IDENTITY and CONSCIOUSNESS: The Philippine Experience RENATO CONSTANTINOWhile th 7 Pailipploes ccc. eee hah ial forbea ‘ "Three historical influenees-the leel of social and economic development sttsined before cclonization, the nature of Spanish rule, and the impact of Ameriean domination ~ must be examined to isolate the factors which, operating within the realm of con. sciousness itwlf, hive constantly undermined the efforts of Fipinos to develop a nighly liberating national consciousness. It is an examination of these influences which must occupy our at- tention if we are to understand the 2ig-2aes of Philippine revolu- tionary experience. PRE-CONQUEST SOCIETIES ‘The inhabitants Of the Philippines did not poses « high ogre of civilization and social structure during pre-conquost times, ‘ssdid thet Southeast Asian brothers. In contrast to the culture that flourished in the Indochina peninsuia and in parts of what is now Ilona, sople evkleaces of which sing: be Ream taeatank structures such as Borobodur and Angkor Vat, the population of ‘tho Philippines s point of contact with the Spanish corquerors lived in smal scattered communities based on kinship ties and relving for sustenance mainly on subsistence spreulture? No enduring monuments to the labor: of these peoples are extant because they did not erect structures of stone or any other hard ‘rial. This can only lead ove to the conchision that in these ‘small and primitive communities the level of labor orgaization was, such that no surplus was being produced that could enable a ruling cass f0 appropnate labor for lncury and for the construetion of temple and palaces for se glorification, Fre-Spanish communities were subsistence economies and therefore had no clases jn the eonomiesemse, What Spanish proto- anthropologists described as social eaases vere groups performing ritual and community res in a primitive division of labor which those Spanish observers arbitrary fitted into the Western concep: ‘ual framework of social clases. Definitely, there was no siate. On the whole, the Thilippines was subjected to western colonialism before it was influenced by the great cultures of Ada.” ‘There were, however, exceptions to the genera rule. Certain Maslim communities in the south which were within the orbit of 2 ently std Cotsconmnens Ibdemie prowelytization activities exhibited more navanced social formations. These communities wore wall on tho road to a non: western development when the Spaniards arrived. Other ccm- ‘munities inthe islands of Luzon und Visayas which wee expos: toan expanding Idamonhibited certain social strtifictions doubt less influenced by contact with these seafaring Nuslims. The difu- sion of certain beliefs and practices in the seaside communities ‘with which the Spenlards frst made contact led Spanish chroniclers to the erroneous conclusion that Muslim influences were deep and ‘ereralized throughout the idands. These olwerrers filed 10 note the fact that the people in these communities whom they clissified st followers of Mohammed performed the blood compsct drinke ing blood mixed in wine), a practice stronely inst Muslim ‘custom, They also served pork and drank wine in violation of Muslim law.‘ Moreover, the accounts of the early chroniclers clesy ettablish the faet that the dominant religion of the necple ‘was not that of Islam, Early writer described certain forms of paganism, the belief in anitos (apirits), the absence of plces of ‘worship, and even the animistic practice of ascibing supernatural power to stones and tees and animals suchas crocodiles? ISLAM ABORTED Hid the Spaniards not arrived, the res ofthe islands would surly have been Idamized and thoroushly exposed to the great ‘Asian traditions, The scattered communities in Luzon and the ‘Visayas would certainly have come under the cont! of the Mus lime of Mindanao and Suli* and eventually « Muxin: nation would hhave been established. But Spanish conquest aborted this indig- ross development, and more, it reversed the historic trend. The Spuniacds found Luzon strategically suited for their purpore. A Mustim outpost in Mania, distant from the center of Musim strength, quickly capitulated to Spanish colonization thas opening {he gateways 10 the communitesin Lauzon which promised erester viability ae colonial eetkmonts,’ ‘The eongquitedoree turned their Luron anchorage into a sironghold. With their settlements in Cebu and Panay, they were nov in 2 pcsition to spread all over the ‘Vissyen region. The Muslims in Mindanao sod Sulu then beearre target for puritive action; the wars of the reconauista were fous allover agin.