HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

IN THE PHILIPPINES (1521-1898)1

page
1. Religious Ideas and Practices Before the Arrival of the Gospel;
Discovery, Conquest and Colonization of the Philippines; Apostolic
Work of the
Religious Orders … … … … … … … … … … 2

2. Dioceses; Parochial Organization; the Secular Clergy … … … … … 13

3. The Church and Education; Works of Charity … … … … … 20

4. Councils and Synods; the Royal Patronage; Diocesan Visitation … … … 28

5. Secularization of the Parishes; Jurisdiction Conflicts Between the Church and the
Civil Authorities … … … … … … … … … … 37

6. Faith and Customs; Sacramental Life; Other Religious and Liturgical Practices… 47

7. Exemplars of Virtue and Sanctity … … … … … … … 60

8. The Church as Peacemaker; the Church During the British Invasion; the Church
at the Service of the State and the Filipino People During the Moslem Raids … 67

9. The Catholic Church and the Development of Agriculture in the Philippines;

Commerce and Industry; Projects for Material Progress … … … … 76

10. The Church and Some Social Problems; Material Goods of the Church in the
Philippines; Friar Lands … … … … … … … … … 87

11. Religious Causes of the Philippine Revolution and Charges Against the Religious
Orders; the Church During the Philippine Revolution (1898-1900) … … … 97

12. The Take-Over of the Americans; Adjustment After the Revolution … … 110

BLACK - ROUND ROBIN (CHAPTERS 1, 3, 6, 7) (CHAPTERS 1 AND 6 FOR GRADES 4 TO 6)

RED - SEMI-FINALS (CHAPTERS 2, 4, 5, 8) (CHAPTERS 2 AND 8 FOR GRADES 4 TO 6)
GREEN - FINALS (CHAPTERS 9 10, 11, 12) (CHPTERS 9, 11, AND 12 FOR GRADES 4 TO 6)

1 Notes from (A) Pablo Fernandez, O.P., History of the Church in the Philippines (1521-1898), Metro Manila, 1979.

page 1
 Chapter 1

Religious Ideas and Practices Before the Arrival of the Gospel;

Discovery, Conquest and Colonization of the Philippines;
Apostolic Work of the Religious Orders
1. Religious Ideas and Practices Before the Arrival of the Gospel.
Before the coming of the Gospel, the religious ideas and practices of the Filipinos were only vaguely
conceived, variform and many. This was due to a minimal inter-island exchange among them, the
diversity of dialects, and the ceaseless fighting among the different ethnic groups, as well as within
the individual groups themselves. Here we shall mention only the more noteworthy of their religious
tenets.
Belief in a Supreme Being.
Before the arrival of the missionaries, the Filipinos already believed in a supreme being, which the
Tagalogs called Bathala Maykapal (God, the Creator), the Visayans Laon (Old Man, or The Ancient), and
the Ilocanos Cabunian. Bathala dwelt in a place named Languit (sky) which the natives could describe
only very vaguely and confusedly. They considered the supreme being as one without limits, creator
of heaven and of earth lawgiver, judge of the living and of the dead. In their way of thinking, he was
so high above men, so far beyond their reach, so little concerned about their affairs. Thus, their god,
in contrast to the true God, had no care for his creatures. Even if they had come to guess some of his
attributes, they could not define his essence, even vaguely.
They dared not even pronounce his name. If they did, it was with some sign of reverence mixed with
fear. They did not address prayers to him. They did not offer the tribute of their worship, did not
sacrifice to him.
Polytheism: Secondary Deities.
And so, in their needs, they turned their eyes to a cohort of secondary deities, equivalent to the
mythological beings of Greece and Rome. These deities were quite numerous, since, in the manner
of those nations, here was a god for each village. There were also gods for the mountains, rivers,
reefs, the rainbow, the rocks and many other natural objects. The following were the more important
ones:
‒ Kaptan dwelt in the sky with Bathala. He was the god who planted the first bamboo from which
human life sprang. He was lord of the thunder, the cause of men’s diseases and of the plagues of
nature. He had also the power to resurrect the dead.
‒ Manguayen had some of the attributes of Kaptan. In addition, he was charged with ferrying in a
boat the dead to hell. But the task of presenting these to the god of hell belonged to Sumpoy who
lived there.
‒ Sisiburanin, the lord of hell, punished the souls presented to him, unless the living offered a
sacrifice on their behalf.
‒ Lalahon was the goddess of agriculture, who presided over the good and the bad harvests.
‒ Varangao lived in the rainbow and carried the souls to heaven.
Like the gods of pagan mythology, these divinities were not pure spirits. More often, they put on
human and animal forms, and were subject to human passions and weaknesses. They took part in the
wars of men, were cruel and vindictive, and were appeased only by sacrificial gifts and offerings.
The Worship of Spirits.
The natives also had faith in spirits which, according to the more accepted
opinion, were nothing else but the souls of the dead. They believed in good
spirits which they called anito(s), and in bad spirits called mangalo(s) in Tagalog.
Among the Visayans, the good spirits were named diwata(s). According to
some, the good spirits were the same as our angels, i.e. the messengers of
Bathala who sent them to the world to help men. The anitos carried on a
ceaseless war with the mangalos.
The natives carved images of stone, wood, ivory and bone in their honor. But
the worship offered them seems rather selfish, motivated only by the desire to
win favors from them. The natives had neither temples nor special sites
designated for worship. Nevertheless, they busied themselves in continual
offerings of prayers and sacrifices to win the gods’ favor. This was the role
assumed by certain
priestesses, generally old women, called katalonan(s). They offered animal sacrifices to their gods
frequently and, in a rare instance in Isabela and Nueva Ecija which Dominican missionaries
witnessed, human sacrifice.
Superstitions, Soothsayers and Sorcerers.
They believed in the existence of ghosts, like the aswang; or beings who would put on at nightfall the
form of an animal, such as a pig, a horse, etc., and go in search of a victim which was ordinarily a
sick person or a pregnant woman.
The Magtatangal was a nocturnal vagabond without head or members, but who assumed a complete
human form at sunrise.
The Mangagaway had power to grant health or inflict sickness by means of herbs or medicinal plants.
As so many other peoples, the Filipinos believed in seers, individuals to whom they attributed the
power to foretell the future. They also had magi and quack doctors who undertook to cure sicknesses
by applying homemade medicines which ordinarily consisted of herbs or unguents, or by invoking
the malignant spirits or mangalo(s).
The Genesis of the World and the Origin of Man
Concerning the origin of the world, the seacoast and mountain dwellers gave different versions:
For the mountaineers, there existed only the sea and a bird like a spirit flying through the sky. One
day he became tired for there was no place where he could alight or rest. In his anger, he took water
from the sea and threw it furiously against the sky. In turn, the sky gave vent to its wrath and cast
down upon the sea boulders of rocks and earth from which sprang the islands, the mountains, the
valleys and hills of the continents. The bird then had some spot where he could rest, which he did so
at once by the seashore. A floating bamboo launched by the waves and the winds came to hurt his
fragile feet. His wrath was aroused, and in his anger, he picked up the piece of bamboo so mightily
that it broke in two, and from its nodes sprang the first man and the first woman.
The seacoast dwellers related the same story in a different way: For them, the earth and the sea had
existed from all eternity. When the wind of the sea came in contact with the wind of the earth, the
latter gave birth to a bamboo reed. The god Kaptan planted this reed, which on maturing broke in
two, from which came man and woman. Now, the first man was called Silalag, and the first woman
Sicauay. Silalag sought the hand of Sicauay in marriage. She refused him because he was her brother.
They decided to consult the tunnies of the sea, then the dove, and finally the earthquake. The last said
that it was convenient for them to get married, and they did. From this union were born several
children.
Death and Future Life.
Dead bodies received the utmost care. They were washed with water and rubbed with the gum of the
storax tree and other aromatic spices. Ancient Filipinos poured preservative juice into the mouths,
ears and nostrils of corpses so effectively that they remained incorrupt for many years. Besides
careful treatment, dead bodies were dressed elegantly, keened, and then buried. In the early days,
there were no common cemeteries nor burial grounds. A corpse would be buried amidst great sorrow
in any place, which could be near his house, in a cave, or in the headlands overlooking the sea and, at
times, thrown with a gesture of finality into the sea, especially if the dead had been a fisherman.
Ancient Filipinos believed in the spirituality and immortality of the soul, although their ideas on this
matter were not too clear or precise. They believed in a future life, whereby the good would receive
the reward for their goodness in the other life in heaven, and the bad their punishment in hell. They
also believed in some kind of risen life. The Cagayanos affirmed that their fathers would someday
return to this world to rejoin their sons. In their beliefs, at times the souls of the good would be
changed into good spirits (anitos), and those of the bad into bad spirits (mangalos). In the future life
as here below, each one would have the same social rank, and would exercise the same office.
Conclusion.
We could say that the beliefs of the Filipinos before the arrival of the Gospel were a reflection of a
primitive revelation. But they were quite strongly modified by errors, which naturally obscured
human intelligence when the light of faith is absent, and there is no divinely constituted authority to
watch over it lest it lose its direction towards eternity. The same thing happened to other pagan
peoples. (A, pp. 1-9)

2. Discovery, Conquest and Colonization of the Philippines.

The Expedition of Magellan.
On 10 August 1519, a fleet of five boats (Trinidad, Victoria, Concepcion, Santiago, San Antonio)
sailed westward from Seville in search of a passageway to the Moluccas. It was manned by a crew of
270 men under the command of the Portuguese Fernao Magalhaes (Ferdinand Magellan). After
various incidents suffered, from men and from the elements as it sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and
down the South American coast, the fleet reached in the last days of October 1520 the strait which
now bears their leader’s name. In November, they turned north towards the vast expanse of the
Pacific. But by this time only three boats were left (Trinidad, Victoria, Concepcion).
On 6 March 1521, after an exhausting voyage across the Pacific Ocean, the explorers reached the
Ladrones Islands. Here they veered southwards in the direction of the Moluccas. But on 16 March,
the coast of Samar unexpectedly arose before the eyes of the weary sailors. Without stopping to
disembark, they sailed
on until, on the 17th, they reached
Homonhon Island, where they
rested from the fatigue of such a
long-drawn out navigation thanks
to the friendly welcome of the
natives. Moving further south to
Limasawa Island, Magellan struck a
pact with Rajah Colambu, and the
islanders attended the first Mass
celebrated on Philippine soil on
31 March 1521.
On 7 April the fleet entered the
port of Cebu. What happened
here is
too well known for us to detail. Suffice it to say that on the urging of Magellan, Humabon, the
kinglet of Cebu, accepted Baptism together with his wife and some 800 subjects—a forced
conversion it seems, if we are to judge from what followed. Indeed, consequent upon Magellan’s ill-
fated excursion to Mactan where he lost his life on 27 April, the Cebuanos repudiated the alliance
with the explorers, and even killed twenty of them. The rest withdrew from those shores, after
burning the Concepcion, a boat they could not man for lack of hands.
Of the fleet that had set sail three years before, only the Victoria under the command of Juan
Sebastian Elcano succeeded in accomplishing the epic feat of circumnavigating the globe. On 8
September 1522, it anchored at Seville with 18 survivors on board.
The Expedition of Villalobos.
Encouraged by the partial success of Magellan’s expedition, Charles V ordered the sailing of another
fleet for the Moluccas; but this expedition met an unfortunate ending. This did not weaken the resolve
of Charles V to instruct the viceroy of Mexico to prepare another armada for the East. This departed
from the coast of Mexico on 1 November 1542, commanded by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos who
received orders to colonize the Western Islands, which he renamed Filipinas in honor of Don Felipe,
Prince of Asturias. Due to the unfriendly welcome they received from the natives of Mindanao, the
fleet sailed northwards to Cebu. But contrary winds blew it to the coast of Leyte where the islanders
met them in a hostile attitude. Determined to reach the Moluccas because of the critical condition of
the boats and the men, they reached Tidore on 14 April 1544. After suffering from the hostility of the
Portuguese, they proceeded to Amboina, where their leader Villalobos died in the spring of 1546.
The armada fell apart soon after this, with some of the crew staying on in the East, and others
returning to Europe on Portuguese boats. Among the latter were four Augustinian Fathers, Jeronimo
Jimenez, Nicolas de Perea, Sebastian de Trasierra, and Alonso de Alvarado. The enmity of the
Filipinos, the severity of the elements, the lack of supplies, and finally the opposition of the
Portuguese forced the Spaniards to abandon for the moment the Philippine Islands.
The Expedition of Legaspi.
In 1559 Philip II, successor to Charles in the Spanish
dominions, ordered the Viceroy of Mexico to equip an
armada for the spiritual and material conquest of the
Philippines. The fleet left Mexican waters on 21
November 1564, commanded by the royal scrivener Don
Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, a nobleman from Vizcaya,
who combined in his person great military and
administrative talents as subsequent events proved. The
expedition reached Leyte waters in February, and the
famous pact between the Spanish leader and Sikatuna
was forged in the neighboring island of Bohol.
After hearing the opinions of the captains of the fleet,
Legaspi went on to Cebu. By the power of his tact and
patience, he was able to stave off the open enmity of the
islanders which could have caused unfortunate results
for the expedition. He preferred to win the affection of
the Cebuanos through broadminded and equanimous
dealings
with them. In the end, he convinced Tupas, kinglet of Cebu Island, to acknowledge the sovereignty of
Spain, and later to accept Christianity. Soon, Legaspi began the reconstruction, the beautification and
the reorganization of the city of Cebu, where he had decided to seat the government of this Oriental
possession of Spain.
In August 1568, Juan Salcedo, youthful grandson of Legaspi, arrived in Cebu. The natives of Panay
had by this time accepted Spanish sovereignty and were paying tribute regularly. To reduce the island
of Mindoro, some companies had to be detached under the command of Salcedo, who carried out the
task to its happy end. In this way, this gallant soldier began a brief but fruitful career which put Spain
in possession of some of the better provinces of the Philippine archipelago.
Occupation of Manila; Conquest of Luzon.
All the time he was engaged in the conquest of the Visayas, Legaspi heard frequent reports of the
advantageous location of the city of Manila. Convinced of fixing the royal government there, in 1570
he sent ahead the Master of the Camp Martin de Goiti, and his grandson Salcedo. Goiti lost no time
in
establishing friendly relations with Raja Matanda and Raja Soliman,
lords of Manila. This good will lasted only a short time because
Soliman, who loved his independence, plotted a surprise attack on the
Spanish squadron. But Goiti sense it and successfully assaulted the
entrenchment, capturing his entire artillery. Immediately after, the
conqueror set sail for Panay where Legaspi, who by this time had
already received the title of “Adelantado”, awaited him.
In the spring of 1571, the Spaniards under the personal command of
Legaspi appeared a second time in Manila Bay. Raja Matanda
presented his respects to the Spanish commander, begging him to be
good enough to pardon Soliman for proving disloyal to his plighted
word. Later, Soliman also came to offer his vassalage to the king of
Spain. In view of all this, the Adelantado debarked all his forces to
take possession of the city in the name of the crown of Castille.
The people around Manila acknowledged without resistance the
supremacy of the Spaniards, except some groups headed by Soliman
which suffered a decisive defeat at Bankusay, north of Pasig and near
Tondo. Likewise, places like Cainta and Taytay bordering the Laguna
de Bay refused to accept vassalage under the conquerors; but Salcedo
subdued them after breaking their stubborn resistance. Elsewhere,
Goiti, after a rapid march, reduced the bellicose inhabitants of Betis
who still fought to keep their independence.
After a daring raid into the mines of Paracale in the Bicol region, Salcedo undertook the exploration
of the northern coast of Luzon in 1572. He discovered and explored the mouth of the Ibanag River in
Cagayan, the deepest river in the island. On his return, he received the sad news of the death of his
illustrious grandfather Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, which took place on 20 August. A malignant fever
would also carry off the young Salcedo from the living in 1576, in the city of Vigan, the capital of
Ilocos.
Salcedo is called the last of the conquistadores for having carried the colors of Spain to remote and
vast regions of the Philippines. However, he was unable to subjugate the entire archipelago of the
Philippines, for at his death there still remained to be reduced the Cagayan Valley, parts of Ilocos, the
present Mountain Province, the Babuyan Islands, the Batanes Islands, and Zambales; above all, all of
Moroland, i.e. almost all of Mindanao and the adjacent islands. The task of conquering these lands
was reserved for other captains, but above all to the missionaries.
Colonization.
The colonization of the Philippines consisted in founding cities, like Cebu (1565), Manila (1571), Vigan
(1572), Nueva Segovia (1581), Villa de Arevalo (1581) and others; in establishing a central government
advised by the Royal Audiencia2 (founded in 1584 and suppressed in 1863) and the provincial
governments for each province administered by alcaldes mayores. The gobernadorcillos, nominated from
the native sector, were the counterpart of the present municipal alcaldes or town mayors. They were
advised and aided in their government by some officials known by the names juez teniente (deputy judge)
and alguacil (constable). The Spaniards preserved the barangay (head of the barangay).
The encomienda system gradually disappeared and ceased to exist in the 18th century. It consisted in
this: that the governor, in the king’s name, “apportioned” certain lands and a certain number of
natives to those who had distinguished themselves in the conquest of the islands. Those who were
thus favored received the title encomendero with the privilege of collecting tributes to their own and the
king’s benefit; but they had the obligation of providing a minister of Christian doctrine for those in the
encomienda. Only two generations were benefited by the encomienda: the grantee and his children.
Then it reverted to the crown,
i.e. to the king. Once they were subjects of the king of Spain, the Filipinos were obliged to pay a
tribute until, from 1884, the system of personal cedulas was introduced. (A, pp. 10-18)

3. Apostolic Work of the Religious Orders.

The Augustinians.
The Augustinians came to the Philippines with Legaspi’s
expedition. There were five of them, eminently apostolic men:
Andres de Urdaneta, Martin de Rada, Andres de Aguirre,
Diego de Herrera and Pedro de Gamboa. After Legaspi took
possession of Cebu City, he allotted a piece of land to them
where they later erected a church and convent dedicated to
the Holy Infant. This foundation was the center of their
apostolic journeys throughout the Visayas and Mindanao in
the years that followed.
Soon they began to administer Baptism to the natives,
infrequently at first and with caution. The first to accept
Baptism was a niece of Tupas who received the name Isabel.
Tupas himself obtained the same grace on 21 March 1568.
From Cebu, the Augustinians went on to Panay (Iloilo),
Masbate, and Camarines.
When Legaspi founded Manila in 1571, he gave them an
extensive lot there beside the sea. Here they raised the
beginning in bamboo, wood and nipa, of what would be the
church and convent of St Paul, popularly known by the name
“San Agustin”.
From this mother house and center of their apostolate, they
went forth to several provinces in Luzon and the Visayas. But
in the beginning, they had no seat or permanent base of work,
since they were too few for so many towns. And so, in the
first years of their missionary activity we find them preaching
in Tondo and
around Manila, in Batangas, Laguna, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Ilocos, and Cagayan.
After the official division of the provinces among the religious orders working in the Philippines at
the time (royal cedula, 27 April 1594), the Augustinians were engaged more or less permanently in the
following missions: the surrounding area of Manila, Tondo, Tambobong, Tinajeros, Navotas,
Novaliches, Malate, Parañaque, Pasig, Cainta, Caloocan, and others. The following provinces in
Luzon were allotted to them:
2 The Real Audiencia, or simply Audiencia, was an appellate court in Spain and its empire. Each Audiencia had oidores (judges,
literally, “hearers”).
Batangas, north Bulacan, all of Pampanga, some towns in east Tarlac, a good part of Nueva Ecija, La
Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Abra; and in the 19th century, the districts of Lepanto, Bontoc,
Benguet, the military post at Amburayan. In the Visayas they evangelized Cebu Island, some towns
in Negros which they later handed over to the secular clergy, Iloilo, Capiz, and Antique. In 1768
when the Jesuits were expelled, they administered some of the towns in Leyte, which in 1804 passed
on to the secular clergy, and later to the Franciscans. At the outbreak of the revolution in 1898 the
Augustinians had under their care 2,320,667 souls, distributed among 231 parishes and missions in 22
provinces.
In 333 years of Spanish rule in the islands, a total of 2,830 Augustinian friars came to the Philippines.
Besides being emissaries of the Gospel—the common task of the five religious families—they
distinguished themselves in erecting magnificent churches, as the church of San Agustin (Intramuros,
Manila), that of Taal (Batangas), of Oton (Iloilo), as well as in literary endeavors and programs of
material improvement.
The Franciscans.
The Franciscans arrived in Manila on 24 June 1578. They were housed with the Augustinians for a while,
until they finished a convent of light materials
dedicated to our Lady of the Angels. From here they
spread around Manila and the provinces. Among
others, they either established or received the missions
around the capital: Santa Ana, Paco, Sampaloc, San
Juan del Monte, San Francisco del Monte, and
Pandacan. They also evangelized the province of
Laguna, and the towns east and south of the lake which
formerly belonged to the district of Morong. Further
south, they were entrusted with the provinces of
Quezon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, and
Sorsogon. East of Quezon province, they evangelized
certain regions along the coast: the ancient districts of
Infanta and Principe, extending as far as Palanan,
Isabela. Likewise, they founded some towns in
Mindoro and Marinduque. In 1768 the government
assigned to them the Jesuit missions in Samar and, in
1843, they took care of certain towns in Leyte.
By the end of the 19th century, the Franciscans were
ministering to 1,096,659 souls in 103 towns in 15
provinces.
The Franciscans were noted above all for many outstanding institutions of charity which they
founded or administered. They were strict observants of the religious vow of poverty and, in contrast
to other religious orders, they did not acquire property.
The Jesuits.
The first Jesuits who arrived in Manila on 17 September 1581 were Fathers Antonio Sedeño and
Alonso Sanchez, and Brother Nicolas Gallardo. At first, they lived in a temporary residence at Lagyo,
the section between the present districts of Ermita and Malate. Later, they moved to Intramuros, to a
house near the southeast gate, the Royal Gate (Puerta real). Their first missions, Taytay and Antipolo
of the modern province of Rizal, date from 1593. At about this time, too, they included Panay Island
(Tibauan) to their
apostolate. During the next years, they set up
fixed residences in Leyte and Samar, while
Father Chirino3 opened a central mission house
in Cebu (1595). Before the end of the 16 th
century, they had established permanent
missions in Bohol. They also took charge of
some towns in Negros, besides starting or
accepting other ministries near Manila, like San
Miguel, Santa Cruz, and Quiapo; and in the
province of Cavite, like Silang, Maragondong,
and Kawit.
Raised to a province in 1605, the Jesuits looked
with confidence to the future. And so, we find
them in the 17th century opening the missions in
Mindanao, which caused them so much
difficulty.
They first founded Dapitan mission in the north
coast; next Zamboanga in 1635, and finally Jolo in 1639 under the shadow of the Hispano-Filipino
military garrison which job it was to keep the Moslems in check. In general, these missions shared
the good or the bad fate of the garrisons that shielded them. The garrison in Zamboanga, recalled by
Governor Manrique de Lara in 1662, was not reestablished until 1718. It was in the 18th century that
the sons of St Ignatius, unabating in their missionary effort, reached the present site of Cotabato City.
Unfortunately, everything came to a stop when the Jesuits were expelled from the Philippines in
1768, when their missions were transferred to other hands: those in central Luzon to the diocesan
clergy; Samar, and in 1843 Leyte, to the Franciscans; Bohol and some centers in Cebu, Negros,
Panay, and all of Mindanao to the Recollects; four missions in Negros and four others in Panay to the
Dominicans.
The Society of Jesus, restored in 1814, did not return to the Philippines until 1859. The Bishop of
Cebu petitioned the Spanish government for them to work in the Mindanao missions. And so, from
1860 on, the Jesuits established their missions, first in Cotabato, then in Zamboanga, and finally in
Basilan island.
Meanwhile, the Recollect Fathers, through government intervention, handed over to them all their
missions except seven. In 1896, the number of Christians mini stered to by the Jesuits totaled
213,065 in 36 mission parishes in Mindanao.
However, despite the efforts exerted by the Jesuits in Mindanao, despite their excellent missionary
methods, progress was slow because of the stubborn resistance of the Moslems to Christianity.
Nonetheless, their zeal won over to the Faith sizeable communities of natives in the northwestern
coast of the island. Furthermore, the Jesuits spared no efforts in the educational apostolate, where
they won here and elsewhere much renown. In this respect, they distinguished themselves from the
other religious orders, except the Dominican.
The Dominicans.
On 21 July 1587 the first Dominicans, the founding Fathers of the Religious Province of the Most
Holy Rosary of the Philippines, arrived in Cavite. Of these, five stayed in the Manila residence that
would be called the Convento of Santo Domingo. Four left for Bataan, and the remaining six took the
trail to Pangasinan. The missions that the Dominicans established or administered were: Baybay,
Binondo, and the Parian located near Manila for the Chinese; almost the whole province of Bataan;
the province of Pangasinan; some towns in north Tarlac; the entire Cagayan Valley, i.e. the present
provinces of Cagayan,
3 Pedro Chirino (1557-1635) was a Spanish priest and historian who served as a Jesuit missionary in the Philippines. He is
most remembered for his work, Relación de las Islas Filipinas (1604), one of the earliest works about the Philippines and
its people that was written.
 Isabela, and Nueva Vizcaya, including the eastern
slopes of Central Cordillera and the western side of the
Sierra Madre mountain range, the Babuyan Islands,
with interruptions from 1619 on; and the Batanes
Islands, a permanent mission since 1783.
After initial difficulties, the Dominican missions near
Manila and those in Bataan and Pangasinan flourished
peacefully with only a slight interruption: Binondo,
Parian, and Bataan were under the care of the secular
clergy for about 70 years, i.e. from 1768 until the
middle of the 19th century more or less. In Pangasinan,
we can mention, among other events, the uprising of
1763 which cost so much blood, destruction and
hatred. The Cagayan Valley missions were dearly paid
in human life, money and sacrifice, mainly because of
unfavorable climatic conditions and long distances, but
likewise due to the heathenish mountain tribes who
generally were
indifferent to Christianity and committed frequent killings and robberies in the open, forcing the
missionaries to seek protection from military escorts.
The Dominicans conquered for Christ practically all of Cagayan and north Isabela towards the last
years of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century. The conversion of south Isabela took
several long years, from 1673 to about the middle of the 18th century. It was much harder bringing
into the fold of the Church Nueva Vizcaya province; but it was done finally by about the middle of
the 18th century, thanks in great part to the aid of the Augustinians who, starting from the south, had
preached and spread the good news until Bayombong from 1716 to 1740. The missions in the eastern
slopes of Central Cordillera were established, with scant success, in the second half of the 19th
century. By the end of that century, the evangelization of the Ilongots began.
The Babuyan and Batanes missions proved to be the grave of several Dominicans, due to the deadly
climate of the islands.
These were the provinces that the Dominicans evangelized and administered as their specific section
in the Philippines. For various reasons they had to assume charge of Zambales province for a while
(1678- 1712), eight towns in the Visayas briefly as we have already noted, and some towns in Cavite
and Laguna during the second half of the 19th century. When the revolution forced the Dominicans to
abandon their parishes and mission centers, they were caring for 735,396 souls in 73 parishes and 36
missions in 10 provinces. The Dominicans also excelled principally in their educational endeavors
and famous missions abroad.
The Recollects.
In May 1606, the first Recollect mission of ten priests and four lay Brothers disembarked at Cebu.
The following June, they proceeded to Manila. They lived for a few days in Santo Domingo, then in
San Agustin, until they had their own house in Bagumbayan (the present Luneta or Rizal Park) near
Intramuros. Finally, they transferred to the walled city. The next year, three Recollect Fathers left to
open the Zambales mission, which they administered until the end of the 19th century with the
interruption noted, and another from 1754 to 1837. During this interregnum, they took charge of the
towns of Mabalacat, Capas and Bamban, and laid the foundations for the missions of O’Donnell and
Moriones in Central Luzon.
In 1622 the Recollect Fathers were charged with Palawan and Calamianes, and Caraga district in
eastern Mindanao where they often had to erect forts and arm the Christians for defense against the
Moro
depredations. But repeated Moro assaults
forced them to give up these missions.
However, on petition by the Royal
Audiencia, they had to stay put. Palawan
entered a period of peace and prosperity
in the second half of the 19th century. The
mission and subsequent town of Puerto
Princesa dates from 1881. After the
revolution, the Recollects returned to
Palawan. They still administer it as an
apostolic vicariate.
The evangelization of Romblon by the
Recollects began in 1635. Besides Moro
hostility, they met with other difficulties, as the isolation of one island from another, and the poverty
of the soil. But all this was overcome by those brave and long-suffering missionaries.
In 1679, they took charge of Mindoro in exchange for the loss of Zambales which had passed to the
hands of the Dominicans, as was said. In Mindoro they met the same difficulties they found
elsewhere which had tested their patience and heroism, especially the attacks of the devotees of
Mohammed. However, it must be admitted that other religious groups, including the diocesan clergy,
helped evangelize this island; but none persevered with the firmness and permanence of the
Recollects.
From 1688, they also evangelized, with the labor that it demanded, the islands of Ticao, Masbate, and
Burias. But in 1791, they abandoned these to strengthen the ministries in Bohol, Mindanao, and the
Mariana Islands which the government had entrusted to them after the expulsion of the Jesuit Fathers.
Their residence in Cebu, the central house of their Visayan missions, was founded in 1621. But the
Recollect missions in this island date from a much later period, i.e. from 1744. They gradually spread
along the coast, from the city of Cebu up to Catmon.
In 1768, because of the expulsion of the Society of Jesus, the Recollects had to assume charge of
Bohol. But it had practically separated itself from Spain after an internal uprising. In the end, after
long years of laborious negotiation, they were able to pacify the island and initiate its progress in all
aspects.
But the Order of Augustinian Recollects showed its truly remarkable and fruitful zeal especially in
the island of Negros, which the government had entrusted to it in 1848. Suffice it to say that from
this date until 1896, the population increased from 30,000 inhabitants to 363,255, and the centers of
ministerial work from 11 to 77. The parish and missionary work of the Recollects reached out in
1896 to 1,249,399 souls in 203 towns of 20 provinces.
To honor these truly self-denying religious, let it be said that it fell to their lot, in general, to minister
to the poorer and more hazardous islands; and at cost of so much sacrifice, they were able to keep
them for Christ and for Spain. Their special glory lies in this, that they were able to overcome the
sectaries of Islam, with the enthusiastic cooperation of their Filipino faithful and the dedication of
their religious who lost their lives in the effort.
Epilogue.
These five religious orders which for the duration of three centuries carried the brunt of the task of
evangelizing the Philippines, drew their mission personnel and their teachers from Spain and
elsewhere. But, beginning with the 18th and the 19th centuries, they had to seriously consider ways and
means to avail themselves of their own resources, inasmuch as it had become harder and harder to
recruit personnel from other religious provinces of Europe and America. And so we find the
Augustinians founding the Colegio de la Vid (1743); the Recollects the Colleges of Alfaro (1824),
Monteagudo (1829), and San Millan de la
Cogulla (1878); the Dominicans the Colleges
of Ocaña (1830) and Santo Tomas de Avila
(1876); and the Franciscans the Colleges of
Pastrana (1855) and Consuegra (1867).
Let us mention here, otherwise this chapter
will be incomplete, the arrival of the Fathers
of San Juan de Dios in 1641, the Vincentians
(Paules) in 1862, and at the eleventh hour the
Capuchins and Benedictines in 1886 and
1895 respectively. (A, pp. 19-27)
 Chapter 2

Dioceses; Parochial Organization; the Secular Clergy

4. Dioceses.
The Archdiocese of Manila.
In 1578, Fray Domingo de Salazar was presented by Philip II as bishop of Manila, but he was
consecrated only in 1579 upon receiving the bulls of nomination. Arriving in the Philippines in
September 1581, he erected the episcopal see of Manila by virtue of the bull Illius fulti praesidio
signed by Gregory XIII on 6 February 1578.
In 1591, Bishop Salazar journeyed to Spain to picture personally before King Philip II the spiritual
condition of the Philippines, and to petition a remedy for several abuses. One of the many
concessions obtained from the king was the raising of his far-flung diocese into an archbishopric with
its see in Manila and with three suffragan dioceses, that of Nueva Segovia, of Nueva Caceres, and of
Cebu. In a brief dated 14 August 1595, Pope Clement VIII approved the
promotion of Manila into a see, and the others as
suffragan sees. Bishop Salazar would certainly
have become the first Archbishop of Manila, but
he died on 4 December 1594. Fray Ignacio de
Santibañez, a Franciscan, was named in his place,
but he also died, having occupied his see for only
a few months in 1598.
Construction of the cathedral began in 1581, and it
was finished four years later. Ruined by
earthquakes in 1645, it was rebuilt by Archbishop
Miguel Poblete. The new edifice crashed to the
earth during the earthquake of 1863. A third
cathedral, inaugurated by Archbishop Pedro Payo
(1876-89), was destroyed during the battle for the
liberation of Manila from the Japanese in 1945.
The territorial jurisdiction of the old archdiocese of Manila included the civil provinces of Nueva
Ecija, (the southern half of) Tarlac, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, Batangas, and
Laguna, and the islands of Mindoro and Marinduque.
The Diocese of Cebu.
The diocese of Cebu, under the patronage of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, was created by Pope
Clement VIII by the bull Super specula militantis ecclesiae dated 26 August 1595. The first bishop
was Fray Pedro Agurto of the Order of Saint Augustine.
This was the most extensive and the most taxing of the four dioceses in the Philippines. It included
the Visayan Islands, Mindanao, and the Mariana Islands. It is no surprise then that the bishops made
their visitation rarely, amid no mean share of difficulties and dangers. No prelate visited the Mariana
Islands until the bishopric of Romualdo Jimeno (1847-1872). Because of the vast spread of his
jurisdiction and the many problems encountered during his visitation, this prelate succeeded, after
repeated requests, in getting the Spanish government to petition the Holy See for the creation of the
diocese of Jaro in 1865.
The Diocese of Nueva Caceres.
Created at the same time as Cebu, it bore the name of Nueva Caceres since the beginning, in memory
of
the city of Caceres in Spain. It included the present provinces of Quezon, Camarines Norte,
Camarines Sur, Albay, and Sorsogon, and the islands of Catanduanes, Masbate, Burias, and Ticao.
The first bishop should have been Fray Luis de Maldonado, former Lector in Salamanca and later
Commissar in the Philippines. Appointed by the Sacred Congregation of the Consistory on 14 August
1595, he died before receiving the nomination. Some historians think that Saint Peter Bautista was
appointed bishop of Nueva Caceres, but the latest exhaustive research done by the Filipino historian
Domingo Abella denies this. Francisco de Ortega, an Augustinian, was the second appointed bishop
(13 September 1599), but he also died in Mexico before taking possession of his diocese.
The Diocese of Nueva Segovia.
The Diocese of Nueva Segovia owes its creation to Pope Clement VIII who erected it on 26 August 1595
together with the diocese of Cebu. Its first
bishop was Fray Miguel de Benavides, a
Dominican who chose Nueva Segovia (now Lal-
lo, Cagayan) as the see. But because Vigan was
better situated, the latter became the capital of
the diocese provisionally until, in answer to the
petition of Bishop Juan de la Fuente y Yepes,
King Ferdinand VI authorized the definite
transfer to Vigan in a royal cedula4 from
Villaviciosa dated 7 September 1758. From
1762, through the continued efforts of Bishop
Bernardo Ustariz, the successor of Bishop de la
Fuente, the town of Vigan became legally the
capital city of the diocese of Nueva Segovia.
The Diocese of Jaro.
Already in 1831, Bishop Santos Gomez Marañon of Cebu had requested the Holy See to divide the
diocese of the Most Holy Name of Jesus into two. But the suggestion fell on the deaf ears of the
government. Twenty years later, in 1851, Bishop Romualdo Jimeno, the successor of Marañon,
initiated a series of steps towards the same end. Finally, after many difficulties, he obtained a
government decree from Spain dated 17 January 1865 creating the diocese of Jaro under the
patronage of Saint Elizabeth. The new diocese, according to the first two articles of the decree, would
include the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Antique, Calamianes Islands, Negros, Zamboanga, and Nueva
Guipuzcoa (the present Davao provinces). On 27 May of the same year, the Holy See announced
through a brief Qui ab initio that Pope Pius IX had recognized the government action.
The first bishop of Jaro, nominated on 20 September 1867 and consecrated on 30 November of that
year, was Bishop Mariano Cuartero, O.P. He took possession of his diocese on 25 Aprilar 1868, and
spared no effort to provide the new see with the necessary buildings: the episcopal palace which he
finished in a year; the cathedral church, begun in 1869 and inaugurated on 1 February 1874; and
lastly, the conciliar seminary dedicated to Saint Vincent Ferrer, finished in 1874. (A, pp. 28-35)

5. Parochial Organization.
In the Philippines, for more than two centuries there were no parishes except those administered by the

4A cédula or real cédula was a form of legislation issued by the sovereign to dispense an appointment or favor, resolve a
question, or require some action. When initiated by the Council of the Indies, it was a cédula de oficio. A cédula began
with the heading El Rey or La Reina and was signed by the monarch or in his or her name. As a direct communication
from the monarch, a cédula took precedence over royal decrees or orders issued by the Council of the Indies or royal
ministers.
secular clergy. The other centers of ministry, founded and maintained by the religious orders, were
considered “missions” until the arrival in Manila of Archbishop Sancho de Santa Justa y Rufina.
Backed by royal power and the governors-general, he was able to convert into parishes the missions
attached to the archdiocese of Manila into parishes, but with great difficulty. Following the lead of
Manila, the other bishops did the same. Since then, i.e. from 1776 on, the parochial system was
followed by the religious orders. And so from the 16th century there were: parishes, mission-parishes,
and active missions.
Mission-parishes were those administered by the religious, but which had grown into the self-
sufficiency of parishes. But, because they were not subject to the laws of Royal Patronage and to
diocesan visitation, they were classified as “missions” according to the Laws of the Indies.
Active missions, as they were later called, were the mission-parishes still in the stages of
development. Before the arrival of Archbishop Basilio Sancho, almost all the ministries in the
Philippines were mission- parishes; after his arrival, the parishes outnumbered the missions.
No parish in the Philippines could be erected without approval from the Ordinary and from the civil
government. In the 19th century, many new
parishes were formed by separating them
from older ones. This was due to the
great increase in population. It was
customary to demand the local
gobernadorcillo to build at least
temporary buildings for public worship
and for the priest’s residence. Once they
had these, the Church authorities or the
religious Superior had no difficulty
assigning a parish priest. The ideal of the
pastors was to have all the faithful bajo
campana (within earshot of the bell tower)
as they used to say, and for parishes to
serve as a nucleus or center of residence
in the style of European towns. But this
proved to be impossible, since the
Filipinos then were very attached to their fields, and only with difficulty parted from them. This
explains the development of the visitas, of which several eventually became parishes.
There were four parochial buildings: the church, the parochial house (in the Philippines called
convento), the chapels in the visitas (or subsidiary chapels in the barrios), and the cemeteries. In the
beginning, the churches were weak structures of nipa and bamboo, but in time they gave way to
edifices of more solid materials (stone, brick, tile, wood). Fires, earthquakes and typhoons, so
frequent in the Philippines, taught the missionaries and pastors to construct the edifices of the parish
solidly, except the barrio chapels which were used infrequently and so built provisionally. For this
purpose, they taught the Filipinos how to make lime and brick, how to cut stone and erect stone walls
—in general, to master the arts of carpentry and brickwork. Wood they obtained from neighboring
forests. Because of the lack of means, the construction of a church would be delayed for many years.
Because of their knowledge of the idiom and customs of the place, because of the prestige and
influence they generally had over the faithful, because of their tireless dedication to improve the
material and moral condition of the towns, the religious pastors were like the axis around which
revolved the governmental wheel in the Islands. They were the indispensable elements which both
the church and the civil authorities had to use to institute reforms or whatever important measures
they wanted to effect among the people. If the pastors supported the will of the authorities, all went
well. If secretly or openly they were opposed, the ruling powers were like inviting failure. The
religious parish priests won their ascendancy and influence
over the people through their selfless labor, and by acting as their defender against the abuses and
outrages committed by both foreigners and natives. Nonetheless, one must admit that, because they
had almost always through force or necessity served as the support of government action in purely
civil, and sometimes hateful, matters, they incurred on themselves the hatred of those who disagreed
with government policies at the time, or of those who had suffered personally because of the pastors’
intervention. In the end, this led to the loss of their parishes.
The religious pastors supervised public instruction, maintained several schools, and on occasion
purchased school furnishings with their own funds and paid the teachers when necessary. In several
places, they took care of the physical sufferings of the faithful, giving them medicines. And in time
of great calamity like earthquakes, droughts, fires, typhoons, raids by pagan tribes or by the Moslems,
they spoke for them before the government and before the public, seeking to alleviate their penury.
(A, pp. 36-43)

