Philippine Government Under

Spain
 Summary of Last Meeting’s Discussion

 Discussion of the Spanish King absolute Powers

 Discussion of Spanish Kings representatives
(Councils) - CENTRALIZATION
 Comparison of the functions of Governor-General
during Colonial Era and the President of the
Republic of the Philippines
 Objectives

 Examine the political structure of the Philippines

under Spain
 Identify functions of system of government during
imperial Spain.
 Describe the Local Government of the Philippines
under Spain
 Identify the political institution of the Philippines
under Spain
 Check to Gubernatorial Powers

1. The “Royal Audiencia” which was

the Supreme Court of the Philippines

2. The “Residencia” – the

investigation of an outgoing official
by his successor
3. The “visitador” – an investigator
who occasionally came to investigate
colonial conditions and submit his
findings to the king
The Governor General and other government
officials had so much power that it was commonly
abused.

To investigate the abuses, there were bodies

created:

THE RESIDENCIA

THE VISITA THE ROYAL AUDENCIA

 THE RESIDENCIA

This was a special judicial court that investigates

the performance of a Governor General who was
about to be replaced.

The Residencia, of which

the incoming Governor
General was usually a
member, submitted a report
of its findings to the King.
The highest court in the land during the Spanish times.

THE ROYAL AUDENCIA

 THE VISITA

The Council of the Indies in Spain sent a

government official called the VISITADOR
GENERAL to observe conditions in the colony.

The Visitador General

reported his findings
directly to the king.
 Frailocracy

 The archbishop who denounced to the king

whatever abuses the governor general might have
committed.
In the Context of Philippine Government Today
(1987 Constitution)

1. Check by the President – The

President may veto or disapprove
bills enacted by Congress and
through the pardoning power, he
may modify or set aside the
judgements of the Court.
 Checks by Congress – The Congress
may override the Veto of the
President; reject certain
appointments of the President. The
Congress may also amend or revoke
decisions of the courts (by
enactment of a new law giving its
meaning and interpretations.
 Check by the Judiciary – with the
supreme court as the final arbiter
may declare legislative measures or
executive acts unconstitutional. It
also is assign to determine whether
or not there has been a grave abuse
of discretion amounting to lack or
excess of jurisdiction on the part of
CONGRESS and PRESIDENT.
Local Government Unit of the Philippine Under
Imperial Spain
 Provincial Government
 2 kinds of provinces
1. Alcaldians (pacified regions) - governed by the
alcalde mayor.
2. Corregimientos (unpacified areas) – governed by
a politico-military governor called corregidor.

Alcalde mayor – exercised both executive and

judicial powers. He is both the provincial
executive and at the same time the provincial
judge.
Special privilege called “indulto de commercio”
the right to engage in trade (1751 – 1844)
 THE PROVINCIAL
GOVERNMENT

ALCALDIA CORRIGIMIENTO

Alcalde Mayor Corregidor

Though they were paid a small salary, they enjoyed
privileges such as the INDULTO DE COMERCIO
or the right to participate in the to engage in trade
(1751 – 1844)
 The Spanish King promulgated the Royal
Decree of September 23, 1844, abolishing the
special privilege and requiring only lawyers to
serve as alcaldes mayores.
 Queen Maria Cristina formed the Royal Decree
of march 5, 1886 – new law established the civil
provinces in our country, each governed by a
civil governor.
 The civil government exercised only the
executive power. The judicial power in the civil
province was exercised by the judge of the court.
 THE PROVINCIAL
GOVERNMENT
DUTIES OF THE ALCALDE MAYOR:

 They represented the Spanish king and the

Governor-General
 They managed the day-to-day operations of the
provincial government
 Implemented laws and supervised the collection
of taxes
 THE PROVINCIAL
GOVERNMENT

The CORREGIMIENTO, headed by

Corregidor governed the provinces that were
not yet entirely under Spanish control.
 Local Government Unit of the present
Government (1987 Constitution)

 In Article 10 Section 1 of the Philippine

Constitution
The territorial and political subdivision of
the Republic of the Philippines are the provinces,
cities, municipalities, and barangays.
Provincial Government (Philippine Constitution
and Local Government Code of 1991)

 Each province is headed by a governor. Its legislative

body is the Sangguniang Panlalawigan composed of
the different members from Sanggunian districts,
which in most cases are contiguous to
the congressional districts.
 Local Government Code of 1991 Section 459
Role of the Province – the province composed of
a cluster of municipalities or municipalities and
component cities, and as a political and corporate unit
of government, serves as a dynamic mechanism for
development processes and effective governance of
local government units within its territorial
jurisdiction
 THE CITY GOVERNMENT

Larger towns became cities

called AYUNTAMIENTO. It became the center of
trade and industry.

