Plan of Cebú Cathedral; drawn by Juan de Siscarra, engineer, 1719

[Photographic facsimile of original MS. map in Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla]

The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898

Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century,

Volume XLVI, 1721–1739

Edited and annotated by Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson with historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne.

The Arthur H. Clark Company
Cleveland, Ohio
MCMVII

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XLVI

ILLUSTRATIONS

PREFACE

Most of this volume consists of the educational appendix which is continued from the preceding volume. The only regular document presented shows the general history of the islands for the years 1721–1739 both politically and religiously. The greater interest in the volume centers about the appendix. For here we see the first systematic attempts at a universal education in the Philippines, the first real though rude awakening of the inert mass of a people to the facts of broader life by the government establishment of primary and normal schools. As might be expected the paternal element is chiefly discernible in the laws and regulations made by the government. The complexities of the educational question, a problem that Spain would have been many years in solving, are well shown by the two documents which give the friar side of the matter.

A brief summary of the principal events from 1721 to 1739 contains several matters of interest. The murder of Bustamante by a mob arouses much indignation at Madrid, but the attempts to ascertain and punish the guilty ones prove ineffectual, and the affair drops into oblivion. The islands are regularly harassed by the Moro pirates; punitive expeditions are sent against them, but these are often too late or too slow to accomplish any results. The coast villages are fortified, much of this being done by the priests in charge of the Indians. In 1733 the royal storehouses at Manila are destroyed by fire, causing great loss to the treasury. Two years later, a Dutch fleet demands satisfaction for the previous capture of a Dutch ship by a Spanish coastguard, but retires when the Spaniards pay the value of the prize. A controversy arises (1736) between the Recollects and Jesuits over certain missions in northern Mindanao, in which the Jesuits gain the upper hand. In 1737, one of the auditors makes an official visitation of several provinces in Luzón, and reforms many abuses therein. During 1738–39, a controversy rages in Manila over the complaint made by the mestizos of Santa Cruz regarding unjust exactions imposed on them by the Jesuits; the decision of the Audiencia (sustained by the home government) is against that order.

The remainder of this volume is occupied by the educational appendix, which is the continuance and conclusion of the review of education begun in VOL. XLV. The first document, which comprises the greater part of the appendix, treats of primary and normal instruction in the Philippines, after the government really took such education under its protection by special legislation. The subject is prefaced by extracts and synopses from Barrantes which show the earliest legislation, beginning with 1839 and culminating in the decree of December 20, 1863. Although the appointment of a commission is ordered in the former year to draft regulations for schools, such appointment is delayed until 1855, and a report is handed in only in 1861, the work of the commission being stimulated perhaps by the fact that the governor appoints an official in 1860 to draft regulations along the same line. The chief point of debate in the commission is the teaching of Spanish, the vice-rector of the university of Santo Tomás declaring against such teaching but being overruled. The decree of December 20, 1863 is the greatest result of the work of the commission. The normal school created by the decree is formally opened January 23, 1865, although in operation since May 17, 1864. Irregularity of attendance and vacations prove the greatest obstacles. Barrantes, who defends the friars, concludes that the backwardness of primary education is due rather to the laws of the Indies than to any class such as the religious corporations; that before 1865 primary education was only a shadow; and that the Filipinos have not yet sufficiently far advanced to be granted the electoral right that they ask. The remainder of the document is from Grifol y Aliaga’s book on primary instruction. An extract from the preface of that author shows that with the decree of 1863, new life is put into education, and that all the many decrees and orders issued later by the government are harmonious in effect and purpose; although they were in large part inoperative. Next follows the royal decree of December 20, 1863, establishing a plan of primary instruction in the islands. Its first part consists of the exposition addressed to the queen by the minister José de la Concha, stating the need of greater efficiency in the teaching system for the natives, in order that they may develop spiritually and intellectually. The aim is to diffuse the Spanish language. It provides for a normal school under the immediate supervision of the priests. Following the exposition is the decree proper, which decrees schools for each sex in each village, and gives various details of such schools. The regulations for the normal school of teachers for primary instruction end Aliaga’s book. They consist of twenty-eight articles which state the object of the school; and the rules governing the scholars in their manifold relations. Next come the regulations, dated December 20, 1863, for schools and teachers of primary instruction for native Filipinos, which consist of thirty-five articles. By these regulations, separate schools are established in all the villages for boys and girls; attendance is made compulsory for children between certain ages; instruction is to be in Spanish, and the knowledge of that language especially striven for; tuition is free to the poor, and equipment for all; religious and ethical teaching is in charge of the parish priests. Rules are given in regard to the teachers, and assistants, the textbooks, vacations, the establishment of Sunday schools for adults, and the supervision, which is put into the hands of laymen—that duty having thitherto been performed by the parish priests, in so far as it was performed at all. The interior regulations, consisting of fourteen articles, for native primary schools, follow, as the preceding, dated December 20, 1863. They include rules as to the size of buildings, equipment, duties of teachers, manner of keeping records, sending of monthly reports, pupils and conditions of their admittance, attendance, system of merits and demerits, examinations, etc. Religious exercises are found to fill a considerable portion of the day. A government decree of February 15, 1864, approving the regulations for a municipal girls’ school in Manila, is followed by those regulations of the same date, which consist of twenty-six articles. The school is to be in charge of the sisters of charity. Religious and ethical training is given great prominence. The courses of study, comprising the elementary branches, and needle-work, is outlined. There are both required and optional studies. Girls are admitted at the age of five, and admission is in charge of a member of the city ayuntamiento. Rules are given governing the daily and term routine of the school in its manifold relations. Examinations are both public and private. Supervision is in charge of three women appointed by the governor of the islands. This is followed by a circular of the superior civil government, dated August 30, 1867, discussing, and giving rules concerning, school supervision—an important document, showing well the Spanish love of philosophizing. Commenting on the importance of the supervisory function, the circular states the duties of supervisors, for on them “depends the development and conservation of the improvements which are being introduced.” Since the supervision is partly in the hands of the ecclesiastical government, the outcome can only be the best. A rather lengthy quotation is made from a book on supervision, in which the duties and qualifications of supervisors are outlined. Great stress is laid on temperateness of action. The most delicate power is the correction and suspension of teachers. Suspension must only be for ethical and religious lack, and neglect of duties. The parish priests in their duties as supervisors must see that the heads of families recognize their responsibility in regard to sending their children to school. Special privileges are to be given to those attending school and learning the Spanish language—in which all instruction is to be given. Primary instruction in the islands is in a backward state, because of the few buildings and teachers, and the want of uniformity among the children. Statistics of March 1, 1866 show the number of villages in provinces or districts, the population, school attendance, schools possible, and buildings. The government pledges its support of the efforts put forth by the parish priests and the provincial supervisors. The former are to hold annual examinations, and are to have the children review their work when they confess and take communion. The provincial supervision of the alcaldes is to be exercised with the aid of a board composed of the bishop, parish priest, and the administrator of the public finances. Reforms are needed in teaching and supervision, and the efforts of the parish priest must not be opposed. Boards not yet appointed must be appointed at once, and monthly reports submitted. The government decree of June 19, 1875, approving ad interim the regulations for the women’s normal school for primary teachers in Nueva Cáceres, is followed by the regulations. These number fifty-two articles in all. The object of the school is to train good moral and religious women teachers and to make this school a model for other schools. The practice school attached to it is an integral part of the public school system, wherein an education is given free to poor girls. Those attending the normal school may or may not be candidates for a teacher’s certificate. The program of studies shows elementary branches, and demands instruction in Spanish and includes needle-work. The course lasts three years, though an additional year may be allowed to graduates; and the schedule of studies is to be sent annually to the governor for his approval. The time spent in the practice school is not to exceed four months in each year. Teachers’ certificates are to be given to those completing the course, and such graduates are to be given schools of the proper grades, the method of marking being given. The school is organized under charge of the sisters of charity, and the school of Santa Isabel is to be used. The staff and their duties are enumerated, among whom it is to be noted is a secular priest to administer to the ethical and religious needs of the pupils. Pupils shall be both day and resident, the requirements for admission being stated. Women teachers may be admitted to the institution, if not over the age of twenty-three. Instruction is free, and provided for from the local funds. In proportion as the public schools are placed in charge of normal graduates, the number of resident pupils supported from the local funds is to be decreased to twenty-five, from whom vacancies are to be filled. Resident pupils supported by local funds are to teach ten years in the schools of Nueva Cáceres, under penalty of making restitution of their expenses if they do not carry out their contract. General public examinations are to be held at the end of the term, when rewards are to be distributed. Various other data regarding the running of the school in its different relations are given. The moral and religious supervision belongs to the bishop of Nueva Cáceres; secular supervision is in charge of the alcalde-mayor, the bishop, and the administrator of public finances, and one member of this board is to have immediate supervision for three months. A royal decree dated March 11, 1892 creates in Manila a normal school for women teachers under charge of Augustinian nuns. It is needed as is proved by that of Nueva Cáceres. The study of Spanish is compulsory. Expenses are to be met from the regular budget for the islands. Among other data included in this decree, it is to be noted that the certificate for elementary teaching is given for three years’ study and that for superior for four; and that a practice school, whose expenses are to be met by the municipality, is to be annexed to the normal school. This is followed by a royal order of May 19, 1892 approving the regulations for the above normal school, which is followed in turn by the regulations bearing the same date, and consisting of one hundred and fifty-four articles. This is a document of considerable interest, for it goes into much detail concerning the school in its relations to government, teachers, pupils, and public. It is divided into various sections designated as títulos, which are in turn divided into chapters. Título i states in the first chapter the object of the school, and the subjects taught, which are both required and optional. The expense of equipment is to be approved by the general government. Chapter ii relates to the teaching force, and enumerates their duties and names salaries. The total expenses are to be seven thousand nine hundred pesos annually. Chapter iii gives in detail the duties of the directress, which are mainly executive; and those of the instructresses. Chapters iv to vii treat of the duties of the secretary, the librarian, the assistants, and the necessary help. Chapter viii deals with the board of instructresses, which is composed of the regular teachers, and outlines its functions. Chapter ix treats of the disciplinary council, which must consist of five members at least, and is convoked by the directress. Título ii deals with the economic management—chapter i treating of the annual budget, and chapter ii of the collection, distribution, and payment of accounts. Título iii has as its main subject the teaching: of which chapter i deals with the opening of the school, and the term in general; chapter ii, of the order of classes and methods of teaching, etc.; and chapter iii, with the material equipment for teaching. Título iv discusses the scholars: chapter i, treating of their necessary qualifications, entrance examinations, payment of entrance fees, and age of entrance; chapter ii, concerning matriculation, in which there is much red tape; chapter iii, of the obligations of the pupils, mainly in deportment; chapter iv, of examinations—an important subject—which are divided into ordinary and extraordinary, according to the time taken, and are oral, written, and practical; chapter v, of rewards; chapter vi, of certificates and decisions, and conditions under which they are given; and chapter vii, of discipline and punishments. Título v, which is, like all this document, laden with red tape, outlines the conditions of the examination for degrees. The practice school annexed to the normal school has its expenses met by the municipality, and is a public school. For the present the normal school shall have only day pupils, but if necessary later, they may enrol resident pupils. The nuns in charge of the school have liberty to follow the institutes of their order. This document is followed by a governmental decree of November 1, 1893, elevating to the grade of superior the normal school for men teachers in Manila, and approving provisionally the new regulations of this school. This exposition by the reverend father director shows that this school, created as an elementary normal school by the decree of December 20, 1863, has been fulfilling its function since its creation, and has made progress in the process of better understanding between the Filipinos and Spanish authorities, has diffused the Spanish language wider than ever, and encouraged the arts and industries. It has had a difficult path, because of the condition of its students who are far from homogeneous in preparation and ability. It has been necessary to lessen the age limit at which men may enter, because, as the average Filipino leaves school at the age of twelve, he readily forgets what he has learned, and consequently when he enters at the age of sixteen into the normal school, he has to take a year in special preparation. The proposal to elevate the school to the rank of superior can be done without any extra expense, as it will be in charge of the same force as at present. The Manila normal school compares with the best in Spain. A petition by one A. Avilés, asking for the extension, and the decree proper, both dated November 10, 1893 follow. Certificates from this school are to have the same value and rights as certificates granted in Spain. The regulations for the extension above-mentioned dated also November 10, 1893, follow. They consist of thirty articles, a number of which are similar or analogous to those of the regulations of December 20, 1863, establishing the elementary school. These regulations discuss the manifold relations of the school in regard to pupils, teachers, supplies, examinations, etc. The selections from Grifol y Aliaga are closed by a list of all the decrees, circulars, orders, etc., in regard to primary and normal education in the Philippines from December 20, 1863 to July 20, 1894—in all one hundred and seventy-one. This is of distinct value, as the course of legislation can be followed easily, and one may note the new ideas that leaders were attempting to work out in this period of Spanish unrest.