6. The Secular Clergy.

The Secular Clergy in the 16th and the 17th Centuries.
The first Spanish secular priest to set foot on Philippine soil was Father Pedro Valderrama, one of the
chaplains to Magellan’s expedition. Later in 1566, while the conquest was going on, another Spanish
secular priest, Father Juan de Vivero, arrived at Cebu. After him
came others. Finally, in 1581 the Most Reverend Domingo
Salazar, the first bishop of Manila, brought along with him a
contingent of five clerics on whom he intended to confer the
benefices of the cathedral and to entrust with the care of several
parishes.
Obviously, in the beginning there could only be foreign priests in
the Philippines, both regular and secular. But almost from the
start, Salazar was thinking of raising a native priesthood under
the guidance of the foreign clergy. These would be: creoles of
Spanish parentage born in the Islands; Spanish-Filipino and
Chinese-Filipino mestizos; and indigenous Filipinos of the Malay
race. Salazar’s idea was to entrust the benefices and positions of
dignity and responsibility to the clergy from Spain and Mexico
in the meantime. But later, when the natives will have given
sufficient proof of virtue and capabilities, he would open to them
the path to priesthood, and charge them with responsibility.
To effect this worthy plan, both the Bishop and Governor-
General Gonzalo Ronquillo, as well as the ecclesiastical chapter
and the Jesuits, petitioned the king in 1583 for the foundation of
a college to
serve as a seminary where the sons of Spaniards, as well as the mestizos and natives (these last the
sons of the old Philippine aristocracy) who felt the call to the priesthood and the apostolate, could
receive the proper training. Philip II approved the project in 1585; but nothing was done, probably
because of the lack of means to realize the Archbishop’s desires. Years later, in 1595, the Jesuits
wanted to carry out the idea of the by-then defunct prelate; but, again, there were no funds. This was
the last attempt in that period to form a distinctly Filipino clergy.
Perhaps the South American experience, which had not succeeded in forming a respectable native
clergy, had prejudiced the minds of those who initially had taken a great interest in the creation of a
native or indigenous clergy in the Philippines. What is certain is a report sent to King Philip III by
Governor Pedro de Acuña dated 15 July 1604:
It seems to me that, although this work is very good and holy, it would be preferable that said college
be founded for poor Spaniards, sons of residents or those who came to settle, in order that they may
study
 and learn virtue and letters so as to be more fit later on to govern and administer the colony and be
parish priests and missionaries. This would be a greater benefit than any which can be derived from
a college of natives, since the sum of what these will learn is reading and writing and nothing more,
for they can neither be priests nor officials, and after they shall have learned something they will
return to their homes and take care of their farms and earn their living.
In the years that intervened between 1604, the date of the document cited above, and 1705 when the
first seminary for native Filipinos was opened, an entire century passed during which time there was
no known native-born raised to the priesthood. In the 17th century, only the creoles, perhaps one or
two Spanish mestizos, and certainly some Chinese mestizos, received the priestly dignity. The only
centers of teaching which prepared candidates for the priesthood during that century were the
University of Santo Tomas and the Colleges of San Juan de Letran and San Jose. These centers,
administered under the appellation of seminary-college, provided a fertile training ground for many
excellent priests, some of which by their erudition and their virtue, merited the highest of the
ecclesiastical dignities. But they were priests definitely Spanish by birth or by descent.
The movement to train a Filipino clergy was not undertaken again until 1677. It seems that a report
by the French bishop Monsignor Francois Pallu, founder of the Paris Foreign Mission Society who
had visited Manila and returned to Europe, occasioned the intervention of Charles II of Spain and the
Holy See. But it is certain that in 1880, Monsignor Urbano Cerri, secretary of the Sacred
Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, memorialized Pope Innocent XI indicating certain
deficiencies in the Church in the Philippines. Among these was the fact that the natives were not
raised to Sacred Orders, although they fulfilled the prerequisite conditions to receive them.
Three years before this date, the Archbishop of Manila, His Grace Felipe Pardo, O.P., received a
royal cedula dated 2 August 1677 ordering him to provide the natives with a program of studies
aimed at the priesthood. He was to ordain at the proper time those who showed an aptitude for the
priesthood and had been properly prepared. And finally, the colleges run by the Dominicans and the
Jesuits were to open their doors to them until a seminary could be established. At the same time, the
Provincial of the Dominicans received another cedula dispatched the same date for the same purpose.
And likely, the Jesuit Provincial received another one of the same tenor. But so far as we know, the
Archbishop took no decisive step on the matter until 1689. In fact, on 12 March of the same year, he
offered in a letter to the Dominican Provincial a legacy of P13,000 signifying his desire that Letran
College be a school exclusively for indigenous and mestizo students, so that someday these could
merit the priesthood after sufficient training.
There is no doubt that the Archbishop thought at that time that
the natives were not ready for the priesthood; but he nursed a
strong hope that, properly formed, they could ascend the steps of
the altar someday.
The Seminaries of San Clemente and San Felipe.
Interested in pushing forward the plan for the formation of a
native clergy, King Charles II ordered the governor of the
Philippines through a cedula in 1697 to inform him if there was a
seminary-college in the archdiocese of Manila and to indicate, if
there was none, how much it would cost to subsidize it. The
governor’s reply dated 13 July 1700 included the opinion that
there was no need for the time being to open a seminary-college.
A royal cedula dated 28 April 1702 signed by Philip V provided
for the foundation of a seminary in Manila for eight native
seminarians, but not even this royal mandate was implemented.
And although Archbishop Diego Camacho certainly took the
initial steps to open a seminary, his efforts were stymied by legal
blocks.
This was the situation when Abbe Sidotti arrived in Manila in 1704. He came in the entourage of the
future Cardinal Charles Thomas Maillar de Tournon, legate a latere of His Holiness Pope Clement XI
to the mission countries in the Far East. On the initiative of this worthy ecclesiastic, and with the
approval of Governor Domingo Zabalburu and Archbishop Camacho, a seminary known as San
Clemente was inaugurated in 1705. Its doors were immediately opened to 72 students, of which 8
were native-born Filipinos. Unfortunately, the king, appraised of this foundation set up without the
royal will, quashed it; and the seminary remained aborted. At the same time, however, the king
ordered that the royal cedula of 1702 be followed. The result of this manifestation of the king’s mind
was the opening in 1712 of the Seminary of San Felipe. Thus, the groundwork for a native clergy in
the Philippines was prepared.
The Seminary of San Carlos (Archdiocese of Manila).
Archbishop Basilio Sancho, a man of great talents but impetuous and a bit violent, arrived in Manila
in 1767. One of the many plans he carried out with the tenacity that marked him—he was not
Aragonese for nothing—was the establishment of a conciliar seminary for the archdiocese of Manila.
Actually, making use of the residential buildings left vacant in Manila by the Jesuits expelled from
the Philippines in 1768, he won from the government the concession to use them for a seminary. And
so, beginning with the year 1773, this new seminary named San Carlos in honor of King Charles III
began to function. Its administration was in the charge of the Miter, and its internal policies were in
the hands of a cleric who acted as Rector; the seminarians followed courses at the University of Santo
Tomas.
The Seminary at Cebu.
At the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Philippines in 1768, the Bishop of Cebu Most Reverend
Mateo Joaquin Rubio de Arevalo petitioned the king for the buildings and lands of the ancient
College of San Ildefonso which had belonged to the Society of Jesus, to use them for the conciliar
seminary of the diocese. His Majesty granted the Bishop’s request, and the city government
subsequently made the legal bequest of the properties on 23 August 1783. The
seminary, administered by a Director or
Rector from the secular clergy, was for a
long time a seminary and a college for
secondary education.
In 1867, at the request of the Most
Reverend Romualdo Jimeno (1847-
1872), the Vincentians arrived in Cebu to
take charge of the seminary. For the next
years, these Fathers, without neglecting
the spiritual and scientific formation of
the seminarians, tried to renovate the
ancient edifices which were already in a
ruinous condition, and erected new roofs
for the growing number of students.
The Seminary of Nueva Caceres.
The seminary of Nueva Caceres was founded on 7 March 1783 by Antonio Gallego del Orbigo,
Archbishop of Manila and apostolic administrator of the diocese of Nueva Caceres. He constructed a
building solid enough but rather simple which lasted until the earthquake of 1863. Bishop Francisco
Gainza rebuilt the old building a short time after the earthquake, and confided the direction of the
seminary to the Vincentians who took possession on 7 May 1865. Among the rectors of the seminary
in this second half of its history, Father Antonio Santonja stands out in a special way. He raised the
institution to an eminent degree of success in all aspects. To him and to his successors are due the
enlargement of the
building and the admission of a great number of students. Consequently, when upheavals shook the
country in 1898, the diocese faced the dearth of secular priests with better success than in the rest of
the Islands.
The Seminary of Vigan.
The seminary of Vigan was founded in 1821 by the Most Reverend Francisco Alban. Closed in 1848
for lack of students, it was opened again in 1852. In 1872, at the petition of Bishop Juan Aragones of
Nueva Segovia, the Vincentian Fathers took charge of this seminary, but only until 1875. In 1882, the
Recollects came to administer it, and they converted it into a seminary-college, opening its halls to
secular students. Finally, from the year 1895 until the revolution, it was in the charge of the
Augustinians. Temporarily closed, the same Fathers took charge of it again until the arrival of the
Most Reverend Dennis Dougherty, the first American bishop of the diocese.
The Seminary of Jaro.
Mr. Mariano Cuenco founded the seminary of Jaro in 1858 and entrusted it to the care of the
Vincentians in the following year. In 1871, they started the construction of a magnificent building,
which was ready the following year to provide shelter to the seminarians, thanks to the unstinting
efforts of the Bishop and of Father Aniceto Gonzalez, Rector of the institution.
A Glance in Retrospect.
If we look over the period which stretches from Bishop Salazar to the year 1898, we will easily notice
that it was a slow and laborious task. Some writers have censured both civil and ecclesiastical
authorities for their apparent failure in the formation of a native clergy, especially Bishop Pardo.
Others, on the contrary, have seen only the defects and shortcomings of the clergy who had been
formed during the period. Although there were failings on both parts, we believe that the authorities
did what they conscientiously understood to be necessary under those circumstances.
The main accusations levelled against the Filipino clergy were: little interest in the maintenance and
repair of ecclesiastical buildings and sacred objects; over-attachment to their relatives; violation of
their priestly celibacy; weakness in fulfilling their ministerial obligations; and a marked inclination
towards money. But, in defense of the Filipino clergy, we ought to affirm that these defects, partly
excusable when viewed against the situation of the country and the idiosyncrasies of the race, can be
explained in the light of a very important fact—the deficient training which those priests received in
seminaries badly equipped materially and almost always suffering from a lack of competent faculty
and personnel. These detractors of the clergy would do well to read with attention these words taken
from an Exposicion presented by the Ayuntamiento of Manila in 1804 to his Majesty:
The weakness and loss of spirit, which for some time now has been noted in these Islands, does not
leave them that strength of character in keeping with the priestly calling and the high ministry of the
curé of souls, unless a solid education sustained by doctrine and zeal in the conciliar seminaries
breathe into their hearts the noble ideals needed to maintain them in their dignified calling. In the
three capitals of provinces graced with episcopal sees, there are seminaries where a young priest may
develop himself in discipline and wisdom, but they merely consist in their fabric or material building
with the name of seminary. In them, very bad Latin and a little of morals by Larraga are hardly ever
taught by one or two native clerics.
Bishop Pedro Payo, in a Relatio Status Ecclesiae Metropolitanae Manilae sent to the Holy See in 1883,
summed up the moral condition of both Filipino and Spanish secular clergy in the archdiocese of
Manila in the following words, which we believe agree with the impartial judgment of various
observers: (A, pp. 44-52)
There are certainly some among the native priests who are outstanding for their high moral conduct;
but others, of course, forgetting their dignity, are a scandal to the faithful. Even the Europeans who
receive prebendaries in the Catholic church do not show that ideal of character which inspires the
rest of the clergy and the people. Unchastity is spreading far and wide.
 Chapter 3

The Church and Education; Works of Charity

7. The Church and Education
Primary Instruction.
The religious missionaries who came to evangelize the Philippine Islands did not plan to create a
system of primary instruction; but were content, with a few exceptions perhaps, to open schools
inasmuch as they considered them a means to win souls for Christ. In the beginning, they had to be
satisfied with oral teaching, for there were no books. Even if there had been some, few Filipinos
would have been able to read them. Later, they trained some bright, perceptive Filipinos who in turn
would teach their compatriots, with the few books that began to be published, how to read, write,
count, and above all Christian Doctrine. Because there were no special buildings for teaching, this was
held in the Church, in the convento in particular instances, or in the open air.
The first school started by the missionaries was the one in Cebu in 1565. Shortly after their arrival,
the Augustinian Fathers obtained permission from the city residents to bring together their sons in
order to teach them deportment and Christian doctrine. Attracted by the purity of life of the
missionaries, the Cebuanos presented no difficulties against entrusting their sons to the Fathers for
the purpose for which they had been invited. The provincial chapter of the Augustinians in 1598
decreed that schools be opened in towns, ranches and barrios, and that they oblige the boys to attend
them.
The Franciscans, for their part, contributed as much to
primary instruction in the Philippines as their means
allowed. In this task, the efforts of Father Juan de
Plasencia since his arrival in the Philippines in 1578 were
outstanding. This innovator and scholar, in the manner of
so many of his contemporaries, seems to have taken upon
himself the civilizing mission of founding towns and
schools wherever he went. His plan was to form good and
responsible Christian citizens by teaching them the
rudiments of learning, namely, reading, writing, and some
basic arts and tasks.
In a minor scale, the Dominican Father Pedro Bolaños did
the same work in Bataan beginning in 1587.
Neither did the Jesuits neglect this means of evangelization. Hardly had they arrived in the
Philippines, we see them opening primary schools in Tigbauan (Panay Island), Antipolo, and around
Manila. About a school they opened in Carigara (Leyte), Father Colin says:
The second task we undertook was to start a school for boys, supporting them in our residence with
the alms received from the encomenderos. With the help of some bright Indios brought along for the
purpose, we teach them how to read, sing, draw, as well as the divine office which is now sung
solemnly. It is cause for praising God, watching the fervor with which these boys have dedicated
themselves to learn matters of our Faith such that, grouping themselves in fours, or more, and using
some pebbles or short sticks they are wont to mark the words, they have learned in a few days all the
prayers in the language, some in Latin, and how to serve Mass.
Such were the humble but praiseworthy beginnings of primary instruction in the islands under the
aegis of the Church. Progress through the 17 th, 18th, and the first half of the 19 th century was slow and
painful. Reading the mountain of documents for this period leads to the conclusion that neither the
State nor the Church could give the schools the attention that in our days we give them. It is because
the times did not care as much, for even in cultured Europe practically the same thing happened.
A certain author has said that in the 17th century there were already a thousand parochial schools in
the Philippines. If we reduce the figure to 100, we would be nearing the truth. All the parishes and
missions put together would not total more than 250, and it must be admitted that in many of them
there were no schools at all, at least in any formal sense.
Nonetheless, the missionaries, supported by the Government, worked in such wise that by the
beginning of the 19th century there were, as a general rule, two schools in each town: one for boys,
and another for girls.
This was the situation when the government took control of primary instruction in 1863, which till
then had been borne almost exclusively on the shoulders of the missionaries and parish priests. On
that year, the superior government decreed the establishment of a Normal School for primary school
teachers, entrusting the Fathers of the Society of Jesus with its administration. The decree also
provided that education would be obligatory in the future, charging with this responsibility the
parents, the teachers and the guardians of children.
Among other dispositions on behalf of education which were issued by the Supreme Authority in the
archipelago, the one of 30 October 1867 is worth noting. In order to ensure the better progress of
education, instructions were sent to the parish priests that henceforth they would be the local
inspectors of primary instruction.
But all of these instructions as well as others that followed did not effect the desired results. There
was a dearth of public funds; there were no provincial inspectors who could have coordinated the
activities of the parish priests; there was no interest among many gobernadorcillos and parents to oblige
their children to go to school; there were not enough good teachers, or there were too many children in
the individual classes; and frequently there was an absence of educational facilities such as desks,
blackboards, books, paper, etc. The parish priests tried to ease the situation within their limited
means, often paying teachers from the parochial funds, purchasing equipment, constructing schools,
and allowing at times the use of the lower floor of the convento as a classroom. Because of these
difficulties, parents in many families truly concerned about the education of their children were
forced to send them to study in Manila or entrust them to private tutors.
School buildings were made of bamboo and nipa, wood or brick. Christian Doctrine and Sacred
History were principal subjects of the school curriculum. The number of schools which in 1877
reached 1,016 had risen to 2,500 by 1898, with an enrollment of 200,000 school children.
Secondary Teaching.
There was no secondary education (according to the modern system of education) in the Philippines
until 1865. On 9 January of that year, the superior government memorialized the Metropolitan5
government on the need to improve the program of secondary education. In accordance with the
wishes of the insular government, after listening to the opinions of the Council on Public Instruction,
Queen Isabel II enacted by way of experiment that the University of Santo Tomas and the colleges
affiliated to it by the corresponding royal order should restructure their program of education in
conformity with the reform projected by the superior government.
By another royal order dated 28 January 1867 and endorsed in Manila by Governor Gandara on 4
April, the Spanish government definitively laid the ground for implementing the new norms of
education. In this decree, centers of secondary education would henceforth be classified as public or
private schools. Only the University of Santo Tomas would enjoy the rank of public school. The
private colleges would be divided into private schools of the first class and private schools of the second
class. The first-class private schools were those that offered in their program of studies all the
subjects required for the degree of

5 The Metropolitan is the primate of an ecclesiastical province.

Bachelor of Arts; those that offered only some subjects were classified as second-class. Among the
first were the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and Ateneo de Manila. Only the University of Santo
Tomas, as a public institution of learning, had the power to grant academic degrees. It had the right
besides to inspect the instruction given in the other colleges.
San Juan de Letran. This college had a double origin. Towards the year 1620, there lived in Manila
one Juan Geronimo Guerrero, a Spaniard. Touched by the lot of many Spanish orphans, ordinarily
sons of dead soldiers, he gathered them into his house and provided them with food and education
from the alms he collected from charitable persons. His Majesty gave his approval to this project in
1623. Years later, a lay Brother Fray Diego de Santa Maria started a similar work in the rooms
adjacent to the lobby of Santo Domingo. The latter absorbed the first when in his old age Guerrero
entrusted his foundation, together with an encomienda the governor had granted to him, to the
Dominicans in 1638. Officially accepted by the Order of Preachers in 1652, for more than half a century
it bore the name Seminario de niños huerfanos de San Pedro y San Pablo (Seminary of Saints Peter and
Paul for Orphan Boys). Its program of studies did not go beyond the level of elementary schooling,
until about 1707 when two chairs on the Humanities were added. The students had until then attended
the secondary school of the University of Santo Tomas.
From 1867 on, the first four courses of the
secondary curriculum were given jointly for
the Letranites and the Tomasites in the
building of Letran college; but the former
had to go to the halls of Santo Tomas for
the fifth course. Letran reached a high level
of development because of the
implementation of the decrees on secondary
education. During the 17th century and part
of the 18th century, many of its graduates
reached sacerdotal ordination after
completing higher studies in Santo Tomas.
Although only the sons of Spaniards were
accepted in the beginning, in time many
mestizos and natives were given the same
privilege.
Ateneo de Manila. The college of the Immaculate Conception, named Ateneo Municipal de Manila,
started in 1859. While the first Jesuit arrivals in Manila in 1859 were awaiting the opportunity to
proceed to Mindanao at this moment beset with difficulties, the Captain-General Don Fernando
Norzaragay, insinuated to the city council of Manila that they approach the Superior of the mission
Father Jose Cuevas and ask that the Jesuits take charge of a primary school for about
thirty boys which at that time was run by a lay man. Father
Cuevas welcomed the idea, foreseeing the undeniable
benefits which the proposed change would bring to Filipino
youth. It was in this way, briefly, that the Society of Jesus
took charge on 10 December 1859 of what was called the
Escuela Pia of Manila. In 1865, Her Majesty Queen Isabel II
elevated the school to the rank of a college of secondary
teaching, now entitled Ateneo Municipal de Manila. In later
years, the Jesuit Fathers added important improvements to
the building, even setting up a Laboratory of Physics and a
Museum of Natural History.
Other Colleges. The Dominican Fathers inaugurated a first-class college for secondary teaching in
Dagupan in 1891 under the patronage of Saint Albert. At this time, another college of secondary
education was opened in Bacolod (Negros) under the direction of the Recollect Fathers.
Higher or University Learning.
Only the Dominicans and the Jesuits engaged in the task of higher learning, the latter from the 16th
century to the 18th century, the former through the three centuries that embraced the period which we
are investigating.
College of San Jose. Hardly had they arrived in the Philippines, the Jesuit Fathers immediately gave
serious thought to the establishment of a center of higher studies. We have already seen how their
first essay, begun in 1583, ended. Much later, they finally succeeded in 1595 amid great difficulties
to lay the foundations of a college which would afterwards be called Maximo or University of San
Ignacio. This college or University, set up in the residence of the Fathers near the church of San
Ignacio, was a different entity from the College of San Jose which occupied a separate building.
The foundation of the College of San Jose, which by its renown came to eclipse almost completely
the Colegio Maximo, was due to the Visitator Father Diego Garcia. In 1599, he told Father Pedro
Chirino to settle its foundation under the patronage of Saint Joseph. With the corresponding permits,
the college was inaugurated on 25 August 1601 under the administration of Father Luis Gomez, its
first Rector. In 1610, after the Fathers of the Society took possession of the property bequeathed them
by Adelantado Esteban Rodriguez in a testament legalized in Arevalo (now Iloilo) on 16 March 1596,
the college began a second foundation as it were, so that it could admit scholars who had to be,
according to the will of the founder, “sons of Spaniards of good birth.” By 1636, Humanities,
Philosophy and Theology were being taught there.
On 3 May 1722, San Jose was granted the
title Real Colegio, and in 1734 it received the
license to open the Faculties of Civil and
Canon Law.
When the Jesuits lost this school in May
1768, the Archbishop of Manila immediately
converted it into a conciliar seminary, with
the consent of Governor Raon. But the king’s
royal cedula of 21 May 1771 disapproved
this move, decreeing that San Jose be
reverted to its original character. However,
with the change in administration, the
College led a languid life under the direction
of a secular priest, until by a royal order in
1875 the government ceded the
administration, the property and the buildings to the Rector of the University of Santo Tomas, in
order that he make use of them to support the Faculties of Medicine and of Pharmacy.
University of Santo Tomas. The center of higher learning which left the deepest imprint on the history
of the Church in the Philippines is, without doubt, the University of Santo Tomas.
At times we hear mention of the College, at other times of the University, of Santo Tomas. The
College was only a boarding school. Founded in 1611 by the Dominican Province of the Most Holy
Rosary with the aid of the bequest of Archbishop Benavides and others, it offered free shelter, free
food and clothing, and free education to about 40 poor students, sons of Spaniards. Mestizos and
native sons also formed part of the boarding school in diverse periods, but they were classed as
servants or captistas. Others gained admission if they paid some amount of money as a kind of
tuition. From this college proceeded graduates who later brought distinction to their Alma Mater in
the episcopate, in cathedral dignities in magistracies, and in civil administration.
The University, which included different faculties, was inaugurated on 15 August 1619. In the
beginning, only the Faculties of Arts, Philosophy and Theology were open. In the course of many
years, other faculties
were opened: Civil and Canon Law (1734), Spanish Law (1835), Medicine and Pharmacy (1871),
Notary Public (1878), Philosophy and Letters (1896), Sciences (1896).
This institution received the power to grant academic degrees from a Brief of Pope Paul V on 11
March 1619; the title of University from Pope Innocent X on 20 November 1645; the title of Royal
from King
Charles III on 7 March 1785; the title of
Pontifical from the Pontiff Leo XIII on
17 September 1902; and finally the
qualification Catholic from His
Holiness Pope Pius XII on 30 April
1947.
The building was located for more than
three centuries in Intramuros, next to
the Church of Santo Domingo, the site
which the founders had purposely
acquired. In 1945, when the whole
building was completely destroyed, the
Dominican Fathers moved to the
present campus in Sulucan the Faculty
of Laws and Medicine, the only ones
that had remained in the former site
when the new building was inaugurated
in Sulucan in 1927. (A, pp. 53-62)

8. Works of Charity
Hospitals.
In this work of charity, none surpassed the Franciscan Fathers who, carried by the wings of love for
God and for neighbor, founded or administered as many if not perhaps more hospitals as all the other
groups together.
The Royal Hospital. When they arrived in Manila in 1577, they already found in operation the Royal
Hospital which was opened to care for the sick among the Spanish soldiers and sailors. Such was the
love for the sick of these religious that the Spaniards themselves petitioned the Government to entrust
to them the administration of the hospital. And so, its first Administrator-Chaplain Father Agustin de
Tordesillas assumed its direction in 1578. The building, which was of light materials at first,
disappeared in the fire of 1583. Built anew thanks to the support of charitable persons and of
Governor Santiago Vera, it had to be raised again after the earthquake of 1603. Unfortunately,
continued interference of the civil authorities in the spiritual and temporal progress of the hospital
especially during Governor Corcuera’s time who, against the express will of the monarch, ended
Franciscan control in 1640, forced the Franciscans to give it up definitively in 1704, never again to
assume charge despite the repeated invitations of the insular government. On 21 August 1862, the
Daughters of Charity accepted it.
San Juan de Dios Hospital. The hospital owes its foundation to a Franciscan lay Brother Fray Juan
Clemente. In 1578, Fray Juan began to aid the poor and the sick who gathered at the doors of the poor
convent of Saint Francis, asking for food and medicine. Because the place was not suitable for so
great a demand, the good Brother thought of building a hospital. In a short time, aided by the poor
themselves, he raised two spacious halls on the site now occupied in Intramuros by the Jose Laurel
Lyceum. Destroyed during the fire of 1583, he had to construct it again. Years later, the holy priest
Juan Fernandez de Leon offered his services to the hospital. He constructed a third hall in 1593 with
his own means and the alms solicited from charitable people, but everything went down during the
earthquake of 1603. The greatest aid this virtuous priest gave to the hospital was the establishment on
his own initiative of the Mesa de la Misericordia
in 1594. In the future, it would take care of
providing the means of support for the wing
which he had built.
After 1603, the Franciscan Fathers decided
to build a leprosarium in the outskirts of
Manila for the lepers they had already
sheltered. They also donated the site of the
ruined hospital to the Mesa de la
Misericordia. Although this entity built a new
edifice and was charged with its
administration, the spiritual care of the sick
continued in the hands of the Franciscans.
On 13 May 1656, the Confraternity
entrusted the direction of the hospital, since
then called San
Juan de Dios Hospital, to the Religious Hospitallers from whose hands it passed to the care of the
Daughters of Charity by express will of Queen Isabel II in 1865. From this date, the Spanish
government which enjoyed higher supervisory powers over it because of the Patronato Real decided,
in agreement with the ecclesiastical authority, to name a Board of Inspectors to oversee the proper
functioning of this charitable institution. The presidency of the Board was given to the Franciscan
Order through a royal order in 1891. Immediate direction and supervision had been in the charge of
the Daughters of Charity since 1896, in virtue of a decree of the Governor-General dated 17 August
1865.
Holy Spirit Hospital in Cavite. In Cavite port, on the site donated by a Spaniard Don Felipe Correo,
the Franciscans built a second hospital in 1591 under the patronage of the Holy Spirit. It was intended
to provide rest for the sailors and the laborers of the arsenal there. In 1610, through a deed signed that
year, two pious men donated to it a piece of land in Santa Ana which henceforth would be the basis
of its income. In 1640, Governor Corcuera removed the Franciscans from the hospital, and in 1662
the building was demolished on orders of Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara as a defense measure
against the threatening Chinese pirate Kuesing.
Saint James Hospital in Naga. Before the city of Naga was raised to the rank of city and head of the
diocese, the Franciscan missionaries already opened a hospital there which they named Saint James
Hospital, although the people used to call it Saint Lazarus. In time, this charitable institution fell
away. Its administration, by royal disposition, passed from the hands of the religious to those of lay
supervisors, and in 1691 it folded up completely. Various bishops strove in later years to have it
reopened, but in vain. This resurrection was reserved to Bishop Francisco Gainza who, with the aid of
the Franciscans, had the satisfaction of inaugurating it on 12 May 1873 amid great difficulties. And in
a magnanimous act of detachment, he handed it over to the Franciscans. This new hospital was
located in a spot near Naga called Palestina.
Holy Waters Hospital in Los Baños. The foundation of this hospital, due to the initiative of Saint
Pedro Bautista, goes back to 1590. The discovery of thermal springs on the site was what led this
sainted martyr to open the hospital, since the hot springs were known to cure certain illnesses. But the
soul of this foundation in its early years was the lay Brother Fray Diego de Santa Maria who, besides
his evangelical charity, possessed no mean knowledge of medicine and surgery. By a decree of 21
July 1602, confirmed sometime later by the government, the Cabildo authorized Fray Diego to open a
hospital there. And putting hands to the task, a building of light materials was constructed out of
nothing, which he named Holy Waters Hospital of Mainit. In 1608, some rich natives donated land to
the hospital. With this and other donations, with the work of the religious, and with the aid of the
government, the Holy Waters Hospital quickly reached a high level of prosperity. A big building of
stone was constructed in 1671. But with the years, after the Franciscans had surrendered its
supervision to the Patronato, it began to decline visibly until in 1727 it disappeared completely in a
fire. Initiated by Governor Domingo Moriones, the
Franciscans rebuilt it in 1877; but they did not bind themselves to take charge of its administration
even though the government had offered it to them.
Other Hospitals. There were other hospitals, not founded by the Franciscans although they had
helped much to make them prosper. For example, such were Saint Joseph Hospital in Cebu founded
in 1864 by Señor Romualdo Jimeno; the Casa de Socorro established in 1884 by Bishop Martin Garcia
Alcocer, and the Lucena Hospital founded in 1892 which was administered by the Franciscan
tertiaries.
Leprosaria.
One leprosarium worth mentioning because of its brilliant history through the centuries is that of San
Lazaro. Here as in so many other works of charity, the Franciscans took the lead. As we have already said,
it began in 1578 near the door of
the convent of San Francisco. In
1632, the Emperor of Japan
expelled 130 poor lepers criminally
guilty just because they were
Christians. Their arrival in the
Philippines won the compassion
of the Franciscans and the
attention of the government. The
former sheltered them in a house
they had built in Dilao right after
the destruction of their building
in Intramuros during the
earthquake of 1603. The secular
government
aided them with generous alms. Years later, Corcuera removed the Franciscans from administering
this institution of charity. But the king restored them in 1641, in answer to their justified complaints.
A decree signed by Governor Basco in 1784 and approved by the king in 1785 transferred the
leprosarium to Mayhaligue, the site it now occupies on Rizal Avenue. In succeeding years, this
institution had to pass through difficult periods due to lack of funds. The building was not sufficient
and the hacienda, which was mismanaged, did not provide enough to support the sick. From these
straits, the energetic Father Felix Huertas came in 1859 to rescue the hospital. He improved the
buildings and rectified the administration, so much so that by the end of the 19th century San Lazaro
was well established and had adequate means of support. This was the situation when the Archbishop
of Manila, who had succeeded to the Spanish Government as Patron of the hospital, removed it from
the administration of the Franciscans in 1907 and ceded it to the American government, which in
exchange had given up its pretentions to the other pious foundations.
Asylums.
Just as the Franciscans were outstanding in hospitals, so the Augustinians distinguished themselves in
asylums. The first asylum that they opened was the Beaterio of Saint Rita in Pasig. The building
which was constructed by Father Felix Trillo goes back to 1740. It was planned to offer shelter and
education to native orphan girls.
In 1882-1883, an epidemic broke out in Manila and the suburbs. With the lives of many parents
snuffed out, many native boys and girls were left orphans. To help them, the Augustinians and some
charitable ladies thought of opening two asylums, one for boys and another one in Mandaluyong for
girls. The first one, built in San Marcelino (Paco) in 1883, was transferred the following year to the
magnificent convent of Guadalupe. From there, it was transferred to Malabon de Tambobong where
the Augustinians built two solid and commodious halls on an extensive piece of land, to serve at the
same time as home and
school of arts and trades for the inmates. When the revolutionaries pillaged it in 1898, there were
well- established printing shops, binderies, lithographies, etc.; and it served as home for about 150
boys. When the boys left the asylum, they received a sum of money equivalent to the work they
performed in the shops.
The girls’ asylum under the Spanish Augustinian tertiaries was transferred from Paco to the casa-hacienda
of Mandaluyong. For some years, it admitted only orphans. But in 1895, Father Benito Ubierna
enlarge the building in order to accommodate boarders, too. When the Revolution occurred, this
asylum supported some damage from the bombardment of the American warships in February 1899.
The wards who reached the age of 20 years in the asylum received, when they married, a gift of from
P50 to P200 as dowry. Those who left the asylum freely but were not married received a similar gift,
as long as they had reached the age of 20 years and had lived there for at least for 10
years.
Another asylum that deserves our notice is the
Asilo-Colegio de San Vicente de Paul at
Looban Street (Paco). It was founded in 1885
by a Daughter of Charity Sor Asuncion
Ventura who was a native of Pampanga. With
her Superiors’ permission, she donated her
property on behalf of neglected children. Its
inauguration was held on 26 July 1885, and
since then the Daughters of Charity have been
directing it.
Hospices.
In 1782, a pious couple, Don Francisco Gomez Enriquez and Doña Barbara Verzosa, ceded to the
Archbishop a great part of their property to help found a hospice for the old, the demented, and
orphans.
Three years later, Manila had the first
foundation of its kind. At first, it was located
in Pandacan, then in Binondo, and later on the
left side of the descent of Ayala bridge in San
Miguel. In 1895, the island which rises in the
middle of the Pasig just below Ayala bridge
was ceded by the administrators of San Juan de
Dios Hospital. This island was formerly known
as the Isla de Convalescencia (Island of
Recuperation), because the patients of San Juan
de Dios used to go there to convalesce. That
year, the Hospice transferred to the island. The
Daughters of Charity have been in charge of
this institution since 1865.
Epilogue.
The following phrases which flowered from the pen of Rev. Mackinnon, chaplain of the American
troops in Manila in 1898, are especially fitting: (A, pp. 63-70)
Because in no other part of the world is Christian charity more in bloom and more widespread than
in the Philippines; and the hospitals, the maternity houses, the industrial schools and other like
institutions would bring honor to any nation. Enormous are the sums which each year are expended
for charity.
 Chapter 4

Councils and Synods; the Royal Patronage; Diocesan Visitation

9. Councils and Synods.
The First Synod in the Philippines Held in 1582.
A resume of its acts, apparently incomplete and published in Philippiniana Sacra, carries the
following epigraph: “A Summary of A Meeting which was held in the form of a Council in the year
1582, in order to provide a basis for questions touching the spread of the Faith and to justify the
conquests made and still to be made in the future by the Spaniards.”
Present at this meeting besides Bishop Salazar were the prelates and learned men of the religious
orders, some jurists and, on occasion, experienced captains. They worked to gain information about
the land, and make sure that the discussions proceeded in truth and in justice.
The Summary consists of two parts. Part One with five brief
chapters; Part Two with six chapters divided into paragraphs
according to the following topics:
1. The King’s Concerns
2. Governors
3. Royal Officials
4. Alcaldes Mayores and other Administrators of Justice
5. Captains and Soldiers Engaged in the task of Pacification,
otherwise known as “Conquest”
6. Encomenderos, Hacenderos, Collectors, their Servants and Slaves
Four other chapters were promised, but these were not discussed in
the proper place, for the second part abruptly ends after paragraph
20 of Chapter VI with two appendices entitled “Orders and
Instructions for Observance by Alcaldes Mayores” and “Tariff
Rates.” However, these were discussed in various paragraphs
throughout the six chapters mentioned.
According to the fourth chapter of Part One, the purpose of the
meeting was “to discuss the good order and system to be followed
in the administration of this new Church so that she may march
forward.” But because the new Church in the Philippines in her
continued progress was encumbered with many obstacles from
“persons, things, usages and customs” as is clear from the
Summary, discussions in the meeting concentrated mainly on
removing these difficulties. Hence, the decisions give the
impression of being prohibitions rather than constructive policies.
One easily concludes from reading the Summary that the meeting
or synod of 1582 was both a religious and civil assembly. It will be
enough
to cite certain points so that the reader may have an idea of the love for justice and truth which inspired it.
On the rights of captains, soldiers, governors and judges of the Philippines, the Summary says that
they had no claims other than what the king had granted them; and the king could give only what he
had received from Christ, namely, the power or the faculty granted him by the popes to preach the
Gospel throughout the world.
Now, since this mission was difficult if not impossible to fulfill unless the kings of Spain took possession
of the land, it was necessary to conquer or, in other words, to deprive the natives of their natural right
of self-government in order to bestow a greater good of the supernatural order: the freedom of the
sons of God, based on the principles of Christianity. On the other hand, if the Filipinos, sufficiently
organized and civilized, had not resisted the Gospel, the king, in the mind of the synod, would have
had no right at all to send soldiers for the protection of the missionaries and occupy the land.
But this higher authorization did not entitle the Spaniards to deprive the natives of their natural right
to their individual property or to their dependents, “since the Gospel,” says the Summary,
“dispossesses no one of what is his.”
“What immediately come out of this whole discussion,” comments the Dominican historian Father
Valentin Marin, “is the extreme sensitivity of those men. They were putting on trial the rights to these
lands which the king of Spain could claim, despite the bull of Alexander VI, sheerly out of their
respect for another’s property.” Because in that age of wars and conquests many abuses were
committed against a half-civilized society, the assembly emphasized the obligation of civil officials,
especially the encomenderos, to restore ill-gotten goods to the natives, and to clearly announce to the
officials of the natives that they ought to be the father and protector of the native element.
In the Summary there was a recommendation to the encomenderos to try to group the natives into
organized towns, to make provision for ministers of Christian doctrine, if not to teach the catechism
themselves. It was also recommended that they look to the maintenance of order and Christian
morality, that they build in the encomienda a church for religious purposes and a house for the
minister.
If we accept the judgment of Father Chirino, the synod was a success. The synod had “laid down
definite and basic formulations. The members were properly informed and freed from error; the way
was cleared and eased for the administration of the sacraments; those concerned were inspired and
eager to satisfy their obligations and make the proper restitution; and all the estates and offices were
respected and put in order.”
But Father Hernan Suarez, also a Jesuit missionary in the Philippines at the time of the synod, wrote
to the General of the Order Father Aquaviva: “The Bishop called the religious together to solve
several problems that demanded a solution. The secretary of the meeting was Father Alonso Sanchez
who drew up the minutes of the agenda. But neither his view prevailed, nor did the resolutions to a
great extent effect much, for the friars held opposite views to the Bishop’s, and everyone is full of his
own ideas.” Even if we agree with Father Suarez, we cannot deny that the synod resulted in much
good, above all in the question of restitution, thanks to the tenacity and resourcefulness of Bishop
Suarez who obliged many Spaniards to restore ill-gotten property, out of which he established a fund
whose interest was set aside for the construction of churches and the ransom of captives.
The Synod of Cebu (1600).
Two years after he had taken possession of his see in 1598,
Bishop Pedro de Agurto decided to celebrate a synod for the
religious and secular priests of his diocese during the octave
of Pentecost. Through synodal resolutions, he hoped to arrive
at unanimity in the teaching of Christian doctrine and the
administration of the sacraments to the natives. To this end
he appointed a group of six—two secular priests, two
Augustinians, and two Jesuits—to revise a Visayan
translation of the Catechism. The synod sent a procurator to
the Royal Audiencia to seek to outlaw polygamy, as a
practice against natural law but still widespread among the
unconverted Visayan subjects of the king. It also sought that
marriage among the natives be based on perpetual consent.
Attempts During the 17th Century for a Provincial Council.
In 1585, the third provincial council of Mexico was held in Mexico City. Because Manila was
suffragan to the archbishopric of Mexico City, Bishop Salazar was invited to attend. But he excused
himself because of the distance, his old age and his infirmities.
Since the Church in the Philippines was declared independent of Mexico in 1595 by Clement VIII, it
was necessary to look to her own government and discipline. Nothing
better suited the purpose than a provincial council, it seemed. And
so, the fifth Prelate of Manila Archbishop Miguel Garcia Serrano
tried to celebrate one in 1621. However, he could not do anything
because of the peculiar set-up of the Philippine Church within the
Patronato Real. The Archbishop had to be satisfied with sending a
canon of his cathedral, the licentiate Juan Cervicos, to Rome to
solicit from the Holy Father Pope Urban VIII the Brief dated 11
March 1626 by which the Supreme Pontiff arranged that the decrees
of the third Council of Mexico should also apply to the Philippines
until Manila could hold its own provincial council. There is no
doubt that this council had legal validity for a long time in the
Philippines. And even Father Benito Corominas, a professor of
Canon Law at the University of Santo Tomas who died in 1881,
believed that up to his time, it was still in force.
Archbishop Poblete, who governed the archdiocese of Manila in
1653- 1669, edited with the help of some learned ecclesiastics some
“Constitutions” in preparation for a provincial council he was
planning to convoke. But the council remained a plan, because in
the same year 1661 the bishops of Nueva Segovia, Nueva Caceres
and Cebu died.
The Provincial Council of Manila (1771).
This was the situation when, by the royal cedula of 21 August 1769 known as the “tomo regio” (the
royal decree), Charles III decreed that the bishops of the Americas and the Philippines should
celebrate provincial councils without delay. In compliance with this royal mandate, Archbishop
Basilio Sancho of Manila called together early in 1771 the three suffragan bishops to plan the
opening of the provincial council on 19 May. Unfortunately, the bane of discord entered the sessions
of the council, occasioned by the lodging of the protest by the Franciscan Bishop Antonio de Luna of
Nueva Caceres against the appointment as secretaries of Fathers Ildefonso Garcia and Joaquin
Traggia, Piarists and members of the household of the prelate of Manila. Bishop de Luna took it as an
insult to the Chapter, among whom there were not lacking in his judgment capable individuals for
such an assignment. Besides other motives for discord, the final result of this was a decree of
expulsion published on 22 July against Bishop Luna who retired in high dander to his see, having first
appealed to the Royal Council of the Indies.
Another incident which helped envenom the procedure of the council was the absence of Bishop
Miguel Lino de Espeleta of Cebu. Held back because of sickness, he had to delegate his powers to
Doctor Clemente Blanco Bermudez whom the council recognized as the Bishop’s delegate over the
protest of Bishop Luna. But the question became embittered when word came on 27 September that
Bishop Espeleta had died. Nevertheless, the delegate Bermudez continued in his post in spite of the
protest of Bishop Luna who argued, not without reason, that the delegation had ceased at the death of
the delegating bishop.
After several sessions, the council was closed on 24 November. They needed only to obtain the
signature of the king and of the pope. To obtain them, Father Traggia sailed for Madrid and Rome.
But when the king learned of what happened, he ordered the priest on his arrival to retire to his
convent without even presenting himself at the court. And so, this messenger of the Acts failed to
obtain their papal approval.
All this adversely affected the validity of this assembly which never enjoyed legal force. Historically,
the acts are not wthout interest, for they do not fail to throw light on many points of the religious life
of the Philippines.
Epilogue.
Despite these failures, the Church in the Philippines has not been lacking in adequate ecclesiastical
legislation. For, besides the Tridentine decrees, the papal briefs and bulls dispatched to the Indies in
general or to the Philippines in particular, the Church could still count on the Laws of the Indies,
royal cedulas, the decrees of the third Mexican council, and the ordinary and extraordinary privileges
promulgated by both the popes and the kings of Spain for the spiritual government of the people, all of
which the canonists in the Philippines so ably interpreted here. (A, pp. 89-97)

