CHAPTER V Colonialism and Traditions (1521-1898) The Colonial System The kind of colonial system Spain established in the Philippines following the successful takeover of Manila from the Muslims depended on the broad aims of Spanish colonialism. These may be summarized under the headings God, Glory, and Gold. The aims, which were not necessarily mutually exclusive, were clearly expressed in the written instructions to the expeditions from Magellan to Legaspi as well as from the numerous reports, memorials, and correspondences of the religious orders to and from the Philippines. It is now esseniial to deal briefly with these aims: 1. Colonial Aims. The portrait of Spain as a colonial power would be incomplete without the religious color given to its march to empire. Equally emphasized by the Crown was the need to spread Christianity throughout the Spanish dominions. This was in the New World or in the Americas as well as in the Philippines. The expeditions from 1521 to 1565 were accompanied by religious missionaries who were as much Prepared to preach the Christian faith as they were to explore and exploit the material resources of the colonies. In particular, when Magellan landed on Limasawa of Butuan, the first significant act taken, besides the procurement of needed provisions, was the celebration of the Mass, and upon landing in Cebu, the conversion of Rajah Humabon and his people was effected. But perhaps more ex, expedition in 1565. Fiv with Legaspi” and won plicit were the religious aspects of Legaspi Augustinian friars “labored in harmony converts. Their religious zeal and tirelessColonialism and Traditions 51 efforts were moved by an almost obsessive desire to check the “slowly advancing tide of Mohammedans.” The process of Christianization in Cebu started with the conversion of King Tupas’s niece. This was followed by the conversion of a Muslim interpreter, King Tupas, and his son. The effect of such a breakthrough in the ruling level of native society was to hasten the process of Christianization among the people for “the example of Tupas had great weight.” Thus, with the aid of Christianized Cebuanos, the Muslim stronghold of Manila was taken by Spanish troops and Christianity planted in the city. The subsequent work of evangelism by the different religious orders from Manila to the outlying areas and islands, including the hinterlands, received such attention and priority that it is logical to relate it to the more important task of pacification. In the words of Edward Gaylord Bourne, “The Philippine Islands in situation and inhabitants belong to the Asiatic world, but, for the first three centuries of their recorded history, they were ina sense a dependency of America, and now the whirling of time has restored them in their political relations to the Western Hemisphere. As a dependency of New Spain they constituted the extreme Western verge of the Spanish dominions and were commonly known as the Western Islands (las islas de poniente). Their discovery and conquest rounded out an empire which in geographical extent far surpassed anything the world had then seen.” Consequently, King Philip II boasted that the sun never set in his empire because while the sun rose in Madrid it was still early afternoon in Manila of the preceding day. In this regard, the Philippines was just a link of the Spanish imperial sway which, ina sense, would trigger the move to extend Spanish conquest not only to the islands south of the archipelago but also north to Japan and China. This dream of an “Oriental Empire” placed the Philippines strategically in the heart of Spanish imperial design. But inherently involved in the idea of imperial conquest and expansion was the aim to obtain material benefits from resources and people. This was quite explicit in the Spanish efforts to acquire the Philippines notwithstanding the fact that the islands had become a part of Portuguese territorial rights following the signing of the Treaty of Zaragosa in 1529, In this treaty King Charles of Spain relinquished claims to the Philippines in exchange for 350,000 goldAPL P29107), So1iasas K sojod pue ‘apen uoay28 ‘sa1odouout ‘uonexer ‘sepuato ° ey ‘sepuatuosua «: {wodua :usteruo[o pue apen ‘purl Woy paauay AwoUod? [eUONU ay} Jo susUOduIO> 2Up JO asn aansayya ayp aajoaur pinom suonninsut 24,1 Auojos ayy woxy paroadxa sujauag yeraeu pup setrou099 at ty BuLzq 1 suorminsut aNuyap jo uauYsTqeisa ay poreniss200u state [eIuoJo9 ystueds ‘suonmyswy a1uoUody “z “ISiyaig jo raneu e se spaetueds ay; Xq pakofua Aqeatsnoxa pue ANuatusauos asam Kuojoo dy) UI snaeis pur ‘tppeam, ‘ramod iy) ammsua 0} peusisap Apansaya aq 01 pey uonensturmpe go sioadse [eamno pur ‘Te|D0s ‘stuLoUoDe ‘eontjod au ‘suxte yons azyear day oy ‘sume Tefo]oo snore £q pautuniayap sem sauiddiiyg ayi UL