A series of short documents regarding the religious schools follows. The first is a summary of the Dominican institutions for 1896–1897. The university of Santo Tomás has a total enrolment in all courses of 3,059, and a total of 36 degrees are conferred. The college of San Juan de Letran has a total enrolment of 5,995, which includes professors, collegiates, day pupils, and servants; and has conferred in all 177 degrees. The college of San Alberto Magno in Dagupan, has an enrolment of 947, counting teachers. The school of Santa Catalina de Sená shows an enrolment of 223, including the teachers, who are nuns. A total enrolment of 83 is seen in the school of Nuestra Señora del Rosario of Lingayén; while the school of the same name in Vigan has 79. The school of Santa Ymelda founded in 1892, completes the list, with an enrolment of 110. A report for the religious schools for 1897 gives various statistics of the following institutions: La Concordia, Santa Isabel, Santa Rosa, and Looban, the military hospital, the hospital of St. John of God, the municipal school [of secular foundation], and the hospice of San José, all in charge of the sisters of charity in Manila; and certain of the provincial schools. The third document in this series gives an account of the educational institutions of the Recollects, probably for the year 1897. These are the beaterio of Santa Rita in San Sebastian, in the suburbs of Manila; school of San José of Bacolod, Negros, opened in 1897, and under the auspices of the university of Santo Tomás; the seminary school of Vigan, of which the Recollects had charge during the years 1882–1895; school of Santa Rosa, of which the Recollects were in charge in 1891.

The friar side of the educational question of the Philippines is well set forth in two selections. The first is a chapter by Eduardo Navarro, O.S.A., who spent many years in the islands, and who is, perhaps, one of the best representative men of his order, and moreover, of scholarly tastes. He introduces his subject in a somewhat philosophical manner. Education and religion he declares to be synonymous terms when taken in their real signification. It is the duty of the government to choose the best educational method. The earliest laws passed by the Spanish government in regard to the education of the American Indians are extended later to the Philippines, but they prove most unsatisfactory and unsuited to the conditions of those islands. They provide for the teaching of Spanish to the aborigines, but in an inadequate manner. The theme of the present chapter is to prove that the friars are not responsible for the backward state of education in the islands. On the other hand they early pass laws that are more advanced than those passed by the government. Their laws have always been consistent and have had but one aim. They have not endeavored to retard the learning of Spanish, but they rather favored it. They have done their best with the useless laws of the government. They have founded and taught schools, paid the teachers, and have made the textbooks, notwithstanding their immense toil. They have also introduced many of the arts and crafts. The friars have gone farther than the laws for they provided for girls’ schools before the famous decree of 1863. The passage of those regulations has robbed the parish priest unjustly of much of his supervisory power, which has been conferred except in so far as morality and religion are concerned, on the civil authorities. It belongs by right to the friars, who only use that power as it should be used. The parish priest knows the people thoroughly, and as no laymen do. The Filipino cannot be identified with the Spaniards notwithstanding all efforts of the Spanish government. Navarro enforces his arguments by quotations from Escosura, whom he criticises harshly for his expressions. While modern ideas from abroad have made better sea communication, internal communication has become worse. Good roads are especially needed and the small barrios ought to be merged together whenever possible. That the friars do not oppose education is shown by the many schools that they maintain in Manila and the provinces. They should be allowed to establish normal schools under their own direction. The parish priest can best overcome the evil introduced by the free masons. The studies chosen for the Filipinos must be fitted to their capacity. Our author suggests the personnel of the Superior Board of Public Instruction, in which he places a majority of ecclesiastics, and this Board should revise the school laws. The majority of the Filipino students return to their homes with plenty of vices but little learning, although looked up to greatly by their fellow townsmen. This horde brings disaster and ruin upon the people. The rector of the university should have more power over the life and morals of the students, for only thus can the Filipino students become really useful to Spain.

The second selection is a chapter written by Fr. Eladio Zamora, also an Augustinian. Almost the last friar writer on the matter, since he writes after American occupation, his remarks may be assumed to be the present friar attitude. He begins with a quotation from the preface of Grifol y Aliaga to the effect that until 1863 there had been no real legislation concerning education, for the many decrees, etc., were isolated. It is rather the friars, says Zamora, who are the first educators, teaching themselves or paying teachers from their own funds. After 1863, the friars continue to encourage education as supervisors. They build schools, and visit the distant barrios whenever possible. On Sundays it is their custom to inspect the copybooks, etc. The distance of barrios and villages from one another makes teaching difficult. Many of the priests become suspected as having a bad influence, for many criminals resort to the barrios. The government orders the fusion of barrios into villages, but the order is not obeyed. In 1863, the government takes control of the schools founded by the friars. Under the new regime, so long as the parish priest has supervisory action, the schools flourish, but when that action ceases, so does progress in the schools, and attendance becomes only nominal and a record on paper. The intention of the government to have all teaching in Spanish fails of its purpose, for the scholars can not understand it. The famous Maura decree of 1893 gives the local supervision to local municipalities, a law that soon gives rise to serious trouble. Many unjustly blame the parish priest for the ignorance of Spanish, but he has no time to teach Spanish amid the multiplicity of his duties. Besides, it is easier for the few Spaniards to learn the languages of the natives than for the Filipinos to learn Spanish. The friars have not shunned the teaching of Spanish, as is proved by a citation from Zúñiga. If the Tagálog actors are allowed to use their native language in the theater, because they do not know Spanish, is it consistent to demand that all sermons and teaching be in Spanish? In spite of the early laws requiring Spanish to be taught to the Filipinos, it is impossible for Spanish to supplant all the numerous dialects. Zamora reproduces portions of an open letter by W. E. Retana to Minister Becerra, in which Retana decries the intellect of the Filipino, and declares that it is absurd to think of teaching him in Spanish, but that the best way of teaching it would be to settle 500,000 Spanish families in the islands. Zamora gives a résumé of the history of the university of Santo Tomás and the college of San Juan de Letran. The religious corporations have kept abreast of the times in the manner in which they have fostered education from the earliest period, and many schools are due to them, some being founded by the tertiary order of the Dominicans. Zamora criticises the capacity of the Filipinos, asserting that they are teachable and quick in imitation, although they never attain excellence in anything, but that they are utterly devoid of originality. They have greater capacity than the American Indian, and make fine clerks and the like, but they are lazy, and do not strive to rise beyond a certain point. They learn vices but not virtues. The Augustinians are the last of the religious orders to take up superior education, by establishing an institute at Iloilo, because a secular institution was planned for that place by Minister Becerra in 1887–1888. Zamora emphasizes the importance of arts and crafts for the Filipinos.

The appendix to our volume is brought to a close with a very brief statement in regard to American education in the Philippines since 1898. A bibliographical list of works treating of education will enable the student to follow the course of American work. The statement is concluded by the abstract of a philosophical address by Dr. T. H. Pardo de Tavera before the American and Filipino teachers in Manila in May 1906, in which he points out the beneficent results of Anglo-Saxon teaching.

The Editors

November, 1906.

DOCUMENT OF 1721–1739

Events in Filipinas, 1721–1739. Compiled from various sources.

Source: This document consists of citations and synopses from various authors fully credited in the text.

Translation: The translations and synopses are made by Emma Helen Blair.

EVENTS IN FILIPINAS, 1721–1739

The Marqués de Torre-Campo “brought with him commission to take the residencia of Bustamante;[1] and as it found him already dead, many were the charges that resulted against him—which it would not be difficult to prove, since the minds of the people were so inflamed against him, as we have seen. Some of his friends, it appeared, were accomplices in his delinquencies; some denied the charges, and, as these could not be proved against them, it was necessary to declare them innocent; others excused themselves by his violent proceedings, and by their fear that he would kill them if they did not obey him. Don Esteban Iñigo, who was charged, among other things, with the exportation of rice, which caused a great famine in the islands, replied that he had undertaken this trade with the governor because he could not resist the latter, and feared that if he did not do so he would lose the rice and all his property. Other persons alleged other [reasons for their] exemption [from legal process], always blaming the deceased—who, as he had no one to defend him, came out of this residencia the most wicked man that can be imagined.”[2] (Zúñiga, Hist. de Philipinas, p. 469.)

The Council of the Indias gave answer to the royal Audiencia [of Manila] that they had received the [papers in the] investigation of the death of the governor, and were giving the matter due attention; and at the same time came another order from the king to the Marqués de Torre-Campo, in which the latter was commanded to take cognizance of this affair and punish the culprits. The governor, who, it appears, had little inclination to plunge into this labyrinth, a second time consulted Father Totanes[3] and the Jesuits—who told him that, just as he had before stayed the execution of the first order, he ought to do the same with this one, until his Majesty, advised of the governor’s reply [to the first order], which had not yet been received, should make another decision. Father Totanes in his advisory statement exaggerated the ruin of the fortunes of the citizens of Manila, the arrears [in the incomes] of the charitable funds, the scarcity of rice, and the lack of those who might give alms (on account of which, he said, many died of hunger), the cause of all these evils being the mariscal. The father expatiated on his acts of violence, and the consternation of the city, with which he strove to exculpate the action of the Manila people, who had no other recourse, in order to escape from such a throng of calamities, than to depose the governor from his office. “But to what tribunal,” he said, “were they to resort in order to deprive him of his office? He had suppressed the royal Audiencia, and held the archbishop and the ecclesiastics prisoners; and the city [council] was composed of an alcalde-in-ordinary who was a nephew of the governor, and two regidors who were his henchmen. Not having any one to resort to, they tried to arrest the governor, in order to free themselves from so many calamities; he resisted, turning his weapons against the citizens, who wounded him mortally in defense of their own lives; but this should be regarded as the misfortune of the mariscal rather than the fault of the citizens.” This statement, which veritably is a seditious one, they presented to the king, in order to show him the erroneous opinions of the religious of Philipinas; but it was a calumny, for Father Totanes was not the oracle of the islands, and most of the regulars thought as did the Jesuit fathers—who, while condemning in their advisory report the act of the Manila people, said only that the latter were worthy of the royal clemency. With this came to a halt all the severity with which at first this process was undertaken, and, the minds of people gradually becoming cool, the prosecution entirely ceased, and all these who were inculpated remained unpunished; the archbishop alone, he who had taken least part in these commotions and disturbances, was chastised[4]—a worthy prelate, who in imitation of Christ carried on his own shoulders the sin of his people. (Zúñiga, Hist. de Philipinas, pp. 514–517.)

Signature of Joseph Torrubia, O.S.F.

[From original MS. in Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla]

[As soon as the Spaniards abandoned the fort of Lábo in Paragua, the Moro pirates renewed their incursions. When Zamboanga was reestablished, they attempted to capture it, but were repulsed with loss. In 1721–23 expeditions were sent out against the Moros, but they failed to accomplish anything.[5] The sultan of Joló sent an ambassador to Manila in 1725, to form a treaty of peace with the Spaniards; this was accomplished in the following year at Joló, the Spanish envoy being Miguel Arajón, the alcalde-mayor of the Parián at Manila. By this treaty, among other provisions, the island of Basilan was restored to Spain. Nevertheless, soon afterward the perfidious Moros made several raids against Indian villages, captured many vessels and burned them, and committed many acts of cruelty,—the worst probably being the case of a vessel from Cebú, whose crew were all killed by the pirates, who then tortured to death the Spanish captain. Later, letters were received from Radiamura (the son of Maulana) and other friendly chiefs in Mindanao, asking for prompt action by the Spaniards against the Moro pirates, who, they claimed, were threatening them with attack because of their friendship to the Spaniards. Governor Torre Campo organized a punitive expedition for this purpose, but the royal treasury was so depleted that the costs had to be met by donations from the citizens of Manila and Cavite. The armada was placed under command of Juan Angel de Leaño, with directions to surrender the vessels and men to General Juan de Mesa when they should reach Iloilo; and the governor gave the commanders definite instructions, and powers for forming a treaty with the “kings” of Joló and Mindanao. “The result of this expedition is not definitely stated, except that it was successful; the fort of La Sabanilla at Tuboc was taken, and a great number of the rabble [canalla] were slain, and among them some princes and datos (the remembrance of which still continues among them, to the honor of our arms); and a treaty for the cessation of hostilities was drawn up, which the Moros, well punished, asked for.” (Concepción, Hist. de Philipinas, x, pp. 134–157, 184–198.)]

