Note 3 — EVENTS IN FILIPINAS, 1739–1762

Señor Don Gaspar de la Torre made a bad beginning of his government; the violent proceedings which he instituted against the fiscal Arroyo began to make him odious to the community, the misfortunes which occurred during his term of office exasperated the minds of the citizens, and all his conduct was directed more toward pacifying this hatred than to gaining the esteem of the subjects whom he ruled. Seeing that he was disliked in the city, he began to be affected with melancholy, from which resulted a dysentery, a disease from which one seldom recovers in Philipinas. His illness was aggravated by the news which reached him that the village of Balayan in the province of Batangas had revolted;3 and finally a supposed revolt of the Sangleys ended his life. There was a rumor that the Chinese were going to come into the city, and, notwithstanding his illness, he tried to go out against them; his friends would not permit this, and soon ascertained that it was all a fabrication;4 but he became so feverish from the shock that he died a few days afterward, September 21, 1745 …. In his place began to rule, conformably to the directions given by his Majesty, Señor Arrechedera of the Order of St. Dominic, the bishop-elect of Ylocos. He made investigations in regard to the uprising of the Chinese, and found that they had no such intention, nor had they given any cause for suspecting them of rebellion; it was therefore believed that this report had been circulated in order to vex the governor. No long time was spent in quelling the uprising in Balayan; for the sargento-mayor went out with a hundred men of the regular troops and many Indians, encountered the insurgents, and, although he could not conquer them, because the Indians who accompanied him all fled immediately, checked the onset of the enemy, without his having suffered any mishap, save that he received a musket-shot from one of his own men, a raw recruit. He asked for aid from Manila, and they sent him two hundred men, with whom he conquered the enemies and punished them as they deserved—shooting some, and banishing others, according to the influence that they had exercised in the sedition, which vanished like smoke. He left behind a small detachment in that province, in order to inspire some respect [for the Spanish power] in the seditious who might remain in hiding; and the rest of the troops were sent to Cavite, because, besides the information which he received that the English were at Batavia with a squadron, the alcalde of Ilocos gave warning that two ships had been seen from that coast, with two smaller vessels, which were believed to be enemies. The most illustrious governor put the town in a condition for defense, erected various works, purchased arms through the agency of foreigners, and cast some cannons. All these preparations were not necessary, for the English did not come, although they resented our having taken from them a brigantine and a balandra …. In Philipinas, Manila found some consolation in the arrival of two ships,5 which had returned from Acapulco and brought some funds to relieve the necessities of the commonwealth. In one of them came Don Fray Pedro de la Santisima Trinidad,6 who, while a member of the Council of Indias, had taken the Franciscan habit in the Recollect convent of Pomasque; and his Majesty presented him for the archbishopric of Manila, asking the pope to compel him to accept that dignity. Fray Pedro, not being able to oppose the mandate of his Holiness, was consecrated in España; he came to Philipinas, and took possession of his office [mitra] on August 27, 1747. It appeared that he ought to have begun at the same time to rule as governor [of the islands]; for the king’s decree appointed for the vacancies [in that office] the archbishop of Manila, and in default of him the nearest bishop—through which arrangement the office had been assumed by Señor Arrechedera, who ought to have surrendered the authority to the archbishop as soon as the latter took possession of his see. His most illustrious Lordship did not choose to stir up this question, and contented himself with reporting the matter to the court; answer was made to him that orders had already been previously despatched that he should take charge of the government ad interim, but this royal order did not arrive [at Manila] until after the arrival of the proprietary governor. [His most illustrious Lordship] also brought a decree in which his Majesty committed to him the expulsion of the Chinese—which had not yet been effected, on account of the personal interests of the governors, although it had been repeatedly commanded; but he thought it well not to make the decree known until a better opportunity, because he found Señor Arrechedera greatly devoted to the Chinese.”7 This was the only defect that was observed in this most illustrious prelate and governor; in other matters his most illustrious Lordship carried himself with much honor in his government. He quelled the revolt in the island of Bohol, sending Commander Lechuga with a suitable force; this officer punished some of the rebels, and reduced all the fishermen’s villages of that island to obedience to the king of España; but in the hill-country the insurgents remain until this day.8