paystqeise uteds ayni yeruojoo Jo waists ay? ‘sny «212 ‘satizoids you pue spueyureut pue spurjst ‘UoNeoIeUlap IMO jo sirurT] ay UTYIIM vag UL2909 ay] UI sINO a1¥ pur sn 0} BUOCTIq YOTYA SuUOTUTUIOp aU] UI 12AODSIp 01 JjasinoX purg nod se yonurseuy, suepaseyy 01 sapzeyD Bury Aq zay1V2a passans Apeagze sem saoids 10j yoreas at Ioj wosead atp “19¥y Uy ‘saotds dy} Jo asnvoaq 08 isnut sammjuaa ay) ‘sauiddyryg ay) ayL] spurjst 01 Ing ‘Bu103 woy paiqryoid 21am suontpadxa azaym sesonjoW, ay) uetp ssyio spueyst Surpsesar Avan ayp Jo suorstao.d Te a10ust 01 Jesodoad umo sdiryg Suny ur paoejans Aprv9]9 sqysta sye8ni0g Sur0ust Joy 2aTIOUL year AY , PUI] UOHoIwULIG oy) jo apnasuoy 9Y} JO UONeUIULIa]ap ay} 10 suontpadxe snojaaad ut spueyst ay) uO 3so| uaaq pey OY szojIEs Jo andsar ay? sv yons ‘paudisse aq prnoys uontpadxa ayy 10j uoseaI snod 10 ayeunytsay,, aus quaursarse Awan ig 10] BY} Paaatyaq 2H ‘Ayal vsoBesez I Yons auaavquos 0} ured uvdg ay) pautioyul pey pue C7ST Japun siySir syedniz0g Jo Bury YSH ee ay 07 auo8 pey oy elaueply) a cole Aviq Kq passaidxa satpiva sem siya sye8nus0d Jo pee eat a Ustueds stp 10} uosear ay “spurts! 2p UO spuPd AL 0 101 ett UoneutLajap ay? peuyuod Apavay? TPST Ut eee ae a ‘A ap zado7z Any sepun uonrpadxa ue jo worse aad ayy “se. sounddyysyd 27 fo 207811 V a4 \ | 4 52 A History of the Philippines ducats. The preparation of an expedition under Ruy Lopez de Villalobos from Mexico in 1542 clearly confirmed the determination of Spain to lay hands on the islands. The reason for this Spanish brushing aside of Portugal's rights was earlier expressed by Fray Andres de Urdaneta who had gone to the Moluccas with Loaisa in 1525 and had informed the Spanish King of Portugal rights under the Zaragosa Treaty. He believed that for Spain to contravene such treaty agreement, some “legitimate or pious reason for the expedition should be assigned, such as the rescue of sailors who had been lost on the islands in previous expeditions or the determination of the longitude of the Demarcation line.” The real motive for ignoring Portugal's rights clearly surfaced in King Philip’s own proposal to ignore all provisions of the treaty regarding islands other than the Moluccas where expeditions were prohibited from going. But to islands like the Philippines, the ventures must go because of the spices. In fact, the reason for the search for spices was already stressed earlier by King Charles to Magellan: “Inasmuch as you bind yourself to discover in the dominions which belong to us and are ours in the Ocean Sea within the limits of our demarcation, islands and mainlands and rich spiceries, etc.” Thus, the system of colonial rule Spain established in the Philippines was determined by various colonial aims. To help realize such aims, the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of administration had to be effectively designed to ensure that power, wealth, and status in the colony were conveniently and exclusively enjoyed by the Spaniards as a matter of birthright. 2. Economic Institutions. Spanish colonial aims necessitated thi establishment of definite institutions to bring in the eco: i d material benefits expected from the colony. The institutions vl involve the effective use of the components of the nation; Lec von represented by income or benefits derived from land. eesColonialism and Traditions 53 ‘Although the encomienda was not a land grant per se, it was, however, a system of land distribution that brought greater benefits to the colonial officials and institutions involved. The system allowed the encomenderos or institutions certain rights and privileges over apiece of territory including the inhabitants therein for a certain eriod of time, usually up to two or three generations. The sharing of land produce and the collection of dues were determined by the encomenderos although, theoretically, royal instructions should govern relations in the encomienda. Since the system was a way of recognizing and rewarding persons and institutions for their contributions to colonial purposes, the native inhabitants, whose welfare was enjoined by the Crown, were exploited in many ways for the personal benefits of the encomenderos. Even the religious corporations like the Augustinians, Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits who received or acquired encomiendas or haciendas were not freed from the temptation to profit from the ignorance and weaknesses of the natives who were brought under the effective control of the religious authorities. The eventual abolition of the encomienda system, while eradicating the abuses associated with the encomenderos, did not affect religious orders. In fact, it actually allowed such orders to enlarge, by purchase or donations, their landed interests which would be reflected, to a certain extent, in