[On July 23, 1726, the galleon “Santo Christo de Burgos” was driven by a storm on the rocks at Ticao, a long, narrow island adjoining San Bernardino Strait, and so badly wrecked that it could not be repaired. The auditor Julian de Velasco was on board the vessel, on his way to Mexico; as the official of highest rank on the ship, he held a conference with the officers, pilots, seamen, and other persons of experience, and it was decided (after several vain efforts had been made to save part of the cargo) to burn the ship and its contents, great part of which were ruined by the water. This was a great loss to the citizens of Manila, as all their investments for this year were thus destroyed. (Concepción, Hist. de Philipinas, x, pp. 157–167.)]

[Torrubia enumerates the armed naval expeditions sent against the Moro pirates during 1721–34, as follows: (1) An armada commanded by Antonio de Roxas sailed from Manila on July 10, 1721; it seems to have accomplished little, but cost the treasury much. (2) Another was commanded by Andrés Garcia; he fought with a Moro fleet—date not given, but probably in 1722—at Negros Island, and won a notable victory. (3) In 1723 a fleet set out under command of Juan de la Mesa y Aponte, warden of Fort Santiago at Manila; they went to Mindanao and captured from the Moros the fort at La Sabanilla, “slaying an immense number of that rabble, and among them several princes and datos.” (4) In February, 1731, four galleys were sent from Manila under command of Ignacio Irriberri; at Zamboanga they collected the vessels already there—two fragatas, four despatch-boats or champans, one taratana, one falua, eight caracoas of Bisayans and two others of Lutaos—and went to attack Joló, at which they found six forts defended by cannon. Here they had a fierce battle with the Moros, of whom many were slain, including two datos; then they ravaged the adjacent island of Talobo, destroying its salt-works (“which are the entire livelihood of that people”); and laid waste the district of the dato Salicaya, who, with many of his people, was slain. In the same year Captain Pedro Zacharias Villareal, with some vessels of the same fleet, attacked the island of Capual, near Joló, and burned three villages and many boats, and ravaged the fields, destroying their cattle and the salt-works there. (5) In November, 1731, Zacharias was sent by Valdés Tamon with a squadron from Manila to Zamboanga; at that very time, the sultan of Mindanao, Maulana Diafar Sadibsa, was asking aid from the Spaniards against his tributary Malinog, who had rebelled against him and had secured the support of more than thirty of the principal villages on the Rio Grande of Mindanao. This rebellion was caused by Malinog’s refusal to obey Maulana’s demand that he restore to the Spaniards the captives and spoil which Malinog, in conjunction with the Joloans, had carried away in 1722–23 from Negros and Panay. It was learned that Malinog was negotiating with the Dutch for succor, which they were inclined to grant him. At a council of war (in which the Jesuits were prominent) held in Zamboanga, it was decided to send Zacharias with a fleet to Tamontaca, to aid Maulana and punish Malinog. The latter’s fort—which, like that in Joló, was constructed by a Dutch engineer—at the entrance to his river, was captured by the united forces and large amounts of military supplies were destroyed. Two leguas further up the river, they attacked Malinog’s principal town, defended by six forts; many of the Moros (including their general, Tambul) were slain, three of their villages were burned, and their lands devastated. Returning to Zamboanga, the Spaniards harried the coasts of Joló and Basilan, so thoroughly that, later, “in order to terrify the Moros, it is only necessary to say, ‘Here comes Zacharias.’” (6) In January, 1733, a fleet under Juan Antonio Jove went to aid Maulana; but Malinog made a sudden attack on Tamontaca, which he destroyed with fire and sword, and slew Maulana, whereupon the Spaniards, disheartened, returned to Manila. (7) Maulana’s successor, Radiamura, asked aid from Manila, which was granted; the citizens subscribed more than nine thousand pesos in silver, and a fleet of forty-eight vessels was equipped. Under command of Francisco de Cardenas Pacheco and Captain (soon afterward made sargento-mayor) Zacharias, this fleet left Zamboanga on February 18, 1734, and went to Tamontaca. At Tuboc they attacked the sultan of Tawi-Tawi, but the Bisayan auxiliaries of the Spaniards fled, panic-stricken, and the Moro allies of the sultan swarmed in upon the Spaniards, compelling them to retreat. They then went against Malinog at Sulangan; at sight of the Spanish fleet, he set fire to his village and forts, and fled up the river to Libungang—a place which was strongly fortified by both nature and art. A fierce assault was made on this stronghold, but the Moros could not be dislodged; they killed many Spaniards with their unceasing discharge of balls and small weapons, and finally, by poisoning the water-supply, compelled the Spaniards to raise the siege. Then the latter went to Sulungan, and remained there until that place was well fortified, and the passage of the river securely closed to Malinog, who was thus shut in from his allies the Joloans and Camucones. On April 20, Radiamura was solemnly crowned as king by the Spaniards; and he agreed to allow the entrance of Christian missionaries, the building of churches, and the establishment of Spanish forts and garrisons, in his territories; also to acknowledge his vassalage to Spain by furnishing a quantity of wax, cacao, and other products of the country. Afterward, Zacharias made a raid on Basilan, devastated the lands, and seized much and rich booty; “so great was the spoil of the ‘enchanted island’ that, when the men had laden our armada and the captured vessels [which numbered over three hundred], they had to burn many articles because they could not carry them away.” (Torrubia, Dissertacion, pp. 68–90.) Cf. Concepción’s and Montero y Vidal’s accounts of these expeditions.]

Title-page of Dissertacion historico-politita

[The Marqués de Torre Campo, after eight years of clement and upright government, was succeeded by Fernando de Valdés y Tamón, a knight of the Order of Santiago, who took possession of his office on August 14, 1729. As an experienced and able soldier, he gave his first attention to the fortifications and military equipment of Manila, which had been sadly neglected. He tried to purchase 1,500 guns with bayonets, but the Dutch refused to sell him these firearms. In May, 1730, the pirates of Joló sent out a large expedition, with 3,000 men, against the islands of Palawan and Dumaran, where they plundered the villages and carried away many captives. They besieged the fort at Taytay (the principal town in that part of Palawan) during twenty days, but were obliged to retire with considerable loss, including some of their datos. As it was evident that the islands could have no peace or safety until severe punishment was inflicted on these pirates, an expedition with over 600 men was sent from Manila in February, 1731, under the command of General Ignacio de Iriberri. This force attacked the town of Joló, which was well defended with forts and artillery; and after a fierce contest the Spaniards captured the place, and burned the houses and boats of the Moros. They also ravaged the islands of Talobo and Capual, near Joló, and destroyed the salt-works there, from which the pirates obtained much wealth; and returned to Manila in the month of June. A prominent chief of Mindanao, named Malinog, had revolted against Maulana Diafar, sultan of Tamontaca, securing the aid of many datos on the Rio Grande, and negotiating with the Dutch for their aid; in November, 1731, a small squadron was sent from Manila, in answer to Maulana’s petition for aid against the rebels; with the aid of the Spaniards the rebels were routed, their forts destroyed, and their villages and plantations ravaged and burned. Malinog, however, kept up the contest, so that another Spanish expedition was sent (January, 1733) against him; but while his town was besieged by the Tamontacans and the Spaniards he slipped away with 300 pirogues and invaded Tamontaca, where Maulana was slain by his foes.[6] His son Amuril asked Governor Valdés y Tamón for aid against Malinog, which was granted; and in February 1734 an expedition left Zamboanga under command of General Francisco Cárdenas Pacheco, who placed a detachment of the armada under Pedro Zacarías Villarreal. Their campaign against the Moros was bravely fought, but was only partially successful, on account of the fierceness and overwhelming numbers of the Moros. The latter committed numerous depredations wherever and whenever they could find opportunity, and the Manila government took measures for the erection of lookout towers and fortifications at the coast villages, and for sending coastguard galleys and other vessels to the points most likely to be menaced by the pirates, so as to be ready to meet or follow up any Moro vessels that might attack the Indian villages or Spanish forts. In 1735, 2,000 Joloans and Mindanaos attacked the fort at Taytay, but they were finally repulsed with great loss. In this conflict, as often on like occasions, the native soldiers in the garrison were encouraged and incited by the friars in whose spiritual charge they were, to resist the fierce foe who attacked them.[7] In 1735, Mahamad Ali-Mudin was raised to the sultanate of Joló, in virtue of the abdication of his father Maulana. The latter plotted to obtain possession of the fort at Zamboanga by treason, but the scheme was unsuccessful; the news of this so angered Maulana (who was then ill) that he hastened his own death. The new sultan of Joló professed (1736) friendship to the Spaniards, and even joined them in a campaign against the Tiron pirates; but in secret he encouraged the latter, and sent them warning of the movements against them. (Montero y Vidal, Hist. de Filipinas, i, pp. 438–452; his account is largely taken from Concepción’s Hist. de Philipinas, x, pp. 198–238, 337–375.)]

Map showing new route from Manila to Acapulco; presented to Governor Fernando Valdés Tamón by the pilot, Enrique Hermán, 1730

[Photographic facsimile from original MS. map in Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla]

[On June 18, 1733, the royal magazines at Manila were destroyed by fire, with all their contents, which included the supplies for the two vessels which were soon to go to Acapulco. The royal treasury had not the funds to make good this loss, and the galleons must sail at a certain time, in order to secure favorable winds; the governor therefore appealed to the citizens and merchants for help to meet the expenses of equipping the vessels. They responded with a donation of 30,000 pesos, which the governor duly reported to the king, asking that in view of the zeal and loyalty thus displayed by the citizens their interest might be cared for in the pending dispute regarding the Manila-Acapulco commerce. The losses sustained in the above fire were estimated by the royal officials at 66,807 pesos. (Concepción, Hist. de Philipinas, x, pp. 226–230.)]

Plan of infantry barracks in Manila; drawn by the military engineer, Thomas de Castro y Andrade, 1733

[Photographic facsimile from original MS. in Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla]

The governor, not finding any corrective for the injuries which the Moros were causing, held a conference of the principal citizens of Manila. It was resolved therein that, so far as the funds in the royal treasury would permit, some small armadas should be despatched against the Moros; and that the coast-dwellers should be gathered [into larger villages] at certain places, at the rate of five hundred tributes to each one, in order that they might be able to resist the pirates and build some little forts, which would inspire respect in the enemy.[8] This precaution had already been taken by some of the religious in charge of doctrinas—who, not finding any other remedy, had built some fortifications around their churches, in order to guard these and that the Indians might take refuge there when the Moros came. Others had built some small forts on lofty places, in order to protect the villages from the affronts of those robbers; and at night the fathers would go to visit these posts, and watch lest the sentinels fall asleep, performing at the same time the duties of parish priest and military officer. As a consequence of this order [by the government], there was no coast village which did not build some fortification for its defense, but no aid was given to them from the royal treasury. But the religious ministers, out of their own stipends, paid the overseers and artisans; and by dint of entreaties, persuasions, and threats obliged the people to give the materials and the day-laborers [peones], expending much money and patient endeavor for the sake of building these little forts. When the alcaldes-mayor saw these fortifications, now completed, they began to wish to subject them to their own authority; and they secured that in every one should be stationed a warden subject to the alcalde’s orders, and that a certain number of men for the service of the fort should be furnished to the warden by apportionment [from the respective villages]. The warden regularly sent these men to work on his own grain-fields, or compelled them to redeem the [compulsory] service with money. This they had to do, usually leaving the fort abandoned—which is, for this reason, very burdensome to the people; and here comes to be verified what Señor Solorzano says, that all which is decreed in favor of the Indians is converted into poison for them. (Zúñiga, Hist. de Philipinas, pp. 526–528.)

