ECONOMIC SITUATION

After the of the Spanish government establishment in Manila, the challenged that Legaspi faced
is how he could control the different part of the country in with his limited armies. He created
ENCOMIENDA on the indios' land in order to address the problem of governance.

In Spanish, encomienda is derived from encomendar, which meaning "to entrust."

Spain granted a Spanish colonizer an encomienda—a grant of people living in a specific

conquered territory—as payment for his services (Zaide,1987). An encomiendero will be in charge of the
encomienda (people living in conquered area). Encomiendero was given the task of educating,
protecting, and converting the locals to Christianity in exchange for a tribute or tax from the locals.

Three different encomienda types exist.

a. Royal encomienda: The Spanish King will get the taxes.

b. Ecclesiastical Encomienda: Church will receive taxes

c. Privado Encomienda: An encomienda given to a royal ally who helped finance colonization.

The guidelines specified that the encomiendero's sole responsibility was to oversee the local
populace; nevertheless, when the policy was put into place in the colony, lands were also included. As a
result, the encomienda was dissolved and the land was turned into a hacienda after the Spanish Colonial
authority in the Philippines established taxes and a military component. The indigenous people were
made slaves on their own land. These were employees who had to pay taxes.

THE FRIARS AND SPANISH AUTHORITIES OWN HACIENDAS

The best haciendas (agricultural lands) in the Philippines were owned by Spanish friars who
belonged to several religious orders at the time of Jose Rizal, making them the richest landowners. The
rural residents who had been living in these haciendas and managing the land for generations were
turned into tenants. Naturally, they felt betrayed by the loss of the properties that had been in their
family's possession since before the arrival of the Spanish. Legally, though, the friars were regarded as
the rightful proprietors of those territories since they had received royal titles from the Spanish crown.
Since, the Filipino tenants saw the Franciscan owners' revolt to represent the agrarian upheaval of 1745–
1746, it is understandable why these friars' haciendas became hotbeds of agrarian revolts.

Spanish Government Imposed Several Socio-Economic Policies

1. Reduccion

The inhabitants were compelled to settle in a location close to the center where they could hear
the ringing of the bell. The program of Father Juan de Placencia resulted in the establishment of the
center, which consisted of the church, the municipal hall, the plaza, the market, and the school for each
town. This policy was put into place so that the government and parish priest could easily monitor them
and for the easy conversion to Catholicism.
2. Bandala

Filipino farmers were obliged to sell their harvest to the government under the Bandala system.
They need it whether they like it or not. they must sell them to the government in exchange for a
promise written on a piece of paper.

3. Polo y Servicios, or Forced Labor

Polo y servicio was a system used by Spanish colonizers for over 250 years that obliged all
Filipino males aged 16 to 60 to work for 40 days. It was decreased to 15 days per year in 1884. The
employees might be assigned to any project the Spanish desired, regardless of how dangerous or
unhealthy the conditions were.

Polo is a corruption of the Tagalog pulong, which originally meant "meeting of people and things
or community labor." Drafted workers were either Filipino or Chinese male meztizos who were required
to provide personal service to communal projects like as infrastructure construction and repair, church
construction, or log chopping in the forest for forty days.

Polo was governed by legislation. For example, the Polista (person performing forced labor) will
be paid 1/4 real plus rice every day. Furthermore, the polista was not intended to be transported from a
distant place, nor was he supposed to be made to work during the planting and harvesting seasons.
Despite the restrictions, polo had devastating results. It resulted in the devastation of the towns left
behind by the men. The promised wage was not paid in full, causing some politicians and their families
to go hungry or even die. (Agoncillo, 1990).

The Influence of Polo and Service

a. Agriculture productivity has decreased because the time for Polo y servicios coincides with
the planting and harvesting seasons.
b. Population decline as a result of many polistas dying as a result of manual labor in Polo.
c. Rebellion of the natives

4. Taxation

Natives pay a variety of taxes, including the following:

a. Cedula - Males and females aged 18 and above will pay 8 reales each year for the cedula.

b. Sanctorum - a church tax of three reales

c. Donativo de Zamboanga - one-half real to finance the fight in Mindanao against the Muslims

d. Tributes- might be made in cash or in kind.

