Pampanga

“ In the rich fields of Bulacan and Pampanga, great gangs of laborers had been impressed, felling the forests for the construction of the Spanish fleets and manning these fleets at the oars, on voyages which took them for four and six months from their homes. The governor, Don Gonzalez de Ronquillo, had forced many Indians of Pampanga into the mines of Ilocos, taking them from the sowing of their rice. Many had died in the mines and the rest returned so enfeebled that they could not plant. ”

“ It also has its own altar fund, which, although not very important as yet, will yield something for the support of those in charge there. All the [246] territory of Pampanga is surrounded by mountains where dwell Zambales and Negrillos, who descend to the villages for the purpose of head-hunting; for there is nothing so much to their taste as this. A people without abiding-place or house cannot be punished. They rest at night where they choose; and sustain themselves on roots and what game they bring down with their bows. ”

“ Besides, as this province [of Pampanga] abounds so plentifully in rice, and your Majesty needs so much of it for the rations of so great a number of persons as are employed in the building and repairing of the vessels in the port of Cavite, and for the sailors and soldiers, it is obvious that the said province will be diminished; for it is necessary to allot the vendalas and repartimientos upon the few who remain, instead of on the many, so that with a few exactions of this sort the poor Indians will be driven to the wall, and will find it necessary to desert their huts and take to the woods. ”

“ It is a priorate and has a vote. Its Indians number about five hundred.
The father provincial likewise established a convent in Lubao, which is [in] the province of Pampanga. It is a most fertile land, and we might say that it sustains the country, for it is all rice-fields. Hence it is said, that at harvest Pampanga is worth little. The convent of Lubao had many people, and hence they were able to build a church, which is one of the best in the country. It is all built of brick, made there; they also built a two-roomed house. ”

“ Formerly, when rice was plentiful, four hundred gantas were worth one tostón; your Majesty's officials of La Pampanga furnished me with the price which it was worth. Last year the governor ordered that twelve thousand fanégas of rice be taken from La Pampanga for your Majesty, and that the Indians should give three hundred gantas for one tostón. It was then worth among them about a peso of gold, because it could not be had at any price. Many Indians died of hunger. ”

“ It spread quickly and extended to Zambales. The second revolt took place fifteen years later as a result of the forcible employment of natives in the work of cutting timber and of the failure of the Government to pay for large amounts of rice collected in Pampanga for the use of the royal officials. The leader of the rebellion was Francisco Maniago. It spread rapidly among the inhabitants of the towns along the banks of the Pampanga River, and was only suppressed after drastic measures were taken by Governor-General de Lara.
Pampanga was one of the first provinces to start the Revolution. ”

“ The bad example of those in Pampanga, induced the Indians of Pangasinan to rebel, electing as their King an Indian, called Marlong. They murdered the Alcalde Mayor of the province, with all his family, and, upon this being known in Manila, the Governor sent troops by sea and land to quell the sedition; but the Dominican friars possessed such power over the Indians, that they were restored to their duty without firing one gun ”

“ The plan should be carried out chiefly by means of the Indians of Pampanga and the Zambales of Pangasinan—people who know the country and its hiding-places and coverts; and who, as being more agile than Spaniards, bear more easily the toils of the march over the routes that have to be traversed, owing to the wildness of the region, which, as is well known, is very great. ”

“ It is about one and one-half days’ journey from Manila by sea and creeks, as in the case of the others. It has the best meadow-land in the islands, and it all produces rice abundantly. It is irrigated, as was remarked above of the others. It has a celebrated church with its crucifix, which is entirely built of stone and brick. The house is made of stone also. The inhabitants are the richest and best-clothed of all Pampanga, and have the most prominent of the chiefs. When the supply of religious is good, there are always three in this village, and there have even been at times four or five ”

“ The Archbishop being hard pressed to make up the million, sent orders to the Marquisses of Villamediana and Monte Castro to bring that money to Manila. But on this being intimated to the Franciscan friars, who, in fact, governed that part of the country, they armed the Indians, and compelled the officer who had it in charge to convey the money to the province of Pampanga, furnishing him with Indians to carry it, who took it over the mountains, and succeeded in securing it from the English, lodging it in safety with the missionaries of Ytuy, bordering on Pampanga, Cagayan, and Pangasinan. ”

“ The revolt in Pampanga arises, like so many minor revolts in the past, through the injustice of lesser officials—this time the superintendent of the timber-cutting. Under leadership of one Francisco Manyago, a native military official, the Pampangos attempt to gain freedom, and plan a general uprising among various provinces. But though the most warlike of the Filipinos, they are at the same time the most reasonable, and are, consequently, easily quieted by the personal efforts of the governor, assisted ably by the various religious orders. ”

“ While the events of Manila had this tragic termination, Anda collected in Bulacan the Alcalde, the ecclesiastics, and other Spaniards, showed them his authority, which was recognised with enthusiasm. On the evening of the same day news of the fall of Manila was received, and Anda published a proclamation declaring himself Governor and Captain-General of the Philippine Islands, and chose for the seat of his government Bacalor in Pampanga. ”

“ The hereditary taint of piracy in the Malay blood, and the low moral standard prevailing in the Archipelago, as well as fear of the consequences of a refusal, render it more difficult than a stranger can realise for a native servant to resist such a temptation.
[Contents]
Pampanga Women.
The women in Pampanga are smart in appearance, clever in business, and good at a bargain, whether buying or selling. The men are well aware of this and when selling their produce or buying a sugar-mill, they like to have the assistance of their wives, who are always the hardest customers to deal with. ”

