Part 11 (1/2)
The conquest might better be called a conversion for the cross did much more to establish and maintain Spain's authority than the sword. And the new religion formed a bond of union, perhaps the only one which could have brought together such diverse elements.
Spanish catholicism was not merely a Spanish church, the church was Spain. There was therefore no humiliation over subjugation, rather exultation in having found salvation.
The people were seafaring folk with the st.u.r.diness such a life gives. Their chiefs were their captains, and, in waters that are the home of the typhoon, leaders.h.i.+p, if in no other way than by the survival of the fittest, came to the most capable.
Women held high position, for with their husband so much away not only the household but all the family affairs were under their control, a condition still notable. Thus the home influence in which the children grew up was not that of the Orient, a shut-in Zenana with, for the child's first model, a mother who had been a slave and now as mistress was a tyrant, but the youth of the Philippines earlier saw the real world and had training from mothers who knew its ways.
There were gradations of rank, but people were constantly falling from the higher to the lower so that these had ambitious persons among them seeking to regain their former estate and arousing ambition among their fellows. And the condition of even the lowest was not hopeless. So well ordered was society that even slaves had rights and knew them; had too the civic courage to stand up for them against their masters. Witness the story of the surprise of the Spaniards who heard slaves saying to their masters, ”What is there in it for me in this?”, when orders were given them.
Nor should it be thought that the wholesale conversion betrayed weakness of character. The islands had had a nature religion, the belief of an artistic people, that their G.o.ds would delight in and frequent the most beautiful spots. Then came the religion of Mahomet with a system which reason readily recognized as superior, but before it was fairly established there arrived another religion which not only commended itself to reason but appealed to the artistic sense, both in larger measure than either of its predecessors.
Those who had felt exalted in the glory of the tropical sun, found comfort in the moonbeams' softer radiance, had sought the leafy recesses of the forest for reflection and were soothed and sustained by the musical murmurs of mountain cascades found greater comfort and a higher gratification in the rites and ceremonies of a church which has ever been the patron of art and consecrates all that is beautiful in music, painting and sculpture to adorn its sanctuaries and dignify its wors.h.i.+p.
THE FRIAR DOMINATION IN THE PHILIPPINES
By ”Plaridel” (Marcelo H. del Pilar).
Three centuries have pa.s.sed since the blood of Legaspi and of Sikatuna mingled in a cup of which both partook in token of eternal friends.h.i.+p, thus ratifying their oaths to fuse thenceforward into a single ideal the aspiration of Spain and the Philippines. But the pa.s.sage of time, instead of making firmer this fusion, has only strengthened the predominance of the religious orders who have turned the islands into a colony exploited by friars.
No one is ignorant of the rebellion of the friars against the highest political and religious authorities of the archipelago; nor is anyone ignorant of the violent death of some, the coercion exercised on others and the vexations visited upon all those who in governing the country have dared to place the interests of the motherland of the Catholic religion before the convents.
The immunity of those implicated and the predominance of the rebellious elements compel the unhappy belief that Spain has already abdicated the sovereignty in favor of Philippine friarism.
So it is worth while to dissipate this erroneous impression. Sad is it to think that the planning of Charles V and Philip II, the efforts of Magellan and Elcano, the sufferings of Villalobos, the prudence and the valor of Legaspi, the sacrifices of Salcedo, Lavezares, Goiti, and the others, only served as a stepping-stone for enthroning the friar orders.
The Filipino people are pa.s.sing in these moments through an interesting period. Already they have manifested their aversion to the friars, and I believe the time has come to draw attention to the aspirations which palpitate in their bosoms.
On the one hand their future and on the other the att.i.tude of China, j.a.pan and other nations which from Europe and Asia have fixed their gaze on the map of Oceanica, offer to the thoughtful man problems of deep seriousness which perhaps may be resolved in time to forestall and smooth out future difficulties.
Luna's palette has revived the recollection of the ”Blood Compact”
between Legaspi and Sikatuna, and the Filipino cannot view without regret the powerful intervention of the friar interests which, blocking every tendency toward fraternity between Spain and the Philippines, are creating a difficult situation by increasing the former's unfriendliness and the latter's burdens. For this they rely on the difference of language between the governing and the governed cla.s.ses; and to maintain that difference, to impede popular instruction and to prevent at all cost that the people and their government shall come to understand each other is the best way to maintain them in perpetual antagonism.
How far this plan has already gone can be estimated by a.n.a.lyzing the relations of the friarocracy with the official inst.i.tution which makes up the organization of the towns of the Philippines. As everywhere else, in the Philippines the relation of residents to the munic.i.p.al officers is of the utmost importance. The petty governor, or chief of the village, in each locality const.i.tutes the channel of communication and the agency for carrying out the ideas of the government, and according to the activity or inertness of this element the plan of the higher authorities works out effectively or suffers sad s.h.i.+pwreck.
The parish priest has no vote in these elections, but controls them because in his hands is the veto power. In forwarding the returns for the ratification of the election result, the parish priest makes two reports: one is public in character and is limited to setting forth the grade of instruction of the candidate in the official language; the other is confidential and under no restrictions whatever.
The candidate who has no legal impediment, unless he is of the priest's following, will turn out disqualified in some other way, thanks to the confidential report. He will be anti-Spanish, an agitator (filibustero), separatist, and if this report cannot be controverted the candidate of the town meeting will be thrown out. The parish priest, in the final result, is master of the situation.
In carrying on their munic.i.p.al duties, the local authorities are dependent upon the parish priest. For a report on the conduct of a resident, a hundred of the princ.i.p.al men are not enough; the vital point is having the ”O. K.” of the parish priest. In turning in the tax rolls of the neighborhood, his signature is necessary. For the calling to the colors of the young men to whom the lot has fallen to serve as soldiers, the parish priest's ”approved;” to validate accounts and other official doc.u.ments, the parish priest's ”approved;”
in everything and for everything there is demanded as the essential requisite the approval of the parish priest.
In exchange there exists no corrective provision which regulates the conditions under which the parish priest may grant or withhold this approval. He grants or withholds it according to his own free will or as he is directed by his ecclesiastical superiors. The chief local authority is the only one on whom falls this burden of regularizing his acts with the indispensable approval of the parish priest. If the parish priest refuses it, then the chief incurs the discipline of his superiors.