Galleon Trivia 4: Fr. Chirino confirmed he landed in Marinduque in May 1590, and was appalled by the devil's work in the island

Chapter XII of Chirino's Relacion de las Islas Filipinas 

Chapter 12 of Relacion de las Islas Filipinas by Fr. Pedro Chirino did not talk about the reason he landed in Marinduque in May 1590, but confirmed he was indeed in this island by the end of that month of that year. This was exactly the time the almiranta galleon named San Ildefonso ran aground in Marinduque.

A Manila Galleon depicted in the Boxer Codex

Here, Chirino did not mention how the almiranta that took his party from Acapulco to the Philippines was met by a typhoon, grounded the silver galleon at the coast and how the crew and many passengers were brought to safety with only a part of their cargo recovered.

He was compelled in this chapter to tell stories of existing religious practices he found in Marinduque. First he told about how in these islands "there existed a doctrine, sowed by the devil, that a woman, whether married or single, could not be saved who did not have some lover".

Tagalog people, the Maginoo in those days.

Then to illustrate his point wrote about how in Marinduque an officer in his party, out of curiosity, visited the interior of the island. The surprisingly hospitable natives offered the Spanish visitor two women as part of their hospitality, which the officer promptly sent back telling the natives they were committing an offense against God and telling them "that they must not offend God by their evil example".

There have been others Chirino said, who could not resist such kind of 'solicitations' and "to the great scandal of this nation seek and encourage sin". Ouch!

Marker at former site of Colegio de Sta. Potenciana in Manila

It is for this reason, Chirino wrote, that his 'Governor Gomez Perez de las Marinas' founded a seminary for girls in the same year 1590, in Manila. Eventually 100 girls mostly daughters of Spaniards, Chirino said were protected in the walls of this seminary dedicated to Santa Potenciana, patroness of Manila.

Excerpts from that Chapter:

"... In many – I even believe, in all of those islands there existed a doctrine, sowed by the devil, that a woman, whether married or single, could not be saved, who did not have some lover. They said that this man, in the other world, hastened to offer the woman his hand at the passage of a very perilous stream which had no other bridge than a very narrow beam, which must be traversed to reach the repose that they call Calualhatian.

"Consequently virginity was not recognized or esteemed among them; rather they considered it as a misfortune and humiliation. Married women, moreover, were not constrained by honor to remain faithful to their husbands, although the latter would resent the adultery, and hold it as a just cause for repudiating the wife. To illustrate this: Upon my arrival in the Filipinas, in the latter part of May in the year fifteen hundred and ninety, I had landed at the island of Marinduque (which is about twenty-eight or thirty leguas from Manila), at the time when an ensign with a squad of soldiers was going, through curiosity, to visit the interior of the island.

"Night overtaking him in this place, he was obliged to seek hospitality among the natives; there, one of the hospitalities which they bestowed on him and his companions was to offer him two women. These the good ensign ordered to be sent back, and he pointed out the offense that they were committing against God, the almighty Creator of heaven and earth, whom all men should know and serve. 

"He told them that for this purpose alone the Spaniards had come from so great a distance; and that they must not offend God by their evil example. It was thus that the good ensign conducted himself on that occasion. There have been others, who, recklessly following their own evil inclination, not only do not resist such solicitations, but, to the great scandal of this nation, seek and encourage sin..." - The Philippine Islands 1493-1803 (Edited by Blair &Robertson)

Mula naman sa Ninuno Mo, Ninuno Ko: Pedro Chirino  (Kasaysayan ng mga Pulo sa Pilipinas 1595-1602:

"Sa pulo ng Marinduque ako dumaong nuong Mayo 1590, abot ng 140 kilometro mula sa Manila. Nagsisiyasat nuon sa luoban ng pulo ang isang pangkat ng mga sundalong Español, pinamunuan ng isang teniente (ensign). Inabot sila ng gabi sa isang baranggay at humingi sila ng tangkilik sa mga tagaruon.

"Dagdag sa pagkain at inumin na ibinigay sa kanila, inalok pa sila ng mga katutubo ng 2 babae na maisisiping nila. Agad pinabalik ng teniente ang mga babae sa baranggay at hinayag sa mga taga-baranggay na kasalanan sa Dios ang ginawa nila.

"Subalit may ibang Español na, higit na mapusok sa pagkamit ng kanilang mga mithi, ay hindi lamang tumatanggap ng mga alok, kundi naghahanap pa talaga ng mga babae na maisisiping."

(Elaput.org)