Chapter IV: Appendix: Religious Conditions in the Philippines During the Spanish

REGIME

Laws regarding religious in the Philippines. Felipe II,
Felipe III, Felipe IV; 1585-1640.
Jesuit missions in 1656. Francisco Colin, S.J.; 1663.
The religious estate in the Philippines. Juan Francisco de
San Antonio, O.S.F.; 1738.
Religious condition of the islands. Juan J. Delgado, S.J.;
1751-54
Ecclesiastical survey of the Philippines. Guillaume le
Gentil; 1781.
Character and influence of the friars. Sinibaldo de Mas; 1843.
The ecclesiastical system in the Philippines. Manuel Buzeta
and Felipe Bravo, O.S.A.; 1850.
Character and influence of the friars. Feodor Jagor; 1873.
The Augustinian Recollects in the Philippines. [Unsigned;]
1879.
Present condition of the Catholic religion in Filipinas. Jose
Algue, S.J., and others; 1900.

Sources: The material of this appendix is obtained from the following works: _Recopilacion de las leyes de Indias_ (Madrid, 1841), lib. i, tit. xiv; also tit. xii, ley xxi; tit. xv, ley xxxiii; and tit. xx, ley xxiv, from a copy in the possession of the Editors. Colin's _Labor evangelica_ (Madrid, 1663), pp. 811-820; from a copy in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, Chicago. San Antonio's _Chronicas_ (Manila, 1738), i, book i, pp. 172-175, 190-210, 214-216, 219, 220, 223-226; from a copy in possession of Edward E. Ayer. Delgado's _Historia general_ (Manila, 1892), pp. 140-158, 184-188; from a copy in possession of the Editors. Le Gentil's _Voyages duns les mers de l'Inde_ (Paris, 1781), pp. 170-191; 59-63; from a copy in the library of the Wisconsin State Historical Society. Mas's _Informe sobre el estado de las Islas Filipinas en 1842_ (Madrid, 1843), vol. ii; from a copy in possession of James A. Robertson. Buzeta and Bravo's _Diccionario de las Islas Filipinas_ (Madrid, 1850), ii, pp. 271-275, 363-367; from a copy in possession of James A. Robertson. Jagor's _Reisen in den Philippinen_ (Berlin, 1873), pp. 94-100; from a copy in the Mercantile Library, St. Louis. _Provincia de San Nicolas de Tolentino de Agustinos descalzos_ (Manila, 1879); from a copy in possession of Edward E. Ayer. _Archipielago filipino_ (Washington, 1900), ii, pp. 256-267; from a copy in the library of the Wisconsin State Historical Society.

Translations: These are made (partly in full, and partly in synopsis) by James A. Robertson.

LAWS REGARDING RELIGIOUS IN THE PHILIPPINES

[The following laws governing religious in the Philippines are taken from _Recopilacion leyes de Indias_, lib. i, tit. xiv.]

LAW XXX

Inasmuch as some of the religious who minister in the Filipinas Islands are accustomed to go to China without the proper orders, leaving the missions which are in their charge, whence follow many troubles and losses to what has been commenced and established in the instruction and education of the Indians because of the lack that they occasion, we charge the superiors of the regulars in the Filipinas Islands not to allow any of the religious of their orders to go to China, or to abandon the missions in their charge, without the special permission and order of the governor and archbishop, which shall expressly state that such religious is not going in violation of this law; and great care and vigilance shall be exercised in this. Further, we order that the religious who shall go to the said islands at our cost, and who are assigned to live there permanently, shall not go nor shall they be permitted to go to the mainland of China, or to other places, without permission from the governors and archbishops, since we send them to fulfil our obligation to impart instruction to our vassals. No lay Spaniard shall give them a fragata or ship's supplies without our special order, or the permission of the governors and archbishops, notwithstanding any privileges that they may urge. [27] [Felipe II--Barcelona, June 8, 1585; Toledo, May 25, 1596; Felipe IV--in the _Recopilacion_.]

LAW XXXV

We order our viceroys of Nueva Espana to give license for the preaching of the holy gospel, the conversion and instruction of the natives, and for everything else that is usual, to the discalced Carmelite religious whom their order shall send from Mejico for that purpose to the Filipinas Islands, Nuevo-Mejico, and other parts; and in order that those religious may be encouraged and incited to serve our Lord in that apostolic labor, the viceroys shall protect and aid them as far as possible. [Felipe II--Madrid, June 9, 1585.]

LAW XXV

We charge the provincials, priors, guardians, and other superiors of these our kingdoms and of those of Nueva Espana not to prevent or obstruct the voyage of the religious who, after receiving our permission, undertake to go, together with their commissaries, to engage in the conversion and instruction of the natives of the Filipinas Islands. Rather shall they give those religious the protection and aid that is fitting. [Felipe II--Monzon, September 5, 1585.]

