The Philippines

in the
th
19 Century
(Rizal as a Victim and Villain)
The Philippines of Rizal’s Times
During the times of
Rizal, the decadence of
Spain darkened the
Philippines.
The Filipino masses
agonized beneath the
yoke of Spanish
misrule, being
unfortunate victims of
an unjust, bigoted and
deteriorating colonial
power.
 The Filipinos lost their indigenous culture
with the coming of Spanish colonizers
who forced them to accept foreign culture
and Catholicism that they never
completely understood.

 The Philippine society became

predominantly feudalistic—perpetuating
the landlord (Spaniards) and tenants
(native Filipinos) relationship.
 The Philippine social structure
 The social structure
was pyramid in form,
with the apex
occupied by Spanish
officials, friars and
peninsulares; the
middle class
consisting of
insulares, Spanish
mestizos, principalia
and Chinese
mestizos; and the
base occupied by the
masses of indios.
The Philippine political system
 The scattered
barangays during pre-
Hispanic period were
centralized under a
national government,
with the governor
general, being the
King’s representative,
as the head.

 The levels of
administration were
divided into centralized
national government
and local government.
The Philippine political system
 The governor general
exercised extensive
powers: executive,
legislative, judiciary
and religious duty.
 The alcalde mayor
heads the provincial
government and has
the privilege to engage
in commerce through
the “indulto de
commercio.”
The alcalde en ordinario
heads the city government,
while the corregidores heads
the corregimiento or
unpacified territories.
The alferez heads the
guardia civil in each town.
The political system
 The chief executive of a town,
elected by the principalia
(local elite), was the
gobernadorcillo (kapitan)—
this is the only highest
government position open for
Filipino natives or Chinese
mestizos during Spanish
regime.
 The cabeza de barangay
heads the barrio or barangay
level.
Persisting Problems in the
Philippines under Spanish Rule

Sources of abuse and exploitation

1. Instability of Spanish
colonial administration
Instability of Spanish
colonial administration
 The instability of Spanish
politics marked the
beginning of political chaos
in Spain in the 19th century.

 Due to internal political

conflict, the Spanish
government underwent
frequent changes owing to
bitter struggles between
the conservative and liberal
forces.
Instability of Spanish
colonial administration
 From 1834 to 1862,
internal problems of
Spain resulted to:
◼ Adoption of four
constitutions
◼ Election of 28
parliaments
◼ Installation of 529
ministers
◼ Political party strife
◼ Revolution and political
upheavals
The political instability in
Spain adversely affected
Philippine affairs
because it brought
frequent periodic shifts in
colonial policies and
periodic rigodon of
colonial officials.

The colony became a

convenient dumping
ground for favorites and
followers of politicians in
the Mother Country.
Instability of Spanish
colonial administration
 From 1835-1897, the
Philippines was ruled
by 50 governor
generals.