[In October, 1733, a Spanish coastguard vessel captured a Dutch ship near the southern coast of Mindanao, and seized its despatches and instructions, “among these, the turban and crown which they were carrying as a present for Malinog.” When this event was learned at Batavia, great indignation was aroused among the Dutch, and they sent three warships, which anchored in Manila Bay (June, 1735) and demanded satisfaction; the Dutch would not allow any vessel to enter or leave the bay, and threatened to seize the patache “San Christoval,” which was expected to arrive from Acapulco. Warning was immediately sent to the commander of the latter, at the Embocadero; but the ship was already wrecked on the shoals of Calantás. The silver on board, 745,000 pesos belonging to the merchants and 773,025 to the royal situado, was transported by boat to Sorsogón, and the men removed the cargo to land and erected fortifications for its defense in case of necessity; the hull was then destroyed by fire, to prevent its being used by enemies. The Manila government, seeing that it had no funds for defense against the Dutch, and that the Acapulco galleon imprisoned in the bay might lose the favorable winds for its departure, finally came to a settlement with the Dutch, paying 6,500 pesos as satisfaction for the captured Dutch vessel and its contents; the Dutch ships thereupon retired. (Concepción, Hist. de Philipinas, x, pp. 375–410.)]

[In 1736, a controversy arose between the Recollects and Jesuits in northern Mindanao. The Indians of Cagayan, and the Recollect minister in charge there, Fray Hipolito de San Agustín, maintained a close and friendly communication with the native chiefs of Lake Lanao, who finally asked the Recollects (1736) to send missionaries to Larapan, a Malanao village, in order to instruct and baptize their people. The Jesuits were jealous of the Recollects, according to Concepción, and incited a heathen chief named Dalabahan in the mountains of the Cagayan district to attack the Malanaos, thinking that the latter would blame their Cagayan friends for the hostilities; but the latter were able to exonerate themselves from this suspicion, and remained on amicable terms with the Malanaos. The demand of these for Recollect missionaries had to go to Manila; the Jesuits, hearing of it, opposed the request, alleging that the Lanao territory belonged to them. The governor allowed the Jesuit claim, and the Malanaos appealed to the king himself; but “this remonstrance had no result, these unfortunate people being left in their barbarism—from which resulted to us most serious damages, as will be seen in due time.” (Concepción, Hist. de Philipinas, xi, pp. 54–66.)]

[In January, 1737, the new archbishop, Fray Juan Angel Rodriguez, took possession of his see; he belonged to the Order of Mercy, and was a native of Medina del Campo, Spain. “He began to govern like an angel” (Concepción; in allusion to his name). “He lessened the number of days for church processions, in order to give opportunity for the business of the courts, and for the necessary work of the people; he prohibited the processions at night, on account of the troubles which are wont to occur in them; he regularly attended the choir, and introduced the use of the Gregorian chant; he taught the sub-chanters plain-song, which they did not know,” etc. (Zúñiga, Hist. de Philipinas, pp. 535–536.)]

In the year thirty-seven, Governor Tamon issued a commission and powers to the licentiate Don Joseph Ignacio de Arzadun y Revolledo, in order that he might, in accordance with the royal laws, which decree that the provinces shall be visited every three years, fulfil that duty in those of Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Ylocos. There he was to inspect the fortresses, and the arms, ammunition, gunpowder, balls, and other military supplies, also their condition and circumstances; and to review the troops in the garrisons. He must investigate the mode and form in which the wages due them were paid, and the fictitious enrolments of men in the garrisons. He must also make lists of the warrants which the alcaldes-mayor might have issued; and if he found that these had not been confirmed by the general government, he must annul them. He must abrogate the enjoyment of exemptions, proceeding against those who should be guilty, in such manner as he should find most convenient; he might allow claims, and render definitive judgment in those of less value and amount than twenty pesos, placing the others in a condition to be judicially decided. He received full commission for the exercise and office of the said visitation, being appointed deputy (and a warrant for his title thereto being issued) in the offices of governor and captain-general in the provinces which were entrusted to him, for whatever emergencies might arise or which he might encounter, with superintendence over the other deputies who might be in those provinces. It is true, this is the royal provision; but it also is a fact that the governors profit by their opportunities, when any auditor resists their unjust maxims, and the dread of this often constrains the auditors to unbecoming acts of compliance; and they live as parasites, dependents on that quarter, in order to secure a shameful liberty and an inactive sloth.

Señor Arzadun set out on his commission, which he fulfilled with integrity; he was an unassuming and affable man. Without causing injuries to individuals, he reformed many abuses; and by mild measures he added two reals to each whole tribute. This peaceable result ruffled some persons, and led to various disputes with the ecclesiastical judge, provisor, and vicar-general, which ended in favor of the said auditor. Nor did he fail to have noisy controversies with some other persons; but all this ended as peacefully as possible.

Another controversy, no less disagreeable, occurred at that time between the fathers of the Society [of Jesus] and the mestizos of Santa Cruz. The latter complained, in a petition presented to the royal Audiencia, that with occasion of undertaking to build a bridge across a lagoon which extends from their village to that of Quiapo the fathers had compelled them to sign an obligation for two hundred and fifty pesos in favor of the superintendent of the work, for its cost and materials; and, for the payment of this, assessments had been levied in their village among the mestizos, and various persons had been arrested for not making their payments for this sum, part of which was not yet collected. On examination of this complaint, it was ordered that the auditor who was on duty for that week should proceed to the investigation of these statements; and the completion of such bridge was placed in his charge—for which he was to employ the means and measures that would be mildest, these being entrusted to his good judgment. In virtue of this order, the licentiate Don Pedro Calderon Henriquez, auditor of this royal Audiencia, made the investigation and examined the witnesses, which resulted in verifying the complaint made. It appeared from the judicial inquiry that the land of that village belonged to the Society; and the auditor drew up a formal statement, saying that the inhabitants of that village, who possessed no landed property, were paying ground rents that were exorbitant. He declared that the money for the cost of that bridge ought not to have been levied among the Sangleys and mestizos, even though they belonged to that village; and that consequently the owner of the land ought to pay it—citing laws i and v of título xvi, book iv of the Recopilación. [Here follows a relation of the various legal proceedings in this controversy; after hearing all the evidence in the case the decision of the court was against the Jesuits. It was shown that part of the land in question did not belong to them, and they were ordered not to disturb the tenants of it in their possession, and not to collect rents from them. They proved their title to other lands, but were warned that they must no longer exact, as they had been doing, three and one-half pesos as ground-rent for the sites occupied by the huts which the colonists erected within the grain-fields so that they might more conveniently cultivate the lands. “By this sentence the Jesuits lost some three thousand pesos a year for the [rents of the] ground-plots of the houses; each married man had paid them three pesos, and each unmarried man and widow a peso and a half—and this, besides, for houses and lands which belonged to those people.” The Jesuits pleaded ecclesiastical immunity, and claimed that they had a right to the rents in question. A long and clamorous dispute arose, in which manifestoes were issued on both sides; it appears to have lasted from March 28, 1738, to July 1, 1739. The Jesuits appealed to the king, but Auditor Calderon’s sentence was sustained. (Concepción, Hist. de Philipinas, xi, pp. 79–89.)]

[1] The following summary of events, sometimes in full translation and sometimes abridged, is obtained from the histories of Concepción, Zúñiga, and Montero y Vidal, the source of each paragraph being indicated at the end. [↑]

[2] “As the latter [i.e., Bustamante] could not defend himself, and it was for the interest of the religious orders and of the principal citizens of Manila that the blame for what had occurred should recoil upon Bustamante, they accumulated against him numberless charges—most of them formulated by his assassins, by the officials who had defrauded the exchequer, by those who were debtors to the treasury, and by all who, instead of making amends for their offences in a military post, had been replaced in their offices by Archbishop Cuesta” (Montero y Vidal, Hist. de Filipinas, i, pp. 430–431). [↑]

[3] Sebastian de Totanes was a noted member of the Franciscan order in the islands. He was born in the village of Totanes in Spain, in 1687, and entered that order in 1706. After finishing his studies he gave instruction in the Toledo convent for several years, departing thence (1715) for the Filipinas missions, which he joined two years later. He held various high offices in the order there, among them being that of minister provincial (1738–41); he also administered the churches in Sampaloc (1721–29), Lilio (1732–35), and Pagsanhan (1735–38). In 1746 he went to Europe as procurator of his order to Roma and Madrid, and died at the latter city, on February 13, 1748. He left a grammar and manual of the Tagálog language, which is regarded as one of the beat works of its kind; it was published at Sampaloc in 1745. (See Huerta’s Estado.) [↑]

[4] “Although the archbishop had not, in strictness, any direct connection with the assassination of the head of government of the islands, his connivance with the seditious element, the fact that the authority was entrusted to him, and his tolerance and lenity in the investigation and punishment of the criminals, aroused against him the wrath of the [home] government; and, in spite of his advanced age, he was transferred to the bishopric of Mechoacan, in Nueva Espana” (Montero y Vidal, Hist. de Filipinas, i, p. 432). [↑]

[5] “In order to curb these so bold and inhuman actions, it was necessary that the squadrons should sail from Manila; for if they should be permanently stationed at Samboangan the expenses would be insupportable in so barren a region. If this establishment had been fixed in Yloylo, a fertile and abundant land, and sufficiently near to the Moros, the consumption of provisions on the voyages would have been more endurable; while at the same time there might remain in Samboangan a regular garrison of thirty-five men, and it would be a landing-place sufficient for our vessels when on a cruise, which from that port could go more quickly for any emergency. Moreover, in Samboangan there is not an adequate number of boats, nor is there in Yloylo—enormous sums being spent on the walls [of those forts] alone, without their being able to hinder the passage of the Moros, or prevent their infesting the provinces.” (Concepción, Hist. de Philipinas, x, pp. 184, 185.) [↑]

[6] This account does not agree with the historical sketch given by N. M. Saleeby in his Studies in Moro History, Law, and Religion (Manila, 1905) pp. 57–59; but this is not surprising, as Concepción probably had but inaccurate and second-hand information regarding the rulers of Joló and Mindanao. According to Saleeby, Manāmir, a great-grandson of Dipatwān Qudrat (the Corralat of the Spanish writers), was declared sultan after the death of his father Barahamān; but the government was usurped by his uncle Kuda, and civil war followed, which must have lasted more than thirty years. Kuda was finally murdered by some Sulus whom he had invited to aid him against Manāmir, who therefore obtained the ascendency for a time. But the Sulus fomented discord between Manāmir and his brother Anwār, which brought on even worse hostilities and murders, weakening both sides. Manāmir was assassinated by his nephew Malīnug, and his sons Pakīr Mawlāna and Pakāru-d-Dīn were obliged to leave Magindanao, and retired to Tamontaka; and the larger part of the towns of Magindanao and Slangan were destroyed by fire. Sultan Anwār died at Batawa and Malīnug assumed the sultanate after his father’s death, and kept up the fight. “After a tedious, desultory war, Malīnug fled up the Pulangi to Bwayan. Pakīr Mawlāna then got possession of all the lands about Magindanao, and peace was made soon after. Malīnug died a natural death, and some time later his two sons visited Pakīr Mawlāna.” This account is cited from Capt. Thomas Forrest’s Voyage to New Guinea and the Moluccas (London, 1779), a voyage made in 1774–76; Forrest obtained his information directly from Pakīr Mawlāna himself. That ruler, however, could not have been the one mentioned in the text; Mawlāna is apparently an official or a hereditary title.

From Forrest’s original account (pp. 201–206) we take the following items in regard to the above events: “The following short account of the history of Magindano, is drawn from original records, in the possession of Fakymolano, elder brother to Paharadine the present Sultan, and father to Kybad Zachariel, the present Rajah Moodo; they are wrote in the Magindano tongue, and Arabic character. I took it down from Fakymolano’s own mouth, who dictated in Malay.

