READING

IN
PHILIPPINE HISTORY
TOPICS:

1. Rediscovery of the Philippines

2. The Spanish Conquest of the Islands
3.Towards the Hispanization of the Natives
4. Chinese in the Philippines
REDISCOVERY OF THE PHILIPPINES
• From Ladrones Islands, Magellan's fleet went on their journey westward. At
the dawn of Saturday, on March 16, 1521, they saw the towering heights of
Samar and named the island Islas de San Lazaro, for it was the feast day of St.
Lazarus.They stayed overnight off Suluan Island.
• In the following day, they landed on the small uninhabited islet of Humunu
(Homonhon) found at the mouth of Leyte Gulf and built two tents for the sick.
• On the third day after their arrival on March 18, they met nine natives from the
neighboring island of Suluan who arrived in a boat. Seeing them.1 friendly people,
Magellan gave them red caps, mirrors, combs, small I ells, ivory, fine linen cloth,
and other trifles. In return, the islanders gave them their cargo of bananas, fish,
coconuts, and palm wine (tuba).
• On Holy Thursday, March 28, the fleet landed in another island called Mazaua,
which could be Limasawa in Leyte or Masao in Butuan.
• Rajah Kolambu was rowed to where the Europeans were. At first, he
refused to board Magellan's big ship. Finally, the rajah welcomed Magellan and
visited him aboard his ship. He gave Magellan three porcelain jars of rice, while
Magellan gave a red cap and a red-and-yellow robe.
• Rajah Kolambu was fascinated and noted that one man in such attire was
worth 100 fighters. These newcomers could help them win their battles. Thus,
the rajah decided to seal their new friendship. Afterwards, he performed the
kasi kasi or blood compact ceremony with Magellan on March 29, Good
Friday. Pursuant to Republic Act No. 2733 dated June 19, 1960 Barangay
Magallanes, Limasawa, Southern Leyte is the site of the first
Christian mass in the Philippines.
• In 1980 the National Historical Institute (NHI) sponsored a workshop for
historians to determine the site of the first mass in the Philippines. They
concluded it was Limasawa. They based their findings from the evidence
presented in 1800 by Carlo Amoretti, a conservator in Ambrosiana Library in
Milan. Amoretti said that Mazaua where Magellan landed in 1521 and the island
of Limasawa in the book written by Father Francisco Combes are one and the
same. This idea was supported by known writers in history, which include Father
Pablo Pastells, S.J., Dr.T. H. Pardo de Tavera, Jaime de Veyra, and James Robertson.

Noted historian Dr. Sonia M. Zaide presented the evidence for Masao rather
than Limasawa as the site of the first recorded mass in the Philippines.
• First, in all primary sources including the diary of Antonio Pigafetta, the
chronicler of Magellan's voyage, the name of the place was Mazaua. Limasawa has
four syllables and begins with another letter.
• Second, according to primary records, the expedition traveled 20 to 25
leagues from Homonhon, the first landing point. If they had been to Limasawa
Island, the distance is only 14.6 leagues or one-half of that length.
• Third, the distance to Cebu from Mazaua according to Pigafetta was 35
leagues (140 miles). The distance from Limasawa to Cebu is only 80 miles.
• Fourth, it was mentioned that the king came to their ship in a balanghai. Butuan
is now the site of at least nine excavated balanghai relics; by contrast, Limasawa
has no significant archaeological relics or balanghai tradition.
• Fifth, the Western explorers got excited at the abundance of gold in Mazaua,
for that was the main currency at that time. Both archaeological relics and the
gold mines today attested to the abundance of gold in the Agusan Valley.
• Finally, Father Colin wrote that it was in Limasawa where the first mass
in the Philippines was officiated.
• For Scott, de Jesus and the NHI, the eyewitness account of Gines de Mafra,
the Spanish mariner should be considered in determining the location of
Mazaua. Mafra was the only navigator who reached Mazaua twice, first in 1521
in the Magellan's expedition and in 1543 in the Villalobos expedition.

