For the first two hundred years, as we have said, the Spanish colony in the Philippines was governed from Mexico. A Supreme Court, or Audencia, like that of Mexico, was set up in Manila. This court tried cases and settled law questions for the whole archipelago. The Mexican code of law was in force here, and the officials in the islands tried to make the government as much as possible like that of Mexico.

This, however, was a very different country from Mexico. The Filipinos were a very different people from the native Mexicans. What worked well, therefore, for one country and one people, did not suit at all for the other. Often, in these islands, right and justice were hindered by the very laws made to help them. The men who framed these laws did not know the islands or the Filipinos, so they could not understand why the code that was good for Mexico should fail here.

Soon still other troubles arose. The rulers who came after Legaspi did away, one by one, with the native forms of government. There were no longer any tribal councils in which the heads of groups could speak for their people. The native kings and chiefs were set aside, and the people then had no representatives. There was nothing to check the power of the governor-general. He had full control over the lives and liberties of the people, and no one could call him to account but the king of Spain.

In name the ancient office of head of a hundred still lived in the office of “cabeza de barangay” (cäbā´thä dā bär än’gī), which the Spanish kept up. The office itself, however, was no longer high or honorable. The chief duty of the cabeza de barangay came to be the raising of money among the people for the government. If the people were poor, if times were bad, if the crops had failed, still this money must be raised. The government looked to the barangay chief to get it, in one way or another. Often, when the people were unable to pay, his property was taken, and many a headman of a village was stripped of all he had by the officers of government. In time, therefore, the office fell into such disgrace that no self-respecting Filipino would take it. At last a law had to be passed compelling service as cabeza de barangay.

Very early in the history of the colony there began to be strife among the Spanish authorities. The bitter misunderstanding between Church and State arose almost at once, and it continued through all the years of Spanish rule in the islands. Soon after its formation, the Supreme Court, too, became a party in the quarrels of the powers. Each of these three parties was determined to control matters, and the result was very bad for the colony. At times, indeed, the quarrel was so sharp that affairs in the country were at a standstill, and ruin threatened the colony.

So matters went on until the year 1587, when they became so bad that the Bishop of Manila sent a secret messenger to Spain to lay complaint before the king. This messenger was a friar named Alonzo Sanchez (älon´thō sän’cheth). He went first to Mexico and laid his case before the viceroy, who sent him on to Spain. There he gained a hearing from King Philip II., who promised to look into the matter.

The king then put the case in charge of one of his ministers, who studied it with great care, and at last made a report which was the basis of a royal decree. In this decree the king gave attention to a good many things that were wrong in the islands, and made some definite laws in regard to them.

The decree did away altogether with the Supreme Court, and appointed justices of the peace in its place. It set forth plainly just what should be the field of action of the State and what of the Church. It gave the governor-general full power to do as he liked in matters regarding all distant and unexplored parts of the country. In what he did in such places he need not consult even the king’s will. If, however, he wished to undertake a war, or any expedition that must be paid for out of the royal treasury, he must first submit his plans to a council made up of the Bishop of Manila and the chief military captains in the islands.

The decree also forbade the making of any more slaves in the islands. All slaves held by Spaniards were to be set free at once. All between the ages of ten and twenty years, held by Filipinos, were to be freed at the latter age, and all over twenty years old were to be set free in five years.

Arrangement was made for a tribute to be raised from among the people. The money so gathered was to be divided in a fixed ratio between the Church, the State, and the army. All begging friars—and of these many had come to the country—were ordered to leave the Philippines, and forty Augustine friars were sent out to Manila.

A new governor-general was sent to the islands, with instructions to carry out the decree. This official was Don Gomez Perez Desmarinas (gö meth´ pā reth´ des mär ē´näs). He was a man of great energy and force of character, and no doubt meant to be just and fair. He did not, however, get along well with the Bishop of Manila, and before long the trouble between Church and State broke out again. This time the bishop decided to go, himself, to Spain, and see whether some understanding could not be had by which peace could be kept.

Bishop Salazar (säl ä thär´) was then seventy-eight years old. He was an Augustine friar, and had been parish priest of Manila. In 1581, when Pope Gregorio XIII. founded the See of Manila, Salazar was made bishop; but he now felt that the Church must have still greater authority in the islands. One object of his visit to Spain was to get the consent of the king and of the Pope that Manila should be made an archbishopric. In this he succeeded. The Pope issued a bull dated August 14, 1595, creating the Archbishopric of Manila, and Salazar was made the first archbishop. He died, however, before official notice reached him of his new dignity.

News traveled slowly in those days, but in the course of time the emperor of Japan heard that a colony of Europeans had settled in the Philippine Islands. He seems to have thought that Japan had some interest in these islands; for in 1593 he sent an ambassador to Manila. The name of this ambassador was Farranda Kieman (fä rän´dä kī ā´män).

