Source: Blair & Robertson, The Philippine Islands, volume 28, pp. 290-299)

[From Feodor Jagor's Reisen in den Philippinen (Berlin, 1873), pp. 95-100.]

CHAPTER TWELVE

Travels in Camarines Sur. Description of the province. Spanish priests. Alcaldes and mandarins.124

The convents are large, magnificent buildings, whose curas at that time -- for the most part, elderly men -- were most hospitable and amiable. It was necessary to stop at each convent, and the father in charge of it had his horses harnessed and drove his guest to his next colleague. I wished to hire a boat at Polángui to go to the lake of Batu;125 but there was none to be had. Only two large, eighty-foot barotos, each hollowed from a single tree-trunk and laden with rice from Camarines, lay there. In order that I might not be detained, the father bought the cargo of one of the boats, on condition that it be immediately unladed; thus I was free to proceed on my journey in the afternoon.

If the traveler is on good terms with the cura, he will seldom have any trouble. I was once about to take a little journey with a parish priest directly after lunch. All the preparations were completed at a quarter after eleven. I declared that it was too bad to wait the three-quarters of an hour for the repast. Immediately after, it struck twelve, and all work in the village ceased. We, as well as our porters, sat down to table; it was noon: The [following] message had been sent to the bellringer: "The father ordered him to be told that he must surely be sleeping again; it must have been twelve o'clock long ago, for the father is hungry." Il est l'heure que votre Majesté désire .126

Most of the priests in the eastern provinces of Luzón and Samar consist of Franciscan friars, 127 who are trained in special seminaries in Spain for the missions in the colonies. Formerly, they were at liberty to return to their fatherland after ten years' residence in the Philippines. But since the convents have been suppressed in Spain,128 this is no longer allowed them; for there they would be compelled to renounce the rules of their order, and live as private persons.129 They know that they must end their days in the colonies, and regulate themselves accordingly. At their arrival they are usually sent to a priest in the province, so that they may study the native language. Then they first receive a small and later a profitable curacy, in which they generally remain for the rest of their life. Most of these men spring from the lowest rank of the people. Numerous existing pious foundations in Spain make it possible for the poor man, who cannot pay for schooling for his son, to send him to the seminary, where he learns nothing outside of the special service for which he is trained. Were the friars of a finer culture, as are a part of the English missionaries, they would, for that reason, have but little inclination to mix with the people, and consequently would not obtain over them the influence that they generally have. The early habits of life of the Spanish friars, and their narrow horizon, quite peculiarly fit them to live among the natives. It is exactly for the above reason that they have so well established their power over those people.

When the above-mentioned young men come quite fresh from their seminaries, they are incredibly narrow, ignorant, and at times ill-mannered, full of conceit, hatred for heretics, and desire to proselyte. Gradually this rough exterior wears away; and their estimable position, and the abundant emoluments which they enjoy, make them kindly disposed. The sound insight into human nature and the self-reliance which are peculiar to the lower classes of the Spanish people, and which are so amusingly, revealed by Sancho Panza as governor, have full opportunity to assert themselves in the influential and responsible post which the cura occupies. Very frequently the cura is the only white man in the place, and no other European lives for miles around. Therefore, not only is he the curator of souls, but also the representative of the government. He is the oracle of the Indians, and his special decision in anything that concerns Europe and civilization is without appeal. His advice is asked in all important affairs, and he has no one from whom he himself can seek advice. Under such circumstances all their intellectual abilities come into full play. The same man, who would have followed the plow in Spain, here [i.e., in the Philippines] carries out great undertakings. Without technical instruction and without scientific help, he constructs churches, roads, and bridges. However, although these circumstances are so favorable for the development of the ability of the priest, yet it would be better for the buildings themselves if they were executed by professionals; for the bridges collapse readily, the churches often resemble sheepfolds, the more pretentious have at times most extravagant façades, and the roads quickly deteriorate again. However, each one does as well as he can. Almost all of them have the good of their village at heart, although their zeal, and the course followed by those who pursue this aim, differ widely according to their personality. In Camarínes and Albáy, I have had considerable intercourse with the curas, and they have, without exception, won my esteem. As a rule, they have no self-conceit; and in the remote places they are so happy whenever they receive a visit, that they exert all their efforts to make their guest's stay as pleasant as possible. Life in a large convent very much resembles that of the lord of the manor in eastern Europe. Nothing can be more unconstrained. One lives as independently as in an inn, and many guests act just as if they were in one. I have seen a subaltern arrive, who, without waiting until the steward assigned him a room of his own accord, took one himself, ordered his dinner, and only casually asked whether the priest, with whom he was only very slightly acquainted, was at home.