LAW XXIX

In consideration of the expenses incurred by our royal estate in the passage of religious to the Filipinas Islands, of the need [for religious] caused by those who return, and of the place that they occupy on the ships, and the fact that some persuade others not to go to those parts, we order our governors of the said islands to meet with the archbishop whenever any religious shall be about to leave those islands for these kingdoms or for other parts; and, after conferring with him, they shall not grant those religious permission to leave the islands except after careful deliberation and for very sufficient reasons. [Felipe II--San Lorenzo, August 9, 1589; Felipe III--Madrid, June 4, 1620.]

LAW XXVII

We order our viceroys and governors of Nueva Espana, and charge the superiors of the orders--each one so far as he is concerned--to see to it with all diligence and special care that the religious sent to the Filipinas Islands pass thither without being detained. They shall not be allowed in other provinces, nor shall any excuse be accepted. [Felipe II--Aranjuez, April 27, 1594; Felipe III--San Lorenzo, September 17, 1611.]

[The following law taken from titulo xv of this same libro is here inserted.]

LAW XXXIII

Inasmuch as we have been informed that the religious sent on our account to the Filipinas Islands for new spiritual conquests will accomplish greater results if each order is set apart by itself, we order the governor and captain-general, and charge the archbishop, that when this circumstance occurs, and for the present, together they divide, for the instruction and conversion of the natives, the provinces in their charge among the religious of the orders, in such manner that there shall be no Franciscans where there are Augustinians, nor religious of the Society where there are Dominicans. Thus each order shall be assigned its respective province, and that of the Society shall charge itself with the [care of] missions; for it is under this obligation that they are to remain in those provinces, as do the other orders, and in no other manner. [Felipe II--Aranjuez, April 27, 1594.]

LAW XXXIV

The Audiencia of Manila shall give what is needful in ships, ship-stores, vestments, and the other customary supplies, to the religious who shall have license and permission to enter China or Japon, according to the ordinances. Our officials of those islands shall execute and pay for what the presidents and auditors shall order and authorize for that purpose. [Felipe II--El Pardo, November 30, 1595.]

LAW XXXI

It is fitting for the service of God our Lord and our own that, when any religious are to go to preach and teach the holy Catholic faith to the heathen who live in the kingdoms of China, Japon, and other places, they shall not enter the country of those barbarians in such a way that the result that we desire should not be obtained. Therefore we declare and order that no one of the religious who live in the Filipinas Islands be allowed to go to the kingdoms of China and Japon, even though with the purpose of preaching and teaching the holy Catholic faith, unless he should have permission for it from the governor of Filipinas. Whenever there is a question of sending religious to China or Japon, or permission is asked for it, our president and auditors of the royal Audiencia of Manila shall meet in special session with the archbishop and the provincials of all the orders of the Filipinas, and they shall consult over and discuss the advisable measures for the direction of that holy and pious intent. They shall not allow any religious to go to the kingdoms of infidels without a previous permission of the archbishop and governor, with the assent of all who shall be at the meeting. In order that this may be done, our president and Audiencia shall give and cause to be executed all the orders that may be necessary. Such is our will. [Felipe II--Madrid, February 5, 1596; Felipe IV--Madrid, December 31, 1621; February 16, 1635; November 6, 1636; September 2, 1638; July 12, 1640; in this _Recopilacion_.]

LAW XXVI

Our viceroys of Nueva Espana shall protect the religious who go to the Filipinas Islands by our order and at our account; and the officials of our royal estate and all our other employees shall give them speedy despatch and shall treat them well. They shall collect no duty for their persons, their books, and the warrants which are given them on which to collect the cost of the voyage. [Felipe III--Madrid, September 18, 1609.]

LAW XXXII

His Holiness, Paul V, promulgated a brief at our request, dated Roma, June eleven, one thousand six hundred and eight, in order that the religious of the orders of St. Dominic, St. Francis, and St. Augustine may go to Japon to preach the holy gospel, not only by way of the kingdom of Portugal, but by way of any other country; and it is advisable for the service of God our Lord that that brief be duly fulfilled. We order our viceroy of Nueva Espana and the governor of the Filipinas Islands, and charge the prelates of the islands, to cause it to be obeyed and fulfilled, with the conditions and licenses ordained by the laws of this titulo. [Felipe III--Madrid, February 8, 1610; Felipe IV--in the _Recopilacion_.]

LAW XXVIII

We order our governor and captain-general of the Filipinas Islands that if there are any religious there who live in great scandal, and not according to their rules, habit, and profession, and others who have been expelled from their orders, whom the provincials cannot drive from that province because of the difficulty of embarking them for Megico, that he hasten to remedy this, as is necessary and as is most fitting to the service of God, our Lord, so that such religious may not remain in those parts. [28] [Felipe III--San Lorenzo, September 17, 1616.]

LAW LII

Inasmuch as briefs have been despatched by his Holiness, ordering the religious of the Order of St. Augustine in some of the provinces of Nueva Espana to elect in one chapter some of the Spanish religious who reside there, and in the next chapter religious born in the Indias, we ask and charge the superiors and chapters of the said order to observe the said briefs and cause them to be observed, in the form ordered by his Holiness--both in the provinces of Nueva Espana and in the Filipinas--since they have passed before our royal Council, and testimony has been given of their presentation. The same is to be understood in regard to the other orders and provinces of the Indias, which shall possess briefs for the _alternativa_, and under the same conditions. [Felipe IV--Madrid, September 28, 1629; August 1, 1633; and in the _Recopilacion_.]

