Chapter VIII: Of my stay in the kingdom of Macasar (5)

[On the third day after the departure of the enemy, the people of Narbacán return to their homes. The bishop is accidentally hurt, and Fray Bernardino becomes ill--both cases being aggravated by the sufferings which they endured while in the hands of the Zambals.] Generals Francisco de Esteybar and Felipe de Ugalde were in Pangasinán, uncertain in what part of the country the enemy might still be, in order to send thither their forces; for, although General Ugalde had sent two champans to reconnoiter the coasts of the provinces of Ilocos and Cagayán, they had not returned with their report. By land, he had no letter from either the alcaldes or the religious of those provinces. With this, and the assurances of the fathers of St. Dominic in the province of Pangasinán that those of Ilocos and Cagayán were free from enemies, the commanders were perplexed, and almost determined to withdraw their forces from those provinces. Our Lord permitted that, the champan in which Alcalde-mayor Don Alonso de Peralta and the father visitor Fray Juan de Isla were sailing having landed at Bolinao, they should learn there how the Spanish armada was in Pangasinán; accordingly, they directed their course thither, and, having arrived, found the commanders and related to them the wretched condition in which that province of Ilocos was left. In consequence of this information, Francisco de Esteybar at once gave orders that the army should set out for that province. Before Francisco de Esteybar departed from Binalatongan, he left the place fortified, with a stronghold in the court of the church; it had four sentry-posts, four pieces of bronze artillery carrying four-libra balls, and four officers--Captains Don Alonso Quirante, Juan Diaz Ibáñez, Don Juan de Guzmán, and Nicolás Serrano. As chief commander he left Sargento-mayor Domingo Martín Barrena, with some infantry--Spaniards, Merdicas, and creole negroes [criollos morenos]. The alcalde-mayor returned in his champan to Vigán, and fathers Fray Juan de Isla and Fray Luis de la Fuente marched with the Spanish army, which on its way reached the village of Santa Cruz. The Zambals left Narbacán, and, reaching the village of Santa María, sacked and burned it, as well as the convent; they did the same at San Esteban and the village of Santiago--to whose patron [i.e., St. James] was attributed their failure to burn the church, although they set fire to it. They burned and plundered the villages of San Pedro and Candón, going from the latter to that of Santa Cruz. There they learned that the Spaniards were at Santa Lucía; then they collected many of the valuables and cloths which they had plundered and set fire to them, and they set out in search of the Spaniards, who also were coming with the same object. The latter, ignorant of the enemy's proximity, learned of it by an accident; this was, that father Fray Juan de la Isla, having pushed ahead of the Spanish army, encountered a party of Zambals, from whom he escaped by a miracle. Father Fray Juan warned the Spaniards of the Zambals' approach, and they forthwith set out to fight the enemy. The armies came into sight of each other between the villages of Santa Cruz and Santa Lucía, and General Francisco de Esteybar at once commanded that the signal for attack be given. The Zambals twice engaged our men, with fierceness and loud shouts; but they were finally conquered by the Spaniards--more than four hundred Zambals being killed, and the greater part of their force taken prisoners. One of these was Don Pedro Gumapos, holding in his hand the staff of the bishop, thus being fulfilled what the holy prelate had prophesied to him.

The victory completed, Francisco de Esteybar withdrew with his army to Namacpacán, where he had left Captain Simón de Fuentes with a division of the army; they took with them Gumapos and many other prisoners, and afterward sent them to Vigán. There, in company with others, they hanged the rebel leader, and after his death cut off that sacrilegious hand, which was fastened near the house of the bishop. The loss of the Spaniards was very small, but a circumstance worthy of admiration was noted; it was that, not only in this battle but in other encounters which had occurred, all those of the Zambal army who were slain lay face downward, and all the dead of the Spanish army had their faces turned upward--as if by this God had chosen to show that the Zambals died under the curse and excommunication of the bishop. On account of this so fortunate success, Generals Francisco de Esteybar and Felipe de Ugalde talked of returning to Manila, believing that now everything was quiet; but information came to them of the new uprising by the Indians of Bacarra, and Francisco de Esteybar at once ordered the army to march to that village. The manner in which those Indians revolted is as follows: I have already pointed out the multitude of letters and documents which the usurping king Malóng wrote [to the leading men] everywhere--more especially to Don Juan Magsanop and Don Pedro Almazán. The latter was a very rich chief, a native of the village of San Nicolás (then a visita of Ilauag), and so bitterly hostile to the Spaniards that he kept in his house as many pairs of fetters as there were fathers and Spaniards in the entire province, in order to fasten these on them when he should have opportunity. This Don Pedro Almazán formed an alliance with Don Juan Magsanop, a native of Bangi, a visita of the village of Bacarra; and with Don Gaspar Cristóbal, headman of Ilauag, and a native of that village. The former, in order to make sure of Don Gaspar Cristóbal, asked him for his daughter, to marry her to his own oldest son; and these three Indians, as being so influential, continually stirred up others to join their conspiracy, and called in the Calanasa tribe to aid them.

