Most Excellent Sir: After having reported to your Excellency in
my three former communications, the opinion which I have formed with
regard to the countries in the vicinity of our possessions in the southern
part of the jPhilippincs, of the relations which we ought to sustain with
their governments and the policy we should follow until we shall obtain
the immense advantages which our position offere us, I have the honor
to deliver to your Excellency a copy of the Capitulations of the Treaty
of Peace, Protection, and Commerce, which I have concluded through
the captain of frigate, Don Jose Maria Halcon, with the Sultan and
Datus of Sulu.
The articles which need some explanation, are the 1st, 3rd and 4th.
With reference to the 3rd and 4th, I mention them in my former
communication and indicate their intent; and with respect to the Ist,
I copy herewith what has been reported to me by the commi^ioner,
D. Jose Maria Halcon, which is as follows:
I must make clear an important point relating to the text of the Capitulations,
in the wording of which your Excellency has noted perhaps some ambiguities and
omissions in Article I, which while intended to make the Datus and Sultan of
Sulu acknowledge and declare the extent of our rights, seems indefinite on certain
points which many irresponsible writers have asserted with confidence.
While considering the protection granted the Sultan, I recognized the inexpe-
diency of making the same include the lands which he has lately acquired in
Borneo, and of determining definitely the line of the boundary in Palawan, the
title to which island, as also that to Balabak and Balambangan, is verj' disput-
able, though at present, the lands where we have not established our settlements
of the province of Kalamians are included de facto in his possessions.
Palawan was ceded to the Crown of Spain by the King of Bruney, and Balabak
is likewise ceded by an instrument brought back by D. Antonio Fabean when he
went there as Embassador under the administration of the Marquis of Obando,
which should be in the archives of the Philippine GoTemment; but since these
cessions were made on an occasion when the Sultan of Sulu found himself in
possession of the lands by virtue of a former cession made in his favor by another
King of Bruney, such documentary testimony cannot serve as the basis of our
arguments, especially since we did not proceed to found any settlements.
This matter of the cession of Balabak occurred upon the occasion of a visit
to Manila, of Sultan Mohammed Alimud Din (Fernando I) who, asserting his
right to the island, executed and ratified upon his part the gift, at least in word,
through D. Manuel Fernandez Toribio, afterward Governor of Zamboanga, and the
Secretary of the Government.
Our writers have misrepresented the subsequent conduct of the said Sultan,
and concealed very important facts, but at any rate, the very concealment of the
reasons for his fleeing from Manila betokens the lack of liberty in all of the
inHtruments he granted during his stay in that place; moreover the facts in the
c&se justify his later actions, which gave occasion for casting a doubt over the
legitimacy of our title to the lands under consideration.
The true reason for the actions of Mohammed Alimud Din, beginning with
bis flight from Manila, was the fact that he had purchased the secret in a copy
of the confidential letter which the First Minister of the Monarchy, Marquis de la
Ensenada, wrote to the Captain-General of the Philippines on August 28, 1751,
discussing the states of Sulu; which document, when brought to his knowledge,
could not fail to ruin all of our political moves, and to dispose him to take every
defensive measure against our power, for Mohammed Alimud Din was a man of
no mean understanding.
This was the origin of the letters which, on September 17, 1763, the said
Sultan wrote from Sulu to the King of England and to the English company,*
ratifying in favor of the latter the concession of the lands which form the strait
of Balabak, in which is comprised the southern part of Palawan from Point
Kanipaan to Point Bulilaruan, and this was the origin of their settlements in
Balabak and Balambangan which have been abandoned since later events.
Such are the antecedents which induced me to draw up the said article with
such ambiguity that it may be construed to the advantage of the Crown without
giving occasion to embarrassing objections.
My aim throughout, most illustrious Sir, has been to promote the national
welfare by carrying out the high designs of your Excellency, who by promoting
this enterprise has attempted to open up one of the most abundant sources of
wealth in the Philippines.
I also deliver to your Excellency a copy of the Capitulations, in which,
in consequence of Article 2nd, it has been agreed to determine the duties
to be paid by the Sulu vessels in Zamboanga and Manila, and ours in
Sulu. For the better understanding of these stipulations, I have thought
it expedient to inclose a copy of the explanation with which the said
commissioner fom^arded them to me.
The present tariff rates have served as a basis for the duties imposed
upon the Sulu vessels, it being beyond my authority to alter them. With
reference to those which shall be paid by our vessels in Jolo, although
they may appear to be excessive, it will be sufficient to inform your
Excellency that all of the ship-owners who are accustomed to make
voyages to Jolo, have been satisfied with the very favorable terms we have
secured in the agreement, not only because of the high valuation set on
the articles in which payment will be made, but because of the regulation
and reduction to fixed rules of the charges, that until now have been
arbitrary and never less than the stipulated rates. It is true that they
have desired not only a greater reduction but still more their complete
abolition, as is natural, but it was necessary to conciliate the two parties,
as the commissioner says.
Above all, one of the advantages of importance which our merchants
recognize in the relations now established, the benefits of which they
have begun already to experience, is that the Sultan and Datus together
guarantee the credits left in Sulu as a result of commercial operations,
which advantage they have not heretofore enjoyed, but waited on the
will and good faith of the debtor, who paid if he pleased and when he
pleased, or perhaps never, and there existed no means of compelling him
as there now is by recourse to the Government.
Likewise through the preference they are now accorded, our merchants
have gained greatly, as your Excellency will comprehend. In short, there
is not one of them who is not well satisfied with the results of the
negotiations, and all appreciate the skill and prudence with which
Halcon has conducted himself upon a mission all the more delicate and
difficult since he has had to treat with a Government whose lack of
enlightenment and poorness of organization equal the barbarism of its
people.
Finally, in the answer given by the Chamber of Commerce of which
I inclose a copy, your Excellency will perceive the appreciation which the
Capitulations have brought him, by having settled the duties to be paid
by our vessels in Sulu, as also by having established relations with the
Government of that island.
