Filipinos faced a lot of challenges and sufferings from the hands Mestizo de Espanol.
nol. They are offsprings of Spanish people
of the Spaniards. They experienced monopolistic economy that
was not favourable to them. There was even a social
stratification that clearly manifests the pure-blooded Filipinos’
inferiority. The political ranking also evidently showed how the
Filipinos were deprived to occupy higher positions.
    Rizal’s evolving nationalistic thought must be studied in the
context of his times. This leads us to the purpose of this module
that is to single out the status of the Filipinos under Spanish
colonization.
For this module. let us start our discussion with the different
classification of social classes during Rizal’s time. Let us start
with the Peninsulares. Peninsulares are Spanish born in Spain
who settled in the Philippines who took important positions in
the Spanish government in the Philippines. The wealthiest and
most powerful among the social classes. During the Spanish
times, the Governor General of the Philippines as well as other
powerful offices are held by peninsulares. The most well known
to us most probably is Miguel Lopez de Legazpi who colonized
a huge part of the Philippines.
On the other hand, those Spanish born in the Philippines
referred to as Insulares.  They are a rank below
the peninsulares. The insulares or criollos are of European
descent but born in the colonies of Spain. A son or daughter of a
Spanish couple is an insulare. Eventually, they may have been
inter-marrying with Filipinos or other races here in the country,
thus producing the mestizos.  Traditionally, insulares enjoy
various government and church positions but as economics and
power shifted, they changed to capitalist driven entrepreneurs
owning large parcels of lands. Even though they are pure-
blooded Spanish still they receive discrimination from fellow
Spaniards.
interbreeding with Filipinos. Mestizo is a term given to
individuals inheriting foreign ancestry. Originally, the term was
used in Latin America but was later adopted here in the country
to children of racial inter-marriage.
Mestizo de Sangley. Not all mestizos are indexed or are
coming from Europeans. A person of Filipino or any racial
descent marrying a Chinese, the result is children that will be
called mestizo de sangley
The mestizos are far better than the natives since their ancestry
provides leverage and connections, which becomes a big
advantage in a feudal and colonial society. They may have
better relations with the local governors or with the church as
they are favored more compared to the common man. Parents
of mestizos may have been an alcalde or another important
position in the government or perhaps an insulare wishing to
expand power and territory. In the case of expanding territory,
this has been a major motive for most of the arranged marriages
that came about during the era.
There were also ilustrados who constituted the Filipino
educated class. They were the middle class who were educated
in Spanish and exposed to Spanish liberal and European
nationalist ideals. Rizal for example. The rest are almost not so
distinguished but still need to be mentiond. Indio is pure blooded
Autstronesian origin or the native Filipino.  
Source:
·         Agoncillo, Teodoro (History of the Philippines) 
It is also important to note the political ranking during the
Spanish Period. Here are some positions on the government
that was occupied by the Spaniards and the natives.
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
The governor-general of the Philippines presents a unique
character in the Spanish system of government of the Philippine
Islands. His authority over the government was practically
unlimited, and he assumed prerogatives which constantly
produced contention and discontent on the part of the ruled, and
jealousy or envy on the part of the ecclesiastics. He had the
duties of a judge and as such power was conferred upon him to
hear and examine civil and criminal cases and to impose fines.
Like all high officials of all other colonies, the governor-general
of the Philippines was an appointee of the Crown and not
popularly elected. The Crown appointed the governor-general
upon recommendation of the Minister of Ultramar and with the
assent of the council of ministers. As the delegate and
representative of the King of Spain the privileges, grandeur and
superiority which the governor-general enjoyed were
unparalleled in any other dependency of Spain. In theory, his
powers were prescribed by the Crown and no action could be
taken without permit from the home government. In practice, the
governor-general was absolute and superior to all other officials
of the Crown in the Philippines. These powers were practically
absolute, including the power of appointment, of removal, and of
promotion. The salary of the governor-general was never a fixed
amount. The first governor of the Philippines Miguel Lopes de
Legazpi received, the compensation of 3,000 ducats ($4,570)
per year. Later on it was increased to $8,000, to $13,000,
reaching its maximum amount of $40,000 in 1890.
