An early Philippine imprint on festivities by Francisco Moya y Torres, and Ortiz de Covarrubias, entitled Lealtad empeñada finezas de amor y bizarra idea de desempeños [sic] que dio la nobilissima ciudad de Manila… en las festivas acclamaciones, con que aplaudio la feliz nueva de el govierno del Rey nuestro señor don Carlos Segundo printed in 1678 in Manila at the Imprenta de la Compañia de Jesus. D. Santiago de Matangso.
First edition of this rare piece of Philippine literature on the occasion of the proclamation of King of Charles II; this is an excellent copy of a book of extreme rarity, printed in “rice” paper (Philippine Rariora p.72): only 4 copies traced Bodleian Library, Indiana University, Academia Nacional de Chile and Biblioteca Nacional Spain.
Moya y Torres’ account begins with the arrival from Peru of the ship Santa Rosa at the port of Palapag in 1677 with the news of the proclamation of Charles II as the new Spanish King. The king had been officially declared an adult two years before. To celebrate the event the authorities organized several weeks of celebrations that started in November and ended in December 1677. Lealtad empeñada was written by the main organizer of the festivities Francisco Moya y Torres, a sergeant major, alguacil mayor of the Holy Inquisition and mayor of Manila. As soon as the news arrived of the proclamation of Charles II civil and religious authorities had rushed to pay allegiance to the portrait of the new king in a public ceremony held on 10th August. The lavish celebrations started on the 28th of November with a religious ceremony in the richly decorated cathedral in the presence of a portrait of the king. At night a procession was organized headed by a black Ethiopian surrounded by other celebrants holding torches that lit up the rich silvery embroidered costumes. A spectacular representation of a flying illuminated bird is described in great detail. They were followed by other celebrants with the representation of a ship. Several authorities followed acting as representatives of different parts of Spain each with lackies carrying shields on which a poem in homage to Charles II was painted.
On the first of December two plays were performed in a luxurious theatre built for occasion in a square which is described in detail. It was covered with large paintings with architectural and mythological motifs, emblems and a portrait of the king. Both the paintings and the text of the plays represented in the theatre were by Moya y Torres. The first was an allegorical play and this was followed by La dicha en traje de una dama y el desempeño de galan. Both are among the earliest plays to be printed in the Philippines. Such is the rarity of this book that W. E. Retana in his well-researched history of Filipino theatre, Noticias histórico-bibliográficas de el teatro en Filipinas desde sus orígenes hasta 1898 (Madrid, 1909) does not mention the book. Musicians accompanied all the celebrations. Thus, for example, at the end of the performance of the first play a number of compositions were performed, Gallarda, Folias, Pavana, On the 4th of December a bull fight was held which is described in great detail. Finally, on the 16th of December a comical mascarade was organized by members of the Philippine, Chinese, mestizo and other communities. They paraded around the town and performed some comical Loas in front of the Real Audiencia.
The text concludes with a description of the earthquake that shook Manila on the 6th of December with aftershocks that lasted for 40 days. The earthquakes provoked the ruin of many public and religious buildings but, as Moya y Torres observes, works were rapidly undertaken to repair them. It is remarkable to see that despite the disaster wrought by the earthquake, there was still interest in pursuing the celebrations.
Four panegyric sermons by Miguel Ortiz de Covarrubias, Alvaro Benavente, Miguel de Pareja, and Lucas Estevan sermons are reproduced at the end of the Lealtad empeñada. The most significant was the one given by the Augustinian Fray Alvaro de Benavente in the Cathedral of Manila in 1677 (14 verso-27 verso). In the sermon Benavente deals with the attack against Manila by the Chinese pirate Limahon in 1574. Limahon belonged to Wokou – Chinese merchant pirates who carried out clandestine trade between China and Japan for centuries and were eventually eliminated by the Chinese authorities at the end of the 16th century. Before his attack against Manila, Limahon had pirated along the Chinese coast where he had tried to conquer Chinese ports. His most important feat was his attempt at taking Manila where he arrived on Saint Andrew’s eve at the command of over 600 men. The city was at that moment very vulnerable because a considerable number of its garrison was absent involved in expeditions against rebellious inhabitants. The Spanish defenders of Manila eventually managed to repel Limahon’s attacks.
‘Es uno de los más antiguos que se han publicado sobre el señalado hecho histórico’. (Pérez, Elviro J., Catálogo bio-bibliográfico de los religiosos agustinos de la Provincia del Santísimo Nombre de Jesús de las Islas Filipinas desde Fundación hasta nuestros días, (Manila, 1901), p. 131.)