His coming was the cause of some anxiety to the Spanish. As soon as he landed in Manila he waited upon Governor-General Desmarinas with his message. This was a demand upon the Spanish in the Philippines to surrender, and to declare themselves to be vassals of Japan. If they did not do this, Kieman told Desmarinas, the emperor would send war junks to take the country by force.

To all this the governor-general replied with great politeness, but very firmly. He told the ambassador that he and the other Spanish colonists were already subjects of a great king, in whose name he ruled, and that he could not yield the country to Japan. At the same time his king wished to be on good terms with the emperor, whose power and greatness were so well known, and the governor-general hoped a treaty could be made between the two rulers. Such a treaty, he pointed out, would be a great help to both countries.

Farranda Kieman thought that all this was reasonable, and soon afterwards envoys were sent from Manila to the court of Japan. They were well received, and a treaty was made for trade and mutual defense between Japan and the Philippines. However, the ship on which the envoys were returning home was wrecked, and they and the treaty were lost.

In May, 1593, another envoy, Fray Pedro Bautista (pā´drō bä ö tēs´tä), was sent to Japan, and a new treaty was made. A copy of this was sent back to Manila, but the friar envoy asked permission to stay in Japan. His request was granted; he stayed in Japan, and began preaching to the people. Some years later the fruit of this act, which at the time seemed so slight, came back to Manila in a way most unexpected.

In the meantime Governor-General Desmarinas was busy in Manila. He was anxious to see the city walls finished, and kept the people at work on this great task. The fort at the mouth of the river was completed, and the walls of the city already made a noble showing. The Cathedral of Manila and the Santa Polenciana (sän´tä pō len´sē ä´nä) College of Orphans were built, and many other good buildings were completed. Desmarinas had also brought the provinces of Zambales (thäm bä´lēs) and the Camarines under Spanish rule.

In the autumn of 1593, a native king of Fernate (fer nä´tē), one of the Molucca Islands, came to Manila to ask for help against the Dutch sailors who made trouble on his island. Desmarinas gathered a large fleet, and on October 6th started with the native king for Fernate. While on the way, the Chinese oarsmen on the governor-general’s galley rose in revolt one night, took the galley, and killed the governor-general. Some of the Spanish troops on board escaped by jumping overboard. After the death of Desmarinas, the Chinese put the rest of the Spanish ashore and went off with the galley.

This sad event broke up the expedition. The fleet returned to Manila and Don Luis (lö´is) Perez Desmarinas, a son of the dead official, took up the government. He ruled quietly until 1596, when his successor, Don Francisco Tello de Guzman (frän sēs´kō tėl´lō dā gäth´män), came to Manila.

In the year 1598, King Philip II. of Spain being dead, his son, King Philip III., again set up the Supreme Court in Manila. This was done with great pomp and show. There was a long procession in the streets of Manila, and high civic and religious ceremonies. The court was given the same powers as the court of Mexico and of Lima, in Peru, and during Spanish rule was never again done away with.

Summary.—The code of laws by which Mexico was ruled was made the code of the Philippines as well. This arrangement was not a good one. The ruler who came after Legaspi did away with the native chiefs and kings. Only the office of head of a hundred was left, and that had so little honor that no self-respecting Filipino cared to take it. Early in the history of the colony began the strife between authorities which, during the rule of Spain, caused most of the trouble in the colony. At last Bishop Salazar of Manila sent a messenger to Spain. The result was a royal decree defining the official field of the State and of the Church. Gomez Perez Desmarinas was made governor-general, and came to Manila. He did not get along well with the Bishop of Manila, and later the bishop went, himself, to Spain. He succeeded in getting Manila made an archbishopric, and was himself appointed archbishop, but died before the official notice reached him. In 1593 the emperor of Japan sent an ambassador to Manila to demand tribute from the Spanish colony. This the governor-general declined to give, but a treaty was made with Japan. In that same year the king of Fernate came to Manila seeking help against the Dutch. Governor-General Desmarinas raised a fleet to go to Fernate, but while on the way was killed by the Chinese oarsmen on board his galley. His son Luis Perez Desmarinas succeeded him in office until 1596, when a new governor-general came out. In 1598 the Supreme Court was again set up by order of King Philip III. of Spain.

Questions.—What code of laws was put in use in the Philippines? What changes in government did Legaspi’s successors make? Why did Bishop Salazar send a messenger to Spain? What was the result of the messenger’s visit? When was Manila made an archbishopric? Who came to Manila to get help from the Spanish? What did the governor-general do? How did he die? Who reinstated the Supreme Court? When was it done?