10. The Royal Patronage.

Among the different kinds of Patronage in reference to the provision of ecclesiastical benefices, four
are pertinent to us to now, namely: the Universal Ecclesiastical Patronage, the universal Royal
Patronage, the Spanish Royal Patronage, and the Spanish Royal Patronage in the Indies.
The Universal Ecclesiastical Patronage.
This is the sum of all the privileges with the corresponding obligations which are granted by the
Church to some Catholics who found churches, chapels, or benefices6; or to their successors. This
Patronage is based, “first, on the gratitude of the Church to her benefactors, a gratitude which has
inspired her to reward their generosity; and second, on her praiseworthy desire to awaken the piety of
the faithful that they might establish foundations for temples or benefices to be able to attend better to
the liturgy and the care of souls.” In this sense, Patronage began in the 5 th century when the Church
granted the “right of presentation” to clerics and laymen who had built a church or founded a
benefice. In accordance with this right, the founder or “Patron” enjoyed the privilege of presenting to
the Church authorities a cleric to be rector of a church or to enjoy a benefice. Granted almost always
to the laity, this privilege resulted in so many inconveniences and on so many occasions restricted the
free movement of the Church, so that she had to curtail or suppress the practice especially in these
last years.
The Universal Royal Patronage.
This is the privilege granted by the Holy See to monarchs and heads of state to present or propose an
apt candidate for a vacant major or minor ecclesiastical benefice within their country. If we apply this
definition to the privilege which the Holy See, by tacit consent or written declaration, granted to the
Spanish kings of presenting clerics for the ecclesiastical benefices of Spain, we have the Spanish
Royal Patronage.
The Spanish Royal Patronage.
According to some authors, this started during the period of the Visigoths, and more specifically in
the reign of Recared (+589). A convert from Arianism, this king began the practice of convoking
national councils, as far as we know not against the will of Rome.
During the years of the Reconquest (718-1492), the kings followed the custom, not disapproved by
the Holy See, of nominating prelates, rectors, prebendaries for the dioceses, churches or benefices
which they restored or founded in the territories recovered from Moslem control. The Catholic kings
and some of their successors, wishing that the churches and benefices in the nation should stay only
in the hands of qualified Spaniards if possible, obtained from the Holy See very ample powers in the
presentation of bishops and the provision of benefices. These powers were granted, first in 1486 by
the bull of Innocent
6 An ecclesiastical office to which the revenue from an endowment is attached.
VIII, and later in 1523 by the bull of Adrian VI, and finally in 1753 by the Concordat between
Benedict XIV and Ferdinand VI.
The Spanish Royal Patronage in the Indies.
With the discovery and conquest of America in the 16th century, a new kind of Patronage appeared
along the lines of the Spanish Royal Patronage: the Royal Patronage of the Indies. This included not
only the right of presentation and provision, but also some control and administration of Church
goods and the right to collect ecclesiastical tithes and the fruits of vacant churches. However, to this
right corresponded the rather heavy obligation of sending missionaries at the expense of the Royal
Treasury, of erecting and furnishing cathedrals, churches and chapters, of maintaining the liturgy, etc.
The Spanish Royal Patronage in the Indies rests
on the following documents:
1. The bull Inter caetera (Among Other Things)
of Alexander VI (4 May 1493) granting to the
Crown of Spain dominion over the Indies with
the obligation of spreading the Catholic Faith
there.
2. The bull also of Alexander VI (16 November
1501) granting the right to the tithes and first
fruits of the Indies, but with the obligation of
founding and furnishing churches, maintaining
their prelates or rectors, and providing for the
needs of the liturgy, all out of royal funds.
3. The bull Universalis ecclesiae (Of the Universal
Church) of Pope Julius II (28 July 1508)
granting to the Castilian Crown Universal
Patronage over the churches already founded
or still to be founded in the Indies.
This Patronage, first granted for the Americas,
was extended to the Philippines with the arrival of
Legaspi in 1565. From then on, the Governor-
General of the Islands would be the Vice-Regal
Patron, or Vice-Gerent of the king in all matters
pertaining to the Royal Patronage which the
monarch could not attend to either himself or
through the Royal Council of the Indies. In the
time of the Austrian Hapsburgs, the Royal
Patronage of the Indies was kept as a general rule
within its proper competence. But with the
accession of the Bourbons in 1700, one notices a
greater interference by the king in church affairs,
interference which reached its widest extent under
King Charles III (1759-1788).
There are innumerable proofs and evidences of the interference of the Royal Patronage with the life
of the religious orders in the Philippines. It was the king who approved the establishment of religious
provinces and houses, the departure of religious missionaries for the Philippines, the license to return
to the Peninsula, the assignment of provinces or mission territories to each religious order, and the
erection of parishes administered by religious ministers. Moreover, due to the difficulty of
communications before
the 19th century, the king usually delegated some of these privileges to the Vice-Patron, as for
example allowing missionaries to go to Japan or to China from Manila. With the facility of
communications in the 19th century, there is a marked tendency also for the Metropolitan government
to settle by itself matters pertaining to the Patronato which in other times had been left to the
responsibility of the Vice-Regal Patron. (A, pp. 98-107)

11. Diocesan Visitation.

One of the more serious problems that had troubled the Church in the Philippines for two centuries,
i.e. from 1581 to 1776, had been that of the diocesan visitation. In a strict sense, diocesan visitation
means the right given by the sacred canons to residential bishops, as shepherds of souls, to visit
parish churches, look into the good name of the parish priests, inspect the parish books, the
tabernacle, the Baptismal font, the holy oils, the confraternities, etc. In the Spanish dominions,
especially in the Philippines, the problem of diocesan visitation became quite a complicated affair
because of the interference into the concerns of the Church by the Royal Patronage.
Papal Privileges of the Religious Orders.
Religious missionaries almost always accompanied the Spaniards in their discoveries and conquests
of America and the Philippines, to consolidate the triumph of the sword with the word of the Gospel.
Obviously, there was yet no hierarchy in the beginning in those places. Instead, the kings of Spain
obtained ample privileges for the religious missionaries to perform those ministries which in ordinary
circumstances presuppose the bishop’s license, such as hearing Confessions, preaching, solemnizing
marriages, etc.
The privileges of the religious stem from the bull Exponi nobis
better known as the Omnimoda. On 10 May 1522, Pope Adrian VI,
at the instance of Emperor Charles V, granted to the prelates of the
mendicant religious orders in the Indies, and to their deputies in
places where there were no bishops or where it was not possible
within two days’ journey (dos dietas) to reach them or their
officials, the full exercise of any and every episcopal faculty as
occasion demanded, both in the internal and the external forum, for
the conversion of pagans and their preservation in the faith so much
so that the missionaries could perform any ministry not requiring
episcopal consecration until such time as the Holy See arranged
otherwise. In this way, Adrian VI confirmed and extended to the
other religious institutions the faculty which his predecessor Pope
Leo X had granted to the Franciscans by the Apostolic Constitution
Dilecti Filii of 25 April 1521 giving them license to preach, to
administer the sacraments, and to perform episcopal functions in
provinces where there would be no bishops.
Clement VII, in another bull signed on behalf of the Dominican Order, confirmed all similar
concessions by the popes Innocent IV, Nicholas IV, Leo X and Adrian VI, with the proviso that they
could use the above faculties wherever they judged it convenient as time and place demanded for the
promotion of God’s glory and the salvation of souls.
Paul III, Clement VII’s successor to the papacy, issued a bull Alias felicis at the request of the
Franciscan General on 15 February 1533 modifying the limit of two days’ journey, so that even if
bishops were accessible the religious could make use of the omnimoda with the bishop’s permission.
The same Paul III by a verbal declaration (vivae vocis oraculo) confirmed in 1542 all the favors and
concessions till then granted to the mendicant religious orders in the Indies and to be granted in the
future, both in general and in particular.
Julius III confirmed, approved and renewed all that his predecessors had granted to the Franciscans
and the Dominicans, even by way of communication of privileges. Julius III, in two bulls—one
issued on 28 July 1550 at the instance of the Franciscan Minister-General, the other on 10 July 1551
at the request of the Dominican Master-General—confirmed, approved and granted anew the same
faculties enjoyed by one or the other religious order, although as an extension and communication of
privileges.
Favored with these privileges, the religious missionaries exercised the care of souls exclusively at the
license of their respective provincials. They did not receive their faculties from the local ordinary, nor
did they undergo any canonical investiture or installation. They were absolutely exempt from the
jurisdiction of the diocesan prelate.
Eventually, the canons of the Council of
Trent were promulgated in Spain in
1564, where Chapter XI of Session 25
decreed that the provision of all
benefices, especially of curacies—even
those of religious—should be preceded
by an examination, installation and
investiture by the diocesan ordinaries. No
religious, therefore, could preach or hear
the Confessions of the laity without the
approval of the local ordinary. In view of
this, many began to question the validity
of the privileges just discussed.
To quiet scruples and dispel doubts, Philip II obtained from Pope Pius V, through a brief Exponi
nobis dated 24 March 1567, confirmation of the privileges granted to the religious missionaries by
the pope’s predecessors. However, this last confirmation was meant to continue only as long as the
religious were needed to perform parochial functions because of lack of secular priests. This explains
the efforts of the bishops in America to raise a native clergy who would assume the role of the
religious parish priests.
Some say that Pius V soon regretted having renewed the privileges abrogated by the Council of
Trent, and that his successor Gregory XIII revoked the brief of Pius V by the bull In tanta rerum
dated 1 March 1573. But Gregory XIV issued on 16 September 1591 a bull that confirmed anew the
privileges of the religious.
Diocesan Visitation in the Time of Bishop Salazar.
At about this time (1581), Bishop Salazar had already taken possession of his see. Assailed by
scruples and doubts, he planned to introduce diocesan visitation in the Philippines. And so, after the
synod of 1582- 1585 he signified to the religious his intention to visit them. The latter defended
themselves with their privileges and opposed the idea; but because the Bishop went ahead with his
plan, they gave up their ministries. In the end, thanks to the intervention of Governor-General
Ronquillo, Bishop Salazar desisted from the visitation, while he consulted the learned Augustinian of
Mexico Father Alonso de Vera Cruz whose masterful solution contributed more than anything else to
bring about peace to the Bishop’s conscience.
Diocesan Visitation in the 17th Century.
During the 17th century, the question of diocesan visitation occupied the minds of people both in the
legal as well as the actual order.
First of all, we find Clement VIII’s bull Religiosorum quorumcumque dated 8 November 1597 approving a
resolution by the Sacred Congregation of Cardinals which provided that religious missionaries,
appointed by their Superiors and approved by the Ordinary or his officials for the care of souls in the
Indies because
of lack of priests, were subject to the ordinary of the place in what pertains to the ministry of souls.
But this brief does not seem to have caused a murmur in the Philippines.
The bull of Gregory XV Inscrutabili Dei providentia dated 5 February 1622 was of more
significance, for it certainly abrogated the privileges granted by Saint Pius V. But according to some
authors, the religious orders prevailed upon Urban VIII to suspend the bull through the brief Alias a
felici issued on 27 February 1625.
This was how things stood in the order of law when the fiscal of the Royal Audiencia of the
Philippines took steps in 1654 that led to the subjection of the ministries of the religious to the Royal
Patronage and to diocesan visitation. The provincials opposed the plan, adducing the prevailing
custom and the special circumstances of the Church in the Philippines. But the Audiencia disagreed
with their reasons and decreed that the curacies and ministers were subject to visitation by the
respective Ordinary. Face with the law, the Superiors of the religious orders resorted to the tactic of
renouncing all their ministries. Intent on carrying out this plan, the fiscal went to Archbishop Poblete
to see whether the secular clergy could take charge of the ministries which the religious were
threatening to quit. A negative answer from the Archbishop forced the fiscal to yield for the moment
while he appealed to the Council of the Indies for a favorable solution. The latter replied with a
“visto” on 23 October 1666, meaning that no action was forthcoming.
Another Attempt and Another Failure.
Towards the end of the 17th century, Archbishop Camacho planned to initiate the episcopal visitation
of the ministries administered by the religious within his archdiocese. But he met so much opposition
in the visitation of San Gabriel Hospital and in the ministries of Tondo and Binondo, so much
resistance from the provincials, and indifference if not outright hostility from Governor Zabulburu,
that he had to give up his idea much to his disappointment. But he did not give up the plan
completely, for he sought the backing of the king and of the pope. Rome answered in favor of the
Archbishop, issuing the brief Cum sicut on 30 January 1705 which declared that ministries in the
hands of religious missionaries were subject to visitation by the Ordinary.
Sometime after, Camacho’s successor Archbishop Francisco de la Cuesta, O.S.H. arrived in Manila.
Transferred from the see of Guadalajara in Mexico and provided with a papal brief and a royal
cedula, he was ready to introduce episcopal visitation here. But at the request of the provincials, he
delayed implementation of both documents until an answer to the representation sent to Spain by the
religious prelates were received. The answer never came; and so, the situation continued as before,
thanks to the conciliatory approach of the new archbishop who felt no great enthusiasm for making
the visits.
Diocesan Visitation and Archbishop Basilio Sancho.
And so things stood, until by the middle of the 18th century, Benedict
XIV promulgated two bulls: Firmandis on 6 November 1744, and
Quamvis on 24 February of the next year. At the instance of
Ferdinand VI, both were ratified by the bull Cum nuper on 8
November 1751 which clearly and definitively ordered the religious
to accept canonical investiture and diocesan visitation.
And thus when Archbishop Basilio Sancho de Santa Justa y Rufina
of Manila signified to the Dominicans on 4 August 1767 his intention
to make a visitation of the ministries in the archdiocese of Manila,
the provincial, in consultation with his council, answered simply that
because of the papal bulls and the royal cedulas, he had nothing
against the plan of the Archbishop.
The other religious orders, except the Jesuits who had been driven out of
the Islands in 1768, continued their fight against visitation until the arrival of the famous royal cedula
of 11 December 1776, by which the king ordered them to receive their ministries from the Royal
Patronage and to accept diocesan visitation. Since then, most of the ministries of the religious
followed the laws of Patronage and were subject to visitation, i.e. the religious Superior presented the
terna to the Vice-Regal Patron when a ministry fell vacant. The latter then presented one of the
nominees to the Ordinary for confirmation and canonical investiture. This procedure was followed
only when a parish was held in proprietorship; if it was administered only temporarily, it was enough
for the religious Superior to present the candidate to the diocesan prelate for the latter to confer
canonical investiture.
Reasons for Opposition from the Religious.
Now the question: Why did the religious missionaries strongly oppose canonical investiture and
diocesan visitation for two centuries? Reasons varied.
First, they preferred missions to parishes, or in other words, they undertook the care of souls out of
love rather than out of a sense of justice. For example, the Dominican Fathers were obliged by a
special law to accept ministries only out of charity and only as missionaries. If bishops should want
them to undertake the care of souls as a duty in justice, they were to abandon the ministries as soon as
possible.
Second, they believed that canonically conferred ministries would be the cause of a relaxation of
religious observance by the conferees. In their journey across Mexico, the religious observed a
significant lowering of monastic discipline, which they attributed to the difficulty of the religious
Superiors to correct their subjects acting as parish priests.
Third, if they accepted diocesan visitation, they had to accept canonical investiture and Royal
Patronage which, according to the practice then, made it extremely difficult for the Superiors to
remove a religious parish priest for duty within their religious order.
Fourth, they considered it improper to reveal to the Ordinary or to the Vice-Regal Patron the faults of
a delinquent religious parish priest, preparatory to his removal from the parish; much less, that a
judicial process be initiated against the culprit, for this would certainly prejudice the good repute of
the individual and of the corporation.
Later Incidents.
One must note that in virtue of the royal cedula of 1 August 1795,
parishes conferred through canonical investiture would be
irremovable in the future. A legal procedure was then to be instituted
for the removal of religious priests who held parishes in
proprietorship. To remedy this uncomfortable situation which
hampered the religious Superiors from freely disposing of many of
their subjects, they obtained from Charles IV the royal cedula of 29
September 1807, by which the king ordered that religious parish
priests appointed to duties within their religious order should accept
without excuse and leave their curacies. (A, pp. 108-115)
 Chapter 5

Secularization of the Parishes; Jurisdiction Conflicts

Between the Church and the Civil Authorities
12. Secularization of the Parishes.
Overview.
In the history of the Church in the Philippines, secularization of the parishes means the transfer to the
secular clergy of the ministries founded or administered by the regular clergy. Originally a religious
concern, it assumed by the middle of the 19th century a political and separatist character, which
climaxed in the Revolution and the ensuing secularization of almost all the parishes in the
Philippines. It covers two periods: from 1753 to 1849, and from 1849 to 1898.
In general, it is good to note that the work of the regular clergy is principally that of the missions;
while that of the secular clergy is to a great extent limited to parish work. Theoretically, the religious
should be satisfied with founding missions and developing them into established parishes for eventual
transfer to the secular clergy. But in the Philippines this had scarcely taken place due to a series of
circumstances, especially the defective formation and shortage of secular priests, the attachment of
the religious in the 17th and 18th centuries to the parishes they had founded, and the political system of
Spain in the Philippines which saw, or believed it saw, during the 19th century a dreaded separatist
element in the native clergy.
Secularization up to 1700.
In the royal cedula signed on 6 December 1583 in Lisbon, Philip II declared that parochial
administration pertained in Church law to the secular clergy; and if religious priests administered
parishes, it was through papal concession dictated by necessity. Therefore, once there was a
sufficient number of capable secular priests, these should be preferred to the religious in the
provisions of ecclesiastical benefices and missions (doctrinas).
The Royal Cedulas of 1753 and 1757.
By 1753, Ferdinand VI believed that the reasons no longer held for
the Royal Patronage to make use of religious missionaries in the
spiritual conquest of the Spanish dominions in the Indies. He
thought that in the Indies there was already a number of secular
priests competent in learning and in virtue, who could take the place
of the former in the care of souls. By a royal cedula of 1 February
that year, he ordered the viceroys, governors, archbishops and
bishops to relieve the religious orders of parochial work, and to
assign in their place members of the secular clergy as the parishes
were vacated.
This royal measure in effect decreed the universal secularization of
the curacies administered by the regular clergy. But, since its
implementation entailed serious difficulties, the same monarch
decided in another cedula dated 23 February 1757 that the
preceding decree be amended in two ways: 1) in no way may a
parish be set up as a secular curacy until its effective cession, and
not without the approval of the viceroy or governor and the diocesan
prelate; 2) the viceroy or governor,
in accord with the archbishop or bishop, should see to the implementation of the cedula of 1753 such
that the religious orders could keep one or two of the richer parishes in each province.
However, these royal cedulas were not put into effect in the Philippines at that time. Rather, on 24
February
1754 the same king wrote to the religious orders in the Islands in the following terms:
It has seemed good to me to express the special pleasure I have at the zeal with which the religious of
that province dedicated themselves in a spirit of Christian rivalry to increase and preserve in the
Faith the Christian communities in their charge, and to the proper instruction they are receiving,
hoping that by your watchful care, you shall continue to advance these same happy developments.7
We can then say that the monarch’s mind with regard to the Philippines was not to secularize the
parishes, but to subject the regular clergy to diocesan visitation and the Royal Patronage. Actually, a
certain governor had previously tried to put the regulars under Royal Patronage; but the latter had
defended themselves with the royal cedula of 26 September 1687, stating that in the provision of the
curacies no innovation should be introduced, which was confirmed by another cedula in 1710. With
these two documents, the religious shielded themselves from the pressure exerted by Governor Pedro
Manuel de Arandia on the Augustinian provincial in 1757.
Secularization During the Reigns of Charles III and IV.
The secularization of the parishes did not effectively take place until Archbishop Basilio Sancho
arrived in Manila. As we have already seen, the Dominicans submitted to diocesan visitation in
August 1767. A little later, Governor Jose Raon on 13 April 1768, in accord with the Royal
Audiencia and the Archbishop, presented to the Dominican provincial a decree dated 13 March of
that year which ordered that the provincial should present three religious for each mission (doctrina),
so that the Ordinary could confer canonical investiture according to the laws of Royal Patronage;
otherwise they should leave their ministries.
This time the provincial did not easily bend before the will of the Governor and the Archbishop. And
so on 16 April, the Governor sent an order to the Archbishop to appoint secular priests to the parishes
of Binondo and the Parian. For his part, the Archbishop not only lent himself to second the will of
Raon, but even encouraged him to order the secularization of the Dominican ministries in Bataan.
And in effect, a priest moved in shortly to administer the Binondo parish, and secular priests assumed
charge of the Parian and six Dominican ministries in Bataan in June.
At the expulsion of the Society of Jesus, many of their parishes also passed to the hands of the secular
clergy, both those in the suburbs of Manila and those in Cavite and Negros provinces.
Simón de Anda y Salazar succeeded Raon. With his characteristic
energy, the former threw himself to the task of compelling the
Augustinians to accept Royal Patronage. Because they had opposed
the non- transferability of the parishes and had refused to submit the
terna, Anda forcefully deprived them of seventeen curacies in
Pampanga, which he immediately assigned to the secular clergy.
However, it must be noted that some Augustinians retained for
themselves and for their religious order their respective parishes,
submitting to the Royal Patronage and canonical visitation in time
and on their own initiative.
The Augustinians felt offended and complained to the king, who
ordered Anda through the royal cedula of 9 November 1774 to
restore what belonged to them. However, the king at the same time
approved the secularization of the curacies and ministries, with the
condition that in each province one or two of the richer missions of
their choosing might be left to the religious. While this was
happening to the Augustinians, the Dominicans had already
submitted to the Royal Patronage on 6 June 1771 in order to avoid
worse evils.
7 Ayala, Francisco, O.P., Exposicion al Exemo. Sr. Mariano Ricafort, Manila, 21 November 1825.
Incidents in Pampanga and other less wholesale experiences made Anda realize that rapid and total
secularization of the missions would entail many evils in the Islands, both spiritual and temporal. On
3 January 1776, he sent a memorial against secularization to Charles III. This resulted in the royal
cedula of 11 December 1776 addressed to the Dominican provincial, which ordered that things return
to the status quo ante. In other words, the secularized ministries were to return to the religious, on
condition that the latter accept Royal Patronage and submit to diocesan visitation.
This was followed by the royal cedula of 17 September 1788, which was occasioned by the following
incident: The year before, the parish of Quingua had been left vacant by the death of the Augustinian
missionary in charge, Fr. Bernardo Notario. The Acting Governor Pedro Sarrio assigned it to the
Augustinian Father Manuel Rivera on 5 December. To justify his action, Sarrio memorialized the
king briefly but substantially on the situation of the secular clergy in the Philippines and expressed
opposition to the policy of secularization.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the question of secularization was raised anew when the Vice-
Patron and the Archbishop entrusted the newly founded parish of Santa Rosa to the Dominicans, and
the parishes of Imus and Las Piñas to the Recollects. The secular clergy protested against the
usurpation of ministries they claimed for themselves. Making common cause with the latter, the
cabildo elevated a petition to the king, and a cedula bearing the date 31 March 1803 was issued
immediately transferring the three parishes to the secular clergy. But the Vice-Regal Patron did not
heed the mandate, and the curacies remained under the administration of the religious.
A Decree of the Cortes Favoring Secularization in 1812.
In 1812, Bishop Arispe of Guayana petitioned the Cortes in Cadiz to secularize the parishes in his
diocese. The representatives for America prevailed upon the Cortes to pass the decree of 13
September, extending the Arispe resolution to all of the Americas and the Philippines. When the
decree reached the islands, the superior government quickly noted that its implementation was
inadvisable due to the dearth and the inadequate preparation of the secular clergy here. To this end, it
sent to the Archbishop, Juan Antonio Zulaybar, O.P., his arguments for delaying the promulgation of
the decree, to which this prelate agreed, convinced of the same reasons. Besides, he penalized some
clerics who, knowing that the decree had arrived in Manila, had presented themselves at the palace to
petition its implementation.
Things stood thus until 1820 when King Ferdinand VII, in
acknowledging the Constitution, had to sanction the decree of
secularization, as he had been bound to it by the liberal ministers.
This disposition reached the Philippines in the time of Governor
Mariano F. Folgueras, who consulted the Archbishop before
publishing it. Nonetheless, although the Archbishop was convinced
it was impossible to effect total secularization in one step, he
believed it was possible to do so by degrees. And so, when the
Malate parish was left vacant by the death of its Augustinian
administrator in 1822, it was given to a secular priest following a
competitive synodal examination.
The Royal Cedula of 1826.
The government of Spain had wanted for many years to secularize
the parishes here because of the high cost of sending religious
missionaries to America and the Philippines. But, from the time of
the independence of the American colonies which had been
fomented by the secular clergy, Spain changed her policy
completely in order to prevent the same
disaster in the Antilles and the Philippines. This was the basic reason for the Royal Order of 8 June
1826 aimed to nip in the bud all projects of secularization in the Philippines during the 19 th century.
In this
decree, after a brief resumé of the history of secularization since the reign of Ferdinand VI, Ferdinand
VII ordered:
…that both the calced Augustinians and the religious of the other orders be restored to administer
their curacies in those same Islands, in the manner and condition they had enjoyed and was decreed
for them by the royal cedula of 11 December 1776, notwithstanding the doubts presented in later
cedulas regarding the meaning of their provisions, and neither by the Vice-Regal Patron, nor by the
diocesan ordinaries, may any curacy be secularized without express orders from my royal person,
protesting, as I now protest, that none of those determinations prejudice the interests or the honor of
the secular clergy, on the supposition that they are not deprived of any of their rights.
Since the time of this royal decree, it was the sorry lot of the secular clergy to watch how, one by one,
the parishes which had been won for them in the time of Archbishop Basilio Sancho passed to the
regular clergy whenever they were vacated by death or the removal of the secular parish priest.
This royal order was not completely implemented until 1870, the year the secular parish priest of San
Simon died, and his parish turned over to the regular clergy. But by that time, the Filipino secular
clergy had already received harder and more painful blows, as we shall see right away.
The Secular Clergy Loses Some Parishes in Cavite.
Seeking some ministries near Manila where their provincial
definitors could exercise the care of souls, the procurator in Madrid
of the Recollect Province of San Nicolas in the Philippines
petitioned His Majesty for the grant of some curacies in Cavite
province. Because they owned some estates in that province since
earlier years, Governor Claveria supported the Recollects’ request,
although he indicated to the Madrid government that it would be
better to divide the parishes of Cavite among: the secular clergy who
had held some of them since before, the Recollects who owned
Imus, and the Dominicans who owned two prosperous estates there.
His Majesty acceded to the request of the Recollect procurator, just
as Governor Claveria had recommended it, through the royal cedula
of 9 March 1849. This measure necessarily affected the rights of the
secular clergy to certain parishes which, either founded by them or
by the Jesuits, they had for many years now been administering.
Atmosphere of Antagonism.
From this moment on, an attitude of hostility began to take hold of the Filipino secular clergy, an
attitude which became more embittered towards the religious orders, and also the Spanish
government which was bent on favoring the religious at the expense of the secular priests at times.
This was demonstrated clearly when, by royal cedula dated 1 September 1861, His Majesty ordered
the transfer of some parishes in the Archdiocese of Manila to the Recollects, in compensation for the
ministries, parishes and active missions in Mindanao which the latter had to surrender to the Jesuits in
virtue of the royal decree of 30 July 1859. It is no surprise then that when he took possession of the
archdiocese in 1862, Archbishop Meliton Martinez became the recipient of repeated petitions to
intercede with the government and use his influence to revoke the decree of 1 September.
These royal decrees so exacerbated the secular clergy that the same archbishop had to present before
the government of Madrid an exposé in 1870:
…in order to win for his diocese quiet and peace, so often disturbed and tried by the transfer of the
parishes of the secular priests, granted to the religious corporations a few years previously, the cause
of a hostility which grows more embittered by the day, now taking a turn which sooner or later
can be
 disastrous to our beloved Spain. Let anyone put himself in the place of the native priest and let him
consider the series of measures which he has merited: He cannot but realize that the gross injustices
inflicted now and still menacing him give more than enough reasons why, despite his pusillanimity,
his ancient loyalty and respect for the Spaniards may be changed into hostility.
The evils which the Archbishop had foreseen took place in little more
than a year afterwards, when an uprising against Spain was crushed in
Cavite.8 That it had no worse consequences was, after God, due to the
energetic action of Governor Rafael Martinez de Izquierdo. That this
uprising was in great part the work of the secular clergy is clearly seen
in the following words from a highly confidential report sent by
Izquierdo to the Superiors of the religious orders:
The events like those in Cavite in which a great portion of the public
forces on land and sea take part, events like those in Cavite planned and
deliberated upon for years, abetted by the most influential persons in the
islands, strongly and efficaciously supported by the native clergy….
The Final Episode in the Drama of Secularization.
In the years between the Cavite mutiny and the Philippine revolution,
there was hardly any notable sign that could betray the hostility of the
secular clergy towards the regulars. During the Cavite province
insurrection in 1896, an eyewitness reports:
All the clergy in the province have worked, some more, some less, for the insurrection, although it is
true that some did so out of fear of the insurrection leaders…. This is true only of the native clergy of
this province. Your Reverence now knows that in the other Tagalog provinces where the insurrection
has spread, there have been priests who behaved like true Spaniards and have worked as much as
they could against the revolution.
When peace once again shone on the horizon of the Philippines, the religious forced to abandon their
parishes by the vicissitudes of the revolution of 1898 did not return to them, except a few who were
invited by their old parishioners. And so, through a political revolution which separated the
Philippines from Spain, another revolution was effected of a religious character, namely, the almost
total secularization of the parishes which, as a general rule, passed from the administration of the
religious parish priest to that of his Filipino assistant. (A, pp. 116-124)

13. Jurisdiction Conflicts Between the Church and the Civil Authorities.
The conflicts between the Church and the civil authorities which play a prominent part in the history
of the Philippines did not really start until the incumbency of Governor-General Perez Dasmariñas
(1590- 1593). Gifted with admirable prudence, Legazpi behaved irreproachably in his relations with
Church officials and, far from interfering with ecclesiastical matters, never did anything important
without first consulting the Augustinian Fathers. After the Adelantado’s death (1572), the latter had
to fight some governors and encomenderos who took advantage of their power and social standing to
commit different kinds of abuses on the people of their encomiendas.

8 The Cavite Mutiny (20 January 1872) was brief uprising of 200 Filipino troops and workers at the Cavite arsenal, which
became the excuse for Spanish repression of the embryonic Philippine nationalist movement. Ironically, the harsh
reaction of the Spanish authorities served ultimately to promote the nationalist cause. The mutiny was quickly crushed,
but the Spanish regime under the reactionary Governor Rafael de Izquierdo magnified the incident and used it as an
excuse to clamp down on those Filipinos who had been calling for governmental reform. A number of Filipino
intellectuals were seized and accused of complicity with the mutineers. After a brief trial, three priests—José Burgos,
Jacinto Zamora, and Mariano Gómez—were publicly executed. The three subsequently became martyrs to the cause of
Philippine independence.
The arrival of Bishop Salazar (1581), a most upright and unbending man when the dictates of his
conscience and the law of God so motivated him, could not but presage an era of clashes between the
Church and civil authorities and encomenderos, the latter just as intransigent in the defense of their
real or imagined rights.
The first confrontations between the two powers took place during the tenure of Governors
Ronquillo, de Vera, and Dasmariñas; but these had no further consequences. However, with the
suppression of the Royal Audiencia during Dasmariñas’ time, the only effective counterbalance to the
para-despotism of the Governor-General was removed. Salazar had to make a trip to Spain in 1591 to
seek redress before the royal court for various evils. Among those that concerned the natives were the
following: abuses and exactions in the collection of tribute by the encomenderos and soldiers; more
or less forced labor exacted from the natives, almost always ill-paid, in the mines, in rowing the royal
galleys, in felling timber for the galleons, etc.; purchase by the Spaniards of local products at fixed
prices, especially rice or those of harvest time, to be later resold to the natives in times of need at a
much higher price; the license of the underpaid soldiery, hungry and needy, to get what they want for
their sustenance. These abuses were corrected to a great extent, thanks to the efforts of Salazar and
ecclesiastical elements in the Philippines. But these skirmishes did not have notoriety nor caused the
bitterness of the incidents which we will now briefly relate, two of which are quite known in both the
civil and ecclesiastical annals of the Philippines.
The Exile of Archbishop Guerrero in 1636.
Let us begin with the conflict between Archbishop Hernando
Guerrero of Manila and Governor-General Sebastian Hurtado
de Corcuera. A Spanish artilleryman by the name of Francisco
de Nava residing in Manila in 1635 had a slave girl with whom
he maintained illicit relations. The Archbishop learned of this
and told him to sell her. A Spanish lady, Doña Maria de
Francia, wife of the governor’s nephew Don Pedro de
Corcuera, bought her. The soldier, unable to forget her,
promised to marry her. But, unsuccessful in his suit, he
treacherously killed her on 19 August as she walked with her
mistress along the road of the Jesuit college. For his wife’s
sake, Don Pedro took interest in the case so much so that the
unfortunate Nava expired on the gallows on 6 September.
Neither his right of sanctuary in the San Agustin convent, nor
the Archbishop’s claim of jurisdiction over his person, saved
him. For this reason, the Archbishop excommunicated the
judge, at the time the general of the artillery, and later put
the city under
interdict. The litigation was complicated by the intervention of Don Pedro de Monroy, provisor of the
archdiocese and persona non grata to the governor resulting from having taken part in the
promulgation of the excommunication and the refusal of the Jesuit provincial to attend a meeting of
the religious orders summoned by the Archbishop in an effort to solve these difficulties. As a last
resort, the latter deprived the Jesuits of their faculties to preach in the archdiocese. In defense of their
rights, the Jesuits named as juez conservador Father Fabian de Santillan, a secular priest who hurled a
sentence of excommunication against the Archbishop besides imposing a steep fine on him. In the
end, everything was settled by intervention of the governor. Everything promised permanent peace,
when another incident occurred to add fuel to the half-extinguished bonfire.
In April 1636, the archdean of the cathedral, Don Francisco de Valdes, partly due to tiredness in
attending choir, partly due to a clergyman’s urging, renounced his position into the hands of the
Archbishop. Refused by the latter, the archdean presented his resignation to the governor. It seems
that the latter had
been waiting for this renunciation to nominate the priest Andres Arias Giron for the vacated dignity.
He did so as Vice-Regal Patron. But the Archbishop did not want to proceed with the canonical
investiture of Giron because of serious charges made against him by the natives of Ermita. To compel
the Archbishop, the Royal Audiencia, composed only of the governor who sat as president and the
oidor Marcos Zapata since Don Alvaro de Mesa the other oidor had just died, dispatched the royal
proviso ordering Guerrero to confer canonical investiture on the priest Giron or suffer exile and
confiscation of goods.
Considering the unbending disposition of Corcuera, the prelate believed he was indeed bound to be
exiled. Therefore, on the night of 9 May, a little after the receipt of the Royal Order, advised by
mature religious, he ordered the Blessed Sacrament to be brought to the palace from the church of
San Francisco. Vested in his episcopal robes before the altar, he took the monstrance in his hands. In
this position, he was found by the fifty harquebusiers sent by the chief constable to arrest him. But at
the sight of the prelate holding the Blessed Sacrament, the only thing they did was to fall on their
knees.
The governor was notified of such an unusual impasse, who then ordered the soldiers to empty the
hall of the religious who stood around the Archbishop, and to not allow the prelate to take any food
nor permit him to satisfy any other unavoidable needs. On Corcuera’s repeated orders, and after
breaking down their stubborn resistance, the soldiers got some religious out of the hall, while others
left of their own will. Only a negro domestic stayed by the Archbishop. More than 12 hours had
passed when the Archbishop, hungry and tired out by the strain of standing on his feet with the heavy
weight of the monstrance in his hands, asked the friars of San Francisco to return the Blessed
Sacrament to their convent. Deprived of this defense, he gave himself up to the custody of the
soldiers.
They took him out of the city through the gate of Santo Domingo, and boarded him in a junk to
Corregidor island where, sheltered in a bamboo and nipa hut, he was detained for 26 days until,
through the mediation of some prebendaries and the Dominican Father Domingo Gonzalez, he
concluded peace with the governor. However, he had to agree provisionally and against his will to the
following conditions pending a reply from the king: 1) that he would confirm Andres Arias Giron in
his rank as archdean of the cathedral and not proceed against him under any pretext; 2) that he would
confirm the Jesuits in the ministry of Santa Cruz, which the secular clergy were disputing at the time;
3) that he would grant to the chief chaplain of the Royal Chapel founded by Corcuera faculties to
administer the sacraments to the Infantry Corps, their wives and families.
Close on the heels of this exile, there occurred a series of calamities in the Philippines which
chroniclers and historians saw as the expression of God’s wrath for the ill treatment meted out to the
Archbishop by the civil power.
The Imprisonment of Archbishop de la Cuesta and the Assasination of Governor Bustamante.
On Conde Lizárraga’s death, Don Jose de Torralba became acting governor of the Philippines (1715-
1717) until the arrival of the proprietory governor Don Fernando Bustillo y Bustamante, who
unexpectedly reached Manila on 9 August of this latter year. An upright man but of a harsh and
strong character, he necessarily was going to meet head-on with that Manila community which had
grown quite used to working outside the pale of law in commercial matters. And so, one of the new
governor’s first measures was to send Torralba to prison because of proven and serious charges of
embezzling state funds. In a few days, an identical fate overtook the oidores Julian de Velasco and
Francisco Toribio, professors of law in the recently founded University of San Felipe. Finally,
Bustamante deprived Jose Antonio Pabon of his magistracy notwithstanding a royal cedula
authorizing him to exercise the office. All this climaxed in the rebellion of Juan Domingo de Nebra,
captain of the Acapulco-bound galleon; having but anchored off Cavite, he did not hesitate to throw
into the sea two officials sent by the governor to arrest him on suspicions of disloyalty.
Amid rumors of an approaching uprising, the governor, without confidante or counselor since some
were
in prison and others had abandoned him, decided to put himself in the hands of Torralba, the wicked
genius who came to complicate the situation even more with his intrigues. On the latter’s advice,
Bustamante ordered the scrivener Antonio de Osejo y Vasquez to prison. He was the cause of conflict
between the Royal Audiencia and Archbishop Francisco de la Cuesta because he had sought refuge
within the sanctuary of the cathedral while taking along some official papers.
The magistrate Torralba, with his associate justice Jose Correa, sent a royal proviso to the Archbishop
reclaiming the person of Osejo. The cathedral chapter, the University of Santo Tomas and the
religious orders suggested to ignore the summons. At the same time, Archbishop de la Cuesta served
notice of these abuses before the governor, although without results. He followed it up by sending the
doctoral and a prebendary to Torralba to manifest a warning to desist from violating canonical
procedure. This served no other purpose than to incite Bustamante, on advice of Torralba, to clamp
down these two ministers of Christ behind bars. A like fate befell two other priests sent to verify the
imprisonment of the previous pair. Finally, the canon Luis Rico, sent to placate the feelings of the
irate governor, found himself also in jail. In this situation, the prelate hesitated no longer to proclaim
ex tablillas—i.e. to publicly pronounce as fallen into excommunication major for violation of
ecclesiastical jurisdiction and persecution of the clergy— Torralba, the sergeant-major, and the captain
of the guard.
Driven to the wall by this turn of events, the governor ordered the taking of arms, preparing the
artillery and garnishing the guards by the city gates. When all was ready, he detailed a squad of
soldiers to arrest
the Archbishop who at that moment was
surrounded by the outstanding ecclesiastics
in Manila.
Guarded by the soldiers, the eminent
prisoner was first led to the governor’s
palace, then to Fort Santiago. In this
brief lapse of time, the prelate
pronounced alta voce excommunication
against those who laid hands on him in
his palace, placed the city under
interdict, and ordained that if within two
hours he was not freed together with the
five members of the cathedral chapter he
would impose the penalty of cessation a
divinis (suspension of sacred worship).
When the civil powers ordered the
provisor to suspend the penalty, he
refused to listen and was also sent to jail.
Meanwhile, Bustamante dispatched
Torralba to hold talks with the
Archbishop, perhaps seeking to end the
interdict while the sergeant-major was
busy imprisoning the clergy who were
around de la Cuesta at the time of the
arrest. But now the populace, informed
of this audacious move, mutinied. Led
by some religious and swelled by
escapees from prison and refugees of
ecclesiastical sanctuary, the people
marched shouting “Viva la Iglesia, Viva
el Rey.” They swarmed to the governor’s
palace which they easily took,
aided by the non-resistance of the guards. And as Bustamante came out alone to meet the crowd,
someone attacked him leaving him seriously wounded, although with enough breath and life in him
to receive from Father Diego Otazu, S.J., who happened to be nearby, absolution from his censures
and the last aids of religion. His son, the sergeant-major, also died of wounds inflicted by the
mutinous mob.
The last act of this bloody drama consisted in the people’s refusing to lay down their arms until the
Archbishop, freed from his prison, promised to take charge of the government of the Islands. Thus he
assumed control, though much against his will, after conferring with both civil and ecclesiastical
councils and the Superiors of the religious orders.
Threat of Exile on an Archbishop (1873).
On the death of Bishop Romualdo Jimeno of Cebu (1872), the Spanish government named, without
consultation with the Holy See, the priest Luis Alcala Zamora, a man of Jewish blood on his father’s
and mother’s side, of doubtful orthodoxy and morals, and, says Father Pablo Pastells, “whose only
merit consisted in having, as a delegate to the constituent cortes in Madrid, voted for the iniquitous
laws favoring freedom of worship, civil marriage and others similar to them.” When Zamora arrived
in Manila, the governor of the Philippines signed the cumplase of the royal order which legalized
such a usurpation of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, without previously investigating the Metropolitan
government about difficulties that could come up if Zamora were allowed to assume the government
and administration of the diocese.
Under these circumstances, Governor Izquierdo offered his resignation and Don Juan Alaminos y
Vivar took possession of the government of the Philippines (January 1873). Alcala Zamora knew that
Alaminos entertained more advanced ideas than Izquierdo, and he took advantage of this change of
governors to present before the new official a petition to take charge of the diocese of Cebu likewise.
But Alaminos, knowing that the matter was still pending in Madrid, answered that for the moment he
could effect nothing with regard to the plea, and that it was necessary to await an answer from the
Spanish government. This apparently suited Zamora’s plans. According to rumors, Governor
Alaminos received at around this time a confidential telegram from Madrid ordering him not to delay
in putting Alcala Zamora in possessions of his post, as well as the government of the bishopric of
Cebu.
It must be noted that Archbishop Meliton Martinez of Manila
had called Governor Rafael Izquierdo’s attention to the
canonical illegality of such a nomination; perhaps because of
this, the governor had consulted the Madrid government. But
as a matter of fact, the governor shortly forwarded a
communication to the prelate ordering him to proceed
immediately to invest Zamora with the government of the
Cebu diocese. Martinez demurred, giving reasons which
completely militated against entrusting the administration of
the diocese of Cebu to a subject “whose bad antecedents from
the viewpoint of religion and doctrine were sufficiently
notorious, and which prevented him from assuming any
responsibility, government or jurisdiction in the Church and
for the Church.”
In turn, not to disobey the definite orders from Madrid,
Alaminos believed it was necessary to order the intendante de
hacienda of the Philippines to occupy the temporal properties
of the prelate, and at the same time on 1 March 1873 sent him
to tell the prelate to
leave immediately for Spain, communicating likewise that he leave the administration of the
archdiocese to Francisco Gainza, Bishop of Nueva Caceres.
Archbishop Martinez prepared to take ship for the motherland, but not before he arranged for the
government of the Church, not according to the governor’s disposition but according to the laws of
the Church and the dictates of his conscience. Meanwhile, a clamor of protest among the public of
Manila rose against these developments, a clamor which induced the governor to adopt a more
conciliatory attitude. Subsequently, a meeting of provincials was convoked by Alaminos to look for a
way out of this difficulty, and one of them suggested that he suspend the decree of exile and the
confiscation of the Archbishop’s goods. Martinez was to send by cable to Rome an account of this
delicate situation. But this was just a dilatory measure, for by this time the prelate had already
received a letter from Antonelli who, in the name of His Sanctity, wrote that he desist from
conferring the government of the diocese of Cebu on Zamora.
Fortunately, one of those changes of government and ministry which was characteristic of 19th
century Spain occurred almost simultaneously with these happenings, and Alaminos found himself
accordingly freed from carrying out a compromise inherited from the previous government. In vain,
Alcala Zamora still tried to continue the fight, until he unexpectedly died just a little afterwards,
snipping off the thread of his hopes. (A, pp. 125-137)
 Chapter 6

Faith and Customs; Sacramental Life;

Other Religious and Liturgical
Practices
14. Faith and Customs.
The methods used by the Spanish missionaries to teach the doctrines of the faith to the Filipinos can
be reduced to five: catechism, preaching, printing of catechetical books, schools, and examinations.
Catechism. Obviously, the missionaries themselves had to teach catechism in the beginning. But they
were too few for the numerous pagans and neophytes, and they soon had to make use of catechists.
Chosen for the purpose by the missionaries, the catechists were of every age, sex and condition, as
can be gathered from the histories that mention examples of mature men, women, or child catechists.
This rather simple method obtained quite surprising results. Father Chirino writes:
It is a general custom in all the mission villages in the Philippines, for all the people to go on
Sundays and days of obligation to the Church for the Mass and sermon, before which the doctrine
and catechism are recited. As a result of this, they not only have a thorough knowledge of the
prayers, but even excel many people of Europe in their comprehension of the mysteries of our Faith.9
More or less similar results were attained by the other religious orders. One of the obstacles that
hindered the progress of religious instruction was the dispersion of the people in numerous ranches,
which were reached only with difficulty by the missionary. The provinces of Central Luzon were
better off than the rest of the Islands because of better education and training in religion, even though
the poorer and more remote provinces did not lag far behind, like Samar and Cagayan which were
administered by the Jesuits and Dominicans respectively.
Preaching. According to the decrees of the Council of Trent, it
was the duty of the minister to preach the divine word to the
faithful on Sundays and feast days. In the Dominican missions,
preaching was in the native dialects during all the feasts of the
year, the Sundays of Advent and of Lent, and the first Sundays
of the month. Some missionaries preached on other days also. It
seems that this was true in the ministries of the other religious
orders. According to Murillo10, the Society of Jesus exercised a
faithful apostolate of the pulpit in Manila around the middle of
the 18th century. Besides sermons on the feasts of the religious
founders, they also preached on other endowed feasts, and were
regular preachers at the cathedral and the Royal Chapel. They
conducted missions to new migrants in Manila, quite numerous
at the time, and frequently left for mission tours throughout the
provinces.
Catechetical Books. The first missionaries soon saw the need to
prepare catechisms if they hoped to spread the Gospel faster. The
first catechisms appeared in 1593: one in Spanish and Tagalog
(in European and Tagalog scripts), the second in Chinese
characters. Both are entitled Doctrina cristiana. Other catechisms
followed, more

9 Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands, XII.

