Chapter VII · THE AUDIENCIA AND THE GOVERNOR: THE MILITARY JURISDICTION

The isolation of the Philippines, their distance from the home country and New Spain, and their proximity to the colonies and trade routes of rival nations, made the problem of defense the foremost consideration. This was almost equally true of New Spain, Perú, and the West Indian colonies, all of which were exposed to the attack of outside enemies, though, of course, they were neither as isolated nor as far away as the Philippines.

The necessity of being ever on the alert, constantly prepared to resist invasion and to put down insurrection, gave a military character to the governments of these colonies. The viceroys and governors were in most cases trained soldiers. In addition to their other prerogatives, they exercised the office and title of captain-general and as such they commanded the military and naval forces of their colonies, inadequate as these forces sometimes were. During the first two hundred years governors and viceroys were largely selected on the basis of their past military exploits on the continent or in America. The administrations of the different Philippine governors of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were characterized rather by their devotion to military affairs than by economic improvements or administrative efficiency. The supervision of judicial and governmental affairs was thus left for long periods in the hands of other officials and authorities, to be reclaimed or fought over by the governors when their time was not taken up by military conquests.

It is practically agreed among all authorities who have written on the Philippines that the leading consideration and necessity of the government during two hundred years was military defense. These writers comprise officials who saw service there and commentators who visited the Islands and studied the government. In their recommendations and comments they unite in urging that the defense of the Islands should not be neglected; that the governor should be given adequate forces with sufficient jurisdiction over them and over the other elements of the colony to defend it successfully from invasion or insurrection.

The characteristic tendency throughout the history, of the Islands to lay stress on the military side of the governor’s position was commented on by Montero y Vidal, the modern historian of the Philippines, in the following terms:

Notwithstanding the fact that the early laws conferred exclusive military powers on the governor, a glance at three hundred years of Spanish colonial history will show that the audiencias participated in these matters in two different ways. In fact, an analysis of the military jurisdiction shows the presence and the exercise, in general, of two kinds of activity. These consisted, first, of a special judicial system for the trial of persons under military law and distinct from the civil jurisdiction, and second, of the control and disposition of the military forces of the Islands, and their utilization for defense. One, therefore, was judicial, the other was administrative, but both of these forces of activity were within the military sphere. The problem of this chapter, therefore, consists in determining the conditions, circumstances, and extent of the audiencia’s participation in military affairs, and of its relation to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor and captain-general.

The captain-general exercised the pardoning power. Under some circumstances cases might be appealed to Spain, but in these suits, most of which involved personal crimes and misdemeanors, the decision of the captain-general or the local military tribunal was usually final, if for no other reason than the fact that the soldiers in Manila lacked the means to carry their cases further. Those cases which were appealed usually involved principles of law desirable to be tested by reference to a higher tribunal. The junta de guerra de Indias received all appeals from the military officials of the colonies and solved all questions of a judicial or administrative character that were carried to it.

The king administered a severe reprimand to the governor and oidores on this occasion for their insistence on these small points of personal dignity in which the real purpose of the law was entirely overlooked in the pompous insistence of these officials on what they imagined to be their own particular rights. The case just alluded to began in 1792, and was carried through ten years of petty strife. The blame for this cannot be ascribed entirely to the magistrates of the audiencia, or to the governor, who had to act in accordance with the law as he interpreted it. The real fault lay in the failure of the Spanish governmental system to place implicit confidence in the judgment and ability of its servants. Considering the final ends of justice, it made little difference whether sentence was pronounced upon this individual by the governor as military commander, or as president of the audiencia. It is true that the authorities might have compromised on many occasions; indeed, from the viewpoint of history it may be said that they should have done so, instead of so often wasting their energies on these petty battles. These incessant disputes were encouraged and facilitated by the ease with which appeals could be made to Spain, thus hindering the immediate execution of decisions. The Council of the Indies interfered in details which should have been left entirely to the colonial authorities. This interference encouraged appeal, and matters of no relative importance to Spain’s colonial empire frequently occupied a large share of the attention of the sovereign tribunal. Colonial officials were not entrusted with the authority and responsibility which they should have had, and the central government wasted its time attending to small affairs which should have been concluded by subordinates in the colonies.

Aside from the duty of the oidores to try military cases when commissioned by the governor to do so, it will be seen that the tribunal itself exercised much more extensive authority in the actual administration of military affairs. Two factors may be said to have contributed to this. One was the fact that the audiencia was frequently consulted by the king or governor in regard to the defense of the colony. The other may be seen in the actual assumption of the government at various times by the audiencia, and the successful defense of the Islands by the military forces under the leadership of the oidores. Notwithstanding the fact that the governor’s recognized sphere of action was military, and in spite of the repeated prohibitions against the interference of the tribunal in these matters, the audiencia received considerable official encouragement and authorization to interest itself in military affairs.

The important part played by the audiencia in the defense of Manila against the British in 1762 will be discussed in another chapter. While Governor Rojo and the majority of the oidores were in the city, surrounded by the enemy, Oidor Anda y Salazar, who had been sent to the provinces as visitor, organized and maintained a defense against the enemy. When he was commanded by the governor to surrender, he refused, successfully maintaining the claim that as the sole, legally-appointed oidor who had not surrendered, he was both audiencia and governor, and as such his actions were legal. His claims were recognized and approved by the king. This is perhaps the most peculiar and extraordinary example of the audiencia’s assumption of military power.

The governor’s accountability for the government of the Chinese was closely related to his jurisdiction over military affairs. The Chinese were regarded with great suspicion by the residents of Manila, who lived in constant fear of an outbreak in the Parián, or of a descent upon the coast of Luzón by Chinese from without. The problem of the Chinese was therefore essentially one of defense, and as such it was entrusted to the governor and captain-general. Nevertheless, the audiencia claimed the right to intervene in many matters pertaining to the government of these people, and there was much dissension between the oidores and the governor over this question. The governor on some occasions rigidly resisted the claims of the audiencia to exercise jurisdiction over the Chinese, and on others he invited the participation of the tribunal. This state of affairs was brought about by the seeming conflict of the laws bearing upon this question.

It will not be extraneous to point out here that this was a common weakness of many laws, by which they were frequently rendered entirely inapplicable. In this case, for example, the evident object was to prevent the oidores from interfering in Chinese affairs, thus guaranteeing the government and administration by officials who were endowed with knowledge and understanding of their racial characteristics and peculiarities, while centering the ultimate responsibility for them in the governor. It was realized, however, that exceptional cases might arise in which some other procedure might be advisable, and accordingly a loophole was left whereby the entire law could be nullified. The audiencia was thus given a basis for intervention in the government of the Chinese whenever it suited the convenience of the magistrates. This defect is emphasized here because this particular exception justified the intervention of the audiencia on many occasions, and was a cause of continual contention between the governor and the audiencia in Chinese affairs.

Without carrying this discussion further, it is clear that the audiencia had general appellate jurisdiction in cases involving the Chinese. These cases, when they originated in the Parián, were tried in first instance by special judges for the Chinese, but suits brought against a Chinese who lived outside, or suits of a semi-public nature, as the one just noted, might be tried in first instance by the ordinary judges. It has also been noted that oidores were sometimes delegated to try cases in first instance involving treason or insurrection of Chinese. In regard to matters of government, it may be said that the governor was held responsible, but even in these the oidores participated in an advisory capacity.