“Before the arrival of Serif Alli, the first Mahometan prince who came from Mecca to Magindano, the latter had kings of her own. For the towns of Magindano, Selangan, Catibtuan, and Semayanan had, or assumed, the right of taking from the banks of the Dano, that portion of earth, on which the sovereigns were to be consecrated. The towns of Malampyan and Lusuden, are said to have been the first who joined Serif Alli: the other four soon acceded. Serif married a daughter of the last king of the royal line, and on this marriage founded his title to the crown. About the time that Kabansuan son of Serif Alli reigned, a person named Budiman, was Pangaran (a title much used in Sumatra, and inferior to Sultan or Rajah) of Sooloo. Budiman had a grandson, who became his successor; his name was Bonsoo, and he was related to the family that governed at Borneo: which family came also from Mecca, and the head of it was brother to Serif Alli. Bonsoo had two children; a daughter, Potely, by a wife; and a son, Bakliol, by a sandle or concubine. Bakliol, the bastard, robbed his sister Potely (a name which signifies princess) of her right, threw off his dependence on Magindano, and assumed the title of Sultan, his fathers having been only Pangarans of Sooloo. [Potely’s daughter, Panianamby, married Kudarat (the Corralat of Spanish writers), who was succeeded by his son Tidoly; the latter had two sons, Abdaraman and Kuddy. Abdaraman was succeeded by his son Seid Moffat]; but, being an infant, Kuddy his uncle usurped the government, and went to Semoy, carrying with him the effects of the deceased Sultan. Thence he invited the Sooloos to support him against the lawful heir. [They, however, treacherously slew Kuddy, and plundered his camp, seizing therein many pieces of heavy cannon. Seid Moffat’s party then obtained control, but the country was torn by dissensions and civil war. Finally, Seid Moffat was assassinated by his nephew Molenu, but left two sons, Fakymolano and Paharadine; they were obliged to leave Magindano, which town and Selangan were nearly destroyed by fire, and the country was laid waste. After several years of petty war, Molenu was driven up the Palangy to Boyan.] Fakymolano then got possession of all the lands about Magindano, and peace was made soon after, about thirty years ago. Molenu died a natural death, leaving by concubines, two sons, Topang and Uku, also a natural daughter Myong. Fakymolano had about this time given up the Sultanship to his younger brother Paharadine, on condition that Kybad Zachariel, his own son, should be elected Rajah Moodo. Topang and Uku, for some time after the peace, visited Fakymolano and his son; but afterwards, on Paharadine’s marriage with Myong, their sister, they grew shy, as the Sultan took them greatly into his favour. Topang had from his father large possessions, which made him formidable to Rajah Moodo; he was also closely connected with the Sooloos, and had married Gulaludines, daughter of Bantillan, once Sultan of Sooloo. By this time Rajah Moodo had got himself well fortified at Coto-Intang, which is within musket shot of the Sultan’s palace, and within cannon shot of the strong wooden castle of Topang; both of which lie on the south side of the Pelangy. The Sultan Paharadine has no children by his consort Myong; but had by a concubine, a son named Chartow, now arrived at maturity. Whether Myong, who is said to have entirely governed the Sultan, favoured Chartow, or her elder brother Topang, is uncertain; but she was believed the cause of the coolness that prevailed between the Sultan and Rajah Moodo; who, though duly elected, and acknowledged lawful successor, yet, when I came to Magindano, in May, 1775, had not visited his uncle for above a year. Fakymolano, Rajah Moodo’s father, lived at that time, just without the gate of his son’s fort.” Some of the allusions in this account need explanation, which is partly obtained elsewhere in Forrest’s pages. “The town, that goes properly by the name of Magindano, consists at present, of scarce more than twenty houses. They stand close to, and just above where a little creek, about eighteen foot broad, runs perpendicular into the Pelangy, from a small lake about one mile distant, and about half a mile in circumference. This small lake is called the Dano; the creek I have just mentioned, is the Rawass (or river) Magindano; and from the banks of the lake or Dano, a little earth is taken, upon which the Raiah Moodo (that is young king) must stand when he is consecrated Sultan. The Rajah Moodo is elected by the states, and succeeds the Sultan; similar to the king of the Romans succeeding the emperors of Germany. A Watamama (that is, male child) is also elected, who becomes Rajah Moodo, when Rajah Moodo becomes Sultan.” “The town of Selangan may be said to make one town with Magindano, as communicating with it by several bridges over the Rawass; it extends about one mile down the south side of the Pelangy, forming a decent street for one-half of the distance. In the lower part the town extends about half a mile, in several irregular streets; where many Chinese reside. In the town of Selangan altogether, may be about two hundred houses; below the Sultan’s palace, about twenty yards, is a brick and mortar foundation remaining of a Spanish chapel.” The spelling of proper names in Forrest’s remarks is more or less phonetic and Anglicized; the reader may compare them with the accurate spelling furnished above by Dr. Saleeby. In VOL. XLI of this series (pp. 280, 281) will be seen a map of the valley of the Pulangui River, with the towns on its banks and its tributaries; the original is in the British Museum, and is evidently the basis for two maps which Forrest published in his Voyage (at p. 200). (Cf. these, and the map of the Rio Grande in U. S. Gazetteer, p. 662.) The date given in VOL. XLI was furnished at the Museum as approximately correct; but Mawlāna’s map was given to Forrest in 1775, and the latter says (p. 186) that it was deposited in the British Museum. The sultan of Mindanao ceded to the English, at Forrest’s request, the island of Bunwoot, now called Bonga; it forms the shelter to Polloc harbor. The town of Mindanao or Magindano was at or near the site of the present Cotabato—“population, 3,000. The Chinese control the commerce of the place.” (U. S. Gazetteer, p. 475.) Forrest says (p. 185): “The Chinese settled at Magindano are not permitted to trade higher [up the river] than Boyan; the Mindanoers being jealous of their superior abilities in trade.” [↑]

[7] The pay of native auxiliaries from Bohol was (in 1733) reckoned at a monthly wage for each man of “thirty gantas of rice, four silver reals, a span [mano] of tobacco, and one chinanta of salt.” (Concepción, Hist. de Philipinas, x, p. 311.)

“The Indian’s largest unit of weight is a chinanta, which they divide into 10 cates of the province, which are 20 of standard weight [de romana]; the cate contains 8 taels of the province, which are 16 of standard weight.” (Encina and Bermejo’s Arte Cebuano, Tambobong, 1894, p. 159.) [↑]

[8] The governor sent orders to the alcaldes-mayor that “all the rancherías or visitas close to the coast should be compulsorily united, either to the larger villages or to each other, so that even the smallest village should exceed, if possible, five hundred tributes—in consequence of which measure all should fortify themselves, as the lay of the land should permit.... All these measures were at that time admirable, and would have been thoroughly effective if the inclusion of the smaller villages in the larger ones, or their consolidation, had been carried out more energetically by those whose duty it was. For this undertaking, and to stir up the negligent and careless, the armadas were more necessary than for opposing and restraining the Moros; they gave but little attention to the latter, and still less to the former, and everything was left in the same necessity, and the same condition, [as before].” (Concepción, Hist. de Philipinas, x, pp. 364, 368.) [↑]

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA

The matter in this volume is obtained from the following sources:

1. Events in Filipinas, 1721–1739.—From various sources, fully credited in the text.

2. Primary instruction.—In its various parts, as follows: I—from Vicente Barrantes’s La instrucción primaria en Filipinas (Madrid, 1869), condensed from pp. 97, 98, 147–151, and 166–168 (from a copy belonging to the Library of Congress); II—from Daniel Grifol y Aliaga’s La instrucción primaria en Filipinas (Manila, 1894), extract from preface (from a copy belonging to the Library of Congress); III-XVII—from the above book, pp. 1–7, 11–16, 117–132, 148–157, 132–136, 41–52, 61–100, and 425–445, 401–405.

3. Dominican educational institutions, 1896–1897.—From an unsigned and undated MS. belonging to Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.

4. Report of religious schools, 1897.—Same as no. 3.

5. Educational institutions of the Recollects.—Same as no. 3.

6. The friar viewpoint.—In two parts. I—from Estudio de algunos asuntos de actualidad (Valladolid, 1897), by Eduardo Navarro, O.S.A., chap. vii, pp. 123–165; II—from Las corporaciones religiosas en Filipinas (Valladolid, 1901), by Eladio Zamora, O.S.A., chap. v, pp. 235–273, from a copy belonging to Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.

7. Education since American occupation.—Editorial, and compiled from various sources, fully credited in text.

APPENDIX: EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

[Primary instruction.] In various parts as follows.

I. [First governmental attempts.] Vicente Barrantes; 1869. II. [Organized effort of legislation.] Daniel Grifol y Aliaga; 1894. III. [Royal decree establishing plan of primary instruction in Filipinas.] José de la Concha; December 20, 1863. IV. [Regulations for the normal school.] Ut supra. V. [Regulations for schools and teachers of primary instruction.] Ut supra. VI. [Interior regulations of schools of primary instruction.] Ut supra. VII. [Decree approving regulations of municipal girls’ school.]——Echague; 1864. VIII. [Regulations for the municipal girls’ school.] Manila Ayuntamiento; 1864. IX. [Circular giving rules for the good discharge of school supervision.]——Gándara; 1867. X. [Decree approving regulations for women’s normal school.]——Malcampo; 1875. XI. [Regulations for women’s normal school.] Ut supra. XII. [Royal decree creating women’s normal school.] María Cristina and Francisco Romero Robledo; 1892. XIII. [Royal order approving regulations for women’s normal school.] Francisco Romero Robledo; 1892. XIV. [Regulations for ][66]]women’s normal school. Ut supra. XV. [Decree elevating men’s normal school to the grade of superior.] Hermenegildo Jacas; and A. Avilés and Manuel Blanco Valderrama; 1893. XVI. [Regulations of superior normal school for men teachers.] Manuel Blanco Valderrama; 1893. XVII. [School legislation, 1863–1894.]

[Dominican educational institutions, 1896–1897.] [Unsigned and undated.]

[Report of religious schools, 1897.] [Unsigned and undated.]

[Educational institutions of the Recollects.] [Unsigned and undated; 1897?]

[The friar viewpoint.] In two parts. I. Education. Eduardo Navarro, O.S.A.; 1897. II. Eladio Zamora, O.S.A.; 1901.

[Education since American occupation, 1906.]

Sources: The above documents are obtained as follows: The first document is obtained in its various parts from the following: I—from Vicente Barrantes’s La instrucción primaria en Filipinas (Madrid, 1869), condensed from pp. 97, 98, 147–151, and 166–168 (from a copy belonging to the Library of Congress); II—from Daniel Grifol y Aliaga’s La instrucción primaria en Filipinas (Manila, 1894), extract from preface (from a copy belonging to the Library of Congress); III–XVII—from the above book, pp. 1–7, 11–16, 117–132, 148–157, 132–136, 41–52, 61–100, 425–445, and 401–405. The second, third, and fourth are obtained from MSS. belonging to Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A., of Villanova College. The fifth is obtained from the following sources: I—from Estudio de algunos asuntos de actualidad (Valladolid, 1897), by Eduardo Navarro, O.S.A., chapter vii, pp. 123–165; II—from Las corporaciones religiosas en Filipinas (Valladolid, 1901), by Eladio Zamora, O.S.A., chapter v, pp. 235–273 (from a copy belonging to Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.). The last document is editorial and a compilation from sources fully indicated in the text.

Translations: These translations and compilations are made by James Alexander Robertson.

PRIMARY INSTRUCTION

FIRST GOVERNMENTAL ATTEMPTS

A royal order of November 3, 1839[1] prescribed that a committee be specially appointed to draft a set of regulations for the schools of the Philippines.[2] The creation of this commission or board was delayed until 1855, being appointed by Governor Manuel Crespo, February 7, of that year. The re-admission into the archipelago of the Jesuits on March 21, 1852, had given a new impulse to the teaching of Spanish in the schools, that organization always having been greatly inclined to the teaching of that language.[3] The instructions given to the commission appointed by Crespo, were as follows:

“1. To draft regulations establishing and making uniform the teaching in the schools; with expression of what is to be taught in schools of both sexes, paying especial attention in their measures to the encouragement of the Castilian language.

