In 1891, José Rizal was in Hong Kong when he received distressing news about his family who

were, at that time, embroiled in a litigation case concerning the Hacienda de Calamba. He heard
that the Spanish authorities were summoning his mother, Doña Teodora, and two younger sisters,
Josefa and Trinidad, for further Investigation. In a show of support, he wrote to his family. "I am
following your cavalry step by step. Do not be afraid, as doing all I can... Patience, a little
patience. Courage!*

Scholars and students of history agree that the conflict between his family and the Dominicans
over the hacienda greatly affected Rizal.

This chapter will attempt to show the historical context behind this incident that played a pivotal
role in Rizal's late. It will first provide a brief history of friar estates in the Philippines and will
then look closely into the Hacienda de Calamba conflict

Brief History of Friar Estates in the Philippines

The origin of the friar estates can be traced back to land grants awarded to the early Spanish
conquistadores who arrived in the Philippines during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth
centuries. Approximately 120 Spaniards were given grants that were often composed of a large
tract of land known as sitio de ganado mayor (measuring 1,742 hectares) and smaller tracts of land
known as caballerias (measuring 42,5 hectares).

In time, the Spanish hacenderos failed to develop their lands for three reasons. First, the Spanish
population in the Philippines was transient. It was a common practice for Spanish administrators
to return to Spain after having served in the country. Second, the market for livestock products,
which baciendas offered, remained relatively small until the latter part of the Spanish colonial
period, Third, the Galleon Trade that was based in Manila offered bigger economic rewards and
attracted more Spaniards. Because the Spanish hacenderos lacked the interest and inclination to
develop their lands, the religious orders soon took over the task.

Land was acquired by the religious orders through various means. Often, the lands were donated
by Spaniards seeking spiritual benefits. There were cases, too, in which estates that had been
heavily mortgaged to the ecclesiastics were eventually purchased by the religious orders
themselves. Records reveal that a number of Filipino principales also contributed to the formation
of the friar estates through donations and sales. Despite these methods, there persisted a
commonly held belief among the Filipinos that the religious orders had ko titles to their lands and
that they had acquired these lands through usurpation or other dubious means. Nevertheless,
religious estates in the Tagalog region continued to grow that by the nineteenth century, they
constituted approximately 40 percent of the provinces of Bulacan, Tondo (presently Rizal), Cavite,
and Laguna.

The preoccupation in the estates was varied during the early centuries of Spanish colonial rule. In
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the estates primarily served as cattle ranches as well as
farms of subsistence crops. Rice and sugar later served as main commodities produced in the
haciendas and became important sources of income for the religious orders especially during the
nineteenth century.

Agrarian relations in the haciendas developed in the time. In the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, the social structure found in the baciendas was primarily composed of fay brother
administrators at the top and cultivating tenants below. Although the lay brother administrators
were under the direct authority of the heads of their religious orders, they were relatively free to
make their own decisions on administrative affairs. The tenants, on the other hand, were expected
to work the land and pay an annual rent, which was usually a fixed amount of harvest and in later
centuries, money.

By the mid-eighteenth century, an expanding economy based on exporting agricultural crops

ushered in change and gradually put into place an inquilinato system. Under this system, an
individual rented land for a fixed annual amount, known as canon. Aside from the rent, the
inquilino or lessee was also expected to render personal services to his landlords. If the inquilino
failed to satisfy these requirements, he could face expulsion from the land. Usually, the inquilino,
in turn, would sub-lease the land to a kasama or sharecropper who would then take on the task of
cultivating the soil. Thus, a three tiered system emerged with the landlords at the top, the
inquilinns at the middle, and the sharecroppers at the bottom.

By leasing the land to an inquilino, the religious hacenderos freed themselves from the social
responsibilities borne from a direct interaction with the sharecroppers since it was now the
inquilinos who dealt directly with the kasama. The sharecroppers, on the other hand, benefitted
from the arrangement because their labor obligations to the religious estates allowed them to be
exempted from the responsibilities of forced labor demanded by the Spanish government. The
downside to this type of arrangement, however, was that two non-cultivating groups further
diminished the income of the sharecroppers. After the inquilino paid his rent to the religious
hacenderos and deducted his own share, the remaining amount of income would then be divided
among all the sharecroppers.

The change in the social structure and land tenure practices would eventually render the haciendas
as sites of contestation among the Spanish religious hacenderos, the inquilinos, and the
sharecroppers. It is not surprising, then, that when the Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896,
the abuses in the friar estates were often identified as one of the main causes that instigated the
revolt.