LAW XXXIII

Although it was determined that no religious except those of the Society of Jesus should go to Japon to preach the holy gospel for the space of fifteen years, and that the others who should try to go to those parts through the rules of their order or their particular devotion should be assigned the district to which they were to go, not permitting them to pursue their voyage by way of Filipinas or any other part of the Western Indias, but by way of Eastern India--notwithstanding that the precept for the propagation and preaching of the gospel is common to all the faithful, and especially charged upon the religious--we consider it fitting that the missions and entrances of Japon be not limited to only the religious of the Society of Jesus; but that the religious go and enter from all the orders as best they can, and especially from the orders that possess convents and have been permitted to go to and settle in our Western Indias. There shall be no innovation in regard to the orders that are prohibited by laws and ordinances of the Indias. Those laws are made not only for Eastern India but also for the Western Indias, in whose demarcation fall Japon and the Filipinas. It is easier and better for the religious of our crown of Castilla to make their entrances by way of the Western Indias. We straitly charge those who thus enter, from either direction, to maintain the greatest harmony and concord with one another, and to regulate the catechism and method of teaching--so that, since the faith and religion that they preach is one and the same thing, their teaching, zeal, and purpose may be so likewise. They shall aid one another in so holy and praiseworthy an object, as if all lived under and professed the same rule and observance. If the nature of the country and the progress in the conversion of its natives permit, the orders shall be divided into provinces, making the assignment of those provinces as shall appear best, so that, if possible, the religious of the various orders shall not mingle. If any of those religious who shall have been chosen are removed, others shall be assigned in their place, so that, as workers of the holy gospel, they shall labor in this work which is so to the service of God our Lord, each order separately. They shall not engage in quarrels or disputes, shall furnish a thoroughly good example, and shall avoid strictly all manner of trade, business, and commerce, and all else that shows or discloses a taint or appearance of greed for temporal goods. And since it will be necessary, in the further establishment and increase of the conversion in those provinces, to have therein three or four bishops, or more, from all the orders--in order that they may confirm, preach, ordain priests, meet whenever advisable, and discuss and enact what they think will be necessary to facilitate, augment, and secure for the conversion--they shall be suffragan, in so far as it concerns them, to the archbishopric of Manila, because of the nearness and authority of that church. That division of districts and dioceses shall be made by our Council of the Indias. [Felipe IV--Madrid, February 22, 1632.]

[A later part of this law is as follows:]

Further, we order our viceroys, presidents, governors, and corregidors to publish and execute the brief of our holy father, Clement Ninth, dated June seventeen, one thousand six hundred and sixty-nine, ordering that the religious of all the orders and the Society of Jesus, and the secular clerics, shall not be authorized to carry on, personally or through third parties, trade or commerce throughout the territories of the Indias, or the islands or mainland of the Ocean Sea. In that number are included those who go to Japon, as is mentioned in the said brief to which we refer. [Carlos II and the queen mother--Madrid, June 22, 1670.]

[The following laws bearing on ecclesiastical persons in the Philippines are taken from other parts of the _Recopilacion_:]

Inasmuch as the seculars who go to the Filipinas Islands from Eastern India to engage in their labors are generally expelled and exiled, and remain there, where many are employed in vicariates, curacies, and benefices, to the prejudice of the natives and the patrimonial rights of the islands, we order our governor and captain-general not to allow any of the said seculars from those districts to enter the islands, or admit them to the exercise of duties or allow them to give instruction. [Lib. i, tit. xii, ley xxi; Felipe IV--Madrid, March 27, 1631.]

The treasurer of the Holy Crusade of Nueva Espana has a substitute in the city of Manila, in the Filipinas Islands, who performs the duties of treasurer. That substitute invests the money that proceeds from the bulls and many other sums, under pretext that they belong to the bulls, by which method he deprives the inhabitants of the city of the use and lading-space of four toneladas which he occupies in each cargo. That is contrary to the rulings of various laws, by which favor is granted the said city of the lading-space in the ships that are permitted, and not to any person of Nueva Espana or Peru. We charge and order the viceroys of the said Nueva Espana to cause investigation of the sum resulting from the bulls distributed in the Filipinas, and that, whatever it be, it remain in our royal treasury of the islands, and that so much less be sent to the islands from our royal treasury of Mexico. The amount that is found to have entered into the treasury of the islands is to be given to the treasurer of the Holy Crusade who resides in the City of Mejico. The money that shall be sent to these kingdoms from the proceeds of the bulls shall be registered on account of it. The treasurer and his substitute shall not export or import merchandise to those islands, nor from them to Nueva Espana, the viceroys imposing the penalties that they shall deem fit. We order the officials of our royal treasury of both places to observe, in the execution of this law, the ordinances which the viceroy [of Nueva Espana] and the governor of the islands (each in his own district) shall ordain. We order the governor to cause this law to be so obeyed that the sum resulting from the bulls be given into the possession of the royal officials of those islands; and that they advise those of Mejico, so that the latter may send just so much less a sum of money to the islands than what they are obliged to send there annually. [Lib. i, tit. xx, ley xxiv; Felipe IV--San Martin, December 21, 1634.]