what is called “temporalities.” Understandably, the rise of landed estates called haciendas became the marked feature of agrarian development in the archipelago in which the religious was the central focus. This kind of role or position the religious order acquired in the economic development of the archipelago would become the main cause of native radical reactions to Spanish rule. While the Colonial State had justified the control over economic ventures from the crucial need for revenues, the effects of the monopolies, not only on the domestic economy but also on the people themselves, were not really beneficial. The monopolies on wine, betel nut, playing cards, and tobacco involved certain areas of popular interests in which native habits and even vices had taken deep root and from which consequently the natives could not readily move away for reasons beyond mere personal taste. The importance and place of wine in native society were associated with rituals and54 A History of the’Philippines ceremonies. No religious ceremonies were complete or valid Wwithou the use of wine. The same was true of the betel nut, which was als used in social amenities and rituals of friendship throughout the archipelago. The blood compacts that were used in native relations as well as in foreign diplomacy, such as those between Sicatuna ang Legaspi in 1565 or between Sulayman and Goiti in 1570, were unlikely without wine. Although no native records refer to the effects of the wine monopoly in the Ilocos, uprisings in 1807 indicated how government control over the local wine industry was received by the locos people. The same was also shown in the other uprisings in late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in northern Luzon where state monopoly on tobacco was pursued effectively and zealously through the Royal Company of the Philippines. During a period of over two centuries the foreign trade aspect of the Philippine economy was represented by the “Galleon Trade” or the “Manila-Acapulco Trade.” The impact of this institution on the pre-Spanish economic setup was fundamental to native progress. Before Spanish rule, domestic and external trade was marked by freedom and reciprocity. The archipelago was literally opened to all traders from China, India, and Southeast. Asia. There was not only freedom of commerce but also a dynamic interaction between peoples. Even Spanish records confirm, for instance, the impressive trade between Chinese traders and the natives in Luzon and the Visayas in which honesty and trust were displayed by parties in barter transactions, Consequently, the establishment of a monopolistic foreign trade by Spain through only two ports, Manila in the Philippines and Acapulco in Mexico, disrupted and eventually destroyed the dynamic nature of Philippine external trade and commerce. This was done through limitations to freedom of trade and strict legal exactions on native trade by limiting foreign entry to only one port, thus ensuring the easy and effective collection of dues from foreign traders. The only participation the natives had was to provide services as oarsmen and other labor needs. The privileges or rights of investment were confined to the Spaniards, especially members of the religious orders who almost monopolized the benefits of colonialism. Such Privileges in the galleon trade were obtained through the boletas, which allowed investors certain space in the ship.Colonialism and Traditions 55 Collecting taxes or support from the governed is an inherent right of government. But equally integral is the responsibility of government to use the taxes not only for the support of government put also for the well-being of the people. This was the kind of reciprocity and mutuality that was lacking in the Spanish system of taxation. Tributes and dues were imposed on the people and were used for the benefit of the Spanish community. Very little went into improving native conditions. The system allowed the participation of the local chieftains but only as collectors, not as users of the revenues collected. This was therefore a radical departure from the pre-Spanish setup in which the chieftains enjoyed the right and privilege of using the revenues collected from their subjects. Thus, colonial taxation destroyed the economic integrity of native leadership. What aggravated the problem and dilemma of local leaders, when tax lists were not regularly corrected, was the compulsion to exploit their own people beyond what was expected of them. The unjust imposition by the system on the gobernadorcillos or cabezas to collect the dues as expected led to the breakdown of morality. Thus, through corruption, which the colonial system encouraged, the local leadership lost the moral base of their authority which they had been enjoying