PROVINCIAL
Alcalde Mayor. Originally, the civil government in the provinces
was entrusted to a corregidor or alcalde-mayor who was
generally a political favorite of the governor-general. The alcalde
mayor performed the functions of the chief executive and of the
chief justice of the province. This situation created a strange
anomaly for an appeal to his measure had to be made to himself
and if brought before the governor-general it was sent back for
particulars.
MUNICIPAL
The mayor of the pueblo was called gobernadorcillo (petty
governor). He represented the governor of the province from
whom he received orders. The capitan must be a native born
Filipino or mestizo de Sanglev: over 25 years of age; four
years' resident of 110 the pueblo in which he was the capitan;
able to speak and write the Spanish language; a cabeza de
barangay for six years or at the time of his election cabeza
having served four years; free from debt and of honorable
standing in the pueblo. Furthermore, he must not be one of the
twelve delegates or be drawing compensation from the
government. His official record must be clean.
BARANGAY
The municipal government in the Philippines was the most
important unit for in it the Filipinos enjoyed a certain degree of
popular government. Prior to the occupation of the Spaniards,
the Filipinos had a despotic government by the cabeza de
barangay . Upon the establishment of pueblos with independent
government the barangaves or barios became suburbs and
under the jurisdiction of the pueblos. The cabaza de barangay
was clothed with specific powers and duties. Being the only form
of government known to the primitive people of the Philippine
Islands, a brief account of the nature and character of the
barangav would be fitting. A candidate for the office of the
cabeza de barangav must be at least 35 years of age; a native
Filipino or mestizo de Sangley; resident of the pueblo at least
two years immediately preceding the election; and must have
the honor of being known as a man of repute in the pueblo. The
most important duty of the cabeza de barangay was to collect
the taxes in his village and to remit them to the municipal
captain every so often. He was in duty bound to reside in the
village and maintain peace and order among the residents.
Where disputes arose the cabeza acted as judge. It was his
duty to apportion labor required for public works. In short, the
cabeza executed whatever a superior official directed him to do.
For these services he was entitled to a commission of five per
cent of the tax collected and the services of two nolistas who
assisted him in hie work. The cabeza, himself, and his eldest
son who assisted him in the collection of taxes for the State
were exempted from taxation.
The Filipino people agonized beneath the yoke of Spanish
misrule, for they were unfortunate victims of the evils of an
unjust, bigoted and deteriorating colonial power.
Here are the 11 social evils during Rizal’s time that made
Filipinos felt marginalized, discriminated and poorly
administered
INSTABILITY OF COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION
The political turmoil that Spain experiencing during that time
was of great effect to administer its colonized countries. It
brought frequent periodic shifts in colonial policies and a
periodic rigodon of colonial officials. For example, from 1834 –
1897, the Philippines was ruled by 50 governors general , that at
one time a period of less than a year, there were four Governor
Generals. Hardly had one governor-general begun his
administration when he was soon replaced by his successor.  become Christians. But in practice, Spaniards arrogantly
 CORRUPT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
General Rafael Isquierdo, a ruthless governor general, aroused
the anger of the Filipinos by executing the innocent
GOMBURZA. General Valeriano Weyler, a cruel and corrupt
governor general, arrived in Manila a poor man and returned to
Spain millionaire. He was called “tyrant” because of his brutal
persecution of the Calamba tenants.For some, accepting brides
and gifts to favor someone.
PHILIPPINE REPRESENTATION IN THE SPANISH CORTEZ
The first Philippine representation was with Ventura delos
Reyes, took active part to represent concerns and issues to the
CORTEZ. Also, in his representation he achieved to speak on
the issue of the galleon trade that later on he managed to
abolish it.  The first Philippine representation was fruitful with
beneficent results for the welfare of the economy. However, the
second period of representation and the third was less fruitful.
And it was not represented by a Filipino oriented leader.
Unfortunately, the representation of the overseas colonies in the
Spanish Cortes was abolished in 1837. From there, Filipinos
had no way to expose the anomalies perpetrated by the colonial
officials. 
