueva Espana [91] not to allow a vessel to go thither from
Japon (which is a most serious evil), and to order that gate to be
closed; and, inasmuch as the Japanese do not know how to navigate
without a Spanish pilot and sailors, to have an edict published
forbidding such persons under severe penalties (which he [_i.e._,
Coronel] does not declare, because he is a priest) from sailing in
such ships to Nueva Espana. For that, in another guise, means to teach
a barbarous nation how to navigate, and is rash, and opens the gate
to many evils, for which afterward there will be no remedy. It will
even be advisable to order father Fray Luis Sotelo not to go to Japon,
for he was the one who began this, and it may be feared that he will
further it.

9. _Item_: There is no entrance to the city of Manila except by the
mouth of the bay, and the Dutch enemy is wont to seize that mouth,
and not allow any ship to enter or leave--as has happened thrice,
namely, the years of 10, 15, and 17--thereby placing the city in
great straits. But it may be presumed that this can be remedied by
opening up two rivers--one in Zambales, called the river of Tarla;
and the other in Laguna de Bombon, where it was resolved in the former
year of 17 that some one should go to examine it, because of their
great need--although this was not effected on account of the success
obtained in driving away the enemy.

He petitions your Majesty, for the reasons here stated, to order the
governors to consider that matter and examine this matter, and to
charge themselves with it, as it is a thing of so great importance;
and, if it be feasible, to put it into execution with the mildness and
skill that is advisable, without injuries to, or extortions on, the
natives; and that they send for that purpose a prudent and competent
person. For, if the Spaniards possess these routes, the enemy can
do no harm to the city, nor prevent it from being supplied with all
necessaries. Besides, this is of the highest importance for the service
and accommodation of the mines that have been ordered to be opened;
and it will avoid the loss of many Spanish and native vessels that
are continually being lost. [92]

15. _Item_: Inasmuch as the Indians of the islands of Mindanao and
others near by are declared enemies and are in insurrection, and
have embraced the religion of Mahomet; and inasmuch as they have
confederated with the Dutch, and committed incredible depredations
on the vassals of your Majesty, both Spaniards and natives, and there
is no security there:

He petitions your Majesty to charge your governor straitly to try to
punish them, and to attend to that carefully, since it is of so great
importance; and inasmuch as it will be of great help in facilitating
this, to declare those people to be the slaves of whomever captures
them in war, since through the greed of gain the natives will help
willingly, and the soldiers will go much more eagerly. He petitions
that you have your governor proclaim them as such, establishing the
above facts with sufficient investigation, and justice on the part
of your Majesty to order it; and that this be done quickly, since it
is so advisable to your royal service and the security of your vassals.

16. _item_: That whenever any cause that concerns the governor or
any of your auditors or the fiscal is to be voted on in the sessions
of your royal Audiencia, he petitions your Majesty to order that such
persons shall not be present at the meeting; for their presence is very
undesirable, and the execution of your royal justice is obstructed. In
regard to this, many disorderly acts have followed, as has happened
when opponents have left the session, and even offensive words have
been bandied.

17. _Item_: That your Majesty order that neither governors nor
auditors send people thence to this court. That is very annoying,
as has been seen in the one sent by Don Juan de Silva.

18. _Item_: Your Majesty is served by the Indian natives as soldiers
in Maluco and other regions--who, as we know by experience, serve very
faithfully; and so long as they are at the war, they cannot attend to
their fields and sustain their households. And in the repartimientos
which are generally made by the governors, both in personal services
and in food, the chiefs and cabezas [de barangay], through whom the
apportionment is made, practice great cruelty on the wives of those
soldiers upon whom they make the said repartimientos, thus giving
occasion for the women to sell their children, or to take to evil ways.

He therefore petitions your Majesty that such repartimientos be not
made on women whose husbands are thus engaged in the war in your
Majesty's service, and that they pay no tribute until their husbands
return--also making this concession to those whose husbands shall
have died in the war; for not only will this be a service to your
Majesty and to our Lord, but the natives will thus be encouraged to
go to service willingly, and many wrongs will be avoided.

19. _Item_: That the jurisdiction of ecclesiastical affairs in the
islands of Maluco is subject to Eastern India. Innumerable troubles
result from the archbishop of Goa having to place ministers there,
who, being of another nation and under another prelate, act very badly.

He petitions your Majesty to grant him the favor to decide that this
jurisdiction be subject to the bishop of Cibu, who is the nearest
one, and that ministers be provided thence--which can be done easily,
as it is so near, while it is done very inadequately from India.

