1907 Report of the Governor of the Province of Batangas to the Governor-General of the Philippines

A typical scene in the island of Luzon during the American colonial era.  Image digitally extracted from the 1898 publication “Our New Possessions.”

Report of the Governor of Batangas.
[Translation.]

Office of the Governor, Province of Batangas,
Batangas, P.I., July 26, 1907.

SIR: I have the honor, in compliance with the provisions of act No 1044 of the Philippine Commission, to submit herewith my annual report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1907.

Pursuant to the programme furnished by the executive secretary, I shall begin by discussing the agricultural conditions of this province.

agriculture.

In comparison with the last fiscal year, the condition of our agriculture has improved considerably. Not only has the production of sugar, abaca, and oranges increased, but the rice and maize crop is much larger than it was last year, which is shown by the small amount of rice imported, the rice grown being almost sufficient for the subsistence of the inhabitants. This is also demonstrated by the increase in the number of the rice-hulling machines, and by the fact that contrary to past years, large quantities of grain now go from the rice-growing pueblos of the interior to the coast towns.

According to information received from the orange - growing pueblos, Tanauan and Santo Tomas, the production has not increased to a very large extent, but is larger than that of last year.

The production of abaca in the pueblos formerly engaged in growing coffee has likewise increased, and it is remarkable what activity the agriculturists display in sowing the textile plant mentioned on land suitable for the purpose. I may affirm, without fear of making a mistake, that in the pueblos mentioned, the revenues from this source will in 4 or 5 years come close to those derived by the same agriculturists from coffee growing when it was in its apogee.

With regard to the production of maize and rice, it must be borne in mind that instead of decreasing, it has increased, notwithstanding the extraordinary mortality among the labor cattle, this being the best evidence of the efforts made by the agriculturists in employing manual labor.

The provincial government has received information relative to the appearance of locusts in several barrios of the municipalities of San Juan and Rosario; but as they have appeared in small numbers, it is hoped that it will be possible to speedily exterminate them.

industry.

There are very few industries in this province, which is and always has been essentially agricultural. These industries are those mentioned in my report for last year, among them the breeding of hogs and chickens, of which large numbers are exported to Manila every week. The important industry of weaving continues, is almost general, and exists on a large scale in Bauan and Lipa, which export their products not only to Manila, but to other provinces.

While there has not been an increase in the quantity, the quality of the articles produced is improving gradually, and it may be affirmed that two-thirds of the rural population are clad in cloth woven in the province.

economics.

The economic condition has improved visibly - in the first place, because it did not have to bear the heavy burden of the land tax during the years of 1906 and 1907, and in the second place, because the provincial treasury has been greatly relieved by the Philippine Commission by the remission of its indebtedness for the benefit of public instruction, because though it is true that the province has to pay this indebtedness, yet the period of ten years granted for its payment makes it easy for the provincial exchequer.

The province has, at present, on deposit with a banking establishment at Manila, at the proper rate of interest, ₱70,000. At the end of the present year, as soon as the current liabilities contracted by the provincial exchequer have been paid, the balance on hand will be invested in the construction of several bridges, the plans and estimates for which being already in the possession of the provincial board.

The provincial government building and the court-house, the latter a one-story building annexed to the former, have been suitably repaired and painted, ₱6,000, more or less, having been expended for this purpose.

The municipal governments also report good economic conditions. Some of the municipalities, among them Rosario, have built town halls, and Lipa has set aside funds for the purchase of a building for an intermediate school.

The pueblos of Tanauan and Lipa, though they have applied for loans of ₱6,000 and ₱15,000, respectively, for the construction of town halls, and though they have until the present not been successful in raising these sums for the purpose of executing the work projected have, however, sufficient revenues to fully guarantee the payment, in installments, of the loans requested.

The municipality of Batangas also has a surplus of ₱12,000 in its municipal treasury, which the council has decided to invest in the construction of a town hall.

The provincial treasury has made the following collections during the fiscal year 1907:

Of this sum ₱113,804.76 went to the general fund (the revenues amount to ₱103,367.14); ₱18,049.29 to the road and bridge fund, and ₱190,668.18 to the several municipalities.

The provincial balances were on June 30, 1907, as follows: General fund ₱55,924.38, road and bridge fund ₱19,586.97, and school fund ₱5,166.44. The fund last named was created by act No. 1622, the money being appropriated from general funds.

communications.

Though it cannot be said that the wagon roads are in absolutely good condition, yet it may be stated that it is possible to travel by carromata from one end of the province to the other; that is, from Nasugbu to the provincial capital, and from the provincial capital to the farthest pueblos, which are Talisay on the north and San Juan de Bocboc on the southeast. The provincial board has gradually repaired these roads with the scant funds, which do not reach the sum of ₱20,000, available for this purpose, to put them in such condition as to make it possible for travelers to use carromatas. Only one pueblo, Lobo, has no wagon road, nor has it ever had any wagon road connecting it with this capital, because the construction of such a road, which would have to cross hills and gulches, would be exceedingly expensive. This municipality may, however, be easily reached in seven hours on horseback, or one may go there by sea, as the steamers which come to this capital call there for cargo two or three times a month.

natural wealth.

There have been filed 23 applications for the registration of mining claims; of these 18 are located in the municipality of San Juan de Bocboc, 1 at Lobo, 2 at Bauan, and 2 at the provincial capital, Batangas, the applicants for the 20 claims first mentioned being Americans, and for the others Filipinos.

