EFFECTS OF SPANISH COLONIZATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

1.) SOCIOECONOMIC
 Imposition of tribute, bandala and cedula personal and Requirements of polo y
servicio, Public lighting System began
 Telephone Service began (Manila in 1872 and iloilo in 1984)
 Centralization of state power. From the early to mid-16th century to the late 18th
century, European states began to assume increasing responsibility in the
administration of their societies. This centralizing tendency was accelerated by the
fact that modern nations were forming. In Spain, for example, the three kingdoms of
Castile, Aragon, and Navarre gradually united to form Hispania. This centralizing
tendency had implications for the expansion of colonial rule: to fund their growth
and military engagements within Europe, European states began the trend of
colonial acquisition
 Tariffs and taxation. Emerging European nations, believing that wealth was limited
and thus wanting to obtain as much of it as possible, sought to use their overseas
colonies as sources of revenue. Europeans shaped their colonies’ economies with the
guiding belief that agriculture was the basis of wealth. While agricultural enterprises
in colonies were run privately, the majority of the labor in the expanding empires was
concentrated in agriculture and natural resource acquisition.
 Royally chartered companies. Notable examples include the British East India
Company or Dutch East India Company. Chartered companies had trade monopolies,
granted by the crown, in areas such as slave trading or the transportation of certain
goods

2.) POLITICAL
 Loss of freedom on the part of the Filipinos because of the union of the church and
the state ,Establishment of a highly centralized government and bureaucratic set up
 The first task was the reduction, or relocation of native inhabitants into settlements.
The earliest political system used during the conquista period was the encomienda
system, which resembled the political system known as Feudalism in Medieval
Europe. The conquistadores, friars and native nobles were granted estates, in
exchange for their services to the King, and was given the privilege to collect tribute
from its inhabitants. In return, the person granted the encomienda, known as an
encomendero, was tasked to provide military protection to the inhabitants, justice
and governance. In times of war, the encomendero was duty bound to provide
soldiers for the King, in particular, for the defense of the colony from invaders such
as the Dutch, British and Chinese. The encomienda system was abused by
encomenderos and by 1700 was largely replaced by administrative provinces, each
headed by an alcalde mayor the provincial governor. The most prominent feature of
Spanish cities was the plaza, a central area for town activities such as the fiesta, and
where government buildings, the church, a market area and other infrastructures
were located. Residential areas lay around the plaza. During the conquista, the first
task of colonization was the reduction, or relocation of the indigenous population
into settlements surrounding the plaza.
 High influence of the catholic church
 The friars controlled the sentiments of the native population and was more powerful
than the governor-general himself. Among the issues that resulted to the Philippine
revolution of 1898 that ended Spanish rule was the abuse of power by the religious
orders.
 Maura Law
The legal foundation for municipal governments in the country was laid with the
promulgation of the Maura Law on May 19, 1893. Named after its author, Don
Antonio Maura, the Spanish Minister of Colonies at the time, the law reorganized
town governments in the Philippines with the aim of making them more effective
and autonomous. This law created the municipal organization that was later
adopted, revised, and further strengthened by the American and Filipino
governments that succeeded Spanish
3.) EDUCATION
 Boys colleges and secondary schools for both boys and girls were established but
were initially excusive for sons and daughters of Spaniards
 Under the educational Decree of 1863, free compulsory publicly supported public
schools became possible. The Filipinos were only able to enter the school in the late
19th century. The schools also limited their accommodations to the sons of wealthy
Filipino families in 1863.Although the schools were already open for Filipinos, the
friars still believed that the Filipinos would not be able to match their skills and that
the only way for the Filipinos to learn fast was to impose upon them strict discipline
which means applying corporal punishment.
 The supposed Philippine education was only a means to remain in the Philippines as
colonizers. For this reason, the Filipinos became followers to the Spaniards in their
own country. Even auspicious Filipinos became cronies, to the extent that even their
life styles were patterned from the Spaniards.
 Educated Filipinos referred to as ilustrados began movements directed towards
change in the system of government in the Philippines. Despite their wealth and
education, the ilustrados were still considered by the Spaniards to be inferior. One of
the goals of the ilustrado was to be in the same level with the proud Spaniards. The
growing number of ilustrados in the Philippines maybe considered one of the major
effects of education by the Spaniards in the Philippines.

4.) SOCIO- CULTURAL RESULTS

 Adoption of Spanish surnames and first names (claveria decree of 1849)
 Change in the manner of dressing Influence of the Spanish language and Latin
alphabet and adoption of the Gregorian Calendar and the western method of
keeping and counting time
 Dishes like arroz valenciana, afritada, estofado, mechado, puchero, menudo and so
on
 Fiesta was one of the religious events of the Catholic church. All Filipinos must attend
to it or else, they would be labelled as rebels or traitor. The fiesta was always the
honoring of the town patron saints respectively held in different barrios or towns.
This has given birth to other occasions done together in fiesta such as food
gathering and street parades.
 Native Filipinos have strengthened their motivation to defend the land and plans for
progress without fear against the colonizers including the later sets of invaders --the
Americans and Japanese. On the negative side, these cultures have given ways for
exploitation, monopoly of power, patriarchy, negative positioning of women in the
society, and the feeling of inferiority over other people.

5.) RELIGIOUS
 Several Filipino practices were encouraged to be discontinued by the Spanish
colonizers. Cremations were forbidden by the Catholic Church as it is against the
belief that the dead will be resurrected by 20 the second coming of Christ (Dakudao
1992:134), which required the body to be intact. The fact that the Spanish Catholics
were eagerly anticipating the rising of the dead would have been disturbing to the
indigenous Filipinos who believed that such an event would bring death to the living.
With the incorporation of Christianity into indigenous Filipino belief, burial patterns
obtained more uniformity across the islands (Dakudao 1992:134), to some extent
conforming to the Catholic Church‟s standardization of burials.
 The Spanish Jesuit missionaries sent to the Philippines encouraged the Filipino people to
convert to Catholicism, celebrate Catholic holidays, and to observe religious days of
obligation. Converts to Catholicism would have to be assured that resurrection was a positive
experience that did not involve evil. Many Filipinos converted to Catholicism upon or near
their death even if the individual had not previously been particularly observant of Catholic
doctrine.
  Spain‟s influence was evident through the establishment of Catholic churches. Churches
were often the center of cities, both with regards to city layout and society. Early on, the
dead were buried both inside and directly adjacent to the outside of the churches. Those
Filipinos with enough money and influence were allowed burials within the church beneath
the floors, walls, and pillars. The Cementerio General de Paco, known today simply as Paco
Park, was the first Manila cemetery established outside of the city.
 Filipinos truly believed in the values and traditions of the Catholic Church. Their beliefs now
operated within the traditions of the Catholic Church which dictated that cemeteries must be
on consecrated ground to ensure the souls of the individuals buried there would reach
heaven. Churches directly adjacent to cemeteries provided extra assurance of the sanctity of
cemetery grounds. Funeral chapels were built attached to the separated cemeteries, acting
as smaller versions of churches

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