The Featured Document series presents records from the National Archives of the Philippines’ Spanish Documents Section, Section 1. This collection of about 450 fonds totaling about 9 million pages is comprised of maps, plans, designs, sketches and more. Other items from this Section have been featured in past exhibits and publications produced by the NAP.

The Erecciones de los Pueblos is one of the hundreds of topics in the collections of the Spanish Documents Section of the NAP.

The File is about the establishment of the visitas of Boalan, Lumbayao, Paco-Cañas, Manicaan and Bolong to a civil town independent from their matrices located in Zamboanga, the first district of Mindanao.  The new town was given the name of “Las Mercedes”.

The establishment of Las Mercedes was approved by the Royal Order of 2 April 1878.