20. _Item_: In regard to the trading-ships between Filipinas and Nueva
Espana and the numerous things worthy of reform (which is advisable
both for the royal treasury of your Majesty and for the community,
and for the avoidance of many death of the seamen), that which it is
advisable straitly to charge and order your governor is the following:

That the accommodations given the commander be moderated, conforming
to the capacity of the ships. We have seen them during those years
laden by the commanders with a third of the cargo, because they are
relatives of the governor, under pretext of having a dispensation of
taking the space of fifty toneladas.

20 [_sic_]. _Item_: That the said commanders, admirals, and masters,
give the residencia for their posts before being appointed to others,
which your Majesty has ordered by a decree of the year 604.

_Item_: That the masters in the port of Capulco [_i.e._, Acapulco],
in addition to the duties that are paid to your Majesty, charge
excessive prices for the guards of the boxes, barrels, and other
articles of merchandise, without anything being due them; and these
fees were not formerly charged, because their office is given to them
for that purpose, and that duty [of guarding freight] is annexed to
it. He petitions your Majesty to order the royal Audiencia of Manila,
or the governor, to set the price that they can charge; and, if they
exceed that price, those aggrieved can make claim in the residencia.

21. _Item_: That your Majesty be pleased to order your governor to
be careful, in the muster-roll of sailors and common seamen made out
by the royal officials, that all such be efficient; for it happens
that a ship may take sixty sailors, thirty of whom are men who
have been named as sailors without any knowledge of their duties,
but only by favor. Then in times of need there are not any to work,
and the few who do understand it cannot attend to the work, which
should be divided among so many. Consequently there is signal danger,
because the voyage is so long and difficult.

22. _Item_: That it be ordered that the common seamen who serve in
the said ships, who are always Indian natives, be all men of that
coast, who are instructed how to navigate; and that they be made to
wear clothes, with which to shelter themselves from the cold; for,
because they do not, most of them die in high latitudes, of which he
[the writer] is a witness. Inasmuch as the factor enrolls other Indians
who live in the interior, and who do not know the art of sailing,
and as they are a wretched people, they are embarked without clothes
to protect them against the cold, so that when each new dawn comes
there are three or four dead men (a matter that is breaking his heart);
besides, they are treated inhumanly and are not given the necessaries
of life, but are killed with hunger and thirst. If he were to tell
in detail the evil that is done to them, it would fill many pages. He
petitions your Majesty to charge your governor straitly to remedy this.

_Item_: That inasmuch as the kitchens where the food is cooked are
not located in the first part of the forecastle, as is seen in [ships
on] these seas, but in the waist; and inasmuch as at the first storm
the sea carries them away, after which each one cooks his food in
his messroom where he can make a fire (and it is a miracle from God
that the ships are not burned)--he petitions your Majesty to order
your governor to remedy that, since he is so excellent a sailor. The
reason for that abuse is that the officials appropriate the largest
storerooms of the ships.

23. _Item_: That slave women be not conveyed in the ships, by which
many acts offensive to God will be avoided. Although that is prohibited
by your royal decree, and it is also entrusted to the archbishop to
place upon them the penalty of excommunication and to punish them,
this evil has not been checked; and many sailors--and even others,
who should furnish a good example--take slave women and keep them as
concubines. He knew a certain prominent official who carried with him
fifteen of these women; and some were delivered of children by him,
while others were pregnant, which made a great scandal.

24. _Item_: That no sailor, and no passenger unless he be a person of
rank, be allowed to take more than one male slave; for they load the
ships with slaves who eat the provisions, and steal whatever they lay
hands on, besides the risk that is run of a plague being started by
them. He also petitions your Majesty that the fifty pesos paid as duty
on each slave be moderated, and that these imposts be paid according
to the tariff in Espana; and that these duties be paid in the port
of Capulco--where by selling the slaves, their owners may have the
wherewithal to pay the imposts; for it is a great inconvenience to
pay them in Manila. For that reason, great deceits are practiced
on the royal treasury now; for they take the slaves without being
registered, because of the high amount of the duties, and are allowed
to take them off at the port [of Acapulco] for twenty pesos. If the
said duties were moderated, and paid in the port, no one would take
them without registering them, especially since the said slaves serve
and aid the sailors in their necessities, and your Majesty gives them
no allowance of either food or water. Consequently in no part of the
Indias is so large a duty paid.

25. _Item_: Inasmuch as the good treatment of the sailors is so
important, in order that they may be inclined to go there, since
there is so great need of them, he petitions your Majesty to order
that good treatment be shown them, and they be given leave to take
away their boxes in which they carry their clothing and certain small
wares freely, without having to open them. For in this matter the
guards practice many extortions on them, and take away their little
possessions, and harass them so that many refuse to return, and many
acts of oppression are practiced.

