Assessment 4

1. Who are the personages mentioned and what is their relationship with each
other?

In the Hacienda de Calamba case, Rizal's family, Dominican fathers, the tenants, and the
government are the people involved. One of the main causes of the Filipino people's
dissatisfaction during Spanish colonial authority was the agrarian conflict in the Hacienda de
Calamba. The Dominicans were the legitimate owner of the land, which the government had
granted to them as usual in order to cover the numerous expenditures related by the
organization following initial disagreements with the Jesuit Order that held ownership of
these lands. As a result, in January 1888, Rizal returned to the Philippines and submitted a
petition on behalf of the municipality of Calamba.

The property was one of the largest leased estates in the area at the time. The property was
one of the largest leased estates in the area at the time because they had leased roughly 380
hectares of it. The Hacienda de Calamba provided the tenants with more than enough food for
a number of years. The tenants were capable of creating substantial houses, and even their
kids were able to enroll in respected schools in Manila and Europe. However, the wealth was
only temporary as they fell into an agricultural and agrarian catastrophe.

The government was confused as to why, despite the expansion of agricultural fields, the
revenue paid by Dominicans had remained constant. As a result, they asked the Calamba
town council to investigate whether the Dominican estate's output and size had increased in
recent years. As was noted in the introduction part, Rizal submitted a petition at this time.
The petition detailed the complaints of the tenants. In the case of excellent harvests, the
administrators abruptly increased the rents. However, the administrators do not lower the
rents if the yield is insufficient.
 2. Why was this document written? Provide evidences from the document.

For its growth and rising productivity, the Dominican order has seen a steady increase in its
earnings. Thus, over the past three years, Hacienda de Calamba has continued to increase its
production and expand its land area. for Rizal's response to the colonial government's request
for a report on the revenue and output of the lands since it was thought that the Dominican
Friar Orders were dodging taxes. The locals have chosen to speak in this manner in order to
alert the government to the abnormalities of the friars' abuse of their authority during the
previous few years.

The locals hoped that their petition would serve as a wake-up call for the government to
investigate the Hacienda de Calamba problem, handle the agrarian conflicts, and grant them
the justice they rightfully deserve. The tenants' output declined despite the farmers' sustained
labor during the battles, which led to many of them being indebted and losing their property.
If farmers didn't pay their rent on time, they were threatened with having their farm
equipment, labor animals, and tools taken away. The administrator declared all of the
Hacienda's fields unoccupied as a punishment for the tenants' tardiness.

The province was experiencing a serious agricultural crisis in the year 1887. It also marked
the beginning of the rinderpest pandemic, which finally killed out the majority of animals in
the provinces and greatly increased the value of the cattle that was left. As a result, the renters
had been struggling for a very long time without speaking up, according to Rizal's argument,
which also mentioned the tenants' difficulties. Rizal wrote the petition in behalf of his fellow
members of the town, because he was worn out by the terrible situation they were in. They
submit a petition to their government while now feeling oppressed and depleted as a result of
an extended and painful slump. Instead, they appeal to it, not for subsidies, privileges, or
sacrifices, but for the light, justice, and equity to which they are entitled as citizens of a
country known for its sense of fairness and moral principles.
 3. What can you tell about life in the Hacienda de Calamba during the time the
documents was written?

Life in the Hacienda de Calamba is harsh, limiting, and unjustified, in my perspective. I can
say that it is hard, constrained, and unfair to live at the Hacienda de Calamba. Filipinos are
hard workers, yet despite this, they were still hungry and in need of the land they had
laboriously cultivated. The abuse and exploitation have gotten so bad that the farmers' hopes
and dreams have been dashed. They lost motivation and left the Estate to pursue other
prospects.

By the time the petition was written in 1888, the Filipino people had already endured a
protracted period of hardship under Spanish rule. The Spanish patrimonial order is
responsible for the secular hierarchy within the Catholic Church. The friars are thought to be
the most influential political actors locally. Due to their influence, friars kept the guardia civil
under their control.

Whilst Calamba has been and continues to be one of the province's most productive farming
towns, the current scenario chokes the farmers' enthusiasm and ultimately kills the farming in
the town, and it is because of the Estate who restricts and obstructs them. The land in
Calamba was transferred to Dominican friars after the expulsion of the previous owners, the
Jesuits, in 1768. Tenants were exposed to unfair taxes that they were required to pay for a
long time while the friars controlled Calamba. They experience crop failures and economic
problems. The estates raised their rents in spite of the poor circumstances.