10Spanish Jesuit Father Pedro Murillo Velarde (1696–1753). He is best known for his Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica
de las Islas Filipinas (or the Murillo Velarde map) which he made and published in Manila in 1734, and now frequently
referred to as the Mother of all Philippine Maps.
detailed and better written: In 1610, the Doctrina cristiana de Belarmino en lengua visaya appeared in
print. In 1621, an Ilocano translation of Cardinal Bellarmine’s catechism was published. And, one
after another, the following were published: Catecismo y doctrina cristiana en lengua pampanga by Father
Francisco Coronel for the use of Pampangos (1621); Explicacion de la doctrina cristiana in Tagalog by
Father Alfonso de Santa Ana (1628); Explicacion del catecismo by Father Francisco Blancas, written
earlier but published only in 1645; Explicacion de la doctrina cristiana in Bicol (1708); Catecismo del Cardenal
Belarmino en idioma pampango by Father Juan de Medrano (1717); and finally, a Tagalog-Spanish
catechism prepared by Father Tomas Ortiz and published in 1740. On commission by the Council of
Manila held in 1771, some Fathers prepared a lengthy catechism which is still preserved in
manuscript. Besides these early catechisms, many others were written and published, especially
throughout the 19th century, which would be too long to list here.
Schools. The role of schools in religious instruction could not be hidden from the first missionaries.
This is why they sought to establish two schools in every town if possible, one for boys and another
for girls. The method generally followed in these schools was, according to a document of 1698:
With regard to teaching, the townspeople recite the prayers and the questions and answers of the
catechism on all Sundays of the year. Besides, the boys and girls have their special day in the week
for gathering for prayers in the Church. After the prayers, the religious missionary poses some
questions regarding the prayers. He then proceeds to explain them, so that the people grow in
understanding of the mysteries of our holy Faith. For some three months of the year when they are
least occupied, the boys and girls come together for Mass and prayers, so that by their contact with
the missionary and with one another, they gradually lose their old fierceness and learn urbanity. On
this matter, there is notable progress among them. No little help has come from the schools in the
towns, where they are taught to read, write, add sums, sing and play any musical instrument. Many
times, the teachers are the religious missionaries themselves. 11
Examinations. These were a powerful and rather effective means by which the Filipinos were kept
from neglecting the study of the catechism. They were wont to be held in Lent as a necessary
condition to fulfill the Paschal precept and, for the engaged, before contracting Matrimony. The
preparatory schema of the 1771 Council of Manila included a proposal to hold a general examination
of the faithful three times during the year.
Errors and Superstitions.
During the period we are studying, there were no heresies in the
Philippines, thanks, in so far as the Spaniards were responsible, to
their deep faith and orthodoxy and to the vigilance of the Tribunal of
the Inquisition. The Filipinos, practically cut off from the external
world, obedient to the voice of their pastors, did not even think of
following in matters of faith paths other than those traced by the first
missionaries. Nonetheless, within the three centuries of this long past,
certain errors sprouted all over the Islands, born out of credulity and
ignorance, and an infinitude of superstitions. How the religious toiled
to eradicate from the Filipino people many of their superstitions
cannot be told; suffice it to say that their success was limited because
these superstitions were rooted in traditions long and deeply pagan.
Furthermore, those zealous apostles were faced with the reserve of the
Filipino to reveal his beliefs and superstitious practices.
As late as 1771, as recorded in the preparatory schema of the Council
and in other contemporary sources, the Filipinos still believe in the
nono, to

11 Relacion que el vicario provincial de Manila, Orden de Predicadores hace a ntro. revmo. P. Maestro General, Fr. Antonio Cleche del
estado de toda esta provincial, etc.
whom they offered foods, from whom they begged leave to fell logs or cut bamboo, or asked for its
excuse if they had been ordered to the task by the Father (parish priest). This practice was still in
vogue even when Mr. John Bowring visited the Philippines in the 19th century.
They also believed in the existence of an evil genius, Tigbalang, who they thought was wont to
appear in various shapes appropriate to bring them favors. Likewise, they erroneously believed in the
spirit Patianac, who approached at the moment of birth, and, ensconced in a tree or object, intoned
something like the rowers’ chant. On the other hand, the witch Gauay caused a charm and sickness
known as Bonsol, which she alone could cure.
Together with these beliefs, their Baptismal faith was mixed with errors about the Trinity, the
Incarnation, the Redemption, and the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints. Many gave divine honors
to Mary which they refused to her Son whom they did not consider as a true God. Others affirmed
that the three divine Persons were not equal; that Christ had been born of Joseph
and Mary; that He really died each year on Good Friday.
There were some who considered the Saints as gods; and
some who thought that the punishment of hell was not
eternal, and that an implicit faith in all the mysteries of the
Christian religion sufficed for salvation.
There were others who carried around talismans as a
protection against injury in war, believing that the bullets or
the enemy blades would not hurt them. Nor would they
learn their lesson, when hard reality proved the contrary.
But this was not exclusive to the Filipino people, as history
shows.
Abuses.
Upon their arrival in the Philippines, the Spaniards found three evils which demanded prompt and
efficacious remedy, officially at least: usury, drunkenness, and impurity.
Usury. According to Father Chirino’s account, the interest charged by money lenders became so high
as the payment was delayed, such that in the end all the material goods of the debtor did not suffice to
liquidate the amount owed; and in this case he ended up becoming a slave of his creditor. And the
children followed the lot of the father. But with the preaching of the Gospel, usury zealously
combatted by the missionaries seemed to disappear for a time, only to reappear later. In the 18 th
century, it was again widespread according to Archbishop Martinez de Arizala:
Likewise among the Indios, it is said that usury is practiced (and would that it stay confined to them
only). An Indio scarcely lends to his neighbor and brother a real or any other coin unless with usury.
If he lends a cavan of rice, which is half a fanega, to one in need during the rainy season, it is with
the agreement that it has to be paid with two or three cavans, no matter what the price of rice is at
harvest time. If the cavan costs 3 reales and it is loaned, it is on condition that it be paid at 5 or 6
reales a cavan. But the greater offense is committed against God in their loans. A poor Indio in
straits because of illness or a debt for which they would imprison him, or a burial or wedding which
he could not afford, exchanges two cabalitas of land for P10. This land stays in the hands of the man
who gave the money.
Alcoholism. Exercising tyranny over the Filipinos, according to ancient chronicles, alcoholism lost much
of its force with the coming of the Gospel. But it left deep imprints in places. Bishop Miguel Garcia
expresses himself in rather strong terms in a pastoral letter dated 26 April 1768 against the abuse,
apparently widespread in his diocese. People normally fell into this vice during banquets, especially
wedding feasts.
Impurity. As a general rule, the first chroniclers spoke in unflattering terms about the observance of
chastity among the pagan Filipinos, including the women of those times. However, some have not
failed to find praiseworthy examples of women in this delicate matter. There is no doubt that
Christianity contributed
much to elevate the standards of chastity, especially of the feminine sex. But we must also attribute
certain opposite practices to chastity, at the arrival of Christianity, to paganism which does darken the
mind and enervate the will in this matter. Father Casimiro Diaz writes these lines on Filipino chastity
in the 18th century:
Those who do not know describe the Indios as quite lewd, but I describe
them as very chaste. If we Europeans were raised in the lack of restraint
and manners of these poor people, we would see abominable things. It is
useless to paint their nakedness, their way of living, their cramped
houses, for I write of people before whom everything is open. And yet,
we must praise their self- control, praise what they do not perform, be not
scandalized at what they do. The remedy is not easy, because this whole
disorder is due to their poverty. But something might be done, if within
the narrow walls of their houses, some partition is put up by which, even
if they could not be totally set apart, they could be stopped from seeing
[things], the window through which misfortune is led in.12
Historians also vary with regard to modesty, the wall of chastity. In
general, almost all have words of praise for the modesty of the Filipino
woman, including the Visayans who have been branded as less
restrained in matters of chastity. In olden times was a custom which
still exists, namely, parents allowing their children to go around totally
naked. But again, let us listen to Father Diaz:
They allow their children to move about undressed until they are about 8 or 10 years old, and even
12 in the remote provinces. This unwholesome training is not too much of a problem since in this
young age there is still little danger to chastity, although they get used to doing without clothes. This
is the reason why, as adults, they remove not indeed all of their clothes and stay completely naked,
but most of them.
Blasphemy. Another defect of Filipinos which the historians criticized is that of blasphemy, or the sin
of profanity, the irreverent use of the name of God, of Mary, or of the Saints. This is not as indecent
as in Europe, but rather consisted in complaints against God.
Games. One kind of entertainment has attracted the Filipinos and seemingly, instead of dying out, has
grown in its appeal: betting. Before, they used to play cards or dice, even the women. So taken up
were they by this diversion that frequently they lost all their fortunes in a short while. From this
recreation other evils ensued, like cursing, pauperism, cheating, and the neglect of wives, sons and
daughters. Both civil and ecclesiastical powers tried by various means to eradicate this social and
spiritual evil, but without success, as Father Jose Burillo, O.P., provincial, affirmed in a memorial to
the king in 1803. The gobernadorcillos and other administrators of justice were themselves the first
to give the bad example.
Cockfighting. Another custom, as abusive if not more so, was cockfighting. In one or another place,
in order that these cocks might fight more energetically, they used to feed them with the consecrated
host, and hone up the blade in consecrated oils, as the Council of Manila complained.
The Tribunal of the Inquisition.
The preceding account of errors against the Faith leads us, as if by hand, to a discussion of the
tribunal of the Inquisition set up in Spain and in the Spanish dominions to protect the unity and purity
of the Catholic faith. Almost from the beginning, there was a Commissariat of the Holy Office in
Manila appointed by the Tribunal of Mexico and in the charge of a Dominican Father. Under the
latter were other commissariats in Cagayan, Pangasinan, Camarines, Cebu, Ilocos, and Negros Island.
From the time of Father Juan de Maldonado, first Commissar of the Holy Office, the Order of Preachers
12 Diaz, Casimiro, O.S.A., Parroco de Indios instruido, Manila, 1745.
exercised a monopoly of this office, except for a short interval of seven years (1664-1671) when the
Augustinian Fray Jose de Paternina requested and obtained the appointment. But it was with such bad
grace that he finally lost the title through a decision of the Holy Office of Mexico City. He had
figured prominently in the imprisonment of Governor Diego Salcedo.
The Tribunal of the Inquisition did not exercise jurisdiction over the natives and the Chinese, but only
over Europeans and Spaniards. When a native committed some crime against faith and morals, his
case fell under the competence of the local ordinary. not of the Inquisition. (A, pp. 138-146)

15. Sacramental Life.

Baptism.
Profiting from Magellan’s experience, the Augustinians who
came with Legaspi proceeded with extreme care before
admitting the natives to Christian Baptism. But when
missionaries started to arrive in greater numbers, they began
to admit neophytes for Baptism with greater ease, even at
times with little preparation. Father Aduarte mentions some
itinerant missionaries who had traversed Bataan before the
coming of the Dominicans and had baptized many people;
but with so little instruction and so precipitately that some of
the baptized had returned right away to the practices of
paganism, while others presented themselves as Christians
when it suited their interests. By the 18th century, certain
abuses with regard to Baptism had already crept in, such as
delaying the ceremony for a long time in order to assure one
of a good sponsor or compadre, or to accumulate funds for
the Baptismal banquet.
In that century, certain errors were also widespread; e.g. the idea
that Baptism was a practice only of Spaniards; that of receiving the sacrament twice or thrice,
thinking that the baptized would receive a greater increase of grace; that the grace of the sacrament
was in proportion to the greater or lesser degree of virtue of the minister; the change or corruption of
names, in the superstitious belief that the evil spirit would no longer recognize them if they assumed
another name.
There were not lacking those who affirmed that the fetus was not yet endowed with a rational soul.
These beliefs were born of ignorance and of deep-rooted habits of paganism.
A practice incidentally connected with Baptism preoccupied the clergy at the time: the custom quite
universal in the Philippines of circumcision. Some natives, either for sexual reasons or to avoid
sterility, submitted themselves to this Jewish custom probably brought to the islands by the Moslems
in the south.
Another problem that demanded the attention of the Council of Manila in 1771 was the rather
widespread use of Baptismal formulae in the native dialects without the proper episcopal approval, so
that the ceremony in certain cases was invalidated by a faulty translation. On this account, the
council provided that the bishop in their diocesan synod should oversee the translation of the adopted
formulae with the advice of experts in order to insert them in the catechisms and give them
permanence.
Confirmation.
Because of long vacancies and poor means of transport especially during the rainy season, and above
all the vast extent of the diocese, it was not normal for a bishop to visit the people of his bishopric to
confer the sacrament of Confirmation. And so, there were places like the provinces of Laguna, Samar
and Leyte where, according to historians, there had been no Confirmation for 20 years. However, the
bishops of the
19th century habitually made their pastoral visitations, with more frequency than in the past.
Confession.
The administration of this sacrament did not cease being a problem to the first missionaries, who
were faced, first with the difficulty of the language and, second with the repugnance of the natives.
The first obstacle they quickly overcame by the composition of bilingual Confesionarios. These were a
rather detailed list of the more common sins, followed by a brief exhortation. They also neutralized
the native repugnance to confess by having the more experienced Christians in town to approach the
confessional first, and of course through patience and prayer.
If we have to take the word of the chroniclers as authoritative as Aduarte and Rivadeneira 13, the first
Filipino Christians confessed their sins more correctly and exactly. Later, through the 18 th and 19th
centuries, one can note a definite decadence of the practice, as evidenced by the acts of the Council of
Manila (1771) and the Synod of Calasiao (1773) and other documents. Doubtless this decadence was
helped by the cooling off of the initial enthusiasm of the missionaries and the increase of population.
In the acts of the Dominican Provincial Chapters, the reader frequently finds a special enactment
governing the Confessions of women and encomenderos. In the mind of those religious, a certain
maturity was needed for the Confessions of the first penitents, and special gifts of learning and virtue
to hear those of the second. According to the esquema preparatorio of the Council of Manila, the
bishops had to assign prudent and experienced priests to hear the Confession of lawyers and
merchants, government officials and priests.
In general, one notes in these conciliar acts a tendency towards
rigorism, contrary to the probabilism quite in vogue during
that age. In a pastoral letter on Confession written in 1776,
Archbishop Sancho showed an inclination to rigorism also,
especially since the Jesuits, considered by many as the
defenders of the opposite moral views, had left the field open
to him.
Quite common in the past was the practice of distributing
cedulas of Confession to the penitents so that, duly certified
and signed, they could be presented for reception of the
Paschal Communion. And yet some were able to arrange to
obtain false certificates despite the vigilance of the parish
priests, and with these they received Communion in another
parish. Another abuse helped to deter the natives from Lenten
Confessions. When they confessed, they had to pay three
reales of the Sanctorum, known as Ambagan. However, this
abuse seems to have been limited to Manila only and the
suburbs, while in the provinces this collection was the charge
of the gobernadorcillos and cabezas de barangay.
In the Philippines, the time to fulfill the paschal precepts was ordinarily from Septuagesima Sunday
to the feast of Corpus Christi. In the 19th century, the parish priests, especially in the archdiocese of
Manila, were permitted to extend the period if necessary.
The Holy Eucharist.
If the first missionaries proceeded with extreme caution in admitting neophytes to Baptism and
Confession, we may be excused if we say that they would exercise even greater care before allowing
them to receive Holy Communion, since this is a mystery so sublime and so far above human

page 53
understanding. They were guided by the following words of the provincial council of Lima:

13 Dominican friar Diego Aduarte (1570–1636) and Franciscan friar Marcelo Rivadeneira (1560?–1610)

page 52
 The Holy Synod commands the parish priests and the other preachers of the Indios that they instruct
them seriously and frequently in the faith of this mystery…. But to those whom the parish priest
shall judge to be properly taught and are ready by a reform of their lives, he shall not omit to minister
the Eucharist at least during the paschal season.
According to Aduarte, the method which the missionaries in Cagayan province followed was this:
They gathered the better Christians of the town, and eight days before Communion they gave them a
kind of a retreat. There were daily conferences, and they rose at midnight for the discipline and
mental prayer. During this time some lived in their houses, others in the convento. When
Communion day came, they went to Confession quite early; then they returned home to take a bath
and put on their best clothes. It is not surprising, then, that these small groups, carefully chosen and
trained, matured into souls of deep interior life, especially the women, to the great joy and wonder of
the missionaries.
This fervor cooled off much later. Furthermore, according to evidence from the Council of Manila,
certain errors in the 18th century sprang up which tainted the faith of the Filipino people in this
principal sacrament. For example, some believed that no one may spit or bathe himself or eat meat
for three days before Holy Communion. Some believed that one should fast starting the day before
taking the Eucharistic bread, and others that no one should fast on the day of Communion itself lest
Jesus Christ suffer hunger. The same council also called attention to the excessive display in dress
and jewelry of certain women when they received Communion.
Viaticum and Extreme Unction for the Sick.
By the end of the 18th century, there was no lack of the faithful who departed this world without the
last sacraments, as was noted by the Synod of Calansiao.
Another serious problem preoccupied the governors, bishops, provincials and missionaries in the doctrinas
for a long time: this was the custom of carrying the sick to the churches to have the Viaticum
ministered to them there. Anda listed this as the 16th of the friars’ abuses. The Council of Manila and
the Synod of Calasiao raised their authoritative voice against a similar practice. For their part, the
religious were not totally wrong when they alleged in their defense the fact that given the great
distances and the minimal and inefficient means of transportation in those days, it would soon
exhaust the few missionaries then available if it was the latter who went out to administer the
sacrament to the sick. Such a practice, which we could call a necessary evil, began in the 17th
century, lasted through the 18th, and died out in the 19th when there was an increase of missionary
personnel and roads and other means of travel somewhat improved.
Matrimony.
Engagement. There were two kinds of
engagement among the Filipinos in the 18th
century: private and public. The first consisted in
a mutual pledge between the future spouses made
secretly and without witnesses. To enter an
engagement publicly, the father of the groom,
accompanied by his son and invited guests, went
to the girl’s house and, in the presence of the
young couple who sat in silence, the fathers of
both parties closed the agreement. If the future
couple presented no difficulty, they were
considered in agreement, and the formalized
engagement was considered obligatory in
conscience.
Dowry. It was a pre-Christian custom in the
Philippines for the groom to buy his future wife.
But
despite the efforts of both civil and ecclesiastical authorities, once they realized its malice, they were
able to do practically nothing against it.
Bride Service. Bride service meant for the suitor working for the parents of the bride for a certain
time, sometimes for years, in order to obtain their consent to espouse her. On occasion, the
prospective groom lived and slept in the house of his fiancée. With this freedom quite frequently not
disapproved by the parents, it happened that the boy could have, and actually had in some cases,
illicit relations with the girl, and sometimes with her sisters, cousins, nieces. From these relations
with the girl’s proximate relatives, the impediment of affinity resulted which occasioned invalid
marriages if not discovered on time.
Another bad effect was this: tired of the services of the young man, the girl’s parents just dismissed
him without any recompense for the work he had done. And so it frequently happened that the
woman lost her virginity, and her suitor the fruit of his efforts.
About a hundred years after the conquest, Archbishop Camacho stood up against this abuse with all
the characteristic energy in him. But even with the backing of Governor Fausto Cruzat who forbade it
in Ordinance 46 of the Ordenanzas de buen gobierno, and of Governor Domingo Zabalburu who
decreed a penalty of 50 lashes for timauas (commoners) and social ostracism for the upper classes,
nothing was accomplished in their time. In the middle of the 18th century, Archbishop Pardo de
Arizala resumed the fight against the practice, with the same negative result. This abuse, deeply
rooted and as zealously combated, could not but call the attention of the Fathers at the Council of
Manila. Some authors still wrote about it in the middle of the 19th century, as Father Jose Fuixa and
the English traveler John Bowring.
Consent. In case the parents irrationally refused to consent to their children’s marriage, the Governor-
General of the Philippines could supply for this defect and give his approval, provided the provincial
or municipal magistrate of the interested party drew up the legal instrument at the instance of the
approval of
the parish priest. However, the Chinese mestizos did not have to
obtain parental consent to marry once they reached puberty.
Dispensation from Consanguinity and Kinship to the 3rd or 4th Degree.
Among the various privileges which Rome granted to the natives of the
Philippines, the most significant was the dispensation from the
impediment of consanguinity and kinship in the 3rd or 4th degree, by
which they could marry second cousins without any dispensation.
Pope Paul III granted this favor in his famous bull Altitudo divini
consilii signed on 1 June 1537. Because doubts followed on the
validity of this privilege due to the use by the Pontiff of the word
“neophyte,” other popes (Clement IX in 1669, Alexander VIII in
1690) extended it to Christians baptize in infancy. And yet, the sacred
congregation had declared in 1618 that the privilege of Paul III did not
include cuarterones or puchueles, i.e. mestizos who were one- fourth or
one-eighth Indio. And so, the Spaniards or children of Spanish- born
in the Philippines were held by the common law, just as the
cuarterones or puchueles.
Solemnizing the Marriage. On this matter, there have been various abuses in the past. One was the
afternoon celebration of marriage in church, behind closed doors, putting off till next morning the
nuptial blessing. From this, it happened that some lived as married persons before receiving the
nuptial blessing. Embarrassment in affirming publicly the marriage contract led to this abuse. This
also explains why ministers objected to the reception of Communion by the couple at the time of the
blessing next morning. The Council of Manila complained of other excesses against the sanctity of
page 54
marriage, like wedding banquets, dancing and drinking to excess, which proved to be a seed ground
for sin, especially when these were in barrios or rural areas.

page 55
Marriage of the Chinese. The marriage between Chinese and Filipinos was an occasion for unending
problems for Church authorities in the Philippines. Since the Chinese had to be baptized as a
prerequisite for marriage, they received the sacrament with mixed intentions. To obviate this, a royal
decree in 1849 ordered the Chinese who wished to contract marriage in the Philippines to present
before the government:
a) his Baptismal certificate; b) the written consent of the parents or guardians of his future wife; c) an
affidavit that his name had been included in the padron or census list of Christians for more than two
years. He also had to certify six years’ residence in the country, his good conduct all this while, and a
testimony from the parish priest that he had been instructed in Christian doctrine. Once married
according to this form, the Chinese needed the express consent of his spouse in order to return to his
country. It had frequently happened that once there, the husband did not return to the wife left in the
Philippines. In view of so much difficulty, many unbaptized Chinese preferred to live in open
concubinage with Filipino women, with no Church intervention. For this reason, in the middle of the
19th century Father Manuel de Rivas urged the Patronato Real to obtain from the Holy See a habitual
dispensation for disparity of cult for the Chinese, who turned out to be good husbands though
remaining pagans, once they married in the eyes of the Church.
Marriage Because of Piracy. Especially in the second half
of the 18th century, it often happened that Moslems
would carry off one or the other of a married couple
and the remaining partner wanted to marry a second
time. In this case, the Church authorities through the
acts of the Council of Manila warned parish priests
never to allow this before the death of the departed
spouse had been proven beyond doubt.
Marriage to Converted Pagans. With regard to the
pagans who had been baptized, the same council urged
both regular and secular ministers never to attempt in
any way, without previous investigation, to declare as
invalid their marriage when still unbaptized. And if a
pagan who was
married to several wives was converted, he was to retain only the first wife if he still remembered
which of them he had married first. But if he could not recall who was first, he could contract
marriage with any of the wives provided there was no impediment. The question had already been
settled by Paul III in the bull Altitudo divini consilii with respect to the natives of the West and East
Indies; but the missionaries, aware of the difficulties implied if the bull were obeyed to the letter,
allowed some time to pass before they enforced on the neophytes the prescriptions of the Papal
document on the matter. However, it is noteworthy that polygamy was not widespread in the
Philippines, although there were some instances among the rich and in the Visayas. (A, pp. 147-156)

16. Other Religious and Liturgical Practices.

Fast and Abstinence.
Since there was such a variety of races in the Philippines, there was likewise a difference in the
observance of the law of fasting and abstinence. For now, we are interested only in the native-born
Filipinos, the mestizos, and the Europeans or their descendants in the Philippines.
With regard to the Filipinos, suffice it to say that during the Spanish regime they enjoyed a special
indult granted to all the natives of the West and the East Indies through the bull of Pope Paul III
Altitudo divini consilii of 1 June 1537. According to this bull, the law of fasting was binding on the
vigils of Christmas and Easter and the seven Fridays of Lent; the law of abstinence obliged on Ash
Wednesday, the following six Fridays of Lent, Holy Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the
vigils of Pentecost Sunday, Ascension
Thursday, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Christmas, and the feasts of Saints Peter and Paul.
Paul III did not include the mestizos in the indult. Doubts naturally came up in time regarding their
obligation to fast and abstain. Until 1852 then, they did not enjoy the privilege granted to the Indios;
but on 3 March of that year, on the petition of Father Francisco Gainza, the above indult was granted
to them, too. According to weighty authors, only mestizos who were half-Indio or more enjoyed this
extension. It was thus not applicable in the case of the children of a European father and a mestizo
mother, or vice- versa.
Philippine residents not included in these categories had to follow the common law of the Church
until 1865, when Archbishop Gregorio Meliton of Manila obtained from the Holy See the faculty to
extend to all the inhabitants of the country, regardless of race or nationality, the privilege granted by
Paul III to the Indios, but only with regard to the law of fasting. This extension had to be renewed
after a certain number of years. Furthermore, the clergy had to observe eight additional days of
fasting to be designated by the Metropolitan of the Islands.
Long before this extension of Paul III’s privileges, those who had obtained the bull of the Crusade
enjoyed the privileges with regard to fasting and abstinence granted by the Holy See in this bull to
Spanish subjects.
By papal dispensation, military personnel and their families likewise enjoyed certain added privileges in
this matter.
The “Sanctorum”.
From the first years of the preaching of the Gospel in this country, a religious contribution known as
the “Sanctorum” was approved on the advice and consent of both civil and ecclesiastical authorities.
Each tribute-paying individual was obliged to give one-and-a-half reales when he made his annual
Confession. The fund thus collected was set aside for the solemn celebration of the major feasts of
Holy Thursday, Corpus Christi, and that of the patron saint of each town. This money paid for the
wax and the singers, with the remainder being set aside to cover the deficit of the priest’s stipends
and the building expenses of the church.
In the course of time, some abuses must have crept in, for in 1755
Archbishop Pedro Martinez de Arizala provided in the arancel he
issued with the approval of the Audiencia that the money remaining
after liquidating the expenses of the fiesta should be set aside for the
construction of the church. The Royal Ordinance of 1768 arranged
that the collection be in the charge of the alcalde mayor, while the
money was to be deposited in a safe under a triple key: one in the
hands of the alcalde, the other in the minister’s, and the third in the
custody of the gobernadorcillo. Previously, the cabeza de barangay
made the collection.
For the sake of truth, we must say that abuses were committed only
in the areas around Manila. In the dioceses of Cebu and Nueva
Segovia, the cabezas de barangay, shortly before or after the fiesta,
went around for the collection which they left with the gobernadorcillo,
who in turn brought it to the parish priest. The collectors were
exempt from paying, while the gobernadorcillo received some
compensation.
This arrangement lasted until the decree of the superior government
dated 13 January 1836, which ordered that cabezas de barangay in
the
archdiocese of Manila would be charged with the collection of the “Sanctorum”, and shall directly
bring it to the alcalde mayor without the priest’s intervention. On 23 August 1843, Governor
Francisco de Paula sought to extend this arrangement, already in force in Manila and Nueva Caceres,
to the diocese of Cebu
and Nueva Segovia. But the bishops begged to leave things in their traditional set-up. Finally,
however, on 13 January 1847, these two dioceses had to follow the system of collecting the
“Sanctorum” practiced all over the rest of the Islands.
Feast Days of Obligation.
In his bull Altitudo divini consilii, Pope Paul III arranged that the natives be obliged to observe the
following feast days besides Sunday: Christmas, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Ascension, Corpus Christi,
the Nativity of our Lady, Annunciation, Purification, Assumption, and the feast of Saints Peter and
Paul. The Holy Father Pius IX in his brief Quum pluris (2 May 1867), which was promulgated in the
Philippines by royal order on 13 August 1877, reduced the number of obligatory feasts for the
Spaniards and other Europeans while the Filipinos continued to enjoy the indult of Paul III. Because
of this varied arrangement—which prescribed as obligatory for
Spaniards and not for natives the feasts of Saint James the Apostle,
All Saints, the Immaculate Conception; and obligatory for the
natives but not for the Spaniards the feast of the Nativity of our
Lady—the Archbishop of Manila presented through Governor-
General Domingo Moriones a petition before the peninsular
government on 17 October 1877 to equalize the number of feasts,
which was granted on 1 January 1878. On 23 November of that
year, the Archbishop published a decree announcing that, despite
the reduction by papal brief of the number of feasts, the feast of
Saint Andrew Apostle, 30 November, was still obligatory in the city
of Manila, but not in the suburbs.
Pope Leo XIII proclaimed in his brief Annus iam quintus dated 5
December 1879 the Immaculate Conception as the patron of the
Manila archdiocese. The same pontiff, in his brief Quod paucis dated
28 January 1896 made the feast of Saint Joseph obligatory in Spain
and in her overseas dominions.
Decrees of Festal Solemnity.
The feasts of obligation during the Spanish regime were classed according to their “number of
crosses.” Feasts of greater solemnity were feasts of “three crosses.” These were, aside from Sunday,
the feast days already cited as obligatory on Spaniards and natives alike, according to a privilege of
Paul III. But there were other obligatory feasts for the Spaniards, as those of Saint John the Baptist,
the Apostles and Evangelists, Monday and Tuesday of Easter week, Pentecost, the Transfiguration of
our Lord, Saint Lawrence, Saint Michael, All Saints, Saint Martin, Saint Stephen and the Holy
Innocents. On these days, the Spaniards could not force the natives under obligation to serve them to
go to work, nor could they be hindered from hearing Mass, even though by disposition of the Church
the natives were not dispensed from work nor obliged to hear Mass. However, on feasts of “one
cross” like that of the Immaculate Conception and that of Saint Joseph, the Spaniards could oblige the
natives to work.
In 18th century Manila, people venerated with special devotion: the Apostle Andrew, patron saint of
the city; Saint Potenciana, patroness of the Islands; Saint Anthony Abbot, Manila’s protector from
fires; and Saint Polycarp, helper against earthquakes. But the feasts which without question stood out
above the rest in solemnity and in the enthusiasm with which the Filipinos celebrated them were the
“three feasts” of Holy Thursday, Corpus Christi, and the titular feast of each town church. The
religious celebration of the feast day used to include solemn vespers, Mass and sermon, and a
procession.
The Bull of the Crusade.
The Filipino shared in the privileges granted in the bull of the Crusade, consisting of the opportunity
to win plenary and partial indulgences on fulfillment of certain conditions, besides enjoying the
dispensation
from abstinence and from fasting on certain days. In return for these privileges, the faithful gave
some small alms which the Church used for works of charity.
The Use of the Discipline.
Father Chirino relates that around the years 1596-1597, a canon named Diego de Leon who was
studying in the Jesuit college introduced the practice of inviting to the Jesuit church men of different
social standing, in order to take the discipline three times a week, especially during Lent. The natives,
attracted by the penitential practice, lost no time imitating the Spaniards. In time, this spirit of
penance lost its appeal, becoming in many places, according to the Jesuit historian Pedro Murillo
Velarde, a mere external ritual. On the other hand, during the Holy Week processions, many impelled
more by fanaticism than by true devotion, went to extremes of bloody penance.
Deportment Inside the Church.
In the churches in the Philippines, there was this laudable custom, taken doubtless from the primitive
church, of separating the clergy from the laity, and the men from the women. The school children
were assigned a special place under the immediate supervision of their teacher. Sinibaldo de Mas
related that there were three separate sections in the churches: one side for the men, the other for the
women, and in the middle the section for the principales and gobernadorcillos. The preparatory schema
for the Council of Manila contains complaints against the lack of respect for the sacred places, like
entering with arms, or followed by dogs, or with the head covered. For his part, Bishop Miguel
Garcia severely inveigled against the fact that the young girls in Pangasinan entered the church with
their heads covered only with a small handkerchief.
Mass Attendance.
Because of the dispersion of the parishioners through their rice fields, attendance at Mass on Sundays
and holydays of obligation was not as satisfactory as desired. This neglect of the obligation to hear
Mass was helped by the fact that Sunday was also market day in many places. That is why Father
Manuel del Rio could say that native apathy towards Sunday Mass was notorious.
In view of this, this same priest instructed the Dominican missionaries to arrange with the
gobernadorcillos so that, at the end of the Mass, they might send officers of the law around to the
houses to punish the guilty and negligent. In other places, the fiscalillos were charged with seeing that
the people in the town go to Mass.
After the Mass and sermon, the people remained in the church to recite the rosary, repeat the
Christian doctrine, and pray the Acts of Faith, Hope and Charity.
Public Recitation of the Canonical Hours with the People.
The canonical hours were nothing strange to the Filipinos, since the missionaries had taught them to
join the first and second vespers of Sundays and the more solemn feasts. In general, it was the
chanters who sang them while the people, especially the children, just listened. In certain areas, the
school children recited or chanted the vespers of the Little Office. Matins were sung on Christmas
Eve, in the last three days of Holy Week, and on Easter Sunday. For the greater solemnity of the
liturgy, parishes with more than 500 tributes (about 2,000 souls) had eight cantores (chanters) paid by
the government or from local Church funds. In parishes with less tributes, there were only four
chanters.
Misa de Aguinaldo.
 The name “Misa de Aguinaldo” which
is traditionally given to the Mass said
in many churches of the Philippines at
dawn during the nine days previous to
Christmas, was added, just like the
Saturday votive Mass in honor of the
Virgin Mary, for the preservation of
the Catholic Church in these Islands.
Monsignor Felipe Pardo forbade them
in obedience to a decree of the Sacred
Congregation dated 16 February 1677;
but later the same congregation
approved it in a decree of 24 January
Holy Week Observance. 1682, and since then this Mass has
continued to be said until now.
The Holy Week liturgy was held in the town, or at least in a visita which was as big as a población, in
which case it was alternately held first in one and then in the other. The liturgy that stands out
especially is the solemn chanting of the Tenebrae (Matins and Lauds). On Holy Thursday, the parish
priest prepared a dinner for 12 poor men, at the end of which he washed their feet, assisted by the
principales and the officials of the town.
In some places, there was a tradition of
staging the “descent from the cross,”
followed by solemn Tenebrae in the
afternoon of Good Friday. Against this,
however pious as it may seem, both the
Council of Manila and the Synod of Calasiao
raised a voice of disapproval, because it
occasioned for many of the faithful the
erroneous belief that Christ really died each
Good Friday. Instead, the Synod suggested
that the parish priest preach a “fervent and
touching” sermon, which was to be followed
by the procession of sacred burial. In time,
certain abuses led to the diminishing of the
solemnity and pomp of the Holy Week
liturgy, as for
example the use of penitential garb, self-flagellation inside the church or in the streets, the
presentation of profane dramas inside the church or in the cemeteries.
During the Easter Sunday procession, it was customary at least in the diocese of Nueva Segovia for
the women to carry the image of the Blessed Virgin. Due to the difficulty in uprooting this custom,
the Synod of Calansiao counselled that at least the bearers of the image should be satisfied with
ordinary decent clothes. (A, pp. 157-164)
 Chapter 7

Exemplars of Virtue and Sanctity

17. Exemplars of Virtue and Sanctity.
From the earliest times of evangelical preaching, there have been many flowers of virtue and sanctity
borne or nurtured in this Pearl of the Orient, among religious and laymen, foreigners and natives,
from all states of life and social conditions, souls from Europe or America, experienced in the ways
of perfection or natives who matured under their direction.
Models of Virtue Among the Religious.
Love of the Eucharist and the Devout Celebration of the Mass. Among
the devotees of the Blessed Sacrament, Archbishop Miguel Garcia
Serrano,
O.S.A. of Manila deserves a special place. He worked as much as he
could to honor the Sacrament. Towards the end of 1628, an
unknown thief stole the pyx from the cathedral with the Sacred
Species. The Archbishop undertook so rigorous a penance in
reparation for the attempted sacrilege that he died on the feast of
Corpus Christi, 14 June 1629.
Charity Towards the Natives. We cannot deny that some religious in
the past treated the natives haughtily, as though the latter were an
inferior race—a common enough defect of the white race. Not so the
Jesuit Father Melchor de Vera (+1646), “a man noted for his love
towards the Indios, whom he loved with such tender affection that
exceeded a mother’s love for her children. He helped them in their
necessities and sufferings, and when he could not help, cried with
compassion for them. And so, when he moved from one town to
another, he left weeping and crying.
Of the same temperament was the Franciscan Juan de Vandela (+1599). Father Martinez says of him:
“If the work was plentiful, he sent them (referring to the lay Brothers of his religious order) to their
rest, and he undertook to finish the work himself. The same thing he did with the natives in their
work in the farm; and when they were building some houses, he used to go and help or relieve them
of their labor.”
According to Father Murillo Velarde, it was the opinion of some that only by means of the cane and
the whip could one govern the natives of these islands. Of this mind for a time was Juan de
Ballesteros (+1646), later a Jesuit lay Brother until, warned in an extraordinary manner, he changed
his attitude so much that for the rest of his life—adds the same historian—he was the “physician of
the natives’ ills, rest in their labors, and comfort in their sorrows. He settled their grievances,
reconciled their disagreements, attracted them to the Church, scolded them if they failed in their
duties, and urged them to attend catechism lessons. He advised them on their planting and their
housing, and in every way helped them….”
In general, it can be seen in the history of the Philippines that the holier the ministers of religion, the
more charitable, the more loving and more devoted they proved themselves to be towards the natives
of the Islands.
Charity to the Shipwrecked. There were others who gave up their lives for the salvation of souls, as
the Franciscans Francisco de la Concepcion (+1595) and Jeronimo del Espiritu Santo (+1643), and
the Dominican Diego Collado (+1641). They preferred to stay aboard the ships which were about to
sink in order to hear the Confessions of the passengers, although they could have saved themselves
easily by swimming or taking a small boat.
Detachment. The Franciscan chronicles for the first years of the evangelization of the Philippines tell
us of men of noble birth, of merchants and soldiers who gave up their titles of nobility, their
primogeniture, their wealth or their military rank to enter the order of the Poverello of Assisi. There
was another kind of detachment, perhaps of a higher quality than the first, which so many religious
practiced. Gifted with keen minds or abilities of leadership, they opted to come to the Philippines
denying themselves fame or the applause of the world, hiding in a tiny village or, as happened in
cases, to die in a shipwreck or of an early sickness due to the rigorous tropical climate.
Pastoral Zeal. Noteworthy in their zeal for the salvation of souls were, among others: the Dominicans
Pedro Jimenez (+1690), apostle of the Mandayas and Irraya towards the end of the 17th century; and
Jose Gonzalez (+1762), apostle of the Ituys in south Nueva Vizcaya during the fourth decade of the
18th century. Amid a life of extreme penance, the first was able to overcome the opposition of the
pagans, misunderstanding by his Brothers in the habit, and the inclemency and rigors of the elements,
in order to win souls for Christ. Of the second, Father Elviro Perez says, “It was in 1727 when,
assigned by obedience to bring the light of the Gospel to the mountains of Ituy, he undertook the
journey through impassable forests that served as habitation to so many unfortunate people, whom he
converted by force of persistent effort, wisdom and missionary activity, no less than by his rough
penances, burning love and total selflessness, and especially by a heroic patience and holy resignation
to suffer the inclemencies of weather, and by his daring to face all dangers without stepping back or
losing heart before any kind of work or difficulty.”
Mysticism.
For the many souls in the Philippines, there was no lack of that food
“of those heavenly delights with which even on earth sanctity
abounds” (Ancient Breviary of the Order of Preachers, Reading for the
second Nocturn for 15 October). We shall mention only a few of the
several examples of those who received extraordinary graces and
favors.
Among the women founders of religious institutes or schools, the
following were shining examples of holiness: Mother Jeronima de la
Asuncion (+1630), foundress of the monastery of Santa Clara, a
woman favored with the gift of miracles and prophecy; Sor Ignacia
del Espiritu Santo (+1748), foundress of the Beatas de la Compania de
Jesus; and Paula de la Santisima Trinidad (+1782), foundress of the
Colegio de Santa Rosa.
The laity also had worthy representatives in this gallery of virtuous
people, like Governor Luis Perez Dasmariñas (+1603), a profound
mystic; and above all, during the 18th century, many individuals of
noble birth or high military rank, or even merchants, were able to
reconcile their earthly business with heroic virtue.
We frequently hear today of charisms. These are none other than extraordinary gifts which God
grants to certain souls for the spiritual good of one’s neighbor and the edification of the Church. One
of these charisms is the “gift of tongues” which God granted the apostles and, more rarely in recent
times, to preachers and missionaries. Among others in the Philippines, the Augustinian Father Alonso
Jimenez (+1577), first apostle to Masbate, Leyte and Burias, received it. Of course, we do not mean
by this that a missionary in speaking Spanish was perfectly understood by his native hearers as
though he had spoken in their own tongue; but rather an aid, a special help which the Holy Spirit
communicated to some of the first apostles of these islands to learn with surprising ease the dialects
of the country. It was a wonder to see how, with such insufficient means, men often of mature age
came to master one or more dialects in a short time, so much so that they immediately wrote
grammars and dictionaries. (A, pp. 165-176)
Holy Filipinos and Non-Filipinos Who Lived and/or Died in the Philippines During the Spanish Era.
Over the centuries, a growing list of holy Filipinos, as well as non-Filipinos who lived and/or died in
the Philippines, have already been or are being considered by the Catholic Church for canonization,
beatification, or its preliminary stages. Most of them are from the 20th century onward, but a few are
from the Spanish Era.
Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint, a married layman and a martyr of faith, was canonized by
Pope John Paul II in 1987. Twenty-five years later, Saint Pedro Calungsod, another Filipino martyr-
saint, was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. Blessed José María de Manila, a Spaniard born
in Manila, was beatified in 2013. Blessed Iustus Takayama Ukon, a Japanese daimyō who was
expelled from Japan for his Christian faith and who died in Manila, was beatified in 2017.
a) Canonized.
Saint Lorenzo Ruiz (ca. 1600–1637), Married Layman of the
Archdiocese of Manila; Member of the Confraternity of the Rosary;
Martyr (Manila, Philippines–Nagasaki, Japan)
● Declared Venerable: 11 October 1980
● Beatified: 18 February 1981, by Saint John Paul II
● Canonized: 18 October 1987, by Saint John Paul II
Saint Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Binondo, Manila, to a Chinese father and a
Filipino mother who were both Catholic. He was married to Rosario, a native, and
they had two sons and a daughter. In 1636, whilst working as a clerk for the
Binondo Church, Ruiz was falsely accused of killing a Spaniard. Ruiz sought
asylum on board a ship with three Dominican priests, a Japanese priest, and a lay
leper. Ruiz and his companions sailed for Okinawa on 10 June 1636 with the aid of
the Dominican Fathers. The Tokugawa Shogunate was persecuting Christians at the
time Ruiz and his companions arrived in Japan. They were arrested and thrown
into prison, and after two years were transferred to Nagasaki to face trial by torture.
On 27 September 1637, Ruiz and his companions were taken to Nishizaka Hill
where they were tortured by being hung upside-down over a pit, bound with one
hand always left free so that the individual can signal his desire to recant, which
would lead to their release. Despite his suffering, Ruiz refused to renounce
Christianity, and died from eventual blood loss and suffocation.
According to Latin missionary accounts sent back to Manila, Ruiz declared these words
upon his death: Ego Catholicus sum et animo prompto paratoque pro Deo mortem obibo. Si
mille vitas haberem, cunctas ei offerrem. (I am a Catholic, and wholeheartedly do
accept death for God. Had I a thousand lives, all these to Him shall I offer.)