26. _Item_: Inasmuch as the officials of the vessels, such as
commander, master, boatswain, etc., lade a quantity of merchandise
beyond the share given them, and overload the ships by occupying
the place of the ship's stores in the storerooms and magazines; and
inasmuch as this cannot be checked, as has been seen: there is no
other remedy unless your Majesty order the clerk of the register not
to receive on the register more than only the allotment of shares
that your governor makes; for he proportions the cargo which the
vessel can carry, in accordance with its need, and anything more only
overloads the ship. But if these goods were not admitted to register,
the officials would not dare to lade them, because of the great risk
of their being seized as smuggled goods. Consequently great losses
would be avoided by proceeding in the above manner.

_Item_: That neither your governor nor auditors and fiscal be allowed
to act as godfathers to the citizens; for that involves very great
annoyances, as that kingdom is so new, and as all make claims.

27. _Item_: That it is the practice or abuse that fowls are given to
your governor, auditors, and other officials of the royal Audiencia at
lower prices than are current; and that the governor of the Chinese
is ordered for that purpose to allot the share of all [the Chinese],
and each one is obliged to give weekly so many fowls at a certain
low price, and he who does not give them is punished and fined. The
worst thing is that on this occasion the governor of the Chinese
steals as many more, at the same price. That amounts to a vast sum;
for, since there is no other flesh eaten except beef and pork, these
fowls amount by the end of the year to more than twenty thousand. In
this way signal injury is done to the Chinese.

They also provide their houses with rice, which is the usual bread;
and they take it as well as other things from your royal storehouses,
at the prices for which they are given to your Majesty as tributes. It
results that your Majesty's treasury, in the course of the year,
encounters a deficiency of supplies, on account of the great expense,
and these must be bought afterward at very high rates. He mentioned
this so that your Majesty should provide what may be deemed advisable;
for it is a pity to see your Majesty's treasury poorly administered,
since it is so necessary there. [93]

28. _Item_: Inasmuch as certain regidors of the city have their
encomiendas in the Pintados Islands and other districts, and as the
governors, in order to annoy them, command them to go to live on the
encomiendas, thus obliging them to leave their offices, to their own
great loss and inconvenience; and as that is even the cause of their
being unable to exercise their offices with freedom, in order not to
anger the governor: he petitions your Majesty that, if your governor
thus urge a regidor to go to live [there] in person, he may maintain in
the said encomienda a soldier in his stead, since it is the same thing;
and it shall be understood that he is under no further obligation. The
same also is to be understood with the leading citizens of Manila.

29. _Item_: That your governor of Filipinas, in recent years,
requested from your viceroy of Nueva Espana many kinds of supplies,
such as rigging. One year they carried him fifty thousand pesos'
worth of it; but the freight charged for carrying it from one sea
to the other alone amounted to a vast sum of money, and the rigging
arrived at the islands rotten and useless. For ten thousand pesos, the
Indians would make twice as much as what cost fifty thousand pesos. He
sent for damask for the flag to the sea of Damascus; and six varas of
it cost less than one in Nueva Espana. He sends for garbanzos, habas,
biscuit, soap, and many other things, which cost their weight in money;
and when they reach the islands, they are rotten and useless. Those
things can be provided in the Filipinas with great advantages; and
where your Majesty spends one thousand, they can be bought there
for one hundred. And, as above stated, there are many other articles
besides those I have mentioned--such as flour for the hosts, which
in the islands costs less per quintal than does the freight alone for
carrying it from the port of Capulco. He sends for preserves for the
sick, who never taste them. All the above can be very well avoided,
and it is enough to send money, and to order that these articles be
provided there. Your Majesty would have saved in these last eight
years more than five hundred thousand ducados; for those who have
the handling of most of those things profit greatly from them.

29 [_sic_]. _Item_: Inasmuch as some religious commit great excesses in
making repartimientos among the Indians for works that they invent for
the natives; and also take from them their fowls, swine, and other
food at a less price and inflict on the Indians great injuries and
vexations, not only in regard to food, but also to increase their
own profits:

He petitions your Majesty to order your governor, as protector [of
the Indians], to check those excesses--and the archbishop as well,
since he may have in this respect a better opportunity to check them;
for some of the religious cause more injury to the natives than could
be told here. It is extremely important that this evil be stopped,
and that the religious be not served by the Indians, unless they pay
the latter their just wage; and that, unless they have permission
from your governor, they shall not make repartimientos on the Indians,
nor make them serve on their works. [94]

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