Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines

CHAPTER 5 Conquest and Depopulation before 1600

53 C H A P T E R 5 Conquest and Depopulation before 1600 M iguel López de Legazpi’s expedition to the Philippines dropped anchor in Gamay Bay off Samar on 13 February 1565 (see Map 5.1).1 Preoccupied with finding provisions, the expedition skirted the coasts of Samar and Leyte and finally encountered the relatively large settlement of Cabalian on the east coast of Leyte. There it seized supplies of rice, camotes, and chickens, for which, on departing south, it left behind barter goods as a form of payment. Provisions proved even more difficult to acquire in Limasawa and Bohol since the natives fled fearing further attacks by the Portuguese who had preceded the Spanish. In the search for a permanent base in the islands, Legazpi dispatched a number of exploratory expeditions to Mindanao, one of which, by accident rather than design, passed the islands of Negros and Cebu. On hearing news of dense populations and good food supplies in Cebu, Legazpi directed the expedition to the island, where it arrived on 27 April 1565. After a brief skirmish with “almost two thousand warriors,” Legazpi founded the town of San Miguel.2 Spanish sojourn in the Visayas was to be relatively short. The large populations and abundant food supplies proved a chimera and it was not long before the islands were abandoned for Luzon. However, in the brief period from 1565 to 1571, when the Spanish were confined to the Visayas, they wrought havoc among local populations in their desperate search for provisions and wealth. While the Visayan Islands have some environmental and cultural features in common, there are also some important differences between them. In terms of their physical geography, the islands typically have interior mountain regions ranging from 1,000 to 8,000 feet, while their lowlands are limited to narrow coastal strips; only in the Leyte Valley, the Iloilo Plain in Panay, and northern and western Negros are there more extensive lowlands.3 Climatically the islands receive between about 50 to 80 inches of rain a year and experience a short but marked dry season between January and March. The eastern Visayas, particularly Samar, are afflicted by frequent typhoons between October and December, which have discouraged settlement of the most exposed coasts. Rainfall is lower in the central Visayas, where the porous soils make the region susceptible to drought. Here in pre-Spanish times emphasis was placed on the cultivation of millet and root crops. The soils of the western Visayas are more fertile. The lowlands of Panay are covered with recent alluvial deposits, while those of western Negros are of volcanic origin and fairly 54 Part II The Visayas deep, though poorly drained. In colonial times Panay became the breadbasket for the Visayas and the source of supplies for garrisons and expeditions. Most inhabitants of the Visayan Islands were Austronesian in origin and were distinguished by their tattoos and distinct language, though they spoke different dialects.4 Good evidence exists for Visayan culture in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The Jesuit fathers Pedro Chirino and Francisco Ignacio Alcina compiled the most detailed accounts,5 but a number of Jesuit letters also make reference to native customs.6 The detailed writings of Chirino and Alcina postdate a number of early secular accounts, such as those of Miguel López de Loarca and the Boxer Codex, which includes a description of the Costumbres y usos serimonias y rritos de Bisayas.7 Even earlier fragments of information can be gleaned from accounts of Magellan’s expedition in 1521, notably that of Antonio Pigafetta,8 and from letters written by Spaniards prior to their move to Manila in 1571. In his book Barangay, William Henry Scott provides a succinct description of Visayan culture based on these sources as well as on early Visayan dictionaries.9 It is not the intention here to duplicate this work, but to highlight those aspects of native society that had implications for the nature of Spanish rule and demographic trends in the islands. Map 5.1. Miguel López de Legazpi’s expedition in the Visayas (after Cushner, 1971) Conquest and Depopulation before 1600 55 Before proceeding, it is necessary to note that Negros and Panay also contained Negritos who were the descendants of the original Australoid inhabitants of the Philippines, who had been displaced or absorbed by Austronesian migrants who began arriving about five to six...