*‘The Muslim south became a beleaguered fortress, the only segment of indigenous Philippine society that tenaciously rested Hispanization and colonization and the only aren which, because of its consequent isolation, was able to preserve and develop. indigenous practices and cullure as well as to continue to receive Maslim influences. Throughout the Spanish occupation, the Mus- lims were not considered part of the developing society and the Martim region was trested s forsign territory. Needless to say, tho Muslims shared the same attudo, The difference in religion became fenative factor between Christianized “nds” and Mualizn x " Whatevr ties of race and exstom had previously exited were broken end worse, were replaced by suspicion and antipathy since Christianized natives were regularly conscripted forthe wars against the Muslims and, in retalatio, the Mugims aso raided the Christianized communities. Thus Spanish colonialism left a leracy of alienation between Christian and Muslim, The gulf between the ‘wo communities persists to this day, with ethnic biases aggravated, by economic irritations. PACIFICATION AND PROSELYTIZATION Because it was the Christianized natives” rather than the Maslime who eventually boeame the dominant force in the courtry, it's the shaping of thei developing consciousness that must be out principal concern, In this rgard, one of the most effective of the cay colonial policies was the reduccion.* The Spaniards forcibly. reseed the small, scattered kinship roupsinto larger communities {or easy administtation and proselytization, This freed urbantza- tion had a rapid and deep ettect on native consciousness for i subjected every aspect ofthe natives’ lives to the elose scrutiny and. directicn of thei ruler. [Not having attained a high degree of ealture, these com- munities were virtually a ¢cbula rasa on which Spanish values were inseribed, "They were easily manipulated because they had no institutional defenses against an external force that sought to erase theit native traits in order to teansform them into docile subjects who could be utilized for the greater slory of Church and Crown, ‘Aside from their low cultural level, there was another factor entity ant Conscious that prevented the development of their indigenous traits, This was the difference in the tactics of colonization between the Spuniardsand the other colosizing powers ia th part of the world While in general the western powers initially instituted in their ‘Asian cclonies a system of indirect rule through the trading compa nies, therole ofthe Spanish priest in the Philippines was a deviation from this practice. 1n the other colonies, i was nitilly more feasible to institute 4 systom of indirect rule!” whoreby the colonizors dealt only with chieftains who in turn traditionally controlled communities with relatively high levels of cultural and institutional intereation. This enabled indigenous societies to preserve their traditions and pi ties so that when these powers decided to implant direet rule in the 19th contury, the level of culture of the colonized people was such thit it could no longer be completely obliterated. Social ‘organiastion in those communities was advanced; stste power was already a native apparatus supperting the local ruling class; firmly ‘established traditions and practices endowed the people with “a ‘cial memory of ancient glory”. One cansot disregard the role of the people's pride in the aiainments of theie community, in their art and Iterture, and in their unbroken history, These achieve- ‘ments constituted the sourceot their identity and dignity. Although they were conquered, they had acultunl bass for confronting their ‘conquerors with dignity, even with condescension. They retained 2 sense of racial worth. ‘The early Philippine inhabitants, except the Muslims, could ‘not have had this feeling to 1 suicien’ dogee, hence the cate with ‘thich they adopted a colonial mentality. They did not confront their conquerors asa single people but as small, scattered, separate ‘communities which therefore required only a small army of occu Pation to control. Psychological control was as easily estabisted, ‘The fact thatthe people became Catholics made God the powerful ally oftheir rulers The frias enlisted God on the side of colonial. ism, To the fear of physical purishment vas added the infinitely ‘more potent fear of supernatural retribution. Thus one pest was usally enough to conirol avila, for retelion against tne priest ‘was equated with rebelion against God and therefore with eterna! 5 aEdamnation. ‘The priest was their accepted ruler, the representative of theie God on earth and the intermediary for thelr souls after ‘death. The friars became the dominant factors in the colonial con- ‘ingens and the ehurch became the center of the people's life. The strictures of the friars beeame the guideposts of native conduct. On their indigenous traits was engrafted 2 new set of values that the colonizer considered «sential for the good colonia Certain historial factors operated to further consolidate the postion of the friars, The distance from Spain and the frustration Of the colonists’ prospeets for enrichment led 10 the pre-emption of the territory by the friar orders, The outpost in Manila became a commercial center profitable ouly to the Spanish residents and a base for operations in the Far Eastern wars of Spain, The rest