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Draper demanded the surrender of Cavite, which was agreed to by the Archbishop and magistrates, but the Commanding Officer refused to comply. The Major of that garrison was sent with a message to the Commander, but on the way he talked with such freedom about the surrender to the British, that the natives quitted their posts and plundered the Arsenal. The Commander, rather than face humiliation, retired to a ship, and left all further responsibility to the Major.
Measures were now taken to pay the agreed indemnity. However, the consequent heavy contributions levied upon the inhabitants, together with the silver from the pious establishments, church ornaments, plate, the Archbishop's rings and breast-cross, only amounted to P546,000. The British then proposed to accept one million at once and draw the rest from the cargo of the galleon Philipino, should it result that she had not been seized by the British previous to the day the capitulation was signed—but the one million was not forthcoming. The day before the capture of Manila a royal messenger had been sent off with P111,000, with orders to hide them in some place in the Laguna de Bay. The Archbishop now ordered their return to Manila, and issued a requisition to that effect, but the Franciscan friars were insubordinate, and armed the natives, whom they virtually ruled, and the treasure was secreted in Majayjay Convent (Tayabas Province). Thence, on receipt of the Archbishop's message, it was carried across country to a place in North Pampanga, bordering on Cagayan and Pangasinan. The British, convinced that they were being duped, insisted on their claim. Thomas Backhouse, commanding the troops stationed at Pasig, went up to the Laguna de Bay with 80 mixed troops, to intercept the bringing of the Philipino treasure. He attacked Tunasan, Vinan and Santa Rosa, and embarked for Pagsanjan, which was then the capital of the Laguna Province. The inhabitants, after firing the convent and church, fled. Backhouse returned to Calamba, entered the Province of Batangas, overran it, and made several Austin friars prisoners. In Lipa he seized P3,000, and established his quarters there, expecting that the Philipino treasure would be carried that way; but on learning that it had been transported by sea to a Pampanga coast town, Backhouse returned to his post at Pasig.
In the capitulation, the whole of the Archipelago was surrendered to the British, but the magistrate Simon de Anda determined to appeal to arms. Draper used stratagem, and issued a proclamation commiserating the fate of the natives who paid tribute to Spaniards, and assuring them that the King of England would not exact it. The Archbishop, as Governor, became Draper's tool, sent messages to the Spanish families, persuading them to return, and appointed an Englishman, married in the country, to be Alderman of Tondo. Despite the strenuous opposition of the Supreme Court, the Archbishop, at the instance of Draper, convened a council of native headmen and representative families, and proposed to them the cession of all the Islands to the King of England. Draper clearly saw that the ruling powers in the Colony, judging from their energy and effective measures, were the friars, so he treated them with great respect. The Frenchman Faller, who unsuccessfully opposed the British assault, was offered troops to go and take possession of Zamboanga and assume the government there, but he refused, as did also a Spaniard named Sandoval.
Draper returned to Europe; Major Fell was left in command of the troops, whilst Drake assumed the military government of the city, with Smith and Brock as council, and Brereton in charge of Cavite. Draper, on leaving, gave orders for two frigates to go in search of the Philipino treasure. The ships got as far as Capul Island and put into harbour. They were detained there by a ruse on the part of a half-caste pilot, and in the meantime the treasure was stealthily carried away.
Simon de Anda, from his provincial retreat, proclaimed himself Gov.-General. He declared that the Archbishop and the magistrates, as prisoners of war, were dead in the eye of the law; and that his assumption of authority was based upon old laws. None of his countrymen disputed his authority, and he established himself in Bacolor. The British Council then convened a meeting of the chief inhabitants, at which Anda was declared a seditious person and deserving of capital punishment, together with the Marquis of Monte Castro, who had violated his parole d'honneur, and the Provincial of the Austin Friars, who had joined the rebel party. All the Austin friars were declared traitors for having broken their allegiance to the Archbishop's authority. The British still pressed for the payment of the one million, whilst the Spaniards declared they possessed no more. The Austin friars were ordered to keep the natives peaceable if they did not wish to provoke hostilities against themselves. At length, the British, convinced of the futility of decrees, determined to sally out with their forces, and 500 men under Thomas Backhouse went up the Pasig River to secure a free passage for supplies to the camp. Whilst opposite to Maybonga, a Spaniard, named Bustos, and his Cagayan troops fired on them. The British returned the fire, and Bustos fled to Mariquina. The British passed the river, and sent an officer with a white flag of truce to demand surrender. Bustos was insolent, and threatened to hang the officer if he returned. Backhouse's troops then opened fire and placed two field-pieces, which completely scared the natives, who fled in such great confusion that many were drowned in the river. Thence the British drove their enemy before them like a flock of goats, and reached the Bamban River, where the Sultan of Sulu [41] resided with his family. The Sultan, after a feigned resistance, surrendered to the British, who fortified his dwelling, and occupied it during the whole of the operations. There were subsequent skirmishes on the Pasig River banks with the armed insurgents, who were driven as far as the Antipolo Mountains.
Meanwhile, Anda collected troops; and Bustos, as his Lieutenant-General, vaunted the power of his chief through the Bulacan and Pampanga Provinces. A Franciscan and an Austin friar, having led troops to Masilo, about seven miles from Manila, the British went out to dislodge them, but on their approach most of the natives feigned they were dead, and the British returned without any loss in arms or men.
The British, believing that the Austin friars were conspiring against them in connivance with those inside the city, placed these friars in confinement, and subsequently shipped away eleven of them to Europe. For the same reason they at last determined to enter the Saint Augustine Convent, and on ransacking it, they found that the priests had been lying to them all the time. Six thousand pesos in coin were found hidden in the garden, and large quantities of wrought silver elsewhere. The whole premises were then searched, and all the valuables were seized. A British expedition went out to Bulacan, sailing across the Bay and up the Hagonoy River, where they disembarked at Malolos on January 19, 1763. The troops, under Captain Eslay, of the Grenadiers, numbered 600 men, many of whom were Chinese volunteers. As they advanced from Malolos, the natives and Spaniards fled. On the way to Bulacan, Bustos came out to meet them, but retreated into ambush on seeing they were superior in numbers. Bulacan Convent was defended by three small cannons. As soon as the troops came in sight of the convent, a desultory fire of case-shot made great havoc in the ranks of the resident Chinese volunteers forming the British vanguard. At length the British brought their field-pieces into action, and pointing at the enemy's cannon, the first discharge carried off the head of their artilleryman Ybarra. The panic-stricken natives decamped; the convent was taken by assault; there was an indiscriminate fight and general slaughter. The Alcalde and a Franciscan friar fell in action; one Austin friar escaped, and another was seized and killed to avenge the death of the British soldiers. The invading forces occupied the convent, and some of the troops were shortly sent back to Manila. Bustos reappeared near the Bulacan Convent with 8,000 native troops, of whom 600 were cavalry, but they dared not attack the British. Bustos then manoeuvred in the neighbourhood and made occasional alarms. Small parties were sent out against him, with so little effect that the British Commander headed a body in person, and put the whole of Bustos' troops to flight like mosquitoes before a gust of wind, for Bustos feared they would be pursued into Pampanga. After clearing away the underwood, which served as a covert for the natives, the British reoccupied the convent; but Bustos returned to his position, and was a second time as disgracefully routed by the British, who then withdrew to Manila.
At this time it was alleged that a conspiracy was being organized amongst the Chinese resident in the Province of Pampanga with the object of assassinating Anda and his Spanish followers. The Chinese cut trenches and raised fortifications, avowing that their bellicose preparations were only to defend themselves against the possible attack of the British; whilst the Spaniards saw in all this a connivance with the invaders. The latter no doubt conjectured rightly. Anda, acting upon the views of his party, precipitated matters by appearing with 14 Spanish soldiers and a crowd of native bowmen to commence the slaughter in the town of Guagua. The Chinese assembled there in great numbers, and Anda endeavoured in vain to induce them to surrender to him. He then sent a Spaniard, named Miguel Garces, with a message, offering them pardon in the name of the King of Spain if they would lay down their arms; but they killed the emissary, and Anda therefore commenced the attack. The result was favourable for Anda's party, and great numbers of the Chinese were slain. Many fled to the fields, where they were pursued by the troops, whilst those who were captured were hanged. Such was the inveterate hatred which Anda entertained for the Chinese, that he issued a general decree declaring all the Chinese traitors to the Spanish flag, and ordered them to be hanged wherever they might be found in the provinces. Thus thousands of Chinese were executed who had taken no part whatever in the events of this little war.
Admiral Cornish having decided to return to Europe, again urged for the payment of the two millions of pesos instalment of the indemnity. The Archbishop was in great straits; he was willing to do anything, but his colleagues opposed him, and Cornish was at length obliged to content himself with a bill on the Madrid Treasury. Anda appointed Bustos Alcalde of Bulacan, and ordered him to recruit and train troops, as he still nurtured the hope of confining the British to Manila—perhaps even of driving them out of the Colony.
The British in the city were compelled to adopt the most rigorous precautions against the rising of the population within the walls, and several Spanish residents were arrested for intriguing against them in concert with those outside.
Several French prisoners from Pondicherry deserted from the British; and some Spanish regular troops, who had been taken prisoners, effected their escape. The Fiscal of the Supreme Court and a Senor Villa Corta were found conspiring. The latter was caught in the act of sending a letter to Anda, and was sentenced to be hanged and quartered—the quarters to be exhibited in public places. The Archbishop, however, obtained pardon for Villa Corta on the condition that Anda should evacuate the Pampanga Province: Villa Corta wrote to Anda, begging him to accede to this, but Anda absolutely refused to make any sacrifice to save his friend's life, and at the same time he wrote a disgraceful letter to the Archbishop, couched in such insulting terms that the British Commander burnt it without letting the Archbishop see it. Villa Corta's life was saved by the payment of P3,000.
