2. UNITY IN THE PHILIPPINES UNDER THE
SPANISH REGIME
The country was under Spain for 333 years
It was Spain that gave the country its
identity (Zaide)
The Cross pacified the natives
REDUCCION (Fr. Juan de Plasencia)
Required the natives to live in the area
near the Church
RESULTS OF REDUCCION:
Easy to collect tax
Filipinos became law – abiding citizens
Independence of barangay was lost
3. With Catholicism, Filipinos were
transformed into little brown Spaniards
Barangays were merged to form pueblos,
pueblos into alcaldias, and ayuntamientos
But Filipinos started to dislike foreign rule
4. Spain in the 19th
Century
Administrative Organization
The country was governed indirectly by the
Spanish Crown through Consejo de las
Indias(Council of Indies) but the King of Spain
governed the country directly through Ministries
of Colonies. Manila was the seat of the central
government
5. 19th
century was a political instability in Spain
To save Spain the Spanish crown worked out the
canovite or rotavism. Under the policy, the
liberals and conservatives took turns in
administering the affairs
Abandonment of Mercantilism
Mercantilism – country’s wealth and power can be
measured in its stock of gold and silver and all
trade should be conducted within a certain
country and its colonies
Galleon Trade – a monopolistic venture between
Manila and Acapulco (1565)
6. The Philippines Setting
Filipinos lost their ancestral lands because of
the encomienda system
Forced by Spanish to embrace their culture and
religion
National Government
The country is governed by the Spanish Crown
thru the Ministry of Colonies (19th
century)
Governor-General, appointed by the Spanish
monarch, was the head of the Spanish colonial
government
7. He was the Vice Royal Patron over religious
affairs and can nominate priests for
ecclesiastical administration of the parishes
He was also the commander in chief of the
colonial army
Was the ex-officio president of the Royal
Audiencia, the Supreme Court
Had legislative powers, can legislate laws for the
colony, laws enacted were called actos
acordados
Had the power of cumplase, to decide which law
or royal decree should be implemented or
disregarded in the colony
8. Local Government
A. Provinces were called alcaldias headed by an
alcalde mayor or provincial governor who
exercised executive and judicial functions
Was the most corrupt, owing to the privilege to
engage in and monopolize trade called indulto de
commercio
B. Towns or Pueblos
Headed by a gobernadorcillo or town mayor
Principal task is to maintain peace and order
and the collection of taxes and tributes
9. C. City Government or ayuntamiento
Was governed by a cabildo or city councilor
composed of a city mayor (alcalde en ordinario),
councilors (regidores), chief constable (aguacil
mayor), secretary (escribano)
D. Spanish Friar
A key figure because of the union of Church
and State, a principle upon which the Spanish
colonial government in the country as founded
Was the supervising representative of the
Spanish Government
10. Was practically the ruler of the town and the
local school inspector
Even civil authorities feared them, frailocracia
was the term of Lopez Jaena to this
Governors of both body and soul
D. Guardia Civil (1867)
Corps of native police under the Spanish officers
The purpose of dealing with the outlaws and
renegades
Arrest individuals who are filibusteros or
enemies of the government
11. and erehes or enemies of the Church
E. Audiencia Real or the Supreme Court
Highest court, did not only fix civil and criminal
cases but it served also as a forum for setting
important issues on governance, auditing agency
of the finances of Spanish colonial administration
It has 2 territorial courts: a.) court of first
instance, b.) justice of the peace courts
F. No Legislature in the country before we were
taken over by the US because the Spanish Cortes
or law making body was abolished in 1837
12. As a result, the governance of the Philippines
was on special laws and Las Leyes de Indias
continued to be the basic law
Conclusion: the Spanish colonial administration
was corrupt and inefficient
Philippines is very far from Spain
Governor-General exercised absolute power
(favoritism in the bureaucracy), and was not able
to resist corruption for his personal interest
Widespread selling of lower positions to highest
bidders
13. THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF FILIPINO
SOCIETY
Was feudalistic because of the
encomienda system
Filipinos were treated slaves
Imposed and collected taxes, there
was also polo y servicio or forced labor
The structure is pyramidal because of
the doctrine limpieza de sangre or purity
of blood
14. Pyramidal Social Structure
1. Peninsulares Insulares
2. Spanish mestizos,
Principalia, Chinese Mestizos
3. Indios or native
15. EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Primary education was not given attention
Establishment of parochial schools
