Colonial Rule and Impositions Under Spain

A. The Instruments of Exploitation and Control

1. Encomienda
the word means” to commend or commit
under one’s care.
a feudal system of administration
created for the combined purpose of
rewarding the deserving soldiers or
conquistadores and attracting others to
settle in the colony.
In the Philippines, encomienda
was not a land grant. It was more
of an administrative unit for the
purpose of extracting tributes from
the natives and to use personal
services of the King’s vassals.
The encomiendero took charge
of looking after the well being of
his people and to educate them
with Spanish norms of conduct.
In the domain of relations, the
encomienda had been considered
a kind of benevolent paternalism.
In reality, it was viewed by its
beneficiaries as a pretense for
slavery.
the system became a source of
abuses and corruption because
the encomiendero was free to
raise the amount of tribute to be
collected.
Because of the abuses perpetuated by the
encomenderos, the encomiendas were replaced by a
system of provincial government.
Political Units during the Spanish Period
Alcadia Mayor or province
where peace had been restored by the Spanish civil official
called Alcalde Mayor. It became a model of graft, corruption and
inefficiency brought about by those inexperienced individuals or
with no background at all to execute their varied
responsibilities.
Corregimientos
territories where peace had not been completely restored\
unpacified areas under the charge of the corrigidores or politico-
military governors.
2.The imposition of tribute or taxes
one tribute is equivalent to 8 reales or one peso and may
be paid in money or in kind like rice, honey, corn, etc.
1851, it was increased to 12 reales or 1 ½ tribute.
Eventually it was replaced by cedula tax, which served
as personal identity paper which described and contained
the information of the bearing including his name
Exempted from paying the tribute include the
governadorcillos, cabezas and their families, government
employees, soldiers with distinguished service,
descendants of Lakandula, native chieftains, choir
members , sacristans, porters of the churches.
Bandala system
it was instituted by Governor General
Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera during
the first half of the 17th century.
this refers to assignment of annual
quotas to each province for the
compulsory sale of product to the
government.
Due to lack of funds, the government
issued promissory note in exchange
for the goods. Non payment on the
part of the government meant
confiscation of products.
3. Polo y Servicios
or forced labor instituted in 1580 as a form of
pacifying the natives.
Male Filipinos between 16-60 years old
were required to render manual service for
40, later reduced to 15 days, for the purpose
of building ships, churches, roads and other
forms of infrastructure.
Such imposition led to decline of
communities and the abandonment of the
fields, forced separation from families or
homes, or worst, starvation death or illness
for some.
 Falla- a payment made as a form of exemption
from force labor. The chieftains and their eldest
sons were exempted from the polo y services
Political Units during the Spanish Period
Pueblos
equivalent to towns administered by gobernadorcillos.
The local position was at first occupied by pre-colonial
chieftains and their descendants and later elected by an
electoral board composed of outgoing gobernadorcillo and
12 members of the principalia (social and political
aristocracy)
Principalia referred to prominent landowners and
propertied citizens who could read write and speak
Spanish.
Cabeza de Barangay an appointive position who administer
the villages or barangays.
4. Galleon Trade
Galleon Ship
Galleon Trade
4. Galleon Trade (1565-1815)
the transpacific trade route between Manila-Acapulco
Trade.
Noao de China or Galleon de Manila was the only vessels
that served the link. The trip to Mexico lasted 3 months,
while the return trip to Manila took as short as 70 days.
Since it was a government
monopoly, only few
individuals benefitted from
this lucrative trade, namely
the governor-general and
government officials, religious
orders and Spanish soldiers.
Boletas or tickets entitled the
bearer to a compartment in
the vessel with which they
could load goods for sale in
Mexico.
Importance and Impact of the Galleon
trade
1. Galleon ships carried the real
situado and payment for the goods
exported from the Philippines in the
form of silver coins, government
communications and Spanish and
Latin American goods such as cloth,
wine, church supplies and weapons.
