JAN WARREN D.

VARQUEZ
STB-II

THE LIFE AND WORKS

OF FATHER ALONSO DE HUMANES

Introduction

People who have no chance to study Philippine Church History always have a bias

against the early missionaries. Referring to the works of Rizal in Noli me Tangere and El

Filibusterismo, they often associate the missionaries, and to some extent the present clergy, as

Padre Damaso who is promiscuous and abusive. But this notion is not that true in all cases. In

fact, there were many missionaries who lived a pious and holy life dedicating themselves to the

ministry of evangelization. One of these missionaries is Father Alonso de Humanes of the

Society of Jesus. During his ministry, he was referred to as a living saint by some of the

chroniclers. Even during his death, people venerated his remains until it was transferred to the

Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches.

Early Life

We have very little information written about the early life of Fr. Alonso Humanes, SJ.

Most of accounts that would refer to him describe his arrival in the Philippines in 1595. In an

article about Fr. Alonso Humanes, Fr. Amado Tumbali, SJ wrote, “Born in 1562 and became a

student of the Theologian Suarez, Father Alonso de Humanes entered the Jesuit novitiate already

a priest.”1

1
Amado Tumbali, Jr, SJ, “ “Venerable Humanes”: Jesuit Provincial and Miracle Worker,” Jesuit Trials:
history, Philippines, Jesuits (blog), WordPress, March 6, 2015,
https://philippinejesuitica.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/venerable-humanes-jesuit-provincial-and-miracle-worker/
(accessed June 2, 2021).
His Early Works in the Philippines

In June of 1595, Doctor Antonio de Morga arrived in Manila; together with him were

eight members of the Society of Jesus and one of them was Fr. Alonso de Humanes. 2 Fr.

Humanes was one of the first Jesuits to come here in the Philippines. During their voyage to the

Philippines, he was the Superior of the group.3 Even before coming to the Philippines, Fr.

Humanes had already shown leadership among his fellow Jesuits.

On the same year that they arrived, Fr. Antonio Sedeño, SJ, the Vice-Provincial that time,

went to Cebu with Fr. Humanes. But things did not go well in their travels. Fr. Sedeño became

ill. In the middle of August, Fr. Pedro Chirino, SJ, a chronicler during that time, visited them in

Cebu and was surprised to see the condition of their Vice-Provincial. Fr. Chirino said, “We

reached Sebu in the middle of August, where we found our good father and superior sick… and

with him were Father Alonso Humanes, who had gone as superior during the journey from

Nueva España, and Father Mateo Sanchez.”4 Thinking that his end was coming, Fr. Sedeño

called his fellow Jesuits and assigned them to different mission stations. “Humanes and Sanchez

were to go to Leyte, Humanes as superior of all the Jesuits there. They were to keep Cariga and

open a second mission station at Dulag.”5

Fr. Humanes was known by historians as a church builder and promoter of education for

the youth. As superior of the mission area in Leyte, he, together with Fr. Juan del Campo and

Mateo Sanchez, established two mission stations; one in Cariga and another in Dulac. “In the
2
Fr. Pedro Chirino, SJ, “Relation of the Filipinas Islands and of What has there been accomplished by the
Fathers of the Society of Jesus”, in The Philippine Islands: 1493-1898, Vol. XII, ed. Emma Helen Blair and James
Alexander Robertson (Cleveland, Ohio: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1904), p. 223.
3
Horacio de la Costa, SJ, The Jesuits in the Philippines: 1581-1768 (Cambridge—Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press, 1961), p. 134.
4
Chirino, SJ, “Relation of the Filipinas Islands and of What has there been accomplished by the Fathers of
the Society of Jesus”, p. 225.
5
de la Costa, SJ, The Jesuits in the Philippines: 1581-1768, p. 225.
Fr. Horacio de la Costa used “Dulag”. In the succeeding texts, we can read that “Dulac” was used by Blair
and Robertson in “The Philippine Islands”. Both are referring to the same place.
time that they spent together, they erected the first church in Dulac; established a school for

children, many of whom they baptized; and formed a long list of catechumens, whom they

prepared and baptized, with great solemnity and rejoicing, to the increase of reverence for this

holy sacrament.”6

Fr. Horacio de la Costa describes the works of Fr. Humanes on the education of the boys.

He said, “Humanes was delighted at the enthusiasm with which the boys took to their studies.

Lacking pens and paper, they used the traditional writing materials of the Malays: chipped stones

and smooth strips of split bamboo. We can still see them through Humanes’ eyes, breaking up in

groups of four during their lessons to help each other with their exercises.” 7 According to Fr.