HUMAN RIGHTS DENIED TO FILIPINOS
The people of Spain enjoyed freedom of speech, freedom of the
press, freedom of the association and other human rights
(except freedom of religion). The Spanish authorities who
cherished these human rights or constitutional liberties in Spain
denied them to the Filipinos in Asia.
NO EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW
  With the Christian doctrines that, irrespective of color and race,
that all men are children of God. Filipinos were fascinated by
this noble concept of human relations, that is why they chose to
-regarded the brown-skinned Filipinos as inferior beings.
MALADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
To the Imperialist way of thinking, brown Filipinos and white
Spaniards may be equal before God, but not before the law and
certainly not in practice. The Spanish Penal Code imposed
heavier penalties on native Filipinos or mestizos and lighter
penalties on white Spaniards. Wealth, social prestige, and color
of skin were preponderant factors in winning a case in court.
Irrespective of the weight of evidence, skin white can easily
achieved victory in any litigation.  Jose Rizal and the three
martyr priests, the GOMBURZA, were victims of the
maladministration of justice.  Thus, the courts of justice were
notoriously corrupt. Judges, fiscals and court officials were
inept, venal and oftentimes ignorant of law. Justice was costly,
partial and slow. Poor Filipinos has no access to the courts. To
the Filipino masses, litigation in court was a calamity. Imagine
how tragic being publicly executed by the crime you never
committed.
RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
Racial prejudice was prevalent everywhere- in government
offices, in the courts of justice, in the armed forces and even in
the educational institutions and in the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
On the previous topic about the social and political stratification
it was evident how the native Filipinos were considered as
inferior. They are always placed at the bottom and were not
equal to the Spaniards.
FRAILOCRACY
So named because it was a “government of the friars”
The friars practically ruled the Philippines through a façade of
civil government. The colonial authorities, from the governor
general  down to the Alcaldes Mayores, were under the control
of the friars. As the friars become powerful, abuses among the
Filipinos took place. The issue about the friar lands became one
of the reasons for the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution.
Majority of the lands, especially in the Tagalog region, were
owned by the friars. Foreclosure of mortgages and outright land
grabbing were frequent. Abuses made by the friars among his
constituents/ flock were observable. The secularization of the
parishes also became an issue since the regulars won’t give up
their parishes to the Filipino seculars. These abuses made by
the friars are well depicted in Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo, Del Pilar’s La Soberania Monacal en
Filipinas and Lopez-Jaenas’ Fray Botod..
FORCED LABOR
Known as the “polo”, it was the compulsory labor imposed by
the Spanish colonial authorities on adult Filipino males.
The well-to-do Filipinos were able to escape this manual labor
by paying the “falla”, which was a sum of money paid to the
government to be exempted from rendeing services. Spaniards
were not drafted to forced labor, contrary to law, while the
Filipino polistas received only a part of two pesetas (50
centavos) or worse nothing at all. Disturbed the Indios’ work in
the farm and shops and separate them from their families.
HACIENDAS OWNED BY THE FRIARS
Spanish friars belonging to different religious orders were the
richest landlords, for they owned the best haciendas. The rural
folks, who had been living in these haciendas and cultivating
them generation after generation became tenants. No wonder,
these friar haciendas became hotbeds of revolts. In as much as
the Filipino tenants regarded the friar owners as usurpers of
their ancestral lands. Rizal, whose family and relatives were
tenants of the Dominican Estate of Calamba, tried to initiate
agrarian reforms in 1887,but in vain. His advocacy of agrarian
reform ignited the wrath of the Dominican friars, who retaliated
by raising the rentals of lands leased by his family and other
Calamba tenants.
THE GUARDIA CIVIL
While it is true that the Guardia Civil had rendered meritorious
services in suppressing the bandits in the provinces, they later
became infamous for their rampant abuses. Rizal actually
witnessed the atrocities committed by the Guardia Civil on the
Calamba folks. He himself and his mother had bee victims of the
brutalities of the lieutenant of the Guardia Civil.
For 333 years, Philippines was under the cruel hands of the
Spaniards. The lack of unity was said to be one of the reasons
why it took so many years before Philippines got its
independence from them. Fortunately, the onset of 19 th century
that brought changes and development in Philippines paved
way for the awakening of the lack of national consciousness of
the Filipinos through varying factors that started from the
opening of the international trade.