The treasure brought by the Philipino served Anda to organize a respectable force of recruits. Spaniards who were living in the provinces in misery, and a crowd of natives always ready for pay, enlisted. These forces, under Lieut.-General Bustos, encamped at Malinta, about five miles from Manila. The officers lodged in a house belonging to the Austin friars, around which the troops pitched their tents—the whole being defended by redoubts and palisades raised under the direction of a French deserter, who led a company. From this place Bustos constantly caused alarm to the British troops, who once had to retreat before a picket-guard sent to carry off the church bells of Quiapo. The British, in fact, were much molested by Bustos' Malinta troops, who forced the invaders to withdraw to Manila and reduce the extension of their outposts. This measure was followed up by a proclamation, dated January 23, 1763, in which the British Commander alluded to Bustos' troops as "canaille and robbers," and offered a reward of P5,000 for Anda's head, declaring him and his party rebels and traitors to their Majesties the Kings of Spain and England. Anda, chafing at his impotence to combat the invading party by force of arms, gave vent to his feelings of rage and disappointment by issuing a decree, dated from Bacolor (Pampanga), May 19, 1763, of which the translated text reads as follows, viz.:—
"Royal Government Tribunal of these Islands for His Catholic Majesty:—Whereas the Royal Government Tribunal, Supreme Government and Captain-Generalship of His Catholic Majesty in these Islands are gravely offended at the audacity and blindness of those men, who, forgetting all humanity, have condemned as rebellious and disobedient to both their Majesties, him, who as a faithful vassal of His Catholic Majesty, and in conformity with the law, holds the Royal Tribunal, Government and Captain-Generalship; and having suffered by a reward being offered by order of the British Governor in council to whomsoever shall deliver me alive or dead; and by their having placed the arms captured in Bulacan at the foot of the gallows—seeing that instead of their punishing and censuring such execrable proceedings, the spirit of haughtiness and pride is increasing, as shown in the proclamation published in Manila on the 17th instant, in which the troops of His Majesty are infamously calumniated—treating them as blackguards and disaffected to their service—charging them with plotting to assassinate the English officers and soldiers, and with having fled when attacked—the whole of these accusations being false: Now therefore by these presents, be it known to all Spaniards and true Englishmen, that Messrs. Drake, Smith and Brock who signed the proclamation referred to, must not be considered as vassals of His Britannic Majesty, but as tyrants and common enemies unworthy of human society, and therefore, I order that they be apprehended as such, and I offer ten thousand pesos for each one of them alive or dead. At the same time, I withdraw the order to treat the vassals of His Britannic Majesty with all the humanity which the rights of war will permit, as has been practised hitherto with respect to the prisoners and deserters."
Anda had by this time received the consent of his King to occupy the position which he had usurped, and the British Commander was thus enabled to communicate officially with him, if occasion required it: Drake therefore replied to this proclamation, recommending Anda to carry on the war with greater moderation and humanity.
On June 27, 1763, the British made a sortie from the city to dislodge Bustos, who still occupied Malinta. The attacking party consisted of 350 fusileers, 50 horsemen, a mob of Chinese, and a number of guns and ammunition. The British took up quarters on one side of the river, whilst Bustos remained on the other. The opposing parties exchanged fire, but neither cared nor dared to cross the water-way. The British forces retired in good order to Masilo, and remained there until they heard that Bustos had burnt Malinta House, belonging to the Austin friars, and removed his camp to Meycauayan. Then the British withdrew to Manila in the evening. On the Spanish side there were two killed, five mortally wounded, and two slightly wounded. The British losses were six mortally wounded and seven disabled. This was the last encounter in open warfare. Chinamen occasionally lost their lives through their love of plunder in the vicinity occupied by the British.
During these operations the priesthood taught the ignorant natives to believe that the invaders were infidels—and a holy war was preached. The friars, especially those of the Augustine Order, [42] abandoned their mission of peace for that of the sword, and the British met with a slight reverse at Masilo, where a religious fanatic of the Austin friars had put himself at the head of a small band lying in ambush.
On July 23, 1763, a British frigate brought news from Europe of an armistice, and the preliminaries of peace, by virtue of which Manila was to be evacuated (Peace of Paris, February 10, 1763), were received by the British Commander on August 27 following, and communicated by him to the Archbishop-Governor for the "Commander-in-Chief" of the Spanish arms. Anda stood on his dignity, and protested that he should be addressed directly, and be styled Captain-General. On this plea he declined to receive the communication. Drake replied by a manifesto, dated September 19, to the effect that the responsibility of the blood which might be spilt in consequence of Anda's refusal to accept his notification would rest with him. Anda published a counter-manifesto, dated September 28, in Bacolor (Pampanga), protesting that he had not been treated with proper courtesy, and claiming the governor-generalship.
Greater latitude was allowed to the prisoners, and Villa Corta effected his escape disguised as a woman. He fled to Anda,—the co-conspirator who had refused to save his life,—and their superficial friendship was renewed. Villa Corta was left in charge of business in Bacolor during Anda's temporary absence. Meanwhile the Archbishop became ill; and it was discussed who should be his successor in the government in the event of his death. Villa Corta argued that it fell to him as senior magistrate. The discussion came to the knowledge of Anda, and seriously aroused his jealousy. Fearing conspiracy against his ambitious projects, he left his camp at Polo, and hastened to interrogate Villa Corta, who explained that he had only made casual remarks in the course of conversation. Anda, however, was restless on the subject of the succession, and sought the opinion of all the chief priests and the bishops. Various opinions existed. Some urged that the decision be left to the Supreme Court; others were in favour of Anda, whilst many prudently abstained from expressing their views. Anda was so nervously anxious about the matter that he even begged the opinion of the British Commander, and wrote him on the subject from Bacolor (Pampanga) on November 2, 1763.
Major Fell seriously quarrelled with Drake about the Frenchman Faller, whom Admiral Cornish had left under sentence of death for having written a letter to Java accusing him of being a pirate and a robber. Drake protected Faller, whilst Fell demanded his execution, and the dispute became so heated that Fell was about to slay Drake with a bayonet, but was prevented by some soldiers. Fell then went to London to complain of Drake, hence Anda's letter was addressed to Backhouse, who took Fell's place. Anda, who months since had refused to negotiate or treat with Drake, still claimed to be styled Captain-General. Backhouse replied that he was ignorant of the Spaniards' statutes or laws, but that he knew the Governor was the Archbishop. Anda thereupon spread the report that the British Commander had forged the Preliminaries of Peace because he could no longer hold out in warfare. The British necessarily had to send to the provinces to purchase provisions, and Anda caused their forage parties to be attacked, so that the war really continued, in spite of the news of peace, until January 30, 1764. On this day the Archbishop died, sorely grieved at the situation, and weighed down with cares. He had engaged to pay four millions of pesos and surrender the Islands, but could he indeed have refused any terms? The British were in possession; and these conditions were dictated at the point of the bayonet.
Immediately after the funeral of the Archbishop, Anda received despatches from the King of Spain, by way of China, confirming the news of peace to his Governor at Manila. Then the British acknowledged Anda as Governor, and proceeded to evacuate the city. But rival factions were not so easily set aside, and fierce quarrels ensued between the respective parties of Anda, Villa Corta, and Ustariz as to who should be Governor and receive the city officially from the British. Anda, being actually in command of the troops, held the strongest position. The conflict was happily terminated by the arrival at Marinduque Island of the newly-appointed Gov.-General, from Spain, Don Francisco de La Torre. A galley was sent there by Anda to bring His Excellency to Luzon, and he proceeded to Bacolor, where Anda resigned the Government to him on March 17, 1764.
La Torre sent a message to Backhouse and Brereton—the commanding officers at Manila and Cavite,—stating that he was ready to take over the city in due form, and he thereupon took up his residence in Santa Cruz, placed a Spanish guard with sentinels from that ward as far as the Pontoon Bridge (Puente de Barcas, which then occupied the site of the present Puente de Espana), where the British advance-guard was, and friendly communication took place. Governor Drake was indignant at being ignored in all these proceedings, and ordered the Spanish Governor to withdraw his guards, under threat of appealing to force. Backhouse and Brereton resented this rudeness and ordered the troops under arms to arrest Drake, whose hostile action, due to jealousy, they declared unwarrantable. Drake, being apprised of their intentions, escaped from the city with his suite, embarked on board a frigate, and sailed off.
La Torre was said to be indisposed on the day appointed for receiving the city. Some assert that he feigned indisposition as he did not wish to arouse Anda's animosity, and desired to afford him an opportunity of displaying himself as a delegate, at least, of the highest local authority by receiving the city from the British, whilst he pampered his pride by allowing him to enter triumphantly into it. As the city exchanged masters, the Spanish flag was hoisted once more on the Fort of Santiago amidst the hurrahs of the populace, artillery salutes, and the ringing of the church bells.
Before embarking, Brereton offered to do justice to any claims which might legitimately be established against the British authorities. Hence a sloop lent to Drake, valued at P4,000, was paid for to the Jesuits, and the P3,000 paid to ransom Villa Corta's life was returned, Brereton remarking, that if the sentence against him were valid, it should have been executed at the time, but it could not be commuted by money payment. At the instance of the British authorities, a free pardon was granted and published to the Chinese, few of whom, however, confided in it, and many left with the retiring army. Brereton, with his forces, embarked for India, after despatching a packet-boat to restore the Sultan of Sulu to his throne. In connection with this expedition, 150 British troops temporarily remained on the Island of Balambangan, near Balabac Island, and Anda sent a messenger to inquire about this. The reply came that the Moros, in return for British friendliness, invited the hundred and fifty to a feast and treacherously slew 144 of them.