 The frequent change of

coloial officials
hampered the political
and economic
development of thne
Philippines.
2. Corrupt colonial officials
Corrupt colonial officials
 Colonial officials sent by
Spain to the Philippines
were highly corrupt,
incompetent, and cruel.
 They symbolized the
decadent Spain of the 19th
century.
Corrupt colonial officials
 The vast powers and
privileges of Spanish
colonial officials,
especially the
Governor General,
gave them
opportunities to
perpetuate
corruption and
abuses.
• After the loss of Mexico, Guatemala, Chile,
Argentina and other colonies in Latin
America, numerous penniless Spanish
sycophants came to the Philippines where
they became judges, provincial executives,
army officers and government employees.
 Corrupt colonial officials
 Among the main cause of
weakness in the
administrative system
was the nature of
appointment of colonial
officials with inferior
qualifications and who
were ignorant of the real
situation in the
Philippines.
 Others obtained their
positions through royal
appointment or bidding
for their positions.
Corrupt colonial officials
 Governor General
Rafael de Izquierdo,
a boastful and ruthless
ruler, aroused the anger
of the Filipinos by
executing the three
priests Fathers Mariano
Gomez, Jose Burgos
and Jacinto Zamora.
Corrupt colonial officials
 Governor General
Valeriano Weyler
arrived Manila a poor
man and returned to
Spain a millionaire,
receiving bribes from
wealthy Chinese who
evaded anti-Chinese
law.
 He led the brutal
persecution of Calamba
tenants, particularly the
family of Rizal.
Corrupt colonial officials
 Governor General
Fernando Primo de
Rivera enriched
himself by accepting
bribes from casinos in
Manila.
 Governor General
Camilo de Polavieja
was widely detested
by the Filipinos for
executing Jose Rizal.
Corrupt colonial officials
 Corruption in the
colonial government
was made worse by
the checks adopted by
Spain that proved to
be ineffective.
 Abuses multiplied
because higher officials
were indifferent to
anomalies.
3. Absence of Philippine
representation in Spanish Cortes
Absence of Philippine representation
in the Spanish Cortes
 The Philippines experienced
its first period of
representation in the Cortes
from 1810-1813.
 This period was fruitful
because the representatives
succeeded in forming an
active part in the framing of
Spain’s first democratic
Constitution and in the
abolition of the galleon
trade.
However, the
succeeding delegates
were less fruitful in their
parliamentary work.
In 1837, representation
of the overseas
colonies, including the
Philippines, in the
Spanish Cortes was
abolished.
Since then, the Philippine
condition worsened
because there was no
means by which the
Filipinos could expose the
anomalies of colonial
officials.
Many Filipino patriots
pleaded for the
restoration of Philippine
representation in the
Cortes but Spain
ignored their plea.
4. Denial of basic human
rights to Filipinos
Denial of human rights to Filipinos
 The Spanish Constitution of
1812 gave the people of
Spain freedom of speech,
freedom of the press,
freedom of association and
other human rights (except
freedom of religion).
 Strangely, though, these
constitutional liberties were
denied to the Filipinos.
While Spanish missionaries
who introduced Christianity
in the Philippines
proclaimed that all men,
irrespective of color and
race, are children of God
and hence are equal,
Spanish colonial
authorities did not
implement and practice
Christ’s precept of
brotherhood of all men.
Denial of human rights to Filipinos
 Spaniards arrogantly
regarded the brown-
skinned Filipinos as inferior
beings and subjects to be
exploited.
 The Laws of the Indies
that were supposed to
protect the rights and
promote the welfare of the
natives in Spain’s overseas
colonies, including the
Philippines, were rarely
enforced by Spanish
officials.
Homes were searched
without warrants
People were convicted and
exiled for being filibusteros;
Books and other printed
materials were censored;
Meetings and assemblies for
political purposes were
prohibited.
No equality before the law
 Consequently, the
Filipinos were abused,
brutalized, persecuted
and slandered by their
Spanish masters.
 They could not appeal
for justice because the
law was only for the
Spaniards.
 Enforcement of penalties
was heavier on native
Filipinos and lighter on
the Spaniards.
5. Misadministration of justice
 The court of justice was
notoriously corrupt.
 Spanish judges, fiscals and
other court officials were
inept, venal and oftentimes
ignorant of the law.
 Justice was costly, partial
and slow.
 Poor Filipinos had no access
to the courts because they
could not afford the heavy
expenses of litigation.
Misadministration of justice
 Preponderant factors
in winning a case in
court include wealth,
social prestige and
color of skin.
 The judicial procedure
was so slow and
delayed as criminal
cases dragged on for
years.
 The Rizal-Mercado
family was victim of
Spanish injustice.
 Injustices against Rizal
Dona Teodora (Rizal’s mother) was twice
imprisoned, first in 1871 and second in 1891. She
was unjustly arrested and jailed on flimsy ground.
Rizal himself was deported to Dapitan in 1892
without benefit of trial.
Paciano and Rizal’s brothers-in-law were exiled
to Mindoro and Jolo without due process of law.
Like the three martyr priests, Rizal was executed
after a mock trial.
6. Racial discrimination
Racial discrimination
 Spaniards regarded the
native Filipinos as
inferior beings who
were undeserving of
the rights and
privileges that the
Spaniards enjoyed.
 Although the laws
recognized no
differences between the
various races, the
Spaniards claimed
superiority over the
Filipinos.
 The native Filipinos were called with deregatory
names like “indios”, “barbaros,” “bastos,” “sin
verguenza”, and “ignorante.”
 Racial prejudice was prevalent everywhere—
in government offices, in courts of justice, in
social circles, in educational institutions and
ecclesiastical hierarchy.
 Spanish misconception is that a man’s merit
depended on the pigment of his skin, the
height of his nose, the color of his hair, and
the shape of his skull.
 Racial discrimination
 The most virulent attack
on the Filipino race came
from Franciscan friar Fr.
Miguel Lucio
Bustamante who opined
that the Filipino could
never learn Spanish
language nor be civilized:
 “The Spaniard will always
be a Spaniard, the indio
will always be an indio…
Just as the monkey is
always a monkey however
you dress him.”
Another friar, Fr. Gaspar
de San Agustin said,
“God created the indios
together with the rattan.”