             This module will then help the learners explore the
deeper meaning of the history of the development of the
national consciousness of the Filipinos during Spanish Period.
Nationalism devotion to or advocacy of national unity and
independence is the most important prerequisite to the
formation of national consciousness, indeed the sine qua non to
the development of national identities. It is a feeling developed
among the people within a contiguous geographic area, a
sentiment forged by a common history Language and literature,
customs and traditions and even by a common religion As a
historical development, it is a relatively new concept, a product
of the ferment and political upheavals of the 18th century and "a
child of the French Revolution which was exported to the other
nations of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars and later, by war
and commerce, by colonialism itself to other parts of the world,
In history of the colonized and exploited people all over the
world, no significant struggle for liberation and independence
ever succeeded in making any headway without the earlier
development of nationalism among the people involved in the
movement. No such sentiment existed in the Philippines before
the 19" century. To be sure, the different ethnic groups in the
country shared the same basic elements of nationalism such as
similarities in racial and cultural features, but Spanish colonial
policy as well as certain national barriers retarded the
development of nationalistic feelings among the Filipinos. The
insular and mountainous character of the Philippine geography
United social contact and communication. The dismal state of
transportation and communication facilities rendered these
natural barriers much more formidable. Moreover, the Spanish
medieval practice of requiring passports for travel from one
province to another virtually estranged regions from one
another. The Filipinos from different parts of the country,
therefore, failed to realize the similarities of the grievances and
the existence of a common source of suffering and misery
Linguistic differences and the absence of a common language,
aggravated by the deliberate refusal of the Spaniards to
propagate the Spanish language, weighed heavily in fomenting
regionalism and prevented the people from developing a
national language that would have unified them.
Filipino Nationalism: Contributory Factors
The emergence of Filipino nationalism came as a culmination of
a long process set in motion by Spanish misrule and
exploitation, hastened by economic and political developments
in the Philippines and Europe. The transformation of the
Philippine economy into a raw material market for Europe
unavoidably brought the Filipinos in touch with the intellectual
tradition of the West. Particularly those liberal and revolutionary
ideas that had earlier changed the face of Europe Improved
economic conditions broke down the walls of isolation among
the Filipinos and increased their contact with the outside world.
1. Opening of the Philippines to International Trade The
opening of several ports in the Philippines between
1834 and 1873 stimulated the commercial cultivation of
certain export crops to the world market. The application of
increased capital - Including British and American and
scientific techniques to agricultural production and the
increasing demand of these products brought prosperity to
the hitherto sequestered colony. Some Filipinos, mostly
Spanish and Chinese half breeds of mestizos, shared in this
prosperity and as result of their participation in economic
activities of the colony either as owners of lands which
produced an the economic export crop or as import - export
merchants and middlemen (compradores) - became Filipino
middle class. The growth of commerce and industry, The
 therefore, fostered alteration of the native social hierarchy
with the principalia or the political and social aristocracy
constituting the upper class, the masses which occupied the
lowest rung of the social ladder and the new middle class
intermediate between these two classes. The term middle
class, however, as applied to this emergent stratum in
Filipino society differs in meaning and significance from that
of the European middle class, or for that matter, the French
bourgeoisie. In time as economic development in the
Philippines would demonstrate the thin dividing line
between the principalia and the middle class would
disappear almost completely Progress in agriculture and
commerce, far from turning out to be of real benefit to the
people, brought even greater hardship upon them. While
the expansion of foreign commerce stabilized the colonial
economy and brought immense profits to the upper classes,
it merely served to sharpen the suffering of the people, for
the condition perpetuating poverty among the masses -
usurious money-lending, arbitrary land rental increases, etc.
- remained unchanged. The prosperity that came to the
colony, therefore, was actually non-distributive for it did not
seep into the lower classes of society. Nevertheless, the
improvement in transportation and communication facilities
required by increased foreign trade brought the Filipinos
closer to one another and gave them opportunities to realize
their universal plight. The opening of the Suez Canal and
the subsequent shortening of the route between the
Philippines and Europe enabled many Europeans of liberal
orientation to come to the Philippines and come into contact
with some Filipinos who had been educated in Europe.
