The Philippines

in the 19th
Century as
Rizal’s Context
Political Institutions
• The Philippines was governed through the Ministries of
the Colonies established in Madrid in 1863. This body
governed the Philippines through centralized machinery
exercising executive, legislative, judicial, and religious
powers.
• The national government in the Philippines was headed
by a mestizo, while the local government was headed by
an indio.
• The Governor-General appointed by the Spanish
monarch headed the central administration in Manila.
Basically, this is the king’s representative in all state
and religious matters.
• The judicial system during the time of Rizal was costly,
partial, and slow. Poor Filipinos had no access to the
courts because they could not afford the heavy litigation
expenses.
• Rizal’s family also became a victim of injustices in the
Philippines. His mother was unjustly arrested and jailed
2
without due process.
▸ The main local government units were the
provinces (alcaldias), headed by the alcade mayor or
provincial governor, who exercised executive and
judicial functions. The alcade mayor was
considered the most corrupt government official.
The alcade mayor was also the administrator,
judge, and military commandment.
▸ The provinces were divided into towns or pueblos.
Each pueblo was headed by a gobernadorcillo or
town mayor. The gobernadorcillo was responsible
for the collection of taxes.
▸ Each town was divided into barrios or barangays.
Each barangay was headed by a cabeza de
barangay, whose main function was the
maintenance of peace and order in the barrio and
the collection of taxes and tributes from the
barrio’s residents.
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- Pyramidal social structure of the 19th century
favored the Spaniards. The highest social class
consisted of (Spaniards born in Spain) followed
by the (Spaniards born in the Philippines),
Spanish and Chinese mestizos, and the
principalia, the latter class composed of the
gobernadorcillos, cabezas de barangay,
merchants, and wealthy native families.

- Racial discrimination was prevalent in the

Philippines as shown by the fact that the
Spanish-born were given the highest offices
and positions in the government while the
creoles enjoyed second priority and the lowly
natives or indios were discriminated against. 4
The Educational System

“
▸ Schools in the Philippines during the spanish
colonial period we're not co-educational. University
education was also introduced in the colony in the
early part of the 17th century.
▸ For almost the entire Spanish colonial period in the
Philippines education was handled by the Catholic
Church. Ever since the Spaniards established their
first settlement in the Philippines, there was no
systematic government supervision of schools.
Serious criticisms include: overemphasis on
religious matters, obsolete teaching methods,
limited curriculum, poor classroom facilities, & the
absence of teaching materials.
▸ The absence of academic freedom learning at every
level was largely by rote. In many cases, knowledge
was measured in terms of the ability of the students
to memorize without understanding. 5
“I had teachers, many of whom taught me
all their knowledge. Their knowledge was
confined to simple maxims, such as “spare
the rod and spoil the child” and “all
children are born bad.” By threatening to
spank us if we didn't, they compelled us to
learn by heart books written in a language
which we did not understand. In this
language, they taught us prayers and made
us pray for many hours.”
- Jose Rizal

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References:

•Duka, C. D., &; Pila, R. A. (2010).

Rizal: His Legacy to Philippine
Society. Pasig City: Anvil
Publishing, Incorporation

All images courtesy of Google

Images.