Frequently the priests in the Philippines are upbraided about their gross licentiousness. [It is said that] the convent is full of beautiful girls, with whom the cura lives like a sultan. This might often be so of the native priests; but at the houses of numerous Spanish priests whose guest I have been; I have never once happened to see anything objectionable in this regard. Their servants were only men, and perhaps an old woman or two. Ribadeneyra asserts:130 "The Indians, who observe how the discalced friars maintain their chastity, have come in their thoughts to the conclusion that they are not men ... and although the devil has endeavored to corrupt many chaste priests now deceased, and also those who still live, making use of the shamelessness of some Indian women for that purpose, yet the friars remained victorious, to the great shame of the Indian women and of Satan." However, this author is very unreliable. He says further (chapter iii, page 13), that the island of Cebu is known under another name as Luzon! At any rate, his description does not fit the present conditions. The young priest lives in his parish as did the lord of the manor in earlier times. The girls consider it an honor for themselves to associate with him. The opportunity is very favorable for him, for he is watched over, by no jealous wife; and, as the father confessor and priestly adviser, he has opportunity at discretion to be alone with the women.131 The confessional must especially be a perilous rock for them. In the appendix to a Tagál grammar (which is lacking in those copies intended for public sale), is a list of questions for the young priest who is not yet conversant with the language, which he must propound to the persons confessing. Several pages of those questions relate to sexual intercourse.

As the alcaldes are allowed to stay in a province only three years, they never understand the language of the country; for they are very much in demand because of their official business, and have no time (and usually no desire) to study the peculiarities of the province which they administer. The cura, on the other hand, lives in the midst of his parishioners, whom he knows thoroughly, and whom he also represents against the government. Consequently, it happens that he is, the real authority in his district. The position of the priests, in contradistinction to that of the government officials, is bespoken also in their dwellings. The casas reales [i.e., royal buildings] -- for the most part small, plain, and often dilapidated -- are not in keeping with the rank of the first officials of the province. The convent, however, is usually a very large, imposing, and well-furnished building. Formerly, when the governorships were sold to adventurers, whose only thoughts were to enrich themselves from that office, the influence of the priests was even much greater than at present.132 The following ordinances point out their former position better than long descriptions.

"Although certain outrageous offenses have given fitting reason for chapter x of the ordinances, wherein Governor Don Pedro de Arandía orders that the alcaldes and justices shall have no other communication with the missionaries than in writing and shall not visit them except in company, it is also nevertheless ordered that they shall not do the latter...on the assumption that the prelates of the church shall employ all their energies in restraining their subordinates within the bounds of moderation... The alcaldes shall therefore see to it that the priests and ministers of the above order shall treat the gobernadorcillos and officers of justice with the proper respect; and they shall not permit the latter to be beaten, chastised, or ill-treated by the missionaries, nor shall they be compelled to serve them at table." 133

The former alcaldes who bought their posts, or obtained them through favor, and who had no previous training in official business, and often no education and intelligence, and who did not possess the necessary mental and moral qualities for so responsible and influential an office, received a nominal salary from the State, to which they paid a commission for the right to engage in trade. According to Arenas (p.444), 134 this commission was regarded as a fine on the alcaldes for transgressing the law; "for since all kinds of trading were forbidden to them by various laws,135 yet also his Majesty was pleased to grant a dispensation for it."136 This irregularity was first suppressed by royal decrees of September 10 and October 30, 1844.

The alcaldes were governors and judges, commanders of the troops, and at the same time the only traders in their respective provinces.137 They bought in Manila the goods that were needed in their provinces -- usually with the money of the charities [obras pías] (see p. 14, note 17); 138 for they themselves came to the Philippines without any property. The Indians were compelled to sell their products to the alcalde, and to buy his wares at the prices which the latter established.139 In such circumstances, the priests were the only ones who protected the Indians against these bloodsuckers, when they did not (as sometimes happened) also make common cause with the alcaldes.

At present the government sends men who know the law to act as alcaldes in the Philippines, who are somewhat better paid and are not allowed to trade. On the whole, the government is endeavoring to lessen the influence of the curas, in order to strengthen the civil authorities; but that will be only very imperfectly accomplished, however, unless the tenure of office of the alcaldes be lengthened, and the office be so assigned that the alcaldes will have no temptation to make money on the side.140
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124 A comparison of the English translation of Jagor (London, 1875) with the original text reveals the fact that the translation is inaccurate in many places, and that it was done in a careless and slovenly manner. Consequently, it has been necessary to translate this matter directly from the German.

125 Polángui is located in the province of Albay, on the right bank of the Inaya River, and eleven miles in a general southeast direction from Lake Bató (the Batu of the text). This passage, in the English translation mentioned in the preceding note, is incorrectly rendered, "to cross the lake of Bato" an error probably due to ignorance on the part of the translator, of the location of Polángui, although the language of the author is not at all ambiguous.