The ayuntamiento had a city council

called the CABILDO

CABILDO is composed of:

ALCALDE (MAYOR)
REGIDORES (COUNCILLORS)
ALGUACIL MAYOR (POLICE CHIEF)
ESCRIBANDO (SECRETARY)
 City Government

 Each of the cities during the Spanish times had an

ayuntamiento or cabildo (city council)

The first city to be established in the Philippines was

Cebu

The second city to be established in the Philippines

was Manila (June 24, 1571)
 City Government in the present

 Cities that are politically a part of a province are

called component cities. The voters in these cities
are allowed to vote and run for positions in the
provincial government.
 Regions, aside from having provinces may also
have independent cities. Independent cities,
classified either as highly urbanized or independent
component cities, are cities which are not under the
jurisdiction of a province.
 THE MUNICIPAL
GOVERNMENT
Each province was divided into several towns or
pueblos headed by GOBERNADORDCILLOS (Little
Governor)
MAIN DUTIES: Efficient governance and tax
collection. Each provinces was divided into pueblos
(towns).

FOUR LIEUTENANTS AIDED THE

GOVERNARDORCILLO:
the Teniente Mayor (chief lieutenant),
the Teniente de Policia (police lieutenant),
the Teniente de Sementeras (lieutenant of the fields)
the Teniente de Ganados (lieutenant of the livestock)
GOBERNADORDCILLOS

 They had SMALL SALARIES but

were exempted from PAYING TAXES.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Any NATIVE or CHINESE MEZTIZO
25 years old
Literate in ORAL or WRITTEN
SPANISH
Cabeza de Barangay for 4 years

Ex: Emilio Aguinaldo

 The parish priest and the provincial governor (or
his representative) presided over the election.
 Usually, the elected official is the choice of the
parish priest who exerted much great influence in
local elections.

 The purpose of local administration, the pueblo was

divided into barangays called barrio, which about
50 families each.
* Head of the barangay is the Cabeza de barangay,
which is respectfully called as “cabeza” and his wife
“cabezana”.
 Municipal Government in the Present

 Section 440 Role of the Municipality

The municipality, consisting of a group of
barangays, serves primarily as a general purpose
government for the coordination and delivery of basic,
regular and direct services and effective governance of
the inhabitants within its territorial jurisdiction.
 CABEZA DE
BARANGAY
(Barrio Administrator or Barangay Captain)

 Responsible for the peace and order of the barrio

 Recruited men for public works

QUALIFICATIONS:
 Cabezas should be literate in Spanish.
 Have good moral character and property.
 Cabezas who served for 25 years
were exempted from forced labor.
 The Cabeza de Barangay (Spanish: head of the
barangay) was the leader or chief of a barangay in
the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period.
The post was inherited from the first datus who
became cabezas de barangay when the many
independent barangays became tributary vassals of
the Spanish Crown.
 Barangay in the Present Government

 Section 384: Role of Barangay

As the basic political unit, the barangay serves as
the primary planning and implementing unit of
government policies, plans, programs, projects, and
activities in the community, and as a forum wherein
collective views of the people may be expressed,
crystallized and considered and where dispute may be
amicably settled.
 The Inquisition

 The Inquisition was established in Mexico City in

1586, with Msgr. Juan de Zumarranga (the first
bishop of Mexico, as Inquistor)
 Secretary of the Inquisition, - Don Miguel Lopez de
Legaspi, who served from 1536 to 1547
 The Inquisition of Mexico extended the power to the
Philippines in 1578 when Archbishop Zumarraga
authorized Fr. Miguel de Benavides to present the
Inquisition in Manila. It was Dona Ines Alvarez de
Gibraleon the first person in the Philippines to be
tried by the Inquisition in Mexico.
 Union of Church and State: The priest was
financially supported by the government, and,
in return he assisted in the preservation of
Spanish Rule. On various occasions, the
archbishop of Manila down to the parish priest,
received salaries from the government.
 Ecclesiastical Government: The head of the
ecclesiastical system in the Philippines was the
Archbishop of Manila. Below him were the
bishops, who ere heads of their respective
bishops (diocese). The archbishop and bishops
were appointed by the Pope upon
recommendation of the Spanish King.
 Spanish Laws Extended to the Philippines

 The Spanish laws governing the Philippines

during the early years of Spanish rule were
embodied in a colonial code called Leyes de
Indios (laws of the Indies)

*It is a collection of royal decrees issued by

the Spanish kings at various times for the
government of the colonies of Spain.
 Old laws enacted to Philippines
* Las Stete partidos (a compilation of
previous Spanish laws)
*Las Leyes de Torro (a set of laws
dealing on inheritance)
*La Novisima Recopilacion (a new
compilation of all branches of Spanish
law)
 The Encomienda System

 It was a grant of inhabitants of the

conquered country given by the
Spanish Crown to Spanish colonizers.
The Receiver of this grant are called
encomendero.

