Chapter XI: The Philippines (1)

THE FIRST JOURNEY ROUND THE WORLD--FERDINAND MAGELLAN--THE MOLUCCAS--THE ISLANDS OF THE PAINTED FACES--MANILA AND THE CHINESE--THE BRITISH INVASION--SPANISH RULE

While Spain was actively engaged in exploration and annexation in the west, Portugal was equally busy in the east. Though the Cape of Good Hope had been doubled by Diaz in 1486, it was not until 1497, five years after the discovery of America, that Vasco da Gama proved the possibility of reaching India by that route. Rapid progress, for those days at any rate, was made from that time. The actual neighborhood of the Cape apparently offered no attractions; the advantages of its situation were left to be realized by the Dutch a century later; and it was not until Natal was reached on Christmas day, whence its name, that there were any thoughts of annexation or settlement. It was the East Coast of Africa which seemed to offer the greatest facilities for communication and trading with the opposite shores of India, and claimed attention accordingly; and as numerous pilots were to be found there, skilled in navigating vessels across the Indian Ocean, it was there colonies were first established, one of which at least, and the only important one remaining to Portugal, Lorenzo Marques, has been the object of envy, and the source of much contention in recent years.

From the Malabar coast in the south to Karachi in the north of India, Portuguese traders grew active, but, owing to the fierceness and determination of the natives, it was found impossible for some years to permanently occupy any territory, until Goa was established in 1510, as the center of Portuguese interests. A year earlier than this, Malacca had been subjugated, and the exploration of Sumatra undertaken; while three years later, Francisco Serrao discovered the Moluccas, the far-famed islands from which Venice and Genoa had so long drawn their stores of valuable spices by the overland route through India and Persia, or by the Red Sea and Isthmus of Suez. To divert this traffic round the Cape of Good Hope, expeditions were fitted out against Muscat and Ormuz in the Persian Gulf, and Aden at the entrance to the Red Sea. While, then, the Spanish colonists were searching for gold in sufficient quantities to make the enterprise pay, much less realize fortunes, the Portuguese tapped the source of wealth of the great mercantile communities of the Middle Ages; and, monopolizing it themselves, rendered their country for a time the richest in the world.

Of the numerous governors dispatched by Portugal to the east, the Duke of Albuquerque was the most active, and accomplished the greatest results. Serving under him in various capacities was Ferrao Magalhaes, or Maghallanes, a young nobleman who sought on every possible occasion to distinguish himself. Returning home, he did not receive the reward he considered his due; and though he continued to agitate at court, and to urge his claims, on the further ground that since his arrival from the east he had taken part in an African campaign, and been permanently lamed, he was either repulsed or put off with some trifling concession. This rankling in his mind, he determined to divest himself of his nationality, and offer his services to Spain, the patron of all foreign adventurers.

By the Papal Bull, Spain was debarred from undertaking any enterprise in the East. This was, of course, well known to Magalhaes, or Ferdinand Magellan, as he now chose to call himself, but he had carefully thought the matter out, and arrived at a conclusion of his own. He had heard much of the ideas which led to the discovery of America, and though other and more important matters then engaged the attention of Spain than the discovery of Japan and China by the western route, he still considered the plan feasible. He intimated to the Emperor Charles V., then king of Spain, his desire to be intrusted with an expedition, with which he would undertake to reach the Moluccas from the west, and so prove that they belonged by right to Spain.

News of this treachery reached Portugal, where it was heard with the greatest indignation, and an angry correspondence passed between the two courts. Charles’s ambitions, however, lay in European aggrandizement, for which the demands upon his exchequer were heavier than he well knew how to meet. His great possessions in the New World had hitherto been a drain upon his scanty resources, as they had been upon those of his grandfather before him; and although Ferdinand lived for a quarter of a century after the discovery of America, he left hardly sufficient money in his coffers to pay his funeral expenses. Charles, therefore, listened eagerly to the proposition by which he might acquire the teeming riches of the Spice Islands, and, notwithstanding protests and warnings alike, terms were finally agreed to in March, 1518, which placed five ships, and a full complement of men, at the disposal of Magellan. Failing any other means of putting an end to the enterprise, a plot was formed for the assassination of Magellan, but miscarried; and he weighed anchor on the 10th of August, 1519, though delayed in his actual departure until the 20th of September following.

Instructions were sent to the Brazils, already occupied by Portugal, to waylay Magellan, and at all costs prevent the continuance of his voyage; and in case he eluded the vigilance of the governor of that settlement, a strict watch was to be kept at the Moluccas, and no quarter given him if he ever reached there, as he was declared a traitor to the crown of Portugal. He arrived at the Rio de la Plata unmolested, and entered that river, of great width at its mouth and for some distance along its course, with the idea that it offered the long-sought passage to the West. The increasing freshness of the water convinced him that it was but a river, and he returned and moved his course southward. And now his real difficulties began. Winter was setting in with all its rigor, and the further south he proceeded the more severe became the weather. His crew was most cosmopolitan in character and nationality, and included a number of Portuguese, some of whom, it began to be suspected,--had been bribed to mutiny, if not indeed to murder their commander. Dissensions broke out among the captains of the different vessels on petty points of precedence and discipline; and only the most determined stand by Magellan himself, who did not hesitate to hang several of the crew as an example to the rest, prevented the total ruin of his hopes and plans.

