HIstory We Never Knew
November 12, 2021
Old ManilaDel R Nanoz
WHEN KING PHILIP II MET A KAPAMPANGAN WONDER BOY
King Philip II, after whom the Philippines was named, was a staunch and ruthless defender of Catholicism.
One story goes that at the height of the Spanish Inquisition against Protestants and heretics, when a condemned man begged him for mercy, Philip replied, "If my own son were found guilty like you, I would personally accompany him to be burned at the stake."
He married the Catholic Queen of England, Mary Tudor, and together they made an unsuccessful attempt to convert England back to Catholicism. He did succeed, however, in wiping out all Protestants from Spain.
In 1587, Spain was the world's greatest superpower and King Philip II was the most powerful monarch on earth. Only dignitaries, ambassadors and court officials had access to him.
But on Dec. 15, 1587, a 10-year-old Kapampangan boy (who may have looked like this 19th-century lottery boy in Photo 2 by Albert Honiss) was presented to him by Jesuit missionaries from Manila. It had only been 16 years since the Spaniards led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi first arrived in Luzon and killed the "brave youth from Macabebe" (in 1571), and Spain was thinking twice about keeping the new colony.
At the time, it took 15 months to travel from Spain to Manila via Mexico, and only a handful of Spanish soldiers, clergymen and traders had opted to settle in Manila, which was not yet a city but a cluster of huts surrounded by jungles and mosquito-infested swamps and suspicious islanders. Many of these early settlers, homesick and bored to death, were agitating to return to Spain.
On April 19, 1586, the homesick Spaniards held a meeting in Manila to debate the merits of maintaining the colony under these harsh conditions. They agreed to stay but they would ask the King for better incentives.
Their messenger would be the Spanish priest Alonso Sanchez, S.J., and their secret weapon would be Martin Sancho, a 10-year-old boy from Pampanga. Born in 1576, barely five years after the "brave youth from Macabebe" was killed by Legazpi's men at the Battle of Bangkusay, Martin Sancho was a child prodigy who could recite the entire Catholic Catechism in Latin.
The Spanish colonists in Manila agreed to ship him all the way to Spain to be presented before King Philip II himself, as proof that the natives in the new colony were capable of being educated and evangelized--an argument to not abandon the colony but instead to give the colonists more incentives.
Fr. Alonso Sanchez and his protégé, Martin Sancho, left Manila in May 1586, aboard the ship San Martin. They reached Acapulco in January 1587 for a four-month stopover, before sailing across the Atlantic to proceed to Spain.
On December 15, 1587, the priest and the boy were ushered in at the court of King Philip II. Martin Sancho was introduced, and as the King and other dignitaries leaned forward, the 10-year-old Kapampangan with his tiny voice breathlessly recited prayers, articles of faith, Church doctrine and the rest of the Catholic Catechism in impeccable Latin.
When he was ushered out of the hall amid thunderous applause, Fr. Alonso Sanchez stepped forward to present his case for the Philippines, confident that the King's favorable response had been secured by the boy's performance.
Today, Martin Sancho remains unknown and unrecognized. Were it not for his appearance in the court of Philip II, Spain would probably have left the Philippines in 1587, not 1899, and the whole history of the Philippines and this region of the world would have been totally altered.
The Jesuits in the Philippines now acknowledge Martin Sancho as the first Filipino to enter the Society of Jesus (not as an ordained priest, though, because natives were not allowed to become priests in those days).
After his sensational appearance in the royal court, the boy was no longer returned to his parents in the Philippines, but was raised by Fr. Alonso in Spain. When he was 17, he was taken to Rome to join the Jesuit novitiate.
Afterwards, he returned to Spain and lived in the province of Toledo, finishing college in Murcia. He traveled to Mexico in 1599. By this time, his health had been deteriorating because he had contracted tuberculosis in the poorly heated Jesuit house in Rome.
In 1601, he finally returned to the Philippines with a group of Jesuit missionaries headed by Gregorio Lopez, reuniting with his Kapampangan parents whom he had left when he was only 10. Tragically, he died one month later. He was only 25.
His story had remained hidden for centuries until historian Fr. Horacio de la Costa, S.J. unearthed it and Dr. Luciano Santiago wrote about it in his book "Kapampangan Pioneers in the Philippine Church," published by the HAU Center for Kapampangan Studies.
Jose Rizal, Juan Luna, and the Propagandists impressed Madrid with their brilliance and patriotism in the 1800s, but the highest forum they could reach was the Spanish Cortes. Three hundred years before them, a 10-year-old Kapampangan stood before the Spanish King and even made the royal jaw drop, and convinced him to keep the Philippines as a colony.
But the amazing Martin Sancho, for all his talent and luck, was a sad, lonely boy who was plucked out of his parents' home and spirited away from his land of birth at the age of 10, and made to live among strangers in a strange, cold country. For that fact alone, he deserves the nation's recognition if not gratitude.
References: John N. Schumacher, SJ, "Early Filipino Jesuits," Philippine Studies 29 (1981); Dr. Luciano Santiago, Kapampangan Pioneers in the Philippine Church (HAU Press).
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Comments
Photography was invented in the 1800's. Who was this boy? -Jet Castillo
Perhaps it's time to ponder if it is appropriate to change the name of the Philippines to one that reflect its true native origins and cultural as we as historical heritage and background. The current name evoke colonialism and a monarch responsible for the millions of sufferings, deaths and enslavements from where the Spanish Conquistadors step foot on. From the catholic inquisition, the forced conversions, the Spanish Jewish pogroms, plundering and enslavements of indigenous natives from the Azteca, Maya, etc., etc. _Pst Tsy
A kapampangan boy in 1587 named Martin Sancho? A Spanish name indeed while Only in November 1849 when the appointed Governor-General, Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa – spurred by increasing complaints from the Regidor or Treasury Account – issued a decree that forced the natives to adopt Spanish surnames in a bid to make the census easier. This name alone sounds shady. A 262 years discrepancy. -Rom Factolerin
("Rom Factolerin, Do you think he was known by a native name and the author chose not to use it??" ~Luz El Sharif)
he is also not known by his spanish name. and why not use his real name in the spirit of accuracy and history? don't you want your real name revealed when historians and pseudo historians tell about your story? the story talks about a filipino/kapampangan boy that's the main story and doubt sets in if that boy bears a not-so-filipino name. hindi ba magandang magtanong at magduda para mailabas ang katotohanan kung meron man? ~Rom Factolerin
Rom Factolerin the story said he was a protege of a Spanish priest who most likely gave him his name; more than 400 years ago and historians not knowing his real native name do not make a story shady. - Fred Beltran
Rom Factolerin -
"not knowing real name" real names are important to history. imagine telling a history of a hero who wrote 2 novels that inspire a revolution and that hero is shot in bagumbayan in his martyrdom but in the end no one knows his real name. doesn't it make your story doubtful? who is he? what's his name? what's his real name? baka imbento lang yan? names are important especially if you're talking about history. i'll understand completely if this is just a fictional story, because fictions are there just to make up for the content or "moral" of the story. but understand that this story is trying to be HISTORICAL therefore accuracy is demanded.
also, knowing the boy's real name (a filipino name) is giving his identity as a Filipino, not just saying "native" or just some 10 year old boy that is good in latin prayer memorization. the proper recognition to a supposed to be boy "hero" lies in reciting his real name--and recognizing it
