Note 23 — Chapter XVI

In 1686 the Dominicans in Filipinas were strictly forbidden to drink chocolate. This ordinance was observed for several years, until chocolate became so cheap and so generally used (even by the poorest Indians and negroes) that it came to be regarded as a necessity rather than a delicacy, and the prohibition was removed from the friars. (Salazar, Hist. Sant. Rosario, p. 379.)

The culture of the cacao (Theobroma cacao), from the seeds of which chocolate is prepared, was introduced from Nueva España into the Philippines under the rule of Governor Diego de Salcedo. Murillo Velarde accredits this to the Jesuit Juan Davila (Hist. de Philipinas, fol. 395 v.): “He cared for both the temporal and spiritual good of the Indians, endeavoring that they should possess some means of gain which would cause them to remain permanently in the villages, in order to remove the difficulties which ensued from their wandering hither and yon—for, going about in this manner, they were not instructed in the Christian doctrine or in Christian morals—besides other damages which they cause. For this purpose he interceded with the governor, Don Diego de Salcedo, to cause to be brought from Nueva España some shoots of cacao, in order to plant them in Bisayas. The governor accordingly obtained them, while the father was at Carigara, where a plantation was begun with good results; and from that place it has spread to other villages and islands of Pintados—with great benefit to those Indians, and to the general advantage of all the islands; for this beverage is more necessary here than in other regions. It is especially so for the ministers [of religion], who go about in continual voyages and navigations, very often without having the comfort of having any other provision or nourishment.” Father Davila was born in Sevilla in 1615, entered the Jesuit order at the age of fifteen; and was ordained in 1639. For a time he was minister in the college for Irishmen in Sevilla. He came to the islands in 1643, and labored in the Bisayan missions for many years; he died in Ylog, Negros, June 20, 1706. For seven years before his death he suffered from a malignant cancer in the face. Concepción says (Hist. de Philipinas, ix, p. 150): “Chocolate is a great aid to feeble stomachs; and cacao is now produced in such abundance that it serves as the common beverage of every class of people, although it is true that some islands produce it of better quality and richness than do others.”

The introduction of the cacao which was made in 1670 (see VOL. XX, p. 198) is reconciled with that by Davila thus, by Blanco (Flora, ed. 1845, p. 420): “It is very probable that with the remittance of cacao plants which came from America at his order, some others were brought over by private persons; and thus, at the same time when the cacao was spreading through Carigara (where Father Davila was laboring) and through other regions, it would also be cultivated by Tagals. In the year 1674, when Father Ignacio de Mercado was parish priest of Lipa, he says that he distributed seeds of this tree to many persons.” The allusion here to Tagals refers to San Agustin’s statement that the plant of cacao brought over by Pedro Brabo in 1670 was stolen from him by an Indian of Lipa, named Juan del Aguila, who hid and cultivated it; and thence it spread throughout the islands. ↑