Philippine Progress Prior to 1898 Part 17

[76] Chao Ju-kua's Description of the Philippines.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 34, pp. 183-191.

Rizal, La Indolencia. (All quotations from this work are taken from the Derbyshire translation.):

"Indolence in the Philippines is a chronic malady, but not a hereditary one. The Filipinos have not always been what they are, witnesses whereto are all the historians of the first years after the discovery of the Islands.

"Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Malayan Filipinos carried on an active trade, not only among themselves but also with all the neighboring countries. A Chinese ma.n.u.script of the 13th century, translated by Dr. Hirth (Globus, Sept. 1889), which we will take up at another time, speaks of China's relations with the islands, relations purely commercial, in which mention is made of the activity and honesty of the traders of Luzon, who took the Chinese products and distributed them throughout all the islands, traveling for nine months, and then returned to pay religiously even for the merchandise that the Chinamen did not remember to have given them. The products which they in exchange exported from the islands were crude wax, cotton, pearls, tortoise-sh.e.l.l, betelnuts dry-goods, etc."

[77] The method of trading is thus described by Chao Ju-kua:

"When (Chinese) merchantmen arrive at that port they cast anchor at a place (called) the place of Mandarins. That place serves them as a market, or site where the products of their countries are exchanged. When a vessel has entered into the port (its captain) offers presents consisting of white parasols and umbrellas which serve them for daily use. The traders are obliged to observe these civilities in order to be able to count on the favor of those gentlemen.

"In order to trade, the savage traders are a.s.sembled (the Chinese call all foreigners savages except the j.a.panese, Koreans, and people of Anam.--Blumentritt) and have the goods carried in baskets, and although the bearers are often unknown, none of the goods are ever lost or stolen. The savage traders transport these goods to other islands, and thus eight or nine months pa.s.s until they have obtained other goods of value equivalent to those that have been received (from the Chinese). This forces the traders of the vessels to delay their departure, and hence it happens that the vessels that maintain trade with Ma-yi are the ones that take the longest to return to their country." * * *

"When foreign traders come to one of their villages, they must not touch the ground, but must remain aboard their vessel, which is anch.o.r.ed in the middle of the current, and announce their presence by beat of drum. Thereupon the savage traders approach in their light craft, in which they carry cotton, yellow wax, strange cloth, coconuts, onions, and fine mats, and all those things they offer for sale in exchange (for the articles of the Chinese). In case of misunderstanding in the price of the goods, it is necessary to summon the chief of the traders of that place, so that he may present himself in person, and arrange the tariff to the satisfaction of all." * * *

[78] The first thing noticed by Pigafetta, who came with Magellan in 1521, on arriving at the first island of the Philippines, Samar, was the courtesy and kindness of the inhabitants and their commerce. "To honor our captain," he says, "they conducted him to their boats where they had their merchandise, which consisted of cloves, cinnamon, pepper, nutmegs, mace, gold and other things; and they made us understand by gestures that such articles were to be found in the islands to which we were going."

Further on he speaks of the vessels and utensils of solid gold that he found in Butuan, where the people worked mines. He describes the silk dresses, the daggers with long gold hilts and scabbards of carved wood, the gold sets of teeth, etc. Among cereals and fruits he mentions rice, millet, oranges, lemons, panic.u.m, etc.

That the islands maintained relations with neighboring countries and even with distant ones is proven by the ships from Siam, laden with gold and slaves, that Magellan found in Cebu. These ships paid certain duties to the King of the island. In the same year, 1521, the survivors of Magellan's expedition met the son of the Rajah of Luzon, who, as captain-general of the Sultan of Borneo and admiral of his fleet, had conquered for him the great city of Lave (Sarawak?). Might this captain, who was greatly feared by all his foes, have been the Rajah Matanda whom the Spaniards afterwards encountered in Tondo in 1570?

In 1539 the warriors of Luzon took part in the formidable contests of Sumatra, and under the orders of Angi Siry Timor, Rajah of Batta, conquered and overthrew the terrible Alzadin, Sultan of Atchin, renowned in the historical annals of the Far East. (Marsden, Hist. of Sumatra, Chap. XX.)

