THE BACKDROP ON RIZAL’S TIME

(Source: Sonia S. Daquila. The Seeds of Revolution).

For many years, absolute monarchy seemed to be an unshakeable set up, but change
is the only permanent thing in the world. Thus, when modern philosophy came to a
close around the end of the 18th century, the status qou was threatened by new
developments. Finally, philosophers and political thinkers debunked divine right
theory . Foremost among the proponents who challenged conventions were John
Locke (1632-1704). Francois Marie Arouet or Voltaire (1694-1778), Jean Jacques
Rousseau (1712 -1778), G.W.F Hegel (1770-1831), Charles Darwin (1809-1882),
Mikhael Bakunin (1814-1876), Karl Marx (1818-1883), Friedrich Engels (1820-1895)
and many more.

Divine Right Theory - a theory which holds that the state is of divine creation and
the ruler is ordained by God to govern the people. It was the basis of absolute
monarchy in Europe and in Asia

John Locke:
Social Contract Theory contends that while rulers have the obligation to look after
the general welfare of the people, the people have also the obligation to support
their ruler. However, when the government becomes oppressive and arbitrary, it is
the right of the people to overthrow a despotic ruler. It legitimizes revolution as a
powerful weapon against an oppressive and decadent government

Jean Jacques Rousseau: People’s consent alone legitimizes a government and the
processes of decision-making must be participated by all. He prescribed eternal
vigilance on the part of the governed against their rulers. According to him “Man is
born free but everywhere in chain” and “evrything is good when it leaves in the hands
of the creature but degenerates in the hands of ma”.

John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau: It is right to stage civil disobedience or to
take up arms when a government breaks its covenant with the people. They
espoused the theory that God endowed man with natural rights, such as right to life,
liberty and property and by entering into a social contract, man formed a civil society
to protect his rights.

Francois Marie Arouet (Voltaire) - “Pen is mightier than sword.”

Mikhael Bakunin espoused anarchy. He hated all forms of authority believing that
society must be organized from the bottom upwards by spontaneous cooperation or
association

G.W.F. Hegel - advocated destruction of the old set-up for the creation of a new one,
ascertaining that the new set-up will be better than the previous one. As progress
takes place, conflicts are inevitable.
Thomas Hobbes - Man by nature is selfish, cruel, and always seeking
self-glorification.

Imperialism – a policy of extending the rule or authority of a nation over foreign

countries or acquiring colonies and dependencies.

In 1843 Pope Alexander VI assigned half of the world’s hemisphere to Spain and the
other to Portugal for colonization.

The Council of Trent endeavored to legislate moral reforms among the clergy, to
deny the wonder-working powers of images, to tighten the church bureaucracy, and
to officially recognize the absolute authority of the pope as the earthly vicar of God
and of Jesus Christ.

THE PHILIPPINES IN THE 16TH CENTURY.

Reformation in the 16th century was a religious movement against abuses in the
Roman Catholic Church, influenced by economic and political factors. It sought to
restore Christianity to its early purity by subordinating ecclesiastical tradition to the
test of scriptural authority. Spearheaded by Martin Luther King, a German monk.

Secularism – an advocacy that religious influence should be restricted in education,

morality, politics and economics.

Liberalism – a political philosophy apparent in Europe in the 19th century

characterized by progressive rather than conservative attitudes.

Ascetism - Abandonment of worldly pursuits and Self-denial.

Deism - Rejection of clerical authority, miracles, and mysteries. “God is best served
by the people serving others justly.”

Humanism - Geared towards the total development of man: to cultivate one’s self,
to write well, to speak well, to live well, and to use these knowledge and skills for the
public good.

Humanitarianism - It advocates respect and protection of human basic rights and

condemns the barbaric way of treating prisoners**

Individualism - A precept which opens avenues for fulfillment of ambitions, talents

and expression of self and individuality

Pantheism – a belief or theory that God and the universe are identical. Synonymous
to worship of nature.

Frailocracy - a form of government run by the friars.

THE PHILIPPINES IN THE 19TH CENTURY
RIZAL’S CENTURY
(Source: Jose Rizal: Social Reformer and Patriot, A Study of his Life and Times.
Dr. Augusto V. De Viana, Helena Ma. F. Cabrera, DBA, Emelita P. Samala, Myrna M.
De Vera, Janet C. Atutubo. First Edition, REX bookstore, 2018).

