Department of Government
 

CONSIDERING that the great extension of the province of Ilocos Sur, its large population and the difficulty of communication with the party called “del Abra” have not allowed the Alcaldes Mayores (Governors) that governed it to look after said part of the province with the attention that it deserves;

AWARE of the detriment that this neglect causes to the thorough civilization of the heathen peoples that in their own measure also contribute to ease the burden of the state;

CONSIDERING how much delay this causes on the reduction of other ferocious tribes, on the tranquility and security of those already submitted because the former do not acknowledge the government of His Majesty, and on the development of agriculture and commerce that that fine country is capable of;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the losses to the Treasury due to the rampant tax evasion that is so difficult to discover due to the isolation of that territory, and being aware also of what is required of the tranquility and welfare of those loyal citizens, to spare them the hardships inflicted by Indians with delegate authority on census and collection in a country where not even priests can be found to check these operations whose only beneficiaries are the commissioners who abuse in countless ways of the authority vested on them; and

REALIZING that the scarce development shown there began with the establishment of the Military Commander of the 3rd Division who, because he was replaced yearly and was in effective charge of only a small part of territory, does not make much of a difference over most of it, a situation arising because those peoples are so deficient in civilization that only respect, and that barely, those whom they see in the company of force; or also because they are incapable of comprehend an authority that is shared by said commander, the Alcalde Mayor (Governor), the chief of the platoons fighting contraband which occupy a part of Abra, and the executive in charge of the Igorot country;

CONVINCED by all the foregoing of the necessity to stop the evils above-mentioned, to expand our dominion towards the Cordillera, and with the purpose of ensuring the tranquility of the assimilated villages, of making contraband difficult, of turning to the benefit of the treasury the tobacco that the mountains produce, and of encouraging the production of other crops that the soil of those excellent lands make possible,

After having heard in the matter the Government Advisor, the Office of the Supervisor Subdelegate of the Treasury of these Islands who in turn heard the General Audit of the Armed Forces under it, and the Directorate of the Tobacco Revenue, and being in agreement with the opinions forwarded by said instrumentalities and with the contents of the Royal opinion in its consultation vote given on the 5th of the present month, I have arrived at the decision of decreeing the following:

Article 1.  All the Christian towns and pagan settlements belonging to the Province of Ylocos Sur located in what is called the 2nd and 3rd Divisions of Igorots are separated from said province and with those and the others within the census of the Abra (river) will conform a new province that will as its name Province of Abra and whose head town (capital) is for the time being established in Bucay.

Article 2.  A line drawn through the summits of the Damlaum (not a clear reading), Bulagao and Cota de Santa mountains which will extend south, in the more convenient way, east of the Nueva Cobeta Mission, will mark the boundary between said province and Ilocos Sur; will reach to the South towards the head of the Abra River, and will remain indeterminate to the North until such time when new acquisitions over the country which is not yet assimilated would require otherwise..

Article 3.  The province of Abra will be governed by a Political and Military Governor of the class of Captain, and with the same remuneration as that assigned to the Governor of Nueva Vizcaya, until a definite charter of governments is determined.

Article 4.  Said Governor will be charged with the revenue and Tobacco collections, under the prohibition however to engage in commerce, which is subject to penalties established by law.

Article 5.  The Tobacco collection will be limited for the time being to the towns that have been growing it to this day, as well as to those not yet submitted in the interior of the Cordillera which upon assimilation solicit their admission, until such a time that the Supervisor Subdelegate of the Treasury decides in agreement with this Superior Government if the extension of tobacco lands should be increased or reduced, provided that said collection with which the Governor of Abra is charged shall not include any settlement located in the Amburayan river basin or its tributaries. As to the collection method, establishment of the Camarin de Deposito (bonded warehouse) and such other maters pertaining to this administrative branch, the Governor shall be guided by the instructions that the competent authority may issue him.

Art. 6.  Having decided to appoint a fixed commander with an undetermined tour of duty under the command of the new province’s governor for the forts of Tiagan and Altatitig, that is, those of San Martín and Tobalina, there shall be pertinent orders to determine his authority, the share due him in the revenue and tobacco collection, and the compensation that he should receive for the discharge of both.

Article 7.  Until such time when the development of the new province and the progress in civilization of the assimilated peoples warrant it, there shall not be in it a qualified (letrado = with academic qualifications) vice-governor; but the executive in its charge will consult in all instances that are needed with the Governor of Ilocos Sur if the latter is qualified or, in its defect, with the nearest of that class that is qualified.

Article 8.  The authority of the Commander General of the country of Igorots over all territory encompassed by the province of Abra is hereby revoked.

Article 9.  The governor of this province will take possession of the post from the Governor of Ilocos Sur, who shall entrust the former with the inventory of the filed cases both civil and criminal and such other documents as deemed pertinent.

And I forward the same to Your Lordship for His information and for purposes of instituting the procedures of His competence.
May God keep Your Lordship many years, Manila 9 October, 1846

(Narciso Clavería)

(TO:) The Lord General Quartermaster of the Armed Forces and Supervisor Subdelegate of the Treasury of these Islands