Hacienda de Calamba Conflict....

Not much is known about the Hacienda de Calamba prior to 1759 other than it was owned by
several Spanish laymen. In 1759, a destitute Spanish layman, Don Manuel Jauregui, donated the
lands to the Jesuits on the condition that he would be allowed to live in the Jesuit monastery for
the rest of his life. The Jesuits would claim ownership to the land for a mere eight years before
they were expelled from the Philippines through a decree issued by King Charles III on February
27, 1767. As a result of the expulsion, Hacienda de Calamba, along with other Jesuit properties,
were confiscated by the government and put under the cuinagement of the Office of Jesuit
Temporalities.

In 1803, the government sold the property to a Spanish layman, Don Clemente de Azansa, for
44,507 pesos. When he died in 1833, the Hacienda de Calamba, which measured 16,424 hectares,
was purchased by the Dominicans for $2,000 pesos. By this time, many families from neighboring
towns had migrated to the hacienda in search of economic opportunities. Among the families that
arrived at the hacienda were Rizal's ancestors, who eventually became one of the principal
inquilinos in the hacienda.

Although the lands in Calamba were leased to several families, it was Rizal's family that rented
one of the largest leased lands, measuring approximately 380 hectares. Sugar was a main
commodity planted in the hacienda as there was a demand for the crop in the world market. Much
of the wealth of Rizal's family came from these lands; hence, it is but natural that when the
conflict began to manifest itself as early as 1883, there was much for the family to be concerned
about.

In 1883, Paciano Rizal wrote that the friars were collecting rents without issuing the usual
receipts. Two years later, the tenants failed to pay their rents because the rent had supposedly
increased while sugar prices had remained low. To punish the tenants for not paying the rent, the
Dominicans declared the lands vacant and invited residents of other towns to take over the
tenancies. Because only a few outsiders responded to the Dominican's invitation, the friars
weakened their position. Most tenants, except for four or five, were spared from eviction.

The charges against the friars continued with Rizal's brother in-law, Mariano Herboso, specifically
complaining about the yearly increase in rentals, faulty irrigation systems, and failure to issue
receipts. Coupled with these problems was the fact that at this time, the price of sugar continued to
decline in the world market. The situation became so dire that Paciano, at one point, considered
giving back his lands to the friars and clearing land elsewhere.

Problems continued to escalate when in 1887, the colonial government demanded from the tenants
of the hacienda a report on the income and production of the estate because they suspected that the
Dominicans were evading payment of their taxes. The tenants complied and submitted a report,
but they also attached a petition authored by José Rizal. The petition presented a list of grievances
against the hacienda owners including a complaint on the increasing amount of rent. To show
resistance, some of the tenants began to withhold rents.

As a form of retaliation, the friars began to evict tenants who refused to pay rent in 1891. Those
who persisted still in resisting the friars were eventually expelled. Among those who were exiled
to remote areas in the country were Rizal's parents, brother, and sisters. Although Rizal had
worked on reversing the decision of the Philippine courts, his family's exile would only be lifted
upon the issuance of a decree from another governor-general. The experience affected Rizal
deeply and the increasing despair he felt from the event would be reflected in his second novel El
Filibusterismo.

Summary:
This chapter presented a brief history of the hacienda from its beginnings as a royal land grant
rewarded to Spaniards who had rendered exemplary service to the Spanish Crown. Later, these
lands came into the possession of the friars by way of purchase or donation. Also pointed out in
this chapter was the change in landlord-tenant relationships from a two-tiered relationship between
a religious administrator and a tenant to a three-tiered one with landlords, inquilinos, and
sharecroppers.

Rizal's family served as inquilinos in the Dominican's Hacienda de Calamba. By 1883, the family
began to notice changes in the manner through which the Dominicans collected rent. The conflict
reached its height towards the end of the 1880s when the farmers wrote a petition to the
government detailing their grievances against the Dominicans and with the priests retaliating as a
result. The conflict affected Rizal deeply and was reflected particularly in his second novel. El
Filibusterismo.
The Rizal family worked as inquilinos at the Hacienda de Calamba in the Dominican Republic.
The family started to notice changes in the Dominicans' methods for collecting rent in 1883. The
conflict reached its height towards the end of the 1880s when the farmers wrote a petition to the
government detailing their grievances against the Dominicans and with the priests retaliating as a
result. Rizal was greatly impacted by the conflict, and his second book in particular shows this,
El Filibusterismo.