Philippine Villas

All the first six villas presided over bustling harbors in their territories. Connecting the dots that marked the villas in the colonial map of Luzon, the major island of the Philippines, it is no coincidence that one can also make out the “gold routes” of Northern and Southern Luzon, respectively: from the Igorot gold mines to Vigan (to Pangasinán) to Pampanga and thence to Manila; and from the Paracale gold fields to Libón to Tayabas to Pila and again to Manila.vi The Bikol gold path further coursed down South to foster and infuse the inter-island and Chinese trade in the Visayas dominated by Cebú and Panay, where Arévalo was sighted.

Hernán Cortés, the Conqueror of México, confessed: “I and my men are afflicted with a heart disease which only gold can heal.” Reflecting the Spanish lust for gold, the choice of the Philippine villas was connected to the precious trails and ports, which had been laid out by the Filipinos long before the Conquest. These had formed a solid basis for the villas’ sphere of influence and for good measure, it added to their drawing power. The Philippine villas were the geese that laid the golden eggs. The Franciscans were selected to administer spiritually the pioneer villas in Luzon because they seemed the most disinterested in worldly matters due to their strict vow of poverty. They were the only religious order, which from the outset renounced the ownership of haciendas in the Philippines.vii