During this convulsed period, great atrocities were committed. Unfortunately the common felons were released by the British from their prisons, and used their liberty to perpetrate murders and robbery in alliance with those always naturally bent that way. So great did this evil become, so bold were the marauders, that in time they formed large parties, infested highways, attacked plantations, and the poor peasantry had to flee, leaving their cattle and all their belongings in their power. Several avenged themselves of the friars for old scores—others settled accounts with those Europeans who had tyrannized over them of old. The Chinese, whether so-called Christians or pagans, declared for and aided the British.
The proceedings of the choleric Simon de Anda y Salazar were approved by his Sovereign, but his impetuous disposition drove from him his best counsellors, whilst those who were bold enough to uphold their opinions against his, were accused of connivance with the British. Communications with Europe were scant indeed in those days, but Anda could not have been altogether ignorant of the causes of the war, which terminated with the Treaty of Paris.
A few months afterwards Anda returned to Spain and was received with favour by the King, who created him a Cavalier of the Order of Charles III. with a pension of 4,000 reales (about L40), and awarded him a pension of 3,000 pesos, and on November 6, 1767, appointed him a Councillor of Castile. In the course of the next three years Gov.-General Jose Raon, who superseded La Torre, had fallen into disgrace, and in 1770 Anda was appointed to the governor-generalship of the Islands, specially charged to carry out the royal will with respect to the expulsion of the Jesuits and the defence of Crown rights in ecclesiastical matters.
Anda at once found himself in conflict with the Jesuits, the friars, and the out-going Gov.-General Raon. As soon as Raon vacated his post, Anda, as Gov.-General, had his predecessor confined in the Fort of Santiago, where he died. At the same time he sent back to Spain two magistrates who had sided with Raon, imprisoned other judges, and banished military officers from the capital. Anda's position was a very peculiar one. A partisan of the friars at heart, he had undertaken the defence of Crown interests against them, but, in a measure, he was able to palliate the bitterness he thus created by expelling the Jesuits, who were an eyesore to the friars. The Jesuits might easily have promoted a native revolt against their departure, but they meekly submitted to the decree of banishment and left the Islands, taking away nothing but their clothing. Having rid himself of his rivals and the Jesuits, Anda was constantly haunted by the fear of fresh conflict with the British. He had the city walls repaired and created a fleet of ships built in the provinces of Pangasinan, Cavite, and Zambales, consisting of one frigate of war with 18 cannon, another with 32 cannon, besides 14 vessels of different types, carrying a total of 98 cannon and 12 swivel guns, all in readiness for the British who never reappeared.
Born on October 28, 1709, in the Province of Alava, Spain, Simon de Anda's irascible temper, his vanity, and his extravagant love of power created enmities and brought trouble upon himself at every step. Exhausted by six years of continual strife in his private and official capacities, he retired to the Austin Friars' Hospital of San Juan de Dios, in Cavite, where, on October 30, 1776, he expired, much to the relief of his numerous adversaries. The last resting-place of his mortal remains is behind the altar of the Cathedral, marked by a tablet; and a monument erected to his memory—107 years after his death—stands on the quayside at the end of the Paseo de Santa Lucia, near the Fort of Santiago, Manila.
Consequent on the troubled state of the Colony, a serious rebellion arose in Ylogan (Cagayan Province) amongst the Timava natives, who flogged the Commandant, and declared they would no longer pay tribute to the Spaniards. The revolt spread to Ilocos and Pangasinan; in the latter province Don Fernando Araya raised a troop of 30 Spaniards with firearms, and 400 friendly natives with bows and arrows, and after great slaughter of the rebels the ringleaders were caught, and tranquillity was restored by the gallows.
A rising far more important occurred in Ilocos Sur. The Alcalde was deposed, and escaped after he had been forced to give up his staff of office. The leader of this revolt was a cunning and wily Manila native, named Diego de Silan, who persuaded the people to cease paying tribute and declare against the Spaniards, who, he pointed out, were unable to resist the English. The City of Vigan was in great commotion. The Vicar-General parleyed in vain with the natives; then, at the head of his troops, he dispersed the rebels, some of whom were taken prisoners. But the bulk of the rioters rallied and attacked, and burnt down part of the city. The loyal natives fled before the flames. The Vicar-General's house was taken, and the arms in it were seized. All the Austin friars within a large surrounding neighbourhood had to ransom themselves by money payments. Silan was then acknowledged as chief over a large territory north and south of Vigan. He appointed his lieutenants, and issued a manifesto declaring Jesus of Nazareth to be Captain-General of the place, and that he was His Alcalde for the promotion of the Catholic religion and dominion of the King of Spain. His manifesto was wholly that of a religious fanatic. He obliged the natives to attend Mass, to confess, and to see that their children went to school. In the midst of all this pretended piety, he stole cattle and exacted ransoms for the lives of all those who could pay them; he levied a tax of P100 on each friar. Under the pretence of keeping out the British, he placed sentinels in all directions to prevent news reaching the terrible Simon de Anda. But Anda, though fully informed by an Austin friar of what was happening, had not sufficient troops to march north. He sent a requisition to Silan to present himself within nine days, under penalty of arrest as a traitor. Whilst this order was published, vague reports were intentionally spread that the Spaniards were coming to Ilocos in great force. Many deserted Silan, but he contrived to deceive even the clergy and others by his feigned piety. Silan sent presents to Manila for the British, acknowledging the King of England to be his legitimate Sovereign. The British Governor sent, in return, a vessel bearing despatches to Silan, appointing him Alcalde. Elated with pride, Silan at once made this public. The natives were undeceived, for they had counted on him to deliver them from the British; now, to their dismay, they saw him the authorized magistrate of the invader. He gave orders to make all the Austin friars prisoners, saying that the British would send other clergy in their stead. The friars surrendered themselves without resistance and joined their Bishop near Vigan, awaiting the pleasure of Silan. The Bishop excommunicated Silan, and then he released some of the priests. The christian natives having refused to slay the friars, a secret compact was being made, with this object, with the mountain tribes, when a Spanish half-caste named Vicos obtained the Bishop's benediction and killed Silan; and the Ilocos rebellion, which had lasted from December 14, 1762, to May 28, 1763, ended.
Not until a score of little battles had been fought were the numerous riots in the provinces quelled. The loyal troops were divided into sections, and marched north in several directions, until peace was restored by March, 1765. Zuniga says that the Spaniards lost in these riots about 70 Europeans and 140 natives, whilst they cost the rebels quite 10,000 men.
The submission made to the Spaniards, in the time of Legaspi, of the Manila and Tondo chiefs, was but of local importance, and by no means implied a total pacific surrender of the whole Archipelago; for each district had yet to be separately conquered. In many places a bold stand was made for independence, but the superior organization and science of the European forces invariably brought them final victory.
The numerous revolutionary protests registered in history against the Spanish dominion show that the natives, from the days of Legaspi onwards, only yielded to a force which they repeatedly, in each generation, essayed to overthrow. But it does not necessarily follow that either the motives which inspired the leaders of these social disturbances, or the acts themselves, were, in every case, laudable ones.
The Pampanga natives were among the first to submit, but a few years afterwards they were in open mutiny against their masters, who, they alleged, took their young men from their homes to form army corps, and busily employed the able-bodied men remaining in the district to cut timber for Government requirements and furnish provisions to the camp and to the Arsenal at Cavite.
In 1622 the natives of Bojol Island erected an oratory in the mountain in honour of an imaginary deity, and revolted against the tyranny of the Jesuit missionaries. They proclaimed their intention to regain their liberty, and freedom from the payment of tribute to foreigners, and taxes to a Church they did not believe in. Several towns and churches were burnt, and Catholic images were desecrated, but the rebels were dispersed by the Governor of Cebu, who, with a considerable number of troops, pursued them into the interior. In the same island a more serious rising was caused in 1744 by the despotism of a Jesuit priest named Morales, who arrogated to himself governmental rights, ordering the apprehension of natives who did not attend Mass, and exercising his sacerdotal functions according to his own caprice. The natives resisted these abuses, and a certain Dagohoy, whose brother's body had been left uninterred to decompose by the priest's orders, organized a revenge party, and swore to pay the priest in his own coin. The Jesuit was captured and executed, and his corpse was left four days in the sun to corrupt. Great numbers of disaffected natives flocked to Dagohoy's standard. Their complaint was, that whilst they risked their lives in foreign service for the sole benefit of their European masters, their homes were wrecked and their wives and families maltreated to recover the tribute. Dagohoy, with his people, maintained his independence for the space of 35 years, during which period it was necessary to employ constantly detachments of troops to check the rebels' raids on private property. On the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Colony, Recoleto friars went to Bojol, and then Dagohoy and his partisans submitted to the Government on the condition of all receiving a full pardon.
In 1622 an insurrection was set on foot in Leyte Island against Spanish rule, and the Governor of Cebu went there with 40 vessels, carrying troops and war material, to co-operate with the local Governor against the rebels. The native leader was made prisoner, and his head placed on a high pole to strike terror into the populace. Another prisoner was garrotted, four more were publicly executed by being shot with arrows, and another was burnt.
In 1629 an attempt was made in the Province of Surigao (then called Caraga), in the east of Mindanao Island, to throw off the Spanish yoke. Several churches were burnt and four priests were killed by the rebels, and the rising was only quelled after three years' guerilla warfare.