 Real Situado
 a subsidy from Mexico, (which
amounted to million of pesos) as
proceeds for the sales tax from
the goods sold on the trade.
The real situado was used
to paid for the salaries of the
government officials and
soldiers in the colony.
The Philippines faced
economic hardship if the
galleons failed to arrive as
many were lost at sea or
captured by Spain’s
enemies especially the
English.
2. New livestock and plants were introduced to the Philippines
through the Galleon trade such as horses, cows, sheep, and
goats as well as plants lke avocado, tomato, pineapple, corn,
cassava, strawberry, peanut, squash, lima beans, cashew,
turnips and cacao.
3.Galleon trade facilitated the growth of banking industry in the
Philippines.
 Obras Pias
an institution formed by the Church to finance the galleon trade.
The funds came from charitable donations, which were in turn,
lent with interests to businessmen, officials and clergy who
engaged into trade.
 It became Banco Filipino Espanol, the country’s first bank in
1860.
Importance/Impact of the Galleon Trade:
4. The Mexican bound galleons carried
officials who finished their tour of duty in
the Philippines.
 The returning galleon brought in more
people aboard consisting of incoming
officials, missionaries, soldiers, convicts
and exiles destined for the Philippines.
5. Shipyards for the construction of
galleon were established in Sorsogon,
Cavite, Pangasinan and Samar.
• Polistas were drafted to cut timber and
construct the galleons. Under
oppressive conditions and at the
expense of their families and livelihood,
these continued caused revolts in
Samar, Bicol and Mindanao.
6. The Galleon trade caused the
Spaniards to concentrate in Manila
and leaving only few in the
provinces.
Similarly the attraction of profit
encouraged Chinese
immigration to the Philippines
7. Manila merchants preferred to
trade with Mexico instead of doing
business with Spain. As a result,
Mexican and Peruvian gold and
silver flowed in and became the
preferred medium of exchange in
Asia.
B. Philippine Society During Spanish Rule
Social Structure:
Peninsulares- refers to Spaniards born in
the Iberian peninsula
Insulares- those Spaniards born of
Spanish parents in the Philippines, also
called Filipino insulares or simple Filipino
Creoles- term used for Spaniards born in
colonies in the Americas
Mestizos- those born out of intermarriage
between the Spanish, Chinese, Creoles
and indios.
When Spain’s colonies fought for
independence in the 19th century, the
creoles, insulares and mestizos in the
Philippines were viewed with
suspicion of separatism and hostility.
Social Structure: Spanish
 Indios- a term used for the full-bloodied Officials,
natives, further divided into the pacified and
Peninsulares
unpacified ones or infieles/ salvajes.
 Sangleys- refers to the Chinese, at the Friars
bottom runk of the society. The Chinos were
further divided into Christians, who were
allowed to remain in the country and the
non-Christians, who had to leave once Insulares, Creoles,
trading season at Manila ended. Mestizos, favoured
 Hence, many non-Christian Chinese Natives
opted to be baptised to Catholicism to
gain the privilege of living in the
Philippines. Despite their discrimination,
the Chinese community was part of the
workhorse of the colonial society.
 The Spaniards depended on them for
Indios/ Sangleys
their skills as metallurgists, artisans,
bakers, shoemakers, etc.
Christianization of the Philippines
2. The advent of religious literature and
art.
These include:
 Cenaculo - a religious play which
depicted the life, suffering and
crucifixion of Christ
 Comedia - the cloak and dagger play
 Moro-moro, a melodrama involving
clashes between the Christians and
the Muslims
 Awit and corrido, metrical romance e.g
Florante at Laura by Francisco
Balagtas.
The best Filipino sculptor
devoted their talent to
religious images or scenes
depicting religious themes,
such as:
 Sto Niño- the image of infant
Jesus;
 Nazareno- Jesus presented
on the way to calvary
 Santo Entierro- Jesus placed
inside a Sepulcher
 Cristo Resucitado- image of
the resurrected Christ.
Examples of Religious Arts in the Philippines
Thank you for listening!!!