At that time, that sea where float the islands like a set of emeralds on a paten of bright gla.s.s, that sea was everywhere traversed by junks, paraus, barangays, vintas, vessels swift as shuttles, so large that they could maintain a hundred rowers on a side (Morga); that sea bore everywhere commerce, industry, agriculture, by the force of the oars moved to the sound of warlike songs of the genealogies and achievements of the Philippine divinities. (Colin, Labor Evangelica, Chap. XV.)

Legaspi's expedition met in Butuan various traders of Luzon with their boats laden with iron, wax cloths, porcelain, etc. (Gaspar de San Agustin), plenty of provisions, activity, trade, movement in all the southern islands.

They arrived at the Island of Cebu, "abounding in provisions, with mines and washings of gold, and peopled with natives," as Morga says; "very populous, and at a port frequented by many ships that came from the islands and kingdoms near India," as Colin says; and even though they were peacefully received discord soon arose. The city was taken by force and burned. The fire destroyed the food supplies and naturally famine broke out in that town of a hundred thousand people, as the historians say, and among the members of the expedition, but the neighboring islands quickly relieved the need, thanks to the abundance they enjoyed. (La Indolencia, Rizal.)

Dr. J. A. Robertson in a note to the English translation of this work says:

"There is no doubt of the frequency of interisland trade among the peoples of the Philippines at an early period. Trade was stimulated by the very fact that the Malay peoples, except those who have been driven into the mountainous interiors, are by their very nature a seafaring people. The fact of an interisland traffic is indicative of a culture above that possessed by a people in the barbarian stage of culture. Of course, there was considerable Chinese trade as well throughout the islands."

[79] "Their customary method of trading was by bartering one thing for another, such as food, cloth, cattle, fowls, lands, houses, fields, slaves, fishing-grounds, and palm-trees (both nipa and wild). Sometimes a price intervened, which was paid in gold, as agreed upon, or in metal bells brought from China. These bells they regard as precious jewels; they resemble large pans and are very sonorous. They play upon these at their feasts, and carry them to the war in their boats instead of drums and other instruments. There are often delays and terms for certain payments, and bondsmen who intervene and bind themselves, but always with usurious and excessive profits and interests." (Antonio de Morga, Sucesos; Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, p. 128.)

[80] "The natives are free to move from one island to another, and from one province to another, and pay their tribute for that year in which they move and change their residence in the place to which they move; and to move from a Christian village that has instruction to another village possessing it. But on the other hand, they may not move from a place having instruction to one without it, nor in the same village from one barangay to another, nor from one faction to another. In this respect, the necessary precautions are made by the government, and the necessary provisions by the Audiencia, so that this system may be kept, and so that all annoyances resulting from this moving of the settled natives of one place to another may be avoided.

"Neither are the natives allowed to go out of their villages for trade, except by permission of the governor, or of his alcaldes-mayores and justices, or even of the religious, who most often have been embarra.s.sed by this, because of the instruction. This is done so that the natives may not wander about aimlessly when there is no need of it, away from their homes and settlements." (Morga's Sucesos.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, pp. 162-163.)

[81] "17. (Commerce is to be free to all Indians of whatever jurisdiction they be, throughout the Philippines; and no license is required, nor can any fee be charged. This will ensure a good supply of provisions and other necessities, and promote the cultivation of the land. Good treatment must be shown to them, and their pa.s.sage from one place to another facilitated, under penalty of a fine of 100 pesos, and a charge in the residencia of the one who transcends this order.)" (Ordinances of Good Government by Corcuera, 1642, and Cruzat y Gongora, 1696.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 50, p. 203).

[82] "70. (Interprovincial trade of the various products shall not be prohibited, as such prohibition is in violation of law vii, t.i.tulo xviii, book iv and law xxv, t.i.tulo i, book vi, in accordance with which laws trade is to be encouraged. The Indians may cut timber in accordance with law xiv, t.i.tulo xvii, book iv. The desire to gain, however, shall not be allowed to cause the Indians to send out of any province the products necessary for its conservation. This may be prohibited with the consent of the father minister, from whom the alcalde-mayor shall ask a certification for his own protection. Without the certification, he shall not make such prohibition, under penalty of the penalties of the preceding ordinance. The natives shall pay no fees for the privilege of interprovincial trade; and, if any alcalde-mayor violates this, he shall incur a fine of 100 pesos, besides the responsibility of making good all the loss occasioned by his action. This shall be a charge in the residencia.) (Raon's Ordinance, February 26, 1768.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 50, pp. 250-251.)