 Encomendero collects the tributes from

the inhabitants
2 kinds of encomiendas
1. Royal encomiendas which
belonged to the Spanish Crown
2. Private encomiendas belonging
to private persons or institution
The encomiendas were charged by law to perform
the following duties

1. To afford protection to the natives

2. To help the missionaries in
converting them to Christianity
3. To promote their education
*However, these encomienderos
committed abuses such as:
a. Cruel treatment
b. Collecting excessive tribute
c. Forcing people to work for private
benefits
d. Expropriating the lands belonging
to people
e. Seizure of the people’s animals and
crops without just compensation
1. Tribute
*The Filipinos paid tribute called
tributo.
*Later was abolished in 1884, and
replaced by the poll tax called
cedula personal (form of taxation
and served as proof that one was a
colony of Spain and resident of
Pueblo)
2. Force labor
*Aside from paying the tribute, all
male Filipinos from 18 to 60 years
of Age were obliged to render
obedience forced labor called polo
*A person who render forced labor
was called polista
Principalia (town aristocracy) – former
and actual local officials, teachers, and
rich people were exempted from the
polo. The rich Filipinos paid falla( a
certain sum of money in order to be
exempted from forced labor)

Bandala – which was the compulsory sale

of rice, and other farm products to the
government. (tagalog name which
means “purchase”)
 Abolition of Slavery

 One good effect of Spanish colonization was the

abolition of slavery.
 The laws of the Indies, particularly those
promulgated in 1526, 1541 and 1583, prohibited
slavery in the Philippines.
 By Royal Decree of Aug. 9, 1589 (emancipated all
Filipino slaves) and Pope Gregory XI’s bull of April
18, 1591 (threatened to excommunicate those who
would not liberate their slaves.).
 Representation in the Spanish Cortes

 3 times during the Spanish period

1. 1810-13
* our country was represented in the Cortes in the national
legislature of Spain.
*Ventura de los Reyes – First Philippine delegate to the
Cortes
*He was considered to be the best Philippine delegate to sit
in the Spanish Cortes.
“He was in fact the only Filipino to have signed a Spanish
constitution.
*He was also the key in eradicating Manila-Acapulco trade.

The Cortes was abolished by Ferdinand VII of Spain

 2. 1820-23/ 3. 1834-37

 In 1820, following the Spanish Revolution,

Ferdinand VII restored our representation of
Spanish Cortes ended in 1820 when he regained his
absolute powers.
 In 1833, Ferdinand VII died and it was his widow
wife Queen Maria Cristina succeeded.
 Isabel I eventually restored our representation in the
Cortes and unfortunately our representation finally
ended in 1837 when the Cortes approved a resolution
abolishing our representation and provided that our
country would be governed by special laws.
 Public Finance under Spain

The Sources of Revenues of our government under

Spain were as follows:
1. The cedula tax paid yearly by every man and
woman from the age 18 to 60.
2. The industrial tax levied on occupations and
professions
3. The tax paid by Chinese
4. The urban tax imposed on real estate property
(houses and lands)
5. The customs duties (imports and exports)
6. The Stamp tax (tax levied on documents); the
monopolies of tobacco, gun powder, opium, and
playing cards.
7. Government lotteries and cockpit license
8. Public domain and miscellaneous fees.
 The Padre in Local Parties

 The real authority in the pueblo was the parish priest

 They are the symbol of the Christian faith and
sovereignty.
 He was obeyed and respected by the people. His
word is actually the law.
 He supervised the local elections and usually the one
elected to the office of gobernadorcillo was
recommended by him.
 He was the “virtual ruler of the town”.
 The Maura law of May 19, 1893

 An attempt was made by Spain to grant municipal

autonomy to our municipalities during the last years of
Spanish Rule.
 Author – Don Antonio Maura y Montaner (Minister of
the Colonies)
 It established the municipal tribunal in each
municipality.
 It is composed:
A. Capitan municipal (municipal captain)
B. 4 municipal lieutenants
*Tenente Mayor (chief lieutenant)
*Teniente de policia (lieutenant police)
*Teniente de sementeras ( lieutenant of the fields)
*Teniente de ganados (lieutenant of the cattle)
 Defects of Our Government under Spain

First, it was a government which benefited the

Spaniards, the conquerors, not the Filipinos, the
conquered
Second, the government was undemocratic
Third, the administration of justice was corrupt
Fourth, the union between Church and State led to
serious quarrels between the ecclesiastical and civil
authorities.