The Philippine Islands

By Ramon Reyes Lala

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Philippine Islands" by Ramon Reyes Lala. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DigiCat
• Release date: Sep 4, 2022
• ISBN: 8596547242604

Book preview

Ramon Reyes Lala

The Philippine Islands

EAN 8596547242604

DigiCat, 2022

Contact: [e-mail]

Table of Contents

Illustrations.

Introduction.

Preface.

Early History of the Islands.

Discovery and Conquest.

Adventures of Juan Sebastian Elcano.

Legaspi, the First Governor-General.

Li-ma-hong, the Chinese Pirate.

The Dutch Appear upon the Scene.

The Japanese, and the Martyred Saints.

The British Occupation.

General Draper’s Expedition.

The British Demand an Indemnity.

Intrigues Against the British.

The Spanish Colonial Government.

The Encomiendoros and the Alcaldes.

The Present Division and Administration.

The Taxes and What Became of Them.

Dilatory and Abortive Courts.

A New Yorker’s Experience.

The Church in the Colony.

Priesthood and the People.

Conflicts Between Church and State.

Clashings among the Friars.

The Monks Opposed to Reform.

The Various Tribes of the Philippines.

Character of the Natives.

A Native Wedding.

Dress and Manners.

The Half-breeds, or Mestizos.

Savage Tribes in the Interior: Aetas, or Negritos.

The Gaddanes.

The Igorrotes.

The Igorrote-Chinese.

The Tinguianes.

The Chinese: Hated but Indispensable.

The Mohammedans of Sulu.

Cross or Crescent?

The Sultan’s State.

The Dreaded Juramentados.

The Extent of Mohammedan Rule.

Sulu Customs.

Manila.

The Old City.

Binondo and the Suburbs.

Educational and Charitable Institutions.

The Cathedral and the Governor-General’s Palace.

The Beautiful Luneta: the Sea-boulevard.

Other Important Cities and Towns.

Iloilo, Capital of the Province of Panay.

Cebú: a Mecca for Many Filipinos.

General Topography of the Islands.

Natural Beauty of the Archipelago.

A Botanist’s Paradise.

A Diadem of Island Gems.

The Magnificence of Tropical Scenery.

The Promise of the Future.

A Village Feast.

The Morning Ceremonies.

How the Afternoon is Spent.

The Evening Procession.

The Entertainment at Home.

The Moro-Moro, and the Fireworks.

History of Commerce in the Philippines.

The Spanish Policy.

The Treasure-galleons.

Disasters to Spanish Commerce.

Other Nations Enter Into Competition.

Fraud and Speculation.

The Merchants of Cádiz.

Royal Restrictions on Trade.

Commerce During the Present Century.

The Royal Company.

The Restrictions Are Gradually Abolished.

Vexatious Duties on Foreign Imports.

Duties Made Uniform.

Spanish Opposition to Foreign Trade.

Trade with the Natives.

The Decline of American Trade.

Recent Measures and Statistics.

Bad Result of Spanish Rule.

Agriculture: The Sugar and Rice Crops.

Agriculture—The Chief Industry.

The Principal Products of the Colony.

The Cultivation of Sugar-cane.

Methods of Manufacturing Sugar.

The Several Systems of Labor.

The Rice Crop.

Methods of Rice-cultivation.

Primitive Machines, and Importance of the Rice Crop.

The Hemp Plant and Its Uses.

Description of the Abacá.

The Process of Manufacture.

Some Facts about Hemp-growing.

Difficulties with Native Labor.

Tricks of the Natives.

Competition with Other Lands.

Experience of a Planter.

What the Hemp Is Used For.

Culture and Use of Tobacco.

The Cultivation of Tobacco, a State Monopoly.

Oppressive Conditions in Luzon.

How Speculators Take Advantage of the Natives.

The Quality of Manila Tobacco.

Methods of Preparing the Tobacco Leaf.

Smoking, a Universal Habit.

The Cultivation of Coffee.

The Origin of the Industry.

Indifference of Coffee-planters.

Speculation in Coffee.

Methods of Cultivation.

Harsh Methods of the Government.

Betel Nut, Grain, and Fruit-Growing.

The Areca Palm and the Betel Nut.

The Nipa Palm and Nipa Wine.

Various Fruits of the Islands.

Cereals and Vegetables.

Cotton and Indigo-planting.

The Cocoa Industry.

The Traffic in Birds’ Nests.

Useful Woods and Plants.

The Huge Forests.

The Bamboo Plant and its Uses.

The Bejuco Rope.

The Useful Cocoanut Palm.

