In 1599 combined Moro fleets invaded and plundered the coasts of
the Bisayan Islands, Cebu, Negros, and Panay.
Captain Paclies, who was in command of the fort of Caldera^ attacked
the northern coast of the Island of Sulu. After landing at some point,
it was observed by the Sulus that his fuses were wet and that his guns
could not fire well. They then rushed his position, killed him, and dis-
persed his forces.
The following year saw the return of a larger and still more dreadful ex-
pedition. The people of Panay abandoned their towns and fled into the moun-
tains under the belief that these terrible attacks had been inspired by the Span-
iards. To check these pirates, Juan Gallinato, with a force of 200 Spaniards,
was sent against Sulu, but like so many expeditions that followed his, he ac-
complished nothing. • * * "From this time until the present day" (about
the year 1800), wrote Zufiiga, "these Moros have not ceased to infest our colonies,*
innumerable are the Indians they have captured, the towns they have looted,
the rancherias they have destroyed, and the vessels they have taken. It seems
as if God has preserved them for vengeance on the Spaniards that they have not
been able to subject them in two hundred years, in spite of the expeditions
sent against them, the armaments sent almost every year to pursue them. In
a very little while we conquered all the islands of the Philippines, but the little
Island of Sulu, a part of Mindanao, and the other islands nearby, we have not
been able to subjugate to this day." *
Gallinatos^s expedition occurred in 1602.* After three months of
protracted fighting at Jolo, he was unable to reduce the fortifications of
the town and retired to Panay.
In 1616 a large Sulu fleet destroyed Pantao in the Camarines and the
shipyards of Cavite and exacted large sums for the ransom of Spanish
prisoners. Moro fleets in 1625 sacked Katbalogan in Samar.
In 1628 Governor Tavora sent an expedition to Sulu under Cristobol
de Lugo. Cristobol disembarked half of his infantry, sacked the town
of Jolo, set part of it on fire and sailed back to Cebu.
In 1029 the Moros raided Samar and Leyte. In 1()30 an armada
composed of 70 vessels and having 350 Spanish and 2,000 native soldiers,
under Lorenzo de Olaso Ochotegui, arrived at Jolo. Olaso misdirected
his forces and, advancing too near to the wall of the fort, was wounded in
his side and fell. He was rescued by the officers who followed him, but
the troops were demoralized and retired. The expedition, however,
landed at various points on the coast and burned and pillaged small
settlements.^
In the same year P. Gutierrez came to Mindanao on a mission to
Corralat.^ On his return he met Tuan Baluka, wife of Raja Bimgsu, at
Zamboanga. Baluka urged P. Gutierrez to delay his departure from
Zamboanga and warned him of the danger of meeting the Sulu expedi-
tion under Datu Ache. He, however, continued on his way and was
overtaken by Datu Ache's force, but on account of the message and flag
he delivered to Ache from Tuan Baluka, he was allowed to proceed
safely.
For sometime the Jesuits had been urging upon the Philippine Gov-
ernment the occupation of the southern coast of Mindanao. This
meant an advance into the enemy's camp and a bloody struggle for
supremacy in the southern seas. The consequences of such a step were
foreseen by the Government and veiy few governors would have dared
undertake such a grave responsibility. In 1635, Governor Juan Cerezo
de Salamanca was petitioned by the Jesuits to establish an advance post
of the Spanish forces at Zamboanga for the protection of missionaries
and the Christians who had to navigate in the southern seas. Salamanca
granted their request and sent Capt. Juan de Chaves, who disembarked at
Zamboanga on the 6th of April, 1635. The force under Captain Chaves
consisted of 300 Spanish and 1,000 native soldiers. In June they began
the construction of a stone fort on a plan designed by the Jesuit mis-
sionary P. Melchor de Vera, who was an expert engineer.
The advantages to be derived from the position of this garrison were
demonstrated before the year was over. As a piratical fleet was return-
ing from Cuyo, Mindoro, and the Kalamian Islands, the favorable op-
portunity was watched for, and as the two divisions of the fleet separated,
the Spanish forces pursued Corralat's pirates and dealt them a deadly blow in the neighborhood of Point Flechas, killing about 300 Moros and
saving 120 Christian captives