5. Tribute (Buwis) or Tributo (Spanish)

Filipinos paid tribute to the colonial administration on the island as a gesture of vassalage to
Spain. On July 26, 1523, King Charles V issued an order requiring pacified Indians to donate a modest
sum in honor of their vassalage.

Miguel Lopez de Legazpi was the first to mandate the payment of tribute in both the Visayas and the
Philippines. This was followed by his successors. There were two kinds of buwis (tributes).

1. Direct taxes derived from customs duties

2. Bandala tariffs are monopolies (escantadas) on specific crops and goods.

6. The Galleon Trade

The trading system that flourished from 1565 until 1815, as well as the trading route from Canton,
China, through Acapulco, Mexico, and Manila. This trade policy altered the Philippines' free trade
system, in which other nationalities, such as the Chinese, were allowed to exchange their goods with
Filipinos who had excess items. A merchant could only engage in the Galleon Trade policy if he could
afford to pay for the boletas or tickets for the Galleon trade. The following are the other effects of the
Galleon trade:

a. A decline in native industry production because the alcalde Mayor, who was part of the trading,
imposed the planting of coconut and abaca fibers. Farmers who fail to meet the trading quotas
imposed by the government will be fined heavily.
b. The local industry's loss of profit
c. Intercultural interactions between the Philippines and Mexico. Mexico's products, such as
chocolate, sayote, and tamales, entered the country, whereas the Philippines' mango

THE SPANISH REGIME'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

The religion remains at the heart of the Spanish-imposed educational system. The friars normally
provide primary education, thus young Filipinos learn the Christine Doctrine, alphabet, language,
customs, and policies. Girls and boys attend separate schools and follow different curricula.

The Colegio Maximo de San Ignacio was created in 1589, the College of San Idelfonso in 1599,
and the Ateneo de Municial in 1817 for male secondary education. The male curriculum consists of
Spanish, History, Latin, Philosophy, Canon, Civil Law, and Rhetoric. Female Colegios include Santa
Potenciana in 1591, Sta Isabel in 1632, Santa Catalina de Sena in 1796, Sta. Rita College in 1719, and
Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion Concordia in 1868. The female curriculum covers etiquette norms,
vocal music, language, and sewing.

The educational system is also used to comfort the Filipinos, instruct them in Catholicism, and
train them to obey the regulations enforced by the Spaniards. Filipino students are not permitted to
speak their native language in school, and school buildings and other resources are insufficient to
educate the student population. During the Spanish period, the Department of Education was unable to
offer enough books and other teaching materials for a quality education.

The parochial schools were formed, and the teachers were Spanish missionaries. The friars had
the most powerful positions. They decided what the youngsters should be taught. Every level of learning
was by rote or memorization, and students learned the contents of books they did not understand.

Despite a law mandating that children be educated in Spanish, the students were taught in their
native dialects. The Spaniards feared that teaching Filipinos Spanish would cause them to fight Spanish
control. The most crucial topic was religion. The Indians were reminded that their IQ was poor and that
they were only fit for manual labor. Classes were held on the convent's ground floor, in a stable in the
"casa real," or in the darkest corner of the pueblo's town hall. The friars kept these terrible schools in
order to restrict human intellect rather than foster and develop it.

The University of Santo Tomas (UST) was the sole university-level institution in Manila at the
conclusion of the Spanish period. It was founded in 1611 specifically for Spaniards and meztisos. It
opened its doors to Filipino students four decades before the collapse of the Spanish regime, and Jose
Rizal and other heroes came to study there. San Juan de Letran College and Ateneo de Manila were the
designated secondary schools for boys. Secondary education for girls was created in Manila, with Santa
Isabel College, La Concordia, Sta Catalina College, Sta Rosa, and Asilo de Lookan laying the groundwork.

Although the Spanish colonial administration issued the Educational Decree of 20 December
1863 (Educational decree of 1863), which stated that "that each major town in the Philippines should
establish at least one primary school for boys and another for girls, that the medium of instruction is
Spanish," the friars did not implement this decree because they believed that if Filipinos were educated,
they would be inspired by new ideas of freedom and independence, as well as justice. Filipinos (natives)
must remain in the dark. As a result, publications read by Filipino(native) people were subjected to strict
censorship by both church and government officials.

The Moret Decree of 1870 was another noble objective of Spain to better the educational
system in the Philippines. Again, the friars were against government control of education and this decree
sought to secularize higher education in the colony.