To make matters worse, scarcity of provisions began to be experienced, and it was then decided to winter in the shelter of the river St. Julian. It was in October, 1520, before a fresh start could be made, and on the 21st of that month a channel was discovered, the careful navigation of which for thirty-eight days, amid shoals and innumerable islands, brought them, amid great rejoicing, once more into the open sea, proving the theory maintained by Columbus to his dying day to be so far, at any rate, correct.

But Magellan, like all his predecessors, sadly miscalculated the distance between the remote East and the far West, and after taking in such supplies of provisions as were obtainable, renewed his voyage with a light heart, and in full expectation of reaching land in a week or two at longest. Days grew into weeks, and the weeks passed into months, and still no break on the monotonous horizon. The sufferings of the crew were horrible, as food and water became gradually exhausted, and they had to subsist at last by gnawing anything into which they could get their teeth. To turn back was certain destruction, as they could not possibly last out the time necessary to cover the distance already traversed. To go forward, therefore, was their only chance of salvation; and after a passage of ninety-eight days land was sighted on March 18, and the most dreaded of their dangers passed. They had sailed into a group of islands, not the Moluccas as they had anticipated, but the Islas de las Pintados; so called from the custom of the natives of painting or tattooing their naked bodies, and subsequently re-christened the Philippines, in honor of the heir to the Spanish throne, who afterward reigned as Philip II.

Magellan was not destined to reap the fruits of his enterprise, nor to suffer the punishment subsequently inflicted on some of the survivors. He found the natives among whom he first landed friendly disposed, but rightly suspected them of treachery. Desirous, however, of conciliating them as far as possible, he entered into their quarrel with a tribe in a neighboring island, and, in the attack which he led against it, was slain.

Disputes arose as to who should succeed to the command; and what was left of the fleet, after many adventures and the loss of a considerable number of the crew, arrived at the island of Tidor in the Moluccas on the 8th of November, 1521. There it was decided that the “Victoria” should load a cargo of spices and make its way to Spain by the Cape of Good Hope, in direct defiance of the rights of the Portuguese, while the “Trinidad” should return the way she came. A valuable cargo, consisting of about twenty-six tons of cloves, with parcels of cinnamon, sandal wood, and nutmegs, was shipped, and after being nearly captured by the Portuguese off the African coast, and again at the Canaries, arrived in the harbor of San Lucar, as was supposed, on the 6th of September, 1522, having sailed round the world in three years all but a few days. Through all their troubles, a careful record of dates had been kept, and the officers were surprised to find that what they imagined to be the 6th was actually the 7th of September in Seville; and they were at a loss to know how the one day had been missed, being of course unaware that this is the invariable result of circumnavigating the world from East to West.

Of the total number of two hundred and eighty hands originally shipped, only a remnant remained, of whom seventeen, together with the captain, Juan Sebastian Elcano, were on board the “Victoria.”

The city of Seville received them with acclamation; but their first act was to walk barefooted, in procession, holding lighted candles in their hands, to the church, to give thanks to the Almighty for their safe deliverance from the hundred dangers which they had encountered. Clothes, money, and all necessaries were supplied to them by royal bounty, and Elcano and the most intelligent of his companions were cited to appear at court to narrate their adventures. His Majesty received them with marked deference. Elcano was rewarded with a life pension of five hundred ducats (worth at that date about five hundred and sixty dollars), and as a lasting remembrance of his unprecedented feat, his royal master knighted him and conceded to him the right of using on his escutcheon a globe bearing the motto: “Primus circundedit me.”

Two of Elcano’s officers, Miguel de Rodas and Francisco Alva, were each awarded a life pension of fifty thousand maravedis (worth at that time about seventy dollars), while the king ordered one-fourth of that fifth part of the cargo, which by contract with Maghallanes belonged to the State Treasury, to be distributed among the crew, including those imprisoned in Santiago Island.

Meanwhile the “Trinidad” was repaired in Tidor and on her way to Panama, when continued tempests and the horrible sufferings of the crew determined them to retrace their course to the Moluccas. In this interval Portuguese ships had arrived there, and a fort was being constructed to defend Portuguese interests against the Spaniards, whom they regarded as interlopers. The “Trinidad” was seized, and the captain, Espinosa, with the survivors of his crew, were afforded a passage to Lisbon, which place they reached five years after they had set out with Maghallanes.

The enthusiasm of King Charles was equal to the importance of the discoveries which gave renown to his subjects and added glory to his crown. Notwithstanding a protracted controversy with the Portuguese court, which claimed the exclusive right of trading with the Spice Islands, he ordered another squadron of six ships to be fitted out for a voyage to the Moluccas. The supreme command was confided to Garcia Yofre de Loaisa, Knight of St. John, while Sebastian Elcano was appointed captain of one of the vessels. After passing through the Magellan Straits, the commander, Loaisa, succumbed to the fatigues and privations of the stormy voyage. Elcano succeeded him, but only for four days, when he too expired. The expedition, however, arrived safely at the Molucca Islands, where they found the Portuguese in full possession and strongly established; but the long series of combats, struggles and altercations which ensued between the rival powers, in which Captain Andres de Urdaneta prominently figured, left no decisive advantage to either nation.