The Calanasas were heathen barbarians who lived in the clefts of the mountains and other rocky places, and their only occupation was the killing of men and animals. Feeling safe with such aid as this, the leaders of the conspiracy undertook to make Don Pedro Almazán king of the province of Ilocos, and they swore allegiance to his son as prince; the latter celebrated his wedding with the daughter of Don Gaspar Cristóbal, as they had agreed. In order that the [former] function might be celebrated with all solemnity and not lack what was requisite, they plundered the church in the village of Ilauag, and with the crown which they took from the head of the Queen of Angels (who is venerated in that church) they crowned Don Pedro Almazán as king and the married pair as princes. All these proceedings were carried on so secretly that they could never be traced; and in this condition of their plot the letter of Don Andrés Malóng found them, in which he notified them that he had conquered the Spaniards. As now they were free, in their own opinion, from that danger, and safe from the Zambals, who were on their march from Pangasinán, it seemed to them now time to bring to light their depraved intentions. Before doing so, Don Juan Magsanop wrote from Bacarra a letter to Don Gaspar Cristóbal, in which he asked what opinion the latter had reached, and that he be informed of it. The reply which Don Gaspar Cristóbal gave was to take a fagot of reeds in his hand, and himself set fire to the church in Ilauag; and he ordered the bearer of the letter to carry back that reply. When this was known to Magsanop, he made himself known, with banners displayed, at Bacarra at the end of January, 1661, and sent word to the Calanasas to come down with all speed to his aid. In the rebel league were joined the villages of Pata and Cabicungán, administered by the fathers of St. Dominic, their minister at that time being father Fray José Santa María; hearing the tumult and the shouts of the rebels, he went out of the convent, against the advice of a Spaniard (whose name is not known) who had taken refuge in it. Father Fray José persisted in his resolution, but as soon as the rebels saw him many attacked him; and, piercing him with many javelins they cut off his head, and with great delight went to sack the convent. They made the attack by way of the church, the doors of which were locked; but the brave Spaniard, now bereft of the father, when he heard their clamor from within fastened all the windows and doors that he could reach, and loaded two guns that he had inside. The servants of the father who had remained there kept loading the guns for him, and, aiming through some loopholes or apertures, they allowed the multitude to come close to the building, and then fired, without a shot failing to hit. He accomplished so much that the rebels, persuaded that some company of soldiers were inside the church, retreated without executing their purpose of sacking and burning the church and convent.

On the first of February this melancholy tidings reached the village of Narbacán, where there were nine religious of the order of our father St. Augustine, exchanging congratulations and expressions of joy over the freedom that they were beginning to enjoy with the departure, that day, of the Zambal army. All their joy was changed into sadness and perplexity by the news of what had occurred at Ilauag; but the one who felt this most was father Fray José Arias, at that time prior of the village of Bacarra. [Feeling that duty calls him to go back, there, he does so, although against the entreaties of his brethren. His people welcome his return, but at the news that the Calanasas are approaching all take to flight, carrying the friar with them; but later they leave him in the house of a native helper. "The streets were full of rebels and Calanasas, who with loud shouts and yells acclaimed Don Pedro Almazán as king, and threatened all the Spaniards with death." Fray José and the helper plan to escape by night, but an envoy from the rebels warns the latter to drive the friar from his house, or they will kill him and his family; frightened at this, he carries the father to another house. "In a little while Don Tomás Bisaya, one of the heads of the conspiracy, sent a mulatto named Juan (who had been a servant of the fathers) with some men, and an order to Fray José to enter a petaca [94], so that he could escape to the village of Ilauag." He does this, and the party set out for that village; but on the way they meet a party of rebels, who kill the father, cut off his head, and carry it to Magsanop. Diaz here copies the relation of this affair which was sent to the Augustinians throughout the province, a letter from the provincial, Fray Diego de Ordás, citing the account sent to him by Bishop Cárdenas. "Magsanop and the other tyrants celebrated this victory, all drinking from the skull of the venerable father, which served in their barbarous proceedings as a precious vase.... After several days his head was ransomed, and interred with his body."]

The army of General Francisco de Esteybar marched to Bacarra, but the first to arrive was Lorenzo Arqueros, with a detachment of more than a thousand men, Ilocans and Cagayans; the rebels and the Calanasas, not daring to face these, retreated with all speed to the woods, but Lorenzo Arqueros did not fail to search for them, in whatever places they had concealed themselves. He seized Magsanop, who, angered at seeing himself a prisoner, drew a dagger and killed himself with it, a worthy punishment for his sacrilegious perfidy. Don Pedro Almazán, who had taken horse to flee, burst into a fury, and died raging; [95] and all his children met wretched deaths.