“2. To determine the number of men and women teachers who are to be appointed, this need to be regulated by the number of tributes of each village.

“3. To report on the advisability of establishing a school for teachers in this city, without neglecting at the same time to state whatever is of service for it, and appears advisable for the end and object to which the expediency of this matter is directed.

“The commission was also recommended ‘to draft a plan and project for the establishment of a normal school in the city of Manila, from which teachers instructed and suitable for teaching in the provinces might graduate.’”

The report of this commission, March 7, 1861, shows but few meetings and but little accomplished, since its creation, until the year 1860. In the last months of that year and the first of 1861 their deliberations began to take form and were completed. Already on August 10, 1860, Governor Solano had commissioned an official of the secretary’s office to draft a project for reform along similar lines to the one which the commission was to draft. He completed that draft on the twenty-first of the same month, and his results may have spurred on the commission to finish its work. The fundamental points given to the above-mentioned official are as follows:

“1. Establishment in Manila of a normal school, as a seminary for teachers.

“2. That the pupils of such school, who are candidates for teachers, proceed from the various provinces in the proportion of one to each 50,000 or 60,000 inhabitants, their expenses to be paid from the local funds.

“3. That in the normal teaching, the studies with application to industry and the arts predominate.

“4. That the certificate shall not be issued to any pupil at the end of his course, unless he can write and speak Castilian fluently.

“5. Regulation of schools in the villages, all of them to be supplied with well-endowed pupils from the normal school.

“6. Prohibition to teach to all who cannot prove their ability by the proper certificate and good deportment.

“7. That the supervision in teaching belong to the provincial chiefs; and in regard to the moral and religious to the parish priests.

“8. That the normal school have a practice school for boys, under the charge of the pupils.”

Doubtless the commission was influenced by the work of the above-mentioned official. The chief point of debate in the meetings held by the commission was that of the teaching of the Spanish language. One of the most influential and active members of the commission was Fray Francisco Gainza, then vice-rector of the university of Santo Tomás. He voted against the teaching of Spanish in the schools on the grounds that a unified language might open the door to Protestantism in the islands, but he was overruled by the votes of all the rest, even Fray Domingo Treserra, a Dominican. Governor Lemery, who took charge of the islands in the early part of 1861, also charged the Jesuit José Fernandez Cuevas to draw up a project for educational reform.

The next step and the greatest one yet attained in the matter of primary education was the decree of December 20, 1863,[4] with its attendant regulations (q.v., post). The normal school provided for by this decree was formally opened January 23, 1865, although it had been in operation since May 17, 1864. As might be expected it was found that there were more scholars from the island of Luzón, who took advantage of this normal school, than from the Visayas and Mindanao, on account of the distance. On this account Barrantes advocates the founding of another school in Cebú. Teachers from the normal schools were placed in charge of their schools with great ceremony, in accordance with an order of the government, July 18, 1868. The most serious obstacles against which the Board of Education had to struggle were irregularity of attendance and the matter of vacations, as it was necessary to designate a distinct period in each province, and it was utterly impossible to follow the regulations. Also the management and supervision fails in great measure because it is diverted from the direct oversight into the hands of secondary officials.

In 1836 there was but one school of primary instruction in Manila, which was attended by 80 pupils. In 1867, there were 25 schools, with an attendance of 1,940 children, a number which advanced by 1868 to 30 schools with 3,389 children. The results in the provinces were also remarkable for the same period. In 1867, thirty-eight provinces showed 593 schools and in 1868, 684, with 25 more in course of construction. (Pp. 147–151.)

Barrantes’s conclusions (pp. 166–168) are interesting. Among them are the following:

“We believe that we have demonstrated that the backwardness of primary instruction in Filipinas is purely relative, and cannot be imputed to the country or to any class, and much less to the ecclesiastical corporations, but to the spirit and letter of the laws of Indias and the royal decrees, which did not succeed in giving legal life in that colony to a service which did not exist, or was not at that time understood, in the mother-country.

“We have demonstrated that before 1865, primary instruction, properly so-called, was a vain shadow in the archipelago, since all the duties, all the administrative responsibilities of the department weighed upon public officials incompatible in purity with those duties and responsibilities; upon public officials, who, not being administrative, could and ought to drive out that imposition; upon public officials to whom no element or aid was given, while they were loaded with a leonine contract of an absurd and inconceivable character. And we have demonstrated this with the proof that the true responsibilities, in spite of the express text of the law, have not been exacted, because it was impossible to exact them or even the administrative public officials subject to them.

“We have demonstrated that this confusion of principles could and ought to engender a struggle between classes in the eighteenth century, prejudicial at the bottom to primary instruction, whenever, in order to unburden itself mutually of unjust responsibilities, the administrative element threw the responsibilities upon the ecclesiastical element, accusing it of being hostile to the teaching of Castilian; and this element not being able, in its turn, to investigate the accusation, acted in such wise that it appeared to accept it.”

There are not schools in almost every village, and the identification of the Filipinos with the Spaniards has not progressed so far as has been declared, especially in the matter of intelligence; and “it is not certain that the condition of the institutions of teaching authorizes one to believe the Filipinos capable of making use of political rights so grave and so dangerous as the electoral right, in the form that they ask.”[5]

ORGANIZED EFFORT OF LEGISLATION

[In his preface to his book La instrucción primaria en Filipinas (Manila, 1894) Daniel Grifol y Aliaga, who occupied an official post in the department of public instruction in the General Division of Civil Administration, and was secretary of the administrative board on school questions in the Philippine Islands, speaks as follows.]

Until the end of the year 1863,[6] when the memorable royal decree, which established a plan of primary education in Filipinas, arranged for the creation of schools of primary instruction in all the villages of the islands, and the creation of a normal school in Manila whence should graduate educated and religious teachers, who should take charge of those institutions, was dictated, it can be said that there had been no legislation in regard to primary instruction in these islands; for, although it is certain that orders directed for the purpose of obtaining the instruction of the natives, and very especially, the teaching of the beautiful Spanish language, are not lacking, some of those orders being contained in the Leyes de Indias and in the edicts of good government [Bandos de Buen Gobierno], it is a fact that those orders are isolated regulations, without connection, and the product of the good desire which has always animated the monarchs of España and their worthy representatives in the archipelago, for the advance and prosperity of the archipelago, but without resting on a fixed foundation, for lack of elements so that such foundation might exist.[7]

Before the above-mentioned epoch the reverend and devout[8] parish priests came to fill in great part, and voluntarily, the noble ends of propagating primary instruction through these remote regions, with the aid of the most advanced of their scholars themselves, who devoted themselves to the teaching of their fellow citizens, receiving scarcely any remuneration for their work and trouble, and without being regarded as teachers or having any certificate which accredited them as such.

The above-mentioned royal decree of December 20, 1863, and the regulations of the same date, established and unfolded a true plan for primary instruction, which has served as a basis for the innumerable number of orders relative to the said department, which have been dictated from day to day, both by the government of the mother country and by the former superior civil government, by the general government, and by the General Division of Civil Administration of these islands, in order to attain the degree of perfection which this most important department of public administration—the foundation of the culture and the welfare of the villages—obtains in Filipinas today.

That same accumulation of orders,[9] which have produced the rapid advancement of public instruction in this archipelago, has been the motive for a certain apparent confusion, which, in reality, does not exist, for there is observed in those orders an admirable harmony, which is explained if one bear in mind that they have all been dictated for one and the same end, with one desire, and for the same purpose: namely, that of obtaining the greatest advancement of education in this far-distant Spanish province, and that of benefiting the noble class of teachers.

The confusion to which we refer, which, we repeat, is in its essential no more than apparent, must disappear from that moment in which all the orders in regard to the matter are methodically compiled, arranging them so that they might give as a resultant that harmonious whole of which we spoke before.

So we understood it, when we had to occupy ourselves in its detailed study, when we took charge of the department of public instruction in the General Division of Civil Administration [Dirección de Administración civil]; and for the purpose of being able to fill the office which had been committed to us to the best of our ability, we undertook the work of compiling, arranging, and annotating all the orders relative to primary instruction in these islands. When we had made considerable progress in our task, it occurred to us that, by publishing the compilation which we were making for our own private use, we might, perhaps, be doing a good service to the teaching profession, to the local inspectors of primary instruction, and to all persons who are engaged in this department, by reason of their duty....

This book will also serve to make patent the very great interest with which the government of his Majesty and the worthy authorities of the archipelago have viewed this important department,[10] dictating continuously orders inspired by the most genuine sentiments of patriotism, directed through obtaining the greatest degree of instruction and culture for the natives of this rich country, and above all, so that all of them might speak the harmonious Castilian language, in order that that language may be one more bond of union between these islands and the mother country.

ROYAL DECREE ESTABLISHING A PLAN OF PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN FILIPINAS

Exposition

Madam:

The constant desire and permanent rule of conduct of the august predecessors of your Majesty have ever been to introduce into the territories under your glorious crown across seas, the light of evangelical truth, and with it the principles of a civilization suitable for their respective necessities. The governments and their delegated authorities, with the powerful aid of the missionaries, and of the clergy in general, both secular and regular, have tried to accommodate their policy in regard to the Philippine Archipelago to these principles. But the extent of so vast a territory, the character and customs of a portion of its population, and the lack of an organized system of primary instruction, have been the reason why the knowledge of the Castilian language, and in consequence of the ignorance of that language, the propagation of the most elementary ideas of education remain in a remarkable condition of imperfection and backwardness. It is unnecessary to explain the evils that such a condition occasions to the natives in the casualties of social life, in their relations to the public authority, in the exercise of those relations which are confided partly to the said natives, in the onward march and progress, in fine, of that country so fertile in the sources of wealth. It is reserved for your Majesty to bring to this condition of affairs the remedy suitable for it, which for some time the superior authorities of Filipinas have been demanding, and in regard to whose urgent application the royal commissary, appointed to study the administration of said islands, has lately called the attention of the government. For this object is directed the subjoined project of a decree and the regulations which accompany it. They have been formed by the aid of the documents submitted by said functionaries. They agree in spirit, in tendency, and even in the prime basis of the solutions which they propose. Said project setting forth from the necessity of broadening as much as possible the teaching of the holy Catholic faith, of the language of the fatherland, and of the elementary knowledge of life, of creating capable teachers for that purpose, the lack of whom is the principal cause of the above situation, and that the basis of all education is the solid diffusion of our holy religion, establishes by means of its ministers a normal school under the care of the fathers of the Society of Jesus, whose pupils will have the right and express obligation of filling the position of teachers in the schools for the natives with pay, advantages, and rights during the exercise of that duty, and later after its honorable discharge, and who shall be capable of attracting the youth of the country to this now humble class [of employes]. It provides the means for joining teachers of both sexes until they graduate as teachers from that institution, and until a normal school for women teachers respectively is organized. It creates in all the villages of the archipelago schools for elementary primary instruction of boys and girls, with the obligation of attendance on the part of such, and with Sunday classes for adults.[11] It confers on the parish priests the immediate inspection of said schools, with powers suitable to make that inspection effective, and the exclusive direction of the teaching of the Christian doctrine and ethics is vested in the prelates. And as a complement to the system which it establishes, it demands for the future, although after the expiration of a suitable time, the knowledge of the Spanish language as a necessary requisite for the exercise of public charges and duties, and for the enjoyment of certain privileges inherent thereto.

The application of all progress in a country presupposes pecuniary sacrifices, and although not excessive, some are contained in the establishment of the projected plan. Nevertheless, if the expense which is produced is divided among the different villages of the archipelago, and charged to their local funds, it is to be expected that it will neither be felt very sensibly nor will the general budget of the island be obliged for the moment to contribute an advance, certainly difficult today, when the calamities which have happened recently in one part of the Filipino territory have caused so considerable and extraordinary an expense to bear down upon it.