126 That is, "It is what hour your Majesty pleases."

127 At this point Jagor adds in Spanish in parenthesis: "Discalced minor religious of the regular and most strict observance of our holy father St. Francis, in the Filipinas Islands, of the holy and apostolic province of San Gregorio Magno."

128 As many as 900 monasteries were suppressed in Spain by decree of June 21, 1835, and the rest were dissolved by the decree of October 11 of the same year. The suppression, as might have been expected, was accompanied by excesses against the friars and nuns, and some of them were murdered, while parish priests and Jesuits were hunted over the borders.

129 This passage is hopelessly confused in the English translation, and proves how entirely untrustworthy that translation is. The reading of the original (da sie gezwungen sein würden, dort der Ordensregel zu entsagen und als Rentner zu leben) is translated "for they are compelled in the colonies to abandon all obedience to the rules of their order, and to live as laymen "—a sin against actual history, as well as language.

130 Historia de las islas . . . y Reynos de la Gran China (Barcelona, 1601), chapter xi.

131 Felix Renouard de St. Croix (cited by Jagor) says, in his Voyage commercial et politique aux Indes orientales, aux Iles Philippines, à la Chine (Paris, 1810; ii, p. 157), that the curas in his day were served by young girls. A Franciscan of the lake of Bay had twenty of them at his disposal, two of whom were always at his side.

132 Jagor cites, in a footnote at this point, a portion of Le Gentil's description of the power of the friars in the Philippines, which is to be found in vol. ii, p. 183, of that author; and ante in our extract from Le Gentil, pp. 210-219.

133 Leg. ult., i, 266, § § 87, 89.

134 Probably Memorias históricas y estadísticas de Filipinas y particularmente de la grande isla de Luzón (imprint from Diario de Manila, 1850), by Rafael Diaz Arenas.

135 See Recopilación de leyes de Indias, lib. ii, tit. xvi, ley liv (dated: Valladolid, April 29, 1549 Cárlos I and the queen of Bohemia; Valladolid, April 16 and May 2, 1550; Maximiliano and the queen; Valladolid, May 9, 1569, Felipe II), and tit. vi, ley xxvi (dated: Madrid, July 20, 1618, Felipe III; ordinance 139 of 1636, Felipe IV), which forbid alcaldes and other officials to trade, to use the money of the communal funds of the natives, or to compel the latter to serve them. Lib. v, tit. ii, treats in great part of the office of the alcalde, and ley xlvii (dated: Madrid, July 10, 1530, Cárlos I; Valladolid, September 4, 1551, Cárlos I and the queen of Bohemia; Pinto, April 4, 1563, Felipe II; Lisboa, August 31, 1619, Felipe III), declares that the alcaldes and others are included in the prohibition to trade. (Cited by Jagor.)

136 By royal decree of July 17, 1754.(Cited by Jagor.)

137 Renouard de St. Croix, ii, p. 124. (Cited by Jagor.)

138 This note is as follows: "The obras pias are pious legacies, in which it was generally determined that two-thirds were to be loaned at interest for maritime commercial enterprises, until the premiums—which for the risk to Acapulco reached 50 per cent, to China, 25 per cent, and to the Indias, 35 per cent—had increased the original capital to a certain amount. Then the interest of that amount was to be applied to the good of the soul of the founder, or to pious or charitable ends (Arenas, Historia, p. 397). One-third was usually retained as a reserve, to cover chance losses. These reserve funds were long ago claimed by the government as compulsory loans, ‘but they are still regarded as existing.’

"When the trade with Acapulco came to an end, the capitals could no longer be employed in accordance with the request of the founder, and they were loaned at interest in other ways. By a royal decree, dated November 3, 1854 (Leg. ult. ii, p 205), an administrative council is appointed to take charge of the money of the obras pias. The total capital of five foundations (or rather only four, since one of them no longer has any capital) amounts to a trifle less than one million dollars [i.e., pesos]. From that amount the profit obtained from the loans is distributed according to the amount of the original capital—which is, however, no longer in existence in cash, because the government has disposed of it."

139 Ut supra, ii; p. 336. (Cited by Jagor)

140 The office of alcalde falls into three divisions—entrada [i.e., entrance], ascenso [i.e., promotion], and termino [i.e., limit] (royal order, March 31, 1837, tit. i, i). The alcalde's term of service is three years in each grade (tit. ii, articles 11, 12, and 13). Under no pretext can anyone remain longer than ten years in the magistracy of the Asiatic provinces (article 16). (Note by Jagor.)