General Francisco de Esteybar arrived with all his army at the village of Bacarra, but Lorenzo Arqueros had it already reduced to quiet, so that the general had nothing to do, except to order that a fort be built in Bacarra and garrisoned with soldiers, so as to secure the province from other disturbances. General Sebastián Rayo Doria gave orders for the execution of the commission which he bore, by agreement of the royal Audiencia, to administer justice to those who were most guilty; his military judge was Licentiate Don Juan de Rosales, and the notary was Nicolás de Herrera, who began their official duties, bringing legal proceedings [against the rebels]. The penalties of justice were inflicted as follows: In Vigán, Don Pedro Gumapos was shot through the back, and afterward the hand with which he took the staff from the bishop was cut off; and Don Cristóbal Ambagán, Don Pedro Almazán, Don Tomás Boaya, [96] Don Pedro de la Peña, and others, to the number of sixteen, were hanged. In Binalatongan was erected a square gallows, as in Vigán, and the following were hanged: Don Melchor de Vera, Don Francisco de Pacadua, Don Francisco Along, and Don Jacinto Macasiag; a Sangley mestizo, named Domingo Isón, although he said that he died innocent; a man of half-Malabar blood, named Lorenzo; and others, to the number of fourteen. It is quite remarkable that, when the sacristans were in the [church] tower with orders from the father ministers to toll the bells as soon as each of those who were hanged was dead, when it came to the turn of Domingo Isón they rang a peal instead of tolling, without having had an order for it; in this it seems as if the divine Majesty chose to demonstrate his innocence, as it was afterward ascertained. They promptly shot Don Andrés Malóng, placed in the middle, seated on a stone; and this was the end of his unhappy reign in Pangasinán. Afterward, in Mexico, punishment was inflicted on Don Francisco and Don Cristóbal Mañago, who were shot; and some were hanged--Don Juan Palasigui, Don Marcos Marcasián, Sargento-mayor Chombillo, Supil and Baluyot of Guagua, the amanuensis, and many others. José Celis, the lawyer, was carried to Manila, where he was hanged. After these executions, Licentiate Manuel Suárez de Olivera, the senior advocate of the royal Audiencia, printed a treatise against Don Juan de Rosales, in which he condemned the excessive rigor of these punishments. This was answered by Don Juan de Rosales with another pamphlet--very learned, which also was printed--whose theme was Feci judicium et justitiam, non tradas me calumniantibus me, drawn from Psalm 118, [97] justifying his proceedings to the satisfaction of those who were free from prejudice.

Thus was quenched that infernal fire which kindled discord in the hearts of the natives of the provinces of Pampanga and Pangasinán, and of the Indians of the village of Bacarra in Ilocos--a fire which threatened to consume the peace and obedience of the other provinces of these islands, whose people were on the watch for its outcome, in order to declare themselves [rebels] and prove Fortune, and to gain what seemed to them liberty. But this would have been, quite to the contrary, their entire perdition; for, escaping from their civilized subjection to the Spaniards, they would have fallen back into the barbarous tyranny of their own people--which, like chips from the same log, [98] is what most hurts, as experience shows; and the natives themselves know this. They were continually experiencing this in the tumult in Pampanga, for the tyrannical acts and the extortions which they suffered from the principal leaders of the revolt were more grievous than those which they experienced or could fear from subjection to the Spaniards. So true is this that in the village of Guagua it was said by an old chief who survived that time, named Don Pedro Anas, that so great was the confusion and lawlessness, and so tyrannical were the leaders of the outbreak, that if the governor Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara had not come so promptly with his troops, the Indians themselves would have gone to Manila to make their submission at his feet; some of them could not unite with the others, and, although all desired liberty, they did not work together to secure the means for attaining it, and therefore they experienced a heavier [yoke of] subjection. And among the peoples whom God seems to have created that they may live in subjection to others who govern them with justice and authority are those of these Filipinas Islands; for when the Spanish arms conquered them with so great facility they were living without a head, without king or lord to obey--being only tyrannized over by him who among them displayed most courage; and this subjection was continually changing, other men, of greater valor and sagacity, gaining the ascendency.

Nor was the least cause of their reduction the diligent efforts of the religious who were ministers in these provinces, with their notable assiduity in preaching to the natives and exhorting them, with the arguments that we have already stated; and in this task they suffered the greatest hardships and dangers to life. In the province of Ilocos, fathers Fray Bernardino Márquez, Fray Gonzalo de la Palma, Fray Luís de la Fuente, and Fray Juan de Isla. In Pampanga, the following fathers were very prominent in the reduction: in Bacolor, Fray Francisco de Medina Basco; in Guagua, Fray Luís de la Vega; in Lubao, Fray José Botoño; in Mexico, Fray José Cornejo; in Candaba, Fray Pedro de Eguiluz; in Apalit, Fray José de Tapia; in Macabebe, Fray Enrique de Castro; but, more than all, Fray José Duque and Fray Isidro Rodríguez, whose authority among the natives could overcome the greatest difficulties. Information to this effect was given to the royal and supreme Council of the Indias by Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara himself, in Madrid, after his return from his government in the year 1667--when father Fray Isidro Rodríguez was at the same court as procurator for this province, soliciting the numerous mission which he conducted hither, and in which I came, the least of its members.