of the country was not absorbed into a national economy. Rather, the native inhabitants were incorporated into a religious community bere the friars ruled with few constraints, From its inceptios Spanish colonization operated more through religion than through force. thes profoundly affecting consciousness, This enatled 1 authorities to impose tributes forced labor and eanscription despite the small military force. Without the work of the priests, this would heve been impossible. ‘The priests bocame the pillars of the ‘colonial establishment, 30 much 20 that it became a clerical Boost thai ‘Yin each friar inthe Philippines the king had a csptain general and a whole army,” ‘The molding of conseiousnes in the interest of colonial conirol was to be repeated on another plane by the Americans ‘who aftera decade of massive repression operated likewise through consciousness, this time using education and other cultural CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE PHILIPPINE EXPERIENCE. Before proceeding further it would be well to establish the ‘meaning of consciousness and to define the context in which I Dropose to use it. Consciousness is the manner by which a society in its development explains the world and views itself. But more than that, it is the recognition of the changing natare of social 6 entity and Consciowness forms, therefore it i an awareness of the necessity for basie and tence revolutionary change, From this context, the categories of counter conseiousness, partial or limited consciousness, ignorance ‘nd national identity will acquire new meanings as applied to the Philippine experience Asa rule, when society advances in its mode of produciion consciousness undergoes changes in conformity with the changing social base, But this change comes about so slowly that at a given point it constitutes an impediment to the full development of the material forces. Inthe Philippine experience the realm of conscious- tess had become part of the materia forces almost from the beginning of colonia! life and. was responsible for the material backwardness ané the spiritual emptiness of the people. This ex plains why the Filipinos have lagjed behind their neighbors in the lopment of 2 liberating consciousness. Consciousness at im- ‘pediment in the realm of spit ls compounded by consciousness as # material force. Thus changes in the matarial base are delayed by the weight of consciousness iself as consciousness is imprisoned by the relatively unchanging base. Any heightening of conscioumess sequires political characteristics which may be permanent or temporary. Thus it is distinguished from identity which may not ‘lvays connote degrees of politicization which should always aecompany national consciousness. The later not only identifies ‘but also soparates and therefore becomes the basis for a political ‘outlook thit defines goals and impels action, Counter conscious tess fr the reaction against the prevaling consciousness and be ‘comes conciousess when it triumpas, In the Philippine ex- perience, counter-consciousress became consciousmess for a brief Period during the Revolution and reverted to its former role ‘when confronted by a new colonialism, ‘The basis for what dereloped into whit is now accepted as 4 typlenlly Filipino way of life and manner of viewing the vorld tras luid during the carly years of Spanish occupation. What is Considered today as indigenous was largely shaped by Spanish ‘positions and the response of the natives thereto. As the ‘principal architects of the colonial edifice, the priess fashioned a theocratic socioty with religion as the core of Spanish cultural‘control. Religion ascumed politieal dimensions and viee-vorss. It should be noted that the clergy exercised their tremendous infiuence tot only im the service of Spanish colonialism but more icularly to maintain their hold on the people and to protect enhance their stake in the economic life of the colony. ‘Alongside the teaching of the eatechism, emphasis was placed on ‘eztain vietues that perpetuated blind acceptance of the rue of the ‘mars, Reagnation and passivity were virtues that made a good colonial as well as a docile parishioner. Respect for the master and Aepreciation of indigenous ways were twin objectives that facl- insted control. Educition was a haphizard affair under the supervision of the diferent parish priests!® ‘There was no system of national ‘education until 1863."" Primary education was limited to the three R's and this merely to enable the student to learn his religion. Secondary schools were open only to students of Spanish escent, Ibis relevant to quote here what La Perouse, the French traveler, said regarding Spanish policy: “. .. the only thought was to make Christians and neve eitizana.” task the friars tried to “eradicate, OF eracial importance & the fact that the friars concentrated their attention on che children.