• Andres de San Martin gave Mafra some important documents before he

was killed by the warriors of Rajah Humabon in Cebu after the Battle of
Mactan. Martin was an astrologer and one of the finest mariners during the
Renaissance. He died in the Cebu massacre that took place on May 1, 1521.
Mafra held the documents given to him by Martin for five years. In his
documents were confix by the Portuguese and were kept in the Lisbon
archives
• When he became part of the Magellan's expedition, he was able to sail from
Spain via Atlantic Ocean, reached the tip of South America iind across the Pacific
Ocean then finally returned to Asia, particularly the Philippines. Magellan's
expedition paved the way for Spain's expansion to the Orient. Driven by the thrill
of adventure and the reward of gold and spiritual dispensation, the
conquistadores took the risks of the journey.
• The first post-Magellan expedition (1525), led by Captain Garcia Jofre de
Loaysa sailed with seven ships and 450 men. After crossing the Strait of Magellan,
the vessels were dispersed by a storm. Unfortunately, Loaysa got ill. They served
him broiled rat, the traditional treatment for constipation. He did not recover.
Eventually he died. His men failed to reach the Philippines. Sebastian Cabot, son of
Venetian explorer John Cabot, headed the second expedition in 1526 with four
ships and 250 men.They failed to find the Strait of Magellan.
• In 1542, King Charles I sent another expedition. This was to reassert the
claims of Spain to the islands, which is part of the Eastern Hemisphere. Based
on the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, the Eastern Hemisphere was reserved to
Portuguese colonization.

• He instructed Ruy Lopez de Villalobos to command a fleet of six ships and

around 400 men. He exhorted Villalobos to avoid any of the Spice Islands in
their voyage to Islas del Poniente. Villalobos reached Baganga Bay in Eastern
Mindanao on February 2,1543 after three months of sailing. He named
Mindanao Caesarea Caroli, or the imperial island of Charles. Searching for
food, they reached the southern island of Sarangani, which Villalobos renamed
Antonia in honor of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza of Mexico. Some of his men
went as far as Leyte, which they renamed Felipina, in honor of the future king
Philip II of Spain. Later, the name Felipinas was given to all the islands.
Villalobos also failed to colonize Mindanao. He died in the Moluccas, consoled
by St. Francis Xavier, acclaimed as the Apostle of the Indies.
• King Philip II – he wrote to Mexican Viceroy Velasco ordering him to prepare
an expeditions for the conquest of the Philippines.
• Miguel Lopez de Legaspi – a soldier, lawyer and administrator, another
expedition
– four ships with 380 men, left Natividad, on November 19, 1564
– Accompanied by Fr. Andress de Urdaneta, Captain Felipe de Salcedo, Guido
de Lawezaris and Melchor de Legazpi.
February 13,1565
- Legazpi and his men anchored near the island of Cebu. Due to Cebuano opposition, they sailed
to the neighboring islands and landed in Samar. Legazpi made a blood compact with Urrao, a
friendly chief, on February 22. They proceeded to Limasawa and were received by a young
chieftain named Bankaw.

Legazpi landed in Bohol and befriended two native kings, Sikatuna and Sigala.
March 16, 1565 - Legazpi and Sikatuna made a blood compact.

April 27, 1565

- Legazpi .ived in Cebu and hit the shore. Rajah Tupas and his Cebuano warriors challenged the
enemy forces but were overpowered by the Spaniards. Soon, the natives burned their houses
and if treated to the uplands.

