The
beginning of the colonization of the Philippines in the late 16th
century was marred by abuses and acts of injustice committed by Spanish civil
authorities upon the natives. The colonizers used force in the pacification,
and collected excessive tributes in the name of the Spanish King. Worth noting
however is that there were people of conscience among the Spaniards who raised
their voices in defense of the colonized.
Spanish
Augustinians, Franciscans, Jesuits and Dominicans did not tolerate such
misconduct by Spanish civil authorities. They even denied absolution to the
erring officials who refused to amend their lives and make restitution for
their extortion and other abuses. But while the other friars and religious’
moral sensitivities were assuaged by withholding the sacraments from the erring
Spanish civil authorities, two great Spanish Dominicans were determined to
point out the primary cause of this scandal perpetrated by the Spaniards, and were
resolute in coming up with a viable solution.
Domingo
de Salazar, OP, the first bishop of Manila called for a synod of the clergy in
1581, the same year he arrived in his diocese. This Synod of Manila handled the
cases of injustices by the Spanish civil authorities pertaining to the
collection of tributes from the natives, and the question of the legitimacy of
the Spanish regime in the islands. Salazar was so dedicated and passionate in
fighting for the rights of the natives that he personally brought these issues
to the Spanish court in Madrid, in the course of which he met his untimely end.
Miguel
Benavides, a fellow Dominican and companion of Salazar in Madrid, had the same
passion as the latter for the welfare of the natives of the islands. He continued
the fight against the depredations of the Spaniards that Salazar had initiated.
He was able to press King Philip II to rethink the policies Spain had in the
islands, particularly on the legitimacy of Spain’s title over the islands. The
result was the issuance of a royal cedula in 1597 promulgating the so-called
Philippine Referendum of 1599.
This
paper will attempt to present the role of the Dominicans in the beginning of
the colonization of the Philippines in late 16th century, and
consequently their role in building the Church in the Philippines-- a Church
built on a solid foundation based on justice and the true dignity of man, as
Christ so desired in the beginning of time.
INTRODUCTION
The
Spanish Colonization in the Philippines is often associated with horrible deeds
and exploitations inflicted by the Spaniards upon the natives, to such an
extent that anything or anyone associated with the Spaniards is also tainted
with the air of villainy. The Spanish friar-missionaries and the religion they
brought to this land, Catholicism, have not been not spared this treatment.
They, too, are often perceived as oppressors and perpetrators of the malevolent
agenda of the Spanish colonial masters, with Catholicism presented as their
potent instrument to intimidate anyone who opposed their plans to subjugate and
tyrannize the natives. A researcher, in fact, will have no difficulty looking
for literatures portraying the Spanish friar-missionaries and Catholicism as scandalous
and excessive agents of a Colonial Empire in the Philippines. The so called
Black Legend (Legenda Negra) literatures commenced by the Filipino
propagandists and picked-up by the Americans in the beginning of their
colonization of the Philippines would never run out of stories about the
voracious Franciscans ready to swallow anything or anyone that might come along
his way, land grabbing Dominicans, or even sexually perverted Augustinians who
sired dozens of children with numerous women in the parishes where they had
served as the pastors.
With
all these dubious stories and myths regarding the Spanish friar missionaries,
one may inquire regarding the truthfulness of these black legends. Furthermore,
one may ask if these supposed bearers of the Good News had ever brought
anything good to the Philippines. For the purpose of the present conference, as
the limitation of this paper, we zero in our discussion regarding the first Spanish
Dominicans who came to the Philippines in late 16th century. Furthermore,
we shall look into their contribution in the building of the Church in the
Philippines at the beginning of the Spanish Colonization of the islands.
One
of poignant events when the Spanish friar-missionaries, especially the
Dominicans, manifested their pure and genuine intent in the Philippines and for
the Filipinos was at the beginning of the colonization of the Philippines. This
paper will cover the salient points from 1565 to 1599, involving the conflicts
between Spanish civil authorities and the Spanish friar-missionaries, conflicts
that had to do with the Filipino: on the question of his dignity as a human person. In the course
of the discussion, the role of the Dominicans in the beginning of the Spanish
colonization in the Philippines will be exposed.
