Another case was disposed of in a slightly different manner. On January 22, 1581, Juan Gutiérrez de Figueroa, second husband of Magdalena Rodríguez, widow of an encomendero of Mindanao, filed suit before the governor praying to be continued as possessor of an encomienda which his wife had held prior to her marriage to him. He brought the suit on the grounds that he was a soldier and was accordingly deserving of reward. This case, in accordance with the provisions of Malines, came within the jurisdiction of the governor. He denied the petition, but the soldier appealed the case to the Council of the Indies and that tribunal again reversed the decision of the governor on May 23, 1584.
In January, 1582, Bishop Salazar, as protector of the Indians, brought suit before Governor Ronquillo de Peñalosa against Juan de Ayala, a Spaniard holding various encomiendas in different parts of the Island of Luzón, but resident in Manila. Two specific charges were brought against Ayala. He was said to have reduced the Indians on his encomiendas to the status of slaves, which was forbidden by the law of November 9, 1526. [176] He had also violated the law which prescribed that encomenderos should live on their encomiendas, [177] and give their personal attention to the Indians thereon. Ayala adduced testimony to prove that this law was a dead-letter and that it was disregarded by most of the encomenderos. He even showed that there were many of them residing in Spain who held encomiendas in Spain and Perú. Governor Ronquillo felt that the evidence at hand was insufficient to justify a decision in this case, so he permitted it to be carried to the Council of the Indies. The latter tribunal rendered its decision on June 24, 1584, communicating to the Audiencia of Manila its ruling that Ayala should be allowed to retain the encomiendas in question, but the president and oidores were especially charged to enforce the law prohibiting slavery in the Indies.
The procedure in these cases confirms the laws already alluded to, which were promulgated before the establishment of the audiencia, that the governor should have jurisdiction in suits involving less than a thousand ducats, with appeal to the Council of the Indies. It would also appear, from the data at our command, that the audiencia inherited the governor's former authority in these matters.