- April 28, 1565

-One of Legazpi's men, a Greek sailor named Mermeo (others say Juan de Camuz) discovered
the image of the Sto. Nino in one of the houses. Viewing it as a sign of God's approval, Legazpi
named the first settlement Ciudad del Santissimo Nombre de Jesus (City of the Most I loly Name of
Jesus), in honor of the sacred image.
THE SPANISH CONQUEST OF THE ISLANDS
• Legazpi tried to win Rajah Tupas and the people of Cebu through the policy of
attraction, inviting them to return, rebuild their homes, and live in peace with them.
With the help of Cid Hamal (Sidamit), a Muslim Malay, Legazpi succeeded.
• The Augustinian missionaries were assiduously spreading the Christian faith.
• In 1570, Legazpi sent his grandson, Juan de Salcedo who arrived in Cebu from
Mexico in 1567, to Mindoro to punish the Moro pirates who plundered upon Panay's
villages. With 30 Spaniards and several hundreds of Visayans, Salcedo destroyed the
Moro forts in Ilin and Lubang (islets near Mindoro).
• Lakandula, king of Tondo and Sulayman's uncle, realized that it was useless to resist
the Spanish forces. He welcomed Legazpi and persuaded his nephew Sulayman to
make peace with Legazpi.
• May 19,1571, Legazpi took possession of Maynilad in the name of King Philip II of
Spain.
• June 24, 1571,
- the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist, Legazpi proclaimed Manila as the capital of
the Philippines (celebrated as the Manila's FoundationDay). He called the city
Nueva Castilla, because he had been told that there had been an old fort or castle
on the site. On the same day, the city government was established with a cabildo
or city council and a court
• August 20, 1572,
-Legazpi, the first Spanish governor and adelantado (title given to those who
personally funded their expeditions) of the Philippines, died of heart attack.
Guido de La vezaris succeeded and stayed in post until 1575.
The Philippines was a crown colony considering she was under Spanish
domination. From the beginning of Spanish rule in 1565 to 1821, the Philippines
was a dependency of Mexico. The Mexican viceroy, in the name of the Spanish
King, administered the country. After the independence of Mexico from Spain in
1821, the Philippines came to be directly governed from Madrid.
• It was on November 16,1568 when King Philip II issued instructions to Legazpi to
establish cities and towns and create encomiendas to be distributed to deserving
soldiers, in the first three decades of Spanish rule, the Philippines was divided into
encomiendas. With a cross in one hand and a sword in the other, the Spanish
conquistadores imposed upon the Filipinos this feudal system of administration.
• Encomienda
– comes from the verb encomendar meaning "to commend or to commit to one's
care."
– It was a feudal institution used, in Spain to reward deserving generals and
conquerors during Spanish of territory from the Moors
• The province was divided into towns or pueblo, which were administered by
gobernadorcillos. The office of the gobernadorcillo was open to Filipinos. This local
position was at first occupied by pre-colonial chieftains and their descendants and
later elected by an electoral board composed of the outgoing gobernadorcillo and
twelve members of the principalia.
• The principalia (social and political aristocracy) referred to the prominent land-owning
and propertied citizens who could read, write, and speak Spanish.
• The political condition in the Philippines was worsened with the
union of Church and State.
• The friars, like the government officials, exercised political,
economic, and other non-spiritual powers.
• They controlled the educational system as well as the collection of
taxes and the conscription of natives into the army.
• They even controlled municipal elections and censored plays and
reading materials.
• So extensive was the so-called friar interference in the country that
in the 19th century, Filipino propagandists demanded their
expulsion.
TOWARDS THE HISPANIZATION OF THE NATIVES

