Note 6 — Chapter VII · THE AUDIENCIA AND THE GOVERNOR: THE MILITARY JURISDICTION

This opinion was shared by Juan José Delgado, the able Jesuit historian, who expressed the conviction that the “islands need disinterested military governors, not merchants; and men of resolution and character, not students, who are more fit to govern monasteries than communities of heroes.”6 Delgado recommended that governors of the Philippines should be picked men, selected for their military qualities. The distance and isolation of the colony and its proximity to the great empires of China and Japan made defense the first requisite. Delgado believed that a soldier would be less amenable to bribes and that commercial ventures would be less attractive to him.7 He recommended that governors should be absolute in affairs of government and war and that all departments and officials of the government should be subject to him.