[Notable among the losses and injuries caused by the Zambal raid was the death of the bishop of Nueva Segovia, Don Fray Rodrigo de Cárdenas, of whom Diaz gives a biographical sketch. He died at Manila, early in May, 1661.]

In Otón (Panay); 1663

[As related by Diaz in his Conquistas, pp. 640-644.] At the time when this conflagration [99]--which threatened to destroy what Spanish constancy had gained in these islands during a hundred and ten years--had just been extinguished, another and new one began to burn in the province of Ogtong in Pintados; and, if timely measures had not been taken to check it, this one would have caused greater ravages than the previous rebellions in the provinces of Pampanga, Pangasinán, and Ilocos. This entire province is in charge of our religious. We have in it eight convents and doctrinas--Antique, Guimbal, Tigbauan, Ogtong, Jaro, Dumangas, Laglag, and Pasig [100]--which belong to the jurisdiction of the alcalde-mayor who resides in Iloilo, where there is a good supply of artillery, with two companies of Spaniards, and one of Pampangos. This province and that of Panay are united in one island, yielding a great abundance of rice; it is the Sicilia of Filipinas for its fertility, and also resembles that island in its extent, and in having three promontories such as gave it the name Trinacria. This island is called Panay, so even its name suits it; for in it there grows so great an abundance of rice, which is the bread of this country. It contains two provinces, governed by two alcaldes-mayor--that of Iloilo, already mentioned, and that of Panay; the latter rules over nine large villages. Of these, six are in charge of the order of our father St. Augustine--Capiz, Panay, Batan, Mambusao, Dumalag, and Dumarao; [101] two are administered by secular priests, Aclán and Ibahay; and the island of Romblón is a doctrina of the discalced religious [i.e., Recollects] of our father St. Augustine. [Diaz here refers to the description of Panay and the Augustinian houses therein which is given by Medina, and to the foundation of their convent at Laglag. [102]] This ministry and doctrina comprises five visitas and dependent churches: two on the river that is called Araut, named Sibucao and Sumandig; and three in the mountains, Misi, Camantugan, and Malonor. These were a cruel and rude people, and greatly addicted to superstitions and heathen rites on account of living so separated from intercourse with the gospel ministers--who throughout the year share, in their turn, in the instruction and administration of these visitas. It cost the first religious many hardships to tame these mountaineers and instruct them in the holy faith; for what they gained with the utmost toil in a week was dissipated during the absence of the religious from their ministry. The village of Malonor always had disguised babaylanes--which is the same as "priests of the demon," by whose direction the sacrifices which they made proceeded. They offered up swine, birds, and various kinds of food produced by the ground; and held solemn drinking-feasts--the main purpose of the universal enemy [of souls], since from this vice resulted many acts of lewdness and [other] abominations, all which tended to the perdition of their souls.

The prior and minister of that district in this year of 1663 was father Fray Francisco de Mesa--a native of the city of Manila, [103] and who had professed in our convent of San Pablo; a religious of great virtue, and most zealous and diligent in fulfilling the obligations of his office. In the visita of Malonor there was at this time a malicious Indian, a noted sorcerer and priest of the demon, who lived in concealment in the dense forest; and there he called together the Indians, telling them that he was commanded by the nonos--who are the souls of their first ancestors who came over to people these Filipinas--in whose name he assured them that the demon had appeared to them in trees and caves. This minister of Satan was named Tapar, and went about in the garb of a woman, on account of the office of babaylán and priest of the demon, with whom they supposed that he had a pact and frequent communication. Moreover, he wrought prodigies resembling the miracles, with which he kept that ignorant people deluded.

With these impostures and frauds Tapar obtained so much influence that the people followed him, revering him as a prophet, and he taught them to worship idols and offer sacrifices to Satan. Seeing that he had many followers, and that his reputation was well established, he made himself known, declaring that he was the Eternal Father; and he invented a diabolical farce, naming one of his most intimate associates for the Son, and another for the Holy Ghost, while to a shameless prostitute they gave the name of María Santisima ["Mary most holy"], as the name of Mary had been given her in baptism. [104] Then he appointed apostles, and to others he gave titles of pope and bishops; and in frequent assemblies they committed execrable abominations, performed with frequent drinking-bouts, in which there were shocking fornications among the men and women, both married and unmarried. This debauchery ended with the sacrifice to the demon, who, they said, gave them replies, although confused ones; but all were for their greater perdition; at other times, they believed, the demon appeared to them in various forms. All these things were done in the most retired part of the mountains, which there are very craggy. For a long time this infernal epidemic remained concealed; but finally spread as far as the visitas of the villages of Jaro and Pasig, although those who were infected by it were not so many there as in the village of Malonor, where the morals of those wretched people; deluded by the demon, were more corrupt.