This is one of the reasons adduced by Rizal to explain the decay of agriculture in this country:

"Of no little importance were the hindrances and obstacles that from the beginning were thrown in the farmers's way by the rulers, who were influenced by childish fear and saw everywhere signs of conspiracies and uprisings. The natives were not allowed to go to their labors, that is, their farms, without permission of the governor, or of his agents and officers and even of the priests as Morga says. Those who know the administrative slackness and confusion in a country where the officials work scarcely two hours a day; those who know the cost of going to and returning from the capital to obtain a permit; those who are aware of the petty retaliations of the little tyrants will well understand how with this crude arrangement it is possible to have the most absurd agriculture. True it is that for some time this absurdity, which would be ludicrous had it not been so serious, has disappeared; but even if the words have gone out of use other facts and other provisions have replaced them. The Moro pirate has disappeared but there remains the outlaw who infests the fields and waylays the farmer to hold him for ransom. Now then, the government, which has a constant fear of the people, denies to the farmers even the use of a shotgun, or if it does allow it does so very grudgingly and withdraws it at pleasure; whence it results with the laborer, who, thanks to his means of defense, plants his crops and invests his meager fortune in the furrows that he has so laboriously opened, that when his crop matures, it occurs to the government, which is impotent to suppress brigandage, to deprive him of his weapon; and then, without defense and without security he is reduced to inaction and abandons his field, his work, and takes to gambling as the best means of securing a livelihood. The green cloth is under the protection of the government, it is safer! A mournful counselor is fear, for it not only causes weakness but also in casting aside the weapons strengthens the very persecutor!"--(La Indolencia.)

[83] There were other earlier decrees to the same effect as the following:

"6. (Alcaldes-mayor and corregidors are not to accept any presents, even of food, during the term of their office, as their hands will be bound thereby. They must pay a just price for what they purchase. During the term of their office they are not to purchase a ranch or any lands in the territory of their jurisdiction; neither are their secretaries or alguacils-mayor to buy them: for many evils follow therefrom. They are to build no sailing craft under any consideration, 'under penalty of loss thereof and two hundred pesos, applied half to fines for the treasury and fortifications, because of the great harm caused to the natives by such constructions. For when you need any vessel, you can charter one.' Likewise they are forbidden to engage in any trade with the natives and citizens of their jurisdiction, either directly or through agents.") (Ordinances of Good Government, by Corcuera, 1642.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 50, p. 195.)

[84] "106. The chief aim of the alcaldes-mayor, corregidors, and a.s.sistants, is trade. They buy up by wholesale the products of the land, especially rice and other food supplies, exactly as is said above concerning the religious of certain curacies, and their interpreters and helpers.

"111. It is not advantageous for these alcaldes-mayor and corregidors, or their a.s.sistants or friends, to receive the royal collections, for they perpetrate the numberless frauds and cheats, both against the royal treasury and against the Indians; and there is no remedy for this, as they themselves administer justice. They hold the collections in their possession for a long time, trading with them, and the royal treasury is the loser." (Report of Conditions in the Philippines, by Antonio de Morga; Bl. and Rb., Vol. 10, pp. 94-95.)

Referring to the religious men, Morga says in the same report:

"2. They trade and make a profit in their districts, from rice, wax, wine, gold, boats, fowls, cloth, and deerskins, to the great detriment of the Indians, as well as that of the entire country.

"3. They deal openly in merchandise of the above-mentioned articles, as well as in those of China, in the trade with Nueva Espana."