JESUIT MISSIONS IN 1656

[From Colin's _Labor evangelica_ (Madrid, 1663), pp. 811-820.]

_List of the number of religious, colleges, houses, and residences of the province of the Society of Jesus; and of the churches, districts, and missions of Indians administered in these Filipinas Islands, this present year, M.DC.LVI._

The following list of the religious, houses, colleges, and residences contained in this province at present, and of the districts, and ministers for Indians and other nations who are under its direction, was made in obedience to an order from his Majesty (may God preserve him). It gives the amount of the incomes and properties that they possess, and the number of Indians instructed. I have deemed it fitting to add it here, so that the readers of this history may thus he informed of the present condition of this province.

Religious

The religious of the Society who have come to these islands from Espana and Nueva Espana at the expense of his Majesty since the year one thousand five hundred and eighty-one, the time of the arrival of the first, are in all two hundred and seventy-two.

One hundred and fifty-one of these were priests, one hundred and ninety-eight, student brothers, and twenty-three, coadjutors. [29]

During the seventy-five years since the Society entered these islands, one hundred and forty-three have been received and have persevered in this province. Only three were priests; twenty-three were student brothers, and the rest coadjutors.

The number at present in the province is one hundred and eight: seventy-four priests, eleven student brothers, and twenty-three coadjutors.

Colleges and houses

The aforesaid one hundred and eight religious are distributed among five colleges, one novitiate house, one seminary-college for secular collegiates, and nine residences, or rectoral houses, with their missions--a total of sixteen.

Churches and villages

The churches and villages in charge of the rectors of the said colleges and rectoral houses, and their missions, are seventy-three in number, besides others which are being temporarily conducted in other parts, where there is no established village, although the minister and instructor in doctrine visits them.

The plan and distribution of these religious, colleges, houses, missions, villages, and churches, is as follows.

The island of Manila and the Tagal province College of San Ignacio of the city of Manila

It has generally about thirty religious--priests, students, coadjutors, and novitiates. It is the seminary of all the branches of learning, where the subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic are taught, the humanities, arts, and theology; and has authority to confer degrees in arts and theology. It is the common infirmary and hospitium for the entire province, especially for those who come new from the kingdoms of Espana, and even from Eastern India, Terrenate, China, and Japon--whence more than forty exiled religious came one year, whom this college received as guests and maintained for a long time. The congregations or chapters of the province are held in it. It has those who take care of the sick and dying; preachers; and confessors to the Spaniards, Indians, negroes, and other nations--who come to those ministers throughout the year, especially during Lent, when some days eight or ten religious go out to preach in various parts. This college recognizes as its founder and patron Captain Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa, former governor of Mindanao, who endowed it with one thousand pesos income in certain house-properties and fruit-grounds, most of which have been lost with the lapse of time and the precarious character of incomes in these regions. It is at present maintained by alms, and by other new lands and properties which it has been recently acquiring, from which, although great diligence and care is exercised, the full amount necessary for its maintenance is not derived--a matter of five or six thousand pesos--and consequently debt is incurred every year.

The old church and house fell, and it has been necessary to build another and new one, stronger and more comfortable. For that purpose his Majesty (may God preserve him) gave us an alms, in the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-five, of ten thousand ducados in vacant allotments of Indians. That was carried into effect by Governor Don Juan Nino de Tabora. Later, he ordered that six thousand more be given to us, which is still to be carried into effect. Until the time of Governor Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, this college also enjoyed four hundred pesos and four hundred fanegas of cleaned rice, which his Majesty ordered to be given for the support of four priests, who were to work among the Indians, which was a great help. Although his Majesty in his piety and magnanimity orders it to be continued, the needs of the royal treasury do not allow this to be done in its entirety.

College and seminary of San Joseph

This is for secular collegiates, theologians, artists, seminarists, rhetoricians, and grammarians. Formerly, their number was thirty-five or forty; but now it has diminished to twenty or thereabout, because of the poverty of this country. It has a rector, two professors of the Society, and two brother-coadjutors, who attend to its temporal affairs. Its patron is the same Captain Estevan Rodriguez de Figueroa. Its income does not reach one thousand pesos, and that sum is used for the support of the religious, and for repairs in the building and to the properties. The fellowships that the college obtains are maintained with the sum remaining. The rest of the students pay one hundred pesos per year for their tuition. Inasmuch as the country is poor, and most of the inhabitants are supported by the king's pay, the fellowships are very few in number. For that reason, Governor Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera tried to endow some fellowships in the name of his Majesty, for the sons of his officials and for those of worthy citizens. That was not continued, as it was done without order of the royal Council. [30]

Mission village [doctrina] of Santa Cruz

This is a village of Christian Chinese, opposite the Parian or alcaiceria of the heathen of that nation on the other side of the river of this city, and of some free negroes and Indians who work on the farm-lands of the college of Manila, to which the above-mentioned mission village is subordinate. There are one or two priests who are interpreters in it. The number of Chinese gathered in this mission village is five hundred tributarios, or a trifle less, and about one hundred Indians and negroes.

