Pre-colonial

It all started with the formation of the land bridges. The first people in the Philippines were the Negritos
coming from the south after getting displaced by foreigners from Negros. The second were the Indones which
arrived in 2 batches (early stone age, bronze-copper culture). Their main contributions were fishing and Vinta.
The last one would be the Malay which arrived in 3 batches (Indian cultural influences, first to leave historical
records, Islam). They taught barter and Islam. During pre-colonial times, there were 4 types of states of
livelihood: 1. Primitive Communalism, 2. Asiatic form of feudalism, 3. Feudalism and 4. Early Capitalism. The
first one does not involve the concept of personal property. The second one introduced the concept of slavery
and personal property. Third showed the importance of power over persons and property. The last one
emphasized the importance of security and preserving the scope of one’s ownership. The economy was a
subsistence economy.

The Magellan Expedition

Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of the Spanish crown,

was looking for a westward route to the to the Spice Islands of
Indonesia. On March 17, 1521, Magellan's expedition landed on
Homonhon island in the Philippines. He was the first European to reach
the islands. Rajah Humabon of Cebu was friendly with Magellan and
embraced Christianity, but their enemy, Lapu-Lapu was not. Humabon
wanted Magellan to kill Lapu-Lapu while Magellan wanted to convert
Lapu-Lapu into Christianity. On April 17, 1521, Magellan sailed to
Mactan and ensuing battle killed Magellan by the natives lead by Lapu-
Lapu. Out of the five ships and more than 300 men who left on the
Magellan expedition in 1519, only one ship (the Victoria) and 18 men
returned to Seville, Spain on September 6, 1522. Nevertheless, the
said expedition was considered historic because it marked the first
circumnavigation of the globe and proved that the world was round.

Juan Sebastian de Elcano, the master of ship "Concepcion" took over

the command of the expedition after the death of Magellan and
captained the ship "Victoria" back to Spain. He and his men earned the
distinction of being the first to circumnavigate the world in one full
journey. After Magellan's death in Cebu, it took 16 more months for
Elcano to return to Spain. The Magellan expedition started off through the westward route and returning
to Spain by going east; Magellan and Elcano's entire voyage took almost three years to complete.

Spain sends other expedition

After the Spain had celebrated Elcano’s return, King Charles I decided that Spain should conquer the
Philippines. Five subsequent expeditions were then sent to the Islands. These were led by Garcia Jofre
Loaisa (1525), Sebastian Cabot (1526), Alvaro de Saavedra (1527), Rudy Lopez de Villalobos (1542) and
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi (1564). Only the last two actually reached the Philippines; and only Legazpi
succeeded in colonizing the Islands.

The Villalobos Expedition

Ruy Lopez de Villalobos set sail for the Philippines from Navidad, Mexico on November 1, 1542. He
followed the route taken by Magellan and reached Mindanao on February 2, 1543. He established
a colony in Sarangani but could not stay long because of insufficient food supply. His fleet left the island
and landed on Tidore in the Moluccas, where they were captured by the Portuguese.

Villalobos is remembered for naming our country “Islas Filipinas,” in honor of King Charles’ son, Prince
Philip, who later became king of Spain.
The Legazpi Expedition

Since none of the expedition after Magellan from Loaisa to Villalobos had
succeeded in taking over the Philippines, King Charles I stopped sending
colonizers to the Islands. However, when Philip II succeeded his father to
the throne in 1556, he instructed Luis de Velasco, the viceroy of Mexico,
to prepare a new expedition – to be headed by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi,
who would be accompanied by Andres de Urdaneta, a priest who had
survived the Loaisa mission.

On February 13, 1565, Legaspi's expedition landed in Cebu island. After

a short struggle with the natives, he proceeded to Leyte, then to
Camiguin and to Bohol. There Legaspi made a blood compact with the
chieftain, Datu Sikatuna as a sign of friendship. Legaspi was able to
obtain spices and gold in Bohol due to his friendship with Sikatuna. On
April 27, 1565, Legaspi returned to Cebu; destroyed the town of Raja Tupas and establish a settlement.
On orders of the King Philip II, 2,100 men arrived from Mexico. They built the the port of Fuerza de San
Pedro which became the Spanish trading outpost and stronghold for the region.