Oppressive Regulations of the Government.

The Early Missionaries Beneficial to the Natives.

Mineral Wealth of the Islands.

Early Search for Gold.

The Mining Laws and Methods of the Colony.

Where the Precious Metal is Found.

The Whole Country a Virgin Mine.

Precious Stones and Iron.

Peculiar Methods of Mining Copper.

Other Minerals and the Coal-fields.

Animal Life in the Colony.

The Useful Buffalo, and Other Domestic Animals.

Reptiles, Bats, and Insects.

A Field for the Sportsman.

The Locust Scourge.

The Chief Nuisances: Mosquitoes and Ants.

Struggle of the Filipinos for Liberty.

Early Insurrections Against the Spaniards.

The Burgos Revolt.

The Present Rebellion.

The Katipunan.

The Black Hole of Manila.

The Forbearance of the Natives.

The Rebel Army.

The Tagal Republic Proclaimed.

Treachery of the Spaniards.

Dr. José Rizal and His Wife, Josephine.

Execution of Rizal. The Philippine Joan of Arc.

Rizal’s Farewell Poem.

Aguinaldo Confers with Admiral Dewey.

Aguinaldo as Dictator: His Proclamations.

Triumphant Progress of the Rebels.

The Spaniards Fortify Manila.

Sketch of Aguinaldo.

Dewey at Manila.

The White Squadron.

Declaration of War, and Journey to the Philippines.

Luzon Sighted, and Preparations for Battle.

The Fleet Sails by Corregidor.

First Shot of the War.

The Spanish Fleet is Sighted.

Dewey Attacks the Enemy.

The Fate of the Reina Cristina.

The Commodore Pipes All Hands to Breakfast.

The Americans Renew the Battle.

The Yankees Are Victorious.

The American Occupation.

Merritt, and the Expedition.

The Battle of Malate.

Capture of Manila.

Capitulation of the Philippines.

Awaiting the Peace Commission.

Illustrations.

Table of Contents

Page.

The Fortifications of Old Manila

30

A Glimpse of the Old Canal

35

In the Batangas Province

36

In the Province of Pangasinan

39

San Augustine Church, in Old Manila

43

A Suburb of Old Manila

45

The Abandoned Aqueduct

47

Tower of Defense, Church, and Priest’s House

50

A Native Village in the foot-hills: Old Manila

52

A Bamboo House in Pampanga Province

54

A Street Scene in Albay

59

Children of a Gobernadorcillo

61

Along the Escolta: Principal Business Street in New Manila

63

A Business Street in Old Manila

65

In the Lumber District

68

Throne Room of the Archbishop’s Palace

72

The Famous Shrine of Antipolo

74

A Parish Priest

77

Negritos of Pampanga

81

The Igorrotes

82

Interior of a Native Hut

85

A High-born Filipina—upper garment of costly Piña

86

The Fashionable Church and the Village of Majayjay

89

Author in Silken Suit: kind worn by high-class natives

90

Full-blooded Native Girl in Reception Attire

92

Negritos Enjoying a Primitive Sun-shade

95

Volcano of Albay—a near view

97

A Body-guard of Igorrotes

99

A Native Restaurant, in Binondo

101

Chinese Merchants on their way to the Joss House

103

A Chinese Chocolate-maker

105

Chieftains of Sulu

108

Sulu Warriors in Fighting Attitude

110

A Bamboo Thicket in Sulu

112

The Devil’s Bridge, in Wild Laguna

114

A Jungle in Luzon

116

The Magnificent New Cathedral in Old Manila, and Ruins of the Old Cathedral, Destroyed by Earthquake 1863

121

Commercial House of Russell & Sturgis; First American Merchants; Later, Lala’s Hotel