The 20 applications filed first do not specify the kind of the claim; but as to the others, two at Bauan are for placer mines, and that at Batangas for a guano deposit.

public instruction.

During the fiscal year 8,374 children attended the primary schools, 608 the intermediate schools, and 31 the seventh and eighth grades of the high school, making a total attendance of 9,013.

There are 22 American, 11 insular, and 161 municipal teachers.

The number of children attending the provincial school was 293.

The secretary of public instruction has granted the sum of ₱8,000 for the construction in this capital of an industrial school building on the lot on which the provincial school is located.

public health and sanitation.

There has not been any epidemic disease in this province during the year.

In view of the unnecessary abolition of the provincial board of health — I say unnecessary, because this province has to pay its share, in proportion to its population, of the salary of the district health officer, who resides in Tayabas — this provincial government is unable to furnish the data regarding sanitation

Though matters pertaining to the health of the animals are now in charge of the bureau of agriculture, to which this subject has been transferred from the bureau of health, I will treat of the health of the labor cattle in this chapter.

During the last year, this office his continually received reports of cases of rinderpest from the several pueblos of the province, which were immediately forwarded to the bureau above mentioned for the proper action. When the rinderpest was at its height in this province, 7 government inoculators were stationed here, to inoculate the infected animals with serum. These inoculations were so efficacious that the animals were cured within a few days; but I deem it my duty to state that these inoculators, notwithstanding their good intentions, were half of the time without work, because of the insufficiency of the quantity of serum received from Manila, the demand being extraordinarily large, and the agriculturists being so confident as to the efficacy of the serum that the inoculators were actually besieged and petted, in order to induce them to give preference to the persons who overwhelmed them the most with favors.

However, the serum inoculated was merely a preventive and its effects were limited to two or three months at the most, in view of the small quantity inoculated in each case, and when the plague reappeared, the animals cured became sick and died, it being then impossible to apply the same remedy again on account of the lack of serum or of the transfer of the inoculators to other pueblos or provinces.

The havoc wrought by the rinderpest in this province last year has been so great that it is not an exaggeration to estimate that the number of the cattle decreased at least 60 per cent, and to say that rinderpest still exists, though not so extensively as before, and continues to diminish the already depleted labor cattle in several pueblos.

It is recommended that the residence of the inoculator and veterinarian stationed in this province be transferred from Lipa to the provincial capital, to the end that he can be informed immediately of reports of cases of rinderpest received from the pueblos.

political conditions.

It may be affirmed, without fear of erring, that the province of Batangas enjoys at present an era of peace and tranquility, which has been cemented by the favorable action taken by the Philippine Commission on the petition of the provincial government for the segregation of Lemery and Talisay from the municipalities to which they had been annexed, and their reorganization as independent municipalities. In my report for last year, I stated in detail the reasons which induced me to request this segregation, and I believe that I did not make a mistake, seeing that my efforts in this direction have been crowned with success.

At the close of last and the beginning of the present year, a band of six or seven brigands infested the boundaries of the provinces of Laguna, Batangas, and Tayabas, holding up the unfortunate laborers who went from one province to the other in quest of work.

The meeting of the governors and constabulary officers of the three provinces, requested by me and held last March at the pueblo of Santa Cruz, La Laguna, resulted in the disappearance of this band, some of the members surrendering to the president of San Pablo and others to the constabulary at Talisay, one of the chiefs, Miguel Amante, being captured recently at Banaybanay, in the municipality of Lipa, by the lieutenant councilor of said barrio and the municipal police of Lipa. Only one member of that band, Fulgencio de Guia, is still at large. His whereabouts are unknown; but the police do not cease the pursuit, and this fact impelled me to address a petition to your honor asking that a reward be offered for his apprehension, and another for that of the robber chief, de Castro, who, according to private information, is at present in the province of Cavite. These rewards were authorized by the Commission at its session of the 20^th of the current month.

Since I have taken charge as provincial governor, it has been my greatest desire to make the municipal police as efficient as possible, inasmuch as that organization is charged with the maintenance of peace and order in the municipalities.

At the present time, all the police of the province are uniformed alike and governed by the same regulations, which were drafted by the undersigned, submitted for approval to the municipal councils, and unanimously adopted by the

Upon my petition, the governor-general has also authorized the exchange of the arms now used, which are almost unserviceable, for Springfield carbines. Knowing that these arms are necessary only for those pueblos which are in need of efficient means of defense against the outlaws, I have requested Springfield carbines only for nine municipalities, namely, Balayan, Lemery, Taal, Santo Tomas, Tanawan, Lipa, San José, Rosario, and San Juan, and do not deem it necessary to equip the rest of the municipalities with these arms, leaving them the rifles and revolvers which they have at present.

I have also filed a petition, which has been approved by the director of constabulary, General Harry H. Bandholtz, requesting that a sub-inspector of the constabulary be detailed to instruct the police of each municipality, and that after the completion of this instruction all the police be assembled at the provincial capital for a general course of instruction, during which time only the police indispensable for the maintenance of peace and order are to remain in the pueblo.

Upon concluding this report, I wish to tender my thanks to the honorable the governor-general and to the members of the Philippine Commission for the assistance which they have rendered to this provincial government in its work for the welfare and tranquility of this province, in view of which I will never cease for an instant to do all in my power to increase the prestige of the government in this province.

Respectfully submitted.

J. Losada.
Governor of the Province of Batangas.

The Governor-General.

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