The minister whose signature is affixed, taking as his fundamental the above reasons, the Council of State having been consulted, and with the concurrence of that of the minister, has the honor of submitting for your Majesty’s approval the subjoined project of a decree. Madrid, December 20, 1863. Madam, at the royal feet of your Majesty,

José de la Concha

Royal decree

In view of the reasons which have been explained to me by my minister of the colonies, after having consulted with the Council of State and with the concurrence of the Council of the ministers, I therefore decree the following:

Article 1. A normal school for teachers of primary instruction is established in the city of Manila, in charge of and under the direction of the fathers of the Society of Jesus.

Said school shall have the organization prescribed by its regulations and the expenses caused therein shall be defrayed by the central treasury of ways and means.[12]

Art. 2. Spanish scholars, natives of the archipelago or of Europa, shall be admitted into said school under the conditions prescribed by the regulations. After the termination of the studies prescribed by the said regulations, such scholars shall obtain the title of teacher.

The pupils of the normal school, to the number and in the class designated by the regulations, shall receive a free education; and those who take advantage of such provision shall be obliged to exercise the duties of teacher in the native schools of the archipelago, for the space of ten years following their graduation from the institution.

Art. 3. In each one of the villages of those provinces, there shall be at least one school of primary instruction for males, and another for females, in which education shall be given to the native children and Chinese of both sexes.

The regulations shall determine the proportion of the increase in the number of schools for each village in proportion to its population.

In all the schools there shall be a Sunday class for adults.

Art. 4. The instruction given in said schools shall be free to the poor. Attendance on the part of the children shall be compulsory.

Art. 5. The schools for males shall consist of three classes; to wit: entrada [i.e., entrance]; ascenso [i.e., promotion, or intermediary]; and termino [i.e., final], of the second class, and termino of the first class. They shall be supplied with teachers graduating from the normal school in accordance with the qualification which they shall have obtained at the conclusion of their studies, their promotions depending upon their seniority and merit combined.

The schools of termino of the first class, namely, those of Manila and its district, shall be supplied with teachers by competitive examination among the teachers, with the certificate from the normal school, with experience as teachers.

Art. 6. Classification of the schools, in accordance with the preceding article, shall be made by the superior civil governor,[13] after consultation with the superior commission of primary instruction, and after the report of the chief of the province. Once the respective classification is fixed it can be changed only in the same manner.

Art. 7. The teachers shall enjoy the salary and other privileges prescribed by the regulations.[14] Said salary, as well as the foundation of the school, acquisition, and conservation of school supplies and equipment, and the rent of the building where there shall be no public building, shall constitute an obligatory expense on the respective local budget.

Art. 8. In the villages where the superior civil governor so decrees, as its small population so allows, the teachers shall fulfil the duties of secretaries[15] to the gobernadorcillos, enjoying for such duties [concepto] an additional pay proportioned to the local resources.

Art. 9. The teachers appointed from the normal school cannot be discharged except for legitimate cause and by resolution of the superior civil governor, after a governmental measure drawn up with the formality set forth in article 6, and after hearing the interested party.

Art. 10. Examinations shall be held in the normal school at periodic times, and in the manner determined by the regulations, in order to choose a person with the title of assistant teacher. Those who obtain such certificates shall manage the schools for the natives in the absence of teachers, and shall in all cases exercise the duties belonging to their class in the schools which are to have such assistants according to the regulations. Said assistants shall have the salary and perquisites prescribed by the regulations, the first being an obligatory expense on the local budget.

Art. 11. The mistresses of schools for native girls need the corresponding certificate for the exercise of their duties. Until a normal school for women teachers is established, that certificate shall be issued in the form prescribed with the fitness determined by the regulations. The salary and perquisites which they are to receive shall be fixed by the same regulations, the first being an obligatory expense on the local budget, as are the other expenses expressed in article 7 regarding the schools for males.

Art. 12. Teachers and assistants shall be exempt from the giving of personal services so long as they exercise their duties, and after ceasing to exercise them, if they have exercised them for fifteen years. After five years of duty, the teachers, and after ten, the assistants, shall enjoy distinction as principales.[16]

Art. 13. The teachers of both sexes and the assistants shall have the right, in case of disability for the discharge of their duties, of pension under the conditions prescribed by the regulations.

Art. 14. Teachers and assistants with certificates, who shall have exercised their duties suitably for ten and fifteen years respectively, shall be preferred in the provision of posts of the class of clerk, established by the decree of July 15 last, without the necessity of furnishing proofs of fitness, as well as in the provision of employments not subject to the abovesaid royal decree which are to be appointed by the superior civil governor,[17] and do not demand conditions of special fitness in which the above are lacking.

Art. 15. The superior inspection of primary education shall be exercised by the superior civil governor of the islands, with the aid of a commission which shall be established in the capital under the name of “Superior Commission of Primary Instruction.” Said commission shall be composed of the superior governor as president, of the right reverend archbishop of Manila, and of seven members of recognized ability appointed by the first named.[18] The chiefs of the provinces shall be provincial inspectors, and shall exercise their duties with the aid of a commission composed of the chief, of the diocesan prelate, and in the latter’s absence, of the parish priest of the chief city, and of the alcalde-mayor,[19] or administrator of revenues.[20]

The parish priests shall be the local inspectors ex-officio and shall direct the teaching of the Christian doctrine and morals under the direction of the right reverend prelates.

The regulations shall designate the powers of the commissions and above-cited inspectors.

Art. 16. After a school has been established in any village for fifteen years, no natives who cannot talk, read and write the Castilian language shall form a part of the principalía unless they enjoy that distinction by right of inheritance. After the school has been established for thirty years, only those who possess the above-mentioned condition shall enjoy exemption from the personal service tax, except in case of sickness.

Art. 17. Five years after the publication of this decree, no one who does not possess the above-mentioned qualification, proved before the chief of the province, can be appointed to salaried posts in the Philippine Archipelago.

Art. 18. The superior civil governor, the chiefs of the provinces, and the local authorities, shall have special care in promoting the fulfilment of the requirements of this decree, adopting or proposing, according to circumstances, the necessary measures for their complete fulfilment.

Art. 19. Decrees [cedulas] of petition and request shall be sent to the right reverend archbishop and the reverend bishops of the Philippine Archipelago, in order that they may arouse the zeal of the parish priests for the exact fulfilment of the duties vested in them by this decree, in what relates to the supervision of the teaching of the natives, and very specially to that of the holy Catholic faith and the Castilian language.

Art. 20. Special regulations shall detail minutely the organization of the normal school and of the schools of primary instruction for the natives.

Given at the palace, December 20, 1863. It is rubricated in the royal hand. The minister of the colonies,

José de la Concha

REGULATIONS FOR THE NORMAL SCHOOL FOR TEACHERS OF PRIMARY INSTRUCTION FOR THE NATIVES OF THE FILIPINAS ISLANDS[21]

Of the object of the normal school

Article 1. The object of the normal school is to serve as a seminary for religious, obedient, and instructed teachers, for the management of schools of primary instruction for the natives throughout the whole archipelago.

Art. 2. The scholars shall be resident, and subject to one and the same rule and discipline. For the present the number of day pupils fixed by the superior civil governor may be admitted, provided that their antecedents give hope that they can pursue their studies with advantage, and that their deportment corresponds to the good name of the institution.

Art. 3. In the same locality of the normal school, although with the fitting independence and separation, there shall be a school of primary instruction for non-resident boys, whose classes shall be managed, under the supervision of a teacher of the normal school, by the pupils of the same.

Of the branches and duration of the studies

Art. 4. Education in the normal school shall comprise the following branches:

1. Religion, morals, and sacred history.

2. Theory and practice of reading.

3. Theory and practice of writing.

4. An extensive knowledge of the Castilian language with exercises in analysis, composition, and orthography.

5. Arithmetic, to ratio and proportion, elevation to powers, and extraction of roots, inclusive, together with the decimal metric system with its equivalent of local weights and measures.

6. Principles of Spanish geography and history.

7. Idem of Geometry.

8. Common acquaintance with physical and natural sciences.

9. Ideas of practical agriculture with reference to the cultivation of the products of the country.

10. Rules of courtesy.

11. Lessons in vocal and organ music.

12. Elements of pedagogy.

Art. 5. During the sessions of the normal school, the teachers shall speak only the Castilian language, and the scholars shall hold their classes and other literary acts in the same language. They shall be strictly prohibited from expressing themselves in any other language, even in their daily recreations and common intercourse within the precincts of the institution.

Art. 6. The studies mentioned in article 4 shall run for three years, and during the six months of the last term [curso], the scholars shall have practical exercise in teaching, by teaching in the classes of the primary school annexed to the normal school, which is established by article 3.

Scholars shall not pass from one course to another without proving their efficiency in the general examinations, which shall be held at the end of each year.

During the first four years of the installation of the school the studies shall be completed in two years.

Art. 7. The scholars of the normal school who shall have completed the courses of their studies and shall have obtained by their good deportment, application and knowledge, the mark of excellent [sobresaliente] in the final examinations for the three consecutive years shall receive a teacher’s certificate, in which shall be expressed their creditable mark, and they shall be empowered to teach schools of ascenso. Those who shall not have obtained the mark of excellent, but that of good [bueno], or fair [regular] in the above-mentioned examinations, shall also receive a teacher’s certificate with their corresponding mark expressed therein and they shall be able to teach schools of entrada. Finally, those who shall have failed in said examinations, if after they shall have repeated the exercise, shall have merited approval, shall only receive certificates as assistant teachers.

Art. 8. If any one of the scholars of the normal school shall desire to continue his studies for another year, in order to perfect himself therein, he may do so, on condition of paying from his own funds his annual board, if he shall be a resident student, and if, in the judgment of the director of the institution, no inconvenience arises from his remaining in it.

Of the scholars of the normal school

Art. 9. The resident scholars of the normal school shall be divided into regular [de número] and supernumerary[22] resident pupils. Both those who aspire to the said classes and to the class of day scholars, so long as there shall be any of the latter, must have the following qualifications:

1. To be natives of the Spanish dominions.

2. To be fully sixteen years old, that requisite to be attested by certificate of baptism or any other equivalent public document.

3. To suffer from no contagious disease, and to enjoy sufficient health to fulfil the tasks suitable for the duties of teachers.

4. To have observed good deportment which shall be proved by certification of the chief of the province and the parish priest of the village of his birth or habitation.

5. To talk Castilian; to know the Christian doctrine and how to read and write well: proof of which shall be made in an examination held before the director and teacher of the school.

Art. 10. The regular resident scholars shall receive their education free, and shall pay nothing for their support, treatment, school equipment, and aid from the teaching force.[23]

Art. 11. The regular resident scholars shall be obliged to fulfil their duties for ten years as teachers in the schools of primary instruction for the natives, to which they shall be assigned by the superior civil government. In case of not fulfilling that obligation they shall be indebted to the state for the expenses incurred in their education and teaching. The same thing shall happen if they leave the normal school before the conclusion of their studies without legitimate cause and by their own will or that of their parents, or are expelled from it for lack of application, or bad conduct. The model for calculating the expenses caused by said scholars during a given period shall be the board paid during the same period by a resident supernumerary scholar.

Art. 12. Places as regular resident scholars shall be supplied by the superior civil government to natives of the provinces of the archipelago, in proportion to the respective census of the population. As the number of aspirants for the places of supernumerary resident scholars continues to increase, the class of regular resident scholars will continue to decrease, the reduction beginning with those belonging to the provinces nearest the capital. Said class shall be suppressed when it happens that there are among the supernumerary [resident] scholars enough teachers with whom to supply the schools of the archipelago. In any event, the regular [resident] scholar, who shall have entered the school, shall have the right to keep his place, and such place shall only be suppressed when his course shall have been ended.

Art. 13. The supernumerary resident scholars shall pay the institution eight pesos per month for their board, and their rank in the school and other things will be equal to that of the regular scholars.

Art. 14. Only those young men shall be admitted as day scholars who, besides possessing the requirements demanded from the resident scholars, shall live in Manila or in its neighborhood, under the charge of their parents or in charge of a guardian and under such conditions that it can be assumed that they will find in their domestic hearth examples of virtue and morality. Such class of scholars shall receive school equipment free, and if they are poor, their textbooks.

