Chapter 6 The Impact of Spanish Colonial Rule The Spanish colonial integration began when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived from New Spain (Mexico) and founded its first settlement in Cebu. In 1571, Spain occupied Manila in an almost bloodless way, Manila offered an outstanding harbor of Manila Bay, making it as its capital. The purpose of Spanish colonization can be summarized by the 3G’s - God, Gold and Glory. The desire to propagate Christianity was driven by the anti- Muslim spirits of Crusades. The Spaniards in particular felt that they have the obligation to convert the natives of the heathen lands to Catholicism. Legazpi’s conquest of the archipelago and his settlement in Manila shared Spain’s second objective: Political Glory. Treaty of Zaragoza became a motivating factor, not a hindrance to find and besides Moluccas for its policy of expansionism The third objective was the desire for economic wealth. The European demand for Oriental products and the possible monopoly of the lucrative spice trade pushed the Europeans to finance long voyages to the East. Later on, the accumulation of bullion (gold and silver) became the guiding principle of mercantilism. The Philippines as a colony would give profit for Spain, the home country. The Philippines was not directly controlled by Spain until 1821. From 1565 to 1821, the Philippines was a dependency of the Viceroyalty of Mexico. All Spanish territories, inchuding the Philippines was governed by the Royal and Supreme Council of Indies. When Mexico got its independence in 1821, the administration of the colony was transferred to Spain. Bureaucracy in the Political Institutions Spain’s bureaucracy easily penetrated the different political institutions in the Philippines. It created a centralized form of government whose power was concentrated with the Governor-general. When the administration of the Philippines has been transferred to Spain, Ministro de Ultramar (Ministry of Colony) superseded the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies in 1863. The Governor-General The Governor-General was the head of the Spanish colonial government in the Philippines. Appointed by the King of Spain, his powers seemed to be absolute as far as the administration of the colony is concerned. He was the ChiefExecutive and the Commander in Chief of the army. He was responsible in issuing and implementing royal decrees but he also has the power to disregard some decrees not suitable for the colony (Cumplase). In the fulfillment of his function as the Chief Executive, he has the right to dismiss some public officials. except those appointed by the King. He handled the administration and review of the justice system being the President of the Royal Audencia. He also has the power to make laws, which would facilitate the implementation of decrees However, the function of the Governor-General is not only limited to politics. He was given the power to appoint priests to ecclesiastical position called Vice Royal Patron. This power is equivalent to the King’s Patronato Real when Spain regained Granada from the hands of the Ottoman Turks. The power of the Governor-General was subject to two kinds of checks: the Residencia and Visita. The Residencia was a special judicial court that was created to review the performance of an outgoing Governor-General. The findings of the investigation will then be submitted to the King. Visita, on the other hand was sent to the colony by the King to observe the conditions of the colony. The Visitador could visit the colony in no specific time and he reports directly to the King ‘The Royal Audencia The Royal Audencia was the highest court during the Spanish colonial period. It was established in 1583 by virtue of a royal decree. The power of the Royal Audencia goes beyond its judicial functions. It is the adviser of the Governor-General but at the same time checks and reports the abuses committed by the position. It also audited the expenditures of the colonial government. It also has the power to enact joint laws with the Governor-General known as Autos Acordados. The Local Government The archipelagic nature of the Philippines became a significant factor in the creation if the local government units in the Philippines. It served as an arm to facilitate the administration of the country and at the same time, to represent the King and the Governor-General to the provinces The Provincial Government and City Government. There were two kinds of provincial government: the Alcaldias and the Corregiminetos. The Alcaldias were the pacified provinces whose inhabitants accepeted the Spanish rule and owed their loyalty to the King of Spain. It was headed by Alcaldes Mayores and Alcaldes En Ordinario. On the other hand, the unpacified region was called Corregimientos led by a military officer calledCorregidor or Corregidores. The regions were