The Audiencia in the Spanish Colonies: As illustrated by the Audiencia of Manila (1583-1800)Cunningham, Charles Henry
History
The Audiencia in the Spanish Colonies: As illustrated by the Audiencia of Manila (1583-1800)
Cunningham, Charles Henry
Philippines -- History -- 1521-1812; Spain -- Colonies -- Administration
This is the interpretation which Messa placed upon the law giving
authority over the trial of magistrates of the audiencia to the
governor.
Messa then proceeded to discuss other matters relative to the
respective spheres of the governor and audiencia. The governor had
broken open the chest of the audiencia, extracting a large sum and
spending it without accounting for the expenditure, and without
any beneficial results. He was guilty of four murders, one of his
victims being his wife. The audiencia should be empowered to try him
for these crimes, but it lacked jurisdiction. During his term Fajardo
had exercised such absolute power that justice had been paralyzed and
litigants were holding back their suits from trial because justice
could not be obtained in the audiencia. The governor had sent from
the Islands more than a million pesos in goods and money, all of
which he had obtained through fraudulent and illegitimate means.
The governor had quarreled finally with the oidores who had remained
faithful to him; one of these had become incapacitated through
sickness, while the other had taken refuge in a Jesuit convent. The
audiencia was thus dissolved. The governor, feeling the need of
a tribunal, withdrew the charges against Messa, and ordered the
latter to come back and resume his office. The oidor complied, but his
hostility toward the governor had in no way abated. Messa concluded his
memorial with the request that a visitor should be sent to the colony
to investigate the charges which had been made against the governor,
and at the same time to restore the audiencia to its rightful position
in the colony. He stated his conviction that the office of governor
should be abolished, and that the audiencia should be empowered to
act in his place. This belief he justified by the statement that the
audiencia had already successfully acted in the capacity of governor
and had administered affairs with great satisfaction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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