In 1649 the Gov.-General decided to supply the want of men in the Arsenal at Cavite and the increasing necessity for troops, by pressing the natives of Samar Island into the King's service. Thereupon a native headman named Sumoroy killed the priest of Ybabao, on the east coast of Samar, and led the mob who sacked and burnt the churches along the coast. The Governor at Catbalogan got together a few men, and sent them into the mountains with orders to send him back the head of Sumoroy, but instead of obeying they joined the rebels and sent him a pig's head. The revolt increased, and General Andres Lopez Azaldegui was despatched to the island with full powers from the Gov.-General, whilst he was supported on the coast by armed vessels from Zamboanga. Sumoroy fled to the hills, but his mother was found in a hut; and the invading party wreaked their vengeance on her by literally pulling her to pieces. Sumoroy was at length betrayed by his own people, who carried his head to the Spanish Captain, and this officer had it exhibited on a pole in the village. Some years afterwards another rebel chief surrendered, under a pardon obtained for him by the priests, but the military authorities imprisoned and then hanged him.
The riots of 1649 extended to other provinces for the same cause. In Albay, the parish priest of Sorsogon had to flee for his life; in Masbate Island, a sub-lieutenant was killed; in Zamboanga, a priest was murdered; in Cebu, a Spaniard was assassinated; and in Surigao (then called Caraga) and Butuan, many Europeans fell victims to the fury of the populace. To quell these disturbances, Captain Gregorio de Castillo, stationed at Butuan, was ordered to march against the rebels with a body of infantry, but bloodshed was avoided by the Captain publishing a general pardon in the name of the King, and crowds of insurgents came to the camp in consequence. The King's name, however, was sullied, for very few of those who surrendered ever regained their liberty. They were sent prisoners to Manila, where a few were pardoned, others were executed, and the majority became galley-slaves.
In 1660 there was again a serious rising in Pampanga, the natives objecting to cut timber for the Cavite Arsenal without payment. The revolt spread to Pangasinan Province, where a certain Andres Malong was declared king, and he in turn gave to another—Pedro Gumapos—the title of "Count." Messages were sent to Zambales and other adjacent provinces ordering the natives to kill the Spaniards, under pain of incurring "King" Malong's displeasure.
Three army-corps were formed by the rebels: one of 6,000 men, under Melchor de Veras, for the conquest of Pampanga; another of 3,000 men, led by the titular count Gumapos, to annex Ilocos and Cagayan, whilst the so-called King Malong took the field against the Pangasinan people at the head of 2,000 followers. Ilocos Province declared in his favour, and furnished a body of insurgents under a chief named Juan Manzano, whilst everywhere on the march the titular king's troops increased until they numbered about 40,000 men. On the way many Spaniards—priests and laymen—were killed. The Gov.-General sent by land to Pampanga 200 Spanish troops, 400 Pampangos and half-breeds, well armed and provisioned, and Mount Arayat was fortified and garrisoned by 500 men. By sea: two galleys, six small vessels, and four cargo launches—carrying 700 Spaniards and half-breeds, and 30 Pampangos—went to Bolinao, in Zambales Province. The rebels were everywhere routed, and their chiefs were hanged—some in Pampanga and others in Manila.
Almost each generation has called forth the strong arm of the conqueror to extinguish the flame of rebellion in one island or another, the revolt being sometimes due to sacerdotal despotism, and at other times to official rapacity.
In the last century, prior to 1896, several vain attempts to subvert Spanish authority were made, notably in 1811 in Ilocos, where the fanatics sought to establish a new religion and set up a new god. An attempt was then made to enlist the wild tribes in a plot to murder all the Spaniards, but it was opportunely discovered by the friars and suppressed before it could be carried out.
In June, 1823, an order was received from Spain to the effect that officers commissioned in the Peninsula should have precedence of all those appointed in the Colony, so that, for instance, a lieutenant from Spain would hold local rank above a Philippine major. The Philippine officers protested against this anomaly, alleging that the commissions granted to them in the name of the Sovereign were as good as those granted in Spain. The Gov.-General refused to listen to the objections put forward, and sent Captain Andres Novales and others on board a ship bound for Mindanao. Novales, however, escaped to shore, and, in conspiracy with a certain Ruiz, attempted to overthrow the Government. At midnight all Manila was aroused by the cry of "Long live the Emperor Novales!" Disaffected troops promenaded the city; the people sympathized with the movement; flags were waved as the rebels passed through the streets; the barrack used by Novales' regiment was seized; the Cathedral and Town Hall were occupied, and at 6 o'clock in the morning Andres Novales marched to Fort Santiago, which was under the command of his brother Antonio. To his great surprise, the brother Antonio stoutly refused to join in the rising, and Andres' expostulations and exhortations were finally met with a threat to fire on him if he did not retire. Meanwhile, the Gov.-General remained in hiding until he heard that the fort was holding out against Andres' assault, when he sent troops to assist the defenders. Hemmed in between the fort and the troops outside, Andres Novales and Ruiz made their escape, but they were soon taken prisoners. Andres Novales was found hiding underneath the drawbridge of the Puerta Real. The Gov.-General at once ordered Andres Novales, Ruiz, and Antonio Novales to be executed. The Town Council then went in a body to the Gov.-General to protest against the loyal defender of Fort Santiago being punished simply because he was Andres Novales' brother. The Gov.-General, however, threatened to have shot any one who should say a word in favour of the condemned.
In a garden of the episcopal palace, near the ancient Puerta del Postigo, the execution of the three condemned men was about to take place, and crowds of people assembled to witness it. At the critical moment an assessor of the Supreme Court shouted to the Gov.-General that to take the life of the loyal defender of the fort, solely on the ground of his relationship to the rebel leader, would be an iniquity. His words found a sympathetic echo among the crowd, and the Gov.-General, deadly pale with rage, yielded to this demonstration of public opinion. Antonio Novales was pardoned, but the strain on his nerves weakened his brain, and he lived for many years a semi-idiot in receipt of a monthly pension of 14 pesos.
In 1827 the standard of sedition was raised in Cebu and a few towns of that island, but these disturbances were speedily quelled through the influence of the Spanish friars.
In 1828 a conspiracy of a separatist tendency was discovered, and averted without bloodshed.
In 1835 Feliciano Paran took the field against the Spaniards in Cavite Province, and held out so effectually that the Gov.-General came to terms with him and afterwards deported him to the Ladrone Islands.
In 1836 there was much commotion of a revolutionary character, the peculiar feature of it being the existence of pro-friar and anti-friar native parties, the former seeking to subject absolutely the civil government to ecclesiastical control. [43]
In 1841 a student for the priesthood, named Apolinario de la Cruz, affected with religious mania, placed himself at the head of a fanatical party in Tayabas, ostensibly for the purpose of establishing a religious sect. Some thousands of natives joined the movement, and troops had to be sent to suppress the rising. Having assumed the title of King of the Tagalogs, he pretended to have direct heavenly support, telling the ignorant masses that he was invulnerable and that the soldiers' bullets would fly from them like chaff before the wind.
In 1844, during a rising at Jimamaylan, in Negros Island, the Spanish Governor was killed. The revolt is said to have been due to the Governor having compelled the State prisoners to labour for his private account.
In 1854 a Spanish half-caste, named Cuesta, came back from Spain with the rank of major, and at once broke out into open rebellion. The cry was for independence, and four Luzon provinces rose in his support; but the movement was crushed by the troops and Cuesta was hanged.
In 1870 a certain Camerino raised rebellion in Cavite province, and after many unsuccessful attempts to capture him he came to terms with the Gov.-General, who gave him a salaried employment for a couple of years and then had him executed on the allegation that he was concerned in the rising of Cavite Arsenal.
In 1871 there existed a Secret Society of reformers who used to meet in Santa Cruz (Manila) at the house of the Philippine priest, Father Mariano. [44] From the house proper a narrow staircase led to a cistern about 25 feet square, in the side of which there was a door which closed perfectly. The cistern was divided into two unequal parts, the top compartment being full of water, whilst the lower part served as the reformers' conference room, so that if search were made, the cistern was, in fact, a cistern.
Among the members of this confraternity were Father Agustin Mendoza, the parish priest of Santa Cruz; Dr. Jose Burgos, also a native priest; Maximo Paterno, the father of Pedro A. Paterno; Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista; and others still living (some personally known to me), under the presidency of Jose Maria Basa (now residing in Hong-Kong). This Secret Society demanded reforms, and published in Madrid their organ, Eco de Filipinas, copies of which reached the Islands. The copy for the paper was the result of the society's deliberations. The monks, incensed at its publication, were, for a long time, puzzled to find out whence the information emanated. Many of the desired reforms closely affected the position of the regular clergy, the Philippine priests, led by Dr. Burgos, urging the fulfilment of the Council of Trent decisions, which forbade the friars to hold benefices unless there were no secular priests available.
It appears that the friars, nevertheless, secured these ecclesiastical preferments by virtue of Papal Bulls of Pius V. and subsequent Popes, who authorized friars to act as parish priests, not in perpetuity, but so long as secular clergymen were insufficient in number to attend to the cure of souls. The native party consequently declared that the friars retained their incumbencies illegally and by intrusion, in view of the sufficiency of Philippine secular priests. Had the Council of Trent enactments been carried out to the letter, undoubtedly the religious communities in the Philippines would have been doomed to comparative political impotence. The friars, therefore, sought to embroil Dr. Burgos and his party in overt acts of sedition, in order to bring about their downfall and so quash the movement. To this end they contrived to draw a number of Manila and Cavite natives into a conspiracy to subvert the Spanish Government. The native soldiers of the Cavite garrison were induced to co-operate in what they believed to be a genuine endeavour to throw off the Spanish dominion. They were told that rockets fired off in Manila would be the signal for revolt. It happened, however, that they mistook the fireworks of a suburban feast for the agreed signal and precipitated the outbreak in Cavite without any support in the capital. The disaffected soldiers seized the Arsenal, whilst others attacked the influential Europeans. Colonel Sabas was sent over to Cavite to quell the riot, and after a short, but stubborn resistance, the rebels were overcome, disarmed, and then formed up in line. On Colonel Sabas asking if there were any one who would not cry, "Viva Espana!" one man stepped forward a few paces out of the ranks. The Colonel shot him dead, and the remainder were marched to prison.