Saint Pedro Calungsod (1654–1672), Young Layman of the

Archdiocese of Cebu; Martyr (Cebu, Philippines–Tumon, Guam)
● Declared Venerable: 27 January 2000
● Beatified: 5 March 2000, by Saint John Paul II
● Canonized: 21 October 2012, by Pope Benedict XVI
Saint Pedro Calungsod was a Filipino migrant, sacristan and missionary catechist
who, along with the Spanish Jesuit missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores, suffered
religious persecution and martyrdom in Guam for their missionary work. In 1668,
Calungsod, then only around 14 years old, was among the exemplary young
catechists chosen to accompany Spanish Jesuit missionaries to the Mariana Islands.
While in Guam, calumnies were spread that the Baptismal water used by the
missionaries was poisonous. As some sickly Chamorro infants who were baptized
eventually died, many believed the calumny and held the missionaries responsible.
On 2 April 1672, Calungsod and San Vitores came to the village of Tumon where
they learnt that the Christian wife of the village chief Mata'pang had given birth to
a daughter. They immediately went to baptize
the child, but Chief Mata'pang, influenced by the calumnies, strongly opposed it. With the intention of killing the
missionaries, Mata'pang went away to enlist others to his plan. But while he was away, San Vitores and Calungsod
baptized the baby girl with the consent of her Christian mother. When Mata'pang learned of his daughter's Baptism, he
became even more furious. He violently hurled spears first at Calungsod, who was able to dodge them. Witnesses claim
that Calungsod could have escaped the attack but did not desert San Vitores. Calungsod was eventually struck in the chest
by a spear, fell to the ground, and was finished off with a machete blow to the head. San Vitores quickly absolved
Calungsod before he, too, was killed.
b) Beatified.
Blessed Iustus Takayama Ukon (Hikogorō Shigetomo) (ca. 1552–
1615), Layman of the Archdiocese of Tokyo (Nara, Japan–Manila,
Philippines)
● Declared Venerable: 21 January 2016
● Beatified: 7 February 2017, by Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B.
Hikogorō Shigetomo was born as the eldest (thus the heir) of six children to
Takayama Tomoteru, lord of the Sawa Castle in the Yamato Province. In 1564 his
father converted to Roman Catholicism. Hikogorō was baptized as Justo (or
Iustus); however, he is better known as Takayama Ukon. He married in 1574 and
went on to have three sons (two died as infants) and one daughter. Justo and his
father fought through the turbulent age to secure their position as a daimyo, and
managed to acquire the Takatsuki Castle (in Takatsuki, Osaka) under the daimyō
Toyotomi Hideyoshi during his rule's earlier times. During Ukon’s domination of
Takatsuki region, several of his subjects converted to the faith under his guiding
influence. Eventually, Hideyoshi became hostile to the Christian faith, and in 1587
ordered the expulsion of all missionaries, and for all Christian daimyōs to renounce
their faith. Ukon proclaimed that he would not give up his faith and would rather
give up his land and all that he owned. Then in 1614, Tokugawa Ieyasu (ruler at
the time) prohibited the Christian Faith and expelled Ukon from Japan. On 11
December 1614–with 300 Japanese Christians–he arrived in Manila where he
received a warm welcome from the Spanish Jesuits and the local Filipinos. He died
of illness on 3 or 5 February 1615, a mere 40 days after having arrived in Manila.
Upon his death the Spanish government gave him a Christian burial replete with full military honors befitting a daimyō.
His remains were buried in the Jesuit church there, and this made him the only daimyō to be buried on Philippine soil.

Blessed José María de Manila (Eugenio Sanz-Orozco Mortera)

(1880- 1936), Professed Priest of the Franciscan Capuchins; Martyr
(Manila, Philippines–Madrid, Spain)
● Declared Venerable: 27 March 2013
● Beatified: 13 October 2013, by Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B.
Blessed José María was born in Manila on 5 September 1880 to Spanish parents.
He spent his initial years of education at Ateneo de Manila University, Colegio de
San Juan de Letran, and University of Santo Tomas. He stayed in the Philippines
until he was 16 years old, then pursued further studies in Spain. Despite objections
from his parents, José María fulfilled his desire to become a Capuchin priest. Fr.
José María remained a Filipino at heart, desiring to return to the Philippines to
serve the local Church despite the fall of the Spanish East Indies government in
1898 due to the Philippine Revolution and the Spanish-American War. Since
circumstances prevented him from returning to the Philippines, he instead resolved
to zealously proclaim the Gospel in Spain which was still suffering from poverty
brought about by the First World War. There was a growing tide of anti-
Catholicism and anticlericalism in Spain then, as critics accused the Church of
conspiring with the government to keep the people poor. Military generals staged
an uprising in July 1936 that began the Spanish Civil War. Church properties were
seized and destroyed, and priests and religious were imprisoned and executed. On
17 August 1936, Fr. José María was executed at the gardens of the Cuartel de la
Montaña, a military building in Madrid.
c) Declared Venerable.
Venerable Mother Jerónima de la Asunción, O.S.C. (1555–
1630), Founder of the Royal Monastery of Saint Clare (Toledo,
Spain–Manila, Philippines)
● Declared Venerable: 1734
Jerónima was born in Toledo, Spain to Pedro García e Yánez and Catalina de la
Fuente, both of noble lineage. At the age of fourteen, she met the great Carmelite
reformer Teresa of Ávila, O.C.D. after which she felt the calling to monastic life.
On 15 August 1570, Jerónima entered the Colettine monastery of Santa Isabel la
Real de Toledo where she later occasionally functioned as mistress of novices.
Sister Jerónima learned about the intention of her religious order to establish a
monastery in Manila in the Spanish East Indies, and volunteered to be among this
pioneering community. Jerónima was appointed as foundress and first abbess of
the Philippine monastery, the first of its kind to be established in Manila and the
entire Far East. Mother Jerónima's journey began in April 1620; she was already
66 years old at that time. From Toledo, they travelled through Spain, crossed the
Atlantic Ocean, traveled through Mexico, and crossed the Pacific Ocean for the
Philippines, reaching Intramuros on 5 August 1621 (one year, three months and
nine days after leaving Toledo). There she founded the Real Monasterio de Santa
Clara, specifically created for “pious Spanish women and daughters of the
conquistadors who cannot marry properly.” During the last thirty years of her life,
Mother Jerónima lived in constant illness, and on 22 October 1630 she died at
dawn at the age of 75. For her efforts in establishing the first Catholic monastery
in Manila and the Far East, the Vatican issued an apostolic decree for her
beatification in 1734.

Venerable Mother Francisca del Espíritu Santo

de Fuentes (1647–1711), Prioress of the
Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Saint
Catherine of Siena (Manila, Philippines)
● Declared Venerable: 5 July 2019
Francísca de Fuentes was born to a Spanish father and a
Spanish mestiza mother in Manila around 1647. Francisca
grew up to be a fine lady, and she was given in marriage to a
gentleman who died shortly thereafter, leaving her a
childless, young widow. Francísca then dedicated her time
to prayer and social service helping many poor and sick in
the city. In a vision, she saw Saints Francis and Dominic,
and was moved to be a Dominican. She was admitted as a
Tertiary in 1682 with the name Francísca del Espíritu Santo.
In 1686, Francísca and four others requested that they be
allowed to live together in a life of prayer and the practice of
the virtues while continuing their social apostolate. This was
approved by the Master-General of the Order of Preachers in
Rome in January 1688. On 26 July 1696,
the Beaterio de Santa Catalina de Sena de las Hermanas de Penitencia de la Tercera Orden was formally inaugurated, and Mother
Francisca del Espiritu Santo became the prioress for life. After seven years of fervent existence, scandals began to mar the
image of a few of the Spanish beatas who were admitted at the start of the 18th century. They resented the authority and
constant admonitions of Mother Francisca. Defying the rules of the beaterio, they began to live separately in private
homes. The situation stirred up legalistic issues regarding beaterios. Concluding that the Dominicans had been unable to
maintain discipline among the beatas, Archbishop Camacho of Manila claimed jurisdiction over the institution and
insisted on the practice of closure. The Dominican provincial protested that the authority of the Master-General of their
Order was sufficient to justify the existence of the beaterio which enjoyed prior exemption from the closure. The beatas,
upon the advice of their Dominican counselors, refused obedience to the Archbishop, who was left with no other recourse
but to excommunicate them. In January 1704, the beatas chose to dissolve their community and live as a group of
laywomen in exile at the College of Santa Potenciana. Their “Babylonian exile” lasted until April 1706 when the
Archbishop showed pity on them and allowed Mother Francisca and her sisters to return to their original home and don
their Dominican habits again. Francisca del Espíritu Santo Fuentes died on 24 August 1711 and
was buried at the chapel of Colegio de San Juan de Letran. She left behind the Beaterio de Santa Catalina de Siena (Santa
Catalina College) which still stands today as the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena.

Venerable Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo de Juco (1663–

1748), Founder of the Religious of the Virgin Mary (Manila,
Philippines)
● Declared Venerable: July 6, 2007
The birthdate of Mother Ignacia del Espíritu Santo is not known but is piously
celebrated on 1 February 1663 based on the cultural customs of the Spanish Era;
only the record of her Baptism on 4 March 1663 in Manila is preserved. Ignacia
was the eldest and sole surviving child of a Filipina and a Christian Chinese
migrant from Amoy, China. Expected by her parents to marry at 21 years old,
Ignacia sought religious counsel from a Jesuit priest. After a period of solitude and
prayer, Ignacia decided to pursue her religious calling to “remain in the service of
the Divine Majesty” and “live by the sweat of her brow.” Ignacia felt strongly
against the Spanish law that prohibited native Filipinos from entering the priestly
or religious life. The Spanish Mother Jerónima de la Asunción opened the first
convent in the Philippines in 1621, but native girls could not be admitted. In hopes
of changing this racially structured ecclesiastical limitation, Ignacia began to live
alone in a vacant house at the back of the Colegio Jesuita de Manila, the Jesuit
headquarters. Her life of public prayer and labor attracted other Filipino laywomen
to live with her, and she accepted them into her company. Though they were not
officially recognized as a religious institute at the time, together they became
known as the Beatas de la Virgen María, with Jesuit priests as their spiritual
directors. Eventually, their growing number called for a more stable lifestyle and
set of rules or religious constitutions. In 1726, Ignacia wrote a set of rules for her
religious group, finalized constitutions for a congregation, and submitted this to
the
Archdiocesan Chancery Office of Manila for ecclesiastical approbation, which was formally granted in 1732. Ignacia, by
then 69 years old, resigned as Mother Superior of the order, to live as an ordinary member until her death at 85 on 10
September 1748. She died on her knees after receiving Holy Communion at the altar rail of the old Jesuit Church of San
Ignacio in Intramuros.

Venerable Mother Isabel Larrañaga Ramírez (Isabel of the Heart

of Jesus) (1836–1899), Founder of the Sisters of Charity of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus (Manila, Philippines–Havana, Cuba)
● Declared Venerable: 26 March 1999
Venerable Isabel Ramirez was born in Manila on 19 November 1836, to the
Military Governor of Manila at that time and his wife of Spanish descent from
Lima, Peru. After her father died in 1838, her mother returned to Spain with her
family. In 1855, Isabel accompanied her mother and brother to Lima where the
eighteen-year-old Isabel became a teacher and engaged in charity work. Seven
years later, she and her mother went back to Spain and resided in Madrid. From a
young age, she felt the vocation to religious life born in her soul, but she always
found strong opposition from her mother who, although very Christian, could not
stand the idea of separating from her beloved daughter. Eventually, on 2 February
1877, at the mature age of 40, along with three other companions she made her
consecration to the Lord and opened a Spirituality House in Madrid. At the
beginning, they constitute an Association or Pious Union of Slave Ladies of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, dedicated to this work of the Spiritual Exercises. Later, she
guided her work in a special and priority way towards the educational field. With
generous devotion and endearing love for children and the youth, she opened
colleges and boarding schools in Spain and in Cuba. In 1883, her Pious Union was
consolidated as a religious congregation. In 1894, Mother Isabel sent a religious
expedition to Cuba in spite of the delicate political situation then. During her
second trip to Cuba, she suffered from heart problems which were aggravated by
sufferings from the ongoing war, which eventually led to her death on 17 January 1899. She left a flourishing institute
that, after her death, has extended to Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Peru, and Chile.
Venerable Mother Consuelo Barceló y Pages, O.S.A. (1857–
1940), Cofounder of the Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of
Consolation (Barcelona, Spain–Manila, Philippines)
● Declared Venerable: 20 December 2012
Mother Consuelo Barceló was born on 24 July 1857 in Barcelona, Spain. As a
young woman, she felt a calling to the contemplative life and entered the
Monasterio de las Comendadoras de San Juan de Jerusalén in Barcelona; but the
recurrence of an abscess in her knee forced her to leave the monastery. When the
Beatas Agustinas were invited to go to the Philippines to take care of young girls
orphaned by a cholera epidemic, her desire for convent life was rekindled. She
entered the Beaterio de Mantelatas de San Agustin of Barcelona as a postulant and
joined—together with one of her sisters—a group of beatas who arrived in Manila
on 5 October 1883. On 21 November 1883, she received the Augustinian habit of
the Tertiary Order at the orphanage chapel in Mandaluyong, and professed her
temporary vows there again on 26 December 1884, making her the first woman
born in Spain to be clothed and to profess as a beata in the Philippines. At the
Asilo, she provided children with food, shelter, clothing, and education. Life in
Manila was difficult, and of the original seven beatas from Barcelona, only she and
her sister Sor Rita remained. To replenish the number of beatas for the Asilo, Sor
Rita, with Sor Consuelo, proposed two simultaneous sources of workers for the
Lord’s vineyard: a novitiate in Spain (Agustinas Misioneras de Ultramar, which they
later founded upon their return to Barcelona) and another one in the Philippines
for the formation of native vocations. When the 1898 revolution broke out,
Mother
Consuelo was the Superior of the Colegio-Asilo while Mother Rita was the mistress of novices. After the Philippine-
American war, the Augustinian provincial officially dissolved the sisters’ community and their Colegio-Asilo. Mother
Rita and Mother Consuelo, bound by strict obedience, left the Philippines for Spain on 13 March 1899 but resolved to
stay together to preserve their community. On 11 January 1904, Mother Consuelo was informed that the Apostolic
Delegate had approved petitions from the Filipino sisters in Manila for her and Mother Rita to return. But Mother Rita
died on 14 May 1904 before she could return to the Philippines, and Mother Consuelo returned to the Philippines alone on
18 June 1904 to become the Superior of the new novitiate house of Saint Joseph in Santa Ana, Manila. Later she became
the Prioress of the sisters of Colegio de la Consolacion, Manila, until 1915 when she was elected the first Superior-
General. She served in this capacity for 25 years until her death on 4 August 1940 at the age of 83.
 Chapter 8

The Church as Peacemaker; the Church During the

British Invasion; the Church at the Service of the
State and the Filipino People During the Moslem
Raids
18. The Church as Peacemaker.
In the long period which we are investigating, there was a series of uprisings, generally isolated, with
no important consequences and which followed upon a variety of causes.
‒ The first and foremost of these, although not always apparent, was doubtless the natural instinct
of all people for freedom. The Filipinos wanted to be masters of their fate and throw off from
their necks the yoke of a foreign power.
‒ The second cause, which frequently is noticeable among tribes not yet touched by progress or the
light of the Christian Gospel, was the love for a free untrammeled life, the repugnance for the
duties imposed by civil society, and usually the attachment to ancestral cults and customs which
priestesses knew how to exploit to maintain themselves in their profitable and influential task.
‒ The third was the oppression suffered from the encomenderos without conscience, especially in
the collection of the tribute, which they exercised to the detriment of the natives.
‒ The fourth was the onerous and underpaid labors, especially in the construction of the galleons,
which the natives had to endure mainly during the 17th and 18th centuries.
‒ There was another cause during the 19th century, which was the effort of the Metropolitan
government to introduce reforms good in themselves, but rather premature since the Filipino
people were not yet ready to receive them.
Not all the revolts and uprisings were begun by Filipinos. The religious, missionaries or parish
priests, in their capacity as Spaniards, worked to pacify them with the double purpose of preserving
the Islands for Spain and for the Gospel. Wrote acting Governor Pedro Sarrio:
The experience of two hundred years has taught that in all the wars, uprisings and revolts, the
religious parish priests have exercised a major role in the pacification of the insurgents.
Noteworthy, too, are the words of Blair and Robertson:
In several of these insurrections, great dangers are averted by the influence that the missionaries have
acquired over the natives, and they sometimes are able even to prevent rebellions; they often risk
their lives in thus going among the insurgents. Nevertheless, the first fury of the insurgents is
directed against the churches, and sometimes against the missionaries as well and the other
Spaniards; they kill some friars, burn the convents and churches, and profane the images.
This, which often happened in the 17th and 18th centuries, seldom took place in the 19th century when
the Filipinos were more deeply rooted in the Catholic beliefs, and farther away from their ancestral
pagan errors. (A, pp. 187-188)

19. The Church During the British Invasion.

The Family Compact signed on 5 August 1761 by the Spanish, Italian and French Bourbons upset the
harmony that had existed for years between Spain and England. In January of the next year, war
broke out between them, but before notice of the outbreak of hostilities reached Manila, a squadron
of 13 English ships entered Manila Bay commanded by Admiral Samuel Cornish and carrying 3 or 4
thousand fighting troops on board.
Archbishop Manuel Antonio Rojo was interim governor of
Manila14, a person hardly capable of facing the difficult
problems which the presence of the English squadron was going
to occasion the city. Hence, it is understandable why during the
blockade there was scarcely any unit of command, and
everywhere there was consternation. The fort was ill prepared to
face the invader. As a contemporary document says,
…to conquer it, [the English] did not need to employ the military
tactics for a difficult encounter, nor risk their lives in bloody
combat, nor swing the sword against an enemy equally strong; for
they came knowing that the walls had been built to defend the city
only against the assaults of the Chinese, and that there was no
military commander, no trained army, nor were there more arms
than what sufficed to terrify [people] by their boom, and there
was no defense…
During the siege, the religious orders and the secular clergy
cooperated in various ways to defend Manila. In the first place,
acts of reparation were performed in the churches and many
more Confessions were heard. The convents were places of
refuge for many fugitives and the troops which the missionaries
had raised in
the provinces to defend the capital. Likewise, the religious orders undertook to distribute food to the
troops from the provinces, to the needy, and to provide meat and rice for the royal warehouse for
which they brought to Manila as much rice and meat as they could from their haciendas.
Some religious, like the Augustinians and the Dominicans, headed the auxiliary troops which they
had recruited from the provinces for the defense of the part of the city fronting the sea. Others took
hold of the shovel and the hoe to dig trenches and raise parapets. Some volunteered to man the
canons, and most, more in keeping with their priestly character, gave moral support and cheer to the
soldiers.
On 5 October, the English succeeded in entering the city, thanks partly to the negligence and apathy
of the Spanish defenders. Manila then went through 40 hours of horror, usual on similar
occasions:
14The former Governor-General of the Philippines, Pedro Manuel de Arandia had died in 1759, and his replacement
Brigadier Francisco de la Torre had not arrived yet because of the British attack on Havana in Cuba. The Spanish Crown
appointed the Mexican-born Archbishop of Manila Manuel Rojo del Rio y Vieyra as temporary lieutenant-governor.
robberies, assassinations, rape. The conventos and churches were not exempt from pillage by the
soldiers.
Let us describe an example of what happened during the assault and sack of the convento and church
of Santo Domingo. Some Fathers were saying Mass when the British soldiers appeared before the
doors of the church demanding admission. Once inside, they killed two people, robbed the sacred
vessels, broke the tabernacle door to take the ciboria, broke the glass that covered the miraculous
image of our Lady of the Rosary, taking the crowns of the statues of the mother and the son after
decapitating the former. After this, they went to the high altar where there was an image of Saint
Dominic, denuding it of its vesture. They also grabbed the chalices from the hands of some priests
who were celebrating Mass at the moment. Entering the sacristy, they took as many ornaments and
sacred vessels they found there, breaking locks and pulling out shelves and drawers. From there, they
passed to the convent where they completed the sack, leaving behind almost only the bare walls.
The San Francisco convent was saved from the general pillage through an ingenious trick of the then
guardian and later bishop of Nueva Caceres, Fray Antonio de Luna. To save the valuables of the
community and the money and precious objects deposited by many residents of the city, he offered a
banquet in honor of the British officials in the lower cloister, thus making them believe that he
acknowledged vassalage to the British king. This won him during the occupation of the city the
applause and support of the residents. But after the war, the same people who had praised him
accused him before the governor of turning traitor to the country, forcing him to take refuge in the
mountains of Baler to avoid evils.
The nunneries (beaterios) did not suffer the soldiers’ ruthlessness,
thanks to an order of General William Draper who posted guards at their
doors. Santa Clara in particular received, through Fray Luna’s
mediation, permission for the nuns to transfer to Santa Ana where they
stayed until the end of the war, suffering no inconveniences. Besides,
the conquerors declared the area neutral territory for their sake. But the
colleges, especially Santa Rosa, were not saved from the ravages of the
assault. During this time, while the college was still under the
administration of Mother Paula, an extraordinary event took place. A
British soldier wanted to violate a student. When she resisted, he pulled
out a sword to kill her. But the weapon miraculously twisted itself when
he brandished it, so that the terrified Englishman threw it away and fled.
The sword was still kept in the College of Santa Rosa in 1941.
But it was with the Spanish ladies—widows, married women, unmarried
girls—that the British soldiery satisfied their frivolity. Many of the
former thus atoned for the scandals they had occasioned by their
immodest dress.
The Chinese, who did not enjoy the Spanish government’s friendship at this time, sided with the
British, not precisely for love of them, but doubtless out of hatred for the Spanish government which
had decreed their expulsion years before. The churches were not free of this antipathy. Once in the
streets, the Chinese robbed, sacked, desecrated, and made some of the churches dumping places for
filth and a spot for their abominations, not even sparing the Blessed Sacrament as happened in the
Quiapo Church where they threw down the Sacred Species in disrespect.
For the sake of truth, we must admit that once the capitulations were signed by which the English
promised to respect lives and property and to allow the free exercise of the Catholic religion, the
English generally forbade the continued commission of these excesses, and for this reason even
ordered the execution of some Englishmen, Chinese and Sepoys.
On 4 October, Don Simon de Anda y Salazar left Manila to organize resistance in the provinces. The
bishops, several Spaniards, the Franciscans, and especially the Augustinians of Bulacan and
Pampanga
immediately acknowledged him as Governor and Captain-General, despite the order of His Grace
Archbishop Manuel Antonio Rojo who, on the fall of Manila on 5 October, had commanded the
Spaniards in the provinces to accept the British government. The Dominicans in Bataan and
Pangasinan followed the example of the Augustinians. In general, all the religious sided with Anda,
promising him obedience, supplying him with resources, and urging the people to fight for Spain,
raising troops and appeasing the discontented.
The religious orders had to pay a great price for opposing the invaders and supporting the flag of the
mother country. The Augustinians, leaders in this attitude, suffered the sack of their convent of San
Pablo twice, and eleven of their members were taken as prisoners to London by Draper. The
Dominicans lost two coadjutor Brothers assassinated by outlaws in their haciendas in Pandi (Bulacan)
and Santa Cruz de Malabon (Cavite). The Recollect lay Brother Fray Agustin de San Antonio died a
hero’s death in the defense of the convento and church of Bulacan. The Jesuit Fathers had to bear the
loss of their beautiful house of Maysilo located in the present site of Caloocan City; the Dominicans
lost their houses in Navotas and San Juan del Monte, and the Augustinians their convent and church
in Bulacan.
But the religious felt not so much these losses as the calumnies which some Spaniards spread about
them during the war. Seeing that the people killed some of the latter who were in Manila while the
religious were respected and left untouched, they had no qualms in saying that the religious were in
connivance with the enemy. Anda’s later attitude, forgetful of the support received from them,
increased their suffering during the later years, occasioned by a memorial against them presented to
the king in 1768 and the matter of diocesan visitation and Royal Patronage.
In July 1763, an English man-of-war had already docked at the port of Manila bringing news of the
signing of the peace on 10 February of that year. It was stipulated that Manila was to return to the
Spaniards; but this was not effected at once because the British resolutely refused to acknowledge
Anda as the legitimate governor. Much later in April 1764, after Archbishop Rojo had already died,
the frigate Santa Rosa arrived with definite orders from England and Spain to hand over Manila to the
Spaniards. On board ship came the new governor Don Francisco de la Torre. Feigning sickness or
really falling sick on entering the city of Manila, he paved the way for Anda’s triumphal entry into
the city at the head of 2,000 people, well supplied with arms and equipment, amid the acclamations of
the multitude. (A, 196-202)

20. The Church at the Service of the State and the Filipino People During the Moslem Raids.
The most dramatic chapter in the history of the Philippines is the one on the Moslem raids, a chapter
written in blood and tears and nourished in pain and suffering.
General Ideas.
The island of Mindanao has been inhabited by
two kinds of peoples: Aetas or Negritos, and
Malays. The former, closed to civilization, lived
in the interior of the island, wandering as
nomads with no fixed residences. Among the
Malays, we can distinguish three groups:
Moslems, Christians, and pagans. These last are
what are known today as the “cultural
minorities,” although in time they will cease to
be such with the advance and migration among
them of the Christian Filipinos.
The Moslems, or Moros as they were called by
the missionaries, were for three hundred long
years avowed enemies of the Christians because
of
religion. A historian describes them as
…suspicious, warry and proud. It is very hard to make them speak clearly in their dealings and have
them fulfill their agreements, for they evade their promises with a thousand tricks…. They are least
inclined to work and are very lazy…. Their government is patriarchal and despotic…. They have
sultans and datus. The former wielded authority over wider areas and rule with the help of a council
of several datus, although the latter do not submit to them except in matters of common interest. The
sultan and the datus have sacops or subjects, and slaves who are their main source of wealth, for
these take care of their estates, dive for pearls for them (which is the cause of the premature death of
many of them), and fight their battles for them.15
According to a Jesuit missionary,
…they are so hard to the motions of the grace of God and so fixed in their beliefs that it is almost morally
impossible to convert them.
They are good fighters and, had not the Spaniards stopped them in their path, they would have
succeeded in conquering all the islands of the Philippines and imposed their religion on them.
Nonetheless, they had inflicted enough damage in the places they reached during their raids,
sometimes with the help of the Camucones—the people living in the islands between Tawi-tawi and
Borneo—and the Borneans.
Explorations and Plans of Conquest.
By an act dated 16 January 1571, the Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legaspi took possession of the
land of Mindanao in the name of His Majesty King Philip II. In 1579, upon his return from the
Borneo expedition, Don Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa repeated this act of possession, besides
taking possession also of the Jolo archipelago when he was commissioned for the task by Governor
Francisco de Sande. Later, knowing a little more about the extent and the advantages of the island of
Mindanao, Rodriguez sought license to conquer it. This was granted by Philip II, with the title of
Adelantado and Marquis over the lands he would conquer. But this proved in vain, for he died at the
hands of a Moro stalwart in April 1596, right at the outset of the conquest. Cowed by this event, the
Master of the Camp, Juan de la Jara, retired to a place at the mouth of the Pulangi River, and erected
a fort which he called “Nueva Murcia” with the help of some Moslem allies.
Don Juan Ronquillo, who was dispatched by Governor Francisco Tello in the same year of 1596,
retired to La Caldera, a place near Zamboanga, without engaging the Moslems. He was succeeded in
command by Captain Cristobal de Villagra, who burned the fort by order of the governor (1599). It
seems it was the abandonment of this fort, which had held the Moslems at bay, that provoked the first
Moslem incursions into Christian lands. An alliance of 50 Joloano and Mindanao sail attacked the
coasts of Cebu, Negros and Panay.
In 1599, they attacked the town of Oton where they sacked the houses, burned the church, and carried
off many captives. The next year, two Moslem chiefs tried to repeat the same deed by leading 70
vintas against the city of Arevalo; but the alcalde mayor Don Juan Garcia, better forewarned than
before and having at his command 80 Spaniards and many native archers, forced them to flee to their
ships with much damage.
From this experience, the Moslems dared less frequently to attack the towns defended by Spaniards;
but they continue raiding at will many others located along the coasts of Mindanao, the Visayan
Islands and Luzon. Normally during these raids, they landed by surprise, raided the town, sacked the
houses, went inside the churches, profaned the holy images, robbed the bells and sacred vessels, and
finally burned the town, carrying off with them the younger and more robust of the people to be sold
as slaves to the merchants from the Spiceries. The missionaries were sometimes able to flee and hide
in the thickness of the forests; but on a sufficient number of occasions, some fell into the hands of
these marauders who either assassinated them or took them as captives in the hope of obtaining a fat
ransom in their exchange.
15 Montero y Vidal, Jose, Historia de la pirateria malayo-mohematana en Mindadao, Jolo y Borneo, Madrid, 1888.
Defense Measures Against the Moslem Raids.
Because the government could not always solve the problem of Moslem piracy for lack of resources
or for other reasons, the religious missionaries had to put up by themselves the defenses of the towns
committed to their care. To begin with, they constructed watchtowers from which, through a pre-
arranged system of signals, they warned against the presence of Moslem pirates around the vicinity.
On this matter, the Augustinian Fray Julian Bermejo became famous. He set up in the island of Cebu
a code of signals which on repeated occasions proved to be an effective defense against Moslem
incursions.
Not content with building towers, the missionaries decided to
undertake the construction of forts to serve as a refuge and a
defense of the people against enemy attacks. Thus, the
Recollects built forts in Tandang, Siargao, Surigao, Bislig, and
Butuan in Mindanao. The famous Padre Capitan Fray Agustin
de San Pedro erected a fort by Lake Lanao in order to instill in
the Moslems fear and respect for the Spanish government. In
the island of Palawan, which was quite open to the attacks of the
followers of Mohammed because of its extensive coastline, the
same Fathers erected forts in Taytay, Cuyo, Agutaya and
Calamian, besides inducing the authorities to build another one
beside the Labo River. Fray Joaquin de la Virgen del Rosario
raised still another one in the town of Guildunman in Bohol
island.
As a defense against the same enemies, the Augustinians built forts in Taal, Batangas (1792); Bucay,
Abra; Talisay, Argao and Bolijoon in Cebu; and Cagayancillo, Antique. The Franciscan Fathers built
forts in Minalabag, Camarines; Mauban, Tayabas; and Tanauan, Leyte.
The missionaries did not only construct defense works to aid the people; they also had to provide
them with artillery, bullets, gunpowder—all out of the funds of their religious order. They also took
care to
garrison them with enough manpower
recruited from the población, keeping
them on the alert for surprise attacks.
When the enemy appeared, the
townspeople fled behind the stone walls
of their fort, thus escaping either death
or capture.
So effective was the defense set up by
the Filipino Christians under the
leadership and guidance of the
missionary priests that the Moslems
rarely succeeded in capturing even one
of them. In certain cases, these forts
contained within its walls the church and
convento. Likewise, the thick walls and
solid bell towers of some churches
served as forts, built as they had been for
the double purpose of serving as temples
for
worship and as fortresses.
Offensive Measures.
Not content with erecting forts, some of the missionaries took the offensive and sallied forth at the
head of their Christian followers in search of the enemy to engage them in battle. History has
preserved for us five names that were the terror of the Moslem pirates: three Recollects, one
Augustinian, and one Jesuit.
 The first was the Recollect Fray Agustin de San Pedro, better known under the nickname Padre
Capitan. A Portuguese by birth, he had given signs of a liking for the military arts since childhood. He
embarked for the Philippines in 1622 and, assigned to the Caraga mission in eastern Mindanao next to
Butuan, he dedicated himself zealously to the conversion of the natives. But the Moslems did not cease
obstructing his work. In order to stop them, he armed his Christians and led them himself, driving away
the enemy from those regions. Transferred to Cagayan in the present Misamis provinces, he inflicted
quite a bloody defeat on the hosts of Corralat (or Kechil Capitwan Kudrat), for out of
2,000 men, 1,600 were left behind on the field of battle. Because
Corralat recaptured the town while the priest was away, the latter
decided to attack him early at dawn on the lake of Lanao. Leading 500
Christians and some Spaniards, Fray Agustin went up to the shores of
the lake where he completely routed them in a combat with the
Moslems. After this defeat, Corralat did not dare again for some time to
cross arms with the soldiers of Padre Capitan. Much later, on orders
from Governor Corcuera, the same Padre marched to the lake to fight
Corralat anew. This time he had a small army of 1,500 Christians aided
by a small fleet of 10 ships constructed on the lowlands and brought up
piece by piece to the lake. The fruit of this victory was the submission
of 50 towns located around the lake. He had to return once more to
Lake Lanao to give support to Captain Bermudez and the Jesuit Father
Gregorio Belin who, besieged by the Moslems, were at the point of
surrendering. On this occasion, too, victory went to the Recollect
missionary. Assigned finally to Romblon, he repulsed an assault by 300
Moslems who without exception fell on the beach.
By 1750, the sultan of Jolo, Mahomet Al-Muddin, came to Manila in order to embrace the Christian
religion. The Jesuits, well acquainted with the antecedents and the intentions of the sultan,
tenaciously opposed his Baptism; but in the end, the opinion of the Dominicans, perhaps not quite
well-founded, prevailed. Later events proved the Jesuits right. Imprisoned by government order when
Mahomet Al- Muddin returned to Jolo, his younger brother Bantillan picked up the reins of
government and declared the most ruthless war on the Christians ever known till then. It is to this
period that the deeds of Father Francisco Ducos, Jesuit missionary to Iligan, belong. He was the
defense of the towns in north and northeastern Mindanao. His most famous deeds in arms were the
defense of Iligan during a two-month siege, and the attack in 1754 against the pirates of the gulf of
Panguil which had become the center of Moslem raids and depredations. Father Ducos subjugated
this gulf, burned several towns, captured a fleet of 170 sail, while taking a great number of Moslem
captives and liberating many Christians. Appointed much later as the Commandant of the fleet of
Iligan by Governor-General Pedro Manuel de Arandia, he continued warring against the sectaries of
Mohammed,
causing them sufficient damage. An accident in 1754
cost him an eye and left his right arm half-paralyzed.
Father Julian Bermejo, an Augustinian of the 19th
century, is chronologically the third in our gallery of
heroes. After serving as parish priest in Argao and
Boljoon, he was elected provincial in 1837. But less
happy with life in the city, he resigned his post in an
interim Chapter. On his return to Boljoon, he resolved
to put an end to the piracy of the Moslems in those
shores, and built a chain of forts from Tañong to
Sibonga which he fortified and garrisoned with people
from the same towns. Not satisfied with these
defensive measures, Father Bermejo
decided to go up on the seas to prosecute the pirates. He constructed for this purpose an armada of 10
barangays recruited from the towns of Argao, Dalaguete and Sibonga; armed each one with two
falconetes and a sufficient number of steel weapons to prevent boarding; and sailed in pursuit of the
Moslems at the first warning from the watch towers. This priest inspired the Christian soldiers with
such valor and courage that they went to battle as though on a fiesta. Fortune always followed him,
especially at the pitched battle off the island of Sumilon where he routed seven Moslem boats:
sinking three, capturing one, and driving off the rest. With this defeat, the Moslems no longer
appeared before those shores, until they learned that the Christian fleet had been dissolved.
The fourth was Recollect Fray Pascual Ibañez. This priest could not
bear that the Jolo Moslems, severely punished by Governor Claveria,
should return to perpetuate anew their usual raids on the Christian
towns. On learning then that Governor Antonio Urbiztondo was
preparing a new expedition against the Moslems, he obtained
permission to join the expeditionary force, accompanied by a large
number of Visayan volunteers. On 28 February 1854, the Spanish and
Filipino troops attacked the defenses of Jolo which consisted of eight
well-armed forts. Because the Moslems defended themselves well
behind their canons and palisades, the attackers seemed to hesitate. At
this juncture, Fray Ibañez harangued his faithful Visayans who,
inspired by the words of their leader, threw themselves with renewed
spirit on the attack, wiping away all opposition. But the missionary was
not able to taste the victory, for he had to be taken away after receiving
a bullet wound in his arm, which caused his death a few days later.
Finally, the Recollect Fray Ramon Zueco distinguished himself at the head
of 450 volunteers during the expedition led by Governor Malcampo against the heart of Moroland. In
this campaign which ended with the occupation of Jolo in 1876, Fray Zueco stayed at the head of his
volunteers.
Effects of the Raids.
One of the effects of the raids was the depopulation of the Visayan Islands. Terrorized by the frequent
and unexpected attacks by the Moslems, the Christians preferred to live in the mountains and
abandon their coastal dwellings. Besides, the Moslems normally took off with a thousand Christian
captives on the average each year, whom they brought to Mindanao and Jolo where many of them
died of hunger and maltreatment. Others apostatized to escape these fears. A few managed to be
ransomed for a sum of money: P100 for each Christian; P1,000 or more for each religious.
Another effect was the insecurity of navigation through the Visayan seas. Various religious
missionaries and many Christians fell into the hands of the Moslems as they went from island to
island. When the Moslems sailed up to the town of Tayabas, over and above the thousand misdeeds
they perpetrated on the coasts of Camarines, they almost captured Archbishop Miguel Garcia who
was then making his visitation of the region.
Finally, many families were broken up. Among the moral cases of this period, some were of those
who wanted to enter a second marriage after the spouse had disappeared. Thanks to the Moslems, it
was not known where the absent partner was or whether he was still alive.
End of Moslem Piracy.
This heavy national crisis which had weighed on the Filipinos for three centuries had its moments of
high tension and relative peace. In general, one notes that Moslems stayed quiet if the Filipino and
Spanish forces did not go to disturb their land. Thus, after the evacuation of Zamboanga in 1662 by
order of Governor Sabiniano Manrique de Lara, and until the fort was rebuilt by order of Governor
Fernando
Bustillo y Bustamante in 1717, these enemies of the Christian
religion were relatively peaceful. But from the latter date, they
initiated a series of depredations which did not stop until the second
half of the 19th century.
The following observation of a Franciscan missionary in Bicol is
noteworthy: (A, pp. 203-212)
In our own times, and until the eminent and dedicated Governor-
General Norzagaray inflicted the coup de grace to the piracy of the
Moslems of Jolo and Borneo with the construction of steam gunboats,
we have seen frequent and periodic attacks by those races. Going up
to the very ports of Bicol, they subjugated and enslaved as many as
they found in their way.
 Chapter 9