But the king was in no way disheartened. A third expedition--the last under his auspices--was organized and dispatched from the Pacific coast of Mexico by the viceroy, by royal mandate. It was composed of two ships, two transports and one galley, well manned and armed, chosen from the fleet of Pedro Alvarado, late governor of Guatemala. Under the leadership of Ruy Lopez do Villalobos it sailed on the 1st of November, 1542; discovered many small islands in the Pacific; lost the galley on the way, and anchored off an island about twenty miles in circumference, which was named Antonia. They found its inhabitants very hostile. A fight ensued, but the natives finally fled, leaving several Spaniards wounded, of whom six died. Villalobos then announced his intention of remaining here some time, and ordered his men to plant maize. At first they demurred, saying that they had come to fight, not to till land, but at length necessity urged them to obedience, and a small but insufficient crop was reaped in due season. Hard pressed for food, they lived principally on cats, rats, lizards, snakes, dogs, roots and wild fruit, and several died of disease. In this plight a ship was sent to Mindanao Island, commanded by Bernado de la Torre, to seek provisions. The voyage was fruitless. The party was opposed by the inhabitants, who fortified themselves, but were dislodged and slain. Then a vessel was commissioned to Mexico with news and to solicit re-enforcements. On the way, Volcano Island (of the Ladrone Islands group) was discovered on the 6th of August, 1543. A most important event followed. A galiot was built and dispatched to the islands (it is doubtful which), named by this expedition the Philippine Islands in honor of Philip, Prince of Asturias, the son of King Charles I., heir apparent to the throne of Castile, to which he ascended in 1555 under the title of Philip II., on the abdication of his father.

The craft returned from the Philippine Islands laden with abundance of provisions, with which the ships were enabled to continue the voyage.

By the royal instructions, Ruy Lopez de Villalobos was strictly enjoined not to touch at the Molucca Islands, peace having been concluded with Portugal. Heavy gales forced him, nevertheless, to take refuge at Gilolo. The Portuguese, suspicious of his intentions in view of the treaty, arrayed their forces against his, inciting the king of the island also to discard all Spanish overtures and refuse assistance to Villalobos. The discord and contentions between the Portuguese and Spaniards were increasing; nothing was being gained by either party. Villalobos personally was sorely disheartened in the struggle, fearing all the while that his opposition to the Portuguese in contravention of the royal instructions would only excite the king’s displeasure and lead to his own downfall. Hence he decided to capitulate with his rival and accepted a safe conduct for himself and party to Europe in Portuguese ships. They arrived at Amboina Island, where Villalobos, already crushed by grief, succumbed to disease. The survivors of the expedition, among whom were several priests, continued the journey home via Malacca, Cochin-China and Goa, where they embarked for Lisbon, arriving there in 1549.

In 1558, King Charles was no more, but the memory of his ambition outlived him. His son Philip, equally emulous and unscrupulous, was too narrow-minded and subtly cautious to initiate an expensive enterprise encompassed by so many hazards--as materially unproductive as it was devoid of immediate political importance. Indeed the basis of the first expedition was merely to discover a western route to the rich Spice Islands, already known to exist; the second went there to attempt to establish Spanish empire; and the third to search for and annex to the Spanish crown lands as wealthy as those claimed by and now yielded to the Portuguese.

But the value of the Philippine Islands, of which the possession was but recent and nominal, was thus far a matter of doubt.

One of the most brave and intrepid captains of the Loaisa expedition--Andres de Urdaneta--returned to Spain in 1536. In former years he had fought under King Charles I., in his wars in Italy, when the study of navigation served him as a favorite pastime. Since his return from the Moluccas his constant attention was given to the project of a new expedition to the Far West, for which he unremittingly solicited the royal sanction and assistance. But the king had grown old and weary of the world, and, while he did not openly discourage Urdaneta’s pretensions, he gave him no effective aid. At length in 1553, two years before Charles abdicated, Urdaneta, convinced of the futility of his importunity at the Spanish court, and equally unsuccessful with his scheme in other quarters, retired to Mexico, where he took the habit of an Augustine monk. Ten years afterward, King Philip, inspired by the religious sentiment which pervaded his whole policy, urged his viceroy in Mexico to fit out an expedition to conquer and Christianize the Philippine Islands. Urdaneta, now a priest, was not overlooked. Accompanied by five priests of his order, he was intrusted with the spiritual care of the races to be subdued by an expedition composed of four ships and one frigate well armed, carrying four hundred soldiers and sailors, commanded by a Basque navigator, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. This remarkable man was destined to acquire the fame of having established Spanish dominion in these islands. He was of noble birth and a native of the province of Guipuzcoa in Spain. Having settled in the City of Mexico, of which place he was elected mayor, he there practiced as a notary. Of undoubted piety, he enjoyed a reputation for his justice and loyalty, hence he was appointed general of the forces equipped for the voyage.

The favorite desire to possess the valuable Spice Islands still lurked in the minds of many Spaniards--among them was Urdaneta, who labored in vain to persuade the viceroy of the superior advantages to be gained by annexing New Guinea instead of the Philippines--whence the conquest of the Moluccas would be but a facile task. However, the viceroy was inexorable and resolved to fulfill the royal instructions to the letter; so the expedition set sail from the Mexican port of Navidad for the Philippine Islands on the 21st of November, 1564.

The Ladrone Islands were passed on the 9th of January, 1565, and on the 13th of the following month the Philippines were sighted. A call for provisions was made at several small islands, including Camiguin, whence the expedition sailed to Bojol Island. A boat dispatched to the port of Butuan returned in a fortnight with the news that there was much gold, wax and cinnamon in that district. A small vessel was also sent to Cebu, and on its return reported that the natives showed hostility, having decapitated one of the crew while he was bathing.