** ‘this meant that within & few years these childrer grown to adulthood under the new dispensa- tion were so thoroughly brainwashed that they became the foundation stone of = new solonial cultural establishment with the accompanying negative virtues that supported stultifieation ‘of mind snd spirit, In the words of Graciana Loper Jaena, by “burying him in ignorance and fanaticism” the “friar ... has found inthe indio an inexhaustible mine of exploitation ...°" Jose Rizal describes in these caustic words the repressive, sterile sockty that prevailed im the colony even down to the late 39th century: In the Philippines all thow are fitbusteros (aub- versives) in the towns who do not take off their hats fon meeting ¢ Spaniard, be the weather what it may: those who greet a friar and do not kiss his sweaty hand, if he isa priest, or hishabit, if he is lay-brother; those who manifest displeasure t being addressed by the familar tu by anyone and everyone, accustomed as they are to show respect and to receive it; those who are subscribers to some periodical of Spain or of Europe, even if it treat of literature, the sciences, or the fine arts; those who read books other than the novenas and fairy stories of miracles of the girdle, the cord, or the scapular; those who in the elections of the gobernador- cillos vote for one who isnot the candidate of the parish priest; all those, in a word, who amongnormal civilized people are considered good citizens, frends of progress and enlightenment, in the Philippines are ilibusteros enemies of order, and like lightning rods, attract on stormy days wrath and calamities, Incidentally, this society forms a large patt of what is now nostalgically recalled as the traditional ways, the glorious past of the Filipinos. CULTURAL LIFE Religious concern seriously limited the literary life of the period. The forms of literature that flourished were the corridos, the romansas, the moro-moras, the lives of snts and the pasion? "The lives of the saints became best sellers. These hagiographies, ‘were the purveyors of a way of life characterized by dependence fon interesssors. who could change one’s fate. The friars vho ‘wdmonished their flock sgsinst superstitions of & pagan origin ‘wore in rality promoters of this superstitious bent because they trained the native mind not to reason but merely to obey and to rely on supernatural intervention which, they were led to believe, ‘ould be purchased," The economic fruit of this blief was the brisk sale of seapulars, masies ete, to save souls and to protect the purchasers from earthly misfortunes and the fires of Hell.”* ‘The pasion related in metrical verse the life and sufferings 9entity and Consciousness of Jesus, Many printed pamphlets containing different versions written in the vatious vernaculirs were circulated, These were recited for several nights during the period of Lan. The moro-moros were the “westerns” of the time, They dwelt on only one theme — the wars between the Christiane and the “Moros”, a carryover of reconguista days. The ‘"Moros” were the “bad guys” and they always lost or if allowed some dignity ‘or some redeeming qualty were conversed to Catholic in the ‘end, No doubt the more-moros had a share in strengthening and maintaining anti Muslim prejudice ‘Tho romanzas and corridos dealt with heroes of foreign lands, ‘Tere was nothing native about these plays and novels Even the edlobrated poem of the best known ‘Tagalog poet, Francisco Baltazar, had Albania for its locale, * Art was purely religious imagery and public entertainment centered on the feast days of patron saints, during which pro- cessions and other activities sanctioned by the friars were held, ‘The Spanish language was not taught except in schools r- served for children of Spaniards Instead, the friars lerned the ialects and spread the catechism through the local tongues, This. ‘was an effort to sereen the people from reading works in Spanish.” It was also the arrogant Spaniard's way of maintaining socil distance, of keeping the mdio in his place. DYNAMICS OF IGNORANCE ‘As. result of Spanish policies the cltural level ofthe people remained low and their consciousness was warped. Thus, imorance became a material force in the colonial setting, asuming a ‘dynamics of its own which continued to opeeate even after a ‘mod sumber of Fipinos hat been allowed ace to hight iucation, ‘Within the context of this piper, the term ignorance embraces 10 entky and Censcknusnes more than the ordinary meaning of the term. It includes that sta‘e of relative paucity of knowledge (which within the given society may already be regarded ae srielom) atising from « low level of ‘economie and social structures; in other words, relative ignorance fn comparison with achievements in the intellectual field in the wider world at that given period of time, This intelloctxal under: evelopment progressively deepened and acquired new chara teristics during the centuries of Spanish colonialism such that even new inputs of information and tolerated cultural activities nly nurtured in most educated colonials ideas that actually impeded their