123

Home, Sweet Home, as the Filipino knows it

125

Balcony of Manila Jockey Club, overlooking Pandacan

126

The Nactajan Mess: Manila Jockey Club

128

Church of San Francisco, and the Old City Walls

130

A Rear View of the Governor-General’s Palace

132

A Water-girl

133

The Garrote, Manila Method of Capital Punishment

135

The Beautiful Luneta

136

At the Port of Iloilo

139

Interior of a House Destroyed by an Earthquake

140

Open-air View of an Earthquake’s Violence

142

A Milkwoman of Calamba

144

A Native Hut in the Interior

147

Hot Water Springs, Albay; and Mayon Volcano

149

The Once-beautiful Botanical Gardens

152

Malecon Promenade, along Manila Bay

154

A Mestiza Flower-girl

157

A Village Feast

160

A Fashionable Church in Majayjay, Near Manila

162

Home of a well-to-do Manila Merchant

164

Cock-fighting: the Supreme Enjoyment

166

Interior of the Cathedral, where all Processions Begin And End

168

Square of Cervantes: Fashionable Quarter of Manila

170

A Scene From the Moro-Moro Play

172

The Puente de España: Stone Bridge, Replacing the Old Wooden One

175

Square of Cervantes—New Manila

178

Tondo: The Ancient Quarter of Native Fishermen

180

Water-Carriers and Fruit-Vender

182

Ancient and Present Method of Washing Clothes

184

A Procession of Natives Carrying Fish

186

A Mestizo Merchant

189

The Escolta: Looking Toward Santa Cruz

191

A Milkman on his Rounds

193

A Village of Santa Ana

195

A Water-Carrier and Customer

196

Weaving the Beautiful Piña Cloth

200

Women Employed in a Piña Shop

202

Natives Preparing the Ground for Sugar-Cane Planting

204

Old-fashioned Process of Drying Black Sugar

206

Cane-stalk Yard, Tanduay; Drying Crushed Cane for Fuel

208

Native Women Hulling Rice

211

Mayon Volcano, Albay; in the Hemp-producing District

215

A Hemp Warehouse, Manila

217

A Hemp Press at a Busy Hour

219

A Chinese Hemp Merchant in Gala Attire

221

A Wealthy Spanish Merchant of Albay

223

A Bamboo Bridge in Albay

225

A Cigar and Cigarette Factory in Manila

228

A View of the Suspension Bridge, Manila; over the Pasig River

230

Native Girls Making Manila Cheroots

233

Spanish Luxury in the Old Days

234

District of Taäl: in the Batangas Province

238

The Useful Buffalo: for all Hauling Purposes

240

A Betel-Nut Gatherer of Luzon

244

A Typical Native Fruit-Girl

246

La Belle Chocolatière of Luzon

248

Shifting Lumber in a Forest of Tayabas

252

Natives Transporting Lumber to the Coast

254

The Young Proprietor of a Cocoanut Grove Gathering Tuba

256

A Wealthy Mestiza of the Upper Class

258

A Group of Tagals Employed by a Mining Company

262

Another Glimpse of the Great Stone Bridge

264

La Laguna Lake; the Neighborhood of a Gold Discovery

266

A Country House in Tanguet Village

268

House of Native Coal-Laborer of Cebú

270

A Buffalo in Harness; Harrowing the Soil

274

Grand Stand, Santa Mesa, where the Pony Races are run

276

At the National Sport; Just Before the Contest

278

A Wayside Restaurant

281

A Native Servant-Girl

282

Buffalo Transporting Lumber in Pampanga

285

Enterprising Sugar Refineries, Tanduay

287

La Bella Filipina in Troubadour Costume

290

Foreigners at Tiffin in Manila

292

Dr. José Rizal, Martyred Leader of the Present Insurrection

295

An Execution of Insurgent Chiefs on the Luneta

296

Entrance of the River Pasig, Manila

299

The President of the United States and His War-Cabinet

300

Andres Bonifacio, sometime Rebel President of so-called Tagal Republic

303

Emilio Aguinaldo

305

Native Women: their Upper Garment—Pañuelo—of Piña

306

Types of the Tagbanua Tribe

308

A Battery at the Corner of the Old Fortifications, Manila; Facing the Bay

313

The Spanish Fleet as it Appeared in the Philippine Waters

315

The Hot Springs of Luzon Province

317

The Reina Cristina, Flagship of Admiral Montojo

318

The Isla de Cuba; To it the Spanish Flag was Transferred

322

The Olympia; Admiral Dewey’s Flagship

324

Admiral Montojo, Commander of Spanish Fleet at Manila

327

Cavité; a Rebel Stronghold, Noted for its Arsenal

328

Alfonzo XIII., the Boy King of Spain

330

The Queen-Regent of Spain

333

Rear-Admiral George Dewey

334

Don Basilo Augustine, Spanish Captain-General of the Philippine Islands

338

General Wesley Merritt, American Commander of Military Forces at Manila

340

Maps

343

Introduction.

Introduction.

Table of Contents

The absolute present necessity for accurate information by the people of the United States respecting the Philippines has been met in no more satisfactory manner than by this book.

The author, Mr. Ramon Reyes Lala, is a Filipino and was born in Manila. His collegiate education was completed in England and Switzerland. A long sojourn in Europe has instructed him in European thought, tendencies, and methods. He has lived in the United States for many years, and has become, by naturalization, a citizen of this country.