Nevertheless, General Legaspi resolved to put in at Cebu, which was a safe port; and on the way there the ships anchored off Limasana Island (to the south of Leyte). Thence, running S.W., the port of Dapitan (Mindanao Island) was reached.

Prince Pagbuaya, who ruled there, was astonished at the sight of such formidable ships, and commissioned one of his subjects, specially chosen for his boldness, to take note of their movements and report to him. His account was uncommonly interesting. He related that enormous men with long pointed noses, dressed in fine robes, ate stones (hard biscuits), drank fire and blew smoke out of their mouths and through their nostrils. Their power was such that they commanded thunder and lightning (discharge of artillery), and that at meal times they sat down at a clothed table. From their lofty port, their bearded faces and rich attire, they might have been the very gods manifesting themselves to the natives; so the prince thought it wise to accept the friendly overtures of such marvelous strangers. Besides obtaining ample provisions in barter for European wares, Legaspi procured from this chieftain much useful information respecting the condition of Cebu. He learned that it was esteemed a powerful kingdom, of which the magnificence was much vaunted among the neighboring states; that the port was one of great safety and the most favorably situated among the islands of the painted faces.

The general resolved therefore to filch it from its native king and annex it to the crown of Castile.

He landed in Cebu on the 27th of April, 1565, and negotiations were entered into with the natives of that island. Remembering how successfully they had rid themselves of Maghallanes’ party, they naturally opposed this renewed menace to their independence. The Spaniards occupied the town by force and sacked it, but for months were so harassed by the surrounding tribes that a council was convened to discuss the prudence of continuing the occupation. The general decided to remain, and, little by little, the natives yielded to the new condition of things, and thus the first step toward the final conquest was achieved. The natives were declared Spanish subjects, and hopeful with the success thus far attained, Legaspi determined to send dispatches to the king by the priest Urdaneta, who safely arrived at Navidad on the 3d of October, 1565, and proceeded thence to Spain.

The pacification of Cebu and the adjacent islands was steadily and successfully pursued by Legaspi; the confidence of the natives was assured, and their dethroned king Tupas accepted Christian baptism, while his daughter married a Spaniard.

In the midst of the invaders’ felicity, the Portuguese arrived to dispute the possession, but they were compelled to retire. A fortress was constructed and plots of land were marked out for the building of the Spanish settlers’ residences, and finally, in 1570, Cebu was declared a city, after Legaspi had received from his royal master the title of governor-general of all the lands which he might be able to conquer.

In May, 1570, Captain Juan Salcedo, Legaspi’s grandson, was dispatched to the Island of Luzon to reconnoiter the territory and bring it under Spanish dominion.

The history of these early times is very confused, and there are many contradictions in the authors of the Philippine chronicles, none of which seems to have been written contemporaneously with the first events. It appears, however, that Martin de Goiti and a few soldiers accompanied Salcedo to the north. They were well received by the native chiefs or petty kings Lacandola, rajah of Tondo (known as Rajah Matanda, which means in native dialect the aged rajah), and his nephew, the young Rajah Soliman of Manila.

The sight of a body of European troops, armed as was the custom in the sixteenth century, must have profoundly impressed and overawed these chieftains, otherwise it seems almost incredible that they should have consented, without protest, or attempt at resistance, to (forever) give up their territory, yield their independence, pay tribute,[8] and become the tools of invading foreigners with which to conquer their own race, without recompense whatsoever.

A treaty of peace was signed and ratified by an exchange of drops of blood between the parties thereto. Soliman, however, soon repented of his poltroonery, and raised the war-cry among some of his tribes. To save his capital (then called Maynila) falling into the hands of the invaders he set fire to it. Lacandola remained passively watching the issue. Soliman was completely routed by Salcedo, and pardoned on his again swearing fealty to the King of Spain. Goiti remained in the vicinity of Manila with his troops, while Salcedo fought his way to the Bombon Lake (Taal) district. The present Batangas Province was subdued by him and included in the jurisdiction of Mindoro Island. During the campaign, Salcedo was severely wounded by an arrow and returned to Manila.

Legaspi was in the Island of Panay when Salcedo (some writers say Goiti) arrived to advise him of what had occurred in Luzon. They at once proceeded together to Cavite, where Lacandola visited Legaspi on board, and, prostrating himself, averred his submission. Then Legaspi continued his journey to Manila, and was received there with acclamation. He took formal possession of the surrounding territory, declared Manila to be the capital of the archipelago, and proclaimed the sovereignty of the King of Spain over the whole group of islands. Gaspar de San Augustin, writing of this period, says: “He (Legaspi) ordered them (the natives) to finish the building of the fort in construction at the mouth of the river (Pasig), so that his majesty’s artillery might be mounted therein for the defense of the port and the town. Also he ordered them to build a large house inside the battlement walls for Legaspi’s own residence--another large house and church for the priests, etc.... Besides these two large houses he told them to erect one hundred and fifty dwellings of moderate size for the remainder of the Spaniards to live in. All this they promptly promised to do, but they did not obey, for the Spaniards were themselves obliged to terminate the work of the fortifications.”

The City Council of Manila was constituted on the 24th of June, 1571. On the 20th of August, 1572, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi succumbed to the fatigues of his arduous life, leaving behind him a name which will always maintain a prominent place in Spanish colonial history. He was buried in Manila in the Augustine Chapel of San Fausto, where hung the royal standard and the hero’s armorial bearings until the British troops occupied the city in 1763.

