What Filipinos also forget is that Taft negotiated the disposition of the so-called “friar lands” in the Philippines with Pope Leo XIII in the Vatican in the summer of 1902. To prepare for this task, Taft met with the superiors of the various religious congregations in the Philippines and conducted interviews with Filipinos regarding the expulsion of the Spanish friars, and again the “friar lands.”
Transcripts of these interviews were published for the information of the US Congress. Taft wanted to know about the relationship of the religious orders with the Filipinos and, of course, the extent of their land holdings. (Lands held for Ecclesiastical or Religious Uses in the Philippines Island etc., 56th Congress 2nd Session. US Senate document 190)
If we are to go by the number of pages, the Dominicans had the longest interview at 16 pages of transcribed text, followed by the Franciscans (12), the Augustinians (10), and the Jesuits (a mere three pages).
What is significant is that the Benedictines are also included in this document even if they only arrived in the Philippines at the tail-end of the Spanish period and had very little to speak of, because they started as missionaries in Surigao and were captured by the revolutionists. The small community regrouped in Manila and set up a small school for boys that is now San Beda College. Benedictines were interviewed by Taft and merited all of one page, with Taft doing most of the talking. He even shifted the subject from land to the liqueur I mentioned in my last column called “Benedictine,” which he wished the monks of Manila would produce for his enjoyment. Hidden in this Senate document is a footnote to food and Taft’s human side.
Transcripts of these interviews were published for the information of the US Congress. Taft wanted to know about the relationship of the religious orders with the Filipinos and, of course, the extent of their land holdings. (Lands held for Ecclesiastical or Religious Uses in the Philippines Island etc., 56th Congress 2nd Session. US Senate document 190)
If we are to go by the number of pages, the Dominicans had the longest interview at 16 pages of transcribed text, followed by the Franciscans (12), the Augustinians (10), and the Jesuits (a mere three pages).
We must remember that the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish Philippines and only returned in 1859 when they reopened a school that is now the Ateneo de Manila University.Perhaps if they had stayed on, they would also have merited more pages because they would also have had accumulated significant landholdings.
What is significant is that the Benedictines are also included in this document even if they only arrived in the Philippines at the tail-end of the Spanish period and had very little to speak of, because they started as missionaries in Surigao and were captured by the revolutionists. The small community regrouped in Manila and set up a small school for boys that is now San Beda College. Benedictines were interviewed by Taft and merited all of one page, with Taft doing most of the talking. He even shifted the subject from land to the liqueur I mentioned in my last column called “Benedictine,” which he wished the monks of Manila would produce for his enjoyment. Hidden in this Senate document is a footnote to food and Taft’s human side.
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