Spaniards maintained
that the native Filipinos
could not rise beyond
their “limited intelligence”
and this racial
discrimination instigated
the enlightened Filipinos
to struggle for equality.
7. Frailocracia
Frailocracy
 The institutions of Church
and State were inseparable
throughout most of Spanish
rule in the Philippines.
 Owing to this Spanish
political philosophy of
indivisible union of Church
and State, there arose a
unique form of government
in Hispanic Philippines called
“frailocracy”
(frailocracia)—a
government by the friars.
Frailocracy
 Since the days of Spanish conquest, the
friars—Augustinians, Recollects,
Dominicans, Jesuits and Franciscans—
controlled the religious and educational life of
the Philippines and later in the 19th century,
they came to acquire tremendous political
power, riches and influence.
 Frailocracy
 Friars were used by the
Spanish government as
instruments of colonial control.
 The friars ruled the Philippines
through a facade of civil
government.
 The friar-curates became very
influential and powerful that
Spanish civil authorities,
including the Governor
General, feared them and
were placed under the control
of the friars.
 Friar control over the country tightened in
the 19th century when Spain suffered from
internal political instability and due to
many loses of its Latin American colonies.
 The friarocracy seems to have had more
than its share of personal irregularities.
 The priestly vow of chastity often was
honored in the breach.
 The friars' open attitude of contempt
toward the people was the most
inexcusable. By the late 19th century, their
attitude was one of blatant racism.
 Frailocracy
 Duties of the friars:
 Ecclesiastical or priestly duties
 Supervisor of local elections
 Inspector of schools
 Arbiter of morals
 Censor of books and comedias
 Superintendent of public works
 Chairman of the board of census, taxation and health
 Responsible for certifying personal identification card
 Reported on the character and behavior of individual
villagers
 Supervision of the selection of local police and town
officers
 Guardian of peace and order and public morals
Frailocracy
 Filipino reformists,
particularly Rizal,
denounced the
friars as the
enemies of liberal
reforms and
modern progress in
the Philippines.
8. Forced labor
 Forced labor
 Known as the “polo”, it
was the compulsory
labor imposed by the
Spanish colonial
authorities on Filipino
and Chinese mestizo
males in the construction
of churches, schools,
hospitals, building and
repair of roads and
bridges, building of ships
and other public works.
 The polista or worker
had to work for 40 days
a year. But due to
widespread resistance,
it was reduced to 15
days in 1884.

 To be excluded from the

polo, one must pay the
exemption fee called
falla, which only the
well-to-do Filipinos
could afford.
Filipinos hate the forced labor because of
abuses associated with it and the many
negative effects the forced labor generated:
– Upsetting of village economy as labor drafts
coincided with planting/harvesting seasons
– Forced separation from the family and
relocation to different places; and
– Decimation of the male population
9. Heavy taxation
Heavy taxation

Taxation was the

income-generating
mechanism introduced
by the Spanish colonial
government in the
Philippines.
The tribute may be
paid in cash or kind.
Non-payment of taxes
meant torture or
imprisonment
Special privileges of tax exemptions were
granted to the descendants of the datus
who helped in the pacification campaign
such as Raha Lakandula and Raja Tupas.
10. Exploitation of the Filipinos
under the Hacienda system
 Hacienda system
 In latter part of Spanish
period, religious corporations
acquired vast tracks of
agricultural lands and
enriched their coffers.