Of the director, teachers, and dependents of the normal school

Art. 15. The normal school shall be directed and governed by the fathers of the Society of Jesus. At the head of the same there shall be a director to whose authority shall be subordinate the teachers, scholars, and inferior employes, and such director shall have the duty of directing the education and teaching, presiding at the literary ceremonies, visiting the rooms, watching over order and domestic discipline, correcting those who infringe the rules, and expelling pupils in the cases and under the conditions expressed in the interior regulations of the school, and he shall inform the suitable authority of the extraordinary measures and determinations of a serious nature which he believes it necessary to take.

Art. 16. Under the director’s authority there shall be at least four teachers, one of whom must be at the same time spiritual prefect of the school, charged with directing the consciences of the scholars, with presiding at religious ceremonies, and with distributing the food of the divine word. Under his peculiar charge also shall be lessons in sacred history, morals, and religion. Another of the teachers shall fill the special post of prefect of customs, and his principal occupation will be to accompany the scholars and to have care of them in the ceremonies of the inner life of the institution. The other two teachers shall be occupied principally in the teaching of other matters.

Besides the director and teachers, the school shall have the brother coadjutors who shall be considered necessary. There shall also be one porter, and the other indispensable subordinates.

Art. 17. The salaries to be received by directors, professors, coadjutors, and subordinates, as well as the allowance for expenses of materials, shall be fixed by the superior civil governor by agreement with the right reverend archbishop of Manila, information of which shall be given to the government for its approval.

Of examinations

Art. 18. At the end of each month in each one of the classes of the normal school, there shall be a private examination in all the subjects studied during that period. A like exercise shall be held at the end of the first semester each year, in regard to the branches studied during that time. At the end of the course, a general examination shall be held. This exercise shall be public and in the presence of the authorities and persons of distinction in the capital, and shall be terminated with the announcement and distribution of prizes.

Of holidays and vacations

Art. 19. The holidays of the normal school shall be Sundays, feast days, Ash Wednesday, the day set aside for the commemoration of the faithful dead,[24] and also the saint’s days and birthday anniversaries of their Majesties and the prince of Asturias, and the saint’s day of the superior civil governor.

The shorter vacations shall extend from Christmas eve to Twelfth-night, during the three carnival days,[25] and from Holy Wednesday until Easter. During said vacations, the resident scholars shall remain in the institution.

The longer vacations shall last one and one-half months, and shall be during the time of the greatest heat. The resident scholars may pass to the bosom of their families for the period of the longer vacations.

The scholars may go once a month to the house of their parents or guardians.

Of rewards and punishments

Art. 20. The degree of excellence of the scholars shall be recompensed by honorable marks, which shall be kept in the book of the institution; and by annual prizes, whose solemn distribution shall take place at the termination of the public examinations.

Art. 21. Punishments shall be: public censure; deprivation from recreation and the walk; banishment and separation from the other scholars; and if these are not sufficient, the definitive punishment shall be expulsion from the school. Expulsion shall irremissibly take place because of any contagious disease, for notable laziness and lack of application, for serious lack of respect to the teachers, and for bad conduct or depraved morals.

Art. 22. As a reward shall also be the public reading of the marks of good deportment, application and progress; and as punishment the reading of the contrary marks. That shall be done monthly for that purpose, assembling in one place all the scholars with their teachers, in the presence of the director.

Of the interior regulations of the school

Art. 23. An interior regulation for the school shall be made, which shall specify the daily distribution of time on the part of the scholars, the order of their studies, and the division of classes, religious and literary exercises, conduct, food, and clothing, as well as the duties of the scholars respecting the teachers, and those of their parents and guardians in respect to the institution.

Of textbooks

Art. 24. The director of the normal school shall propose at the approval of the superior civil government, a list of books which can be used as textbooks by the scholars, to which the masters shall subject their explanation. Such list shall be revised according as is advised by circumstances.

The teachers shall give their lessons in the courses of which it is advisable for this system to make use, under the authority of the director.

Of special examinations to obtain certificates as assistant teacher

Art. 25. Examinations shall be held in the normal school every six months, to choose those who shall be given certificates as assistants. Those who present themselves at said examinations shall have the qualifications described in article 9, for those who aspire to enter the school. They shall be conversant with the matters prescribed in article 4; and their examinations shall be public and held before the director and teachers of the normal school.

Art. 26. There shall be no other mark in such examinations than those of passed or failed.

Of the issuance of teachers’ and assistant teachers’ certificates

Art. 27. The superior civil governor shall have the right to issue certificates as teacher and assistant at the proposal of the director of the normal school.

Art. 28. Certificates as teachers shall contain the mark which shall have been obtained and the class of schools for which such persons are qualified.

Madrid, December 20, 1863. Approved by her Majesty.[26]

Concha

REGULATIONS FOR THE SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS OF PRIMARY INSTRUCTION FOR THE NATIVES OF THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO

Article 1. The teaching in the schools for natives shall be reduced for the present to the elementary primary grade, and shall comprise:

1. The Christian doctrine and principles of morality and sacred history suitable for children.

2. Reading.[27]

3. Writing.

4. Practical teaching of the Castilian language, principles of Castilian grammar, with extension of orthography.

5. Principles of arithmetic, which shall include the four rules for integers, common fractions, decimals, and denominate numbers, with principles of the decimal metric system, and its equivalents in the usual weights and measures.

6. Principles of general geography and Spanish history.

7. Principles of practical agriculture, with application to the products of the country.

8. Rules of courtesy.

9. Vocal music.

The primary teaching of girls will include the matters expressed by numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9, of the present article, and the needle-work suitable to their sex.

Art. 2. Primary instruction is obligatory for all the natives. The parents, guardians, or agents of the children shall send them to the public schools from the age of seven to the age of twelve, unless they prove that they are giving them sufficient instruction at home or in private school. Those who do not observe this duty, if there is a school in the village at such distance that the children can attend it comfortably, will be warned and compelled to do so by the authority with a fine of from one-half to two reals.[28]

The parents or guardians of the children may also send them to school from the age of six years and from that of twelve to fourteen.

Art. 3. The teachers shall have special care that the scholars have practical exercise in speaking the Castilian language. In proportion as they become conversant with it, explanations shall be made to them in that language, and they shall be forbidden to communicate with one another during class in their own language.

Art. 4. Primary instruction shall be free for children whose parents are not known to be wealthy. That shall be proved by certification of the gobernadorcillo of the village, visoed by the parish priest.

Paper, copybooks, ink, and pens, will be free to all the children.

The parents, and for lack of these, the children who shall be well known to be wealthy, in the judgment of the gobernadorcillo of the village, with the confirmation of the parish priest, shall pay a moderate sum monthly, which shall be assigned by the governor of each province after conferring with the parish priest and the gobernadorcillo.

Art. 5. The parish priest shall direct the teaching of Christian doctrine and morality, and they shall be charged to give at least once a week the fitting explanations in the locality of the school, in the church, or any place which shall be assigned.

Art. 6. Schools shall have two months of vacation per year, during the time designated by the superior civil government, at the proposal of the chief of the province. The vacations may be continuous or divided into two or three periods.

Of textbooks

Art. 7. The Christian doctrine shall be taught by the catechism which is in use, and approved by ecclesiastical authorities. For reading, the syllabary prescribed by the superior civil governor, the Catechism of Astete, and the Catechism of Fleuri, shall be used. For writing, the Muestras de carácter español [i.e., Samples of Spanish characters] by Iturzaeta shall be used.[29]

As a text for the other matters included in the teaching, according to article 1, a book shall be compiled which shall contain them all as clearly and concisely as possible, and in addition, ideas on geometry and common knowledge of physical and natural sciences. Such book shall also serve for the last exercises in reading.[30]

Until the book mentioned in the preceding paragraph is compiled, teaching in matters not enumerated in the first paragraph of the present article shall be in the form prescribed by the superior civil governor.

Of the schools

Art. 8. In every village, if its population shall permit, there shall be a school for boys and another for girls.[31] Those villages which have a population of 5,000, shall have two schools for boys and two others for girls. Those which have a population of 10,000, shall have three schools, and so on, increasing at the rate of one school for each sex for every 5,000 inhabitants, whenever an average of more than 150 children shall have attended all the existing schools during the last three months.[32]

In the visitas, very distant from the villages, whose population reaches 500 inhabitants, there shall also be a school for each sex, and if there is more than one visita, and together they have that number of souls, the schools shall be established in the most central.

If the number of children of one school exceeds eighty there shall be one assistant, and if it exceeds one hundred and fifty, two.

Art. 9. Schools shall be located in the most central part of the villages or barrios, and must be built well lighted and ventilated, with dwelling rooms for the teacher and his family; but such dwelling shall be independent [of the school] and have a special entrance.[33]

Art. 10. The schools shall conform to the classes fixed by article 5 of the royal decree of this date.

Of the teachers

Art. 11. The rank of teacher in the public schools of primary instruction belongs to the pupils of the normal school who are qualified with the suitable certificate, who shall be fully twenty years old, and possess the other requirements expressed in article 20.

Art. 12. Teachers shall enter the schools of entrada or ascenso, in accordance with the right which their respective certificates give them, according to the terms of article 7, of the regulations of the normal school for male teachers, approved by her Majesty on this date. After three years of teaching, the teachers may be promoted to the next class, whether of ascenso or término of the second class. When two or more teachers aspire to schools of higher rank, if their respective certificates are equal, he who has taught longer shall be preferred. If the certificates are not equal, he who possesses a certificate for a school of ascenso shall be preferred to him who has one for a school of entrada.

Art. 13. In case of the absolute lack of candidates with the necessary certificate, those who hold lower certificates may be appointed teachers for a school of the upper class, but it shall be ad interim, and they shall receive the pay belonging to the class of their certificate, until they complete the time of exercise with good mark, in which case they shall be appointed regularly.

Art. 14. For the lack of teachers with a certificate, those who are twenty years of age and have the other requirements prescribed in article 12, and have a certificate as assistant, may govern schools, and shall receive the pay of teachers of the third class.

Art. 15. For the lack of candidates possessing certificate as assistant, those who prove in the examination held before the provincial commission of primary instruction sufficient capacity and are of the abovesaid age, may govern ad interim the schools with the title of substitute, and shall receive the pay mentioned in the preceding article.

Art. 16. The position of teachers of the término schools of the first grade, namely, those of Manila and its district, shall be supplied in the manner determined by article 5 of the royal decree of this date, to wit, by competition among the teachers with certificate from the normal school, and practice in teaching. The time of such practice shall be at least one year. The competition shall be held with preceding edict for the term of three months, before a commission composed of the director, or, in his absence, of one of the teachers of the normal school, one of the individuals of the Superior Board of Primary Instruction, another of the provincial board, the senior parish priest as local supervisor, and one member of the ayuntamiento.

Art. 17. A graded list shall be formed of the assistants, in which, without prejudice to the right which is conferred on them by article 14, they shall be promoted according to seniority, commencing with the class of entrada, and continuing to those of ascenso, término of the second grade, and término of the first grade.

Art. 18. The appointment of teachers and assistants shall belong to the superior civil governor.

Art. 19. The issuing of certificates of regular teachers and assistants shall be attended to by the superior civil governor, in the manner prescribed by article 27 of the regulations of the normal school of this date.

The certificates of substitute teachers shall be issued by the same authority, at the proposal of the respective provincial commission, the examination papers of the party interested and the record of his examination first having been sent.

Art. 20. In order to be a teacher, assistant, or substitute, one must, in addition to the qualifications respectively expressed in the preceding articles:

1. Be a native of the Spanish domains.

2. Prove his good religious and moral deportment.

3. Be of suitable age.

The assistants may begin teaching in the capacity of such in the schools at the age of seventeen.

Art. 21. Positions as teachers or assistants cannot be exercised:

1. By those who suffer from any disease, or have any defects which incapacitate them for teaching.

2. By those who shall have been condemned to corporal punishments,[34] or are incapacitated for exercising public duties.

Art. 22. Teachers of entrada shall receive from eight to twelve pesos per month; those of ascenso, from twelve to fifteen; those of término of the second grade, from fifteen to twenty.

The superior civil governor shall fix, by recommendation of the provincial commission and report of the superior, the sum to be received by the teacher between the greatest and least amount assigned, keeping in mind as an average the material cost of living and the number of pay children who attend the school.