The ruse operated effectually on the lay authorities, who yielded to the Spanish monks' demand that the extreme penalty of the law should be inflicted upon their opponents. Thereupon, Dr. Jose Burgos (aged 30 years), Father Jacinto Zamora (aged 35 years), and Father Mariano Gomez [45] (a dotard, 85 years of age) were executed (February 28, 1872) on the Luneta, the fashionable esplanade outside the walled city, facing the sea.
The friars then caused a bill of indictment to be put forward by the Public Prosecutor, in which it was alleged that a Revolutionary Government had been projected. The native clergy were terror-stricken. It was decreed that whilst the Filipinos already acting as parish priests would not be deposed, no further appointments would be made, and the most the Philippine novice could aspire to would be the position of coadjutor—practically servant—to the friar incumbent. Moreover, the opportunity was taken to banish to the Ladrone (Marianas) Islands many members of wealthy and influential families whose passive resistance was an eyesore to the friars. Among these was the late Maximo Paterno (q.v.), the father of Pedro A. Paterno; also Dr. Antonio M. Regidor y Jurado and Jose Maria Basa, who are still living. [46]
In 1889 I visited a penal settlement—La Colonia Agricola de San Ramon—in Mindanao Island, and during my stay at the director's house I was every day served at table by a native convict who was said to have been nominated by the Cavite rebels to the Civil Governorship of Manila. There was, however, no open trial from which the public could form an opinion of the merits of the case, and the idea of subverting the Spanish Government would appear to have been a fantastic concoction for the purposes stated. But from that date there never ceased to exist a secret revolutionary agitation which culminated in the events of 1898.
CHAPTER VIII
The Chinese
Long before the foundation of Manila by Legaspi in 1571 the Chinese traded with these Islands. Their locus standi, however, was invariably a critical one, and their commercial transactions with the semi-barbarous Philippine Islanders were always conducted afloat. Often their junks were boarded and pillaged by the natives, but, in spite of the immense risk incurred, the Chinese lacked nothing in their active pursuit. Their chief home port was Canton.
Legaspi soon perceived the advantages which would accrue to his conquest by fostering the development of commerce with these Islands; and, as an inducement to the Chinese to continue their traffic, he severely punished all acts of violence committed against them.
In the course of time the Chinese had gained sufficient confidence under European protection, to come ashore with their wares. In 1588, Chinese were already paying rent for the land they occupied. Some writers assert that they propagated their religious doctrines as well as their customs, but nothing can be found to confirm this statement, and a knowledge of Chinese habits inclines one to think it most improbable. In their trading junks they frequently carried their idols, as a Romish priest carries his missal when he travels. The natives may have imitated the Chinese religious rites years before the Spaniards came. There is no evidence adduced to prove that they made any endeavour to proselytize the natives as the Spaniards did. On the other hand, there is reason to believe that some idols, lost by the Chinese in shipwreck and piratical attacks, have been, and still are, revered by the natives as authenticated miraculous images of Christian Saints (vide "Holy Child of Cebu" and "Our Lady of Cagsaysay").
The Chinese contributed, in a large measure, to bring about a state of order and prosperity in the new Colony, by the introduction of their small trades and industries; and their traffic in the interior, and with China, was really beneficial, in those times, to the object which the conquerors had in view. So numerous, however, did they become, that it was found necessary to regulate the growing commerce and the modus vivendi of the foreign traders.
In the bad weather they were unable to go to and from their junks, and, fearing lest under such circumstances the trade would fall off, the Government determined to provide them with a large building called the Alcayceria. The contract for its construction was offered to any private person or corporation willing to take it up on the following terms, viz.:—The original cost, the annual expense of maintenance, and the annual rents received from the Chinese tenants were to be equally shared by the Government and the contractor. The contract was accepted by a certain Fernando de Mier y Noriega, who was appointed bailiff of the Alcayceria for life, and the employment was to be hereditary in his family, at a salary of 50 pesos per month. However, when the plan was submitted to the Government, it was considered too extensive, and was consequently greatly reduced, the Government defraying the total cost (P 48,000). The bailiff's salary was likewise reduced to P 25 per month, and only the condition of sharing rent and expense of preservation was maintained. The Alcayceria, was a square of shops, with a back store, and one apartment above each tenement. It was inaugurated in 1580, in the Calle de San Fernando, in Binondo, opposite to where is now the Harbour-Master's Office, and within firing range of the forts. In the course of years this became a ruin, and on the same site Government Stores were built in 1856. These, too, were wrecked in their turn by the great earthquake of 1863. In the meantime, the Chinese had long ago spread far beyond the limits of the Alcayceria, and another centre had been provided for them within the City of Manila. This was called the Parian, which is the Mexican word for market-place. It was demolished by Government order in 1860, but the entrance to the city at that part (constructed in 1782) still retains the name of Puerta del Parian.
Hence it will be seen that from the time of the conquest, and for generations following, the Spanish authorities offered encouragement and protection to the Chinese.
Dr. Antonio Morga, in his work on the Philippines, p. 349, writes (at the close of the 16th century): "It is true the town cannot exist without the Chinese, as they are workers in all trades and business, and very industrious and work for small wages."
Juan de la Concepcion writes [47] (referring to the beginning of the 17th century); "Without the trade and commerce of the Chinese, these dominions could not have subsisted." The same writer estimates the number of Chinese in the Colony in 1638 at 33,000. [48]
In 1686 the policy of fixing the statutory maximum number of Chinese at 6,000 was discussed, but commercial conveniences outweighed its adoption. Had the measure been carried out, it was proposed to lodge them all in one place within easy cannon range, in view of a possible rising.
In 1755 it was resolved to expel all non-Christian Chinese, but a term was allowed for the liquidation of their affairs and withdrawal. By June 30, 1755, the day fixed for their departure from Manila, 515 Chinamen had been sharp enough to obtain baptism as Christians, in order to evade the edict, besides 1,108 who were permitted to remain because they were studying the mysteries and intricacies of Christianity. 2,070 were banished from Manila, the expulsion being rigidly enforced on those newly arriving in junks.
Except a few Europeans and a score of Western Asiatics, the Chinese who remained were the only merchants in the Archipelago. The natives had neither knowledge, tact, energy, nor desire to compete with them. The Chinese were a boon to the Colony, for, without them, living would have been far dearer—commodities and labour of all kinds more scarce, and the export and import trade much embarrassed. The Chinese and the Japanese are really the people who gave to the natives the first notions of trade, industry, and fruitful work. The Chinese taught them, amongst many other useful things, the extraction of saccharine juice from the sugar-cane, the manufacture of sugar, and the working of wrought iron. They introduced into the Colony the first sugar-mills with vertical stone crushers, and iron boiling-pans.
The history of the last 150 years shows that the Chinese, although tolerated, were always regarded by the Spanish colonists as an unwelcome race, and the natives have learnt, from example, to despise them. From time to time, especially since the year 1763, the feeling against them has run very high.
The public clamoured for restrictions on their arrival, impediments to the traffic of those already established there, intervention of the authorities with respect to their dwellings and mode of living, and not a few urged their total expulsion. Indeed, such influence was brought to bear on the Indian Council at Madrid during the temporary Governorship of Juan Arechedera, Bishop of Nueva Segovia (1745-50), that the Archbishop received orders to expel the Chinese from the Islands; but, on the ground that to have done so would have prejudiced public interests, he simply archived the decree. Even up to the close of Spanish rule, the authorities and the national trading class considered the question from very distinct points of view; for the fact is, that only the mildest action was taken—just enough to appease the wild demands of the people. Still, the Chinaman was always subject to the ebb and flow of the tide of official goodwill, and only since 1843 were Chinese shops allowed to be opened on the same terms as other foreigners. There are now streets of Chinese shops.
The Chinaman is always ready to sell at any price which will leave him a trifling nett gain, whereas the native, having earned sufficient for his immediate wants, would stubbornly refuse to sell his wares except at an enormous profit.
Again, but for Chinese coolie competition, [49] constant labour from the natives would have been almost unprocurable. The native day-labourer would work two or three days, and then suddenly disappear. The active Chinaman goes day after day to his task (excepting only at the time of the Chinese New Year, in January or February), and can be depended upon; thus the needy native was pushed, by alien competition, to bestir himself. In my time, in the port of Yloilo, four foreign commercial houses had to incur the expense and risk of bringing Chinese coolies for loading and discharging vessels, whilst the natives coolly lounged about and absolutely refused to work. Moreover, the exactions of the native create a serious impediment to the development of the Colony. Only a very small minority of the labouring class will put their hands to work without an advance on their wages, and will often demand it without any guarantee whatsoever. If a native is commissioned to perform any kind of service, he will refuse to stir without a sum of money beforehand, whilst the Chinese very rarely expect payment until they have given value for it. Only the direst necessity will make an unskilled native work steadily for several weeks for a wage which is only to be paid when due. There is scarcely a single agriculturist who is not compelled to sink a share of his capital in making advances to his labourers, who, nevertheless, are in no way legally bound thereby to serve the capitalist; or, whether they are or not, the fact is, that a large proportion of this capital so employed must be considered lost. There are certain lines of business quite impossible without the co-operation of Chinese, and their exclusion will be a loss to the Colony.
Taxes were first levied on the Mongol traders in 1828. In 1852 a general reform of the fiscal laws was introduced, and the classification of Chinese dealers was modified. They were then divided into four grades or classes, each paying contributions according to the new tariff.