• The Spaniards integrated into the Filipino society their religion, language,
customs, arts, and sciences.
• The Spaniards imposed the feudal system and created towns and estates by
converging the people through reduction, referring to the resettlement of
inhabitants in Spanish-style poblaciones - or at least - bajo de las campanas
(within hearing distance of the church bells).
• Basic education was rendered by parochial schools, established primarily for
religious instruction.The first one was established in Cebu.
• In 1582, Archbishop Domingo de Salazar (first bishop of Manila) ordered
that every town was to have one school for boys and one for girls. Attendance
was made compulsory. Parents paid the teachers' salaries. The subjects taught
were catechism, reading and writing in the dialect, music, the rudiments of
arithmetic, and trades and industries.
• Higher education was established exclusively for the Spaniards and Filipinos, referring to
those born in the colony to Spanish parents. Colleges and universities were closed to
indios. (The natives were only allowed in these institutions after 200 years of colonial
rule).
• The Jesuits in Manila founded the first college for boys in 1589. It was originally called
College of Manila (for the scholastics), and later changed to College of San Ignacio.
• Primary education consisted of courses in reading, writing, arithmetic, religion;
geography, the history of Spain, the Spanish language, vocal music; and agriculture for
boys and needlework for girls. The girls were taught basic education, as well as religion,
needlework, painting, and music.
• Damian Domingo founded the Academy of Fine Arts, the first school in painting in
Manila in 1820.With this, he was called the "Father of Filipino Painting."
• The Academia de Dibujo y Pintura (Academy of Drawing and Painting) was founded in
1824. Some of its students were sent by the government to pursue higher studies in
Madrid, Rome, and Paris.
• In the 19th century, various technical schools were established like the School of
Mercantile Accounting and Modern Languages, patterned after the Commercial School in
Barcelona. Commerce was introduced as a three-year vocational course, with the
degree of perito to be earned by the student after studying.
• Governor General Basco (1778-87) founded the Sociedad Economica de los
Amigos del Pais (Economic Society of the Friends of the Country) in Manila on
April 26, 1781. The society helped much in the agricultural development of
the country. In 1824, importation of martines (birds) from China was made to
fight the locusts that were destroying Philippine crops. The society also offered
prizes for best agricultural projects and techniques developed. In 1853,
Candido Lopez Diaz, a Filipino, was awarded for his invention of a machine
cleaning hemp fibers.
• Governor General Felix Berenguer de Marquina succeeded Governor
Basco. His first official act was the demolition of nipa houses in the city of
Manila, which to him was an ugly sight and can even cause fire. He also ordered
the abolition of indulto de comercio (license to trade), which gave the alcalde
mayor (provincial governor) the privilege to control the prices of goods in his
province. Monopolies on playing cards, gunpowder, and wine were also
abolished. He established the minting of money in the country to prevent the
outflow of gold.
• In 1842,
• Don Sinibaldo de Mas, an economist, was sent by Spain to the Philippines to
make an economic survey of the country. In his report, he made the following
recommendations:
– first, the opening of more Philippine ports to world trade;
– second, the encouragement of Chinese immigration in the country to
stimulate agricultural development; and
– third, the abolition of the tobacco monopoly.
• The opening of the Philippines to world trade resulted to a great demand for
its products in the world market. This brought about the need of machinery for
massive production. The first steam machine for hulling rice was introduced in
1836 by Eulogio de Otaduy. Then a few years later, Nicholas Loney, a British
merchant, introduced the first steam machine for hulling sugar in Negros.
• The end of the galleon trade together with Spain's involvement in the
Napoleonic Wars (1799-1858), reduced the large-scale importation of fabrics. This
became beneficial to the local weaving industry.

• The Christianization of the Filipinos was the most lasting legacy of the Spanish
missionaries. The Spaniards converted much of the Philippines to Christianity
except Mindanao and Sulu. The use of Philippine dialects by the early missionaries
facilitated the teaching of the Gospel. The striking resemblances between the pre-
colonial religion and Catholicism have made the latter acceptable to the local
inhabitants
CHINESE IN THE PHILIPPINES
• The Chinese were called Sangleys, derived from the terms xiang and ley
meaning "traveling merchant."
• Legazpi and those who succeeded him favored Sino-Philippine trade, more
trading junks from China came to the Philippines annually, bringing their
merchandise like silk, textiles, and porcelain wares.
• The Chinese had already established their settlements in the country.
• The Chinese, who were able to learn the styles and techniques from native
craftsmen, predominantly occupied the manufacturing of carriages, stone
masonry, printing, shoemaking, and tailoring.
• The Chinese mestizos were able to acquire land from peasants through the
pacto de retroventa. This was also known as pacto de retro, which was a contract
under which the borrower who conveyed his land to the lender could
repurchase it for the same amount of money that he had received.
• The Chinese in the Philippines had given valuable services to the community
but still they were not given fair treatment by the Spanish authorities, owing to
their constructive role in the economic development of the country
• The first Chinese revolt was brought about by the deep-seated suspicion of
the Spaniards.
• In 1639, the Chinese revolted for the second time. This was caused by
Governor General Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera's order forcing the Chinese
to work in Calamba, Laguna. The Chinese denounced the abuses committed by
Spanish tribute collectors.
• The Chinese retaliated by burning the district of Santa Cruz. Many Filipinos
and Spaniards were killed. An army of 4,000 Pampanguenos under Francisco
Laksamana came to the rescue and defeated the rebels who had fled to the
mountains of Taytay and Antipolo.
• The fourth Chinese revolt (1686) was planned by Tingco, a Chinese ex-
convict. He was desperate to raise money to return to China.
1. CAVITY MUTINY: SPANISH
PERSPECTIVE
2. INJUSTICE RESPONSE: THE VERSION OF
THE FILIPINOS TO THE INCIDENT

•2.END