Mission village [doctrina] of San Miguel

This is a village of Tagal Indians, and numbers about one hundred and forty tributarios. It has one priest who gives instruction. It is located outside the walls of the city of Manila, and is subordinate to the rector of that college. A number of Japanese, comprising influential men and women who were exiled from their country for the faith, have gathered in this village since the year fifteen. Among them, the illustrious gentlemen Don Justo Ucondono and Don Juan Tocuan, with some influential women, have died with the lapse of time. The Society has always maintained all those Japanese with its alms, and with the alms given by various persons who aided them generously when this city was in its prosperous condition; but now they are living in penury. This house has been the seminary of martyrs since some of the European and Japanese fathers have gone thence to Japon, who obtained there the glorious crown of martyrdom.

College of the port of Cabite

It generally has four religious, three of whom are priests, who labor among the seamen and soldiers and the inhabitants of that village--Spaniards, Indians, negroes, Chinese, Japanese, and people of other nationalities--and one brother, who attends to temporal matters, and conducts the school for reading and writing. The mission of two small villages of Tagal Indians near there--namely, Cabite el Viejo [_i.e._, Old Cabite] and Binacaya, which have about one hundred and thirty tributarios--is subordinate to this college. The priests who are generally asked by the governors for the fleets of galleons that oppose the Dutch, and those for the relief of Terrenate, are sent from this college and the one at Manila. Its founder and patron is Licentiate Lucas de Castro, who endowed it with an income of five hundred pesos, the greater part of which was lost on the occasion of the rising of the Chinese in the year 39.

House of San Pedro

This house is located about two leguas upstream from Manila. It was established on a site suitable for the education of the novices of the province--although they generally live in Manila, as they are few in number, and this house contributes to their support. Its founder and patron is Captain Pedro de Brito, [31] who gave a stock-farm and tillable lands for its endowment. Two religious live there. It has sixty tributarios of Tagal Indians, who work on the estate, to whom the religious teach the Christian doctrine and administer the sacraments. Besides that, they exercise the ministries of the Society among those who go to the said church from the lands and places near by--a not considerable number.

Residence of Antipolo

This residence has six villages, with their churches; but it has only two religious and one brother at present, because of the great lack of ministers. There are about five hundred tributarios, all Tagal Indians, now Christians, with the exception of a few heathen who wander in the interior among the mountains. During the first years while the Society had charge of this residence, about seven thousand were baptized. The names of the villages are Antipolo, Taytay, Baras, Cainta, and Santa Catalina.

Residence of Silan

This residence formerly comprised five villages, which are now reduced to three. They have their churches and three ministers. There are about one thousand tributarios, all Tagal Indians and Christians. The villages are Silan, Indan, and Marigondon.

Island of Marinduque

There are two religious in this island, and about four hundred and fifty tributarios. There are still some Indians in the mountains to be subdued. In the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-five, a priest died most gloriously in that mission at the hands of the heathen. [32] The island is about three leguas distant from the shores of the island of Manila, opposite Tayauas. It is about three leguas in diameter, and about eight or nine in circumference. The products in which the tribute is paid are rice, pitch, palm-oil, and abaca--which is a kind of hemp, from which the best rope and some textiles are made. There is a good port in the island where a galleon was built in the time of Governor Don Juan de Silva. [33]

The island of Zebu and its jurisdiction College of Zebu

Formerly it generally had six religious, who labored among the Spaniards, Indians, and people of other nationalities. At present it has but four, one of whom is in charge of the boys' school. On the occasion of the insurrection of the Chinese in Manila in the year thirty-nine, this college had lectures in theology. It was founded by an inhabitant of that city, one Pedro de Aguilar. That college has in charge the mission of the village of Mandaui, which is the family of an influential Indian, in which there are about forty tributarios. It has its own church, where the sacraments are administered to the people at times; they usually come to the church at our college, as it is near. Missionaries have gone from this college several times to certain districts of the lay clergy of that bishopric, and chaplains for the oared fleets which are used against pirates among the islands.

Residence of Bool

This island belongs to the jurisdiction of the city of Zebu, and its mission is in charge of the Society. It had many villages formerly, but now it is reduced to six, the three larger being Loboc, Baclayon, and Malabooch, which have their ministers; the other three, smaller ones, being Plangao, Nabangan, and Caypilan, which are appended to the former, being called visitas here. It has about one thousand two hundred tributarios. Those are warlike Indians, and have made plenty of trouble during the past years. However, they are reduced now, and are conspicuous among the other Indians in the exercises of Christianity. They pay their tribute in _lampotes_, which are cotton cloths. It is said that the tribute was formerly paid in gold in some part of the island; but gold is not now obtained there in any considerable quantity.

Jurisdiction of Leyte in Pintados

This jurisdiction contains two islands, namely, Leyte and Samar--or, as it is called by another name, Ibabao. The Society has four residences in those islands, two in each one.