Ideas as well as works of well-known liberal thinkers and
philosophers trickled into the colony.
2. Rise of the Middle Class. The middle class or the
Filipinos who participated in agricultural production and
commerce following the opening of Philippines to world
commerce acquired not only wealth and property but
improved their Social status. They sent their children to
educational institutions which before were closed to them
and when possible even to colleges in Spain. Resenting the
emergence of the middle class and clearly apprehensive of
the possible threat they might pose in the future, the
Spaniards and the old aristocratic families looked down on
the emergent bourgeoisie with open contempt and
scornfully labeled them "bestias cargadas de oro or "beasts
loaded with gold.
            The needs of the middle class were totally at variance
with the existing social order. With increasing prosperity, the
need for political prerogatives and social equality with the
Spaniards commensurate with their newly-acquired economic
position became particularly acute. The middle class became
increasingly critic of the superciliousness of the friar curate, the
importunities and excesses of the bureaucrats, both high and
low, but they particularly resented the government deliberate
policy of awarding colonial appointments only to full-blooded
Spaniards more particularly to those born in Spain.
            From the ranks of the middle class sprang bravo young
men educated in Manila and Europe, determined to alter the
status quo Nationalist feelings grew rapidly among the educated
Filipinos and the repressive policies of the Spanish authorities
served only to popularize that sentiment. The energetic efforts of
these men in translating the various aspects of Western
nationalism into ideas that would be more meaningful to native
needs and conditions, as will be seen in the campaign for
reforms, helped expose the ancient regime in the Philippines
and at the same time helped bring about national consciousness
among the people.
1. Impact of European Liberalism. Ironically, the opening
of Philippine ports to world commerce not only brought
economic stability to the colony's ruling power but also
permitted certain intellectual developments, which in the
end undermined Spanish sovereignty. The political fortunes
of the adherents of liberalism were sometimes reflected in
the appointment of liberal governors and bureaucrats when
the liberals in Spain won in their see saw struggle with the
conservatives, sometimes in the exodus of the Spanish
 liberals when the conservatives gained ascendancy. These
liberal bureaucrats and refugees, along with other European
and American liberals, no doubt influenced Filipinos from
the ranks of the middle class with their thought and
orientation
New political ideas, products of intense intellectual ferment,
humanitarianism and cosmopolitanism in Europe during the 17th
and 18th centuries, trickled into the archipelago. The appeal of
the enlightenment philosophers, notably John Locke in his Two
Treatises of Government and Jean Jacques Rousseau in his
"Le Contrat Social (The Social Contract), proved particularly
strong to the educated Filipinos. Both thinkers maintained that
no government is legitimate unless it represents and enforces
the absolute and inalienable will of the people. It cannot
continue when it has lost the consent of the governed. The
people, therefore, have the right to revolution and are entitled to
the right to overthrow the existing political order and construct a
new government. Both the reformists and the theoreticians of
the Revolution of 1896 imbibed theme thoughts. The ideas of
masonry-free thinking anti-clerical and humanitarian - also
influenced members of the middle clans and enabled them to
meet on common grounds for propaganda purposes.
The French Revolution on the other hand, provided one of the
intellectual bases of Filipino nationalism. The situation of France
in 1789 closely paralleled the conditions prevailing in the
Philippines in 1896 An unjust and unfeeling government reigned
undisputed. The upper classes held a monopoly of political and
administrative powers and refused to acknowledge the
existence of a growing bourgeoisie, which, in the 18th century,
chafed at the refusal of the authorities to grant it political and
social representation. The Church owned vast tracts of lands.
controlled education and even commerce, exercises excessive
power throughout Europe and sometimes directed all internal
political administration. The masses, on the other hand,
continued to bear the crushing burden of taxation and other
Impositions of Church and government. Time and again, they
banded themselves together to wage war against these abuses.
The ilustrados, who formed the vanguard of the Propaganda
Movement, exposed the great spiritual crisis that engulfed the
Filipinos and attempted to convince the Spanish authorities of
the imperative need for far reaching reforms to avert the
outbreak of revolution. When these were not forthcoming the
revolutionists inspired no loss by the French Revolution,
launched the struggle for freedom and independence.