“Death makes no conquest of this conqueror,
For now he lives in fame, though not in life.”
--“Richard III.,” Act 3, Sc. 1.

In the meantime Salcedo continued his task of subjecting the tribes in the interior The natives of Taytay, and Cainta, in the present military district of Morong, submitted to him on the 15th of August, 1571. He returned to the Laguna de Bay to pacify the villagers, and penetrated as far as Camarines Norte to explore the Bicol River. Bolinao and the provinces of Pangasinan and Ilocos yielded to his prowess, and in this last province he had well established himself when the defense of the capital obliged him to return to Manila.

At the same time, Martin de Goiti was actively employed in overrunning the Pampanga territory, with the double object of procuring supplies for the Manila camp and coercing the inhabitants on his way to acknowledge their now liege lord. It is recorded that in this expedition Goiti was joined by the rajahs of Tondo and Manila. Yet Lacandola appears to have been regarded more as a servant of the Spaniards _nolens volens_ than as a free ally; for, because he absented himself from Goiti’s camp “without license from the Maestre de Campo,” he was suspected by some writers of having favored opposition to the Spaniards’ incursions in the Marshes of Hagonoy (Pampanga coast, northern boundary of Manila Bay).

The district which constituted the ancient province of Taal y Balayan, subsequently denominated Province of Batangas, was formerly governed by a number of caciques, the most notable of which were Gatpagil and Gatjinlintan. They were usually at war with their neighbors. Gatjinlintan, the cacique of the Batangas River at the time of the conquest, was famous for his valor. Gatsungayan, who ruled on the other side of the river, was celebrated as a hunter of deer and wild boar. These men were half-castes of Borneo and Aeta extraction, who formed a distinct race called by the natives Daghagang. None of them would submit to the King of Spain or become Christians, hence their descendants were offered no privileges.

On the death of General Legaspi, the government of the colony was assumed by the royal treasurer, Guido de Lavezares, in conformity with the sealed instructions from the Supreme Court of Mexico, which were now opened. During this period, the possession of the islands was unsuccessfully disputed by a rival expedition under the command of a Chinaman, Li-ma-hong, whom the Spaniards were pleased to term a pirate, forgetting, perhaps, that they themselves had only recently wrested the country from its former possessors by virtue of might against right.

On the coasts of his native country he had indeed been a pirate. For the many depredations committed by him against private traders and property, the Celestial Emperor, failing to catch him by cajolery, outlawed him.

Born in the port of Tiuchiu, Li-ma-hong at an early age evinced a martial spirit and joined a band of corsairs, which for a long time had been the terror of the China coasts. On the demise of his chief he was unanimously elected leader of the buccaneering cruisers. At length, pursued in all directions by the imperial ships of war, he determined to attempt the conquest of the Philippines. Presumably the same incentives which impelled the Spanish mariners to conquer lands and overthrow dynasties--the vision of wealth, glory and empire--awakened a like ambition in the Chinese adventurer. It was the spirit of the age.[9] In his sea-wanderings he happened to fall in with a Chinese trading-junk returning from Manila with the proceeds of her cargo sold there. This he seized, and the captive crew were constrained to pilot his fleet toward the capital of Luzon. From them he learned how easily the natives had been plundered by a handful of foreigners--the probable extent of the opposition he might encounter--the defenses established--the wealth and resources of the district and the nature of its inhabitants.

His fleet consisted of sixty-two warships or armed junks, well found, having on board two thousand sailors, two thousand soldiers, one thousand five hundred women, a number of artisans, and all that could be conveniently carried with which to gain and organize his new kingdom. On its way the squadron cast anchor off the province of Ilocos Sur, where a few troops were sent ashore to get provisions. While returning to the junks, they sacked the village and set fire to the huts. The news of this outrage was hastily communicated to Juan Salcedo, who had been pacifying the northern provinces since July, 1572, and was at the time in Villa Fernandina (now called Vigan). Li-ma-hong continued his course until calms compelled his ships to anchor in the roads of Caoayan (Ilocos coast), where a few Spanish soldiers were stationed under the orders of Juan Salcedo, who still was in the immediate town of Vigan. Under his direction, preparations were made to prevent the enemy entering the river, but such was not Li-ma-hong’s intention. He again set sail; while Salcedo, naturally supposing his course would be toward Manila, also started at the same time for the capital with all the fighting men he could collect, leaving only thirty men to garrison Vigan and protect the State interests there.

On the 29th of November, 1574, the squadron arrived in the Bay of Manila, and Li-ma-hong sent forward his lieutenant, Sioco--a Japanese--at the head of six hundred fighting men, to demand the surrender of the Spaniards. A strong gale, however, destroyed several of his junks, in which about two hundred men perished.

With the remainder he reached the coast at Paranaque, a village a few miles south of Manila. Thence, with towlines, the four hundred soldiers hauled their junks up to the beach of the capital.

Already at the village of Malate the alarm was raised, but the Spaniards could not give credit to the reports, and no resistance was offered until the Chinese were within the gates of the city. Martin de Goiti, the Maestre de Campo, second in command to the governor, was the first victim of the attack.

The flames and smoke arising from his burning residence were the first indications which the governor received of what was going on. The Spaniards took refuge in the fort of Santiago, which the Chinese were on the point of taking by storm, when their attention was drawn elsewhere by the arrival of fresh troops led by a Spanish sub-lieutenant. Under the mistaken impression that these were the vanguard of a formidable corps, Sioco sounded the retreat. A bloody hand-to-hand combat followed, and with great difficulty the Chinese collected their dead and regained their junks.