Leyte

This island has a circumference of about one hundred leguas, and is long and narrow. A large chain of mountains cuts it almost in the middle. That and the difference of the two general monsoons, the brisas and the vendavals, cause there an inequality and a wonderful variety of weather and climate, so that when it is winter in the north, it is summer in the south, and vice versa during the other half of the year. Consequently, when the sowing is being done in one half of the island, the harvest is being gathered in the other half. Hence they have two harvests per year, both of them plentiful; for ordinarily the seed yields a hundredfold. Leyte is surrounded by many other small islands, both inhabited and desert. The sea and the rivers (which abound, and are of considerable volume) are full of fish; while the land has cattle, tame and wild swine, and many deer and fowls, with fruits, vegetables, and roots of all kinds. The climate is more refreshing than that of Manila. The people are of a brownish color, and plain and simple, but of sufficient understanding. Their instruction and ministry is under charge of two residences or rectoral houses, namely, Carigara and Dagami.

Residence of Carigara

This residence has ten villages with their churches, and about two thousand tributarios. The names of the principal villages are Carigara, Leyte, Xaro, Alangalang, Ogmuc, Bayban, Cabalian, Sogor, Poro, and Panahon, which are adjacent islets. The products of the earth in which the natives pay their tribute are wax, rice, and textiles of abaca, which are here called medrinaques and pinayusas. Six religious are occupied in the instruction of those villages and districts, besides those who have charge of the instruction in the shipyards for the galleons--which are generally built in this island and district on his Majesty's account, and because of the great ease in procuring lumber there, and the convenient ports. Two priests died gloriously in this residence, one at the hands of Moro pirates, [34] and the other at the hands of the natives themselves in the district of Cabalian [35]--who, being the natives farthest from the chief village, are less obedient and pacified than the others.

Residence of Dagami

It has about two thousand tributarios divided among ten villages, each of which has its church. Those villages are Dagami, Malaguicay, Guiguan, Balanguiguan, Palo, Basey, Dulac, Tambuco, and Abuyo. Six religious are occupied in the instruction. They pay their tribute in the same things as those of Carigara, except the inhabitants of the village of Guiguan, whose products consist of palm-oil. Opposite the village of Leyte in this island is another small island called Panamao, which has no people, but wild boars and other kinds of game, besides excellent woods for shipbuilding. Some few years ago a mineral abounding in sulphur was discovered. [36]

The island of Samar or Ibabao

This island is the eastern extension of Leyte, being separated from it by a very narrow strait, into which a ship can scarcely enter with the spring tides. On the eastern part it forms a strait with the island of Manila. The latter is the usual channel by which ships enter these islands when they come from Nueva Espana. The famous cape of Espiritu Santo, [37] the first land of the Filipinas to be sighted, and which is an objective point [for the ships], is located in this strait. The natives, the products of the land, the climate, and other characteristics differ but little from those of the island of Leyte. The residences which the Society own there are also [like those of Leyte].

Residence of Cabatlogan [i.e., Catbalogan]

This residence has about one thousand four hundred tributarios, living in six villages, each of which has its own church. Those villages are Cabatlogan [_i.e._, Catbalogan] (where the corregidor and commandant of the jurisdiction lives), Paranas, Caluiga, Bangahon, and Batan and Capul--which is an islet located in the same channel, next to a smaller islet called San Bernardino, which gives name to this channel [_i.e._, the Embocadero of San Bernardino], There are five ministers busied in the instruction of those villages.

Residence of Palapag

It has about one thousand six hundred tributarios, who are instructed by five religious. They are divided among eight principal villages, to wit, Palapag, Catubig, Bobon, Catarman, Tubig, Bacor, Boronga, and Sulat. The natives pay their tributes in the same products as those of Leytey, and, in addition to those, some years ago they produced a quantity of civet. The greater part of this residence was in revolt some years ago, the authors of the revolt and insurrection having apostatized from the faith. Two father rectors of the residence--very important religious--were killed in succession by them, giving up their lives willingly in the exercise of their ministry. [38] Now the war which has been waged to reduce them has been concluded. The relief ships from Nueva Espana have made port several times at Borongan, and, on occasions of encounters with the Dutch and of shipwreck, the ministers of instruction residing there have performed very important services for the king and for the community. The two islands are much infested with pirates and hostile [Moros]--Mindanaos, Joloans, and Camucones--who take a great number of captives nearly every year. For that reason, and because of their labor in the building of galleons, and the epidemics that afflict them at times, although fifty-five years ago, at the beginning of the instruction by the Society, there were more than twenty thousand tributarios, now they do not exceed six or seven thousand. When the Society took charge of these two islands, all their natives were heathen; but now, through the goodness of God, they are all Christians.

College of Oton and the mission village of Ilog in the island of Negros

This college is located in the island of Panay, in the hamlet called formerly Arevalo, and now Iloilo. It was founded by the alms of private persons, and consequently has no patron. There are six religious there and in the mission village of Ilog in the island of Negros, which belongs to it. In their charge is the chaplaincy of the presidio of the Spaniards, and the mission to the natives and those of other nationalities belonging to this presidio. The mission village of Ilog is also located near by, and is in the island called Negros. Between the two of them there are about one thousand tributarios. The Society has had charge of this mission but few years during which time they have baptized about six hundred adults. The tribute is paid in rice.