4. What are the complaints of the tenants? Enumerate at least three.

Jose Rizal encouraged the tenants to gather as much knowledge on the state as possible from
the start. Although the petition contains a number of concerns, these three are the most
pressing ones. The tenants' expenses have been steadily and arbitrarily increased to the
benefit of the state. While wild forests are given to renters for a low cost at first, but as the
tenants clear and clean them, invest huge capital in them, and the farmer's fortune becomes
involved in them, the contract is arbitrarily revised by the Estate, and the rent skyrockets,
with one situation where 45 pesos became 900 in a few years due to an annual coercive
imposition.

Despite the large rental charge they owed the farmers, the Dominican estate made no
contributions to the town's well-being, such as via festivals or schools, agricultural growth, or
public-facility improvements. The Estate has no further expenses besides a few cavanes of
rice supplied to the employees during an insect pest invasion, a few thousand pesos invested
in poorly planned dikes and constructed under the leadership of a lay-friar of the Estate, and
certain losses, such as the debts of some unfortunate tenants who are unable to pay due.

Finally, despite persistent labor, the tenants' possessions have been severely diminished since
they were indebted and dispossessed of their own property. The Estate has no other expenses
than a few cavanes of rice supplied to the employees during an insect pest invasion, a few
thousand pesos invested in badly planned dikes constructed under the direction of an Estate
lay-friar, and certain losses, such as the debts of some unfortunate tenants who are unable to
pay owing to illness.

5. What was the reaction to the complaint?

It was heard by the lay-friar manager of the Reverend Dominican Fathers because the report
was completed in the Tribunal and was signed in addition by three estate authorities. He took
it badly, and he threatened several tenants with rent increases if, as a result of this report, the
Administration of Taxes was to collect the ten percent real estate taxes equivalent to the
number of tributes from the Estate. He told the others that he wanted to hold the
gobernadorcillo accountable for any pillage or theft that the Estate could suffer in the future,
even though he couldn't possibly complain about the people.

Additionally, legal actions against tenants who haven't paid their rent have started. In
contrast, the estates' appeals to the Laguna Court of First Instance and the Audiencia Real in
Manila were successful. The Dominicans made it hard for the rest of the town to give the
unfortunates shelter and hospitality. Nearly sixty Hacienda residents were the target of a
lawsuit filed by the administration there. During the Governor General's visit to the ranch in
November, the list of receivables revealed that the tenants had paid nothing. The fact that this
amounted to civil disobedience concerned the governor general.

The people beg for the separation of its interests, selling or transferring these lands to them,
who have made them tillable and spent cash, labor, and toil in them since it is impossible for
them to live peacefully with the Estate going forward, leaving them with the painful decision
of lying to the Government in order to avoid dying or being robbed of their property for
faithfully performing their duty. This action is required not just for the good name of the
government, the prestige and dignity of the rulers, and the good ties between them and their
subjects. Dr. Jose Rizal and his family were also evicted. On September 6, 1890, General
Weyler began carrying out the Dominicans' will by transporting artillery and armed soldiers
to Calamba, where they demolished Rizal's parents' home. In the archipelago, Rizal's brother
and sister-in-law were detained and transferred to numerous islands.

6. What were the final demands of the petition?

The petition's final demands stated, "The people are anxious to enhance and beautify the
lands they cultivate provided they had the certainty that they would be able to leave the
products of their labor to their children." Because the Estate discourages and impoverishes
the entrepreneur and sets hundreds of barriers in his road, the current condition of affairs
suffocates this ambition and kills farming in this town, one of the most industrious in the
province. There are other additional factors that the peoples leave to the rulers' clear
intelligence. These rulers are accustomed to placing themselves in their subjects' shoes in
order to better comprehend their demands.

In the petition, they make an appeal to the government, pleading with it to take immediate
action to ease their suffering. Rizal established rules to ensure that the estate and its
inhabitants could coexist peacefully. On the document, they demand the "separation of its
interests, selling to them or transferring these lands to them who have made them tillable and
have invested wealth, sweat, and toil in them." These are, however, prone to revision.

They plead to it, though, not for subsidies, privileges, or sacrifices, but for the light, fairness,
and equity to which they are entitled as citizens of a country famed for its sense of justice and
noble values. Unfortunately, after finally pursuing justice, the court decided to ignore the
abuses and favored the Estate of the Dominican Friars. It came under intense attention as a
result of the government's continued toleration of the excesses committed by the Dominican
Friars and its refusal to listen to or act upon their plea.