THE INJUSTICES AT the beginning
In
1581, Domingo Salazar, OP, the first bishop of Manila, arrived in the
Philippines and took possession of his newly erected diocese. Fresh from his
missions in the Americas, Salazar found himself in the middle of bickering
Spaniards -- the ecclesiastical authorities against the civil officials. The Augustinians,
who pointed out the excesses of Spanish conquistadores and encomenderos, led
the ecclesiastical authorities. The conflict among the Spaniards originated
from the issue of the legitimacy of Spain’s title over the Philippines leading
to the question on the lawfulness of collecting tributes from the natives by
the Spanish civil authorities, as well as the use of force in pacifying the inhabitants.
Spanish civil authorities committed atrocities and abuses against the natives
at the very beginning of the colonization of the Philippines in 1565. And as
early as this period, the Spanish friar-missionaries raised their objections
against the conquest itself and the crime committed thereafter by the Spanish
civil authorities.
The
opposition of the friar-missionaries is based on their knowledge of the New
Laws or the Laws of the Indies which sought to foster human rights. These laws manifested
Philip II’s pacifist policies towards the new found lands of his empire. These
same laws are inspired by what had transpired in the American experience of the
Spaniards guided by the preaching of Francisco de Vitoria, OP and Bartolome de las
Casas, OP.
in the Philippines, the Augustinians Martin de Rada, OSA, and Diego de Herrera,
OSA were the first religious who championed the cause of the natives. Memorials
and expositions were written by both, addressed to the King and to the governor
general of the colony, revealing the infractions of the Spanish
civil-authorities against the Laws of the Indies, to the detriment of the
rights of the natives as humans. The strong opposition of the Augustinians can
be glimpsed through the Opinion
written by de Rada, addressed to Governor General Guido de Lavezares in 1574.
It emphasized the unjust manner by which the Spaniards took over the islands
from the natives. The Memorial prepared by Herrera also
condemned the excesses of the encomenderos and their many acts of violence and
force towards the natives.
A piece from Rada’s Opinion states:
All the more
unjust are these conquests that in none, or almost none, of them has there been
any cause. For as your Lordship knows, we have gone everywhere with the mailed
hand; and we have required the people to be friends, and then to give us
tribute. At times was has been declared against them, because they did not give
as much as was demanded. And if they would
not give tribute, but defended themselves, then they have been attacked,
and war has been carried on with fire and sword; and even on some occasions,
after the people have been killed and destroyed, and their village taken, the
Spaniards have sent men to summon them to make peace. And when the Indians, in
order not to be destroyed, came to say that they would like to be friends, the
Spaniards have immediately asked them for tributes, as they have done but
recently in all the villages of Los Camarines.
These
violations of the Spanish civil authorities of the rights of the natives as
instituted by the Laws of the Indies, more so of their divinely instituted
rights as human persons, constituted sins which the Spaniards carried in their
consciences. Devout Catholics as they were, they would approach the
friar-missionaries to be absolved from these sins. However, the
friar-missionaries would demand restitution before they would give the
absolution. De Rada, for example, had put in place rules of penances that had
to be fulfilled for an encomendero to be absolved.
Villaroel states:
The oppressive
conduct of many conquistadors and encomenderos injured deeply the Christian
sensibilities of the early missionaries. They were priests, moralists,
administrators of God’s absolution in the confession, and in front of the
injustices and of ill-gotten money from tributes, they could not but demand
restitution before absolution.
It
is in the middle of this uncomfortable state that the first bishop of Manila,
the first Dominican in the Islands, would find the friar-missionaries and the
civil authorities, a problem that he and his fellow Dominican Domingo de
Salazar dealt with at the initial stage of evangelization and conquest of the
islands.
DOMINGO
DE SALAZAR
As
Catholicism flourished in the islands, the Holy See and the Spanish Crown
established the Diocese of Manila in 1579. Domingo de Salazar, a Dominican
missionary in the Americas was chosen as the first bishop of Manila. The
establishment of the Diocese and the appointment of the first Bishop can also
be viewed in line with the rising tension between the friar-missionaries
(Augustinians and Franciscans) and the civil authorities. The bishop can moderate
the perceived independence of the friar-missionaries from the colonial
administration and serve as arbiter between them and the civil authorities
regarding the issues of collecting tributes from the natives.
