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115 C H A P T E R 7 Manila and Tondo D issatisfied with the island of Panay as the center of Spanish rule in the Philippines , Legazpi sought a location that had better food supplies, a more secure port, and preferably regular trade with China. Having heard rumors through traders of the existence of a settlement at Pasig River, in 1570 Legazpi dispatched the first of three expeditions to Luzon.1 The first expedition headed by Juan de Salcedo only skirted Mindoro and Lubang, but the second, in May 1570 led by Martín de Goiti, resulted in skirmishes with 10,000 to 12,000 Moros under Ladyang Matanda and his nephew, Raja Soliman, at a fort at the mouth of the Pasig River.2 Here at what became the site of Manila, they also encountered forty Chinese and twenty Japanese traders. The expedition returned to Panay with enthusiastic accounts of the region’s fertility, its dense populations, and the presence of foreign traders.3 Legazpi therefore decided to transfer the base of Spanish operation in the Philippines to Luzon. In spring 1571 the expedition set sail and after tense negotiations and resistance from the Pampangan inhabitants of Macabebe, who were allies of Rajah Lakandula, a nephew of Ladyang Matanda, the city of Manila was formally established on 24 June 1571.4 This did not mark the end of hostilities; the inhabitants of Taytay and Cainta, who were able to muster a fighting force of 3,000 from surrounding villages and possessed well-fortified settlements, continued to offer resistance . Juan de Salcedo was dispatched to pacify them and in the ensuing battles about 300 “Moros” were killed.5 The establishment of Manila heralded radical transformations to the way of life of the Tagalog inhabitants of what became the jurisdiction of Tondo. Manila became the secular and ecclesiastical capital of the Philippines and the terminus of the Manila galleon from Mexico on which the colony depended. As a result, the region was the main focus of immigration by bureaucrats, priests, and traders. Among the last were large numbers of Chinese, and to a lesser extent Japanese, who together greatly exceeded the number of Spanish residents. The Chinese were known as Sangleyes, a term that Gaspar de San Agustín claimed derived from the Chinese “xian-glay” meaning “traders who come.”6 The influx of foreign settlers, whether permanent or temporary, and the maintenance of the galleons that plied the Pacific Ocean created new demands for food, supplies, and labor. To these were added the needs of a non-productive military that was required to safeguard this trade and defend Spain’s only foothold in Asia. 116 Part III Southern Luzon As in other parts of the Philippines, the natives of Tondo were allocated in encomiendas and required to perform labor services, for which there was a high demand due to the large urban population and high level of commercial activity associated with the city and its port. There was also a large demand for food that encouraged the rapid development of commercial agricultural enterprises, but since most Spaniards showed little interest in agricultural production, it was left primarily to the missionary orders. Hence, the local population became rapidly integrated into the cash economy and from an early date paid tribute in cash rather than commodities.7 The burden of providing labor increased during the Hispano-Dutch War when communities near Manila were required to supply workers to extract timber, work in the shipyards and munitions factories, and man vessels that participated in naval campaigns. Initially the city of Manila was confined within city walls, known as the Intramuros . In the sixteenth century its jurisdiction was known as the province of Manila and it broadly corresponded to what later became the province of Tondo.8 The region’s ecclesiastical administration was more complex. While there were secular benefices in Manila and at Cavite and Bagumbayan,9 all four missionary orders possessed monasteries in Manila and administered a number of parishes within the jurisdiction of Tondo. The Augustinians had charge of Pasig, Taguig, and coastal settlements that included Tondo, Malate, and Parañaque, while the Dominicans assumed responsibility for the Chinese population in the Parian and at Binondo. Meanwhile the Franciscans worked primarily in the more southerly region of Laguna de Bay. The Jesuits, who arrived later, began working in the Marikina Valley in 1591. This complex division of ecclesiastical administration severely complicates efforts to determine demographic trends in what was...

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