"Before the governor Don Gonzalo Ronquillo came, there were not more than three or four alcaldes-mayor in all these islands; but now there are sixteen and most of them are men who came with him. As they came poor, and as the salaries are small, they have taken the Indians--as all affirm, and it is common talk--at the time for harvesting rice; and they buy up all other provisions, and many profit by selling them again. In this way everything has become dear, because, as they have forbidden the Indians to trade and traffic, they sell at whatever price they wish. Formerly the Indians brought their products to the gates, and sold it at very low prices; for they are satisfied with very little gain, which is not true of the Spaniards." (Affairs in the Philippine Islands, Fray Domingo de Salazar. (Manila, 1593).--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 5, p. 217.)

[85] Rizal, La Indolencia.--"We will not cite our own experiences, for aside from the fact that we do not know which to select, critical persons may reproach us with partiality; neither will we cite those of other Filipinos who write in the newspapers; but we shall confine ourselves to translating the words of a modern French traveler who was in the Philippines for a long time:

"'The good curate,' he says with reference to the rosy picture a friar had given him of the Philippines, 'had not told me about the governor, the foremost official of the district, who was too much taken up with the ideal of getting rich to have time to tyrannize over his docile subjects; the governor, charged with ruling the country and collecting the various taxes in the government's name, devoted himself almost wholly to trade; in his hands the high and n.o.ble functions he performs are nothing more than instruments of gain. He monopolizes all the business and instead of developing on his part the love of work, instead of stimulating the too natural indolence of the natives, he with abuse of his powers thinks only of destroying all compet.i.tion that may trouble him or attempt to partic.i.p.ate in his profits. It matters little to him that the country is impoverished, without cultivation, without commerce, without industry, just so the governor is quickly enriched!"

[86] Resultados del Desarrollo Economico de Filipinas; in "Revista Economica," November, 1912:

"In imposing a tax payable in articles of food or dress, the foundations of the Philippine industry were unwittingly laid. It is natural for a person manufacturing a piece of cloth for the purpose of paying tribute with it to have an interest in making another like piece to sell or to exchange for some other needed object. At the same time, as the encomendero and alcaldes mayores engaged in trade sold the articles received as tribute, a market for industrial products was in this wise created which provoked a demand for such merchandise."

[87] Azcarraga, La Libertad de Comercio de Filipinas, p. 40.

"To this abundance and fertility was added the proximity of China, India, j.a.pan, Malacca, and Maluco. From China they not only began to ship their riches in silks and glazed earthenware, as soon as they learned of our wealth of four and eight real pieces: * * *." (Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, Pedro Chirino, S. J.; Roma, 1604.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 12, p. 191.)

[88] Morga's Sucesos.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, p. 176.

[89] "These vessels come laden with merchandise, and bring wealthy merchants who own ships, and servants and factors of other merchants who remain in China. They leave China with the permission and leave of the Chinese viceroys and mandarins. The merchandise that they generally bring and sell to the Spaniards consists of raw silk in bundles, of the fineness of two strands ("dos cabezas"), and other silk of poorer quality; fine untwisted silk, white and of all colors, wound in small skeins; quant.i.ties of velvets, some plain, and some embroidered in all sorts of figures, colors, and fashions--others with body of gold, and embroidered with gold; woven stuffs and brocades, of gold and silver upon silk of various colors and patterns; quant.i.ties of gold and silver thread in skeins over thread and silk--but the glitter of all the gold and silver is false, and only on paper; damasks, satins, taffetans, gorvaranes, picotes (coa.r.s.e stuff made of goat's hair, or a glossy silk stuff; probably the latter is intended in the text. Gorvaran or gorgoran is a sort of silk grogram), and other cloths of all colors, some finer and better than others; a quant.i.ty of linen made from gra.s.s, called 'lencensuelo' (handkerchief). (This fabric is now called Pina); and white cotton cloth of different kinds and qualities, for all uses. They also bring musk, benzoin, and ivory; many bed ornaments, hangings, coverlets, and tapestries of embroidered velvet; damask and gorvaran of different shades; tablecloths, cushions, and carpets; horse-trappings of the same stuff, and embroidered with gla.s.s beads and seed-pearls; also some pearls and rubies, sapphires and crystal-stones; metal basins, copper kettles, and other copper and cast-iron pots; quant.i.ties of all sorts of nails, sheet-iron, tin and lead; saltpetre and gunpowder. They supply the Spaniards with wheat flour; preserves made of orange, peach, 'scorzonera,' pear, nutmeg, and ginger, and other fruits of China; salt pork and other salt meats; live fowls of good breed, and very fine capons; quant.i.ties of green fruit, oranges of all kinds; excellent chestnuts, walnuts, pears, and 'chicueyes' (both green and dried, a delicious fruit); quant.i.ties of fine thread of all kinds, needles, and knick-knacks; little boxes and writing-cases; beds, tables, chairs, and gilded benches, painted in many figures and patterns. They bring domestic buffaloes; geese that resemble swans; horses, some mules and a.s.ses; even caged birds, some of which talk, while others sing, and they make them play innumerable tricks. The Chinese furnish numberless other gewgaws and ornaments of little value and worth, which are esteemed among the Spaniards; besides a quant.i.ty of fine crockery of all kinds; canganes, (this must be the cloth and not the porcelain of Kaga, which even today is so highly esteemed.--Rizal), sines, and black and blue robes; 'tacley,' which are beads of all kinds; strings of cornelians, and other beads and precious stones of all colors; pepper and other spices; and rarities--which, did I refer to them all, I would never finish, nor have sufficient paper for it." (Ibid., pp. 178-180.)

