Part 22 (1/2)

[Copy of the communication referred to in the foregoing letter.]

Most ill.u.s.trious and excellent prince Mohammed Israel, Sultan of Sulu. Most gratifying has been to me the announcement, which you conveyed to me in your letter of January 20th, of your happy accession to the sovereignty of Sulu, on account of which I offer you many congratulations, wis.h.i.+ng you happiness in all things.

The disposition which inclines you to seek my friends.h.i.+p and a.s.sistance, as also the friendly relations which you maintain with my Governor of the Philippines, which you desire to establish and perpetuate by means of a mutual agreement, which may secure for the future firm peace and a perpetual alliance between your states and mine, increase my just gratification, especially as my Governor has informed me of the sublime natural gifts which are united in your person, with many and most expressive eulogies thereof.

In view of this, and of the constant fidelity which you promise in your letter, I command my good va.s.sal, Don Simon de Anda y Salazar, to listen to your proposals, to accede to them whenever reasonable, and to grant you all the favor and a.s.sistance which the forces and facilities to be found there may allow a.s.suring you of my Royal protection, which I extend to you from now on, confiding in your reciprocal friends.h.i.+p, and n.o.ble conduct, and desirous of opportunities of favoring you and of proving the interest which I feel in your good fortunes and the earnestness with which I pray G.o.d to preserve you many years.

Madrid, December 2, 1774.

I, the King.

APPENDIX XII

LETTER FROM THE CAPTAIN-GENERAL OF THE PHILIPPINES FORWARDING A COPY OF THE TREATY OF PEACE, PROTECTION, AND COMMERCE WITH SULU, DECEMBER 25, 1836 [277]

Superior Government of the Philippines

Most Excellent Sir: After having reported to your Excellency in my three former communications, the opinion which I have formed with regard to the countries in the vicinity of our possessions in the southern part of the Philippines, of the relations which we ought to sustain with their governments and the policy we should follow until we shall obtain the immense advantages which our position offers us, I have the honor to deliver to your Excellency a copy of the Capitulations of the Treaty of Peace, Protection, and Commerce, which I have concluded through the captain of frigate, Don Jose Maria Halcon, with the Sultan and Datus of Sulu.

The articles which need some explanation, are the 1st, 3rd and 4th. With reference to the 3rd and 4th, I mention them in my former communication and indicate their intent; and with respect to the 1st, I copy herewith what has been reported to me by the commissioner, D. Jose Maria Halcon, which is as follows:

I must make clear an important point relating to the text of the Capitulations, in the wording of which your Excellency has noted perhaps some ambiguities and omissions in Article I, which while intended to make the Datus and Sultan of Sulu acknowledge and declare the extent of our rights, seems indefinite on certain points which many irresponsible writers have a.s.serted with confidence.

While considering the protection granted the Sultan, I recognized the inexpediency of making the same include the lands which he has lately acquired in Borneo, and of determining definitely the line of the boundary in Palawan, the t.i.tle to which island, as also that to Balabak and Balambangan, is very disputable, though at present, the lands where we have not established our settlements of the province of Kalamians are included de facto in his possessions.

Palawan was ceded to the Crown of Spain by the King of Bruney, and Balabak is likewise ceded by an instrument brought back by D. Antonio Fabean when he went there as Emba.s.sador under the administration of the Marquis of Obando, which should be in the archives of the Philippine Government; but since these cessions were made on an occasion when the Sultan of Sulu found himself in possession of the lands by virtue of a former cession made in his favor by another King of Bruney, such doc.u.mentary testimony cannot serve as the basis of our arguments, especially since we did not proceed to found any settlements.

This matter of the cession of Balabak occurred upon the occasion of a visit to Manila, of Sultan Mohammed Alimud Din (Fernando I) who, a.s.serting his right to the island, executed and ratified upon his part the gift, at least in word, through D. Manuel Fernandez Toribio, afterward Governor of Zamboanga, and the Secretary of the Government.

Our writers have misrepresented the subsequent conduct of the said Sultan, and concealed very important facts, but at any rate, the very concealment of the reasons for his fleeing from Manila betokens the lack of liberty in all of the instruments he granted during his stay in that place; moreover the facts in the case justify his later actions, which gave occasion for casting a doubt over the legitimacy of our t.i.tle to the lands under consideration.

The true reason for the actions of Mohammed Alimud Din, beginning with his flight from Manila, was the fact that he had purchased the secret in a copy of the confidential letter which the First Minister of the Monarchy, Marquis de la Ensenada, wrote to the Captain-General of the Philippines on August 28, 1751, discussing the states of Sulu; which doc.u.ment, when brought to his knowledge, could not fail to ruin all of our political moves, and to dispose him to take every defensive measure against our power, for Mohammed Alimud Din was a man of no mean understanding.

This was the origin of the letters which, on September 17, 1763, the said Sultan wrote from Sulu to the King of England and to the English company, [278] ratifying in favor of the latter the concession of the lands which form the strait of Balabak, in which is comprised the southern part of Palawan from Point Kanipaan to Point Bulilaruan, and this was the origin of their settlements in Balabak and Balambangan which have been abandoned since later events.

Such are the antecedents which induced me to draw up the said article with such ambiguity that it may be construed to the advantage of the Crown without giving occasion to embarra.s.sing objections.

My aim throughout, most ill.u.s.trious Sir, has been to promote the national welfare by carrying out the high designs of your Excellency, who by promoting this enterprise has attempted to open up one of the most abundant sources of wealth in the Philippines.

I also deliver to your Excellency a copy of the Capitulations, in which, in consequence of Article 2nd, it has been agreed to determine the duties to be paid by the Sulu vessels in Zamboanga and Manila, and ours in Sulu. For the better understanding of these stipulations, I have thought it expedient to inclose a copy of the explanation with which the said commissioner forwarded them to me.