Note 8 — Moro Pirates and their Raids in the Seventeenth Century

Corralat, fearing the vengeance of the Spaniards, wrote to the governor of Zamboanga throwing the responsibility for what had occurred on his nephew Balatamay, whom he could not chastise on account of the latter being so powerful. He also wrote to Manrique de Lara, attributing the deaths of the Jesuits and other Spaniards to imprudent acts committed by Father López, and entreated the governor that, mutually forgiving injuries, affairs might remain as they had previously been. But his complicity in the event came to be discovered, through another letter directed in June, 1656, to the sultan of Joló, exhorting the latter to unite with him for defending the religion which both professed. The Joloan monarch sent his letter to the governor of Zamboanga in order to demonstrate his loyalty. Similar assistance was solicited by Corralat from the Dutch and from the sovereigns of Macasar and Ternate; and to the latter, in order to stimulate him more, he sent the original letter of Manrique de Lara, presenting the question under the religious aspect only—a letter which the Spanish governor of Ternate was able to recover, and he sent it to its author. The captain-general of Filipinas, not considering his forces sufficient for waging war on the powerful sultan of Mindanao, notified the governor of Zamboanga8 to accept Corralat’s excuses as sufficient until he could ascertain whether reënforcements were arriving from Nueva España and they could avenge so many injuries.