Salazar
took possession of his diocese on September 17,1581,
as soon as he arrived in Manila accompanied by his brother Dominican Cristobal
de Salvatierra, OP.
With Salazar were six Franciscans, eighteen Augustinians and three Jesuits, who
constituted the first batch of Jesuits in the islands, and seven clerics. His
diocese covered the entire islands, with the see in Manila. As his diocese was
divided physically by bodies of water, so it was morally and politically, at
the time Salazar took over it.
Salazar
was schooled in the University of Salamanca in Spain. Consequently he is
familiar with the moral principles taught in the said university by the then
famous Francisco de Vitoria, OP. His missionary works in the Americas side by
side with Bartolome de las Casas, OP, seconded his intellectual formation. He
and de las Casas shared the same passion for the rights of the natives.
Thus, one may see the hand of God working through the Spanish king and the Pope
as they chose and appointed a bishop to the See of Manila, who was well
equipped with the necessary knowledge and experience to deal with the problems
of injustice and illegitimacy.
In
a Memorial written by Salazar between 1582 and 1583, addressed to the King, he
reported the affairs in the islands, the condition of the natives and matters
that needed correction. He gave an account of the various abuses inflicted on
the natives that affected not only the natives but the entire economy of the
islands (i.e., the increase of the price of commodities), to which the
Spaniards in the islands were greatly dependent. Salazar traced the cause of
disruption in the prices of commodities with the shortage of supply, caused by
the abuses on the natives committed by no less than the Governor-General
Gonzalo Ronquillo. The latter had sent natives from La Pampanga, a province
that supplied rice, wine and fowls, to the mines of Ylocos, where they remained
during the time they ought to have sowed grain. Many natives died in the mines,
while others were so tired that they could not attend to their field anymore in
La Pampanga. The natives too were employed by the Spaniards to row in the
galleys and fragatas, for three to four months. Others were tasked to cut wood
from the forests and bring them to the city. These duties imposed upon the
natives cost the lives of many of them while others continued to live in
misery.
SYNOD
OF MANILA IN 1582
As
Salazar was immersed in the turmoil in his Diocese, he realized the need to
call for a Diocesan Synod, an assembly of the bishop and his advisers, which would
address the various problems of the friar-missionaries and civil authorities.
The Synod commenced in 1582. In attendance were ninety persons from the Church
and six Captain-Navigators who were knowledgeable of the new conquests.
Its purpose was to discuss the good order and system to be followed in the
administration of this new church so that she might march forward.
This of course pertained to the need for coordination and unity in the methods
of evangelization.
The Synod also desired to assuage the consciences of the Spaniards who had
settled in the Islands,
both friar-missionaries who were scandalized by the injustices made by Spanish
civil-authorities to the natives, and the Spanish civil authorities themselves
who had not received absolution from these good fathers who demanded
restitution before granting them absolution. Thus, it would provide a common
stand of the clergy in reference to the serious moral questions that faced
them.
As
the Synod commenced, Salazar received a threat from no less from the then
Governor General Gonzalo Ronquillo de Penalosa, telling Salazar that he, the
Governor-General, was a descendant of Spanish cavaliers who had no scruples to
send Bishops to the gibbet. Another Spanish conquistador told the good bishop to
slow down, reminding him that he could hit his miter with his arquebus from a
distance of fifty meters.
The
first item discussed by the Synod was the legitimacy of the conquest of the
islands by the Spanish crown, thus questioning the right of the King of Spain
in the islands. This is the most delicate of all the problems and also the
fundamental. Schumacher states:
For if the king’s
sovereignty was not based on a just title, then all the other jurisdictional
acts of the conquistadores, governors, encomenderos were in valid. For all of
them claimed to act on the authority they had received from the king and in his
name.