In 1886 the universal depression, which was first manifest in this Colony in 1884, still continued. Remedies of most original character were suggested in the public organs and private circles, and a renewed spasmodic tirade was directed against the Chinese. A petition, made and signed by numbers of the retail trading class, was addressed to the Sovereign; but it appears to have found its last resting-place in the Colonial Secretary's waste-paper basket. The Americans in the United States and Mexico were in open riot against the Celestials—the Governments of Australia had imposed a capitation tax on their entry [50]—in British Columbia there was a party disposed to throw off its allegiance to Great Britain rather than forego its agitation against the Chinese. Why should not the Chinese be expelled from the Philippines, it was asked, or at least be permitted only to pursue agriculture in the Islands? In 1638, around Calamba and along the Laguna shore, they tilled the land; but the selfishness and jealousy of the natives made their permanence impossible. In 1850 the Chinese were invited to take up agriculture, but the rancorous feeling of the natives forced them to abandon the idea, and to seek greater security in the towns.
The chief accusation levelled against the Chinaman is, that he comes as an adventurer and makes money, which he carries away, without leaving any trace of civilization behind him. The Chinese immigrant is of the lowest social class. Is not the dream of the European adventurer, of the same or better class, to make his pile of dollars and be off to the land of his birth? If he spends more money in the Colony than the Chinaman does, it is because he lacks the Chinaman's self-abnegation and thriftiness. Is the kind of civilization taught in the colonies by low-class European settlers superior?
The Chinaman settled in the Philippines under Spanish rule was quite a different being to the obstinate, self-willed, riotous coolie in Hong-Kong or Singapore. In Manila he was drilled past docility—in six months he became even fawning, cringing, and servile, until goaded into open rebellion. Whatever position he might attain to, he was never addressed (as in the British Colonies) as "Mr." or "Esqre," or the equivalent, "Senor D.," but always "Chinaman ——" ("Chino ——").
The total expulsion of the Chinese in Spanish times would have been highly prejudicial to trade. Had it suited the State policy to check the ingress of the Chinese, nothing would have been easier than the imposition of a P50 poll tax. To compel them to take up agriculture was out of the question in a Colony where there was so little guarantee for their personal safety. The frugality, constant activity, and commendable ambition of the Celestial clashes with the dissipation, indolence and want of aim in life of the native. There is absolutely no harmony of thought, purpose, or habit between the Philippine Malay native and the Mongol race, and the consequence of Chinese coolies working on plantations without ample protection would be frequent assassinations and open affray. Moreover, a native planter could never manage, to his own satisfaction or interest, an estate worked with Chinese labour, but the European might. The Chinese is essentially of a commercial bent, and, in the Philippines at least, he prefers taking his chance as to the profits, in the bubble and risk of independent speculation, rather than calmly labour at a fixed wage which affords no stimulus to his efforts.
Plantations worked by Chinese owners with Chinese labour might nave succeeded, but those who arrived in the Colony brought no capital, and the Government never offered them gratuitous allotment of property. A law relating to the concession of State lands existed ("Terrenos baldios" and "Colonias agricolas"), but it was enveloped in so many entanglements and so encompassed by tardy process and intricate conditions, that few Orientals or Europeans took advantage of it.
History records that in the year 1603 two Chinese Mandarins came to Manila as Ambassadors from their Emperor to the Gov.-General of the Philippines. They represented that a countryman of theirs had informed His Celestial Majesty of the existence of a mountain of gold in the environs of Cavite, and they desired to see it. The Gov.-General welcomed them, and they were carried ashore by their own people in ivory and gilded sedan-chairs. They wore the insignia of High Mandarins, and the Governor accorded them the reception due to their exalted station. He assured them that they were entirely misinformed respecting the mountain of gold, which could only be imaginary, but, to further convince them, he accompanied them to Cavite. The Mandarins shortly afterwards returned to their country. The greatest anxiety prevailed in Manila. Rumours circulated that a Chinese invasion was in preparation. The authorities held frequent councils, in which the opinions were very divided. A feverish consternation overcame the natives, who were armed, and ordered to carry their weapons constantly. The armoury was overhauled. A war plan was discussed and adopted, and places were singled out for each division of troops. The natives openly avowed to the Chinese that whenever they saw the first signs of the hostile fleet arriving they would murder them all. The Chinese were accused of having arms secreted; they were publicly insulted and maltreated; the cry was falsely raised that the Spaniards had fixed the day for their extermination; they daily saw weapons being cleaned and put in order, and they knew that there could be no immediate enemy but themselves. There was, in short, every circumstantial evidence that the fight for their existence would ere long be forced upon them.
In this terrible position they were constrained to act on the offensive, simply to ensure their own safety. They raised fortifications in several places outside the city, and many an unhappy Chinaman had to shoulder a weapon reluctantly with tears in his eyes. They were traders. War and revolution were quite foreign to their wishes. The Christian rulers compelled them to abandon their adopted homes and their chattels, regardless of the future. What a strange conception the Chinese must have formed of His Most Catholic Majesty! In their despair many of them committed suicide. Finally, on the eve of Saint Francis' Day, the Chinese openly declared hostilities—beat their war-gongs, hoisted their flags, assaulted the armed natives, and threatened the city. Houses were burnt, and Binondo was besieged. They fortified Tondo; and the next morning Luis Perez Dasmarinas, an ex-Gov.-General, led the troops against them. He was joined by 100 picked Spanish soldiers under Tomas de Acuna. The nephew of the Governor and the nephew of the Archbishop rallied to the Spanish standard nearly all the flower of Castilian soldiery—and hardly one was left to tell the tale! The bloodshed was appalling. The Chinese, encouraged by this first victory, besieged the city, but after a prolonged struggle they were obliged to yield, as they could not provision themselves.
The retreating Chinese were pursued far from Manila along the Laguna de Bay shore, thousands of them being overtaken and slaughtered or disabled. Reinforcements met them on the way, and drove them as far as Batangas Province and into the Morong district (now included in Rizal Province). The natives were in high glee at this licence to shed blood unresisted—so in harmony with their natural instincts. It is calculated that 24,000 Chinese were slain or captured in this revolt.
The priests affirm positively that during the defence of the city Saint Francis appeared in person on the walls to stimulate the Christians—thus the victory was ascribed to him.
This ruthless treatment of a harmless and necessary people—for up to this event they had proved themselves to be both—threatened to bring its own reward. They were the only industrious, thriving, skilful, wealth-producing portion of the population. There were no other artificers or tradespeople in the Colony. Moreover, the Spaniards were fearful lest their supplies from China of food for consumption in Manila, [51] and manufactured articles for export to Mexico, should in future be discontinued. Consequently they hastened to despatch an envoy to China to explain matters, and to reassure the Chinese traders. Much to their surprise, they found the Viceroy of Canton little concerned about what had happened, and the junks of merchandise again arrived as heretofore.
Notwithstanding the memorable event of 1603, another struggle was made by the Chinese 36 years afterwards. In 1639, exasperated at the official robbery and oppression of a certain doctor, Luis Arias do Mora, and the Governor of the Laguna Province, they rose in open rebellion and killed these officials in the town of Calamba. So serious was the revolt that the Gov.-General went out against them in person. The rebels numbered about 30,000, and sustained, for nearly a year, a petty warfare all around. The images of the Saints were promenaded in the streets of Manila; it was a happy thought, for 6,000 Chinese coincidentally surrendered. During this conflict an edict was published ordering all the Chinese in the provinces to be slain.
In 1660 there was another rising of these people, which terminated in a great massacre.
The Spaniards now began to reflect that they had made rather a bad bargain with the Mongol traders in the beginning, and that the Government would have done better had they encouraged commerce with the Peninsula. Up to this time the Spaniards had vainly reposed on their laurels as conquerors. They squandered lives and treasure on innumerable fruitless expeditions to Gamboge, Cochin China, Siam, Pegu, Japan, and the Moluccas, in quest of fresh glories, instead of concentrating their efforts in opening up this Colony and fostering a Philippine export trade, as yet almost unknown, if we exclude merchandise from China, etc., in transit to Mexico. From this period restrictions were, little by little, placed on the introduction of Chinese; they were treated with arrogance by the Europeans and Mexicans, and the jealous hatred which the native to this day feels for the Chinaman now began to be more openly manifested. The Chinaman had, for a long time past, been regarded by the European as a necessity—and henceforth an unfortunate one.
Nevertheless, the lofty Spaniard who by favour of the King had arrived in Manila to occupy an official post without an escudo too much in his pocket, did not disdain to accept the hospitality of the Chinese. It was formerly their custom to secure the goodwill and personal protection of the Spanish officials by voluntarily keeping lodging-houses ready for their reception. It is chronicled that these gratuitous residences were well furnished and provided with all the requisites procurable on the spot. For a whole century the Spaniards were lulled with this easy-going and felicitous state of things, whilst the insidious Mongol, whose clear-sighted sagacity was sufficient to pierce the thin veil of friendship proffered by his guest, was ever prepared for another opportunity of rising against the dominion of Castile, of which he had had so many sorry experiences since 1603. The occasion at last arrived during the British occupation of Manila in 1763. The Chinese voluntarily joined the invaders, but were unable to sustain the struggle, and it is estimated that some 6,000 of them were murdered in the provinces by order of the notorious Simon de Anda (vide p. 93). They menaced the town of Pasig—near Manila—and Fray Juan de Torres, the parish priest, put himself at the head of 300 natives, by order of his Prior, Fray Andres Fuentes, to oppose them, and the Chinese were forced to retire.
On October 9, 1820, a general massacre of Chinese, British, and other foreigners took place in Manila and Cavite. Epidemic cholera had affected the capital and surrounding districts; great numbers of natives succumbed to its malignant effects, and they accused the foreigners of having poisoned the drinking-water in the streams. Foreign property was attacked and pillaged—even ships lying in the bay had to sail off and anchor out afar for safety. The outbreak attained such grave proportions that the clergy intervened to dissuade the populace from their hallucination. The High Host was carried through the streets, but the rioters were only pacified when they could find no more victims.