The Catholic Church and the Development of

Agriculture in the Philippines; Commerce and Industry;
Projects for Material Progress
21. The Catholic Church and the Development of Agriculture in the Philippines.
Without setting aside its primary purpose of saving souls, the Catholic Church did not neglect to
dedicate a surprising amount of its energies to the material welfare of the people of this choice corner
of the Orient. As time passed by, this effort bore fruit in works as varied as the erection of towns, the
clearing of forests, the reclamation of malaria-infested swamps, the cultivation of wild and extensive
drylands, the building of roads and sewage systems, the building of dikes and irrigation canals, etc.
In this section, we shall limit ourselves to agricultural improvements.
Agriculture in General.
During the years before the conquest and colonization, Philippine agriculture was rudimentary.
Agricultural production was limited almost exclusively to rice and some tubers such as camote, gabi and
ubi. This was due partly to the fertile soil which yielded in certain areas a harvest of 100 to 1 with
minimal effort from the planter. This was also partly due to the limited needs of the people who by
natural habit were content with what the land spontaneously yielded. Contributing to the slow
progress of agriculture was the frequent fighting between the kinglets and tribes which produced a
perpetual state of insecurity.
Work tools were likewise rudimentary. The plow, the shovel, the hoe, the rake, etc. were not in use
until they were brought in by the missionaries. At the time, caingin farming—which was the system
of burning a piece of forest land, digging a well, and then sowing seeds—was widespread in certain
regions of the country. Besides introducing farm implements and work tools, the missionaries also
tried to parcel the land equitably, through the mediation of the elders and officials of the tribes, in
order to benefit all. Likewise, they explained methods of clearing and weeding the soil, of leveling
crops so that water did not flow down the slope, of selecting and preparing seeds and seedlings, and
of using the plow. It was in this way that extensive rice fields were cultivated in the course of the
years.
We could cite here a long list of missionaries who were tireless in their efforts to promote agriculture
in the towns under their care, but we shall mention here only one case. In 1848, the island of Negros
hardly
produced the few necessities of its 30,000 inhabitants. With
the arrival of the Recollects on that year, this condition began
to change such that by the end of the century the population
rose to more than 300,000. This unexpected increase was due
to the interest of the missionaries to improve agriculture,
especially the cultivation of sugar cane. This greatly improved
the standard of living in the island, which in turn attracted
many colonists to it. This also explains why its ports were
daily visited by foreign traders. The missionary Father
Fernando Cuenca, not content with giving answers to
agricultural questions, after much planning and long sleepless
nights, succeeded in 1872 in installing a hydraulic press in the
town of Minuluan which facilitated the process of crushing
the sugar cane. This promoted the wide extension of sugar
cane fields in the area.
Some Products Cultivated by the Missionaries.
Abaca. Perhaps the missionary who contributed most to the planting and development of abaca in the
Philippines was Fray Pedro Espallargas, a Franciscan missionary in Bacon, Sorsogon. Around 1656,
he conducted several experiments on the abaca fiber and, having obtained satisfactory results both in
making ropes and weaving the abaca cloth, taught the people how to raise the plant. He also
fashioned the knife which abaca planters in the Philippines still use.
Other Franciscans in the region, by their encouragement of the people, helped to adopt the same
process. Unfortunately, enthusiasm did not last long, and things returned to their former condition.
The people were satisfied with exploiting the wild abaca that grew in the mountains or amid the
underbrush of the forests, for this way produced enough to manufacture cordage for ships and textiles
for clothing. Obviously, they had no interest in exporting.
This situation continued until 1835 when the Franciscan parish priests in Camarines and Albay began
an active program of educating the people to plant and
cultivate abaca in view of the immense profits
awaiting them, since more foreign boats were
beginning to dock in their ports looking for such a
useful product to industry. As a result, these
provinces, which till then had been some of the
poorest in the archipelago, began to prosper such that
the Iraya region alone, which in 1835 had exported
3,000 piculs, at the end of the century exported
300,000.
Parish priests of the same Franciscan Order in Leyte,
seeing that the soil was admirably suited for the
raising of abaca, did not stop until, beginning with
the year 1840, their faithful put into practice the
method of Fray Espallargas to produce the textile.
Members of the other religious families emulated the
zeal of the Franciscans to raise abaca where the
terrain was good. We shall mention only the work of
the Augustinian Fray Miguel Rosales in Tapas,
Capiz.
Añil. Añil or indigo grew wild in the Philippines, but naturalist Fray Matias Octavio, an Augustinian,
noticed that the pocket hidden beneath its leaves contained a blue liquid. After several experiments,
he succeeded in extracting the valuable dye, which the mestizos of Tambobong immediately began to
use to tint their cloth. This happened towards the year 1774. Its cultivation spread rapidly, especially
in Ilocos where it became a rich source of income for the towns.
Sugar Cane. Father Eladio Zamora writes:
…the Filipinos knew five kinds of sugar cane: zambal, red, white, stripped, and dark red. The first
four are good only for chewing, by which they extract the sugary juice, because they are soft and
watery. The fifth, i.e. the dark red, they used also in the same way, although it was harder and
woody, until the missionaries taught them the use of primitive, rudimentary and rather defective
crushers of wood and stone…. But the sugar industry had not yet developed the iron cylinders, nor
did they have the means for better equipment at the time.
To the Augustinians belongs the glory of having brought in from Mexico the first sugar presses,
popularly known by the name of trapiche, which helped to increase the cultivation of sugar cane. Of
the Dominicans who fomented the raising of sugar cane, we could cite some of the missionaries of
Nueva Vizcaya.
 Cacao. According to some, it was a Jesuit Davila, according to
others a Brother of the beneficed cleric Bartolome Bravo, who
introduced the cacao plant to the Philippines in 1663. However, it
is certain that long after, there were cacao plantations in Carigara,
Leyte, where the same Jesuit had conducted the first tests.
Likewise, this plant grew well in Lipa, Batangas, thanks to the
initiative of the Filipino Juan del Aguila. Ten years later, the
Augustinian Fray Ignacio Mercado distributed cacao seeds in
abundance to the people of Lipa. Later, the Augustinians worked
tenaciously to develop cacao plantations in Batangas because it
brought in handsome profits. Of these priests, we shall mention
only Fray Ramon Sanchez and Fray Benito Vargas in San Jose,
and Fray Guillermo Diaz and Fray Domingo Ibañez in Cuenca.
The province of Nueva Vizcaya, on the other hand, was grateful
for its extensive cacao plantations to Fray Francisco Antolin, Fray
Tomas Mallo, Fray Francisco Rocamora, Fray Ruperto Alarcon,
Fray Juan F. Villaverde and Fray Jose Brugues, all Dominicans.
Coffee. When the first missionaries arrived in the Philippines, they found coffee already growing
here, although they soon saw that the natives did not know how to make use of it. Dedicated also to
effect the material well-being of the people, they took special care to teach them the uses of that small
plant which in its wild state produced, according to them, a few bitter grains. Fray Elias Nebreda
(also Lebrado or Lebrada), an Augustinian, promoted the cultivation of this product in Lipa in 1814,
and later Fray Benito Varas ceaselessly encouraged it, such that the town came to be, by the end of
the century, a rich emporium due to its busy trade in coffee.
The Dominican Fathers also engaged in this praiseworthy task of promoting the culture of coffee in
the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya in 1874. But because of native indolence, the farms began to fail
until they disappeared altogether. Around 1892, the missionaries revived the industry for a second
time since 1887 because of the sudden increase in price of coffee, which by 1893 cost P32 a picul.
Coffee farms spread so fast—a missionary wrote with obvious exaggeration that there were millions
and millions of them—that the province became one extensive coffee plantation. But it was necessary
to convince the provincial leaders who were at first indifferent because they did not realize perhaps
the riches promised by the industry.
Coconut. Notable in this matter are efforts of Fray Aparicio who planted 50,000 coconut trees in
Lingayen and supervised their growth. Something similar, although in a minor scale, was done by
Fray Manuel de Rivas in Santa Cruz de Malabon in Cavite province.
Corn. Because rice harvests in the Philippines were not always sure, due to drought, the scourge of
locusts and other accidents, the missionaries found it necessary to look for a substitute that could
remove the people from the specter of hunger. Nothing of those they sought succeeded so well as
corn. Brought in from Mexico, it ripened in 40 days and could be raised in abundance. It is still the
best substitute for rice in some poor provinces, or in times of disaster when rice crops fail.
Orange. Although the Philippine orange can in no way compare in quality or quantity with the
foreign species, orange is still grown in sufficient numbers to supply the market of Manila and the
nearby provinces. It was successfully raised in Batangas province, especially in Tanauan, where Fray
Alvaro Calleja introduced it with good results.
Tobacco. Tobacco has been one of the products of the Philippines which, for its excellent quality, has
always found an easy market abroad. But its cultivation has not been such as to come up to
expectations,
considering the time and effort expended by the tobacco raiser. Besides, many missionaries, aware of
these difficulties and always seeking the spiritual well-being of the people, frequently appealed to the
government to end the tobacco monopoly which caused so much dissatisfaction and unhappiness.
Despite this, some missionaries encouraged its cultivation in some places where it proved to be
beneficial. Among them we shall mention only: the Augustinian friars Roman Sanchez in San Jose,
Batangas, and Mateo Perez in Argao; and some Franciscan missionaries in the towns of Jaro,
Maripipi, Palo in Leyte province.
Other Services.
One of the services which the religious
Mainly because of the lack of
parish priests performed to foster the missionaries, Nueva Vizcaya and the
agricultural development of the Philippines entire Cagayan Valley region were
was to encourage the migration of still an isolated enclave unchanged
families who scarcely had enough land by Christianity in the second half of
in their residence, to other areas still the 19th century. When Fr. Juan
untilled. Notable were the efforts in this Villaverde, O.P. arrived there in
regard of the Recollect Fathers in 1867, he realized the immediate
Negros, where there was an increase in need for a network of roads to
population due to the influx of families facilitate his own missionary task
and to bring the people into contact
from Panay, and of the Dominican
with the rest of Philippine society, a
missionaries in Cagayan Valley. necessary step for their
Through letters and memoranda to the Fr. Juan Villaverde, O.P. socioeconomic development. Like
other missionaries elsewhere, he
authorities, the Dominicans did not cease in their efforts to invite also planned to establish
every now and then the Ilocanos to migrate and make use of their permanent communities for his
proverbial laboriousness in the agricultural development of prospective converts. Some of these
Cagayan Valley. Foremost in this were Fray Francisco A. Carrozal have become towns today. The
and Fray Juan F. Villaverde. Other missionaries were tireless in road- building program he initiated
their efforts to obtain animals, ploughs and other work tools, in was a success. Today many of the
roads in north-eastern Luzon are
order to raise the agricultural concerns of those incipient Christian
modern improvements of the
societies to a level beyond the rudimentary, like Fray Juan Ormaza original Villaverde "trails."
and Fray Remegio R. del Alamo in Nueva Vizcaya. (A, pp. 221-
228)

22. Commerce and Industry.

They have a special talent for imitation and, with good teachers, they would make things perfectly.
They serve as scribes; they run barbershops, tailoring shops, carpentry shops. They are good at
masonry, ironwork, silverwork, embroidery and weaving. They can sing in the choir, play the organ,
and perform other similar musical tasks. They are not inventive nor are they given to the abstract
sciences which call for deeper reflection or prolonged thinking, or the like. However, there is a great
difference between the provinces and Manila, where people are more advanced and sophisticated.
This is how a Dominican writer described the native industry in the latter
half of the 18th century. This section will briefly show how these native
talents and industries developed under the guidance of the missionaries.
Industry.
Sugar. It was the Augustinian Fathers who brought to the Philippines the
Mexican trapiche, a primitive contraption of wood or stone to extract the
juice from the sugar cane which they had been raising in Panay Island.
Naturally, the trapiche was a crude and rudimentary machine which only
partially extracted the cane juice from the plant fibers or bagasse. The
machine consisted of two wooden or stone cylinders which, by a
combination of gears, also of wood,
revolved in opposite directions to each other when started in motion by the pull of a carabao tied to
another wooden gadget called caballo. The cane was crushed between the cylinders, while the juice
was channeled into several cauldrons or caua lined up inside a long oven. The juice was boiled as it
passed from one caua to another, until by the fifth caua the juice had solidified into sugar. This they
kept in big kettles. The native Filipinos quickly learned the process, realizing the benefits they could
gain for themselves by exploiting the sugar cane.
Silk and Cotton. Father Antonio Sedeño, one of the first Jesuits who came to the Philippines in 1581,
had thought of introducing the silk industry to the country in order to stop the flow of silver to China.
He planted mulberry trees and initiated similar projects, and even built a loom and taught the people
the European method of weaving. About two centuries later, urged on by the ambitious socio-
economic program of the Governor-General Don Jose Basco (1778-1787) to make the islands
economically independent of Mexico, and encouraged by the Sociedad Economica de Amigos del
Pais, the Rector of the College of San Jose ordered the planting of mulberry trees in the estate of San
Pedro Tunasan which belonged to the college. The trees bloomed, silkworms were brought in from
China, and enough silk cloth was produced, just as in the other parts of the Philippines where the
same program was inaugurated. But, at sales time, the planters found out that they lost more in
raising mulberry trees than if they had planted another kind of crop from which they earned more
money, even if it were only camote. This initial failure, plus the labor required to raise the silkworm
and the expense of silk
weaving, explains why the silk industry in the Philippines was
discontinued.
Besides raising silkworms or mulberry trees, the missionaries also
taught the people the use of the weaving loom. Made only of
bamboo, it was necessarily crude and poorly built; but it surprisingly
served the purpose when plied by the native weavers who produced
various kinds of fine cloth, which for a long time won the admiration
of foreigners.
It was mainly the Augustinians who introduced weaving to the people:
Fray Juan Zallo in Laoag (Ilocos Norte) where the new industry
earned rich profits for the natives; Fray M. Perez in Argao (Cebu),
Fray M. Alvarez in Santander (Cebu), and Fray Bermejo in Boljon
(Cebu) who, besides, set up two machines for seeding the cotton pods
and spinning the thread. Another Augustinian friar introduced linen
and cotton weaving in Paoay (Ilocos). A Franciscan, the Venerable
Fray Antonio de Nombela (+1627), introduced the production of
lambong cloth in Nacarlang (Laguna) whence its use spread to the
rest of the country.
Quarries, Brick and Mortar. It was the need to rebuild the Manila Cathedral in the middle of the 17th
century that occasioned the discovery of marble deposits in the mountains of Antipolo by the
Peruvian Canon Melo. In Aguilar (Pangasinan), Fray Victor Herrero, the last Dominican priest of the
town, discovered extensive quarries of marble in the mountains nearby. He provided the people with
work tools and taught them himself how to block off and polish the stones. It is from these stone
deposits that the government house in Lingayen was constructed, just as the flag stones on the ground
floor of the parish rectory and the courtyard of the parish church.
But it was the Jesuit Father Sedeño who first introduced lime and made the first tiles, with which he
raised the first concrete building in the Philippines.
Philippine masonry of the 17th and 18th centuries was of such durability and consistency that on
several recent occasions it had been quite difficult to destroy cisterns or flying buttresses when people
wanted to remodel or construct on them modern structures. Some say it was made with molasses;
others, with seashells; but probably at least in Nueva Vizcaya, it was made with a certain kind of
white stone which was
subjected to a full week’s burning. The lime industry was introduced by an old Augustinian
missionary in Pasulquin (Ilocos), while another helped develop it in San Miguel de Sarrat (Ilocos
Norte). This is why this latter town is known for its good houses. The Augustinian Fray Juan
Albarian (+1761) wrote an essay, the manuscript of which is preserved in Cebu, entitled The Art of
Building in the Philippines, and a Method of making bricks, tiles, lime, etc.
Finally, it was on the occasion of the construction of the hospital in Nueva Caceres, which the
Franciscan missionaries called “San Diego” but which the people called “San Lazaro”, that the friars
taught the people how to make tiles and heat brick.
Fisheries and Salt Farms. The town of San Dionisio of the old district of Concepcion in Panay Island
owes its fishing industry to the efforts of two Augustinian priests, Fray Pedro Bartolome and Fray
Casto Rosa. These two missionaries also taught the people how to make salt. Other Augustinians
encouraged the salt industry in two towns of the same name Talisay—one of Batangas and the other
in Cebu province—while Fray Manuel Camañes, also an Augustinian, helped the people of Betis
exploit the fishing industry and salt making.
Other Industries. There were many other industries which the missionaries encouraged for, besides
their spiritual tasks, they felt they could also help the people by teaching them to improve their
material condition. Some of these industries were:
 Gathering of Resin. At the suggestion of the Recollect missionary Fray Pedro de San Miguel
(1774), Governor Anda wrote the Recollect Provincial to encourage the people of Zambales to
extract as much resin as they could from the pine in the province, and bring it down to the
government storehouses in Manila for which the Royal Treasury would pay the workers. In this
way, both the government and the people would be benefited.
 Pottery. The people of San Nicolas (Ilocos Norte) owe to their Augustinian parish priest the
beginning and development of their pottery industry. In the farms of Makati, which once
belonged to the Jesuits, by the early 19th century there was already a factory of roof tiles, bricks,
earthen pots, and other kitchen utensils. These were, however, priced dearly and found few
buyers.
 Wood. The people of the Philippines also learned from the missionaries the full use of the wood
of the country—of which there is so much good and hard wood, some of them incorruptible—for
building houses and furniture.
 Foundries. During the time of Archbishop Juan Angel Rodriguez, a Recollect priest who was
knowledgeable in the technique of smelting, conducted an early experiment successfully in the
casting of bells.
 Other Weaving Industries. Fray Mariano Granja, O.F.M. encouraged in Lucena (Quezon) the weaving
of hats and cigar-cases, while an unknown Franciscan whose memory is kept alive in legends,
taught the people how to exploit and make use of the piña fiber.
Commerce.
The principal contribution of the religious orders in the improvement of commerce in the Philippines
was the opening and building of roads to facilitate exchange and communication among the towns.
For example, the road that Fray Juan F. Villaverde, O.P. opened from Aritao to San Nicolas in Nueva
Vizcaya was so important that on 27 July 1905 a member of the Commission on Roads mentioned at
one of their meetings how transportation in that province had been facilitated such that transporting
6,000 pounds of goods from the region cost as much as transporting 600 pounds in the past. An
engineer added that traffic along the same road was very important: “…in one day alone, 800 beasts
of burden had carried goods for loading in the train to Pangasinan.”
Besides road building, however, some missionaries directly encouraged
commerce, like Fray Mariano Granja, who founded the town of Lucena. He
himself sought out the person to attend to the sale of copra to the commercial
agencies in Manila.
The Franciscans in Albay also developed, together with the coconut and
abaca industries, the system to export these products, thus opening a source of
wealth and freeing the Bicolanos from their poverty: Between 1835 and 1840,
the towns under the Franciscans exported not more than 3,000 piculs of
abaca; but from 1890, the same district, called Itaya, reached an annual export
of 300,000 piculs, and the population grew in proportion to its increased
wealth. (A, pp. 229-235)

23. Projects for Material Progress.

The missionaries in the Philippines were not so much given to projects for material progress during
the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, but in general concerned themselves only with their pastoral tasks and
the construction of churches. But in the 19th century, we find them emulating one another in the
search for a better material world for the Filipinos. The times were ripe, for even if they had come
slowly or late, the currents of civilization and modern progress had by then reached these shores. The
unexpected increase in population and the foundation of new towns served to spur the missionaries
on to work in this regard.
The Franciscan Fray Joaquin de Coria writes:
Everything that one finds in these widespread provinces of the Philippines in the matter of churches,
schools, town halls, bridges, streets, irrigation dikes, is practically the exclusive work of the
missionaries, in cooperation with the local magistrates or gobernadorcillos and the people. The
native is obliged to work at the public works for forty days of the year. As a result, the missionary
who is ordinarily the architect of these projects, together with the gobernadorcillo, and watching lest the
people be occupied during the season for working in their farms, designated the days and the tasks of
the public works which were announced by the town crier. One day, the people made bricks; another
day, wood was gathered to burn and dry them; a third day, they burned lime; etc. In this way, these
existing works have been carried out without costing the treasury a single cuarto.
This section will be a brief review of these works to which those heralds of the Gospel directed their
energies.
Planning and Founding Towns.
When the Gospel first reached the Philippines, there were already centers of town life like Cebu and
Manila; but they were few and quite thinly populated. The people traditionally chose for their places
of residence— and in this they showed great foresight—the two sides of the mouths of rivers. In the
hinterlands, there were settlements, but these were clusters of bamboo and nipa huts of one room
each, raised on posts about a meter and a half above the ground.
The first thing that conquerors and missionaries alike did on arriving at a place was to choose the best
site for a town which they laid out in straight lines. As much as possible, this was to be far from
swamps, on flat open space, by the bank or not far from a river. Then they planted a cross around
which they marked off areas reserved for the public buildings of the Church and of the government:
the church convento or parish residence, the school, the town hall, with their respective courtyards.
All these were built around a square plaza.
But many times, it was not easy to form new towns or to transfer native settlements to a better site, due to
the attachment of the people to the places of their birth or to the burial grounds of their ancestors’ bones.
An example of a town erected by a selfless apostle is the
town of Tuguegarao. Fray Hilario Ma. Ocio says:
…the outlay of the town is perhaps the prettiest that one can
imagine. Some 20 or 30 streets drawn in a line not much
longer across than lengthwise, and crossing at right angles,
form a perfect octagon; many clusters of homes, each of
which has its own orchard filled with trees which give them a
quaint beauty: all of this the work of the immortal Fray
Lobato, a religious of great talents and creativity.
Roads.
A good number of the streets and roads of the Philippines
today follow the general outline and trajectory of the roads
that existed
during the Spanish regime. These were very probably an improvement over the ancient trails and
paths of the natives in the majority of cases. It must have been difficult for the Filipino workers,
almost always under the direction of the missionary, to open and maintain streets and roads through
swampy areas, groves and thick forest, because the instability and lack of firmness of the soil
demanded a solid pavement on those roads. In general, however, because they were not well paved,
the roads turned into mud-holes during the rainy season, or during the dry into clouds of dust, and all
throughout the year they were a problem that needed constant repair.
If they served only as pathways for men and beasts of burden, the roads were called de herradura
(“for the horse-shoe”); if they were passable by pull-carts de carretones (“for carts”). At the end of
the 19th century, some roads were paved with concrete; but the majority consisted of a more or less
thick top layer of earth, sand and gravel.
Let us consider some of the projects of the missionaries in this regard:
 Fray Lorenzo de Santa Maria (+1585), a Franciscan lay Brother, was perhaps the first or one of
the first to dedicate himself to the work of opening roads in the Philippines. He wanted to make it
easier for the Christian neophytes to come to the church, especially for Mass. Until he fell sick,
he labored to clear areas overgrown with weeds and flatten rough terrain.
 In 1876, the people of Dulag, Leyte, under the direction of Father Jose Fernandez, also a
Franciscan, opened a road 18 kilometers long to Tanauan. To finish it, they had to blow up the
rock in certain areas, and the same priest also taught the people how to make augers. We need not
say anything about the other roads in the towns of Leyte and Samar opened under the supervision
of the Franciscans. They frequently had to provide the food, the drinks, the work and draught
animals at their own expense, and they had to hire up to 200 workers.
 One of the most famous roads in Philippine history was that opened in 1739 by the Dominican
Fray Manuel del Rio. The government and the Dominicans had greatly desired to open a road
from Upper Pampanga (now Nueva Ecija) to Cagayan as an alternative to travel by sea which
took 15 days; but the Igorots and Gaddangs had always opposed the project. Finally, in 1739
Father del Rio succeeded in completing the project. It started from Maliongliong, Pangasinan, cut
across the mountains of the Central Cordillera, descended to the Ituy Valley (south Nueva
Vizcaya), and continued through the passes of Abungul mountain to Gamu in the south of Isabela
province. With insufficient means and few workers, Father del Rio had to follow the existing
paths and trails. This road, nonetheless, which had won fame for its constructor even in the halls
of Rome and Madrid, did not last long because of the hostility of the Igorots. It would have been
better perhaps if it had been built through the Carballo range, from San Jose to Aritao. But this
was not possible since the Dominicans did not administer the missions in Upper Pampanga.
 Better known were the roads traced towards the end of the 19th century by the Dominican Fray Juan
F. Villaverde. They were more modern, and even attracted the attention of the Americans at the
turn of the century. The following roads were built by him: 1) one from Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya
to Kiangan, 40 kilometers long, 1 meter wide, and with an incline of not more than 10 degrees; 2)
a second from Bagabag to Carig (Isabela), passing through Abungul, also with not more than 10
degrees in its deepest incline, and called by the people the “road of the Holy Rosary”; 3) a third
road in 1889, the most used and the best known, from Aritao, passing through the Caraballo
mountains to San Nicolas, 47 kilometers long. In constructing these roads, Father Villaverde used
a theodolite or levelling needle which is still preserved in the Museum of the University of Santo
Tomas.
 At the suggestion of his own Provincial Superior, Fray Simeon de San Agustin, a Recollect
Brother, received an appointment from Governor Rafael Maria Aguilar to open a road for the
town of San Sebastian, then a suburb in the outskirts of Quiapo. The Brother died shortly
thereafter on 20 November 1801 because of the excessive labor he undertook to carry out the
wishes of the authorities for the sake of the common good. Fray Marcial Bellido, another
Recollect, showed the kind of man he was when he built a road over a truly difficult terrain to
connect Masinloc, Zambales with its collateral, Palawig. In the last decade of the 19th century, a
third Recollect, Fray Celestino Yoldi, opened a road when he moved the town of San Juan de
Bolboc (Batangas) from a low, swampy area to a better, healthier and prettier site.
Bridges.
If bridges are needed in every clime and country,
they were much more necessary in the
Philippines where the land is crisscrossed by
rivers and numerous streams and estuaries.
Therefore, in laying out roads, the missionaries
also took care to construct bridges where the
land required them, and repaired them when
floods or inundations swept them away. To
lessen this latter danger, which in the Philippines
is not unusual, the friars sought to substitute with
stronger brick or concrete structures their
old bridges of
wood.
The Franciscan Fray Francisco de Gata (+1591) who came to the
country in 1579, dedicate himself to the construction of bridges in
the towns administered by the Franciscans in order to facilitate the
people’s going to church.
There were six stone bridges constructed in Majayjay, Laguna,
which were to a great extent paid for by the Franciscan Fathers. A
Franciscan missionary, Fray Victorino del Moral, built a bridge
across the Holla River in 1851, called “del Capricho” because of its
daring structure— resting on a double pier, measuring 150 feet long
and 48 feet wide. This daring design won the praise of the chief
architect of the Philippines who wrote in a government report
submitted on 7 December 1852 that it was a “very bold construction
in its beauty and structure.” It withstood the earthquakes of 16
September 1852, 3 June 1863, and those of 1880 without sustaining
any cracks.
The extraordinary solid bridge of Carig, a
barrio of Tuguegarao, was the work of the
Dominican Fray Antonio Lobato.
Among the Recollects, it was Brother Lucas de
Jesus Maria (+1792), universally acknowledged
for his architectural skill, who “built to the
admiration of all the last pier of the bridge over
the Pasig which faces the Rosario street.”
On 5 February 1857, the acting governor, Don
Ramon Montero, decided to honor with a medal
Fray Matias Carbonell, a Recollect lay Brother,
for the services rendered in the erection of the
bridge of Isabela II over the river near the Villa
in the Recollect hacienda at Imus, Cavite. The
work facilitated and shortened communications
between the neighboring towns and the
surrounding provinces.
Dikes.
In the Philippines, abundant rivers flowed
freely, especially during the rainy season; but
ordinarily, even during the dry season, they
coursed along deep and wide gorges and river
beds, making it difficult to construct dikes that
could control the waters to irrigate the fields.
The dikes that have been constructed needed
many thousands of pesos which the towns were
not in a position to contribute. It is not
surprising, then, that Fry Martinez de Zuñiga
should write in his Estadismo:
Which town in the Philippines can pay for these huge expenses? Which individual person among the
Filipinos or mestizos is capable of undertaking these works? The dikes that now exist—these the
Spaniards have built or the religious orders.
Here are a few examples of what he meant:
 Several Augustinian friars spared not efforts helping the people of Balaoang, Ilocos, to build two
dikes to irrigate their farmlands. The dikes measured 12 meters long, 8 meters high and 3 meters
thick.
 In Libon, Albay, different Franciscan Fathers labored to straighten out a dike that had blocked the
Quinalig River there for many years previously, and which had been the reason why many rice
fields were neglected. Once it was repaired, the people came back to till their abandoned lands,
which in turn occasioned an increase in the population.
 The dike in San Juan River in Calamba, Laguna, which for more than 200 years had spread
fertility over the lands and terrain of Pansol which the Rizal family had leased, was constructed
by the Jesuits who until 1768 were owners of an extensive property in this locality.
 In the same way, the Dominican Fray Jose Torres, named curate of Mangaldan, Pangasinan,
initiated and supervised the construction of a dike and a series of irrigation canals in 1825,
which greatly
 benefited farming in the town. This dike, set up in the Tolong River by the sitio Mapagdaan, was
finally destroyed through the years, due more to its faulty structure than to the flow of water.
Therefore, instead of repairing it, the succeeding curate Fray Ramon Fernandez, O.P. erected a
new one, 18 brazas long, 3 brazas wide and 3 brazas deep. The people, now realizing the benefits
such a project could bring to their crops, enthusiastically seconded the project.
 The dike in Casundit in Imus, Cavite, “the most solid work found in the Islands,” was built by the
Recollect lay Brother Fray Lucas de Jesus Maria.
Canals.
From 1884 to the end of the 19th century, several Augustinians strove and partly succeeded in
rechanneling rivers that caused great harm to the towns. Fray Jose Esparragosa in 1846 finished such
a project in Baler, Quezon, paying for it from his own funds. He opened a canal more than a league
long, capable of irrigating land that supported 13,000 Christians. The priests who succeeded him did
not spare any labor until they were able to bring the water to the other points of the same parish.
At the urging of Fray Maximo Rico, a Franciscan missionary in Morong, and with his supervision,
the people opened a canal to irrigate a wide flatland called “Balso” despite the difficulty of having to
cut through a mountain of stone. The inhabitants of Siniloan, led by the Augustinian Fray Augustin
Jimenez, did the same thing for the purpose of cultivating a wider area and increasing their harvests
of palay. Finally, we ought not omit the massive dike built by Fray Juan Fernando, O.P. over the
Meycauayan River, a structure that caught the attention of experienced engineers in hydraulics.
Artesian Wells.
The people of Betis, Pampanga, owe to
Fray Manuel Camañes the digging of the
artesian well which supplied them with
drinking water.
Likewise, Fathers B. Fernandez and Z.
Fernandez dug three wells 60 meters
deep in Alcoy, Cebu, to provide drinking
water for the people. (A, pp. 236-244)
,
Chapter 10

The Church and Some Social Problems;

Material Goods of the Church in the Philippines; Friar Lands
24. The Church and Some Social Problems.
Slavery.
Slavery was already a social problem in the Philippines when the missionaries came. Probably
informed by one of them, King Philip II of Spain ordered the Governor-General of Manila on 18 May
1572 to prepare a report on slaves in the country, including the causes and the system of enslavement.
Guido de Lavezares, acting governor after the death of Legaspi, enumerated the principal causes
which gave rise to this social plague:
Some are slaves from birth… because their fathers, grandfathers, and
ancestors were also slaves…. Some are captives in wars that different
villages wage against each other, for certain injuries and acts of injustice
committed either recently or in ancient times.
Some are made captives in wars waged by villages… without any
cause…. Some are enslaved by those who rob them for a very small
matter, as, for instance, a knife, a few sugar canes, or a little rice. Some
are slaves because they bear testimony, or make statements about
someone, which they could not prove. Some are thus punished for
committing some crime; or transgressing rules regarding some of their
rites or ceremonies, or things forbidden among them, or not coming
quickly enough at the summons of some chief or any other like thing:
and if they do not have the wherewithal to pay, they are made slaves for
it.
If anyone is guilty, or a grave crime—that is, has committed murder, or
adultery, or given poison, or any other like serious matter—although
there may be no proof of it… they take for their slaves, or kill, not only
the culprit but his sons, brothers, parents, relatives and slaves.
If anyone who is left an orphan came to the house of another, even of a kinsman (unless it be his
uncle, paternal or maternal), for food only, its inmates enslave him. Likewise, in time of famine and
distress, during which they may have given their relative food only a few times, they have sold the
latter for their slaves.
Many also become slaves on account of loans, because these loans increase steadily every three or four
months; and so… at the end of little more or less than two years, they become slaves.
The Spanish encomendero Miguel de Loarca who came to the Philippines in 1566, notes three kinds of
slaves:
The first and most thoroughly enslaved is the bondsman of him who is served in his own dwelling;
such a slave they call ayuey. These slaves work three days for the master, and one for themselves.
Another class of slaves are those called tumaranpoc. They live in their own houses and are obliged to
work for their master one day out of four, having three days for themselves. If they fail to work for
their master in order to cultivate their own fields, they give the master each year ten chicubites or rice,
each chicubite being equal to one fanega.
There are other slaves, whom these people hold in utmost respect, who are called tomatabans; these work
in the house of the master only when there is some banquet or revel….
The ayueys [and tumaranpocs] are worth among these people two gold taes… the equivalent of twelve
pesos.
The tumatabans are worth one tae, or six pesos.
In this general description, this classification corresponds to what was indicated by other historians,
like Francisco Colin, Juan Francisco de San Antonio, and especially the first of them all, the
Franciscan Fray Juan de Plasencia who wrote A Report on Indian Customs. These authors classify
the slaves into:
1) Aliping sa guigguilid, or “servants around the house” who lived with their
masters and served him in all things.
2) Aliping namamahay, or “servants who live in their own house.”
These dwelt in homes they owned, with their wives and children, and
had movable and immovable property. But they had to assist their
master in tilling his fields or in rowing his boats.
3) Kabalangay, that is to say those persons who begged from their
chief who was the head of their barangay whatever they needed, with
the obligation of serving him whenever they were summoned to row,
work in his field or serve in his banquets.
From this preliminary information, we can say that slavery in the
Philippines, which was widespread, was not as onerous as in other
nations, especially of antiquity like the Greeks and the Romans.
Philippine slavery was a mixture; it had elements that smacked of real
servitude, as well as elements that seemed more in keeping with the
feudal practices of medieval Europe and of the present Philippine
tradition of domestic service.
This was the situation of this segment of the native population when the heralds of the Gospel
arrived. Urged on by their ardor and love for the Filipino nation, they were not dismayed by any
difficulties, and constantly strove to meet the problem even in the face of the opposition from the
civil government.
From a letter of Bishop Salazar, we know that a royal cedula had arrived on the same galleon that had
brought him to the Islands, by which the king ordered in rather peremptory terms that the slaves
owned by Spaniards be freed, without giving any consideration to how or when they had been
acquired. However, Governor Gonzalo Ronquillo decided that it was more prudent to disregard the
royal order, in view of the serious difficulties that would ensue.
For their part. the clergy held a conference on 16 October 1581 in the Augustinian convent in Tondo
to solve the moral problems occasioned by the governor’s decision. Present were, besides the Bishop,
some representatives of the religious orders.
The royal order on the manumission of slaves was read, together with Governor Ronquillo de
Peñalosa’s resolutions. The Fathers asserted: that the new cedula was merely a confirmation of an
earlier cedula signed by Charles I in 1530 which was still in force, and therefore there was no reason
to counter it by suspending the new decree; that it would be an injustice to suspend execution of his
mandate since His Majesty was well informed about the situation; that immediate freedom should be
granted to the slaves, or at least within 30 days.
The civic-religious Junta of 30 April 1586 reported to the Crown that in the Philippines there were
still Spaniards who held on to their slaves in contravention of the royal cedulas, and it pleaded before
the king to expedite another new cedula to end this anomaly. It also made some suggestions to
gradually end slavery among the native population, seeing that it was impossible to suddenly stop a
tradition so deeply rooted among them.
But despite the good will of the churchmen gathered in that assembly, despite the instructions of
Philip II to the newly-named governor of the Philippines Gomez Perez Dasmariñas as he was about
to sail from Spain, the problem of slavery in the Philippines had so deeply dug roots among the
people and their
traditional way of life that it could not be easily resolved at one stroke of the royal pen or a
conference of ecclesiastics. Time and prudence were needed. It involved masters’ rights and
interests, and perhaps the well-being of many slaves who would not have found an easy way of
earning a living. 17th century documents frequently mention slaves; some show that even religious
orders had slaves for domestic chores and to till their farms.
Slavery can perhaps be said to have ended in the lowland communities of the Philippines in the
beginning of the 18th century. Thus, Fray Juan Francisco de San Antonio could write in 1738 in his
Philippine Chronicles:
…now there is not the slightest amount of slavery among the Indians, in accordance with the
apostolic briefs, which have been confirmed by various royal decrees of our Catholic monarchs.
Thus, we are all soldiers of one and the same divine Lord; and citizens and sharers of the heavenly
Jerusalem which is our Kingdom. Thus, do we live in these Islands, Spaniards and Indians, all
vassals of one Catholic monarch in regard to human nature.
Tribute.
Shortly after Legaspi had conquered the city of Cebu and the neighboring settlements, he proposed to
the native chiefs that they pay a tribute. Probably forced by the circumstances,
perhaps even against their will, the latter promised to pay it.
After a few years, when the Spanish government was already firmly
established in the Islands, the first clash between the civil and
ecclesiastical jurisdictions occurred regarding the matter. On 21 June
1574, Fray Martin de Rada put in writing his opinion regarding the
collection of tribute by the Spaniards. He believed that the rate was
extremely high—three times as high as it ought to be, in view of the
poverty of the people—and urged the government to reduce it by a
third. Lavezares’ answer, endorsed by some of the officials to the
king, is in striking contrast by its sobriety and moderate tone. In it, the
governor answers the accusations of the religious, which he considers
“harsh, harmful to this whole Community, and very prejudicial to the
development of this land” point by point. Regarding the amount and
kind of tribute, he adds:
They are not considered friends, nor do they have any security without first having paid the tribute,
which is very little in proportion to their condition and wealth, and which they are willing to give
gladly and without compulsion. To each island, district and village, the natives give what they
please, for in some places they give provisions, and in others wax, cloth, and other things which they
obtain from their harvests. To them it is little, and almost nothing, because they have those things
abundantly.
Governor Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa consulted Bishop Salazar about the advantages of adding
two reales to the eight of the tribute for the maintenance of the soldiers who, because they did not
receive their wages regularly, committed abuses on the people in order to support themselves. Both
the Bishop and the ecclesiastics whom he summoned to a Junta agreed in principle that the king could
raise the tribute if it was of divine law that those who paid the tribute had the obligation to maintain
soldiers, and encomenderos in return for religious instruction and protection; but, because of their
poverty, the governor ought not come to a decision without first consulting the king. The Junta
attended by the residents of Manila in 1586 recommended to His Majesty that the people pay the
tribute in specie—8 reales—or its equivalent in kind, and that they add two reales for the purpose of
better carrying out the pacification and evangelization of the Islands. More concretely, of these two
reales, a half real would be for the Bishop and Church ministers, and the remaining one and one-half
for the soldiers who performed guard duty in the Islands.
One of the instructions which Gomez Perez Dasmariñas brought to the Philippines in 1590 was to
settle the question of the collection of tribute. After listening to the opinions of the churchmen
gathered at the Junta of 18 January 1591, he issued an order on 28 February that same year,
containing these points:
1) Full tribute would be collected from every encomienda whether royal or private, if the encomienda was
enjoying the benefits of the administration of justice and the maintenance of peace and order, and
was receiving religious instruction. The encomendero ought to set aside about one-fourth of the
tribute for the support of the minister of Christian doctrine, the erection of church buildings and
the maintenance of Christian worship. Otherwise, he would be deprived of his encomienda.
2) If an encomienda enjoyed the administration of justice but did not receive religious instruction, the
tribute should still be collected but with a deduction of one-fourth of the tribute (more or less)
which was due to the minister of Christian doctrine, this part being retained by the people instead.
3) The tribute would not be collected from the encomienda which enjoys neither the administration
of justice nor religious instruction, until with the improvement of conditions in the Islands there
would be an opportunity to provide both. In the meantime, His Majesty would be duly informed
in order that he might provide the most convenient solution.
This decree did not fail to occasion friction between Bishop Salazar and Governor Dasmariñas, for
the former found certain measures—as the nomination of the tribute collectors or fiscals who were
not always honest or prudent men—a threat to the peace and well-being of the people.
Protector of the Indios.
One of the tasks, in many aspects unrewarding and demanding, which the missionaries assumed on
their own initiative only out of love for souls or which the Crown in one form or another entrusted to
them, was the duty and title of “Protector of the Indios.” In discussing this, we might distinguish
between the Protectors de iure and protectors de facto.
As far as is known, the only Protectors of the Indios de iure were Fray Andres de Urdaneta and
Bishop Salazar. Probably there was also someone else. Outside of these, the protectors de facto were
legion—a pleiade of religious missionaries who, moved by the sufferings of the Filipino people, were
convinced that it was their duty to go forth in their defense against oppression by the officials in the
government.
Among the problems that demanded solutions which Bishop Salazar presented in his “Affairs of the
Philippines,” a Memorial to His Majesty and the members of the Royal Council of the Indies, was
how some Filipinos would quickly abandon the Faith because of the misconduct and unkind
treatment meted to them by some encomenderos:
But this is not the case with what we preach to them, for, as it is
accompanied with so much bad treatment and with so evil examples,
they say “yes” with the mouth and “no” with the heart; and thus when
occasion arises, they leave it, although by the mercy of God this is
becoming somewhat remedied by the coming of ministers of the
Gospel with whose advent these grievances cease in some places.
More than one encomienda and more than one town owed their
continued existence to the influence of some religious missionary
over the people who, harassed by the ill treatment of some encomendero
or civil official, were seriously planning to return to the forest
thicknesses in such wise, according to Juan de Medina although with
apparent exaggeration perhaps, that “if it were not for the protection
of the religious, there would not now be any Indian or any
settlement.”
So convinced were the Filipinos of this truth that, when Bishop
Miguel de Benavides, first bishop of Nueva Segovia, gathered
together the people of his diocese to ask their oath of vassalage to the
Crown of Castille in the name of Philip II, one of them rose and said:
“We answer that we wish the King of Spain to be our king and
sovereign, for he has
sent Castilians to us who are freeing us from the tyranny and domination of our chiefs, as well as
Fathers who aid us against some Castilians and protect us from them.” The historian Juan de Medina
adds: “The religious have suffered, and still are suffering, innumerable things like the above, for
making the Indians sincere Christians , for teaching them civilization, and for serving your Majesty in
pacifying the country for you.” (A, pp. 245-253)