still in conflict with Spain and were not fully subjugated. Usually appointed by the Governor-General, the alcalde was tasked to implement the laws and to collect taxes. But aside from his administration duties, he also performed judicial functions in the provinces. He received a very small salary but he was given a trading privilege called indulto de comercio. Later on, the abuse of indulto led to the monopoly of provincial trade. Because of this, the privilege was removed in 1844. Aside from the organization of different provinces, Spain founded many cities (the first of which was Cebu and later Manila as the capital city). The city government was called ayuntamiento headed by an alcalde. ‘The Municipal government The alcaldias were further divided into towns called pueblo. Each pueblo was governed by gobernadorcillo. Oftenly called Capitan, he was the supreme authority whose function is not only limited in overseeing his constituents, but also in the administration of justice system. The position is elected by 13 members of principalia: the outgoing gobernadorcillo, 6 former incumbent cabeza de barangay. The election was done through secret balloting. The gobernadorcillo receives no salary. The position was merely honorary. The redducion plan was presented by Fr. Juan de Plasencia with its objectives of easy propagation of Christianity, for Hispanizing the indios by making them into a civilized little brown Spaniards, and for proper documentation of the country’s population. But the truth was that it was implemented so that Spaniards can effortlessly collect taxes from the indios. The establishment of pucblo represented Spain’s strategy of indoctrination. Missionaries were sent to different provinces to establish a pueblo and gather the natives in a redducion (resettlement). In each resettlement, the government constructed a Capilla or a Visita as the seat for the indoctrination of Christianity. Not all Filipinos accepted the reduccion. Some of them fled to the mountains and became remontados or tulisanes. The smallest political unit was the barangay. Formerly known was balangay, the Spaniards regarded its significant to retain this unit for easier administration of the colony. The headship was formerly hereditary, but in the course of time, the position of cabeza de barangay became elective among the principalia class. Each cabeza received two percent of the collected tribute from their respective barangay.Political Structure during the Spanish Period KING Ministro de Ultramar Redisencia Central Government (Governor-General) — Royal Audencia t | Alcadias (Alcalde Mayor) Ayuntamiento (Alcalde Mayor) Corregimientos (Corregidor) | Pueblos (Gobernadorcillos) I Barangay (Cabeza de Baranagay) > Manila Villa Fernandina (Vigan) Nueva Segovia (LaHo, Cagayan) Nueva Caceres (Naga) Cebu Arevalo (Iloilo) In 1894, there were already cight recognized ayuntamientos all over the country and these were Manila, Iloilo, Cebu, Jaro, Batangas, Albay, Nueva Caceres and Vigan.‘The Social Structures Spain created a rigid pyramidical social stratification from the simple social organization if the Filipino natives. Governed by the principle of limpieza de sangre (purity of blood), the structure was divided into three: those with Spanish blood, those with money and power, and the Indio class. The first structure was further divided into three: the peninsulares or the Spaniards born in Spain; the insulares or Spaniards born in the Philippines and lastly, the Spanish mestizo, who were born with a Spanish father and indio mother. Originally, the term Filipino was used to refer to the mestizos in the Philippine society during the early days of the Spanish era. The second structure was composed of the principalia or the town’s ruling elite class and the landed native class known as creoles, and the Chinese mestizo, born of a Chinese father and Indio mother, or Chinos who arrived originally from the China. The most discriminated were the Indios, who occupied the bottom of the pyramid. The indios were not even regarded as human beings. They were even treated worse than the Chinese and Chinese Mestizos in the Philippines. The social structure played an important role in governmental matters. The peninsulares held the highest position in the Spanish colonial government. No Governor-General would be appointed unless they were pure blooded Spaniards born in Spain. The insulares on the other hand, held positions in the colonial army and in the parishes. The administration of towns were given to the principalia. In spite of similarities of blood composition, discrimination occurred just because of place of birth. During the late 19t* century, another class of Filipinos emerged from the ranks. These were Filipinos who benefitted from economic progress bought about by the opening of the Philippines to world commerce — the educated class- the illustrados.