Amongst other reforms concerning the Chinese which the Spanish colonists and Manila natives called for in 1886, through the public organs, was that they should be forced to comply with the law promulgated in 1867, which provided that the Chinese, like all other merchants, should keep their trade-books in the Spanish language. The demand had the appearance of being based on certain justifiable grounds, but in reality it was a mere ebullition of spite intended to augment the difficulties of the Chinese.
The British merchants and bankers are, by far, those who give most credit to the Chinese. The Spanish and native creditors of the Chinese are but a small minority, taking the aggregate of their credits, and instead of seeking malevolently to impose new hardships on the Chinese, they could have abstained from entering into risky transactions with them. All merchants are aware of the Chinese trading system, and none are obliged to deal with them. A foreign house would give a Chinaman credit for, say, L300 to L400 worth of European manufactured goods, knowing full well, from personal experience, or from that of others, that the whole value would probably never be recovered. It remained a standing debt on the books of the firm. The Chinaman retailed these goods, and brought a small sum of cash to the firm, on the understanding that he would get another parcel of goods, and so he went on for years. [52] Thus the foreign merchants practically sunk an amount of capital to start their Chinese constituents. Sometimes the acknowledged owner and responsible man in one Chinese retail establishment would have a share in, or own, several others. If matters went wrong, he absconded abroad, and only the one shop which he openly represented could be embargoed, whilst his goods were distributed over several shops under any name but his. It was always difficult to bring legal proof of this; the books were in Chinese, and the whole business was in a state of confusion incomprehensible to any European. But these risks were well known beforehand. It was only then that the original credit had to be written off by the foreigner as a nett loss—often small when set against several years of accumulated profits made in successive operations.
The Chinese have guilds or secret societies for their mutual protection, and it is a well-ascertained fact that they had to pay the Spanish authorities very dearly for the liberty of living at peace with their fellow-men. If the wind blew against them from official quarters the affair brought on the tapis was hushed up by a gift. These peace-offerings, at times of considerable value, were procured by a tax privately levied on each Chinaman by the headmen of their guilds. In 1880-83 the Gov.-General and other high functionaries used to accept Chinese hospitality, etc.
In December, 1887, the Medal of Civil Merit was awarded to a Chinaman named Sio-Sion-Tay, resident in Binondo, whilst the Government for several years had made contracts with the Chinese for the public service. Another Chinaman, christened in the name of Carlos Palanca, was later on awarded the Grand Cross of Isabella the Catholic, with the title of Excellency.
Many Chinese have adopted Christianity, either to improve their social standing, or to be enabled thereby to contract marriage with natives. Their intercessor and patron is Saint Nicholas, since the time, it is said, that a Chinaman, having fallen into the Pasig River, was in danger of being eaten by an alligator, and saved himself by praying to that saint, who caused the monster to turn into stone. The legendary stone is still to be seen near the left bank of the river.
There appears to be no perfectly reliable data respecting the number of Chinese residents in the Archipelago. In 1886 the statistics differed largely. One statistician published that there was a total of 66,740 men and 194 women, of whom 51,348 men and 191 women lived in Manila and suburbs, 1,154 men and 3 women in Yloilo, and 983 men in Cebu, the rest being dispersed over the coast villages and the interior. The most competent local authorities in two provinces proved to me that the figures relating to their districts were inexact, and all other information on the subject which I have been able to procure tends to show that the number of resident Chinese was underrated. I estimate that just before the Rebellion of 1896 there were 100,000 Chinese in the whole Colony, including upwards of 40,000 in and around the capital.
Crowds of Chinese passed to these Islands via Sulu (Jolo), which, as a free port, they could enter without need of papers. Pretending to be resident colonists there, they managed to obtain passports to travel on business for a limited period in the Philippines, but they were never seen again in Sulu.
In Spanish times the Chinaman was often referred to as a Macao or a Sangley. The former term applied to those who came from Southern China (Canton, Macao, Amoy, etc.). They were usually cooks and domestic servants. The latter signified the Northern Chinaman of the trading class. The popular term for a Chinaman in general was a Suya.
In Manila and in several provincial towns where the Chinese residents were numerous, they had their own separate "Tribunals" or local courts, wherein minor affairs were managed by petty governors of their own nationality, elected bi-annually, in the same manner as the natives. In 1888 the question of admitting a Chinese Consulate in the Philippines was talked of in official circles, which proves that the Government was far from seeing the "Chinese question" in the same light as the Spanish or native merchant class. In the course of time they acquired a certain consideration in the body politic, and deputations of Chinese were present in all popular ceremonies during the last few years of Spanish rule.
Wherever the Chinese settle they exhibit a disposition to hold their footing, if not to strengthen it, at all hazards, by force if need be. In Sarawak their Secret Societies threatened to undermine the prosperity of that little State, and had to be suppressed by capital punishment. Since the British occupation of Hong-Kong in 1841, there have been two serious movements against the Europeans. In 1848 the Chinese murdered Governor Amiral of Macao, and the colonists had to fight for their lives. In Singapore the attempts of the Chinese to defy the Government called for coercive measures, but the danger is small, because the immigrant Chinaman has only the courage to act in mobs.
In Australia and the United States it was found necessary to enact special laws regulating the ingress of Mongols. Under the Spanish-Philippine Government the most that could be said against them, as a class, was that, through their thrift and perseverance, they outran the shopkeeping class in the race of life.
The Insular Government "Chinese Exclusion Act," at present in operation, permits those Chinese who are already in the Islands to remain conditionally, but rigidly debars fresh immigration. The corollary is that, in the course of a few years, there will be no Chinese in the Philippines. The working of the above Act is alluded to in Chapter xxxi.
Under a native Government their lot is not likely to be a happy one. One of the aims of the Tagalog Revolutionists was to exclude the Chinese entirely from the Islands.
CHAPTER IX
Wild Tribes and Pagans
The population of the Philippines does not consist of one homogeneous race; there are Mahometans, Pagans, and Christians, the last being in the majority. The one tribe is just as much "Filipino" as the other, and, from the point of view of nationality, they are all equally fellow-countrymen. [53] So far as tradition serves to elucidate the problem of their origin, it would appear that the Filipinos are a mixed people, descendants of Papuan, Arabian, Hindoo, Malay, Japanese, Chinese, and European forefathers. [54]
According to the last census (1903), the uncivilized population amounted to 8 1/2 per cent. of the whole.
The chief of these tribes are the Aetas, or Negritos, the Gaddanes, Itavis, Igorrotes, Igorrote-Chinese, Tinguianes, Tagbunuas, Batacs, Manobos, etc. Also among the southern races of Mindanao Island, referred to in Chapters x. and xxix., there are several pagan tribes interspersed between the Mahometan clans.
I have used only the generic denominations, for whilst these tribes are sub-divided (for instance, the Buquils of Zambales, a section of the Negritos; the Guinaanes, a sanguinary people inhabiting the mountains of the Igorrote district, etc.), the fractions denote no material physical or moral difference, and the local names adopted by the different clans of the same race are of no interest to the general reader. The expression Bukidnon, so commonly heard, does not signify any particular caste, but, in a general sense, the people of the mountain (bukid).
Aetas, or Negritos, numbering 22,000 to 24,000, inhabit the mountain regions of Luzon, Panay, Negros, and some smaller islands. They are dark, some of them being as black as African negroes. Their general appearance resembles that of the Alfoor Papuan of New Guinea. They have curly matted hair, like Astrakhan fur. The men cover only their loins, and the women dress from the waist to the knees. They are a spiritless and cowardly race. They would not deliberately face white men in anything like equal numbers with warlike intentions, although they would perhaps spend a quiverful of arrows from behind a tree at a retreating foe.
The Aeta carries a bamboo lance, a palm-wood bow, and poisoned arrows when out on an expedition. He is wonderfully light-footed, and runs with great speed after the deer, or climbs a tree like a monkey. Groups of fifty to sixty souls live in community. Their religion seems to be a kind of cosmolatry and spirit-worship. Anything which for the time being, in their imagination, has a supernatural appearance is deified. They have a profound respect for old age and for their dead. They are of extremely low intellect, and, although some of them have been brought up by civilized families living in the vicinity of the Negrito mountainous country, they offer little encouragement to those who would desire to train them. Even when more or less domesticated, the Negrito cannot be trusted to do anything which requires an effort of judgement. At times his mind seems to wander from all social order, and an apparently overwhelming eagerness to return to his native haunts disconcerts all one's plans for his civilization.
For a long time they were the sole masters of Luzon Island, where they exercised seignorial rights over the Malay immigrants, until these arrived in such numbers, that the Negritos were forced to retire to the highlands. The taxes imposed upon primitive Malay settlers by the Negritos were levied in kind, and when payment was refused, they swooped down in a posse, and carried off the head of the defaulter. Since the arrival of the Spaniards, the terror of the white man has made them take definitely to the mountains, where they appear to be very gradually decreasing.
The Spanish Government, in vain, made strenuous efforts to implant civilized habits among this weak-brained race.
In 1881 I visited the Capas Missions in Upper Pampanga. The authorities had established there what is called a real,—a kind of model village of bamboo and palm-leaf huts,—to each of which a family was assigned. They were supplied with food, clothing and all necessaries of life for one year, which would give them an opportunity of tilling the land and providing for themselves in future. But they followed their old habits when the year had expired and the subsidy ceased. On my second visit they had returned to their mountain homes, and I could see no possible inducement for them to do otherwise. The only attraction for them during the year was the fostering of their inbred indolence; and it ought to have been evident that as soon as they had to depend on their own resources they would adopt their own way of living—free of taxes, military service, and social restraint—as being more congenial to their tastes.