25. Material Goods of the Church in the Philippines.

The Catholic Church is essentially a spiritual society. It seeks a supernatural end—the salvation of
souls— through spiritual means, especially through divine grace granted in the reception of the
sacraments.
On the other hand, since the Church as a society consists of members, i.e. of the men who compose it,
and these in turn are made up of body and soul, and the body is subject to the demands of the law of
nature, the Church needs to possess material goods just like any other duly organized society if it
wishes to fulfill here on earth the purpose which its Divine Founder set for it. This is the legal
justification why the Church in each nation has acquired through the centuries a certain amount of
goods, in money or in kind, which have come to be called the “Patrimony of the Church.”
Specifying our discussion to the Church in the Philippines, this patrimony drew from three main
sources:
1) the support of the King of Spain, who as the Royal Patron, gave a yearly endowment to the
churches in the Americas and the Philippines, following an agreement with the Holy See;
2) dues from the arancel or stole fees which the priests charged with the care of souls could demand
in justice from the faithful; and
3) certain donations which it received from the faithful for reasons and purposes of charity.
In this section we shall consider only the secular clergy, both those in the cathedral and those in the
parishes; we shall include the regular clergy only in their role as curates in the parishes, or as
missionaries engaged in the task of conversion of heathen in the active missions.
Tithes.
The Spanish government had assumed the task of maintaining the
clergy and the cult in the churches of the Americas and (later) the
Philippines in exchange for the right to collect the tithes, according
to the bull of Pope Alexander VI of 16 December 1501. And in
truth, the kings of Spain faithfully discharged their responsibility,
although in some regions as in the Philippines the tithes were not
enough to compensate for the royal expenses.
At the start of the Christianization of the Philippines, the people
were asked to pay a peso, or 8 reales castellanos, as tribute to the
encomendero or the Royal Treasury. The encomendero was obliged to
give part of it for the maintenance of the religious minister and the
construction of the church. But since in time it was clear that this
did not suffice for these religious purposes, because the encomendero
kept for himself practically the entire sum, the Synod of Manila
(1582-1585) became the spokesman for the advantages of increasing
the tribute by two reales more, which
were exclusively intended for the propagation of the Gospel truths. King Philip III, in two royal
cedulas issued on 9 August 1599 and 16 February 1602, confirmed the petition. One-half real was for
the Gospel, and one-and-a-half reales for the soldiery, considering the enormous expenses of His Majesty
in transporting missionaries and soldiers to the Philippines.
Thus things stood, until 1682 when the king, on the petition of the oidor Diego Antonio de Viga,
arranged
that (additional) tithes be collected from the natives and for eight years left in the keeping of the
cathedral church and its chapter. But this royal decision had no effect, because the religious Superiors
argued before the governor and the Audiencia that the Filipinos were already paying the equivalent of
the tithe, and so it was not good to collect from them anew. We still have extant a lengthy “Repuesta”
which Father Baltazar de Santa Cruz composed regarding this matter.
This system of paying the tithes concerned only the Filipinos. The Spaniards and the religious did not
begin to pay it, until 1782, in virtue of a royal cedula expedited on 25 September 1778. A manuscript
dated 17 December 1869 describes the tithe thus:
The payment of the tithe, which is no other thing than the ecclesiastical tithe, granted for the Indies
by the Apostolic See to the Crown of Spain, bears down with all its rigorism on the rural estates
belonging to the religious corporations and the secular clergy; the institutions of charity, welfare and
teaching; confraternities; obras pias; and every other pious foundation. It weighs down on Spaniards,
their mestizos, foreigners, and finally, on every person whosoever who does not belong to the class
of tribute-payers.
Ecclesiastical Fees.
Because the royal subsidy was not enough to cover the needs of Church ministers, it was necessary to
institute the payment of the arancel or stole fees. The first arancel in the Philippines that we know
dates from the time of Bishop Domingo de Salazar. In an ancient document still in manuscript, after a
brief exhortatory introduction which exudes love for the natives, it proceeds to list the dues to be paid
by the Filipinos and Spaniards for marriages, Baptisms, burials, and Masses.
As was clear, this schedule of fees could not solve the economic straits of the religious ministers, for
of those fees there was scarcely much more than the name. That is why we see certain religious who
were pastors of souls resorting to other means, at times abusive, in order to collect funds.
In 1698, Bishop Diego Camacho promulgated an arancel for the
archdiocese of Manila. Bishop Diego de Gorospe de Irala did the same
in 1707 for Nueva Segovia. In 1755, Archbishop Pedro Martinez de
Arizala formed another arancel for Manila. Approved by the Royal
Audiencia on 13 April that year, it was in force until it was abrogated
by the one promulgated by Archbishop Basilio Sancho on 16
November 1771. This arancel, fixed for Manila, Cebu and Nueva
Segovia, was destined to last until the end of the Spanish regime in the
Philippines.
Towards the end of the 19th century, some parish priests complained
that the arancel was already outdated and unrealistic with the rise of
prices. However, it was decreed at a conference of bishops in 1896,
presided over by Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda, that it shall
continue in force as it had been until then, and that it was to be
followed exactly. And so, the arancel of Archbishop Sancho, as it was
up to the end of the 19th century, demanded as the only fee:
‒ for Baptism: a wax candle;
‒ for the wedding banns: P0.90 for Spaniards, P0.45 for mestizos, P0.25 for Filipinos;
‒ for the wedding, arrhae, blessing and Mass: P7.00 for Spaniards, P4.00 for mestizos, P3 for Filipinos;
‒ for burials: P3.50 for Spaniards, P2.00 for mestizos, P1.50 for Filipinos.
For a sung Mass, Catholics offered alms of P2.00; for a low Mass P0.50, although by custom it had
become P1.00. And if the parishioner had no means to shoulder the expenses, the pastor should
perform these services for free so that the parishioner would not be forced to sell his farm, his work
animals, or tools.
We should note, however, that throughout the 17th century there was practically no schedule of stole
fees in the Philippines. Consequently, the parish priests and the religious ministers acted freely on the
matter
and, at times, arbitrarily. It is well known that the Jesuits and the Dominicans did not have arancels
in their ministries, instead of which they demanded its equivalent in kind or in the performance of
certain works. The other three religious orders (the Augustinians, the Franciscans, the Recollects)
demanded fees in money and occasionally also in kind and personal service. Of this we find a clear
and orderly description in the Report of Bishop Garcia to King Charles III about the status of the
diocese of Nueva Segovia in 1774. We include only a part of it here:
Instead, then, of stole fees, the people of Cagayan offer their religious minister food supplies, as fish,
eggs, personal service, and deer caught in many towns. In all the towns they maintain at their own
cost a sailing vessel, like a canoe for the priest, for whom, every time he wants to go elsewhere,
which is regularly by water transportation, they supply him with rowers and a pilot, nine men in all
usually…. At the same time, whenever the priest has need of certain necessary things, like salt, oil,
etc., they supply him voluntarily…. All the letters and dispatches that the Fathers send within the
province of Cagayan the people carry, and freely…. This is the sum total of the service which the
free man (timauas) perform for the religious ministers in Cagayan instead of the parochial fees.
The women have their duties, and these are quite heavy. First, every Saturday, certain girls, and
these are the poorer ones, are specified to pound the rice which for the next week will be used in the
priest’s house, but this is common practice throughout the islands, even in the bigger towns and the
parishes of the secular clergy. Second, besides this, in Cagayan there are also girls assigned, even
from among the wealthier families, who, under the guidance of a principalia, launder each week the
clothes of the priest and his helpers, as well as the church linen—and this freely. Third, men and
women every Sunday that they come to Mass, bring firewood as much as they can, all of which will
be used in the priest’s stove—but this also I have observed in all the provinces, even in the bigger
towns who pay the parochial dues. Finally, in Cagayan they fetch water without pay for the use of
the priest, all regularly bringing it from afar, although this also is a custom in the provinces where
there are stole fees…. This is the sum total of the service which the men and the women of Cagayan
perform for their religious ministers instead of the stole fees.
It seems that by the end of the 18th century, the Dominicans in Cagayan had already introduced stole
fees.
Donations.
Many parishes in the provinces possess today rice lands, fishponds and orchards which are a rich
source of funds; and in some dioceses, they help solve the problem of maintaining the seminary and
of defraying other expenses. Some of these properties were entirely gratuitous donations from
wealthy Filipino families, but in general they were pious legacies with the explicit obligation of
paying for religious solemnities, the saying of Masses, or bequests in favor of confraternities. (A, pp.
254-262)

26. Friar Lands.

Origin and Nature of Estates.
When Legazpi came to the Philippines, the country was still thinly populated, the land was scarcely
cultivated, techniques and tools were quite rudimentary, and many areas were untilled, the greater
majority being covered with thick forests and cogon.
The first haciendas of the friars date back to the time of conquest. Legazpi himself had granted a
hacienda in Cebu to the Augustinians, and another one around Manila. Outside of those two
donations of land and probably a third, the other land properties were acquired in the 17 th, 18th, and
19th centuries through purchase, at public auctions or directly from the proprietor. Some were bought
in one transaction, others in parts. In this way, the friar lands were augmented. These did not cost
much, since in the beginning they were lands that were for the most part untouched and to a large
extent unproductive.
These lands began to incite the envy of many people as they increased in productivity and value. The
Propaganda Movement made use of them as one of their weapons against the religious orders. But, if
one studies carefully the administration and use of these estates, he will easily deduce how unjust the
campaign was, for the beneficiaries of this land system were mainly inquilinos, or the native-born or
mestizo Filipinos
who tilled them. The proprietor received only 10% of the net harvest; the rest remained with the
inquilino, although the latter had the obligation to clear it, to weed out the tares, and to prepare the
seedlings, farm implements and work animals.
Besides, when part or all of the harvest was lost through a plague of locusts or typhoon, it was the
practice of the Brother administrator to cancel part or all of the revenue due. Neither was anything to
be paid for the first four or five years in the lease. Likewise, it was an established practice to allot a
piece of land for the inquilino to build his house, plant fruit trees and
vegetables, and raise domestic animals. Another
benefit which some tenants of the religious orders
enjoyed was the right to exploit the land through
casamajans or sub-tenants. In this way, without toiling
himself or being greatly bothered except for the sole
obligation of paying the land rent to the proprietor,
they could get half of the produce from the leased
property. And as if this was not enough, the
inquilino had the option—always with the
proprietor’s consent—to bequeath that part of the
land which had fallen to him by lot to his sons or
descendants by testament, or to leave it or transfer it
to another land tenant, or to mortgage it.
For his part, the landowners were generally not averse to these transactions, unless there were strong
reasons against them, as when the tenant intends to transfer his lot to others with prejudice to his
legitimate heirs. Furthermore, this system of land lease operated for the benefit of the Filipinos of
those times. Accustomed to selling their lands easily to cover their need of the moment, to their own
loss and that of their sons, they could not in this case do the same for the simple reason that the land
was not theirs.
The costly works which redounded to the good of all or part of the hacienda, such as constructing
dikes, opening canals and drainage systems, digging tunnels for the waters to flow, raising bridges,
and lining up roads, were all charged to the landowner.
The system was paternalistic, advantageous to the inquilinos, who on the one hand enjoyed many of
the proprietor’s privileges, but on the other were not subject to his worries. For this reason, there
were many who wanted to cultivate a parcel in the estates of the friars. This is easy to see from the
fact that very many sought to occupy the lands an inquilino had left vacant, either through death if he
had no heirs or through eviction (deshaucio). It is likewise certain that the towns where the religious
orders had land were prosperous towns. One of them, Biñan, was perhaps the most prosperous of all.
Administration.
These friar lands used to be under the direct and immediate management of a lay Brother, but under
the overall supervision of the procurator of the religious order in Manila. It was the duty of the
Brother who was the top man in the hacienda to: parcel out the land; collect the canon or fixed rental;
settle disputes among tenants; transfer the lease of lands to others when tenants left freely or had to
vacate the farms when they failed to exploit them well or did not pay the canon. These unpleasant
tasks, which nevertheless were rather unavoidable to have some order and for the farms to prosper,
eventually won for the Brother administrators and the religious orders, antipathy and rancor, more or
less justified or unjustified.
When an hacienda was within the boundaries of a parish administered by a member of the same
religious order, the latter never or seldom interfered with the collection of rents or with any other
matters, except when on certain occasions he interceded before the Brother administrator in favor of
some tenant or leaseholder.
Some perhaps may think by reading available data that the friar lands were a rich treasure. They
were, if viewed from their eventual level of development. But in the beginning they were in the vast
majority of cases nothing but a stretch of forest lands, underwater swamps and cogon fields, and only
by the passage of time, expense and effort were the religious proprietors able to produce the
minimum necessary to cover with some margin the needs of the tenants and landowners. We could
say that some were throughout the 17th and 18th centuries a perpetual source of debt for their owners.
This was the case with the Biñan hacienda of the University of Santo Tomas in the 17th century, and
of the hacienda in Santa Cruz de Malabon (today, Tanza in Cavite) in the second half of the 18th
century and the beginning of the 19th. And so one can see why the tribunal, after listening to the well-
founded complaints of creditors, put on public auction the haciendas which had financially ruined
their secular proprietors, and passed them on to the steadier administration of the religious who were
able to make them prosper and convert them into sources of wealth and comfort, but not without
overcoming great obstacles. These words of Bravo and Buceta are not without truth:
By good fortune, this is now disappearing, and the widespread care to exploit this inexhaustible stock
of riches is disproving the unfounded opinion which has been prevalent for so long, that every
European who dedicates himself to agriculture in the Philippines could not but ruin himself.16
Purpose.
With the produce from the hacienda, the religious orders took care of the support of a procurator or
Commissary in Madrid, who recruited boatloads of missionaries and transacted in the royal court the
concerns of his order. They also maintained hospices in Mexico, where the missionaries on their way
to the Philippines lodged while awaiting in Acapulco the departure of the galleon for Manila. Other
expenses included the maintenance in Spain of houses of formation for missionaries to the
Philippines, partial or total expenses of the costly travel of the friars who sailed to the missions, and
the asignacion or annual aid sent by the religious orders who had missions in Asia.
Haciendas of the Augustinians.
The Augustinian Order possessed the hacienda of Talamban in Cebu, which Legazpi himself had
granted to them on 27 May 1571. They also owned haciendas in Talisay and Minglanilla.
In Luzon, the Augustinians owned the following haciendas:
‒ Muntinglupa estate was bought partly in 1665;
‒ The hacienda in Mandaluyong was acquired by 1675 through public auction and purchase;
‒ Tala estate was progressively acquired in 1715, 1725 and 1726;
‒ Malinta in Polo, Bulacan, was acquired part by part by 1725;
‒ Dampol, Matame, and Marcos, were three parts of one hacienda purchased at a public bidding in
1834;
‒ The hacienda in San Francisco de Malabon (now General Trias) in Cavite was purchased in 1877.
The government also granted the order in 1880 a vast estate in Isabela for the purpose of making them
help in the agricultural progress of that far-flung and half-populated region.
Dominican Estates.
The Dominican Order had the following haciendas:
‒ One estate in Orion, Bataan, was acquired from donations and duly registered in 1637 and 1673.
‒ The religious order obtained two adjacent haciendas in Santa Rosa and Biñan, Laguna, in favor of
the University of Santo Tomas in the 17th century.
‒ Pandi estate in the towns of Bocaue, Santa Maria, Norzagaray, Bigaa, Angat, and Bustos in
Bulacan, was acquired part by part also in the 17th century.

16 Diccionario geografico-estadistico-historico de las Islas Filipinas, Madrid, 1851.

‒ The hacienda of Santa Cruz de Malabon (Tanza) was purchased in the name of their university in 1761.
‒ San Isidro Labrador estate in Naic, Cavite, was purchased in 1831.
The San Juan Bautista hacienda in Calamba, Laguna,
originally belonged to the Jesuits, but was claimed by
the government in 1768, and eventually sold to the
Dominicans at public auction in 1832.
All of these estates were almost all planted with rice
and sugar cane and had thick forests and wide sectors
that remained untilled.
From 1896, the year the Philippine revolution broke
out, until their sale in 1903 and 1905, their owners
hardly received any income from them because the
inquilinos refused to pay the traditional canon.
Haciendas of the Recollects.
As for the Recollect Order:
‒ The hacienda of Imus, Cavite, was obtained
through purchase and donations, in 1686, 1690
and 1666.
‒ The Tunasan (Muntinglupa) estate was acquired in 1695.
‒ San Jose in Mindoro came to the possession of the Recollects in 1897, in exchange for a piece of
land in Isabela which the government had already donated to them in 1880.
‒ The Talaja hacienda in Morong was acquired by the Recollect Order in 1899.
Jesuit Lands.
Although historically the Jesuit lands were not classified as “friar lands,” they still were an important
element in agricultural and economic growth in the Philippines. These lands were: 1) those that were
the property of the Jesuit Order; 2) those that belonged to the Colegio Maximo de San Ignacio; and 3)
the haciendas of the Colegio de San Jose.
‒ The Jesuit Order owned lands in San Pedro Makati, Nagtahan, and San Juan Bautista in Calamba,
Laguna.
‒ The Colegio Maximo de San Ignacio owned the following estates: Mayhaligue in Tondo; Maysilo
in Tambobong and Bocaue, Bulacan; Piedad also in Tondo.
‒ The Colegio de San Jose owned two properties: San Pedro Tunasan in Laguna, and Lian in Batangas.
Other Properties.
Besides these estates which belonged to the religious orders, the orders and other convents or
religious houses also had: some rural property, neither extensive nor too productive ordinarily; and
some urban lots in Intramuros and in the suburbs. Of these urban lots, we can use Father Zuñiga’s
words describing the residential houses of Manila:
…they are leased at a rather low rate since some earn annually P300 to P400, an amount that appears
excessive, but actually leaving very little profit to the proprietors because of the high cost of building
and maintenance, which can cost much because the wood quickly rots.
Some of these houses belonged to the obras pias. During earthquakes, both the building itself and the
capital of the obra pia would often get wiped out. (A, pp. 263-273)
 Chapter 11

Religious Causes of the Philippine Revolution

and Charges Against the Religious Orders;
the Church During the Philippine Revolution (1898-1900)
27. Religious Causes of the Philippine Revolution and Charges Against the Religious Orders.
Freemasonry.
Among the several causes that helped to separate the Philippines from Spain, freemasonry is primary.
This is easily seen from its anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish program of activities.
According to some, the first lodge in the Philippines was founded by the Spaniard Mariano Marti in
1834. But like others established soon after, it did not last. On the other hand, if we are to believe a
pamphlet written under a pseudonym and printed in Paris in 1896, the first lodge in the Philippines
was established in Cavite in 1860, named Luz Filipina and dependent on the Spanish Gran Oriente.
Towards 1872 during the term of Governor Blanco Valderrama, a lodge was organized in Sampaloc
dependent on the Spanish Gran Oriente, the membership of which was exclusively for Spanish
peninsulares, with no natives included. A little later, on 4 March 1874 the lodge Luz de Oriente was
inaugurated. Located also in Sampaloc, it also depended on the Gran Oriente. These are the first
certain lodges of freemasonry in the Philippines.
No mestizos or natives were admitted into the Philippine lodges until 1884 when, through the
initiative of the Grand Master of the Spanish Gran Oriente, they opened their doors to the latter, but
on condition that they knew how to read and write. But Philippine masonry did not spread much until
1890. In 1892, it grew very rapidly, especially after the first masonic lodge for women was opened in
Manila. Its founder was the mestizo Faustino Villaruel whose daughter Rosario was the first Grand
Mistress.
The masons knew very well that it was difficult to destroy the Spanish domination of the Philippines
while the religious orders enjoyed an influence over the people. They therefore initiated a campaign
of abuse against the former, and against the Church in general. Disguised for some time, it could not
help but be uncovered during the incidents of the year 1888.
The Manifesto of 1888.
On the suggestion of the leading figures of the Manila lodges, a
group of demonstrators led by some gobernadorcillos marched out of
the tribunal of Santa Cruz on 1 March 1888. Passing through the
more populated sectors of Manila, they marched towards the office
of the civil governor, then occupied by Jose Centeno, an affiliate of
masonry. They had with them a written petition, subscribed to by
810 signatures, demanding the exile and immediate departure of
Archbishop Payo, the expulsion of the friars, the secularization of
the parishes, and the confiscation of the estates of the religious
orders.
Such a bold manifestation, frankly anti-religious in tone, provoked
the indignation of the Manila residents. But everything returned to
an apparent calm after these initial reactions, and the leaders of the
demonstrators continued their secret machinations against the
Church and the religious orders.
Moral Decadence.
The distance separating Europe from the Philippines was considerably shortened with the opening of
the Suez Canal in 1869, for the sea voyage now took only one month whereas it had taken two or
three months to sail from Europe to Manila before. Heretofore, the Filipinos were a world apart from
the sophisticated but decadent moral ethos of Europe; and the opening of the canal naturally had
adverse effects on the moral atmosphere of the archipelago. Since then, there began to flow into the
Islands a tide of books against Christian morality complete at times with pornographic pictures,
sensual and immodest plays, nude or semi-nude sculptures and paintings, etc. As can easily be
imagined, such
a plague led to the immediate weakening of the faith in many,
followed by a loss of respect for authorities both ecclesiastic and
civil, and neglect of one’s religious obligations. Under these
circumstances, revolutionary propaganda found fertile soil to radicate
itself in the Filipino mind.
The evil was aggravated when the insular government decreed on 8
February 1880 the implementation in the Philippines of the law of 4
January 1854 which liberalized in the Peninsula the publication of
books and pamphlets, and which by royal order on 16 December
1879 had been extended to the overseas possessions of Spain.
Over and above these were the attacks—at times open, at others
disguised—by the fortnightly La Solidaridad which had been founded
by Marcelo H. del Pilar in Barcelona. The same objective was
pursued by not a few pamphlets written by the Filipino ilustrados,
but especially by Jose Rizal in his first novel Noli me Tangere
published in 1886 in Berlin, and its sequel El Filibusterismo
published in Ghent in 1891.
Harmful Spaniards.
Another cause of the revolution was the despicable behavior and attitude of many Spaniards in the
Philippines who were like “birds of flight,” until the fall of the peninsular government, which had
sent them here, would force their dismissal from official service and their repatriation to the home
country. Some were masons who labored to spread masonry among the natives. Others were imbued
with anti- clerical ideas who showed little or no respect for religious practices.
It was due to these bad Spaniards that the pious practice of publicly reciting the Angelus at the end of
the day disappeared in Manila and other parts of the archipelago. Among them also was started the
practice of not raising or lifting the hat when passing in front of the church; of not bringing the dead
to the church for the priestly blessing before proceeding to the cemetery; of neglecting to summon the
religious minister when someone was gravely ill and in proximate danger of death; of disregarding
the precepts of Confession, fasting and abstinence, particularly by those who prided themselves as
being “enlightened”; of feeling embarrassed at wearing scapulars and belonging to confraternities;
and of not offering the place of honor to the priest or kissing his hand before talking with him.
Imbued with anti-clericalism which was quite rampant in the Peninsula, these Spaniards led the
simple Filipinos to despise the priest and no longer make him the confidant of their problems as in
times past. These Spaniards, who came in search of wealth to secure a life of ease for themselves
when they returned to Spain, met head-on with the friar parish priest. Faithful to his role of “protector
of the Indios”, the latter sought to defend the interests of his flock at the risk of disgust and
altercations with them.
The bad Spaniards mounted a campaign against the religious orders, especially after the Pact of Biak-
na- bato, claiming that the priests were the cause of the revolution. Let us now see the principal
charges levelled against the religious orders, by their enemies themselves or through their agents.
Charges of Some of the Native Clergy.
There were native priests in the Philippines since the time of Archbishop Camacho. More native
ordinations were held during the tenure of Archbishop Santa Justa y Rufina, and their number grew to
around 700 native priests towards the last years of the Spanish regime. The religious orders were
accused of opposing both their acceptance to and their training in their priestly vocation. This charge
is not completely without foundation.
When the revolution broke out, the members of the secular clergy, who were almost all natives, were
in charge of a sufficient number of parishes in the dioceses of Cebu, Nueva Caceres, Nueva Segovia,
and a few in the archdiocese of Manila. They acted as episcopal chaplains and assistants to the
episcopal sees. Besides, they enjoyed certain prebends in the Metropolitan Church of Manila, and had
charge of the spiritual welfare of the prisons, asylums and hospitals. Finally, it is well known that
they were serving as assistant parish priests.
It cannot be denied that some members of the secular clergy joined the hostile campaign against the
religious orders. Not always without reason, they complained: that the friar priests had imposed on
them the heavier tasks in the parish such as hearing Confessions and administering the sacraments in
the outlying barrios; that they were not consulted on the more delicate problems of the parish; that
they were badly compensated for their services; that they were treated like batas or domestic
servants; and above all, that the religious opposed their promotion to the rank of full parish priest.
Others, who were not clerics, observed that the religious priests were no longer in immediate contact
with the people since they had assistants, and so were no longer privy to their secrets. Consequently,
they no longer enjoyed their former prestige and influence over the people. Doubtless, these
accusations had some basis in truth in many cases.
Violations of Chastity.
The friars’ enemies accused them of dissoluteness and inobservance of their religious vow of
chastity. It is true that in every period, but especially in the 19th century, there were religious priests
in the Philippines guilty of serious violations of this vow. To deny this would be tantamount to
denying the weakness inherent to human nature. But to impute the failure of a few to an entire
religious order would be malicious calumny. After all, in any group in society there are members who
are rather unfaithful, and other members who are moderately observant of the corporate discipline, to
a greater or lesser extent depending on the degree of permissiveness or strictness in disciplinary
observance. We would be the last to deny a fact which is proven in documents or in popular tradition.
But it is also true that evil-minded people in certain cases have customarily accused their parish
priests of having perpetrated certain crimes, in order to satisfy personal motives of revenge, thus
putting the latter in a bad light before their Superiors. Superiors tried to punish the guilty whenever
they found enough proof of a crime, although this was not always possible, since some people were
just too ready to make unjust accusations, while others refused to make any statements at all against
their religious ministers.
Wealth of the Friars.
Another charge levelled against the regular clergy by the propagandists was that of having
accumulated immense riches within the period of three hundred years. It is true that the Augustinians,
the Dominicans and the Recollects had acquired extensive lands by donation, purchase or public
bidding, which at the time of acquisition were raw and unproductive, but which they improved at
great cost. These lands represent a valuable patrimony. Nevertheless, despite all that had been done,
these lands did not always produce enough to fulfill the multiple needs of the different orders:
The Order of Saint Dominic, which seems to be the richest among its peers, has to support the
colleges of Ocaña and Avila in the Peninsula (Spain), where there are more than 200 friars, the
Procure in Madrid
 which serves as the central hostel, the College of the Dominican tertiaries in Madrid who are
destined for the Philippines, and the residence in Valencia; in the Philippines, the convent of Santo
Domingo, the colleges of Santo Tomas and Letran, the beaterio of Santa Catalina, the college of
Dagupan, and the four colleges of tertiaries in Manila, Lingayen, Vigan and Tuguegarao; and outside
of the archipelago, the missions of China, Tonkin and Formosa, and the college of the Via Condotti
in Rome recently incorporated to this province by an act of the government. The moderate support of
all these institutions, subjects and material possessions, given the high price of things at the present
time, costs us each year (in normal conditions) some hundreds of thousands of pesos; this does not
include the enormous losses from exchange rates, the extraordinary expenses due to earthquakes,
typhoons, fires, and other chance accidents common in the Islands.17
Friar Opposition to the Teaching of Spanish.
Already in the time of Charles II, the royal court in Madrid had shown special interest that the
religious missionaries should see to the spread of the Spanish language in the Philippines. This plan
found greater support during the reign of Charles III when Anda was governor of the Philippines.
However, in both cases success was negligible. This was because in those circumstances it was
almost impossible to obey the royal mandate for lack of means and the necessary personnel. Besides,
the missionaries found it much easier to learn the native dialects themselves, rather than for an entire
people to learn Spanish. Furthermore, it was held that if Spanish were propagated throughout the
Islands, the Filipinos would imbibe, together with the culture of Europe, the errors and immoral
usages. On this point, the religious orders acted consistently, for when all is taken into consideration,
they did not come to teach Spanish, but rather to preach the Gospel of Christ.
On this same point, the holy and learned man Fray Francisco Gainza,
O.P. submitted on 3 March 1861 to the Board of Primary Education a
noteworthy opinion. He objected to the diffusion of the Spanish
language in the Philippines for religious and political considerations.
Here we are interested only in the first. The good friar was not
ignorant that there was a Protestant country interested in destroying
the faith and undermining the loyalty of the people to Spain, by
means of
…pernicious and immoral books, Protestant bibles, and irreligious
novels. And since there was no lack of foreign and Spanish traders
who took advantage of the simplicity of the people, this immoral trade
had assumed alarming proportions for some years now. We, the
confessors, are in daily touch with this cancer.
Fortunately, the evil had not yet extended beyond Manila and the suburbs at that time, barred mainly
by the diversity of the native dialects, which would have required tremendous expenses to overcome.
One could object that the opinion of Fray Gainza, if followed, would serve to keep the Filipino
people in a culturally backward condition. Our worthy prelate answers with these words:
…the provincial folk of the Philippines enjoy today their specific form of culture and enlightenment,
which is more advanced in its own way, than that of the general laboring classes which form the
great masses of Europe.
Friar Meddling in Administrative Functions.
The following was the position of the Philippine Reformist Colony in Madrid in 1898:
The religious orders have for many years now lost the necessary prestige and state of mind to be able
to intervene profitably in the political and administrative functions which the law allows them, and
abuse of which is confirmed through practice. The Filipinos, however, through habit, fear, or
considering them to be the guardians of religion, have bowed their heads before them (not without
cursing them inside their
17 Memorial del Provincial de Dominicos
 hearts and in the intimacy of their homes, and among their friends), this thirst to command and their
disregard of all private and public honesty, characteristic of most if not all of their members. 18
Some of the administrative functions of parish priests included: supervising primary education,
presiding over the Junta de composicion de terrenos realengos, acting as councilors in the Junta de principales
for the election of town officials, etc. As expressed with some exaggeration somewhere, “they had
their hands all over the government and administrative machinery of the town.” 19 This intervention in
affairs more or less dissonant with their priestly duties could not help but create enemies among the
Filipino aristocracy of the parishes, which sometimes found itself frustrated in its desire for
administrative posts. From this sprang the cloud of antipathy which formed in certain sectors around
the religious parish priest.
Friars as Teachers of the Filipinos.
One of the accusations made against the religious orders was that they served as the teachers of the
people in the colleges and universities which they had founded for the purpose. “This accusation,
repeated to satiety by the camagones or Europeans of long residence in the country, is the answer of
the religious orders to the contrary accusation that they have not done anything, or very little, for the
intellectual advancement of the people.”
This is perhaps the most solid accusation
which the propagandists could make
against the religious orders. Actually, the
ilustrados formed in their centers of
education were the ones who started the
revolution. Many of them did further
higher studies in Spain, France, Belgium,
Germany, and England. And they were the
ones who attacked quite unmercifully the
good name of the religious orders and the
dominion of Spain over the Philippines.
Perhaps the friars did not foresee that the
enlightenment and education of a good
number of Filipinos would occasion someday the separation of the archipelago from the mother
country Spain. But even if they had foreseen it, they did not for that reason cease their work of
education. After all, it was not the Spaniards, and much less the religious missionaries, who had
considered it their vocation to keep the colonies in ignorance in order to perpetuate their rule.
In conclusion, we can affirm, in fairness to everybody and not to prejudice the halls of truth, that a
certain number of religious priests, more in their individual capacity than in their corporate
personality, gave birth to the diatribes of some propagandists because of their abuses or excesses. On
the other hand, we can also say that there were some propagandists who went beyond the norms of
fair play in their attacks against some or all the friars. (A, pp. 304-313)

28. The Church During the Philippine Revolution (1898-1900).

Many previous incidents had prepared for the break and final separation between the Philippine
Islands and Spain. Some of them we have already indicated, like the spread of freemasonry, the
public demonstration of 1 March 1888, and the propaganda campaign against the religious orders.
Here we deal with others which had a more direct influence on the cry for independence which a
handful of Filipino

18 “Ala nacion,” Manifiesto-Programa de la colonia Filipina reformista residente en Madrid, 10 de Febrero de 1898, Madrid,
1898.
19 Thefirst pages of this pamphlet are missing, but the title seems to be Motivos de la Aversion del Filipino al Fraile. Its
author was probably a native Filipino priest.
patriots uttered in Balintawak on 26 August 1896. These were the organization of Asociacion
Hispano- Filipina, the La Liga Filipina, and the Katipunan.
The Asociacion Hispano-Filipina.
Marcelo H. del Pilar, a lawyer from Bulacan, took ship for Spain towards the end of 1888. He was escaping
a lawsuit instituted against him by the government for suspected
involvement in activities considered subversive by the
authorities. At the same time, there was organized in the
Philippines a Comite de propaganda with Doroteo Cortes as its
president; its purpose was to solicit funds from the moneyed
class to start an active propaganda campaign for reforms and
certain liberties for the Filipinos. With the help of some of the
money this committee collected in the Philippines, Marcelo del
Pilar was able to initiate the propaganda in Barcelona, Spain.
Together with Mariano Ponce, he founded the Asociacion
Hispano-Filipina, editing at the same time the paper La
Solidaridad. The association spread rapidly among the Filipino
students in the Catalonian city.
After a short while, intending to widen their field of action, the
founders of the association—among them Jose Rizal—decided
to move to Madrid where they set up a center in January 1890
under the protection of Miguel Morayta.
However, the faulty management of funds which the
Propaganda Committee was sending to Madrid gave rise to a misunderstanding between Rizal and del
Pilar, which was settled satisfactorily only with Rizal’s return to the Philippines in 1892. It was
inevitable that the two opposing personalities should clash, since Rizal was reflective, mature and a
lover of peace, but del Pilar was known for his energy, frankness and impetuosity.
The Liga Filipina.
One of the first activities of Rizal upon again touching his fatherland in 1892 was to found the Liga
Filipina. It had as its objective the greater cultural progress of the country, and later the independence
of the Islands. But his deportation to Dapitan by order of Governor Despujols appeared to have
momentarily upset the plans of the members. Surmounting this initial difficulty, however, they
dedicated themselves to the difficult task of organizing the Liga and extending it to the Tagalog
provinces. The association was to be ruled by a Supreme Council based in Manila, under which there
were provincial councils located in each province, which in turn were to organize town councils
below them.
Again, the faulty management of funds led to the beginnings of a split between Rizal and the
Supreme Council, which eventually led to the final dissolution of the Liga in 1894.
The Katipunan.
This was the name chosen to identify an association which in Tagalog was called Kataastaasang
Kagalanggalangang Katipunan Ng Mga Anak Ng Bayan, i.e. the Supreme Society of the Sons of the
Nation. For while Rizal was occupied with the organization of the Liga Filipina in Manila which was
intended to include only the rich and the educated classes, Marcelo H. del Pilar from Madrid was
urging in July 1892 the formation of another association similar to the Liga but admitting to
membership the poor and less educated classes. The purpose of the organizers of the Katipunan was
to form a powerful nucleus of fighters which could raise the cry of rebellion against Spain when the
moment comes.
The Katipunan spread rapidly, and soon could point to popular centers in crowded districts like
Tondo, Binondo, Trozo, Santa Cruz, Nagtahan, Sampaloc, Quiapo, Paco, and Intramuros in Manila.
Although a
secret society using initiation rites that could instill fear even among the bolder candidates, the
Katipunan was not a masonic organization. Nevertheless, it was the offspring of freemasonry, and its
leaders were freemasons. Its basic solidarity and rapid progress were partly due to the personality of
Andres Bonifacio, an energetic and brave Filipino, intelligent and a master at winning over people,
even though only self- taught from his readings of the writings of the free thinkers.
The Discovery of the Katipunan and the Cry of Balintawak.
Teodoro Patiño, a member of the Katipunan, had a sister who was boarding in the asylum of the
Augustinian Sisters in Mandaluyong. Afraid that she might also be in danger like the Spanish Sisters
if the Katipunan literally carried out its program of liquidating the Spanish elements in Manila and
the suburbs on the day of the uprising, he decided to reveal the secret to her.
The young girl lost no time in communicating this to her Mother Superior, who relayed the message
to Fray Mariano Gil, the Augustinian parish priest of Tondo. Brought before Fray Gil, Patiño had no
hesitation to report that, in the printing press of the Diario de Manila, receipts and proclamations
were being printed and knives made for the defense and use of the association. The lithographic
stones, he added, were there to prove that he was not lying. And indeed, Grund and Cortes,
lieutenants of the Subdivision of the Guardia Civil of the district, found the printing materials there.
The discovery resulted in—besides the subsequent shock of the Spanish community, and a grim joke
on the optimistic Governor-General Ramon Blanco—a high number of imprisonments and further
discoveries of books, pamphlets, seals, insignias and secret documents of the Katipunan. Because of
this, only two alternatives remained for the conspirators: to abide by the law, or to already raise the
cry of rebellion against Spain. The conservative members opted for the first; but others, won over by
the persuasion and patriotism of Bonifacio, were willing to already fight in open warfare.
When Bonifacio realized that the
authorities had discovered his plans on
19 August 1896, he hid himself for a
moment at Caloocan. From there,
followed by some 200 residents of the
town, he moved to Balintawak from
where he issued urgent messages to
Manila, Nueva Ecija, and the other
provinces to warn the members to
prepare to rise up in arms on 30
August at daybreak.
After killing a number of Spaniards,
Chinese and Filipino sympathizers of
Spain, Bonifacio and his troops
advanced against the walled city,
threatening Sampaloc from San Juan
del
Monte and Santa Mesa where they had taken strong fortified positions. But they were repulsed by a
Spanish-Filipino column under the command of General Bernardo Echaluce.
The Filipino insurgents gave abundant proofs of valor and intrepidity in this and other encounters.
But they lacked adequate arms for victory, as well as proper military training and competent
leadership. This is why they met with a series of military reversals at the beginning of the revolution,
only occasionally sweetened by one or two victories.
The Revolution in the Province of Cavite.
While companies of rebels spread the revolution to the provinces of Morong, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija,
Bataan, Zambales, Laguna and Batangas, the principal group led by Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo
concentrated itself in the province of Cavite. Here they offered a surprisingly stiff resistance to the
government troops from Manila, and only a bigger Spanish contingent was able to overcome them
after fierce and bloody fighting.
While briefly recounting some battles here, we shall emphasize the conduct of the rebels towards the friars, who were
exercising their duties as pastors of souls or administrators of their estates.
In Cavite, the capital of the province, the revolutionaries hatched a plot to seize control of the fort
there and displace all the Spaniards. But the scheme was discovered, and there followed several
imprisonments, followed by summary judgment and the execution of the 13 principal conspirators
whom the Filipino nation subsequently honored with the title of “martyrs of Cavite”.
Despite the setback at the provincial capital, the revolution spread throughout the province until it
engulfed the entire area. It had started on 31 August with the death of the captain of the Guardia
Civil Antonio Rebolledo. Other guardias suffered the same fate, with no chance to defend
themselves.
Several Recollect friars, who were parish priests in the province or managed estates there, also
succumbed in the first days of the revolution. Such for example were Fray Juan Herrero, the curator
of Imus estate, with five Brothers who assisted him; and Fray Jose Maria Learte, parish priest of
Imus, and two Brothers who were administering the Salitran estate. All of them were in Imus on the
31st of August, but all of them died near Bacoor together with some guardias civiles and Filipino
servants as they were taking the road to Manila. One Brother, Roman Caballero, had stayed behind in
Imus, but he also lost his life. Two more Recollects—Fray Faustino Lizasoain, parish priest of
Bailen; and Fray Simeon Marin of Maragondon— met the same fate in their respective parishes. On
the other hand, two Brother administrators of the hacienda of San Nicolas in Bacoor were able to save
themselves.
In Silang, another Recollect, Fray Toribio Moreno died. Other friars, more fortunate or with more
foresight, were able to save their lives. These included the Recollect parish priest of Cavite Viejo
(Kawit) whom Emilio Aguinaldo, then capitan municipal of the town, put in a banca to save him, and
had him later conducted to Manila. The Recollect parish priests of Bacoor and Salinas were also
saved by the principales of their respective parishes.
The Dominicans were administering at this time the parishes of Naic and Santa Cruz where their religious
order owned extensive lands. At the outbreak of the revolution, the
parish priest Fray Galo Minguez and other Dominicans were in Naic:
Fray Jose Maria Duque, Fray Nicolas Peña who was sick, and the
Brother hacenderos Fray Saturnino Garcia and Fray Jose Pevida.
The next day, Fray Minguez received word from the local
gobernadorcillo Ciriaco Nazareno warning him of the imminent
arrival of the revolutionaries. Thanks to this tip, they were able to
prepare at once and leave for Manila the following day at daybreak.
In Manila they found the parish priest of Santa Cruz Father Isidro
Apellaniz, his socius Father Torribio Ardanza, Father Benito Muñiz
who was sick, and two Brother hacenderos who were able to escape in
time to Manila after a warning given them by Francisco Valencia, a
Filipino loyal to the cause of Spain and a friend of the friars.
Pricked by public opinion which ceaselessly cried for a march
against Cavite which the revolutionaries had already made an
independent republic, Governor-General Ramon Blanco issued
orders that a column composed of 500 Spaniards and some
Filipinos advance against
Binakayan and Noveleta. Despite an initial success, this column was forced in the end to leave the
field to the enemy. The Spaniards also suffered two setbacks in Talisay, Batangas. These defeats
made them clearly see that to reconquer the province they needed more forces and better preparation.
This is why their Cavite offensive was not to start until the middle of February 1897.
More Plots and Punishments.
Spanish public opinion in Manila was so strong against the ineptitude of Governor-General Blanco,
that the Madrid government was forced to relieve him of his command and name another in his stead,
General Camilo Plavieja. The latter immediately organized an offensive against the revolutionaries,
using many thousands of the soldiers continually shipped from the Peninsula. He also summarily
tried the revolutionaries who had the bad fortune of falling into military hands.
The most famous of these was the national hero Doctor Jose Rizal. Recalled by Captain-General
Ramon Blanco as he was sailing for Spain aboard the Colon, he was sent back to Manila. After a few
months of confinement in Fort Santiago, he had to pay the supreme penalty on 30 December 1896,
after being tried and sentenced by the Council of War. But before he died, he retracted freemasonry.
At this time, too, other plots added fuel to the fires of rebellion and caused new headaches to the
Manila government: one in La Union which was frustrated through the intervention of the
Augustinian parish priest Rafael Redondo; another in Vigan discovered by the Fathers in the
seminary; and a third in Camarines, the most dangerous of the three because it included a large group
of conspirators, among whom were three clergymen of the cathedral. Discovered before they could
carry out their plans, many of them, including the three priests, had to give up their lives by sentence
of a military tribunal on 4 January.
Despite all countermeasures, the rebellion seemed to be growing by the hour, and every sortie of the
Spanish troops meant the appearance of a new group of insurgents. This explains the disorder and
wanton killings in many places. Thanks to this anarchy, certain individuals in Llana Hermosa,
Bataan, apprehended the Dominican David Varas, kidnapped him from the convento at night, and left
him dead a kilometer and a half away from town. A similar fate overtook the Recollect Fathers
Domingo Cabrejas, parish priest of Morong, and Jose de San Juan, parish priest of Bagac. They died
somewhere west of Bataan.
Offensive Against Cavite.
After Blanco’s successor General Polavieja received enough
reinforcements from the Peninsula, he decided on 15 February that the
time had come to mount an offensive. On 19 February, he
occupied Silang. Another column successfully
attacked Zapote. Soon after, Dasmariñas and
Imus fell to Spanish arms. In order to occupy
these towns, the Spaniards had to assault with
fixed bayonet a two-kilometer trench bravely
defended by Aguinaldo’s men. The occupation
of Imus, followed by the fall of Noveleta,
Cavite Viejo (Kawit), Binakayan, Santa Cruz
and Rosario, was preparatory to the assault on
San Francisco de Malabon (Trias) which the
forces of Aguinaldo and Bonifacio had to
evacuate.
By this time, Polavieja had already resigned
his command and government of the Islands on the pretext of ill health,
and the Madrid government sent General Fernando Primo de Rivera to
succeed him. The latter was the man who completed the pacification of
the province of Cavite by occupying, among the last, the towns of Naic
and Maragondon.
Two Tragic Events.
Right after the occupation of Silang, a small group of friars who till then had been spared, were shot.
They were: Agapito Echegoyen, the Recollect parish priest of Amadeo; Domingo Cadenas,
Augustinian parish priest of Talisay; Antonio Piernavieja, also an Augustinian who was convalescing
at Buenavista when the revolution began; and an Augustinian Brother who administered the hacienda
at Buenavista. They were executed on 28 February 1897 at dusk, at the boundary between Naic and
Maragondon.
This incident—plus others20—led Aguinaldo, who had just been elected President of the infant
Republic on 22 March at the convention of Tejeros, to order the arrest and execution of the first
leader of the Katipunan, Andres Bonifacio. Popular belief among the Tagalogs attributed to the
shooting of the friars the defeats of the Tagalog troops all over the province; and in order to placate
the divine wrath some leaders ordered the celebration of religious services.
Peace Overtures.
On 13 March 1897, three women brought to Aguinaldo’s headquarters a letter from Father Pio Pi,
S.J. who had undertaken to mediate with the Filipino leader the Spanish government’s desire to end
hostilities. Following the advice of his staff, Aguinaldo imposed the following conditions for peace:
1) expulsion of the friars; 2) appointment of lay Filipino professors to the university chairs; 3)
decrease of taxes; 4) transfer of ownership of the friars’ estates to Filipinos; 5) allowing the Spaniards
to continue their stay in the Islands on condition that one-half of the employed be Tagalogs.
Aguinaldo agreed in the end to suppress the first condition, for neither he nor the generality of the
Filipinos hated the friars, and several acknowledged the great advice and unfailing protection they
gave to the Filipinos at the cost of great personal sacrifices. He was also willing to mitigate the other
conditions; but negotiations broke down because of lack of mutual trust.