He collected the historical material for this work largely from the Spanish archives in Manila before the last rising of the people of Luzon in rebellion against Spain. His mastery of the English language is that of the thorough scholar. His qualifications for his work are those of the student, trained by many studies. He possesses by nativity the gift, incommunicable to any alien, of giving a true color and duly proportioned form to his delineations of his own people. These endowments have enabled him to produce a work of striking and permanent value.

The most meritorious feature of Mr. Lala’s book is unquestionably its impartiality of statement and judgment. This is particularly apparent in his descriptions of the moral and intellectual character of his countrymen. No defect is extenuated, nor is there any patriotic exaggeration of merits. The capacities and limitations of the Filipinos are plainly and photographically depicted. The difficulties and the facilities of their political control by the United States are weighed in a just balance by the reader himself in considering these portrayals of national character.

This colorless truth of statement appears not alone in Mr. Lala’s special descriptions of the character of his people. It is also manifest, as it is incidentally displayed, in his many expositions of the systems and methods of labor, of social usages, of domestic life, of civil administration, of military capacity, of popular amusements and of religious faith. The result is that he has communicated to the reader an unusually distinct conception of national and ethnic character. This is always a very difficult task. The most graphic portrayal in this respect most commonly enables the reader merely to perceive indistinctly, but not clearly to see.

The book is of a most practical character. Its statements of commercial history and methods, and of past and present business and industrial conditions, are most satisfactory. Such an exposition is at this time most indispensably needed. Everybody knows, in a general way, that the Philippine Islands produce sugar, rice, hemp, tobacco, coffee, and many other agricultural staples, and that they are rich in minerals and valuable woods. But heretofore it has been very difficult to obtain specific information upon these subjects. Mr. Lala has given this information. The practical man, the farmer, the manufacturer, the merchant, the miner is here informed concerning resources, methods, prices, labor, wages, profits, and roads. While this information is not technical, it is instructively full and is evidently reliable.

The descriptions of the processes of cultivating and preparing hemp, sugar, coffee, rice, and tobacco, and the suggestions of the ways by which these methods can be easily improved, and the products made more profitable, are, in every way, most satisfactory.

The Philippines began to come under European control with the administration of Legaspi, the first Governor-General, in 1565, long before the English had colonized any portion of North America.

For about three hundred and fifty years the Spanish system has been in contrast with that of every other colonizing nation. It has been worse than the worst of any of these. While there is no elaborate contrast of these systems in Mr. Lala’s book, he nevertheless depicts so thoroughly the manifold and inveterate rapacity, cruelty, corruption, and imbecility of Spanish colonial administration, that he also discloses the vast possibilities of the better contrasted systems.

No war was ever yet waged in the interests of humanity, as the war against Spain unquestionably was, that did not produce consequences entirely unforeseen at its beginning. This truth was never more convincingly confirmed than by the war just ended. The United States demanded the evacuation by Spain of Cuba and Cuban waters. Compliance by Spain would have limited the consequences to the evacuation. She did not comply. She chose the arbitrament of war, and the result was her extirpation from her insular possessions in the West Indies and the Philippines.

This providential and revolutionary event imposed upon the United States duties unforeseen, but none the less imperious. As to the Philippines, those duties are complicated by the irresistible tendencies which seem to make certain the dismemberment of China, and the subjection of that immemorial empire to all the influences of Western civilization. This is an event not inferior in importance to the discovery of America by Columbus, and the interest of the United States in its consequences is of incalculable importance. With this interest its relations to the Philippines is inseparably connected, and those relations present for consideration policies which disenchant the situation of all idealism and make it intensely practical. To this possible result the war waged against the United States by Aguinaldo and his followers has decisively contributed.

But, in any event, whatever the relations of the United States to the Philippines may finally become, the book of Mr. Lala will undoubtedly influence and assist the considerate judgment of those whose duty shall call them to determine the momentous questions which are now enforcing themselves for solution upon the attention of the American people.

Signature of Cushman K. Davis

Washington, March 22d, 1899.

[Cushman Kellogg Davis, U. S. Senate, Minnesota, 1887 to——; Chairman Committee on Foreign Relations; Member of the Commission that met at Paris, September 1898, to arrange terms of peace between the United States and Spain.]

Preface.

Preface.

Table of Contents

About twenty years ago, when a student at St. John’s College, London, I was frequently asked by people I met in society for information regarding the Philippines and the Filipinos. Many also, who showed considerable interest, and who wished, for various reasons, to carry their investigations further, complained that there was in English no good book on the subject. Afterward, when I continued my studies at a French college in Neûchatel, Switzerland, I met with many similar inquiries, and here too in America I found demand for a comprehensive, reliable work upon my country.