 Religious orders secured their

economic positions through
extensive landholdings
(concentrated in Central
Luzon and Southern Tagalog),
which generally had been
donated to them for the
support of their churches,
schools, and other
establishments.
Hacienda system
 Spanish friars
became the richest
landlords.

 The rural folks, who had been

living in these haciendas and
cultivating them generation after
generation became the tenants
who were leasing the lands from
the friar-landlords.
Hacienda system
 The Rizal family and
their relatives were
tenants of the Dominican
estate in Calamba. But
when they initiated
reforms, the Dominican
friars retaliated by
raising rentals of lands.
 According to Rizal, the
friar ownership of the
productive lands
contributed to the
economic stagnation of
the Philippines during
the Spanish period.
 Hacienda system
 From Rizal’s essay, “Sobre la
Indolencia de los Filipinos”:
 “The fact that the best
plantations, the best tracts of
lands in some provinces… are
in the hands of the religious
corporations…is one of the
reasons why many towns do
not progress in spite of the
efforts of their inhabitants.”
 These friar haciendas
eventually became hotbeds
of agrarian revolts due to
unfair agrarian practices of
the friar-landlords.
11. Abuses of the civil guards
The Guardia Civil
 Another hated
symbol of Spanish
tyranny was the
Guardia Civil
(Constabulary),
which was created
for the purpose of
maintaining
internal peace and
order in the
Philippines.
 The guardia civil became infamous
for their rampant abuses, such as
maltreating innocent people,
looting their carabaos and other
valuable belongings, and raping
helpless women.
 The Guardia Civil
 Rizal directed his hatred to
the guardia civil in his Noli
through Elias, exposing them
as a bunch of ruthless
ruffians good only for
“disturbing the peace” and
“persecuting honest men.”
 Rizal proposed reforms in the
Constabulary: “So much
power placed in the hands of
ignorant man without moral
training is a weapon in the
hands of a madman let loose
in an unarmed crowd.”
The state of Philippine
educational system
Serious problems in education
 Overemphasis on
religious matters
 Religion was the
main subject;
 Fear of God and
obedience to the
friars were
emphasized
Serious problems in education
 Limited curriculum
 Sciences were not
taught in schools.
 Thus, limiting the
extent of knowledge of
the students
 Obsolete teaching
methods
 Learning was by rote,
students memorizing
contents of the book
which they did not
understand.
 Serious problems in education
 Poor facilities and lack of
teaching materials
 Lack of school buildings, books,
and other materials
 Neglect of primary education
 Non-implementation of
Education Decree
 Absence of systematic
government supervision of
schools
 Serious problems in education
 Absence of academic
freedom
 Books read were
censored;
 Rampant student unrests
proving the defective
educational system;
 Students were denied
freedom to assert their
rights and voiced out
their complaints.
 Serious problems in education
 Prejudice against Filipinos in
higher learning
 Schools of higher education were
not open to natives until the later
decades of Spanish period.
 Filipinos were constantly reminded
that they belong to the inferior race
and were fit only for manual labor.
 Filipino students were subjected to
humiliation and discrimination.
 Thus, resulting to lack of personal
confidence and the development of
inferiority complex.
Serious problems in education
 Friar-control over
education
 The friars thwarted
whatever noble
intention Spain had for
improving the
educational system.
 They opposed the
implementation of the
Moret Decree which
intended to secularize
higher education in the
colony.
 Opposition of the
friars against the
teaching of Spanish
language
 Although the Spanish
language was introduced, it
was not used as the lingua
franca of the colony
because friars considered
uneducated Filipino who
knew Spanish a future
filibustero.
 Spaniards refused to teach
and promote their language
for fear that a Filipino who
knew the Castilian
language would become
better educated.
 The Filipinos must be kept
in the dark so that they
would remain isolated from
the intellectual ferment of
the times.
 The Philippine educational system
 Under such conditions,
some Filipinos like Rizal
strongly felt the need to
continue their education
abroad.
 While social, political and
intellectual discontent
became prevalent in the
Philippines, Spain, on the
other hand, could not
initiate the much needed
reforms in the colony.
Thank You !