Father Fray Francisco de Mesa received word of the unhappy condition in which were the souls of those parishioners of his; and, knowing that that cancer, which was spreading so far, needed to be severely cauterized, he gave information of all this to the purveyor-general of Pintados, the alcalde-mayor of that province, Admiral Pedro Duran de Monforte--a valiant soldier, whom we have mentioned in this history at various times. That officer, with the promptness that was necessary, sent Captains Gregorio de Peralta, Nicolás Becerra, and Francisco Duarte, and Adjutants Pedro Farfán and Pedro Brazales, with some Spaniards, Pampangos, and Merdicas from Siao (which is an island of Maluco)--a brave people, but cruel, which is a vice of cowards.

While the people were on their way to the village of Malonor, father Fray Francisco de Mesa decided to risk the attempt to prove whether he could through his preaching persuade them to accept better counsels, and, repentant, to put an end to that abominable farce of apostates; for it seemed to him that he would not fulfil his obligation if he did not make this endeavor. He encountered much opposition from the chiefs of the village of Laglag, who were not accomplices in the sedition by those of Malonor; but with intrepid courage to confer with the rebels. He reached the village and sent word to them to assemble in some convenient place, where he would go to discuss with them what concerned the deliverance of their souls, in case they were unwilling to come to the place where father Fray Francisco was. They replied "that they would not go out of the place where" (on account of its being rugged) "they had taken refuge for the sake of their safety--not, however, for fear of the Spaniards, whom they esteemed but lightly, for they themselves were accompanied by all the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the apostles, who would defend them by working miracles." They also said that they did not need father ministers, because they had popes and bishops and priests who could minister to them in their own way, although it was very different from that which the fathers used; and "that Fray Francisco should be content with this, that they did not undertake to do harm to the other Christians who, deluded, followed him--although they could do these much harm with the power of God the Father, who assisted them"--and in this fashion they uttered other execrable blasphemies.

Father Fray Francisco, grieved at the perdition of those souls, with intrepid heart determined to go to the place where the rebels were (which was almost inaccessible on account of its ruggedness), where they had erected a shed which served them as a temple in which to offer their sacrifices to the demon and to hold their infamous assemblies. But he did not venture to do so, being dissuaded by the peaceable Indians of Laglag, and by Fray Martín de Mansilla, the prior of Pasig; for that would be to search imprudently for danger, without hope of accomplishing even the least good, since the people of Malonor were so obstinate. The prior told him that it was better to wait for the coming of the Spaniards. But this was not enough to prevent him from going to the said Laglag. [105]

The father arrived, very late in the day, at the house which he had in the village, close to the church, with the intention of obtaining better information regarding the condition of those misguided people, so as to see if he could make any endeavor for the good of their souls. In case he could not do so, he intended to return to Laglag the next day, and there await the coming of the Spaniards. The rebellious apostates consulted the demon as to what they should do; and in consequence resolved to put Father Francisco to death; and they proceeded to carry out this decision. It was about midnight when they all came down to the village in a mob; and some surrounded the house, which was made of bamboo, and others began to thrust their lances through the openings in the floor, between the bamboos, wounding father Fray Francisco, and uttering many abusive words. The father religious, alarmed at his peril, sprang up intending to jump out at the windows, as the house stood very low, not considering the greater danger of this. As he leaped, the insurgents ran toward him, and received him on the points of their lances; and all he could do was to reach the cross which stood in the cemetery, next to the church. He embraced it tenderly, and in this position received many lance-thrusts; and thus, his arms flung round the holy cross, and uttering loving and devout words, he rendered his soul to the Lord--to go, as we may piously believe, to enjoy eternal peace. [106] The insurgents burned the house and the church, but they did not dare to profane the body of the venerable father, and retreated to the most secluded part of those mountains.

On the same day when the news that the apostates had killed the father reached the village of Laglag the Spaniards and soldiers arrived whom Admiral Pedro Durán had sent; and with them came the notary-public of the province and Lorenzo Tallez Mucientes to make an investigation [of the murder], although there was some delay in the arrival of the alcalde-mayor, Pedro Durán, in person. Two days after the death of the venerable father, they went to the village of Malonor, and found the body of the venerable father at the foot of the cross--quite ruddy and without corruption, and the blood dropping from it as if the murderers had but that instant slain him (as the notary Bernabé López has assured me at various times); and it remained in the same incorruption, and without the blood coagulating, until the third day, when they buried it in the church of Laglag. Pedro Durán proceeded, as both a soldier and a judge, to search for the aggressors; and a considerable time after the death of the venerable father, and after many endeavors, and having employed adroit spies, the Spaniards seized the principal actors in the diabolical farce. Others defended themselves and were slain; but their corpses were brought in, and carried with the criminals to the port of Iloilo. There justice was executed upon them; they were fastened to stakes in the river of Araut, [107] and the body of the accursed woman who played the part of the Blessed Virgin was impaled on a stake and placed at the mouth of the river of Laglag.