20 Since the time the Katipunan was discovered, the rivalry between the Magdalo and the Magdiwang factions of the
Katipunan in Cavite led to a series of reverses. This prompted the Magdalo faction to invite Bonifacio to Cavite to settle
their differences and remain united. On 22 March 1897, an assembly was called at Tejeros, Cavite. Bonifacio presided
over the conference to establish the Republic of the Philippines. In the election, Gen. Aguinaldo was elected President,
Mariano Trias Vice President, and Bonifacio Secretary of the Interior. Bonifacio, who had acceded to establishing the
new government, was hurt and felt insulted when Daniel Tirona of Magdalo questioned his new position, claiming that it
was not proper for a person without a lawyer’s diploma to occupy it. (n.b. Bonifacio, orphaned at the age of 14, had to
take on the task of caring for his younger brothers and sisters, being the eldest of six children. He quit schooling to look
for ways to support his family.) Consequently, evoking his authority as the Supremo of the Katipunan, he declared the
Tejeros proceedings void.
Aguinaldo, who was defending the Filipino battle line at Pasong Santol with his elder brother General Crispulo
Aguinaldo, had not been at the convention. When he heard news of his political victory, he initially refused to leave his
post. But big brother Crispulo vowed to hold the defenses, until younger brother Emilio returned from Tanza to take his
oath of office. Meanwhile, Bonifacio, still stinging from his defeat and humiliation, conspired (according to Aguinaldo)
to prevent Filipino reinforcements from reaching the battlefield at Pasong Santol. Eventually, the Spanish overwhelmed
the revolutionary defenses there, and Crispulo Aguinaldo was cut down by a Spanish rifleman.
This breaching of Filipino defenses forced the heretofore successful Cavite Rebellion onto its backfoot. To compound the
already deteriorating situation, Bonifacio attempted to co-opt to Magdalo Generals Mariano Noriel and Pio del Pilar, and
formed his own military government, the Naik Military Pact. This declared all revolutionary forces to be under Pio del
Pilar’s command, and that the revolutionary troops should be forcibly conscripted into the ‘true’ revolutionary army.
Aguinaldo got word of this soon enough, and General Noriel and General del Pilar were brought back into the fold, loudly
protesting their loyalty. Bonifacio then said that he would return to Manila/Morong Province, but not before (allegedly)
assaulting Indang—a Magdiwang town which was swollen with starving refugees, due to the massive influx of refugees
or alsa balutan from other provinces, and poor harvests in Cavite thanks to the Revolution taking place during the rainy
season, leading to near-famine—and demanding that the town feed and provision him and his troops. When they refused,
Bonifacio (allegedly) assaulted the town like a common bandit, sacking it for food and burning its church tower. All
these led to the order to arrest Bonifacio.
He faced a trial for acts inimical to the existence of the new government, and was given the death sentence by a military
tribunal. On 10 May 1897, Andres Bonifacio, the Father of the Philippine Revolution and founder of the Katipunan, was
executed in the mountains of Maragondon, Cavite by Aguinaldo's men for being guilty of treason and sedition. Bonifacio
died at the age of 33.
Pack of Biak-na-bato.
Faced with the impossibility of continuing the fight against government forces in Cavite, Aguinaldo
retreated to the province of Nueva Ecija on the invitation of Mariano Llanera. He was entrenched in
the
fastnesses of Biak-na-bato, a
place located around twelve
kilometers southeast of San
Miguel de Mayumo in
Bulacan province, when
General Primo de Rivera took
steps to treat of peace through
the mediation of a mestizo
leader Pedro A. Paterno.
The Pact of Biak-na-bato was
the most accomplished
victory in the entire
revolution Aguinaldo won
over Spain. In exchange for a
few arms and ammunition of
slight value, he obtained
P400,000 and, most
importantly, time to get out of
his difficulties and prepare
from abroad for a second
phase of the war.21 (A, pp.
314-324)
A Peace That Was Not Peace.
Three months had not yet elapsed after the Pact of Biak-na-bato when the first sparks of the
revolution burst anew in Zambales. Seemingly ended, the revolution was merely smoldering, and on
the 6th and 7th day of March, practically all the towns in the north of the province rose in arms. Their
surprised Recollect pastors had scarcely time to seek shelter behind the small detachments of
Spaniards who guarded the towns. These, surprised also by a numerically superior enemy, had to
double back to other more important towns, i.e. if they had not yet surrendered or been captured. This
time, the following Recollect priests died: Manuel Azagra, pastor of Bolinao; Mariano Torrente,
pastor of San Isidro; Andres Romero of Alaminos; Juan Navas of Dansol; Epifanio Vergara of
Balincaguin; and Julian Jimenez of Poonbato. In a few days, a Spanish column commanded by
General Ricardo Monet restored peace and order in Zambales.

21 Spanish Governor and Captain-General Primo de Rivera realized the impossibility of quelling the revolution by force of
arms. Pedro Paterno, a Spaniard born in the Philippines, volunteered to act as negotiator between Governor Primo de
Rivera and Aguinaldo in order to end the clashes. Negotiations concluded with the Pact of Biak-na-bato, which specified
that the Spanish would give self-rule to the Philippines within three years, if Aguinaldo and other revolutionary leaders
would go into exile in Hong Kong. Under the pact, Aguinaldo agreed to end hostilities in exchange for amnesty and
P800,000 as indemnity. Another P900,000 was to be given to the revolutionaries who remained in the Philippines, who
agreed to surrender their arms. General amnesty would be granted, and the Spaniards would institute reforms in the
colony.
However, both the Spanish and Filipino authorities failed to follow the terms of the pact. Of the total war indemnity of
P1.7 million, only P600,000 was actually paid by Spain—P400,000 was given to Aguinaldo, and P200,000 was
distributed among the revolutionary leaders in the Philippines. The rest of the agreed indemnity was never paid. Many of
the Filipino patriots who had surrendered their arms and returned to their homes were arrested, imprisoned, and
persecuted contrary to the amnesty proclamation, and not one of the reforms which were promised by the Governor-
General was granted. For their part, the Filipinos were equally guilty of breaking the terms, as Aguinaldo kept the money
in the banks of Hong Kong to be used in a future struggle against Spain. Revolutionists in the Philippines did not
surrender all their arms.
The revolution took only a little holiday, a holiday cut short by the arrival of a new power—the United States of America.
Left to themselves, it is probable that the Ilocanos would not have taken arms; but instigated by the
Tagalogs, the people of Candon raised the cry of liberty and war against Spain on 25 March. There
were three priests there: the parish priest Fray Rafael Redondo, and two missionaries assigned to the
evangelization of the Igorots of Daclan and Capangan. Taken in the church, the three were execute in
the hills near the boundary between Candon and Santiago. This uprising was squelched, but the
revolutionary embers remained, to revive much later with the complete triumph of General Manuel
Tinio.
The province of Bulacan, so near to Manila, could be said to have been completely lost to Spain by
this time; Spanish garrisons dominated the central municipal areas. However, the barrios and the rural
hinterlands were practically all in the hands of the insurgent groups. The result of this state of things
were the kidnappings and death of persons loyal to the Manila government which was unable to
suppress or to avenge these actions because it had no troops to dispose of. Among those dead were:
Hipolito Tejedor, parish priest of Santa Isabel; Moises Santos, pastor of Malolos; Francisco Renedo
of Paombong; Miguel
A. Vera of Angat; and Leocadio Sanchez of Guiguinto. All of them were Augustinian friars.
Up to this moment, the Visayas had been peaceful. But by the beginning of April 1898, Cebu rose in
rebellion against Spain. The few troops guarding that city—only about forty soldiers—had to retire to
the ancient fort to save themselves from a numerically much bigger force. To that same fort the
Bishop of Cebu Monsignor Alcocer also retreated. Fortunately for the Spaniards, on 7 April a few
hundreds of soldiers from Manila arrived under the command of General Celestino F. Tejero. After
landing his troops, he reduced the city within a day, and in a few more days the rest of the island.
This uprising also left an imprint of priestly and religious blood, shed by: Fray Jose Baztan,
Augustinian parish priest of Cordoba in Mactan Island; Fray Tomas Jimenez, also an Augustinian
parish priest of Pardo; and Fray Isidro Liberal, a Recollect in the convent of Cebu.
Gladly would General Tejero have pacified the island of Panay, likewise up in arms against Spain;
but he had to be satisfied with merely reinforcing the garrison of Iloilo and arranging to have the
priests concentrated in the capital. (A, pp. 325-327)
Inception of the Philippine Independent Church.
In the middle of the year 1898, Aguinaldo named Gregorio Aglipay, a
priest incardinated to the archdiocese of Manila, as Military Vicar. This
act was a usurpation of jurisdiction hitherto an exclusive prerogative of
the Royal Patronato by virtue of a concession of the Holy See, vested in
the Governor- General in the Philippines. Aguinaldo doubtlessly thought
that, just as he had succeeded the Spanish Governor-General in his civil
and military roles, so also he had inherited his position as Vice-Patron.
Put in this rather slippery position, he had no hesitation to decree on 20
October 1898 the appointment of Aglipay as Military Vicar General. For
his part, Aglipay, in order not to appear less magnanimous than his
protector, named the priest Eustaquio Gallardo the Vicar General of the
diocese of Nueva Segovia.
Soon after, Aglipay was able to obtained from Nueva Segovia Bishop
Hevia Campomanes the nomination as Ecclesiastical Governor for his
diocese. Nonetheless, this nomination, obtained from the prelate under
circumstances which prevented him from knowing the real situation of
the country22 and

In the beginning of August 1898, Bishop Hevia Campomanes left his diocese of Nueva Segovia, accompanied by 60
22

Augustinian friars, because of the approaching revolutionary forces. Subsequently, he and his companions were captured
by the same forces and imprisoned in Alcala (Cagayan). Consequently, the Bishop had to provide for alternative ecclesial
governance in his diocese. In order to do so, he appointed Gregorio Aglipay as ecclesiastical governor of the diocese after
consultation with senior members of his clergy. Hevia Campomanes did this by means of a decree of appointment on 15
November 1898. Aglipay was made ecclesiastical governor—as a Filipino—because the usual hierarchy was
incapacitated.
which impeded the necessary freedom to act, could not be canonically valid since furthermore,
Aglipay had been excommunicated by virtue of the bull Apostolicae sedis. Much later, Archbishop
Nozaleda of Manila would pronounce in May 1899 a formal sentence of excommunication for
usurping ecclesiastical authority and jurisdiction.
But where the Filipino clergy were at the brink of falling into schism was
in the convocation of the assembly of Paniqui. In October 1899, Mabini
had issued from Pangasinan a proclamation entitled Organizacion del Clero
Filipino which aimed to provide bishops for the Philippine Church, since
the Spanish prelates presented by virtue of the Royal Patronato had lost
their sees with the fall of the Spanish government. Besides, according to
the proclamation, they were incapacitated to govern their dioceses since
they were living in territories occupied by the enemy; and even if Rome
named them a second time, the Filipino clergy should not acknowledge
them.
Such specious reasoning would convince no one who had some
knowledge of canon law, much less Mabini himself, the brains of the
Katipunan. But Aglipay followed this reasoning because it suited his
purposes. To carry them out in real life, he called a meeting of the clergy
to be held at Paniqui, a town in the north of Tarlac. Twenty-seven priests,
almost all of them from northern Luzon, attended it.
The main idea during the convention was: to give the Philippine Church a constitution which would
be in effect only while those abnormal circumstances prevailed; and to provide for its government
through a council composed of two councilors from each diocese. The council president, elected by
the members of the convention, would have an option to appoint his secretary. The council would
assume the heavy responsibility of naming parish priests and ecclesiastical governors for the
dioceses. It would also propose to the Holy See the individuals who would assume the sees in the
Philippines, as well as the other higher dignities. The president would be both Military Vicar-General
and Superior Vicar-General.
This assembly took good care to avoid any word or idea that might sound or correspond to a formal
schism. But although it professed loyalty to the Holy See, it was basically schismatic, and would have
perhaps consummated the schismatic break of the Philippine Church had not the defeat of the
revolutionary forces blocked that eventuality. (A, pp. 343-344)

Aglipay did indeed take this charge upon himself. In fact, he had previously done so already, on the authority of the
revolutionary government.
 Chapter 12

The Take-Over of the Americans;

Religious Adjustment After the
Revolution
29. The Take-Over of the Americans.
The Spanish-American War.
On 25 April 1898, the United States Senate approved a resolution of war against Spain, which the
American President signed the following day. From that moment, the cause of Spain in the
Philippines was irrevocably lost. On 1 May, the Spanish squadron, definitely inferior to the American
in quality and number, suffered a complete rout off Parañaque. Manila was blockaded immediately
after.
On land, peace would last only a few more days more, i.e. until Aguinaldo returned to Cavite on 19
May 1898 aboard an American warship. On 29 May, following orders from their Filipino leader,
numerous Tagalog troops attacked the small Spanish garrisons of twenty to twenty-five troops each in
towns throughout Central Luzon. The Spanish army scarcely offered any opposition, either due to the
machinations of masons who had infiltrated the higher ranks of the troops, or to the lack of
enthusiasm among the lower ranks of the troops. By mid-June, the Tagalogs were threatening Manila
from land. But by this time, the fort and arsenal of Cavite had surrendered to the victorious forces of
Dewey.
The Siege of Manila.
The Dominican Fray Bernardino Nozaleda was the Archbishop of Manila during these critical days,
and by force of circumstances he became the target of all kinds of criticism. We believe that he
succeeded in maintaining the dignity and the honor of his office. He successfully governed the
Church as much as it was possible for any man under such difficult circumstances.
One of the first acts of Archbishop Nozaleda immediately following the declaration of war was to
issue two circulars in which, influenced naturally by the atmosphere, he painted in dark colors the
future religious policy of the United States for the Philippines. This earned for him strong
censures, both from the
Americans and from other sectors. Nozaleda certainly did not have
any knowledge of the nobility and chivalry of the North American
people, who did not differ much from the Spaniards in their noble
traits and high idealism. Had he waited a few months more, he
would not have written so bitterly.
In view of the American declaration of war, General Basilio
Augustin, Primo de Rivera’s successor, thought that it would not be
hard for the Filipinos to cooperate to repel their common enemy. To
this end, after consulting the Archbishop and the Superiors of the
religious orders, he organized native battalions. But in a short time,
these passed to the lines of Aguinaldo with all their arms! In fairness
to the Archbishop and religious provincials, the native leaders whom
they had recommended generally remained faithful to the cause of
Spain, or else abandoned it only when they could do nothing else.
The civil council for defense presided over by Archbishop Nozaleda
ordered all the religious sisters and girls in the colleges to leave the
 city.
It prepared what was needed to transfer the sick in the hospitals to
places beyond the reach of the American cannons, namely, to the Jesuit house in Santa Ana, and the
conventos of Paco, San Sebastian, the Franciscan Third Order in Sampaloc and Guadalupe.
The Archbishop also started a very successful subscription to purchase water-proof jackets for the
soldiers who manned the exterior lines of defense in those rainy months. And in order that food
supply may not be lacking for the urban population, he himself donated the sum of P14,000. In this as
well as in other civic actions, the other members of the defense council and the Superiors of the
religious orders were united with their Prelate. The religious orders, despite their economic straits
because the insurgents had occupied their lands and their other sources of support had dried up,
donated fair amounts in cash and in kind.
Several friars offered themselves as chaplains to the armada a few days before it sailed away to
Subic. Others helped the military chaplains to attend to the spiritual needs of the army. And through
the city streets and in the churches, religious acts and devotional practices were held to obtain divine
protection during those difficult times.
Finally, the religious houses like Letran, Santo Tomas, Ateneo, the beaterio of the RVM Sisters, the
seminary, and the Franciscan Third Order halls were readied as hospitals, even as university
professors organized their students into military units.
The Surrender of Manila.
On 8 August 1898, a meeting was held attended by the civil authorities
and presided over by Governor and Captain-General Fermin Jaudenes.
He wanted to know what the public thought of surrendering, instead of
continuing the defense of the city. Those who spoke, including the
Archbishop, stated that the army had already done enough to save its
honor, and continued resistance would only lead to unnecessary
horrors. By majority vote, the Generals’ meeting decided to continue
the resistance only until the enemy broke through their exterior line of
defense. This was reached on 13 August near the fort of San Antonio
Abad, after which the defenders raised the white flag of truce.
Few surrenders have been as honorable as the surrender of Manila,
and few conquerors as magnanimous as the Americans on this
occasion. The seventh article of the Act of Surrender signed in the
sacristy of the church of San Agustin read:
This city, its inhabitants, its churches and its religious cult, its centers of
teaching and any kind of private property fall under the special
guarantee of the faith and honor of the American Army.23
The first article of the Act of Surrender stipulated that the Spanish troops would be sheltered in areas
to be designated by the American authorities. But for lack of places, they had to be lodged in the
conventos and churches. Thus, the convento of Santo Domingo, the convento of San Francisco, the
Recollect church San Ignacio, and the seminary had to be converted into huge barracks where the
soldiers lived alongside the religious members of the communities. The ample new house owned by
the Augustinians beside their church, still unfinished, served as headquarters and offices of war.
Hospitals were likewise set up in the religious houses, where families of army officers and
government officials also found open-hearted shelter.
The Malolos Congress.
In the face of opposition from the American government which blocked the Filipino troops from
entering the city, Aguinaldo was forced to choose the town of Malolos as his provincial capital in lieu
of a better place. He chose this centrally-located and progressive municipality as the site of a
Congress of Delegates to frame a Constitution for the nascent Republic, the first ever held in the
history of this country.
23 “Proclama de la Captania General de Filipinas al Ejercito”, Manila, 14 August 1898.
For better understanding, it will be good to consider two things which took place previously. First, on
12 June 1898 Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence from Spain in his hometown of Kawit,
Cavite. Second, on 20 June he declared as invalid any marriage contract before Church authorities,
unless it was preceded by a civil ceremony. This latter decision could not but cause a certain disquiet
among the clergy and people who were deeply Catholic. But this was merely a prelude to what would
come afterwards, i.e. the separation between the Church and the State.
On 22 November 1898, the constitutional convention24 gathered for a special session in Barasoain
Church to discuss an amendment of Article 5 of Title III of the constitution, originally introduced by
Tomas G. del Rosario and seconded by Felipe G. Calderon.
This title, as it was penned by Calderon, read:
Article 5. The republic protects the cult and the
ministers of the Catholic, apostolic, Roman
religion, which is that of the State, and does not
contribute its resources for the expense of
another cult.
Article 6. Any other cult can be practiced
privately, provided that it is not against morality
and good customs and does not threaten the
security of the nation.
Article 7. The discharge and the fulfillment of
tasks and duties of the republic, as well as the
acquisition and the exercise of civil and
political rights, are independent of the religion
of the Filipinos.
The amendment was worded as follows:
Article 5. The State recognizes the freedom and
equality of all religions, as well as the
separation of the Church and the State.
Put up for voting on 29 November after animated discussions, it resulted in a tie of 25 votes for and
25 votes against. A second vote was taken, which resulted in favor of the amendment: 26 for and 25
against. The decisive vote was cast by Pablo Tecson, who had abstained in the first vote but now
voted against Calderon’s proposition.
On one hand, this attitude of the Malolos Congress was a blow to the native Filipino clergy who had
fought so strenuously for Philippine freedom and independence. On the other hand, this theoretical
separation of the Church and the State was actually not easy to implement. Aguinaldo himself,
counselled by Mabini who was one of the more decided supporters of the amendment, during his
New Year’s message to the Congress suggested a third amendment. Known as Article 100-D of the
“Transitory Dispositions of the Constitution” this third amendment stated that the separation between
the Church and the State would have no effect until the independence of the Philippines was officially
recognized; and that meanwhile, the municipal governments would provide the pastors of souls with
the means to support themselves in decency, either through a regular salary or by obliging towns to
pay them certain dues.

24Aguinaldo issued the Philippine Declaration of Independence on 12 June 1898 and followed it with several decrees
forming the First Philippine Republic. Elections were held from 23 June to 10 September for a new national legislature,
the Malolos Congress. After the Malolos Congress was convened on 15 September 1898, a committee was selected to
draft a constitution for the republic. The committee was composed of Hipólito Magsalin, Basilio Teodoro, José Albert,
Joaquín González, Gregorio Araneta, Pablo Ocampo, Aguedo Velarde, Higinio Benitez, Tomás del Rosario, José
Alejandrino, Alberto Barretto, José Ma. de la Viña, José Luna, Antonio Luna, Mariano Abella, Juan Manday, Felipe
Calderón, Arsenio Cruz and Felipe Buencamino, all wealthy and well educated.
In that same New Year’s message, General Aguinaldo proposed yet another amendment, i.e. the
expulsion of the friars from the Philippines and the confiscation of their properties. But there was
neither time nor possibility to carry this into effect, because by then Philippine-American relations,
more strained than ever, was about to erupt.
Treaty of Paris.
By the Treaty of Paris signed on 10 December
1898 between Spain and the United States, the
former transferred
sovereignty over
the Philippines to
the latter, on
payment of a $20
million indemnity.
The Americans
quickly effected
their rights by
increasing the
troops and war
materials they sent
to the
Archipelago.
Until the signing of the treaty, Spanish forces commanded by General
Diego de los Rios had kept certain places in the Visayas and Mindanao
loyal to Spain, even as Filipino revolutionaries controlled other parts of
the country. But after the signing of the treaty, the Spanish army slowly
abandoned the places they held. (A, pp. 327-332)
Outbreak of Hostilities.
On the night of 4 February 1899, an American sentinel of the Nebraska Volunteers fired against a
Filipino soldier who attempted to cross the bridge of San Juan del Monte. This was the first spark of
a war that was to last for three long years. In the battle that followed this fatal shot, the Americans
occupied all the towns around Manila after overcoming the tenacious resistance of the Filipinos and
devastating their houses and buildings with their powerful land and sea artillery. When the church
and convento of Paco burned, frightful scenes took place among the military and civilian natives who
had flocked there for shelter or defense. In the following days, the Augustinian convent in Guadalupe
was also fodder for the flames which the Americans had put to the torch when they abandoned it
temporarily before an attack by the Filipinos.
The Filipinos fought rather well during this war, but they almost always had to beat back before the
numerical superiority and greater fire power of North American weapons. One after another, the
ephemeral capitals Aguinaldo had chosen as the seat of his government fell to the conquerors.
Malolos fell on 31 March, San Fernando (Pampanga) on 5 May, Cabanatuan on 29 October, and
Tarlac on 12 November.
During the American advance through Bulacan and Pampanga, the churches and conventos in some
towns were consumed by flames, either because the Filipinos used them as defenses, or some
insurgent leaders burned them to prevent the enemy from using them as their defense or quarters for
their troops. Churches and conventos in the following towns were burned: Mariquina, Guiguinto,
Malolos, Marilao, Bocaue, Pandi, Calumpit, and San Fernando. The same thing happened to other
edifices in towns near Manila, such as: the summer house of the University of Santo Tomas in
Navotas, the orphan asylums of the
Augustinians in Mandaluyong and Tambobong, and the church and rectory of Novaliches.
After the battle of San Jacinto, Aguinaldo clearly understood that his forces could not contain the
American advance, and he immediately disbanded his regular army to initiate guerrilla warfare. The
Filipino leader, closely pursued by the American forces, rapidly passed through the provinces of
Pangasinan, La Union, and part of Ilocos Sur, in his attempt to escape to the thicknesses of the
Central Cordillera range. The pages of history have preserved for posterity the fight at Tirad Pass,
where a handful of Filipinos commanded by the youthful Gregorio del Pilar met death on 2 December
1899 when they faced a much superior American contingent. But this sacrifice of their lives delayed
for a time Aguinaldo’s capture, who was finally caught near the town of Palanan, Isabela, on 23
March 1901.
This was a big blow to the revolutionary cause, which in many places was already on the decline.
The last Filipino leaders to surrender were Noriel in Cavite, Lukban in Samar, and Malvar and
Gonzalez in Batangas. (A, pp. 333-334)

30. Religious Adjustment After the Revolution.

End of the Royal Patronage.
During the Spanish period, the Holy See was not directly in charge of many
matters on the Church in the Philippines because of the rights of the
Patronato which she had granted to the Spanish monarchs, which they then
exercised either directly by themselves or through the Governor-General as
Vice-Patron. But, with the fall of the Spanish government, the Holy See had
to attend directly to the many needs of the Church in the country. To this
end, the Holy See sent Archbishop Placide Louise Chapelle of New Orleans
as its Apostolic Delegate.
Within a few days after his arrival on 24 January 1900, at a reception which
the clergy and the Filipinos held in his honor, Archbishop Chapelle was able
to experience, together with Archbishop Nozaleda and Bishop Campomanes,
the intense feelings provoked by the religious question in the Philippines.
The more prudent Catholic sector of the country held another solemn
reception on 2 February, as an act of satisfaction.
Three Apostolic Delegates.
Archbishop Chapelle held secret conferences with the Archbishop of Manila
and the bishops of Vigan, Cebu and Jaro, in order to study the problems that
weighed down the Church in the Philippines and find solutions to them. It
was also during this time that the American Civil Commission held
conferences with the diocesan
prelates of the Philippines who were still in the country, together with all the Superiors of the
religious orders and many prominent Filipinos, in order to situate clearly and truthfully the facts and
conditions of the country. Soon, the Apostolic Delegate realized that some of the participants of the
conferences were not guided by the best intentions. On the other hand, Archbishop Chapelle was very
well disposed towards the religious orders.25 And because of his affection towards them, he earned
the hostility of the elements opposed to them. Archbishop Chapelle was back in the United States by
the autumn of 1901. He died on 10 August 1905 of yellow fever, which he had contracted while
visiting the sick of his diocese.

25Monsignor Placide Louise Chapelle was in Paris during the negotiations for the Treaty of Peace between the United
States and Spain. There he obtained the insertion of a clause which confirmed to the Catholic Church the possession of all
properties to which she had a right under the Spanish government. He was appointed by Pope Leo XIII Apostolic
Delegate to the Philippines on 9 August 1899, and arrived in Manila on 24 January 1900. His first act was to persuade
General Otis to liberate the priests and religious held prisoners by Aguinaldo. After reorganizing the affairs of the Church,
he helped greatly in the general pacification of the country.
Monsignor Giovanni Baptista Guidi, who had been appointed to succeed Monsignor Chapelle,
arrived in Manila on 17 November 1902. He brought with him the Apostolic Constitution Quae mari
sinico26 signed by Pope Leo XIII on 17 September 1902, which was to be the Magna Carta of the
Catholic Church in the Philippines until the promulgation of the acts of a council which was to be
held in Manila. Unfortunately, the difficulties he met—especially on the sale of the friar lands—
aggravated a chronic heart ailment he had, such that he died on 26 June 1904.
On 6 February 1905, the third Apostolic Delegate arrived in Manila. He was Monsignor Ambrosio
Agius,
O.S.B.of Palmira. More fortunate than his predecessor with regard to the Council, he saw its
celebration in 1907.
American Bishops for Filipino Dioceses.
There were four bishops residing here when the Spanish government in the Philippines ended:
Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda, O.P. of Manila; Bishop Jose Hevia Campomanes, O.P. of Nueva
Segovia; Bishop Martin Garcia Alcocer, O.F.M. of Cebu; and Bishop Andres Ferrero, O.R.S.A. of
Jaro. The fifth bishop, Bishop Arsenio del Campo of Nueva Caceres, had already sailed from the
Philippines with the permission of the Captain-General during the blockade of Manila.
Nozaleda and Hevia sailed for Europe on 25 September 1900, the former stopping in Rome for some
time to settle certain problems of his archdiocese. Bishop Alcocer of Cebu,
who was acting as the Apostolic Administrator of the archdiocese
of Manila after the departure of Monsignor Chapelle in April
1901, left for Hongkong on 25 October 1903; his bad health forced
him to leave the country without waiting for the new American
archbishop Monsignor Jeremias Harty. Bishop Ferrero followed
and left for Spain on 27 October.
Monsignor Rooker arrived on 16 October, and on 2 November he
took possession of his see of Jaro. A few days previously on 6
October, the new prelate of Vigan, Bishop Dougherty, arrived in
Manila; he took possession of his see on 22 October. On 15
January 1904 at sundown, Monsignor Harty, Archbishop
Nozaleda’s successor, landed in Manila. It was also at about this
time that the new bishop of Cebu, Monsignor Hendrick, arrived in
the Philippines.
As for the see of Nueva Caceres, the Holy See had its eyes on
Monsignor Jorge Barlin, the first Filipino ever to be honored to
rule a Filipino diocese.
The Religious Relinquish Their Parishes.
Much has been written about the hostility that part of the Filipino nation had shown in various ways
against the friars as parish priests and landowners before, during, and after the revolution. The roots
of this animosity, at least as far as the friars were concerned, must be found in the fiscalizing role
which many of

26 The Apostolic Constitution Quae mari sinico signed by Pope Leo XIII on 17 September 1902 addressed the changed
situation in the Islands and provided for the establishment of new dioceses. It also set guidelines for the administration of
parishes, the formation of the clergy, the education of the young, and the giving of missions. As envisioned by Quae mari
Sinico, the reorientation of the Church in the Philippines would be much advanced by the holding of a Provincial Council.
This was held in Manila from December 1907 to June 1908. Eventually, the Council of Manila proposed changes in the
division of dioceses of Quae mari sinico. Suggestions were made for new dioceses to be established in Tuguegarao,
Capiz, Zamboanga and Lipa. This became a reality in 1910 by virtue of a Decretum Consistoriale executed by Pope Pius
X; however, Capiz was substituted with Calbayog. With the establishment of new dioceses came the appointment of new
bishops, bringing into consideration the readiness of the Filipino clergy for the episcopate.
them had to play because of the close relationship between the State and the Church under the
Spanish political system.
By custom, and subsequently by law, to the parish priest was given complete supervisory power over
the municipal government of his town. His civil functions became very many, and one of his chief
duties was supposed by the people to be to report to the central government of Manila the persons in
his parish whose political views or actions were hostile to the Spanish regime. The friars thus
became involved in a reactionary policy, which placed them in opposition to the people, and made
them responsible in the popular mind for the severity with which the Spanish government punished
those suspected of liberal political opinions.27
The friars could have returned to many of the parishes if they had enough courage, because the
people in general did not reject them, and at times wanted and requested their return. But weakened
by the rigors of their imprisonment, fearful of the semi-official opposition, and disheartened by the
uncertain future, many of them chose rather to return to Spain or go to other regions, where the Lord
of the vineyard was preparing other fields of apostolate for them. The policy of the Superiors was, in
their regard, to send friars to the towns which asked for them. In many cases, however, the people
did not ask for them, out of fear for the Federal Party which was strongly opposed to the return of the
friars to the parishes.
Even then, we find the Dominicans taking charge of the Batanes Islands and of some parishes in
Cagayan and Isabela; of the colleges of San Jacinto in Tuguegarao and Saint Albert in Dagupan; of
the Sanctuary at Manaoag in addition to one or two parishes in central Luzon. In 1906, the
Dominicans asked the Bishop of Nueva Segovia for their old missions in Nueva Vizcaya which,
because of lack of secular priests, were almost totally abandoned to the hands of the Aglipayans.
However, the prelate denied them their request, we believe because he was following instructions
from Rome for the sake of peace. The Augustinians returned to some towns in Pampanga, and the
Recollects to a number of doctrinas in Bohol and Palawan. At the request of some towns or of the
Church authorities, and with the consent of the American government, the Franciscans returned to
take charge gradually of many of their old parishes, like Santa Ana in Manila, a few around Laguna
de Bay, one or two in Camarines, and almost all of the parishes in Samar. In 1922, these Fathers
were ministering to 283,350 souls in thirty-seven parishes.
In any case, the more or less voluntary abandonment by the friars of the parishes resulted in a certain
sense in a blessing for them, since they were now free to devote themselves more to the missions and
to the work of education. The parochial ministry which had become the nerve and the reason for their
stay in the Philippines came to be for them spiritually and religiously prejudicial, was a source of
danger for a good number of their members. An as we have seen, it earned for them hatred and
antipathy, especially in those places where they also owned lands. For this reason, it became the
Dominican policy not to accept lands where they were serving as parish priests.
On retiring from the parishes, the friars left a vacuum that was very hard to fill. And in their place the
Filipino assistant priests went to take possession of the parishes. But for the moment, neither in
number nor in their previous training were they able to satisfactorily substitute the friars. There was
urgent need for a program of formation which could produce more and better-trained clergy, but this
would be a hard and time-consuming effort that would require several decades to finish.
The Sale of the Friar Lands.
The legitimacy and validity of the friars’ possession of their haciendas was so clear that, as the
American Commission said when it examined their titles, “among the property titles claimed by
anyone, none are as legitimate as those which the religious orders are presenting for their estates.”
Fearful that if the revolution succeeded, they would lose their lands, the religious orders planned a
program to legally sell their properties to individuals, or corporations formed for this purpose while
they retained
27 William H. Taft, The Church and Our Government in the Philippines, 1904.
possession and control of majority of their shares of stock. The Augustinians and the Recollects
formed their respective companies for this purpose; we do not have any data on them, however, and
cannot take them up here. But we can take up The Philippine Sugar Estates Development Corporation
of the Dominican Order; organized to safeguard their large estates, it provides some idea of how
these corporations were managed.
Here is what William H. Taft said about the subject:
In 1901, American civil government was established, and courts were created for the purpose of
determining civil rights. The friars had meantime transferred their titles to promoting companies,
taking back shares in the corporations as a consideration for the transfers. With the restorations of
tranquility in 1902, there was no just reason why the companies now owning the lands should not
proceed to collect their rents and to oust the tenants if the rents were not paid. The tenants were
sullen and not disposed to recognize the title of the friars or to pay their rents. A systematic attempt
to collect the rents would involve eviction suits against many thousand tenants; judgment would
doubtless follow the suits, and the executive officers of the courts must proceed to evict from their
houses and homes thousands of farmers in the most populous provinces in the Islands, and chiefly
among the Tagalogs, a tribe easily aroused to disturbance and insurrection.
Already on 8 August 1898, while the city of Manila was being blockaded by the American squadron
from the sea, and by the Filipino forces on land, the Dominicans sold their farms by legal deed to Mr.
Richard Henry Andrews, an English trader of a big commercial house in the city. Father Paredes
writes that “the purpose of the sale was merely to avoid the dangers which were probable in the new
political order, in which the property of the religious orders or their civil rights might not be
respected, considering the campaign of vilification that the sects conducted in those critical days of
the revolution.”28 Because Mr. Andrews was unable to pay the price agreed on, the organization of
the Philippine Sugar Estates Development Company was formalized by written contract on 29
January 1899, signed by Mr. Andrews and countersigned by Mr. Baldomero de Hazañas. The
Dominican Order would intervene in the transactions of the company privately until 1910, through
Father Raimundo Velasquez, O.P. In the meeting of 30 August 1900, Fathers Velasquez and
Francisco Gutierrez Rapide were elected as members of the board of trustees. The latter would serve
as the gerent-administrator beginning on the month of February 1901 on the death of Mr. Andrews.
Meanwhile, other persons would enter the scene. These were Mr.
William
H. Taft, and the new Apostolic Delegate Monsignor Guidi.
Mr. Taft soon found out that the friar lands, practically in the hands of
tenants, could be a source of danger to the internal peace of the
country if the government interested itself in obliging the tenants to
recognize the rights of their real owners. The attitude of Mr. Taft, as
he himself subsequently indicated in a speech before the faculty and
the students of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana on 5 October
1904, was: “It had been clearly ascertained that if the government
bought the lands, the government as landlord would have less
difficulty in dealing with the tenants, than it would have in enforcing
the rights of the friars as landlords; and that by offering the tenants the
opportunity to purchase the lands on small annual payments for ten or
twenty years, a transfer of the lands to the tenants might probably be
effected without much, if any, pecuniary loss to the government.”
With this idea in mind, and convinced that the friars would have no
more inducement to stay in the Philippines if they sold their
lands, Taft
28
Informe sobre la Compañia Sugar.
undertook his historic trip to Rome in 1903, armed with a letter of instruction from the Secretary
War, a letter of introduction from the Secretary of State to Cardinal Rampolla, and a personal letter of
courtesy and greeting from President Roosevelt to His Holiness Pope Leo XIII. He first called on
Cardinal Rampolla who received him cordially. Later, he was escorted into the presence of Leo XIII.
The Vatican readily agreed on the purchase of the friars’ lands by the American government; but to
the proposition that it should also agree to the withdrawal of the friars in the course of three years, it
declined to agree for the following reason, as stated by Mr. Taft:
 First, because that was a question of religious discipline, which ought not form a term in a
commercial contract.
 Second, because it did not desire, by such a stipulation, to reflect upon the Spanish religious
orders and thus give apparent support to the slanders which had been published against them by
their enemies.
 And third, because such agreement would be offensive to Spain.
Regarding the departure of the friars, Leo XIII had answered Mr. Taft: that “against the Spanish
religious orders, accusations had been made, all of which had every sign of being calumnies; that
these religious were his sons; and that he would never consent to impose on them without cause a
penalty as heavy as that of obliging them to leave the Philippines.”
Toward the end of 1903, the American government rated the
haciendas of the Augustinians and the Recollects as worth $20.00 per
hectare, while those of the Dominicans $6.00. This was an obstacle for
the latter’s sale, for Gutierrez Rapide refused to agree to that price
despite the good intentions of Mr. Taft. It was thus that in 1903 the
Augustinians and the Recollects sold their lands; and only a promise to
buy-and-sell was signed between Mr. Rapide and Mr. Taft on 22
December 1903 with regard to the Dominican estates. The following
day, Mr. Taft sailed for the United States.
In August 1905, Mr. Taft returned to Manila. He was now the
American Secretary of War, and he had come accompanied by a full
representation of American congressmen to attend the inauguration of
the first Philippine Assembly. He was also desirous of finishing some
matters which he had left hanging in 1903, especially the sale of the
lands of the Dominicans. Finally, after overcoming the resistance of
Mr. Luke E. Wright who was not quite ready to finish the settlement
because he considered it prejudicial to the government, he signed the
deed of sale on 20 October 1905.
The Problem of the Obras Pias, and Litigation Over San Jose College Properties.
Other problems which faced the American government in the Philippines and the Church centered
around the obras pias. They belonged to or were administered by the following entities: Casa de
Misericordia and the College of Santa Isabel; the colleges of San Jose and of Santa Rita; the
Franciscan and Dominican Third Orders; the Archconfraternity of Jesus of Nazareth of the
Recollects; the hospitals of San Juan de Dios and of San Lazaro; the Monte de Piedad and Caja de
Ahorros. According to Fray Nozaleda:
These were… foundations which all together add up to several million pesos, the product of the
legacy of the ancient Spaniards, intended for works of education, piety and charity. All of these
institutions, even if they are not the property of the Spanish government, were under the Patronato
Real, which in the Indies had a greater influence than the Peninsula; and, for this reason, they were
administered according to the laws of the Overseas Minister, and those that the Vice-Patrons had
 issued for the purpose.
However, the new masters of the Archipelago did not know much about the nature of the obras pias, and
reached the conclusion, especially after listening to some Filipinos interested in confiscating them
from the Church, that these institutions or these capital funds which the Church administered had
been the property of the Spanish government, and therefore had passed on to become the property of
the American government in virtue of the Treaty of Paris. This belief gave origin to the legal battle
which lasted for years, and which ended in the manner that we shall see later. Fray Nozaleda adds:
It cost no little work to make them understand the contrary. But, finally, God granted that they
should be convinced that it was a case of ecclesiastical ownership, and not of the goods of the
Spanish government, to which my decree of 14 November 1898 contributed not a little, which to
vindicate the rights which over these trust funds the Council of Trent grants to the bishops, I declared
that the laws issued by the Royal Patronato on this matter were obsolete and already abrogated in the
Philippines. With this, the great part of these foundations were kept intact, the immense majority of
which were destined for the descendants of Spaniards. However, in order to save the Hospital of San
Juan de Dios and the Monte de Piedad, he had to sustain a longer and more vigorous fight. In the
case of the goods of the College of San Jose, there was need to follow up in the courts a litigation
with a big group of Filipinos belonging to the party called “Federal”, who claimed that those goods
were the property of the native Filipinos.29
On 13 June 1899, Father Santiago Paya y Perez,
O.P., then the Rector of the University of Santo
Tomas, requested General Elwell S. Otis, the
Military Governor of the Philippines, for license to
reopen his institution. Otis granted it, but later
withdrew his permission until he could study the
relationship between the Faculties of Medicine and
Pharmacy of the university, and the property and
endowment of the College of San Jose. 30 Without
doubt, he acted under the influence of Trinidad
Pardo de Tavera, Felipe Calderon and others who
had laid their eyes on the assets of the College of
San Jose to serve as the foundation for a state
university of medicine and pharmacy.
This action of General Otis was the occasion for the filing of a court case in which Pardo de Tavera
and Calderon were the plaintiffs, and the Catholic Church represented by Monsignor Chapelle was
the defendant. While the case was slowly being contested in court, the President of the Civil
Commission William H. Taft allowed the university, on the request of Father Raimundo Velazquez,
O.P., Father Paya’s successor as Rector of the university, to reopen.
Years went by in useless charges and answers, until 1907 when Taft and Archbishop Jeremias Harty,
Nozaleda’s successor, signed an agreement by which the Church ceded San Lazaro Hospital to the
government, and the government recognized the rights of the Church to the properties of the other
obras

29 Bernardino Nozaleda, O.P., Defensa obligada contra acusaciones gratuitas, Madrid, 1904.
30 The Jesuits had established the College of San Jose in 1601 as a residential college for boarder-candidates for the
priesthood. In 1610, the college was reorganized as an endowed school and obra pia, with an endowment donated by
Captain Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa. In 1622, Pope Gregory XV gave the college permission to confer academic
degrees. In 1768, when the Jesuits were expelled from the Philippines, the college continued to function under the secular
clergy. In 1875, upon petition of the Dominican procurator in Madrid, the building and endowment of the College of San
Jose were applied to the University of Santo Tomas to support its Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy. In 1898, when the
Americans took charge of all the assets of the Spanish government, they included the College of San Jose among them. In
1907, through the Taft-Harty Agreement, the entire estate fell under Church jurisdiction, with no more claims from the
government. In 1910, by virtue of a May 3 brief of Pope Pius X to Monsignor Ambrose Agius, Apostolic Delegate to the
Philippines, the College of San Jose was detached from the University of Santo Tomas, and returned to the Jesuits to be
used according to the terms of the original endowment.
pias. Archbishop Harty’s goal in this transaction seemed to be primarily to
secure proprietary rights over the building and estate of the College of San
Jose, which he was thinking of converting into an archdiocesan seminary.
But if this had been his intention, he was soon frustrated since by this time
the Jesuit Fathers had already started negotiations with the Holy See for the
administration of the College of San Jose to be returned to them.
For his part, Father Velasquez, in defense of the rights of the university,
although this would run counter to the Archbishop’s desires, submitted on
17 February 1908 before the Supreme Court a motion asking the tribunal to
annul the transaction between Taft and Monsignor Harty. This step resulted
only in further delaying the resolution of the case. But this time, Rome
intervened by deciding in 1910 that the property of the College of San Jose
be returned to the Society of Jesus, so that it might be used for the original
purpose of the foundation.
Payment of Rental and Damage to Occupied Property.
The question of “war damage” also demanded the attention of the American government in the first
days of their occupation of the Philippines. Outside of the conventos, the churches, the town halls,
and some houses of prominent Filipinos, it was well known that the buildings then in existence in this
country were nothing more than mere shacks of bamboo and nipa. Consequently, it was natural for
the Americans in their campaigns to occupy the strong ecclesiastical buildings to quarter themselves
in.
It should not be surprising, unfortunate as it was, to know that Aguinaldo’s forces had burned
churches or conventos to prevent the enemy from entrenching themselves in certain places where they
could be impregnable in case of counterattack, or in places which could serve as their barracks.
Consequently, the ecclesiastical authorities actually preferred that the Yankees occupy their
buildings, for they would then be concerned with their preservation.
The occupation of ecclesiastical buildings lasted for two years, and in some cases longer. The North
Americans also offered to pay the damages and injuries which their troops had caused on their
buildings and farms, even though in some cases it might have been part of some operation of the war.
(A, pp. 345- 355)