Note 101 — The Pardo Controversy

He who attempts to correct abuses and scandals finds it necessary to equip himself with courage to meet the hostilities which he will encounter; for abuses which have already become inveterate, and scandals favored by indulgence, cannot be overcome without strenuous efforts and repeated conflicts. Such was the case of a certain prebend whom the predecessor of his illustrious Lordship had tried to correct, but had never been able to do so on account of the support that the delinquent received from a certain potent personage; accordingly the archbishop’s zeal contented itself with giving information of the whole matter to the king our sovereign—who issued on this matter a royal decree commanding the said archbishop to correct the scandalous acts of that prebend, without fear or regard for any power. As this royal decree arrived at Manila when the said archbishop was already dead, the king our sovereign despatched another decree to our archbishop-elect, Don Fray Felipe Pardo, very earnestly recommending to him the correction of the transgressions of the said prebend.101 Notwithstanding the activity of our archbishop, he could not end the proceedings in this case for eight years, on account of the evasions of the culprit, and the protection that he found in the officials of the royal Audiencia, who at every step forbade our archbishop to take any further steps in the prosecution of the suits, thus preventing his holy zeal from successfully checking abuses and scandals.