SPANISH COLONIZATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

panish colonial motives were not, however, strictly commercial. The Spanish at first viewed the
Philippines as a stepping-stone to the riches of the East Indies (Spice Islands), but, even after the
Portuguese and Dutch had foreclosed that possibility, the Spanish still maintained their presence in
the archipelago.

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Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan, painting, 1970.

The Portuguese navigator and explorer Ferdinand Magellan headed the first Spanish foray to the
Philippines when he made landfall on Cebu in March 1521; a short time later he met an untimely
death on the nearby island of Mactan. After King Philip II (for whom the islands are named) had
dispatched three further expeditions that ended in disaster, he sent out Miguel López de Legazpi, who
established the first permanent Spanish settlement, in Cebu, in 1565. The Spanish city of Manila was
founded in 1571, and by the end of the 16th century most of the coastal and lowland areas from
Luzon to northern Mindanao were under Spanish control. Friars marched with soldiers and soon
accomplished the nominal conversion to Roman Catholicism of all the local people under Spanish
administration. But the Muslims of Mindanao and Sulu, whom the Spanish called Moros, were never
completely subdued by Spain.

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Spanish rule for the first 100 years was exercised in most areas through a type of tax farming
imported from the Americas and known as the encomienda. But abusive treatment of the local tribute
payers and neglect of religious instruction by encomenderos (collectors of the tribute), as well as
frequent withholding of revenues from the crown, caused the Spanish to abandon the system by the
end of the 17th century. The governor-general, himself appointed by the king, began to appoint his
own civil and military governors to rule directly.

Central government in Manila retained a medieval cast until the 19th century, and the governor-
general was so powerful that he was often likened to an independent monarch. He dominated the
Audiencia, or high court, was captain-general of the armed forces, and enjoyed the privilege of
engaging in commerce for private profit.

Manila dominated the islands not only as the political capital. The galleon trade with Acapulco, Mex.,
assured Manila’s commercial primacy as well. The exchange of Chinese silks for Mexican silver not
only kept in Manila those Spanish who were seeking quick profit, but it also attracted a large Chinese
community. The Chinese, despite being the victims of periodic massacres at the hands of suspicious
Spanish, persisted and soon established a dominance of commerce that survived through the
centuries.

Manila was also the ecclesiastical capital of the Philippines. The governor-general was civil head of
the church in the islands, but the archbishop vied with him for political supremacy. In the late 17th and
18th centuries the archbishop, who also had the legal status of lieutenant governor, frequently won.
Augmenting their political power, religious orders, Roman Catholic hospitals and schools, and bishops
acquired great wealth, mostly in land. Royal grants and devises formed the core of their holdings, but
many arbitrary extensions were made beyond the boundaries of the original grants.

The power of the church derived not simply from wealth and official status. The priests and friars had
a command of local languages rare among the lay Spanish, and in the provinces they outnumbered
civil officials. Thus, they were an invaluable source of information to the colonial government. The
cultural goal of the Spanish clergy was nothing less than the full Christianization and Hispanization of
the Filipino. In the first decades of missionary work, local religions were vigorously suppressed; old
practices were not tolerated. But as the Christian laity grew in number and the zeal of the clergy
waned, it became increasingly difficult to prevent the preservation of ancient beliefs and customs
under Roman Catholic garb. Thus, even in the area of religion, pre-Spanish Filipino culture was not
entirely destroyed.

Economic and political institutions were also altered under Spanish impact but perhaps less
thoroughly than in the religious realm. The priests tried to move all the people into pueblos, or
villages, surrounding the great stone churches. But the dispersed demographic patterns of the old
barangays largely persisted. Nevertheless, the datu’s once hereditary position became subject to
Spanish appointment.

Agricultural technology changed very slowly until the late 18th century, as shifting cultivation gradually
gave way to more intensive sedentary farming, partly under the guidance of the friars. The
socioeconomic consequences of the Spanish policies that accompanied this shift reinforced class
differences. The datus and other representatives of the old noble class took advantage of the
introduction of the Western concept of absolute ownership of land to claim as their own fields
cultivated by their various retainers, even though traditional land rights had been limited to usufruct.
These heirs of pre-Spanish nobility were known as the principalia and played an important role in the
friar-dominated local government.