But it was not until I had traveled considerably through Europe, studying the history of the various States and peoples, that the idea of writing a history of my own fatherland occurred to me. It was mortifying then to think that the glories of my native land were no better known. Accordingly, I resolved to become the chronicler, and I began at once to collect material for a work on the Philippines, that should, I trusted, be deemed a permanent contribution to historical literature.

Upon my return to Manila from Europe, I immediately began a study of the Colonial archives in the office of the Governor-General. From these I gathered many valuable data about the early history of the colony, and also much information that would be locked to the curious traveler. And on account of my knowledge of Spanish, and because of my friendship with the Governor-General Moriones, I was enabled to do this thoroughly. Thus I gradually laid the foundation for the present work.

When, a few years later—in 1887—because of my sympathy with the rising cause of the insurgents, Spanish tyrants banished me from my country and my kindred, I carried away all the manuscripts I had already written, resolved to finish the task I had set before me amid a more congenial environment.

I came to the United States. Of this country I, in due time, became a citizen. However, I kept up my relations with friends in Manila; for I still felt an interest in the fate of my native land. Though I have since revisited the Orient, I preferred to retain my American citizenship, rather than again put myself under the iron yoke of Spain. I have, nevertheless, kept pace with the march of events in the colony, and had, indeed, about completed my history when Dewey’s grand victory denoted a new era for the Filipinos, and, hence, made the addition of several chapters necessary. I have thus added much of supreme interest to Americans; bringing the book to the capture of Manila by the American forces.

My acquaintance with the leading insurgents—Rizal, Aguinaldo, Agoncillo, the Lunas, and others—has also enabled me to speak with authority about them and the cause for which they have fought.

In writing this work I have consulted all previous historians, the old Spanish chroniclers, Gaspar de San Agustin, Juan de la Concepcion, Martinez Zuñiga, Bowring, Foreman

, and various treatises, anthropological and historical, in French, Spanish, and English.

To all these writers I am indebted for many valuable facts.

It has been my aim to give—rather than a long, detailed account—a concise, but true, comprehensive, and interesting history of the Philippine Islands; one, too, covering every phase of the subject, and giving also every important fact.

And my animating spirit of loyalty for my own countrymen makes me feel that I cannot more clearly and fully manifest my affection for them and my native land than by writing this book.

Many of the pictures are photographs taken by myself. The rest were selected from a great number of others, that were accessible, as being most typical of Philippine life and scenery.

The student of history, and he that would learn something about the customs of the people, and the natural resources of the country, may, I trust, find the perusal of this work not without profit and interest.

I desire to attest here my gratitude for the many courtesies shown me, and for the hearty manner in which I have been received, in this great, free country.

Everywhere it was the same.

And I would say to all loyal, ardent Filipinos, that I believe that they eventually will not regret the day when Commodore Dewey sundered the galling chains of Spanish dominance, and when General Merritt, later, hoisted the Stars and Stripes over the Archipelago.

They will, rather, most surely live to recognize and appreciate the unsullied manifold advantages and benefits incident to American occupation and to a close contact with this honest, vigorous type of manhood.

The Author.

New York

December, 1898.

Ornament.Early History of the Islands.

Early History of the Islands.

Table of Contents

Discovery and Conquest.

Table of Contents

When Magellan in the spring of 1521 took formal possession of Mindanao, one of the largest of the Philippine group, he was surrounded by crowds of the curious brown-skinned natives of that island; with sensations of awe, they watched their strange white visitors, believing them to be angels of light. It was Easter-week, and the Spanish discoverers, with all the ritualistic splendor of the mass, dedicated the newly-found islands to God and the Church.

The natives, too, manifested great friendliness to the tempest-tossed mariners. Indeed, one of their most prominent chieftains himself piloted the exploring party to Cebú, where thousands of natives, arrayed in all the barbarous paraphernalia of savagery, stood on the beach, and, with their spears and shields, menaced the strangers.

The Mindanao chieftain, who had acted as pilot, thereupon went on shore and volunteered an explanation: these strange voyagers were seeking rest and provisions, having been many weary months away from their own country.

A treaty of amity was then ratified according to their native custom, each party thereto simultaneously drawing and drinking blood from the breast of the other. Magellan then caused a rude chapel to be built on this new and hospitable shore, and here the natives witnessed the first rites of that Church that, within a century, extended its oppressive sway from one end of the Archipelago to the other.

The King