before the Spanish advent. The Spanish economic system, by the very nature of colonial aims, required the effective utilization of native labor throughout the archipelago. Thus, colonial laws or ordinances required the natives to provide either free labor or labor with nominal compensation for all sorts of Spanish needs, from domestic services at home to military services in Spanish expeditions. Although the concept of public service is a natural obligation of the people to the State, the corresponding compensation for labor is equally important to create or maintain equilibrium in the system, But the just sharing of responsibilities was absent in the polos y servicios which literally forced the natives to work against their will and interests. In effect, the Spanish labor system destroyed the precolonial communal ideal where leaders and people shared in the affairs of the community as Well as in the defense against enemies. Road building, ship building, and galleon trade labor requirements were notorious for many inhuman treatments, deaths of natives, and breakup of families56 A History of the Philippines resulting in untold sufferings. Those who served as oarsmen tried to escape, Some succeeded in losing themselves in Mexico and never returned to the Philippines. Others, like those forced to work in the Cavite arsenal, had to bear the rigors and pains of ferrying logs from the forests of Laguna to Cavite. Native women, who unfortunately found themselves compelled to render personal and domestic services in Spanish homes, convents, and other places, had to go through the humiliation and anxieties of bearing unwanted pregnancies or swallowing Spanish expletives in resignation. Reports in La Solidaridad carried news of such Spanish abuses on the natives, including even those committed by “men of God.” 3. Political Setup. Colonialism needed a kind of power arrangement that would allow the realization of colonial aims a degree of native participation without its precolonial dominance. The reorganization, therefore, of the political structure followed a dualistic-hierarchical pattern along Spanish and native lines but devoid of the political mobility from the bottom up. Thus the colonial structure consisted of a bureaucracy with appropriate linkages between the home government and the colony and a structure of authority in the colony that ensured the exercise of authority by the Spaniards and the performance of responsibilities by the natives. To allow Spanish colonial aims to be readily achieved in the archipelago, a kind of political structure was necessary. Thus Spain put up what the political scientist turned historian, O.D. Corpuz, called the “bureaucracy.” This consisted of a political hierarchy that brought the home governmentand the colony into a relationship in which the exploitation of the colonized became not only necessary but also normal and, in fact, to a certain extent, moral. The highest or first level was the authority of the Crown in colonial affairs. This was expressed in a series of bureaucratic mechanisms. The Council of the Indies was the body that allowed the Crown to influence the colony through legislation, Below this council was the Ministry of the Ultramar which performed the function of dealing with the colony: But the geographic distance between Spain and the Philippines m=de direct administration meaningless and the indirect rule, throug the “Viceroyalty of Mexico,” was established. This cut the distance by half, thus making the rule of the Crown through his peso™ appointee in Mexico more felt. The arrangement continued UP °Colonialism and Traditions 57 1820 when Mexico acquired independence and consequently brought the Philippines directly under Madrid. More important for Crown rule, however, was the appointment of the king’s representative as governor, later as captain general and governor general, to govern directly the colony. To ensure that the governor was doing what the Crown willed, checks and balances were established, such as the visitador general who visited the colony at the instance of the Crown; the religious officials who could send reports or memorials without problem; and a residencia, a tribunal to initiate public trial of the governor at the end of his term. The colonial level of the bureaucracy was the most important because it was involved in the day-to-day affairs of the natives. Under the power setup, the Crown gave to the colonial administration vast powers, which virtually established an absolutism in the colony. There were three administrative levels in the colonial bureaucracy: the central, the provincial, and the municipal. The central level was represented by the governor of the colony who would later assume the title of captain general to reflect his military authority and