The
members of the synod resolve such problem by declaring that the King of Spain
does not possess these Islands neither by inheritance, nor by donation nor by
right of a just war. The captains and soldiers, the governor and the judges
have no more right over these islands than the right given to them by the King
of Spain; and the King did not give them more authority than what he received
from the Pope; and the Pope could not have given the king more than what he
received from Christ, that is the command and the right of going or sending
people anywhere in the world for the purpose of preaching the Gospel.
But the preaching of the Gospel does permit one to use force in proclaiming a
message based on love, or else the preaching of the Gospel will be a contrary
to the very message it would like to communicate.
The
members of the Synod were tasked to look for a legitimate title for Spain to
justify the conquest of the islands. They found two possible legitimate
reasons: the right to preach the Gospel anywhere, and the low degree of culture
of the natives which could be invoked as a reason for ruling and governing
them. Villaroel comments on these two reasons: The first title did not condone
the use of arms and the second was among those mentioned by Vitoria as dubious
and never certain titles.
The Synod was deadlocked. The inquiry on the legitimacy of Spain’s title over
the islands led the Synod to an uncertain and undecided situation. But they had
to come up to a conclusion regarding this crucial matter. The Synod appealed to
the fact that the conquest was already an accomplished fact. It was a fait
accompli, something like a right of ownership by prescription.
The natives, indeed, benefited more than the Spaniards did in the presence of
the latter in the islands, in terms of educational, religious, political
assistances extended to them. The infractions committed by Spanish civil
authorities against the pacifist policies of the King to the new found lands,
that is, the use of force in pacifying the natives, do not deprive the King of his
supernatural right to make preaching the gospel possible for the natives of the
islands. The Synod urged the King to take action over these blunders of his
officials, for the good of his people.
The
Synod concluded in 1586, urging the friar-missionaries to focus their energies
and efforts on their respective spiritual ministries rather than delving in the
problems the Synod had tackled, which may cause criticism, division and scandal
among themselves to the detriment of their mission of evangelizing the natives.
Determined
to appease the conscience of the friar-missionaries who served as the
confessors of the erring Spanish civil authorities, the Synod came up with a
handbook for confessors for their guidance and to correct some abuses OF Spanish civil Authorities in the Philippine
Islands.
The handbook stipulated detailed instructions on how the confessors should
instruct penitents in the restitution of the excessive tributes they have collected
from the natives. These penitents are to receive absolution only after they had
fulfilled the given instructions for the restitution of ill-gotten goods. This
manual too contained the descriptions of the responsibilities of each Spanish
civil authority and how they should conduct their affairs with the natives.
The conclusion of the Synod and the Manual it had produced are
fruits of the bittersweet experiences the Spaniards at the beginning of the
colonization of the islands, presided over by Salazar. However, it is evident that the
results of discussions were very much influenced by what had transpired in the
American experience of the Spaniards and by the theology that sprung from these
older disputes-- theology that influenced the members of the Synod, especially
Salazar. Schumacher traced this system of thought that guided the Synod to the
great Dominican theologian and moralist Fr. Francisco de Vitoria, OP.
The Synod may have used the following moral principles put forward by Vitoria,
in preparing its conclusions:
1.
All
persons of all races, including pagans, have the certain natural rights which
cannot be arbitrarily taken away from them by either pope or king. These
include the right of property and the right to rule themselves.
2.
Those
who exercise authority over others, be they king, governor or encomendero are
not to look on their office primarily as a privilege, but as am obligation to
bring about the common and individual good of those subject to him.
3.
Not
only any positive injustice done to any person of whatever rank or condition,
but also any damage caused by neglect of one’s obligation, demands restitution
to those who had been injured.
4.
Even
if the persons harmed cannot be found to make restitution to them, no one can
remain in possession of wealth he has unjustly obtained, but must make
restitution in the best way possible under the circumstances.
5.
It
is the right and the duty of the clergy to call attention to abuses against
justice and failure to fulfill obligations to the common good, especially the
poor. This is an integral part of their mission to preach the Gospel.
6.
It
is not only the right but also the duty of the Church to exclude from the body
of Christians and to deny her sacraments to those who refuse to fulfill their
obligations in justice, no matter what position in society they may hold.