In Otón; 1672

[This is related by Diaz in his Conquistas, pp. 696-697.]

The spirit of discord also roamed through the mountains of the province of Ogtong in the island of Panay, causing a disturbance which had an aspect more ridiculous than serious; and if I have concluded to set it down here it is only to show the pliability of disposition in these Indians in believing every new thing, even when it is groundless, simply because fear persuades them to believe whatever is inimical to the Spaniards, and especially if it is to their discredit. In the villages of Miagao and other visitas of Tigbauan, the collector of tributes for the king was a soldier born in Nueva España, of a merry and jesting disposition; he without heeding what would result, told among the Indians this exceedingly absurd story: "That the king of España had gone out to the seashore for recreation, so heedless of danger and so lightly attended that he had been captured by some Turkish galleys that landed at that shore, and had been carried away to the court of the Grand Turk, who demanded for his ransom an enormous number of slaves; and that to comply with this demand he had sent many ships, which were to carry all the natives of that province to him, so that he could deliver them to the Turks." The soldier told them that several ships had come for this purpose, which were already in the harbor of Iloilo; and that the alcalde-mayor Don Sebastián de Villarreal and other Spaniards had to go with the ships, in order to make this delivery. This foolish and so perverse story was so thoroughly believed by the Bisayan Indians [108] that it caused a great disturbance and commotion among the inhabitants of the villages of Tigbauan, Miagao, Guimbal, and their visitas--so that, abandoning their homes and villages, they fled to the woods without concerted action, publishing the story that the Turks were already close by to seize them, and would carry the natives to their king as prisoners. The father ministers, as being nearest to them, experienced great perplexity, not being able to bring back the fugitives, as they did not know the cause of their disturbance; for when the natives perceived any religious they only took to flight, crying out, "Turks!" and thus the villages were being depopulated.

When the said alcalde-mayor learned this, he gathered all the soldiers that he could find, and reënlisted many veteran soldiers; and, in company with the father ministers Fray Marcos Gabilán, Fray Marcos González, and Fray Agustín de Estrada, he set out with all speed to see if he could check the disturbance; for he did not know of the falsehood uttered by the demon through the lips of the soldier. But this measure tended to fan the flames and to give further confirmation to that lie; they found, therefore, the villages deserted, and feared that this was a general rebellion. At last, the absurd cause which had influenced the natives was ascertained; and in a conference of the father ministers and the sensible Spaniards they chose the more prudent measure of withdrawing the troops, and allowing the natives to be undeceived by the course of events. The soldier, who must have been more knave than dolt, succeeded in concealing himself so well that nothing was known of him for a long time, because he left the island. The end of this revolution was, that gradually the Indians became undeceived, and ascertained that the whole thing was a lie; and through the agency of father Fray Agustín de Estrada, of whom they had a very high opinion, they were pacified, and brought back to their villages and homes. This is written only that some idea may be formed of the readiness with which these natives believe any lie; and the difficulties experienced by the religious who live among them as ministers, and the danger to the lives of the fathers if the demon concocts some fiction which, like this, is to their detriment or to the discredit of the Spaniards.

In Playa Honda; 1681

[From Diaz's Conquistas, pp. 747-748.]

The governor, Don Juan de Vargas, in view of the many ravages, murders, and thefts which the revolted Zambals of Playa Honda had committed--infesting the road from Pangasinán to Ilocos, and harassing the adjoining villages that were subject to the Spanish dominion--determined to curb their audacity by some exploit which would inspire them with fear, and to restrain for the future their insolence and daring. For this purpose he sent Captain Alonso Martín Franco and Captain Simón de Torres, with a suitable number of Spaniards, Pampangos, and Merdicas (who are Ternatans and Malays), and gave them the orders that were desirable for the success of so useful an expedition--that Simón de Torres and Alonso Martín Franco, each with half of the soldiers, should go in opposite directions, beating the woods, and fighting with any Zambals whom they might encounter. They did so, compelling the rebels to retreat as far as the place where their companions were; and on St. James's day the two captains joined their forces, the signal being the discharge of three exploding rockets, and fought with the Zambal insurgents. They carried out their orders and fought against these enemies, who are indeed a warlike people, and killed many of them, not without some loss of our men. Their leader was a valiant Zambal named Tumalang, to whom the inhabitants of those mountains rendered obedience; this man, seeing the death of an associate of his in whom he greatly trusted, whom Alonso Martín Franco had slain, and influenced by some higher feeling, declared that he wished to be a friend of the Spaniards, and with his people to establish villages where he would be under Spanish rule. A very convenient location was set apart, and therein was founded a handsome village called Nueva Toledo, and some others near a fort that is called Pignamén, [109] which Don Manuel de León ordered to be founded--in which, by order of the governor, Captain Alonso Martín Franco remained as commandant, with a larger garrison; and this fort has been most efficacious for averting such losses as they then experienced. Chief Tumalang received holy baptism, and was named Don Alonso; and he declared that it was he who had cut off the head of Don Felipe Ugalde, [110] whose skull he had in his possession as a trophy. This he surrendered to Martín Franco, that he might bury it in consecrated ground. The command of this fort is today an office that is conferred on a very meritorious officer; he has jurisdiction in all those villages of Playa Honda, and appoints in them governors who administer justice, as do the alcaldes-mayor of these islands in their [respective] provinces.