escape from their intellectual captivity ‘What is worse is that in due time, under « more sophisticated colonialism, the people acquired a distorted pieture of their own reality, 4 warped sense of values and a vay of life not consistent with their economic status, Sadly, they even came to believe that with their wosternized tastes they were bettor oducatod and fenerally better off thaz most of their Asian brothers. The lack of racial pride produced an inferiority complex towards their ‘conquerors whose every way they tried to ape while they adopted f condescending attitude towards their neightors who had not become Christians nor westernized and who retained their nat culture and identity. In the Philippines, the development of ignorance, from a state of relative lack of knowledge to the glorification of intellectual accomplishments that did not relate to a deepening perception of their social reality but on the contrary perpetuated peripheral thinking that concealed realty, had its historical origins in the ‘consecration of ignorance as a virtue in a Catholicized Philippines under friar rule and was earied to its full flowering ander the American occupation. The Spanish legacy of ignorance made it tasier for the Americans to carry out theit own process of ms- education,” During the greater part of Spanish rule, Inowledge except that provided in carefully limited doses by the friars was disdained, The people were discouraged from thinking for thee selves; a thirst for learning was considered dangerous and sub- tensive.” Trained to obey and to follow, an mindful of the misfortunes tha! befell the poor indio who, using his reason, iuentity and Consciousness ‘questioned however timidly the decisions of someone in authority, the people later transformed this training and fear into a con vietion that one should allow one's social and economic superiors to do the thinking for the community. One's betters eventually, included, besides the Spanish officials and the friars, those mem- bers of the local elite of principaita wha were by then benefiting from colonial rule I shall pursue further on in this paper the devel- ‘opment of ignorance on the elite level and its impact on the people. ‘THE CONNECTING THREAD Beneath the shroud of ignorance which enveloped Philippine intellectual life, the beginnings of a counter-consciousnoss never- theless began to emerge. Repression could not but generate its ‘own reaction. Despite the growing hold of the dominant colonial consciousness, the revolutionary instinct of the people manifested liself in a series of actions which conventional observers have viewed as disconnected events although they were in reality assertions and dialectical progressions of the consciousness that was emerging.”* We shall now follow the growth of this counter= consciousness which manifested itself in various forms of re- sistance only to recede at each instance into the matrix of colonial Consciousness becaust of unripe conditions and other factors, but which nevertheless became part of mass memory and therefore part of the Filipino tradition of struggle, The history of the Filipino people and hence the growth of their consciousness and the attainment of national awareness is primarily the history of their struggles against colonial oppression. ‘These struggles constitute the connecting thread in the history of tho people. They exhibit their own dialectical development begin- ning from a low level in the earliest risings and reaching a climax inthe Philippine Revolution of 1896."' ‘The emergence of national consciousness during the Revolution was inextricably connected with a series of,leaps in intellectual awareness of political isues ‘engendered not only by common grievances against oppression but also by the development of a tradition of struggle stored in the ‘aeial memory. Inthe beginning, these revolts were only instinctive cre reactions against the colonizers, the products of an incipient but developing counter-consciousnest in separate communities. Al. though these sirugeles were for limited ends and did not seriously ‘challenge the framework of colonial society, there occurred in the ‘coure of each revolt a heightening of consciousness which tempo- zatily politicized the people. Each local action became part of the revolutionary tradition, When finally economic development had set in motion its own unifying influence, these forms of limited ‘conseiousness which had grown through centuries of aceretion were transmuted into a national consciousness the culminating expres: sion of which was the national revolution of 1898 when identity and consciousness became a unity EARLY RESPONSE Not counting the attempts by a few communities to repel the Spanish intruders on initial contact, we may say that the earliest resistance of the people to Spanish colonization was characterized by nativism.”