The 19th century

By the late 18th century, political and economic changes in Europe were finally beginning to affect
Spain and, thus, the Philippines. Important as a stimulus to trade was the gradual elimination of the
monopoly enjoyed by the galleon to Acapulco. The last galleon arrived in Manila in 1815, and by the
mid-1830s Manila was open to foreign merchants almost without restriction. The demand for
Philippine sugar and abaca (hemp) grew apace, and the volume of exports to Europe expanded even
further after the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869.

The growth of commercial agriculture resulted in the appearance of a new class. Alongside the
landholdings of the church and the rice estates of the pre-Spanish nobility there arose haciendas of
coffee, hemp, and sugar, often the property of enterprising Chinese-Filipino mestizos. Some of the
families that gained prominence in the 19th century have continued to play an important role in
Philippine economics and politics.

Not until 1863 was there public education in the Philippines, and even then the church controlled the
curriculum. Less than one-fifth of those who went to school could read and write Spanish, and far
fewer could speak it properly. The limited higher education in the colony was entirely under clerical
direction, but by the 1880s many sons of the wealthy were sent to Europe to study. There, nationalism
and a passion for reform blossomed in the liberal atmosphere. Out of this talented group of overseas
Filipino students arose what came to be known as the Propaganda Movement. Magazines,
newspapers, poetry, and pamphleteering flourished, most notably the biweekly paper La Solidaridad,
which began publication in 1889. José Rizal, this movement’s most brilliant figure, produced two
political novels—Noli me tangere (1887; Touch Me Not) and El filibusterismo (1891; The Reign of
Greed)—which had a wide impact in the Philippines. In 1892 Rizal returned home and formed the
Liga Filipina, a modest reform-minded society, loyal to Spain, that breathed no word of independence.
But Rizal was quickly arrested by the overly fearful Spanish, exiled to a remote island in the south,
and finally executed in 1896. Meanwhile, within the Philippines there had developed a firm
commitment to independence among a somewhat less privileged class.

Shocked by the arrest of Rizal in 1892, these activists quickly formed the Katipunan under the
leadership of Andres Bonifacio, a self-educated warehouseman. The Katipunan was dedicated to the
expulsion of the Spanish from the islands, and preparations were made for armed revolt. Filipino
rebels had been numerous in the history of Spanish rule, but now for the first time they were inspired
by nationalist ambitions and possessed the education needed to make success a real possibility.
The Philippine Revolution
Emilio Aguinaldo

In August 1896, Spanish friars uncovered evidence of the Katipunan’s plans, and its leaders were
forced into premature action. Revolts broke out in several provinces around Manila. After months of
fighting, severe Spanish retaliation forced the revolutionary armies to retreat to the hills. In December
1897 a truce was concluded with the Spanish. Emilio Aguinaldo, a municipal mayor and commander
of the rebel forces, was paid a large sum and was allowed to go to Hong Kong with other leaders; the
Spanish promised reforms as well. But reforms were slow in coming, and small bands of rebels,
distrustful of Spanish promises, kept their arms; clashes grew more frequent.

Meanwhile, war had broken out between Spain and the United States (the Spanish-American War).
After the U.S. naval victory in the Battle of Manila Bay in May 1898, Aguinaldo and his entourage
returned to the Philippines with the help of Adm. George Dewey. Confident of U.S. support, Aguinaldo
reorganized his forces and soon liberated several towns south of Manila. Independence was declared
on June 12 (now celebrated as Independence Day). In September a constitutional congress met in
Malolos, north of Manila, which drew up a fundamental law derived from European and Latin
American precedents. A government was formed on the basis of that constitution in January 1899,
with Aguinaldo as president of the new country, popularly known as the “Malolos Republic.”

Spanish-American War

U.S. soldiers in a trench near Manila during the Spanish-American War, 1898.

Meanwhile, U.S. troops had landed in Manila and, with important Filipino help, forced the capitulation
in August 1898 of the Spanish commander there. The Americans, however, would not let Filipino
forces enter the city. It was soon apparent to Aguinaldo and his advisers that earlier expressions of
sympathy for Filipino independence by Dewey and U.S. consular officials in Hong Kong had little
significance. They felt betrayed.

U.S. commissioners to the peace negotiations in Paris had been instructed to demand from Spain the
cession of the Philippines to the United States; such cession was confirmed with the signing of the
Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. Ratification followed in the U.S. Senate in February 1899, but
with only one vote more than the required two-thirds. Arguments of “manifest destiny” could not
overwhelm a determined anti-imperialist minority.