“ The many persons who are fed with the silver have gone to Pampanga, among whom is a considerable number of military officers—some in order to get what belongs to them, and others for the consideration of larger pay, and all of them and all the other Spaniards incited and threatened by said auditor have been made to incur the inobservance of their oath and their word of honor. ”

“ In his Biblioteca (p. 51) he gives the Ave Maria in Batanes, Ibanag and Ilocano, in order to show (he says) the diversities between these idioms.
The Pampanga Arte (Manila, 1729) , by the Augustinian, Diego Bergaño, an estimable aid to the would-be learner of that language, was reissued at Sampaloc in 1736. By the same author is a dictionary of Pampanga—the only work of its class, printed at Manila, first in 1732, and again in 1860. ”

“ Those people are now very skilful and are reared among us, especially those of Pampanga and the vicinity of this city. They are a people of great boldness only needing a leader whom they would recognize, and they are so many in number that it is a matter that must be feared considerably, and one of which your Majesty orders us to be fearful and watchful. ”

“ Many others who escaped informed the English and Chinese of Manila, and the latter petitioned the English to kill all the Spaniards of Manila, while they would do the same with those outside, without excepting the ecclesiastics. The English would not consent, but determined to attack Pampanga, encouraged more by the treason of the Indians of Laguna who treacherously killed their alcalde and other Spaniards, and set another ambush for those who escaped on the following day, though the latter also escaped that. ”

“ CHAPTER III Missions of the provinces of Ilocos and Pangasinan in general
[Mozo states that the two provinces of Pampanga and Pangasinan were so populous that, “of those whom our forefathers converted in these two provinces alone are counted more than one hundred and fifty thousand souls—who, settled in villages, and maintained in a very civilized and Christian society, hold their own on the frontier of the infidels; for their territory allows them no alternative, shut in on one side by the sea, and on the other by very rugged mountains.”] ”

“ Moreover, it having come [103] to the ears of the authorities that certain people of Pampanga and Bulacan were preparing a reception for the agitator, the Governor ordered that he should not be allowed to leave Dapitan, and that should he have left there, he should not be allowed to land in Manila on his arrival, but be transferred to another ship which should carry him back to Mindanao. ”

“ Some of them had acquired by trade property to the value of 40,000 pesos. The tribute collected from all the Chinese mestizos of Luzon numbered 10,500, over 8,000 of which came from the provinces immediately north of Manila—Tondó, Bulacán, and Pampanga. The Chinese mestizo element is very evident today in the provinces of Bulacán and Pampanga, and probably forms the principal element among the native owners of haciendas. See Census of Philippines, i, pp. ”

“ They contain many fine houses, where the European traveller is sure of a hospitable reception.
The staple crop of Pampanga is sugar, and I shall [239] explain their organisation for its cultivation and manufacture.
In Luzon the land is usually cultivated under an arrangement known as Aparceria.
The conditions of Aparceria vary according to the locality, and to established custom, since on the land near a town a smaller share is given to the cultivator than on land near the forests, where if he were not satisfied he might commence to clear land for himself. ”

“ The Dominican friars completely vindicated their honour by means of their discourses, and by the aid of the Bishop Ustariz, who, having tranquillized the inhabitants of Ylocos, came to give his assistance in the pacification of the province of Pangasinan. The rebels were in some [226] degree quieted, and, at last, were induced to proceed to Pampanga to solicit an Alcalde Mayor of Señor Anda. They were very kindly received, their former crimes were pardoned, and he gave them Azevedo for their Alcalde, who took possession of his magistracy on the 5th of December, 1763. ”

“ As a result, in that year followed a very great scarcity of rice, and for lack of it a great number of Indians in the said Pampanga died from hunger. In Luvao alone, the encomienda of Guido de la Vaçares, the dead exceeded a thousand.
Second: in regard to the many occupations in which the Spaniards employ the Indians, such as setting them to row in the galleys and fragatas despatched by the governor and officials on various commissions, which are never lacking. At times they go so far away that they are absent four or six months; and many of those who go die there. ”

“ This people were harassed by repeated requisitions for cutting timber, for the continual building of galleons, and they received no satisfaction for many purchases of rice for which the money was due them. The province of Pampanga is in our charge in spiritual matters, and there we have sixteen convents and doctrinas, among the best which there are in this field of Christianity. The convents are: Bacolor (which is the head of them all) , Baua, Lubao, Sexmoan, Betis, Porac, Mexico, Minalin, Macabebe, Apalit, Candava, Arayat, Magalang, Gapan, and Santor. ”

“ The inhabitants of Palapag were corrupted by those evil habits at the time when Governor Don Diego Fajardo—with the intention of relieving the near-by provinces of Tagalos and Pampanga from the burden of working, at the harbor of Cavite, in the building of galleons and vessels necessary for the conservation and defense of these islands—had ordered the alcaldes of Leite and other provinces to send men thence to [115] Cavite for that employment. ”

“ Playa Honda begins at the doors of Mariueles and extends along the mountains which border Pampanga to the point of Sunga and near Pangasinan, which is distant more than forty leguas from Mariueles to the visita of the Christian Baga Indians who are administered by the minister of Mariueles. They perform their duties toward the Church every [292] year, notwithstanding that they show very many imperfections, a fact which is not surprising, since the minister cannot be with them all the time that he would like, as the coast is inaccessible all the time of the vendavals. ”

“ And yet it can be said of these Indians (and a strange thing it is) , that although they are treated so harshly, it is not known that a single one has deserted to the Dutch in Maluco, where they suffer more than in their own country. Many of the other Indians go and come. When these soldiers leave Pampanga, they present a fine appearance, for the villages come to their aid, each with a certain sum, for their uniforms. All this is due to the teaching of the religious of our father St. Augustine, whose flock these Indians are, and the children of their teaching. ”