In the meantime Li-ma-hong, with the reserved forces, was lying in the roadstead of Cavite, and Sioco hastened to report to him the result of the attack, which had cost the invader over one hundred dead and more than that number wounded. Thereupon Li-ma-hong resolved to rest his troops and renew the conflict in two days’ time under his personal supervision. The next day Juan Salcedo arrived by sea with re-enforcements from Vigan, and preparations were unceasingly made for the expected encounter. Salcedo having been appointed to the office of Maestre de Campo, vacant since the death of Goiti, the organization of the defense was intrusted to his immediate care.

By daybreak on the 3d of December, the enemy’s fleet hove-to off the capital, where Li-ma-hong harangued his troops, while the cornets and drums of the Spaniards were sounding the alarm for their fighting men to assemble in the fort.

Then fifteen hundred chosen men, well armed, were disembarked under the leadership of Sioco, who swore to take the place or die in the attempt. Sioco separated his forces into three divisions. The city was set fire to, and Sioco advanced toward the fort, into which hand-grenades were thrown, while Li-ma-hong supported the attack with his ships’ cannon.

Sioco, with his division, at length entered the fort, and a hand-to-hand fight ensued. For a while the issue was doubtful. Salcedo fought like a lion. Even the aged governor was well at the front to encourage the deadly struggle for existence. The Spaniards finally gained the victory; the Chinese were repulsed with great slaughter; and their leader having been killed, they fled in complete disorder. Salcedo, profiting by the confusion, now took the offensive and followed up the enemy, pursuing them along the sea-shore, where they were joined by the third division, which had remained inactive. The panic of the Chinese spread rapidly, and Li-ma-hong, in despair, landed another contingent of about five hundred men, while he still continued afloat; but even with this re-enforcement the morale of his army could not be regained.

The Chinese troops therefore, harassed on all sides, made a precipitate retreat on board the fleet, and Li-ma-hong set sail again for the west coast of the island. Foiled in the attempt to possess himself of Manila, Li-ma-hong determined to set up his capital in other parts. In a few days he arrived at the mouth of the Agno River, in the province of Pangasinan, where he proclaimed to the natives that he had gained a signal victory over the Spaniards. The inhabitants there, having no particular choice between two masters, received Li-ma-hong with welcome, and he thereupon set about the foundation of his new capital some four miles from the mouth of the river.

Months passed before the Spaniards came in force to dislodge the invader. Feeling themselves secure in their new abode, the Chinese had built many dwellings, a small fortress, a pagoda, etc. At length an expedition was dispatched under the command of Juan Salcedo. This was composed of about two hundred and fifty Spaniards and one thousand six hundred natives well equipped with small arms, ammunition and artillery. The flower of the Spanish colony, accompanied by two priests and the Rajah of Tondo, set out to expel the formidable foe. Li-ma-hong made a bold resistance and refused to come to terms with Salcedo. In the meantime, the Viceroy of Fokien, having heard of Li-ma-hong’s daring exploits, had commissioned a ship of war to discover the whereabout of his imperial master’s old enemy. The envoy was received with delight by the Spaniards, who invited him to accompany them to Manila to interview the governor.

Li-ma-hong still held out, but perceiving that an irresistible onslaught was being projected against him by Salcedo’s party, he very cunningly and quite unexpectedly gave them the slip, and sailed out of the river with his ships by one of the mouths unknown to his enemies.[10] In order to divert the attention of the Spaniards, Li-ma-hong ingeniously feigned an assault in an opposite quarter. Of course, on his escape, he had to abandon the troops employed in this maneuver. These, losing all hope, and having, indeed, nothing but their lives to fight for, fled to the mountains. Hence, it is popularly supposed that from these fugitives descends the race of people in that province still distinguishable by their oblique eyes and known by the name of Igorrote-Chinese.

“Aide toi et Dieu t’aidera” is an old French maxim, but the Spaniards chose to attribute their deliverance from their Chinese rival to the friendly intervention of Saint Andrew. This saint was declared thenceforth to be the patron saint of Manila, and in his honor High Mass is celebrated in the Cathedral at 8 A.M. on the 30th of each November. It is a public holiday and gala-day, when all the highest civil, military and religious authorities attend the “Funcion votiva de San Andrés.” This opportunity to assert the supremacy of ecclesiastical power was not lost to the Church, and for many years it was the custom, after hearing Mass, to spread the Spanish national flag on the floor of the Cathedral for the metropolitan archbishop to walk over it. It has been asserted, however, that a few years ago the governor-general refused to witness this antiquated formula, which, in public at least, no longer obtains. Now it is the practice to carry the royal standard before the altar. Both before and after the Mass, the bearer (Alférez Real), wearing his hat and accompanied by the mayor of the city, stands on the altar-floor, raises his hat three times, and three times dips the flag before the Image of Christ, then, facing the public, he repeats this ceremony. On Saint Andrew’s eve, the royal standard is borne in procession from the Cathedral through the principal streets of the city, escorted by civil functionaries and followed by a band of music. This ceremony is known as the “Paseo del Real Pendon.”

According to Juan de la Concepcion, the Rajahs[11] Soliman and Lacandola took advantage of these troubles to raise a rebellion against the Spaniards. The natives too of Mindoro Island revolted and maltreated the priests, but all these disturbances were speedily quelled by a detachment of soldiers.