governor general to stress the pervasiveness of his powers. His powers were vast despite subjection to the overall authority of the Crown. He enjoyed executive, legislative, military, judicial, and religious powers. As executive of the colony, all executive functions in the bureaucracy were subject to his authority directly or indirectly. As captain general, he was the commander in chief of the Spanish armed forces, which could be used as he pleased. As presiding officer of the Royal Audiencia, which served as the Supreme Court of the colony, he had judicial authority or influence over court matters. As chief executive, he was also given legislativ powers to promulgate ordinances in the colony and to lay aside the implementation of royal decrees he felt was not necessary, thus giving accent to the expression obedezco pero no complo. Finally, he also enjoyed religious powers because of the Patronato Real, a special right given by the Pope to the Spanish Crown to appoint bishops or Priests in the colony in recognition of Spain’s important cou eee to the purposes of the Catholic Church. Consequently, by viruue © his position as Vice Regal Patron, the governor could interfere in the work or function of the religious in the colony.58 A History of the Philippines As a consequence, therefore, of the extent of his powers, the governor general evolved into an absolute ruler like a little king in the colony where his word was law. His absolutism was created not by the expressed provision of law but rather by circumstances attributable to geographic and communication factors. While subordinate to the Council of the Indies or the Crown, his position in the colony was strengthened by a number of factors which, in addition to geography and communication, included the corruptibility of the visitador general and the personal interests of the governor general whose tenure was uncertain and whose appointment was usually taken through payment of a sum. The exploitation of the native and his resources became the focus of the art of corruption in the highest level of government, including even the religious. The second level of administration was represented by those provincial officials called alcaldes in the case of the pacified and organized units called alcaldias, and corregidores in the case of the corregimientos, areas not yet subdued and, therefore, administered through military commanders. As head of the alcadia, the alcalde mayor exercised executive as well as judicial powers. To these powers was added the indulto de comercio which granted to the alcalde the right and privilege to engage in commerce. Consequently, the concentration of powers in the alcalde, like that of the governor general, did not only lead to oppressive treatment of the natives but also to their socioeconomic exploitation. In the case of the alcalde, the indulto gave him the monopolistic control of economic or commercial affairs in his jurisdiction. The same was true of the Corregimientos which were under military pressure, although, by the very nature of the areas, economic exploitation was not as easy as in the pacified towns and cities. The third and last level of the bureaucracy was the municipal unit which was represented by a dichotomy of political leadership Consisting of the Spanish cura parroco who exercised all the powel of government in the municipal level and the gobernadorcillos and cabezas de barangay who only implemented colonial policies 2x4 measures, sometimes against their own interests. Although theoretically the gobernadorcillo was supposed to be the head of theColonialism and Traditions 59 municipal unit, the friar was really the absolute authority. Consequently, what developed was a kind of union of political and religious powers which the propagandist, Marcelo H. del Pilar, called the frailocracia. In effect, while the natives had participation in the bureaucracy it was limited to the exercise of responsibility, not authority or power. Since colonial aims required the effective collection of tributes and other dues from the natives, the old precolonial political structure was conveniently preserved throughout Spanish rule but integrated into the entire colonial society for purposes of conquest, pacification, and exploitation. Thus even the native principalia from which the gobernadorcillo and cabeza were chosen was not spared from the racial indignities inflicted on the natives as a race. The native level was the last or lowest unit of the Spanish colonial bureaucracy where native participation in the colonial scheme was confined to powerless tasks. There were no natives that were involved in the central and provincial levels of administration. Even their part in the last level of administration was mainly in the area of implementation of colonial