Island of Mindanao

It is the largest island of the Filipinas, next to that of Manila. A great part of it is still unsubdued. In the portion that is subdued, the Society has charge of the jurisdictions of Iligan and Samboangan. The latter is the principal presidio of the Spaniards, where we are beginning to establish a college.

College of Samboangan

This college has a rector, with five priests as workers. The villages that it instructs are those of the natives and Lutaos of Samboangan itself, who number eight hundred families. Instead of paying tribute, they serve at the oar in our fleets, which are generally out on raids in defense of our coasts and for the purpose of attacking those of the enemy. The island of Basilan, opposite the presidio of Samboangan, and two leguas away, has about one hundred families--most of whom, attracted by the efforts, affection, and solicitude of the missionary fathers, come to receive the sacraments. When the tribute is due, fewer of them appear. The Christian kindness of the Spaniards, which is most concerned with the welfare of souls, passes that by, because those people are not yet completely subdued and domesticated, and because of the risk of losing everything if they oppress them too heavily. The same condition prevails not only in the mission on the island of Basilan, but also in all the other missions of this jurisdiction of Samboangan. In the region of Mindanao these are: La Caldera, a port situated at a distance of two leguas eastward from Samboangan, with about two hundred families; Bocot, two hundred and fifty; Piacan, and Sirauey, one hundred; Siocon, three hundred; Maslo, one hundred; Manican, thirty; Data, twenty-five; Coroan, twenty; Bitale, forty; Tungauan, one hundred; Sanguito, one hundred; all lying south of Samboangan, and all giving a total of three thousand two hundred and fifty-one families.

In this jurisdiction are included also the islands of Pangotaran and Ubian, a three days' journey from Samboangan, whose inhabitants are nearly all Christians. When the fleets pass that way, the natives give them some kind of tribute. _Item:_ the islands of Tapul and Balonaguis, whose natives are still heathen. _Item:_ there are many islets about Basilan, the shelter of fugitive Indians, many of whom are Christians--who come to the fathers, at times, for the administration of the sacraments; and, at the persuasion of the latter, are mustered for service in the fleets. The island of Jolo belongs also to the said jurisdiction of Samboangan. There are many Christians in that island, who remained there when the Spanish presidio was removed. The father missionaries go to visit them at times, and endeavor to bring them back for the administration of the holy sacraments. Reducing all those Indians to families, there are about two hundred or so in Pangotaran and Ubian: one hundred and fifty in Tapul and Balonaguis; two hundred in the islets of Basilan; and five hundred in Jolo and its islets: in all one thousand families.

Jurisdiction of Iligan, with its residence of Dapitan

This jurisdiction extends through the eastern part of the island. Its district extends for sixty leguas, which includes the nation of the Subanos, [39] which is the most numerous in the island, and well disposed toward the evangelical instruction, as they are heathen, and not Mahometans as are the Mindanaos.

The village of Iligan, which is the capital of the jurisdiction, and where its alcalde-mayor and infantry captain of the presidio lives, has about one hundred tributarios on the shore; and in the interior, in another village called Baloy, there are about two hundred families, although only thirty come to pay the tribute. In another village, called Lauayan, which is on the other side of Iligan and on the bay of Panguil, fifty [families pay tribute], although there are twice as many. Then comes Dapitan, which is the seat of the residence and mission, as the people there are the oldest Christians of these islands, who went willingly to meet the first Spaniards who came to conquer them, and guided and served them during the conquest, and have always persevered faithfully in their friendship. For that reason they are exempt from tribute. They number about two hundred families; while there are about two hundred and fifty more families in another and interior village situated on the headwaters of the same river.

The villages situated on the coast in the direction of Samboangan are Dipoloc, with three hundred families; Duyno, with six hundred; Manucan, with one hundred; Tubao, with one hundred; Sindagan, with five hundred; Mucas, with two hundred; Quipit, with three hundred: with a total of one thousand seven hundred and fifty families, who are computed to be included in this residence, whose instruction is generally in charge of five priests.

Within a few years seven priests have given their lives and shed their blood in this island for the administration of the holy gospel, at the hands of the Moros and apostates: two in the residence of Dapitan, [40] and five in the district of Samboangan. Of these, one was in Siao; [41] two in Buayen, [42] a kingdom of the Moros; and two others but recently in this current year of 1656, in the capital of the entire island--namely, the river of Mindanao, in the settlement where King Corralat lives and holds his court. [43] There are, besides, other lathers who have been captives, one of whom died in captivity; [44] and others who have died in the Spanish presidio, at their posts as chaplains.

The products of Mindanao and its islands are in general the same as those of the other islands--namely, rice, palms [_sc._, cocoanuts], a quantity of wax, vegetables, civet, and wild cinnamon (which is used fresh). In the island of Jolo, a quantity of amber has been found at times, and some large pearls. It alone of all the Filipinas Islands has elephants.