In Zambal villages; 1683

[The following account is taken from Salazar's Hist. de Sant. Rosario, pp. 300-311. It was a revolt against ecclesiastical authority, and would have ended in the liberation of the Zambals from all Spanish rule, had they not been in awe of the fort and garrison of Paynauen. Salazar's relation is interesting in regard to native character and missionary methods.]

There was in the village of Balacbac an Indian chief named Dulinen, to whose following belonged a great part of the village; although he came down [from the hills] to live in a settlement, it was more from worldly considerations than from affection for a Christian mode of life, and he therefore left in the mountains all his valuables, and a nephew of his for a guard over them. This was learned by an Indian named Calignao, who went to the mountain and slew the nephew of Dulinen--who, incensed at this, urged his followers to go with him to the mountain to avenge the death of his nephew. When this came to the knowledge of the servant of God, [111] he made every effort to prevent this flight, and although he restrained some of them he could not entirely prevent it; accordingly, that chief went back to the mountains, followed by seventeen families. The commandant of the fort at Paynaoven [sic], when he learned of this departure, attacked the chief and his followers, and burned down the village of Aglao, of which the murderer Calignao and the said chief were natives, and which was near that of Balacbac, where at that time all lived. The said Calignao had many kinsmen, and, in order that these might not go away and flee to the mountains, father Fray Domingo endeavored to gain their good-will; he asked the commandant for a commission as adjutant for Calignao, which the commandant immediately gave him--adding, to pacify the Indians, that the killing by Calignao had been done in compliance with a command by the government that all those should be killed who would not come down to the settlements, etc. With this the men of Balacbac were calmed, but their quiet did not last long; for a relative of Calignao named Dagdagan, who accompanied the commandant and his soldiers, promised to attack the chief who had fled. Entering the woods to carry out this plan, he went but a few paces when he was slain by a Negrillo of the mountains; and, through the mischief-making of a wicked Indian, his relatives believed that the religious had occasioned this death. They assembled to celebrate his funeral rites with much wine-drinking (a common usage among these infidels); and their carousal resulted in an agreement to cut off the head of the servant of God, for which exploit Calignao offered himself, in return for the kind acts which father Fray Domingo had done for him. And now that we have this evil man under consideration [entre manos] it will be well to point out something of his life, in order that what remains to be told of him may not afterward cause surprise. Thomas Calignao was a native of the village of Aglao, distant two leguas from Balacbac, and was a Christian from his childhood--although of Christian he had only the name; for his life and habits were worse than those of a heathen. He never heard mass, or made a confession; he observed neither human nor divine nor even natural law; for his only endeavor was to cut off heads--even if they were those of children or women--without further cause or motive than his craving to kill for the sake of killing. On account of these and many other sins, the commandant often intended to put him to death; but he did not carry out this purpose, through the intercession of father Fray Domingo, for the servant of God said (and not unjustly): "If you kill this man, who has so large a following, many will return to the mountains; but if he is reclaimed to an upright life he will bring in and convert many Cimarrons, and can be very helpful to us in our ministry." For these and other reasons, and for the salvation of that soul, father Fray Domingo made every effort to convert Calignao to a good life--now with advice, now with kind acts, again with examples, flattering words, and promises, and sometimes with threats--[telling Calignao] that unless he mended his ways, he would leave the commandant to do his duty. None of these methods sufficed to reclaim him, for, even when it seemed as if he were somewhat softened, if they summoned him to hear mass he became indignant, and heard it while seated and smoking tobacco (an impropriety unheard-of in this country); and if the father commanded him to kneel he was inflamed with anger and excitement--most of all, when the father commanded him to come for instruction in the [Christian] doctrine, his ignorance of which made him so bad a Christian. Father Fray Domingo, seeing how little attention Calignao paid to his counsels, availed himself of his relatives and other influential persons, in order that they might bring him to reason and to decent living. But all this was lost time, for besides not hearing mass on the feast-days, or attending instruction (as all did), all that he cared or watched for was to kill others and become drunk; and although he did this, as he thought, in secret, other persons told it to father Fray Domingo, who rebuked him for his cruel acts and his persistence in his evil ways. From this arose the hatred and ill-will which Calignao entertained for the servant of God; and in order to remove him thus, and not have in future any one who would rebuke him, he now offered to cut off the father's head.

