1521--St. Lazarus' day. [256]
But it was not until 1564, [257] after many previous efforts had
miscarried, that Legaspi, who left New Spain with five ships, took
possession of the Archipelago in the name of Philip II. The discoverer
had christened the islands after the sanctified Lazarus. This name,
however, never grew into general use; [Numerous names.] the Spaniards
persistently calling them the Western Islands--Islas del Poniente;
and the Portuguese, Islas del Oriente. Legaspi gave them their present
name [258] in honor of Philip II, who, in his turn, conferred upon
them the again extinct name of New Castile. [259] Legaspi first of
all annexed Cebu, and then Panay; and six years later, in 1571, he
first sub dued Manila, which was at that time a village surrounded by
palisades, and commenced forthwith the construction of a fortified
town. The subjection of the remaining territory was effected so
quickly that, upon the death of Legaspi (in August, 1572), all the
western parts were in possession of the Spaniards. [Mindanao and
Sulu independent.] Numerous wild tribes in the interior, however,
the Mahomedan states of Mindanao and the Sulu group, for example,
have to this day preserved their independence. The character of
the people, as well as their political disposition, favored the
occupancy. There was no mighty power, no old dynasty, no influential
priestly domination to overcome, no traditions of national pride to
suppress. The natives were either heathens, or recently proselytized
superficially to Islamism, and lived under numerous petty chiefs, who
ruled them despotically, made war upon one another, and were easily
subdued. Such a community was called Barangay; and it forms to this
day, though in a considerably modified form, the foundation of the
constitutional laws. [Spanish improvemnts.] The Spaniards limited the
power of the petty chiefs, upheld slavery, and abolished hereditary
nobility and dignity, substituting in its place an aristocracy
created by themselves for services rendered to the State; but they
carried out all these changes very gradually and cautiously. [260]
The old usages and laws, so long as they did not interfere with the
natural course of government, remained untouched and were operative
by legal sanction; and even in criminal matters their validity was
equal to those emanating from the Spanish courts. To this day the
chiefs of Barangay, with the exception of those bearing the title
of "Don,"