[90] "They also bring some fine woven silk goods of mixed colors; beautiful and finely-decorated screens done in oil and gilt; all kinds of cutlery; many suits of armor, spears, catans, and other weapons, all finely wrought; writing cases, boxes and small cases of wood, j.a.panned and curiously marked; other pretty gewgaws; excellent fresh pears; barrels and casks of good salt tunny; cages of sweet-voiced larks, called "fimbaros;" and other trifles." (Ibid., p. 183.)

[91] "* * * They take merchandise consisting of spices--cloves, cinnamon, and pepper; slaves, both black and Cafres; cotton cloth of all sorts, fine muslins (caniquies), linens, gauzes, rambuties, and other delicate and precious cloths; amber, and ivory; cloths edged with pita, for use as bed covers; hangings, and rich counterpanes from Vengala (Bengal), Cochin, and other countries; many gilt articles and curiosities; jewels of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, topazes, balas-rubies, and other precious stones, both set and loose; many trinkets and ornaments from India; wine, raisins, and almonds; delicious preserves, and other fruits brought from Portugal and prepared in Goa; carpets and tapestries from Persia and Turquia, made of fine silks and wools; beds, writing-cases, parlor-chairs, and other finely-guilded furniture, made in Macao; needle-work in colors and in white, of chain-lace and royal point lace, and other fancy-work of great beauty and perfection. Purchases of all the above are made in Manila, and paid in reals and gold. The vessels return in January with the brisas, which is their favorite monsoon. They carry to Maluco provisions of rice and wine, crockery-ware, and other wares needed there; while to Malacca they take only the gold or money, besides a few special trinkets and curiosities from Espana, and emeralds. The royal duties are not collected from these vessels." (Morga's Sucesos, 1609.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, pp. 184-185.)

[92] Ibid., pp. 185-186.

[93] Ibid., p. 186.

[94] "All of these things (referring to the trade of the Philippines) make life in that region pleasant and an object of desire to men; and indeed it seems a copy of that Tyre so extolled by Ezequiel." (Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, Pedro Chirino.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 13, p. 192.)

"The capital of our colony was, therefore, a few years after the conquest, an emporium of wealth which, by its commercial activity, gained in those seas the t.i.tle of Pearl of the Orient." (La Libertad de Comercio, Azcarraga, p. 41.)

"The commerce of these islands began with their second discovery and the first settlement, which was in the year 1565. However, it was at the first scanty and of little weight, until during the government of Guido de Labazarris, in the year 1576, the trade of China was introduced, and with it considerable profits, which extended it freely to Nueva Espana, Guatimala, Tierrafirme, and Peru, by a royal decree of April 14, 1579." (Informatory Memorial addressed to the king, Juan Grau y Monfalcon; Madrid, 1637.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 27, pp. 157-158.)

[95] "For thirty years after the conquest the commerce of the islands was unrestricted and their prosperity advanced with great rapidity." (Historical Introduction, E. G. Bourne.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 1, p. 61.)