The governor willingly accepted the offer of the commander of the Chinese man-of-war to convey embassadors to his country to visit the viceroy and make a commercial treaty. Therefore two priests, Martin Rada and Geronimo Martin, were commissioned to carry a letter of greeting and presents to this personage, who received them with great distinction, but objected to their residing in the country.

After the defeat of Li-ma-hong, Juan Salcedo again repaired to the northern provinces of Luzon Island, to continue his task of reducing the natives to submission. On the 11th of March, 1576, he died of fever near Vigan (then called Villa Fernandina), capital of the province of Ilocos Sur. A year afterward, what could be found of his bones were placed in the ossuary of his illustrious grandfather, Legaspi, in the Augustine Chapel of Saint Fausto, Manila. His skull, however, which had been carried off by the natives of Ilocos, could not be recovered in spite of all threats and promises. In Vigan there is a small monument raised to commemorate the deeds of this famous warrior, and there is also a street bearing his name.

For several years following these events, the question of prestige in the civil affairs of the colony was acrimoniously contested by the governor-general, the supreme court and the ecclesiastics.

The governor was censured by his opponents for alleged undue exercise of arbitrary authority. The supreme court, established on the Mexican model, was reproached with seeking to overstep the limits of its functions. Every legal quibble was adjusted by a dilatory process, impracticable in a colony yet in its infancy, where summary justice was indispensable for the maintenance of order imperfectly understood by the masses. But the fault lay less with the justices than with the constitution of the court itself. Nor was this state of affairs improved by the growing discontent and immoderate ambition of the clergy, who unremittingly urged their pretensions to immunity from State control, affirming the supramundane condition of their office.

An excellent code of laws, called the Leyes de Indias, in force in Mexico, was adopted here, but modifications in harmony with the special conditions of this colony were urgently necessary, while all the branches of government called for reorganization or reform. Under these circumstances, the bishop of Manila, Domingo Salazar, took the initiative in commissioning a priest, Fray Alonso Sanchez, to repair first to the viceroy of Mexico and afterward to the King of Spain, to expose the grievances of his party.

Alonso Sanchez left the Philippines with his appointment as procurator-general for the Augustine order of monks. As the execution of the proposed reforms, which he was charged to lay before his majesty, would, if conceded, be intrusted to the government of Mexico, his first care was to seek the partisanship of the viceroy of that colony; and in this he succeeded. Thence he continued his journey to Seville, where the court happened to be, arriving there in September, 1587. He was at once granted an audience by the king, to present his credentials and memorials relative to Philippine affairs in general; and ecclesiastical judicial, military and native matters in particular. The king promised to peruse all the documents, but suffering from gout, and having so many and distinct State concerns to attend to, the negotiations were greatly delayed. Finally, Sanchez sought a minister who had easy access to the royal apartments, and this personage obtained from the king permission to examine the documents and hand to him a succinct resumé of the whole for his majesty’s consideration. A commission was then appointed, including Sanchez, and the deliberations lasted five months.

At this period, public opinion in the Spanish universities was very divided with respect to Catholic missions in the Indies.

Some maintained that the propaganda of the faith ought to be purely Apostolic, such as Jesus Christ taught to his disciples, inculcating doctrines of humility and poverty without arms or violence, and if, nevertheless, the heathens refused to welcome this mission of peace, the missionaries should simply abandon them in silence without further demonstration than that of shaking the dust off their feet.

Others opined, and among them was Sanchez, that such a method was useless and impracticable, and that it was justifiable to force their religion upon primitive races at the point of the sword if necessary, using any violence to enforce its acceptance.

Much ill-feeling was aroused in the discussion of these two and distinct theories. Juan Volante, a Dominican friar of the Convent of Our Lady of Atocha, presented a petition against the views of the Sanchez faction, declaring that the idea of ingrafting religion with the aid of arms was scandalous. Fray Juan Volante was so importunate, that he had to be heard in council, but neither party yielded. At length, the intervention of the bishops of Manila, Macao and Malacca and several captains and governors in the Indies influenced the king to put an end to the controversy, on the ground that it would lead to no good.

The king retired to the Monastery of the Escorial, and Sanchez was cited to meet him there to learn the royal will. About the same time the news reached the king of the loss of the so-called Invincible Armada, sent under the command of the incompetent Duke of Medina Sidonia to annex England. Notwithstanding this severe blow to the vain ambition of Philip, the affairs of the Philippines were delayed but a short time. On the basis of the recommendation of the junta, the royal assent was given to an important decree, of which the most significant articles are the following, namely:--The tribute was fixed by the king at ten reales per annum, payable by the natives in gold, silver, or grain, or part in one commodity and part in the other. Of this tribute, eight reales were to be paid to the treasury, one half real to the bishop and clergy, and one real and a half to be applied to the maintenance of the soldiery. Full tribute was not to be exacted from the natives still unsubjected to the crown. Until their confidence and loyalty should be gained by friendly overtures, they were to pay a small recognition of vassalage, and subsequently the tribute in common with the rest.

Instead of one-fifth value of gold and hidden treasure due to his majesty (real quinto), he would henceforth receive only one-tenth of such value, excepting that of gold, which the natives would be permitted to extract free of rebate.

A customs duty of 3 per cent ad valorem was to be paid on merchandise sold, and this duty was to be spent on the army.

Export duty was to be paid on goods shipped to New Spain (Mexico), and this impost was also to be exclusively spent on the armed forces.

