The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 41 of 55, 1691-1700: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century.
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 41 of 55, 1691-1700: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century.
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
[In 1653 Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara succeeded to the government of
the Philippines.] One of his first undertakings was to establish peace
with the ruler of Mindanao, Cachil Corralat, whom it was expedient to
assure for the sake of the tranquillity of the Pintados Islands--which
were more exposed than the others to the incursions of their armed
fleets, since Manila had not enough soldiers and vessels with which
our people could go forth to hinder the operations of the Moros. The
governor sent as his ambassador Captain Don Diego de Lemus, and Father
Francisco Lado of the Society of Jesus, who were very kindly received
by the Moros; and he gave them to understand that no one desired
peace more than he did, since the warning was still fresh that had
been given him by the war which was waged against him by Governor Don
Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera in person--which had obliged Corralat
to wander as a fugitive through the lands of his enemy the king of
Buhayen, exposed to many perils. It seems as if the desire which
Corralat showed to maintain the peace might be regarded as sincere;
for if he had chosen to avail himself of the opportunity afforded by
the past years, when all our forces and power were fully occupied in
resisting the cruel invasions of the Dutch, without doubt he could
have made great ravages in the villages of the Pintados Islands;
and therefore this must be attributed to an especial providence
of the divine mercy. All [these dealings with the envoys] were
cunning measures of the shrewd Moro to lull [91] our vigilance with
feigned appearances of peace, for never was he further from pursuing
it--partly through greed for the booty of slaves, a great part of
which belonged to him; partly because his captains and other persons
interested in these piratical raids persuaded him to avail himself
of the opportunity furnished by the weakness of our forces. Corralat
determined to renew his former hostile acts, and began by preparing
vessels and supplies; and in order to cover up better his damnable
intention, he sent to the governor of Manila an ambassador to confirm
the peace. This man was called Banua, and was no less fraudulent than
Simon the Greek. On the route he left many tokens of this; for in the
village of Tunganan, among the Subanos, he treated very contemptuously
[92] the father minister, Miguel Pareja of the Society of Jesus--who,
as the pious religious that he was, turned the other cheek, as the
gospel commands. Banua arrived at Manila in the year of 1655, where he
discharged very well his office as ambassador, and even better that
of spy--and well he knew his double trade; for among other things
he demanded that restitution be made to Corralat of some Mindanao
slaves, and of the pieces of artillery which Don Sebastian Hurtado de
Corcuera had taken from him in war; but this and other petitions of
the ambassador had no satisfactory issue. Banua returned [to Mindanao],
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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