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| The mouth of Panay River that opens up to the Sibuyan Sea. Image from Simon Gibson |
When the Spaniards moved to Panay
Just to contextualize things before I begin, Capiz did not yet exist as a geopolitical unit or as a province that it is today when the Spaniards came here in 1568. But it is a source of pride to know that somewhere along the banks of Panay River that flows in this province, the Spaniards had set foot, established a community, and turned the pages of our history into the next chapter.
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and his Spanish troops arrived in Cebu some time in 1565 but they never really felt safe there. When the stomach is empty all else failed and when food supplies became scarce and dwindled, it was time to move out and look for a safer place where provisions were abundant. Food has a significant factor in the success (or failure) of the Spanish expedition in the Philippines. Spanish soldiers were dying from famine and the most miserable had to partake of herbs. Add to this, they had to compete with the “rats and other vermin came to devour the food,” wrote Fray Gaspar de San Agustin in Conquistas de las Islas de Filipinas. With hostile natives around and the threat of Portuguese attacks, Legazpi ordered the transfer of their camp to the island of Panay.
Of this transfer, de San Agustin wrote:
“Everyone agreed to
move the camp to the river of Panay [probably its tributary Banica River?],
since the place was impregnable and the island abundant with everything necessary
to resist any enemy invasion. Having decided on this, the governor ordered his
captains, together with their companies, to spread themselves to the
neighboring islands, under orders that once they were informed of the Portuguese armada’s return, they were
all to gather at the Panay river to defend themselves…
“The governor sent
Captain Felipe de Salcedo to accompany the camp and the artillery to the Panay
river with the people who accompanied him when the Capitana was lost. They were
well-received by the natives of Panay and after seeing to their lodgings, the
natives asked them for help against some enemy villages who had cometo their
area and done them great harm, capturing some of them while they were
fishing. Felipe de Salcedo did so,
burning enemy villages as well as levying other forms of punishment.
"…
the governor [Legazpi] left [Cebu] for Panay river accompanied by the maestre
de campo [Luis de la Haya, who had earlier reached Panay where he gathered rice
for the Spanish camp in Cebu]… the governor was lovingly received by the
natives whose highest leaders Madidum and Manicabug, proved in everything to be
well-intentioned and more loyal than those in Cebu.
Some thoughts to ponder…
Could the Spaniards have landed at the tributary of Panay River, which is the Banica River? If so, could it be in Roxas City, not in Panay, where the first Spanish settlement in Panay island was established? Since the Spaniards decided to make this part of the island their initial base in evangelizing the entire Panay, in attacking Mindoro and Manila later, could this mean that 16th century Capiz was an abundant place that filled the conquerors’ stomachs?
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