policies and aims. The exercise of power, including its rights and privileges, was given to the local friar or Spanish priest. How the religious performed this role from the native point-of-view was summed up in the writings of Filipino propagandists like Fr. Jose Burgos’s Manifesto and La Lobra Negra, Graciano Lopez Jaena’s Fray Botod, Gregorio Sanciangco’s El Progreso de Filipinas, Marcelo H. del Pilar’s La Soberania Monacal and Dasalan at Toksohan, and Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. In effect, the colonial system allowed the natives to preserve their ancient political structures simply because the Spaniards found its preservation and use effective in the collection of tributes and in suppressing one group of natives by another under the policy of “divide and rule.” Conversely, the native leadership, although symbolically sporting the mechanism of colonial rule, continued to Provide the main line of resistance that would later erupt into Movements to undermine colonial rule and, ultimately, to overthrow it 4. The Sociocultural Patterns. The kind of society and culture that would emerge from the nature of colonial aims would also60 A History of the Philippines show the subordination and isolation of the natives from the benefits of status which was what sociocultural development really meant or Underlined. Thus, the precolonial social organization was not changed. The chieftains, freemen, serfs, and slaves remained as they were as far as relations within native society were concerned. Only when they related to other sectors or classes outside their own were the criteria and the rules changed. In other words, what colonialism did to the social structure was to superimpose a colonial level composed of Spaniards whose relation to the natives was based on the superior-inferior and civilized-primitive stereotype. Regardless of rank or status in the native structure, the datu, timawa, and the alipin or oripon were just regarded as one class level—the lowest— in the colonial society, not entitled to any social importance and rights except to serve those above them. Consequently, even the datus were not treated as such vis-4-vis even the ordinary Spaniard. The effect of the Spanish social stratification was consciously extended from the local to the national society based upon racial and religious factors. As earlier discussed, the terms Indios, Moros, and Infieles divided the entire Philippine archipelago into three national societies definitely beneficial to the Spaniards. This categorization in the colonial social hierarchy implied also the corresponding social rights and privileges enjoyed by the three societies. In effect, the Indios or Christianized natives were allowed certain status, although below the Spanish, higher than that of the Moros and Infieles who were regarded as the lowest. In fact, the descriptions of the latter groups showed how much they were deprived, ridiculed, and repressed because of their religious traditions. . What emerged from the colonial social ; al system ind of cultural development that followed three a =o their old traditions except that, by vir i i Christianity, the Christians g ree eecorce oe radually evolved a kind of cultural form or substance that allowed the: 'Y associated with a pro- ‘anized societies throughout the cultural patterns of the Spanish culture developed by th the archipelago. On the cee hand,Colonialism and Traditions 61 Muslims and other minorities had remained generally unchanged. however persistent were the Spanish efforts to convert them, simply because they resisted or avoided conversion , Native Responses During the entire period of Spanish rule, native responses were related to the three kinds of societies or communities that developed. The responses were influenced by the extent of Christianization and exploitation. 1. The Indio Response. Expectedly, the Christian community, because of interactions with colonizers, manifested two types of attitude to colonialism. One was the willingness to assimilate what was necessary for acquiring benefits from the system. Since religious change was important, the Indios endeavored to practice the symbolic and outward requirements of Christianity by adherence to the prescribed rituals or sacraments of the Church even if the performance of such formalism entailed physical and financial sacrifices and, to a large extent, moral compromises. Eventually, the regular performance of rituals developed a kind of inner transformation that allowed a synthesis of religious values. Indigenous religion and Christianity blended in a folk Christian synthesis. By the end of the nineteenth century, Filipino religious tradition had become both “native and colonial.” Itwasa blending of East and West in the Filipino that prompted him to regard