Mission to Borney

With the opportunity of the oared fleets of the presidio of Samboanga, which--accompanied by a number of Indian volunteer vessels from the district of Dapitan, and others of our missions--have sailed during the last few years to this great island, and since our fathers have always accompanied them and acted as their chaplains, a mission has been formed there at the same time; and the ministries of the Society have been exercised in those so remote parts, with not a little gain, and great hopes of numerous Christians, since those baptized number seven hundred--among whom are some of the chiefs of the neighboring islands, who have already offered vassalage to the king our sovereign, and asked for ministers of the gospel. If God be pleased to let our arms in Mindanao be free, and if this undertaking that has been begun in Borney be continued, it will be without doubt to the great exaltation of our holy faith, and the advantage of the Spanish state in these Filipinas Islands. For, besides freeing the islands from the continual invasions, fires, thefts, and captivities by those pirates, they will enjoy the fertility, wealth, and abundance of this island, which is the largest one of these archipelagos, having a circumference of four hundred and fifty leguas. It is the way-station for the commerce of the rich kingdoms of India _extra Gangem_ [_i.e._, beyond the Ganges], Pegu, Sian, and Camboxa, upon which it borders. In respect to Christianity, great increase can be promised; for the people are, as a rule, docile and of good understanding. Although the faith of Mahomet has made some headway in the maritime parts--but not with the obstinacy experienced in other islands--all the people of the interior are heathen.

College of Terrenate and its missions

The Society maintains a college in the island of Terrenate, which is the head of the missions of that archipelago, which were hitherto subject to the [Jesuit] province of Cochin in Eastern India. Last year they were assigned to this province of Filipinas by virtue of a royal decree despatched by the advice of the royal Audiencia, by the governor and captain-general of these islands, on the occasion of, the revolt of Portugal and India. [45] At present three priests are busied in this labor: one is the rector who lives in the house and college of Terrenate, to look after the ministry of Spanish and Indians in the presidios of that island and that of Tidore, and the village of Mardicas. The other two visit in mission the many stations in their charge, as long as there is no minister belonging to each of these.

The chief and oldest mission is that of the kingdom of Siao, where there was estimated to be at the beginning, eleven thousand seven hundred Christians, while today they do not number four thousand. The king of that place has many subjects, and allies in the islands of Tabuco or Sanguil Bagar, [46] the Talaos, [47] and in Matheo or Macasar. The Talaos number about eleven thousand souls, and their chief is a Christian. So likewise those of Maganita, Moade, Tomaco, and Sabugan in Sanguil Bacar. There are eight hundred native Christians in Calonga, the capital of the same island. A Franciscan priest lives there at present, while the Society, to whom that mission belongs, has no one to send there.

From Siao the mission of the province of Manados, in the island of Matheo or Macasar, is also visited. Formerly it had four thousand Christians, but now Christianity is almost wiped out (even the villages of our faith, and allied to us) by the raids of the Dutch and the Terrenatans, who favor another nation and one allied with the Dutch and Terrenatans. Inasmuch as the land of Manados is unhealthful, five members of the Society have perished in the enterprise of its conversion. A short distance from Manados is Cautipa, a part of the same mainland of Macasar, and subject to the king of Siao, with about four or five thousand heathen families. The fathers lived among them and made some Christians formerly.

The former Christian settlements in Gilolo--Sabugo, Moratay, San Juan de Tolo, and others of Batachina--which before numbered two hundred and fifty thousand Christians, instructed by our fathers, are also destroyed by the same wars with heretics. May the Lord bring it about that that door may be again opened to the cultivation of this vineyard, through the peace of Espana and Olanda. This vineyard is continued, by way of this district of Batachina, by the Papuans and thence by Nueva Guinea--whose farthest bounds are yet unknown, as well as the knowledge of what God has reserved for the evangelical ministers and the Spanish empire in that unknown land. [48]

Father Alonso de Castro, a Portuguese, was an illustrious martyr of Christ in Maluco, for whom, after he had preached the gospel there for the space of eleven years, the Moros wrought the crown of martyrdom; in January, 1559--dragging him first through rough places, where he endured imprisonment, and giving him later many wounds; and, lastly, throwing his dead body to the bottom of the deep sea. At the end of three days the body appeared on the strand surrounded with emanations of light. See his life and martyrdom among the illustrious men of Father Eusebio. [49]

China and Japon

The relationship with the provinces of Japon and China ought also to be included among the ministries of this province, because of the communication that their nearness offers, and the present necessity of those fields of Christianity imposes obligations on us. The ministers there have been assisted from here, these last few years, with some alms for their support--especially in the province of Chincheo, which is the nearest--and wine for the masses, and holy oils, which those missions would not have if they were not furnished from here. They earnestly petition the aid of more ministers, as those who are there are few and aged. If many ministers come from Europa, and we have an order for it, some shall be given to them.

THE RELIGIOUS ESTATE IN THE PHILIPPINES

[This survey of religious affairs in the islands is taken from the _Chronicas_ (Manila, 1738) of the Franciscan chronicler San Antonio, vol. i, pp. 172-175, 190-210, 214-216, 219, 220, 223-226.]