Being in the Bataan Province some years ago, I rode across the mountain range to the opposite coast with a military friend. On our way we approached a Negrito real, and hearing strange noises and extraordinary calls, we stopped to consult as to the prudence of riding up to the settlement. We decided to go there, and were fortunate enough to be present at a wedding. The young bride, who might have been about thirteen years of age, was being pursued by her future spouse as she pretended to run away, and it need hardly be said that he succeeded in bringing her in by feigned force. She struggled, and again got away, and a second time she was caught. Then an old man with grey hair came forward and dragged the young man up a bamboo ladder. An old woman grasped the bride, and both followed the bridegroom. The aged sire then gave them a douche with a cocoa-nut shell full of water, and they all descended. The happy pair knelt down, and the elder having placed their heads together, they were man and wife. We endeavoured to find out which hut was allotted to the newly-married couple, but we were given to understand that until the sun had reappeared five times they would spend their honeymoon in the mountains. After the ceremony was concluded, several present began to make their usual mountain-call. In the lowlands, the same peculiar cry serves to bring home straggling domestic animals to their nocturnal resting-place.
There is something picturesque about a well-formed, healthy Negrita damsel, with jet-black piercing eyes, and her hair in one perfect ball of close curls. The men are not of a handsome type; some of them have a hale, swarthy appearance, but many of them present a sickly, emaciated aspect. A Negrita matron past thirty is perhaps one of the least attractive objects in humanity.
They live principally on fish, roots, and mountain rice, but they occasionally make a raid on the neighbouring valleys and carry off the herds. So great was their cattle-stealing propensity in Spanish times, that several semi-official expeditions were sent to punish the marauders, particularly on the Cordillera de Zambales, on the west side of Luzon Island.
The husbandry of the Negritos is the most primitive imaginable. It consists of scraping the surface of the earth—without clearance of forest—and throwing the seed. They never "take up" a piece of land, but sow in the manner described wherever they may happen temporarily to settle.
The Gaddanes occupy the extreme N.W. corner of Luzon Island, and are entirely out of the pale of civilization. I have never heard that any attempt has been made to subdue them. They have a fine physical bearing; wear the hair down to the shoulders; are of a very dark colour, and feed chiefly on roots, mountain rice, game, fruits, and fish. They are considered the only really warlike and aggressively savage tribe of the north, and it is the custom of the young men about to marry to vie with each other in presenting to the sires of their future brides all the scalps they are able to take from their enemies, as proof of their manly courage. This practice prevails at the season of the year when the tree, commonly called by the Spaniards "the fire-tree," is in bloom. The flowers of this tree are of a fire-red hue, and their appearance is the signal for this race to collect their trophies of war and celebrate certain religious rites. When I was in the extreme north, in the country of the Ibanacs, [55] preparing my expedition to the Gaddanes tribe, I was cautioned not to remain in the Gaddanes country until the fire-tree blossomed. The arms used by the Gaddanes are frightful weapons—long lances with tridented tips, and arrows pointed with two rows of teeth, made out of flint or sea-shells. These weapons are used to kill both fish and foe.
The Itavis inhabit the district to the south of that territory occupied by the Gaddanes, and their mode of living and food are very similar. They are, however, not so fierce as the Gaddanes, and if assaults are occasionally made on other tribes, it may be rather attributed to a desire to retaliate than to a love of bloodshed. Their skin is not so dark as that of their northern neighbours—the Gaddanes or the partially civilized Ibanacs—and their hair is shorter.
The Igorrotes are spread over a considerable portion of Luzon, principally from N. lat. 16 deg. 30' to 18 deg.. They are, in general, a fine race of people, physically considered, but semi-barbarous and living in squalor. They wear their hair long. At the back it hangs down to the shoulders, whilst in front it is cut shorter and allowed to cover the forehead half-way like a long fringe. Some of them, settled in the districts of Lepanto and El Abra, have a little hair on the chin and upper lip. Their skin is of a dark copper tinge. They have flat noses, thick lips, high cheek-bones, and their broad shoulders and limbs seem to denote great strength, but their form is not at all graceful.
Like all the wild races of the Philippines, the Igorrotes are indolent to the greatest degree. Their huts are built bee-hive fashion, and they creep into them like quadrupeds. Fields of sweet potatoes and sugar-cane are under cultivation by them. They cannot be forced or persuaded to embrace the Western system of civilization. Adultery is little known, but if it occurs, the dowry is returned and the divorce settled. Polygamy seems to be permitted, but little practised. Murders are common, and if a member of one hut or family group is killed, that family avenges itself on one of the murderer's kinsmen, hence those who might have to "pay the piper" are interested in maintaining order. In the Province of La Isabela, the Negrito and Igorrote tribes keep a regular Dr. and Cr. account of heads. In 1896 there were about 100,000 head-hunting Igorrotes in the Benguet district. This tribe paid to the Spaniards a recognition of vassalage of one-quarter of a peso per capita in Benguet, Abra, Bontoc, and Lepanto.
Their aggressions on the coast settlers have been frequent for centuries past. From time to time they came down from their mountain retreat to steal cattle and effects belonging to the domesticated population. The first regular attempt to chastise them for these inroads, and afterwards gain their submission, was in the time of Governor Pedro de Arandia (1754-59), when a plan was concerted to attack them simultaneously from all sides with 1,080 men. Their ranches and crops were laid waste, and many Igorrotes were taken prisoners, but the ultimate idea of securing their allegiance was abandoned as an impossibility.
In 1881 General Primo de Rivera, at the head of a large armed force, invaded their district with the view of reducing them to obedience, but the apparent result of the expedition was more detrimental than advantageous to the project of bringing this tribe under Spanish dominion and of opening up their country to trade and enlightened intercourse. Whilst the expeditionary forces were not sufficiently large or in a condition to carry on a war a outrance successfully, to be immediately followed up by a military system of government, on the other hand, the feeble efforts displayed to conquer them served only to demonstrate the impotence of the Europeans. This gave the tribes courage to defend their liberty, whilst the licence indulged in by the white men at the expense of the mountaineers—and boasted of to me personally by many Spanish officers—had merely the effect of raising the veil from their protestations of goodwill towards the race they sought to subdue. The enterprise ignominiously failed; the costly undertaking was an inglorious and fruitless one, except to the General, who—being under royal favour since, at Sagunta, in 1875, he "pronounced" for King Alfonso—secured for himself the title of Count of La Union.
The Igorrotes have, since then, been less approachable by Europeans, whom they naturally regard with every feeling of distrust. Rightly or wrongly (if it can be a matter of opinion), they fail to see any manifestation of ultimate advantage to themselves in the arrival of a troop of armed strangers who demand from them food (even though it be on payment) and perturbate their most intimate family ties. They do not appreciate being "civilized" to exchange their usages, independence, and comfort for even the highest post obtainable by a native in the provinces, which then was practically that of local head servant to the district authority, under the name of Municipal Captain. To roam at large in their mountain home is far more enjoyable to them than having to wear clothes; to present themselves often, if not to habitually reside, in villages; to pay taxes, for which they would get little return—not even the boon of good highroads—and to act as unsalaried tax-collectors with the chance of fine, punishment, and ruin if they did not succeed in bringing funds to the Public Treasury.
As to Christianity, it would be as hard a task to convince them of what Roman Catholicism deems indispensable for the salvation of the soul, as it would be to convert all England to the teachings of Buddha—although Buddhism is as logical a religion as Christianity. Just a few of them, inhabiting the lowlands in the neighbourhood of Vigan and other christian towns, received baptism and paid an annual tribute of half a peso from the year 1893 to 1896.
Being in Tuguegarao, the capital of Cagayan Province, about 60 miles up the Rio Grande, I went to visit the prisons, where I saw many of the worst types of Igorrotes. I was told that a priest who had endeavoured to teach them the precepts of Christianity, and had explained to them the marvellous life of Saint Augustine, was dismayed to hear an Igorrote exclaim that no coloured man ever became a white man's saint. Nothing could convince him that an exception to the rule might be possible. Could experience have revealed to him the established fact—the remarkable anomaly—that the grossest forms of immorality were only to be found in the trail of the highest order of white man's civilization?
The Igorrotes have worked the copper mines of their region for generations past, in their own primitive way, with astonishing results. They not only annually barter several tons of copper ingots, but they possess the art of manufacturing pots, cauldrons, tobacco-pipes, and other utensils made of that metal. They also understand the extraction of gold, which they obtain in very small quantities by crushing the quartz between heavy stones.
Specimens of the different tribes and races of these Islands were on view at the Philippine Exhibition held in Madrid in 1887. Some of them consented to receive Christian baptism before returning home, but it was publicly stated that the Igorrotes were among those who positively refused to abandon their own belief.
A selection of this tribe was included in the Filipinos on show at the San Louis Exhibition (U.S.A.) in 1904, and attracted particular attention. Some of them liked the United States so much that they tried hard to break away from their keepers in order to remain there.
The Calingas are a branch of the Igorrotes, found along the Cagayan River around Ilagan. They are not only head-hunters, but cannibals. A friend of mine, an American colonel, was up there some time during the war, and explained to me the difficulty he had in convincing a Calinga chief that a man's head is his personal property, and that to steal it is a crime.
The Igorrote-Chinese are supposed to be the descendants of the Chinese who fled to the hills on the departure of the corsair Li-ma-hong from Pangasinan Province in 1754 (vide p. 50). Their intermarriage with the Igorrote tribe has generated a caste of people quite unique in their character. Their habits are much the same as those of the pure Igorrotes, but with their fierce nature is blended the cunning and astuteness of the Mongol; and although their intelligence may be often misapplied, yet it is superior to that of the pure Igorrote. In the Province of Pangasinan there are numbers of natives of Chinese descent included in the domesticated population, and their origin is evidently due to the circumstances mentioned. |
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