the centuries of repression and exploitation as a problem that could be solved through (1) assimilation of the Philippines as a province of Spain, or (2) separation from Spanish rule, not necessarily from Spanish civilization. The first was expressed by the Propaganda Movement (1872-1892) which sought the reform of the colony through the expulsion of the friars, the representation of the Philippines in the Spanish Cortes, and the institution of specific reforms. The movement, despite vigorous Spanish counteraction, was conducted in both Spain and the Philippines, In the Philippines, it actually began earlier in the narrow struggle of the Filipino clergy for justice. Its most noted sp oe Was Father Jose Burgos whose numerous writings, more than t ae Rizal, clearly revealed that racial discrimination was responsiColonialism and Traditions 61 Muslims and other minorities had remained generally unchanged however persistent were the Spanish efforts to convert them simply ecause they resisted or avoided conversion Native Responses During the entire period of Spanish rule, native responses were related to the three kinds of societies or communities that developed The responses were influenced by the extent of Christianization and exploitation 1. The Indio Response. Expectedly, the Christian community. because of interactions with colonizers, manifested two types of attitude to colonialism. One was the willingness to assimilate what was necessary for acquiring benefits from the system. Since religious change was important, the Indios endea and outward requirements of Christianity by adherence to the prescribed rituals or sacraments of the Church even if the m entailed physical and financial vored to practice the symbolic performance of such formali sacrifices and, to a large extent, moral compromises. Eventually, the regular performance of rituals developed a kind of inner transformation that allowed a synthesis of religious values. Indigenous religion and Christianity blended in a folk Christian synthesis. By the end of the nineteenth century, Filipino religious wadition had become both “native and colonial.” Iwasa blending of East and West in the Filipino that prompted him to regard the centuries of repression and exploitation as a problem that could be solved through (1) assimilation of the Philippines as a province of Spain, or (2) separation from Spanish Tule, not necessarily from Spanish civilization. The first was éxpressed by the Propaganda Movement (1872-1892) which sought the reform of the colony through the expulsion of the friars, the Fepresentation of the Philippines in the Spanish Cortes, and the stitution of specific reforms, The movement, despite vigorous peanish counteraction, was conducted in both Spain and the sags In the Philippines, it actually began Te ae we le of the Filipino clergy for justice. Its most note spe esma S Father Jose Burgos whose numerous writings, more than that of ‘til, clearly revealed that racial discrimination was responsiblele _ 62 A History of the Philippines for Spanish exploitation of the Filipinos including those who had taken the vow to serve God. The “secularization of the parishes,” as the religious movement was called, developed into a “filipinization of the parishes” movement. It was this emphasis on the “Filipino” that provided the priestly role its most important dimension to the natives. The martyrdom of the three priests—Jose Burgos, Jacinto Zamora, and Mariano Gomez—gave Filipinism its first valuable impetus, expressed by no less than Jose Rizal in the introduction to his second novel, El Filibusterismo. Thus, the period from 1872 to 1892 witnessed the transformation of a narrow religious struggle to a national struggle for justice and the consequent enlargement of the Filipino consciousness, important later to the making of a Filipino nation before the close of Spanish rule. It was during this period that a new breed of Filipinos—young, idealistic, impatient, and restless— emerged with nothing but the desire to prove themselves to the colonizer that they had as much claim to intelligence and culture as the Spaniards. They entered the schools to learn exactly what the colonizers were proud of: the knowledge and art of the Christian religion, the Spanish language, and whatever cultural refinements were accessible, including literary and artistic creativity. Consequently, the Propaganda Movement, as the decade was characterized, produced luminaries such as Graciano Lopez Jaena of Iloilo, Gregorio Sanciangco and Pedro Paterno of Manila, Jose Rizal of Laguna, Marcelo H. del Pilar of Bulacan, Jose Maria Panganiban of Bicol. But the movement was similar to secularization because it did not seek independence but merely reforms from the Mother Country. The reformers wanted to be like the