The number of European troops in the colony was fixed at four hundred men-at-arms, divided into six companies, each under a captain, a sub-lieutenant, a sergeant, and two corporals. Their pay was to be as follows, namely: Captain thirty-five dollars, sub-lieutenant twenty dollars, sergeant ten dollars, corporal seven dollars, rank and file six dollars per month; besides which, an annual gratuity of ten thousand dollars was to be proportionately distributed to all.

Recruits from Mexico were not to enlist under the age of fifteen years.

The captain-general was to have a body-guard of twenty-four men (halberdiers), with the pay of those of the line, under the immediate command of a captain to be paid fifteen dollars per month.

Salaries due to State employés were to be punctually paid when due; and when funds were wanted for that purpose they were to be supplied from Mexico.

The king made a donation of twelve thousand dollars, which, with another like sum to be contributed by the Spaniards themselves, would serve to liquidate the debts incurred on their first occupation of the islands.

The governor and bishop were recommended to consider the project of a refuge for young Spanish women arrived from Spain, and to study the question of dowries for native women married to poor Spaniards.

The offices of secretaries and notaries were no longer to be sold, but conferred on persons who merited such appointments.

The governors were instructed not to make grants of land to their relations, servants or friends, but solely to those who should have resided at least three years in the islands, and have worked the lands so conceded. Any grants which might have already been made to the relations of the governors or magistrates were to be canceled.

The rent paid by the Chinese for the land they occupied was to be applied to the necessities of the capital.

The governor and bishop were to enjoin the judges not to permit costly lawsuits, but to execute summary justice verbally, and, so far as possible, fines were not to be inflicted.

The city of Manila was to be fortified in a manner to insure it against all further attacks or risings.

Four penitentiaries were to be established in the islands in the most convenient places, with the necessary garrisons, and six to eight galleys and frigates well armed and ready for defense against the English corsairs which might come by way of the Moluccas.

In the most remote and unexplored parts of the islands, the governor was to have unlimited powers to act as he should please, without consulting his majesty; but projected enterprises of conversion, pacification, etc., at the expense of the royal treasury, were to be submitted to a council, comprising the bishop, the captains, etc. The governor was authorized to capitulate and agree with the captains and others who might care to undertake conversions and pacifications on their own account, and to concede the title of Maestre de Campo to such persons, on condition that such capitulations should be forwarded to his majesty for ratification.

Only those persons domiciled in the islands would be permitted to trade with them.

A sum of one thousand dollars was to be taken from the tributes paid into the royal treasury for the foundation of the hospital for the Spaniards, and the annual sum of six hundred dollars, appropriated by the governor for its support, was confirmed. Moreover, the royal treasury of Mexico was to send clothing to the value of four hundred ducats for the hospital use.

The hospital for the natives was to receive an annual donation of six hundred dollars for its support, and an immediate supply of clothing from Mexico to the value of two hundred dollars.

Slaves held by Spaniards were to be immediately set at liberty. No native was thenceforth to be enslaved. All new-born natives were declared free. The bondage of all existing slaves from ten years of age was to cease on their attaining twenty years of age. Those above twenty years of age were to serve five years longer, and then become free. At any time, notwithstanding the foregoing conditions, they would be entitled to purchase their liberty, the price of which was to be determined by the governor and the bishop.[12]

There being no tithes payable to the church by Spaniards or natives, the clergy were to receive for their maintenance the half real above mentioned in lieu thereof, from the tribute paid by each native subjected to the crown. When the Spaniards should have crops, they were to pay tithes to the clergy.

A grant was made of twelve thousand ducats for the building and ornaments of the Cathedral, and an immediate advance of two thousand ducats, on account of this grant, was made from the funds to be remitted from Mexico.

Forty Austin friars were to be sent at once to the Philippines, to be followed by missionaries from other corporations. The king allowed five hundred dollars to be paid against the one thousand dollars’ passage money for each priest, the balance to be defrayed out of the common funds of the clergy, derived from their share of the tribute.

Missionaries in great numbers had already flocked to the Philippines and roamed wherever they thought fit, without license from the bishop, whose authority they utterly repudiated.

Affirming that they had the direct consent of his holiness the Pope, they menaced with excommunication whosoever attempted to impede them in their free peregrination. Five years after the foundation of Manila, the city and environs were infested with niggardly mendicant friars, whose slothful habits placed their supercilious countrymen in ridicule before the natives. They were tolerated but a short time in the islands; not altogether because of the ruin they would have brought to European moral influence on the untutored tribes, but because the bishop was highly jealous of all competition against the Augustine order to which he belonged. Consequent on the representations of Fray Alonso Sanchez, his majesty ordained that all priests who went to the Philippines were, in the first place, to resolve never to quit the islands without the bishop’s sanction, which was to be conceded with great circumspection and only in extreme cases, while the governor was instructed not to afford them means of exit on his sole authority.

Neither did the bishop regard with satisfaction the presence of the commissary of the Inquisition, whose secret investigations, shrouded with mystery, curtailed the liberty of the loftiest functionary, sacred or civil. At the instigation of Fray Alonso Sanchez, the junta recommended the king to recall the commissary and extinguish the office, but he refused to do so. In short, the chief aims of the bishop were to enhance the power of the friars, raise the dignity of the colonial miter, and secure a religious monopoly for the Augustine order.

Gomez Perez Dasmarinas was the next governor appointed to these islands, on the recommendation of Fray Alonso Sanchez. In the royal instructions which he brought with him were embodied all the above mentioned civil, ecclesiastical and military reforms.