Monarchy under Spain

The Spanish king (or queen) was the supreme power in Spain and its colonies like the Philippines.
The system of government is "monarchy" in this system, power came from the king who appointed the
colonial officials. He also issued the royal decroes (orders). At first, the Council of the Indies helped the
king to rule the colonie. When it was abolished the Minister of the Colonies took charge of colonial
affairs.

Monarchy is different from our present system of governmen. At present, we have a "democracy"
where power comes from the people. The people can change their public officials in a democracy. The
monarchy of Spain was inherited at the time. So we could not change who ruled over us.

The Mexican Viceroy

Until 1821, the Philippines really was ruled by the Spanish viceroy in Mexico in the name of the
king. This was because the Philippines was colonized from mexico, the Spanish colony in the New World
(Americas). However, after Mexico got its independence in 1821 the Philippines was ruled direcbtly from
Madri, Spain.

The Spanish Governor-General

As the chart shows, the Spanish governor-general represented the king of Spain in the Philippines.
He haf great powers. He could make laws himsel. He could appoint and remove any officials except those
appointed by the king. He was the commander-in-chief of the colonial armed forces. Therefore, he was
usually also a military officer in the Spanish Army or Navy. For a long time until 1861, he was also
prrsident of the royal Audiencia, like the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court today.

There where 115 Spanish governor-general in our country. The first one was Miguel Lopez de Legazpi
(1565-72) and the last was Diego de los Rios (1898)