This chapter focuses on ecclesiastical contentiousness in the cathedral chapter (cabildos) after Felipe Pardo’s death in 1689. First, it demonstrates the way in which intra-elite confrontations, negotiation, and local agency among church entities molded the city of Manila as a political arena. Second, it discusses Bishop Ginés de Barrientos’ (1681–1698) political unrest against the cabildo members to demonstrate that disobedience was not the exception but the everyday rule.