The 19th century was a century of change. During the last two decades of the
previous century, the age of enlightenment reached its zenith in France, culminating
in the French Revolution of 1789. in this age, ideas of freedom, liberty and equality,
and the belief in the sovereingty of the people in determining government
thundered all across Europe. The french revolution resulted in the toppling of the
monarchy of king Louis XV1 and the ushering in of the French Republic. Though
France was to slide back to monarchy following the establishment of Napoleon
Bonaparte’s French empire and the restoured Bourbon dynasty, the ideas of
Philosophers and as Jean Jacques. Montesquieu, Francois Marie Arouet (Voltaire),
and Englishman John Locke spread around the world like a conflagaration. The world
was never the same again.

The struggle for equal rights has spread over the world, Europe went up in the
revolution from 1848, with the regimen of absolute monarchs in France and Austria
being toppled by people seeking more responsible governments. In 1861, the year of
Rizal’s birth, has Alexander II emancipated Russian serfs. That year, the Italian, under
Giuseppe Garibalde, threw out the Austrians and took over the papal lands. Italian
nationalism ended the domination of the church and united the various Italian states
as one country. Germany, on the other hand, was in the process of unification which
lasted until 1871. In the United States. President Abraham Lincoln emancipated the
Black slaves but also triggered the American Civil War which lasted from 1861 to
1865. At the south of the U.S border, Mexican troops dealth in humiliating defeat on
the French-supported regime of Archduke Maximilian, in France, the regime of
Napoleon III was crumbling after the debacle in Mexico Later, the French overthrew
the monarchists and established a republic. At this time, however, most of Spain’s
colonies such as those in South and Central America, such as Mexico, Chile,
Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras,
and others have won their independdence from Spain through revolution. The
Philippines was one of Spain’s remaining colonies along with Cuba, Puerto Rico, and
the Spanish Sahara.

THE NEED FOR REFORMS REPRESENTATION

During Napoleon’s time, Spain was part of France’s alliance against Great Britain
in the Continental System. When this alliance faltered, Napoleon invaded Spain in
1808 and installed his brother Joseph as king. The Spaniards resisted the French and
Spaniards patriots declared allegiance to their crown Prince Ferdinad and gathered
in the City of Cadiz where they crafted a constitution. The constitution of Cadiz had a
novel feature of allowing colonies to be represented in the Spanish parliament called
the Cortes. The Philippines therefore was given representation for the very first time,
and Ventura de los Reyes, a Spaniard born in the Philippines, was selected to
represent the colony. However, after Napoleon was defeated, Ferdinand, who had
become King Ferdinand VII, abolished the Cortes, saying that the body encroached
on powerhe believed belong solely to him. The decission was unpopular as Spain’s
American colonies began to revolt and sought Independence.

In 1820, the Spanish people rose up and held the King hostage. They forced him
to reconvene the Cortes and restore the representation of the colonies. The
restoration of the cortes was short lived as France, under the Bourbons, sent an
army which restored Ferdinand to absolute rule and caused the abolition of the
Cortes. In 1833, Ferdinand VII died and the Cortes was again restored. However, at
this time, the body held a secret session in which it was decided that the Philippines
should not be accorded representation. From that time on, the Philippines had no
representation in the Cortes. Representation in this body was one of the reforms
demanded by reformists like Rizal. It would have given the Filipinos the right to be
heard in the body and equal rights with the Spaniards. After Ferdinand VII died, the
country was ruled by his daughter, Queen Isabella II, whose rule was characterized
by decadence of mismanagement. Other European powers such a Great Britain and
France became leading powers in the continent.

CONDITIONS IN ASIA TO THE 19TH CENTURY

In Asia, there were renewed efforts of European penetration with the

weakening of Spain and Portugal and the rise of Great Britain and France. The British
gained it colony in Hongkong and forced China to open five ports to its traders
following China’s defeat in the Opium war of 1839-1842. China was humiliated with
another defeat in the Arrow War of 1856-1858 when the British, now joined by the
French, forced China to open the whole country to foreigners. Furthermore, Great
Britain enlarged its colony in Hongkong by taking over Kowloon, and Japan was
forced open by the American under Commodore Matthew Perry in 1854. unlike
the Chinese, however, the Japanese were able parry western requests to make
Yokohama a treaty port. India became a crown colony of Great Britain in 1858
following the suppression of the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. Burma became a colony of
Great Britain after three Burmese Wars in 1824-1826, 1862-1863, and 1885-1886.
Near the Phillippines, Indo China became a protectorate of France following the
suppression of the kingdoms of Annam and Cochin-China. Filipino troops sent from
Manila played a role in the conguest of Indo-China for France. Malaysia became a
protectorate and eventually a colony of Great Britain while Indonesia was
conquerred by the by the Dutch of Netherlands.