On a certain occasion Calignao killed a poor woman; and as the aggressor was unknown, as this happened in a hidden place, father Fray Domingo undertook, in order to learn who did it, to use the stratagem of feeling the pulse of every person in the village. All agreed to this, except Calignao, who, being present at this trial, escaped and fled to the woods for several days. Soon returning thence to the village, he went about visiting his relatives; he told them that he was going to the mountains, not to return; but that, before he went away, he must cut off some heads. He thereupon went to the house of an Indian, a nephew of the woman whom he had murdered, and in order to kill him unsheathed the ygua, which is worse than a butcher's knife; but the Indian, who was seated, seized his dagger in his hand, and remained thus, quietly--at which Calignao was afraid, and did not dare to carry out his purpose. At the noise of this, all the people hastened thither, as did father Fray Domingo, who, seeing the perverse Calignao in the mood for cutting off heads, said to him: "Come here, thou wicked man. Are not the murders that thou committest at night enough, without trying to kill in daylight, and in sight of all?" To which he replied: "I am looking for thee, Father, for thee first of all; do thou come here." Two Indians then approached to pacify him; but all was in vain, for he was blind with anger and fury; and when they tried to bring him to reason, he hastily went out and fled to the mountains. Soon afterward he returned to the village, and, passing in front of the convent at a time when the servant of God was at the window, Calignao began to defy him, with both words and gestures; but father Fray Domingo answered him: "Since thou knowest that the religious do not kill, or carry arms, thou talkest thus--as thou wouldst not talk or act with the soldiers." This made Calignao very ugly, and, walking throughout the midst of the village, he declared that he would not halt until he had taken the head from father Fray Domingo; and no one dared say a word to him, because he was sheltered by his relatives. The commandant of the fort, having learned of the cruel and shameless acts of Calignao, sent seven Spanish soldiers to guard father Fray Domingo, and ordered them to arrest or kill that evil man; but, although they twice had the opportunity to do this, the servant of God prevented it, and, most of the soldiers having become sick, they returned to their fort without having accomplished anything. The commandant, at this, ordered the headman of Balacbac to seize or kill Calignao, who every day went in or out of the said village; but he did not carry out this order, for all feared him and showed him respect--rather, indeed, they watched over his safety.

For more than three years the servant of God went about, inquiring, with great solicitude into the idolatrous customs which the Zambals had; and for this he availed himself of the boys--whom he assembled together, and taught to read, and related to them the examples and lives of the saints, bestowing on them presents and kindnesses, with great affection. Then he questioned them as to the method and the times in which their parents and elders practiced idolatry, and they told him everything, with all details. This was especially true of the boy Diego, whom father Fray Domingo baptized in Abucay; he was a nephew of a priest of their idols, and was very well instructed in our holy faith; and he was not suspected of telling the father what conduced to the greater service and honor of God. Father Fray Domingo charged the rest of the boys to keep this secret, so that their parents should not flog them; and through fear of this they remained silent, so that it was never known that the boys were the ones who had revealed the practice of idolatry. Thus father Fray Domingo came to know that the chiefs of the villages were the priests of the idols, and that they found this profitable; for by [filling] this office they obtained their food, and had the advantage in any controversy, and, without this, they would fare ill. Also that the common people were in great subjection and obedience to the said priests, who could incite them to any daring act--especially since, as he was informed, all the people in the province, both infidels and Christians, had been bound by promise and oath not to reveal their idolatries, no matter how many inquiries the father should make, even though they were ruined or lost their lives by this silence. Accordingly the servant of God found this undertaking very arduous, and foresaw that it would cost him many hardships, and that he would in it expose himself to many dangers to his reputation, and honor, and even to his life. Notwithstanding, like another Elias, zeal for the honor of God flamed in him; and laying aside all fear for what might come, he directed his efforts and all his energies to the destruction of this infernal vice.

When Lent came around in the year 1683, he began his war against idolatry, having first commended to God this his undertaking. He summoned to his presence each one of the idolaters, and said to one: "Thou hast these and these instruments, and with them thou didst offer sacrifice on such a day, in company with N. and N." [112] To another he said: "Thou art a priest of so many idols, and for these thou hast so many implements, kept in such and such a place--with which thou renderest to the demon the honor and reverence which are due to God alone, the Author of creation. As proofs of this, on such a day thou didst sacrifice in company with N. and N., and on such a day with N." In this manner he went on, examining all the Zambals; and they, seeing these accurate proofs, regarded the servant of God as a soothsayer, and handed over to him the instruments of their idol-worship. Immediately he gave these to the boys, so that they could break in pieces and abuse them; and finally he commanded them to burn these articles in the sight of all. The spectators were amazed at seeing that neither the father nor the children died as a result of this desecration of their idols; for they had believed that he who should profane these instruments must perish. The father preached to them, and taught them what they must do in future. Having accomplished this in Baubuen, he proceeded to the villages of Balacbac and Alalang--where, although at the beginning he encountered some resistance, he finally succeeded in his purpose that these Indians also should surrender to him the implements of idol-worship that they possessed. Having placed all these in a little hut, he set fire to it, and all were burned, not without the surprise of these Indians also that no disaster happened to the father.