* ‘The underlying causes of the great majority of the early revolts wore the tribute with its eruel mothod of collection, and forced labor. The tribute constituted a painful disturbance of the prevailing subsistence economy. The people were forced to produce a surplus to moot the demands of their conquerors ‘or yield a part of what they themselves needed for their subsistence. Forced labor, particularly the conscription of work gangs to fell timber for the growing requirements of the Spanish navy, wrought ‘muck hardship on the population.”” But because of their low level ‘of consciousness and the theocratic nature of Spanish colonialism, ‘the people’s protest ugainst their material deprivation and physical ‘oppression took a primitive and fantastic form, that ofa revival of ‘their old religions, Sine the friars frequently involed the awesome powers of their God, it was natural that the oppressed people should express their rebellion by pitting their olf deities agninst the God of their conquerors. Prophets ~ usually babaplans'* who hhad been dislodged by Cathoticism-asked the people to return to their old forms of worship handed down by legend and preserved in the group memory. They claimed to have received new super- ‘natural assurance that if the people returned to their old religion their gods would free them from tribute and forced labor, giveentity and Consiouness them food in plenty and protest them from the weapons of the In 1622, bahavian of Bobo!” reported the appearance of goddess who promised the people a life of abundance without the burden of paying trbute to the government or dues to the churches It they would rise against the Spaniards and reject the Catholie religion. He urged the people to go to the hil and build a temple, ‘Two thousaad Bokolanos revolted. They burned their villages and their churches, threw away all the rosaries ard crosies they could find, and pierced an image of the Vinyin Mary with their javelins. "The revolt was smashed but not before the expeditionary forcer hhad been fiercely attacked by 1,500 natives using » vatiety of native weapons. AA revolt in the province of Leyte!” was led by an old chief who had received Legazpi in 1565 and had been baptized. Here, too, church property was destroyed and the rebels erected a temple to their divata or god. Another Visayan revolt. this time on Panay island, occurred in the middle of the 17th century and was Jed by aman named Tapar. Tepar prophesied that if the people abandoned the Catholic religion and attacked the Spaniards, theit od would help them in various ways. Mountains would rise against their enemies, Spanish muskets would not fie or if they did the bullets woul! not ht them, and in any case ny pareipan: in the rebellion who did die could be sure of resurection.** CATHOLIC FOOTHOLD ‘This revolt had one new characteristic which proved that by this time the Catholic religion had already made deep inroeds into the consciossness of the people. Although he was ealing for the rejection of the Catholic religion, Tapar adopted some of its fex turve, He proclaimed himself God Almighty and desgnatad from among his follower a Christ, a Holy Ghost and a Virgin Nary. He appointed popes and bishops, This practice of adopting the tenets and tes of the Catholic religion became more marked in tater revolts, In the eawe of the Dafohoy revolt," for example, the robols practised all the Catholie rites except that they appointed itty and Conscousness ‘some of their members to act as priests. This development finaly led to the negation of the ently native. In the revolt lad by ‘Apolinario de la Cruz in 1841, the demand was for equal status withis the Catholic Church” This new development will be discused further on, ‘The ostly nativinte rovolts wore instinctval mass actions with weak theoretical guide posts. They were lccalized reactions to particular grievances against the impositions and exactions of the colonizers, Although they were antiSpaniar, these revolls were not anti-colonial in the sense that there was as yet no awareness of thenced to destroy the framework of colonial itself. Notivism was not and could not be enough of asustaiing fore, Moreover, the weak organizational structure of native society was no match for the superiority of Spanish arms and the psyehologieal ascend taney which the friars had over 1 Catholicized population. The old religion was dying away in the face of the new which was eupported by a coercive apparatus. After each revolt the people would sink into 4 state of quiescence once more, only to be goaded by the same abuses and exactions to rie again in one locally or another, Bventuilly, economic development would endow the rebel Tions with greater maturity and at the same time create the means for the experiences of one section of the country to be communi: fated to others. Sowly, all these strugeles stored in the racial memory beran to constitute a unifying force against colonial op pression. ‘The people were becoming conscious of their unity as colonials. ELITE PARTICIPATION at At this juncture we muct take note ef the wo histo threads that together wove the fabric of a counter consciousness ‘which gave form to the vague protest of the earlier mass move- ‘ments One thread ve have alwady followed part of the way: the development and transformation of revolts with religious con- tent, Hero the goals evolved from rejection of Catholicism to demands for equal status within the Catholic religion. The latter evelopment was related to the growth of the native priesthood. 