BONETE, KRISTINE MAE M.

LWR21

1. What is the broader history of the friar lands? Why did the Hacienda de Calamba
become a site of agitation in the late nineteenth century?

The existence of friar lands in the Philippines can be traced to the early Spanish
colonial period when Spanish conquistadors were awarded lands in haciendas for their
loyalty to the Spanish Crown. About 120 Spaniards were granted either large tracts of
lands called Sitio de Ganado mayor or smaller tract called cabellarias. The government
purchases the friar lands for sale to actual occupants under Act 1120 or the Friar Lands
Act. Lands are not public but privately owned by the government. Lands that had been
usurped by religious orders when the United States conquered the Philippines from
Spaniards, the Americans envisioned an agricultural reform. The three orders of the
Friars, Dominicans, Augustinians, and Recolectos controlled most of the land in our
country during those times. These landowners owned these lands and acted as political
authorities in the areas that had caused a threat to the Filipino nations that cause the
Philippine Revolution. The friars had held these lands for centuries; the system is termed
"Friarocracy" by scholars. The ownership of the friar lands showed how Filipino was
robbed of their soil. The friars set restrictive rents for the land for the farmers. In this
system, when one who rented land for a fixed amount, an inquilino was expected to give
personal services to the landlords, and if he or she failed to so, he or she would be
expelled from the land. The inquilinato system functioned as a three-layered system. The
landlords being on the top, inquilinos- middle, and the Kasama or the sharecropper at the
bottom who would cultivate the land.

Hacienda de Calamba comprises 16 424 hectares; some hacienda is cultivated

with sugar cane and rice. It was initially owned by a Spaniard who donated the land to
Jesuit Friars. Since the owner was expelled in the Philippines, the hacienda went to the
Spanish colonial government's possession. In 1803 the Hacienda de Calamba was sold
to Don Clemente de Azansa. After his death, it was eventually sold to the Dominicans,
who claimed ownership of the hacienda until the late 19th Century. The Dominicans
owned practically all the lands around Calamba. It became agitation because it was
hostile between 1881 and 1891 when an Agrarian dispute occurred. Rizal Family became
one of the principal inquilinos of the hacienda; they rented around 380 hectares of the
land, which they cultivate sugar cane, one of the most in-demand in the market back then.
However, land ownership arose in 1883. The family suffered as they lose income and
right in the hacienda—Rizal later finds out that friars' land ownership is unlawful. But then
the Spanish Supreme Court ordered favor of the Dominicans, which result in the Rizal
family and other tenants are forced to leave the land. Rizal seeking justice for the land
was seen by his novels and writings. Rizal was invited by the Spanish Governor and was
later arrested and executed that started the Philippine Revolution in the Late Nineteenth
Century. Hacienda de Calamba is an example of the inequalities in the Philippine Society
under the Spanish colonization.
2. "If visiting a museum involves an educational experience, is there educational
value in the way a museum is labeled and presented? Why or why not."

A museum is an institution that houses a different collection of artifacts. It is not

just a place or a simple building for wandering but also a place of learning a broader
perspective on science, arts, history, and much more. The purpose of a museum is not
just for the amusement of the people who visit or enter. The main goal to educate people
about something that deepens our understanding encourages us to think well and
rationally enlightens our minds. Museums acquire, preserve, research, interpret, and
exhibit tangible and intangible evidence in our society. That would engage the viewers to
create foster understanding about what they see inside.

What is childhood without visiting a different museum? I've been in school-age also
were in every year our school conducted an educational field trip. I can remember that
we've been to various museums all over the North and South of our country. Young kids,
young minds, I had the opportunity to see new things and learn by exploring a particular
museum. Entering a museum amazes me as I got to picture out different things with my
creative mind. During my childhood days, museum experiences make other concepts
more memorable and fun to learn, making the trip more exciting. Even up to these days
that I 'am already a college, a museum trip is a fun experience while gaining facts and
information. We've come or visited a different museum that amazes our eyes, educate
our minds, and touch our hearts.

Did it ever pop in our mind how does a museum is organized? Does the
arrangement of the things around the museum matter on the educational value we
attained from it? A museum is labeled and presented matter on the educational value one
can learn from it. It is like if one thing is organized, we could sort out things in our minds.
Can anyone think well if an environment is messy? Of course, no, and that setup is also
applicable that education value matter how the museum is labeled and organized.

Labeling is an essential tool to help grab the viewer; it also helps to understand
something fully. In visiting a museum, not all of us have the chance to have a tour guide
that could explain to us the things around the museum. To appreciate something, we
should properly understand the meaning or the history of that particular thing. Inside the
museum, the items are written or labeled around is very important to be able to read them
and educate them properly. We can also capture and remember things based on how we
see it because of our vision of sight. A good museum contains different artifacts and
comes with a perfect presentation and organization. Visitors of the museum would most
likely be engaged if the museum was presented as something people could interact with.
The things inside the museum should be organized well; it could help a lot to visual
learners that focus on the things they see. A good presentation or organization enables
the viewers to learn about the facts inside the museum quickly.
 Always remember that visiting a museum must learn something new or different it
is an experience of learning. With that, museum labels and presentation have something
to do or impact the museum's educational value.

REFERENCES:

1. https://www.philippinestudies.net/ojs/index.php/ps/article/download/1724/4772

Chapter II. The historical antecedent. (n.d.). The Hacienda de

Calamba. https://haciendadecalamba.blogspot.com/2012/06/chapter-ii-historical-

antecedent.html

Miranda, G. R. (4041, 7). History: How the Mercados and the Alonzos became

Calambeños. calamba. https://tagacalamba.wixsite.com/calamba/single-

post/2016/1/26/HISTORY-How-the-Mercados-and-the-Alonzos-became-

Calambe%C3%B1os

(n.d.). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQgFBvu10Is

2. The educational value of Field trips. (2020, August 21). Education Next.
https://www.educationnext.org/the-educational-value-of-field-trips/

Faleti, Yemi (2017). Why Museums are Still Relevant to Education. Retrieved from:
https://www.stevenson.edu/online/about-us/news/museums-education