3

to tell the truth. When asked what he knows about the loss
of the cross which was originally found with the child: He claims to know
that when Padre Fray Juan de Montemayor arrived as the prior of this convent,
this declarant wanted to give accounts and to surrender the child’s sacristy
and the jewels to said prior. This declarant sent them to Padre Fray Juan Ruiz
to do the above and take charge of it. And said Padre Fray Juan Ruiz
took them and received the money and the record of the
jewels. The declarant showed proof of all that had been
turned over to him and Padre Fray Juan Ruiz neither counted nor took [anything] from the box.
Instead, all he did was to say that everything was exact and the ornaments were complete
because he knew them to be so. Later, Padre Fray Juan Ruiz,
in front of the father prior and this declarant, placed the pages [of the record] into
the box and closed it and kept the keys,
after having taken out a quantity of pesos for expenses beforehand. And this declarant
was sure that there was no missing jewel
at that time because they only took them out to dress the child
during the eve of San Vidal. And when they took them out, this declarant
turned them over to brother Fray Martín de Jesús in
an altar cloth to account for those [items] which were necessary. The rest were left
in the box. And then, on the day of San Vidal,
after having returned to the cathedral
from the procession and having brought the child back to the convent with the same [account] with which the child was dressed
along with the jewels placed on him, brother Fray Martín de Jesús undressed the child.
He removed the jewels [(he was dressed with too many)]
and with some jewelry [the child] was returned to the usual tabernacle.
And all of this was done with the declarant present.
And this declarant is certain that the cross and chain went missing
while he was in Panay because when he returned from Panay they told him that a chain was lost
weighing one tae, and they never told him anything about the cross. And there were many other things missing
especially the money for expenses [under] Padre Fray Juan Ruiz's responsibility
and of which the father prior does not have a key. And this could be because
inside said Padre Fray Juan Ruiz’s cell
slept Tomás, the convent slave and other Camarines who were servants
of said father. Given that they stole the money from him, it could be that they
stole the key and the gold or if not then [he] benefited from the theft
of the chain [that would come to light] in the space of a few months.