Tumbali, “He was the first to open a boarding school which taught young boys in the basic

elements of Christian doctrine, music, liturgy, reading and writing Spanish grammar and it is

even most probable that the saintly Miguel Ayatumo of Bohol attended one of his schools.”8

Fr. Humanes was known to be caring and a good companion with his fellow Jesuits. He

was very affirming to his colleagues. Fr. Chirino said, “Father Alonso Humanes held Father Juan

del Campo in the highest estimation as a spiritual and eloquent man, fervent, learned, and

talented, and a very sagacious in practical affairs; for these reasons he laid hold of him for

greater help and companionship.”9 We can also read this in his letter to Fr. Claudio Acquaviva,

SJ. Fr. Humanes was reacting to the growing custom of drinking chocolate. He said, “I beseech

6
Chirino, “Relation of the Filipinas Islands and of What has there been accomplished by the Fathers of the
Society of Jesus”, p. 283.
7
Fr. Horacio de la Costa, “Jesuit Education in the Philippines to 1768,” Philippine Studies, 1956, Vol. 4, No.
2 (1956): p. 151, https://www.jstor.org/stable/42719215.
8
Tumbali, Jr, “ “Venerable Humanes”: Jesuit Provincial and Miracle Worker.”
9
Chirino, “Relation of the Filipinas Islands and of What has there been accomplished by the Fathers of the
Society of Jesus”, p. 283.
your Paternity with all my heart to put a stop to this abuse. The ministry of this province is for

completely apostolic men; men who have no use for such delicacies and creature comforts.”10

Because of his great example in his ministry, Fr. Humanes became an inspiration to an

aspirant to the Society of Jesus. In an annotation, Blair and Robertson said that Fr. Humanes

became an inspiration to Fr. Juan del Carpio. In his youth, Fr. Juan del Carpio met Fr. Humanes

in Spain. Fr. Humanes was going with the missionaries to the Philippines and offered del Carpio

work for that. Fr. Humanes took him to Mexico where del Carpio entered the Society of Jesus.11

Major Offices in the Society and Mission in Bohol

Fr. Alonso de Humanes held offices in the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. In 1609, he

became the Jesuit Procurator. In 1621, he became the Jesuit Provincial. 12 In 1630s, he became

Parish Priest of Parokya ni San Pedro Apostol in Loboc, Bohol.13

In Bohol, he was known for his saintly works. Writing the accounts of the works of Fr.

Humanes, Fr. Chirino chronicled the letter written by Fr. Humanes himself. In the letter, Fr.

Humanes accounted three activities. The first was their work during their Holy Week service. He

said, “It was with great devotion and observance, and with no urging on our part, that the whole

of this new Christian community approached us, even those living very far from this town where

we have our residence. Christians from all over the island assembled for the Holy Week

services…”14 Second was Fr. Humanes saying that the people requested them to give someone to
10
Fr. Alonso Humanes, SJ, “Letter to Claudio Acquaviva,” Manila, 16 July 1615, quoted in Fr. Pedro Chirino,
SJ, “Relation of the Filipinas Islands and of What has there been accomplished by the Fathers of the Society of
Jesus”, p. 249.
11
Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson, ed., The Philippine Islands: 1493-1898, Vol. XXVI,
(Cleveland, Ohio: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1904), p. 223.
12
de la Costa, The Jesuits in the Philippines: 1581-1768, p. 254.
13
Fr. Rene Javellana, SJ, “Angels and Gargoyles of Loboc Church,” Philippine Studies First Quarter 1988,
Vol. 36, No. 1: https://www.jstor.org/stable/42633065.
14
Fr. Alonso Humanes, SJ, quoted in Fr. Pedro Chirino, SJ, The Philippines in 1600, trans. Ramon Echevarria
(Manila: Historical Conservation Society, 1969), p. 383.
teach them more about the faith. Received by the people of Panglao, Bohol, Fr. Alonso de

Humanes, who was the parish priest of Loboc, Bohol, was asked by the chieftain of Panglao “to

leave someone behind who might teach them, so that they might learn more quickly”.

Responding to their request, he gave them “the most capable boys, that once well instructed”. 15

The third was their fight against a chief who used charms. 16 Fr. Humanes was so loved by the

people that when he was asked to report to Cebu, people went to him for confession. He said,

“When our people found out that Your Reverence had ordered us to go to Sebu, (being

apprehensive that we might not return to them very soon) they all came to make their confessions

with as much fervor as if it had been the Lenten Season. Those who were still unbaptized came

to us with the same urgency to ask for Holy Baptism.”17

His Death and Remains

Fr. Alonso Humanes died in the year 1633 in Loboc, Bohol. 18 His remains were first

buried inside the Loboc Church, beneath the side altars. “Humanes’ fame spread throughout the

Visayas, since miracles attributed to his intercession could be obtained by those who prayed at

his tomb.”19 During that time, the Church of Loboc became a pilgrimage site because of his

miraculous remains. In the 1900s, his remains were transferred to the crypt of St. Ignatius’

Church in Manila.20 Later, it was transferred to the Jesuit Cemetery in Sacred Heart Novitiate,

Novaliches.21

15
Humanes, quoted in Fr. Pedro Chirino, SJ, The Philippines in 1600, p. 384.
16
Ibid.
17
Ibid, p. 384-385.
18
Thomas B. Cannon, SJ, “History of the Jesuits in the Philippines, III,” The Woodstock Letters, v.66, no.
2,1937: 233.
19
Javellana, “Angels and Gargoyles of Loboc Church,” p. 91.
20
Cannon, “History of the Jesuits in the Philippines, III,” p. 233.
21
Tumbali, ““Venerable Humanes”: Jesuit Provincial and Miracle Worker.”
Conclusion

The missionaries left a great impact to the present situation of the Philippine Church.

Many of them lived a holy life and were very dedicated to their mission in propagating the faith.

Fr. Alonso Humanes, loved and cared for by the people because of his saintly life, was one of

them. His life and work can become an inspiration for and at the same time a challenge to all

priests and religious. The life of an evangelizer is not easy, but with great dedication and love for

God and the people He loved, one can become successful as Fr. Alonso Humanes of the Society

of Jesus.