Note 7 — Chapter VI · THE AUDIENCIA AND THE GOVERNOR: GENERAL RELATIONS

Foremost among the responsibilities of the executive was that of supervising the administration of the colonial exchequer. In this, however, he was assisted by the audiencia. The customary oficiales reales were among the first officials created for the Philippine government, and they were responsible to the governor. At the time of the creation of the audiencia, it was ordered that the governor and two oidores should audit the accounts of the oficiales reales, but this power was transferred to Governor Dasmariñas when the audiencia was removed in 1589. In 1602 the right of inspection of accounts was returned to the oidores,7 but the governor, it was stated, as executive head of the government, was responsible, and he exercised direct intervention in these matters, limited only by the annual inspection of the oidores. During the greater part of the history of the Islands the governor exercised supervision over the collection and the administration of the public revenue, in accordance with the law,8 and he was required to be present at the weekly meetings of the junta de hacienda, of which two magistrates were members, there to pass on all financial measures and to authorize expenditures.9 The governor had control over the sale of offices, jointly with the oficiales reales, but from the correspondence on these subjects it is clear that the audiencia was designed to check the governor’s authority in that particular.10 The governor was forbidden to authorize extraordinary expenditures from the treasury without express royal permission, except in cases of riot, or invasion.11 This regulation was almost impossible of faithful execution, and as his duties increased and became more complicated, the governor was unable to give as complete attention to these matters as the laws of the Indies prescribed. Although the governor had these financial powers, he could not decide cases appealed from the oficiales reales. These were regarded as contentious cases and as such were resolved by the audiencia.12 In Mexico and Lima, wherein there were higher tribunals of accounts than in Manila (contaduría mayor), the audiencia did not have this jurisdiction.