The
decision of the Synod regarding the legitimacy of the conquest of the islands
and the Handbook for Confessors might had appease the conscience of some and
could had caused harmony between the friar-missionaries and the civil
authorities. But not for long.
The
year after the conclusion of the Synod, 1587, marked the arrival of the first
barcada of Dominicans. They would be the fourth group of religious who accepted
the challenge of becoming heralds of Christ to the islands, preceded by the
Augustinians, Franciscans and Jesuits, and would eventually followed by the
Recollects. This barcada included Fr. Miguel Benavides, OP, future archbishop
of Manila and founder of the University of Santo Tomas, and Fr. Diego de Soria,
OP, future Bishop of Nueva Segovia.
Most
of them had been formed in the doctrines of Vitoria and de las Casas, and thus
possessed certain doctrinal knowledge in handling the cases that were troubling
the islands. Indeed, their arrival signaled the resumption of the disputes
regarding human rights, payment of tributes, right of conquest, and the
legitimacy of the Spanish presence in the Philippines. These were the same
topics that the Synod had discussed and decided upon, but with certain doubts
and compromises.
Salazar himself had had reservations and second thoughts on the conclusions of
the Synod, but had softened his stand on some aspects of the colonization and
means of evangelization. When his confreres arrived, these mists of doubts that
had hindered him from seeing the truth of the matter at hand vanished. The
presence of Benavides, de Soria and others, recharged the fervor of Salazar for
the cause of the natives. Salazar reverted to his original position regarding
the legitimacy of the conquest of the islands: that the king had no political
right over the islands except by just war or by the free choice of the natives.
It
did not take long after their arrival, that the Dominicans aired their view
regarding the legitimacy of the conquest of the islands and the abuses
inflicted upon the natives by the Spaniards and fellow natives as well. They
were determined to maintain the principles of Vitoria to the letter, even if
that meant going against the status quo set by the Synod. This attitude of the
Dominicans antagonized the civil authorities, particularly the then Governor
General Gomez Dasmarinas. These officials were convinced that Spain had the
right to remain in the islands, and would eventually have a perfect sovereignty
over them. This was consistent with the conclusion and
the recommendation of the Synod, and to the general sentiments of the Spanish
populace in the islands. The view of the Dominicans was far different. They too
wished that the natives submit their obedience to God, to the Pope, and also to
the King of Castile. Villaroel states:
Dominicans wanted the
legitimate dominion to be established beyond doubt and as soon as possible. It
was fundamental to attract the pagan Filipinos to freely choose their
submission to his Majesty even before they became Christians. Submission of the
natives by attraction and not by force or violence was the only policy for the
Dominicans…It was a matter of winning over their hearts and wills by conviction
not by fears or threat.
The
Dominicans continued the struggle for the cause of the natives. Though they
found themselves alone in putting forward the rights of the natives, as the
Augustinians, Franciscans and Jesuits had already given up the struggle, they
remained to be the stout defenders of the natives against the continuing
injustices inflicted against the latter. Among these abuses was the continued excessive
collection of tributes without the benefit of religious instructions that ought
to have been provided by the encomenderos. Salazar was even moved to write a
memorial addressed to the king regarding the sorry state of the natives. However,
he and his fellow Dominicans deemed that it would be better to personally make
known their grievance before the King in Madrid.
In
1591, Salazar, then almost eighty years old, took the long voyage back to
Spain, across two oceans. He was accompanied by Benavides, who was assigned as
their province’s procurator in Madrid and Rome.
They arrived in Spain in 1593. In the Spanish Court, Salazar lobbied too for
the elevation of the Diocese of Manila into an archdiocese, with the creation
of its suffragan dioceses of Nueva Segovia, Nueva Caceres, and Cebu. However,
his efforts for the cause of the natives met a major blow when in June 11,
1594, a royal cedula
was issued. The cedula gave an instruction to the Governor of the islands to
proceed in collecting tributes from the pacified natives, regardless of whether
they were Christians or still pagans. This, together with old age and fatigue
due to the long travel, may have caused the rapid deterioration of Salazar’s
health. He would eventually die on December 4, in that same year. He would die
without seeing the conclusion of his long battle for the natives.
