Note 32 — REPRESENTATION OF FILIPINAS IN THE SPANISH CORTES

July 31, 1837, the new commercial treaty made September 22, 1836, between the governor of the Philippines and the sultan of Joló was referred to the committees on State and Commerce, was reported on favorably on October 4, and was accordingly approved on the twelfth of October. This treaty stipulated that every three-masted schooner porting at Joló with Chinese passengers from Manila was to pay 2,000 pesos fuertes, and lesser boats in proportion to their size. As the most important cargo ever sent to Joló from Manila never exceeded 2,500 pesos in value, it is hard to see the value of this treaty so greatly lauded in Madrid. No Joloan vessels went to Manila. In this matter the officials showed a woful ignorance of the Philippines, the minister of the navy stating that all vessels stopped at Joló on their way to the Philippines. This treaty, as well as the one made by the governor of Zamboanga with the chief of Maluso near Basilan, only made the Moros bolder in their piracy. See Montero y Vidal, Historia general, ii, pp. 557–560. ↑