ABSTRACT
The goods brought by Chinese community of traders formed the eastward cargoes of the galleons. However, Moro vessels had appeared at Cebu laden with porcelain and silks from the north which were obviously not of native origin. This may have been the Spaniards' first intimation of the possibility of trade with China. The Moro traders seem to have been the initial trading intermediaries with the newcomers and provided them with their export cargoes. The pancada proved unfeasible in the long run. As the Spaniards gained more experience their self-confidence in dealing with the Chinese returned. The feria or fair came to replace the pancada as the common mode of transacting business between the Chinese and the Manila traders. Economic convenience and religious hopes were probably not the sole reasons that prompted the Spanish officials in the Philippines to permit the large-scale immigration of Chinese.