The Philippine POLITICAL System under Spain

Terms
A. Pacto del Pardo – a contract/compromise between the Conservatives and the
Liberals to alternate in the control of the government or their colonies, which
 later resulted to the frequentchanges of governor general.
B. Consejo de Indias (Council of the Indies) – a body which exercised executive,
legislative, and judicial powers through which Spain administered the Philippines.
C. Recopilacion – Laws of the Indies
D. Las Siete Partidas – Spanish legal code
E. Friars – they played a very important role in the process of bringing about peace in
the islands.
F. Cumplase – a wide discretionary powers on the imposition or withholding of the
Royal orders by the Governor General, who was the sole representative of the
Spanish crown.
G. Royal Audiencia – the supreme court of the colony an advisory body to the
governor – general.
H. The Residencia – a body composed of the Audiencia and the incoming governor –
general that investigated one’s predecessor for acts of graft and corruption.
I. The Visitadores – a body commissioned by the Crown of Spain to conduct secret
investigation on graft and corrupt practices of the government officials.
J. Spanish Cortes – the lawmaking body of Spain

The Philippine SOCIAL System under Spain

The Rise of the Chinese Mestizo and inquilinos. Mestizo de Sangley or Chinese
mestizo is a term used in the Philippines beginning in the Spanish Colonial Period
to describe and classify a person of pure Chinese ancestry. The Spanish used the
term mestizo de sangley to refer to a person of mixed Chinese and indigenous/Indio
(Filipino) ancestry (the latter were referred to as Indio)

The Chinese immigrants and their descendants played important roles in the
Philippines, contributing to trade, culture and politics. The Chinese had entered the
Philippines as traders prior to Spanish colonization. That development increased
some work and business opportunities. Many migrated to the Philippines,
establishing concentrated communities first in Manila, then in other cities.

In 16th to 19th century Spanish Philippines, the term mestizo de sangley

differentiated ethnic Chinese from other types of island mestizos (such as those of
mixed Indio and Spanish ancestry, who were fewer in number. Their Indio ancestry
(generally on the maternal side) made the Chinese mestizos be granted the legal
status of colonial subjects of Spain, with certain rights and privileges denied to the
pure-blooded Chinese immigrants (sangleys).

As an example, in the late 19th century, the author José Rizal was classified as
mestizo de sangley due to his partial Chinese ancestry. But he also had indigenous
and Spanish ancestors, and classified as Indio.

The last three of these groups were considered tribute – paying classes, but the
amount of these tribute payments and the services demanded of them varied.
Normally, the indio paid the lowest tribute. The Chinese mestizo paid double the
tribute paid by the indio. The stated reason being that he was assumed to have
approximately double the earning capacity of the indio.

The Chinese. in term, paid a much larger tribute than that paid by the Chinese
Mestizo, again, on the grounds that his earning capacity was larger than that of the
mestizos.
It would seem, therefore, that in Spanish thinking and economics had certain
correlation.

Spanish policy may have been grounded more in economic and social reality.
Throughout most of the Spanish period the Indio and the Mestizo also had to supply
a fixed amount of forced labor every year, an obligation that did not fall upon the
Chinese

This posed a problem for mestizos who wished to be considered Indios or Chinese,
or for the Indios of mestizo heritage on their mother’ side who might wish to be
considered mestizo. But there is evidence that the system was not inflexible and that
there were procedures by which one could change his status.

The lineage history of Jose Rizal, as given by Austin Craig, is to the point here, purely
in terms of his ancestry. Rizal might be considered a fifth generation Chinese mestizo.
His paternal ancestor, a catholic Chinese named Domingo Lamco. Married a Chinese
Mestiza. Their son and grandson both married Chinese Mestizas. This grandson,
having achieved wealth and status in his locality, was able to have his family
transferred from the mestizo pardon or tax census register, to that of the indios.
Thus, Rizal’s father, and Rizal himself, were considered Indio.

The Philippine economic System under Spain

Terms
Tribute or Buwis
Polo y Servicio Personal or Forced Labor
Bandala System
Galleon Trade
Suez Canal
Opening of Ports
The Rise of the Export Crops