16entity and Consciousness The second thread that must be traced ie the rise and ebb of elite participation in the people's revolis. The growing incidence of cliteled revolts was, pandoxically enough, one result of the transformation of the local chiefs into adjunets of colonial rule, "These chiots ox principals became the precursors of tho the national revolution, 1 would like to discuss the second historical thread before continuing the discussion of the revolts with religious content because at a certain point of history the junction of massand elite goals was clearly enunciated by the demands of the native clergy for equality. These demands in the clerical sphere were broadened into elite demands for reforms based on racial equality ard justice and finaly the latter were transformed into revolutionary demands by the masses for independence. Im the early struggles, whole barangays"! acted as one: chiefs and babaylans may have led the actions but their motives and goals ‘were not differentiated from those of their kin followers. This tunity within the barangay would however be slowly undermined by the techniques of colonialism which deepened the stratification within the local communities, thus hastening the formation of clases in colonial society. ‘The Spaniards assigned to the chiefs certain duties of adminis- tration, the most important of which were tribute collection and the organization of forced labor. By becoming executors of colonial ppolicy they were inevitably taking the first steps tomards dit- {ereatiation from the rst of the community.*? Since the colonizer made the chiefs answerable for any uncollected tributes, this forced many of them to extract payments any way they could. ‘The more unscrupulous naturally extracted more and pocketed the balance, There was ako profit to be gained from the organiza- tion of polistat* for public works and shipbuilding. The colonial power also won over the chiefs by granting them certain priviloges. ‘The term principales applied to the chiefs and theie families under- scored their special place in the hierarchy and set them apart from the people, Initially, it was easier 10 win over the chiefs in the more 16 developed barangays around Manile where stratification was more marked. An example is the eae of Lakandula, a chieftain of Manila, whom the Spaniards rewarded for his loyalty by granting him and his descendants exemption from tribute and forced labor. When after Leqazpi's death the new governor withdrew these privileges, Lakandula threatened to revolt, He was mollified by the resto- ration of his privileges and by a promise of better treatment for his people, Lakanduls remained s loyal subject and even aided the ‘Spaniards in driving out the Chinese invading force of Limahong* ‘The SpanishDutch wars in the 17th century increased the demands on the material and human resources of the colony Exploitation was intensified, This provided the chiefs with the ‘occasion to enhance their economic status by taking advantage of the opportunities open to thom as minor officials in the colonial administrative structure. Thus the period of intense exploitation of the native population was also the peried of acesleated consolida- tion of principalia control. The war emergency strengthened pre: conquest relations of dependence akin to debt peonage and share cropping* Delegaced to the chiefs as usual, the job of requisition: ing supplies and recruiting manpower peoved lucrative. The chiefs often pocketed part of the wages of pob laborers, and others who did not want to be conseripted paid the chiefs for polo substitutes. If they had no money, they borrowed at high Interest rates (rom the local chief and became his dependents, thus laying the basis for present land tenure patterns. Wealth and a growing consciousness of importance led some of the chiefs to netture ambitions of seizing power for themselves Outside the colonial framework. Thus the middle of the 17th century save the emergence of a ew stage, a new pattern of native resistance, The natvitic revolts which involved entire communities ‘withoutrogard to social strata gave way to strugeles in which chiets took adrantage of mass unrest to advance their own interests, Some ff them now made good use of their position as colonial inter ‘mediaris by exploiting the wievances of their followers to extract concessions for themselves from the Spaniards. Although the chiefs hhad by this time defintely become participants in the exploitative process, the people continued to follow them, though sometimes arudgingly. Traditional respect for the chiefs was seenforced by Ww