Instruction was centered on the teaching of fear
of God and obedience to the friars with
indoctrination as principal method of teaching
Students were of inferior intelligence and suited
for manual work
Parrot learning(repeat after me style of
teaching)
University of Santo Tomas(1611), was the
existing higher education founded by the
Dominicans
16. The courses were, medicine, pharmacy,
philosophy, theology, canon, civil law
There were also secondary schools like Colegio
de Santo Tomas, Letran and the Ateneo de
Municipal (Jesuits)
Schools for girls were: Santa Isabel, La
Concordia, Santa Rosa, Santa Catalina
Schools were supervised by friars
Educational Decree of 1863
Required the establishment of one elementary
for boys and one also for girls in each town of
the country
Spanish is the medium of instruction
17. Weaknesses of the Educational System
1.over-emphasis on religion
2.Limited and irrelevant curriculum
3.Obsolete classroom facilities
4.Inadequate instructional materials
5.Absence of academic freedom
6.Racial discrimination against the Filipinos in
school
Economic Situation
The country was opened to foreign trade in
1834
The trade stimulated agricultural production
A number of families prospered
18. ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS
ENCOMIENDA SYSTEM
It was Legazpi who subdivided the country into
encomiendas and classified into two:
1.Royal encomieda – cities, seaports, regions rich in
natural wealth
2.Private encomienda – under private persons,
charitable institutions, Catholic Church
TAXATION
From 8 to 10 to 12 reales in 1851
Cedula was introduced after the abolition of tribute
Bandala, the compulsory sale of farmers of their lands
19. FORCED LABOR (POLO Y SERVICIO)
16 to 60 years old must render services for 40 days
Polistas, name of the laborers
Falla, exemption fee for the forced labor
GALLEON TRADE
A trade between Manila and Acapulco of the Chinese
and the Spaniards in Manila and in Mexico
Resulted cultural exchanges but agriculture was
neglected and forced labor was more intensified
20. CHALLENGES TO SPANISH IMPOSITION OF
SOVEREIGNITY
Spanish soldiers had to fight off Chinese pirates like
Lumahong and Dutch and Portuguese and Muslims
In 16th
century the Japanese thru Hideyoshi control
the country
The British invaded the country because Spain sided
with France in the 7 years war of British and France
Arch. Manuel Antonio Rojo surrendered at Fort
Santiago in Intramuros(seat of the Spanish colonial
government) in 1762 who was then the acting governor
general of the country
21. INTERSTING EFFECTS OF THE EVENT WAS THE
PRESENCE OF 3 GOVERNOR GENERALS
1.Dawsonne Drake, the British governor appointed by
the British East – India Company
2.Arch. Rojo, the acting governor general
3.Simon de Anda, the renegade governor general who
headed the Spanish-Filipino army against the British
The Treaty of Paris of 1763 ended the war. It restored
Manila to Spain in 1764.
22. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
Governor general Jose Basco y Vargas started the
scientific farming, they are:
1.Development of Agriculture
Planting of mulberry trees, production of cotton and
silk textiles, cinnamon and indigo
2. Organization of the Economic Society of Friends of
the Country
Basco organized this for him to implement his
economic programs
Manufacturing was improved because of importation
of machineries
23. 3. Tobacco Monopoly
Based on Royal Decree 1780 of Charles II
Controlled by the government and it generated
revenues for the government
It led to abused of authority by the Spaniards
4. Royal Company of the Philippines
Required 4% of its profit for agriculture, products of
the Philippines which are exported to Spain are tax free
However, it was a failure because of the incompetent
officers and poor management but it helped further in
the development of agriculture in the country
24. OPENING OF MANILA TO FOREIGN TRADE
Adam Smith doctrine of laissez faire or let alone
policy was accepted by European countries
Spain abandoned mercantilism and this led to the
opening of Manila to foreign trade in 1789
Basco’s successor Felix Berenguer de Marquina
encouraged foreign merchants to come and invest in
the country
Philippines experienced economic prosperity and
more ports were created for foreign trade
International telegraph communication was establish
in 1888 to support the growing trade, communication
and transportation
25. Filipino families were able to send their sons in
Europe to study
Spanish colonization transformed the Filipinos
socially, culturally, and educationaly
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS
1. Conversion of the Filipinos to Catholicism
2.Beginnings of a Feudalistic Society
3. Hispanization of Filipino Surnames
4.Metamorphosis of Bahay Kubo into Bahay na Bato
5.Indigenization of Spanish and Chines Cuisine
6.Change in Filipino mode of dressing
7.Introduction of the Spanish Language
8.Religious Feasts in honor to Patron Saints
