The wording of the
provision of the foregoing royal decree which prescribes the use of stamped
paper of the fourth class for official documents (despachos de oficio)
implies that the necessary quantity of stamped paper of the fourth class
should be reserved for official use. At least as early as 1773, and
possibly as early as 1640, the stamped paper of the fourth class which
was reserved for official use was handstamped “Para Despacho de Oficio”.
The Royal Decree of December 28, 1638, above quoted, failed to specify
whether or not the various offices of the government which used stamped
paper of the fourth class for official documents were required to pay the
treasury department for the stamped paper which was thus used. This omission
was interpreted by Colonial officials to mean that stamped paper of the
fourth class was to be issued by the treasury department for official use
without charge. And it was probably for this reason that much
stamped paper was handstamped “Para Despacho de Oficio” in order to dispatch
it from the stamped paper of the fourth class. The Royal Order of
February 26, 1784, prohibited the issue of stamped paper of the fourth
class for official use to any entity of the government without first
collecting the price of the stamped paper. The same decree also provided
that all secular Judges, including those of the Royal Treasury, might create
a fund for expense of justice,
“from which the money to pay for the
stamped paper for official use might be obtained.”
The Royal Decrees requiring
that payment should be made to the Treasury department for the stamped
paper of the fourth class issued for official use were not enforced
in the Philippines, however, until subsequent to 1830.
A specimen has been
seen of stamped paper for the year 1773, which was labeled, “SELLO QUARTO
Para despacho de oficio”. No price was indicated on this sheet, and
this fact, coupled with the fact that it was labeled as valid for one year,
instead of for a biennial period, indicates that it was provisional stamped
paper prepared in the Philippines.
All specimens who have
been seen of Official Paper issued prior to 1816 were labeled, “SELLO
QUARTO Para Despacho Oficio”. In some cases this label was handstamped
upon the regular issues of stamped paper of the fourth class.
In such cases, of course, the price of the stamped paper appears as a part
of the label printed at the top of the sheet. Most specimens, however,
of Official stamped paper issued prior to 1816, are very evidently provisional
paper prepared in the Philippines; and no price is indicated on any of
these provisional issues. Specimens have been seen of Official Paper for
each biennial period from 1816-17 to 1830-31, inclusive, which are labeled,
“DE
OFICIO”, without any price. These also appear to be provisional
stamped paper prepared in the Philippines. The fact that nor price
was indicated on any of the provisional issues of Official Paper, is rather
strong evidence that such provisional official paper was issued without
charge to the entities of the government which required Official
stamped paper. Article 66 of the Royal Cedula of February 12, 1830,
called attention to, and reaffirmed, the Royal Order of February 26, 1784,
requiring the treasury department to collect the price of all stamped
paper which it issued without charge appears to have been discontinued
in 1831. Beginning at least as early as the biennial period of 1832-33,
and perhaps earlier, regular biennial issues of Official
Paper were printed in Spain for use in the Philippines. These regular issues
were labeled, “SELLO QUARTO DE OFICIO”, or “SELLO 4 DE OFICIO”,
with the price of “1 Cuartillo” indicated upon each sheet. It is
to be noted, however, that in addition to the Official stamped paper of
the fourth class, there was also issued another class of stamped paper
which was labeled, “SELLO QUARTO” or “SELLO 4”, with the
same price of “1 cuartillo”, which was used for all documents, not of official
origin, which required stamped paper of the fourth class. [10]
The Royal Cedula of
February 16, 1789, prescribed, “that the titles of officials of
the military bodies of pardos (grays) and merence (browns) be dispatched
blank paper.” The writer has been unable to determine the precise
meanings of the words pardos and merense BUT these words apparently were
used to describe certain inhabitants of Spanish Colonies who were neither
Indios (Indians or native inhabitants) nor Spanish. One of the early Spanish
friars wrote that there were, in the Philippines, people whom he called
morenes and who were noticeably different from the Indio who constituted
the majority of the native population. |