Spaniards and be accepted as such. To them citizenship was the key to such reforms. It was this limited vision that led the propagandists to failure, in effect that provided Marcelo H. del Pilar the reason for doubting the rationale of their struggle and consequently entertaining the Possibility of revolution. In a sense, this realization gave te cee haus tthe overthrow of the colonial power t i" a Mindanco Thefts the earlier revolts in Luzon, visa e0 een formation of the Katipunan in 1892 as the ve ig ‘ution involved partly, if not mostly, people from 4Colonialism and Traditions 63 ist society organized by Jose Rizal, the foremost form movement. Thus the period from 1892 to ift in Filipino activities to revolutionary struiggle and, in fact, provided the only linkage with the struggles of the Muslim and other tribal minorities. It was, therefore, the ideals of independence and freedom that unified the natives of the archipelago, however divided or separated geographically and culturally they might have been. 2. The Moro Struggle. Since the advent of Spanish colonialism, the Muslims had shown by word and deed their opposition to colonial attempts to deprive them of their liberties. Under Rajah Sulayman they fought the Spanish forces led by Martin de Goiti and Miguel Lopez de Legaspi whose aim was to destroy the Muslim stronghold of Manila and establish thereat the center of Spanish rule in the archipelago. Deceived earlier by Spanish participation in the ancient blood compact, the Muslims were defeated and Spain succeeded in inaugurating her colonial system in 1570 with the founding of the municipal government of Manila, the ayuntamiento. But the Muslims learned the lessons of dealing with colonialism. Their subsequent action was marked by uncompromising battles against Spanish expeditions sent frequently against Muslim bases in Mindanao and Sulu, the two centers of the sultanate. The expeditions culminated in the spoiling campaigns of Antonio Urbiztondo in 1850 and Jose Malacampo in 1876 which destroyed coastal villages in the Sulu archipelago. The Muslim answer to Spanish bloody campaigns were the retaliatory raids on Christian communities in the Visayas and Luzon, especially along the Bicol Peninsula where the biggest impact of the Moro raids was quite evident By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Muslim strategy had acquired the nature of the jihad, the Islamic method of dealing with an enemy. In fact, the appearance of the sabilallahs or Juramentados, as the Spaniards called them, was an indication of a Crisis in the Muslim struggle. The sabilallahs were individual warriors who were set aside by society with appropriate rituals of Sanctification and cleansing before dying for the cause. Their only es was to kill as many of the enemy as possible. Many of them “Unleashed in Cotabato and Sulu, causing casualties on the Paniards otherwise not possible through the open combat between Filipina, a reformi advocate of the re 1896 marked the dramatic sh64 A History of the Philippines the kampilan on one hand and the gun on the other. In effect, the Use of the sabilallah as a means of combat showed the defensive treng in Muslim resistance, But the entry of American might against the Spanish power blunted Spanish thrust in Moroland. 3. Response of Other Minorities. The reaction of the other non. Christians who were not Islamized was to withdraw from the pressures of colonialism. The Cordilleras, where the various ethnic groups generally called Igorot found refuge in the hinterlands of the Mountain Province, was quite inaccessible under normal circumstances. Only in instances where Spanish missions and troops succeeded in penetrating the communities that the response was one of either indifference or outward conformity to colonial presence, which was nominal in character. The revolts or armed struggle of the Igorot at different times in history were efforts to destabilize the colonial extension into areas that were important to them—those where, for instance, gold mines were found. Consequently, the kind of response the tribal minorities chose to deal with colonial threat worked well to their advantage by making it difficult for Christianity to really take a foothold in their traditions. Although persistent and determined, the religious missions did not achieve the level of success as achieved in the lowland communities. Partly, the failure of Spanish coloniali Philippine society was due to geo: preoccupation with lowland commu: other words, it was practical for attention and efforts in the more Progressive and developed lowland communities whose potentials for colonial Purposes could be used to bring the non-Christians into the system. gtaphic barriers and Spanish nities and the Muslim threat. In Spanish aims to concentrate