The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918 Page: 261
434 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Residencia in the Spanish Colonies
1670, sent a report of the case to. the court.24 The notes from
Manila were effective in bringing about the desired results. Upon
receipt of the communication, the Council of the Indies, on June
17, 1671, ordered the nullification of all former cedulas and can-
celled Coloma's appointment to take the residencia in question,
on the grounds that he had been the governor's asesor. Francisco
de Montmayor, the oidor next in rank, was appointed to conduct
the residencia of the governor.25 Salcedo had already been dead
three years, and two more transpired before his residencia was
completed and the autos thereof reviewed by the Council.
During the first two, centuries of Spanish rule in the Philip-
pines the residencias of the governors, were especially stringent,
many of these officials suffering deprivation of office, imprison-
ment and exile. The families and dependents of some were re-
duced to the last extremes of poverty, while the victims them-
selves spent years in distant provinces, unable to defend them-
selves from their enemies. Many victims of residencia were pur-
posely put aside in order that no appeal could be heard from
them. One would occasionally find relief at last in a tardy par-
don or in a mo-dification of sentence, obtained through the influ-
ence of friends at home, when these latter could be reached, but
more often death would intervene before the exercise of executive
clemency or revision of sentence could be obtaind.
The factors of pretty spite, malice and personal ambition en-
tered to an extensive degree in the, rendering of testimony at a
residencia. The, governor, recently arrived in the colony, would
be full of zeal and ardor to inaugurate a successful administration
and make a good record for himself. The first duty that presented
itself on his arrival was that of taking or supervising his prede-
cessor's residencia. Frequently, before arriving at Manila, the
new governor would be in full possession of a complete record of
the misdeeds of his predecessor, and the residencia of the latter
was a good as taken.20 Oidores, merchants, alcaldes, treasury offi-
"Recopilaci6n, 2-18-27
25Cdula of June 17, 1671, A. I., 67-6-10.
26Officials, desirous of ingratiating themselves into the favor of the new
executive, frequently journeyed by land and sea from Manila as, far as the
Straits of San Bernardino. The privilege of returning to Manila in com-
pany with the new governor was then gained, together with the oppor-261
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918, periodical, 1918; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101073/m1/267/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.