Saturday, March 26, 2016

Salazar and Benavides: Dominicans at the Beginning of the Spanish Colonization of the Philippines (1582-1599) PART 1


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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]                

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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6]  

Salazar took possession of his diocese on September 17,1581,[7] as soon as he arrived in Manila accompanied by his brother Dominican Cristobal de Salvatierra, OP.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]   


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.[11] 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.[12] This of course pertained to the need for coordination and unity in the methods of evangelization.[13] The Synod also desired to assuage the consciences of the Spaniards who had settled in the Islands, [14] 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.[15]

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.[16]

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.[17]

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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21]

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.[22] 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.[23] 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. [24]

 
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.[25]

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.[26] 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.[27]  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.[28]

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.[29]

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.[30] 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[31] 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.     


[1] Fidel Villaroel, OP, Philip II and the “Philippine Referendum”of 1599, Unitas, vol. 73, no. 1, March 2000, p 14.
[2] Villaroel, Philip II and the “Philippine Referendum”of 1599, 15.
[3] Emma Helen Blair, and James Alexander Robertson, eds. The Philippine Islands 1493-1803. 55 vols. (Mandaluyong: Cachos Hermanos, Inc. 1973). vol 3, pp. 254-255. This edition will be cited hereafter as  BRPI.
[4] Jose Luis Porras, General History of the Philippines Part 1, Vol. 4. The Synod of Manila of 1582 (Quezon City: Historical Conservation Society, 1990) p 34.
[5] Villaroel, Philip II and the “Philippine Referendum”of 1599, 16.
[6] Porras, p. 66.
[7] Porras, p 47.
[8] Lucio Gutierrez, Domingo de Salazar, OP (Manila: University of Santo Tomas, 2011) p. 96.  
[9] Villaroel, Philip II and the “Philippine Referendum”of 1599, 17.
[10] BRPI vol 5, pp. 211-212.
[11] Anales Ecclesiasticos de Philipinas 1574-1682, vol.1,: Philippine Church History a Summary Translation, trans. Ruperto C. Santos (Manila: Toman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, 1994) 36.
[12] Villaroel, Philip II and the “Philippine Referendum”of 1599, p.17.
[13] John N. Schumacher, SJ, Growth and Decline: Essays on the Philippine Church History (Quezon City: ADMU Press, 2009), p. 1.
[14] Porras, p. 126.
[15] Schumacher, p. 1.
[16] Lucio Gutierrez, Domingo de Salazar’s Struggle for Justice and humanization in the Conquest of the Philippines (1579-1594).  Philipiana Sacra Vol XIV, Num 41, May-August 1979. p. 254
[17] Schumacher, p. 4.
[18] Villaroel, Philip II and the “Philippine Referendum”of 1599, p. 18.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Schumacher, p. 6.
[22] The Manila Synod of 1582: The Draft of its Handbook for Confessors, Translated by Paul Arvisu Dumol (Quezon City: ADMU Press, 2014). p. 3.
[23] Schumacher, p. 15.
[24] Schumacher, p. 15.
[25] Villaroel, Philip II and the “Philippine Referendum”of 1599, p. 19.
[26] Schumacher, p.  7.
[27] Villaroel, Philip II and the “Philippine Referendum”of 1599, p. 20.
[28] Ibid., p. 21.
[29] Fidel Villaroel, OP. Miguel de Benavides: Friar, Bishop and University Founder (Manila: UST Publishing House, 2005). p. 31.
[30] Prior to this assignment, Benavides was assigned as one of the first two friars who were designated to take care of the spiritual welfare of the Chinese residing outside the walled-city of Intramuros, in the then so-called Parian, today’s China Town. With Benavides was Juan Maldonado. As Benavides administered to the Sangley, he was able to learn their language so much so that he was able to preach to them through the Chinese language. He also wrote the first Doctrina Christiana en Lengua y Letra China, which was one of the first three book printed in the Philippines in 1593. In 1590, he was chosen to accompany his superior, Juan de Castro to China. This was probably because of his facility of the Chinese language. In China, the two were arrested and imprisoned for they were suspected of being spies. In the court, Benavides defended themselves through his eloquence in Chinese language and his capacity to write in the same language. Through this, he was able to impress the members of the Chinese court who held their trial, and was able to prove that they were not spies. They were eventually freed and sent back to Manila in 1591 (cf. Villaroel. Miguel de Benavides: Friar, Bishop and University Founder. pp. 21-24.).  
[31] Cedula may pertain to any of various official documents or certificates in Spain, Latin America, or the Philippines: such as a permit or order issued by the government; a personal registration tax certificate in the Philippines; any of certain securities issued by some of the South and Central American governments or banks (from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cedula accessed on March 3, 2016).


No comments:

Post a Comment