Hearing of the riches of Manila, an expedition of 300 men headed by Martin de Goiti left Cebu for Manila.
They found the islands of Panay and Mindoro. Goiti arrived in Manila on May 8, 1570. At first they were
welcomed by the natives and formed an alliance with Rajah Suliman, their Muslim king but as the locals
sensed the true objectives of the Spaniards, a battle between the troops of Suliman and the Spaniards
erupted. Because the Spaniards are more heavily armed, the Spaniards were able to conquer Manila. Soon
after Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived to join Goiti in Manila. Legaspi built alliances and made peace with
Rajahs Suliman, Lakandula and Matanda. In 1571, Legaspi ordered the construction of the walled city of
Intramuros and proclaimed it as the seat of government of the colony and the capital of the islands. In
1572, Legaspi died and was buried at the San Agustin Church in Intramuros. In 1574, Manila was
bestowed the title "Insigne y Siempre Leal Ciudad de España" (Distinguished and ever loyal city of Spain)
by King Philip II of Spain.

The Encomienda System
Spain owed the colonization of the Philippines to Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who valiantly and loyally served
the Spanish crown. To hasten the subjugation of the country, King Philip II instructed Legazpi to divide the
Philippines into large territories called encomiendas, to be left to the management of designated
encomenderos.
 
To show his gratitude to his conquistadors, the King made them the first encomenderos in the colony. As
the King’s representatives in their respective encomiendas, the encomenderos had the right to collect
taxes. However, the encomiendas were not there to own. The encomenderos were only territorial
overseers who had the duty to: 1) protect the people in the encomienda; (2) maintain peace and order;
(3) promote education and health programs; and (4) help the missionaries propagate Christianity.

Economic state of the Philippines (emphasis on galleon trading, polo y servicio, bandala system)
The Galleon Trade

When the Spaniards came to the Philippines, our ancestors were already trading A Spanish Galleon with China,
Japan, Siam, India, Cambodia, Borneo and the Moluccas. The Spanish government continued trade relations
with these countries, and the Manila became the center of commerce in the East. The Spaniards closed the
ports of Manila to all countries except Mexico. Thus, the Manila–Acapulco Trade, better known as the
"Galleon Trade" was born. The Galleon Trade was a government monopoly. Only two galleons were used: One
sailed from Acapulco to Manila with some 500,000 pesos worth of goods, spending 120 days at sea; the other
sailed from Manila to Acapulco with some 250,000 pesos worth of goods spending 90 days at sea.
It also allowed modern, liberal ideas to enter the country, eventually inspiring the movement for
independence from Spain. And because the Spaniards were so engrossed in making profits from the Galleon
Trade, they hardly had any time to further exploit our natural resources.

Basco’s Reforms

Filipino farmers and traders finally had a taste of prosperity when Governor General Jose Basco y Vargas
instituted reforms intended to free the economy from its dependence on Chinese and Mexican trade. Basco
implemented a “general economic plan” aimed at making the Philippines self sufficient. He established the
“Economic Society of Friends of the Country”, which gave incentives to farmers for planting cotton, spices, and
sugarcane; encouraged miners to extract gold, silver, tin, and copper; and rewarded investors for scientific
discoveries they made.

Tobacco Monopoly

The tobacco industry was placed under government control during the administration of Governor General
Basco. In 1781, a tobacco monopoly was implemented in the Cagayan Valley, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La
Union, Isabela, Abra, Nueva Ecija, and Marinduque. Each of these provinces planted nothing but tobacco and
sold their harvest only to the government at a pre-designated price, leaving little for the farmers. No other
province was allowed to plant tobacco. The government exported the tobacco to other countries and also part
of it to the cigarette factories in Manila.

In 1834, Port of Manila open to the world.

Classes of Filipinos
1. Principalia-
2. Creoles-
3. Chinese-
4. Indios-

Why is Rizal national hero?

Rizal was made as the national hero of the Philippines by the Americans. When the US finally acquired the
Philippines from the Spaniards through the Treaty of Paris with 20 million dollars, the US saw the Philippines
as a depressed country. They needed a symbol for the people to look up to in order to control them easier.
They decided to elect a national hero satisfying the 4 criteria: 1. Filipino, 2. Memorable death, 3. Dead, 4.
Loves the country. This happened during the time of President Mckinley and governor-general Taft. Rizal was
chosen.