1. Racial Prejudice - The Spaniards regarded the Filipinos
as belonging to the "inferior races" and could not possibly
be expected to rise beyond the limited intelligence nature
has endowed them. The Spaniards saw to it that an
impenetrable barrier separated the Spanish minority from
the larger native segment of Philippine society to whom they
derisively referred to as Indios, a name that carried the most
disparaging and unflattering connotations. The term Filipino,
which referred to the Spaniards born in the Philippines was
applied to the natives only very much later. In the 19th
century, because of the increasing number of ilustrados
growing restive under Spanish rule, the Spaniards waged a
campaign of open vilification against the Filipinos.
Journalists like Pablo Feced, Francisco Conamoque and W.
E. Retana, and other paid hacks of the friars, took turns in
debasing the Filipino who was described as "a machine that
walks, eats, sleeps, and simply exists "an incomplete whole,
a confusion of sentiments, instincts, desires, energios,
passions, colors that crowd each other without forming a
single particular one. The prejudiced notion that the
Filipinos were "impossible to expose to curiosity and
philosophical studies justified the policy of depriving them of
education and enlightenment.”
The constant insinuation at the racial and cultural inferiority of
the Filipinos constrained Rizal to prepare a new edition of
Antonio Morga's Sucesos de las  Islas Fillipinas which, with his
copious annotations and criticisms, debunked the allegations of
the Spaniards that the Filipinos were savages and no culture
before the advent of the conquerors. Racial prejudice may have
wrought irreparable damage upon the mentality of the Filipinos,
who began to regard Western culture as completely superior to
their own, but it also proved to be a unifying factor among
geographically separated and linguistically divergent groups of
Filipinos. The Filipinos realized that they were a race apart from
their Spanish colonizers, a painful awareness driven home by
the refusal of the Spaniards to allow qualified Filipino parts to
share in the management of parishes in the Philippines.
1. Secularization Controversy. The intensification of the
secularization question and its transformation into a
Filipinization controversy involving Spanish and secular
priests, on one hand, and the Filipino secular priests, on the
other countries to the development of nationalism. The
conflict between the Spanish clerics trying to protect their
position as the people's religious caretakers and the Filipino
priests y low an equitable representation in parish
administration provided the Filipinos ample proof that the
Filipinos were denied social and political quay not because
of their alleged congenital inferiority and lack of training, but
because they were natives.
The conversion of thousands of natives to Christianity in the
early decades of Spanish rule required in accordance with the
mandatory provision of the Council of Trent (1545-1583) that
secular priests be appointed to administer the new hea. Owing
to the scarcity of the secular priests, however, Pope Pius V sued
in 1567, upon the request of King Philip II, the Exponi Nobis, an
apostolic brief that allowed regulars to serve as parish priests
without diocesan authorization and exempt them from the
bishop's authority and jurisdiction. As such, therefore, they
remained under the exclusive jurisdiction of the heads or
superiors of their respective religious orders.
The appointment of regular priests to the Philippine parishes
brought them into conflict with the archbishop and the bishops.
The latter maintained that they were responsible for the proper
administration of parishes and as such they should be given
commensurate power and authority over the friar curate or cura
parroco, as the regular serving as parish priest was popularly
known. The friar curates, however, invoked the papal brief as
exempting them from diocesan visitation and argued that as
members of a religious order, they were subject only to the rules
and regulations and the superiors of their respective religious
communities. They resisted visitation on the ground that it would
place them under two superiors and that it would erode the
religious discipline and monastic orientation of their order.
 The archbishops and bishops, realizing that there were not
enough secular priests to replace the regulars in the parishes
and aware that the government would not want the campaign for
Christianization to slacken, could not really enforce their power
of visitation upon the friar curates. Moreover, the friar curates
threatened to resign and abandon the parishes if the prelates
insisted on conducting visitation in the respective jurisdictions.
 In the 18th century, however, Archbishop Basilio Santa Justa,
determined to assert diocesan supremacy over the friar curates
accepted the resignation of the regular priests and appointed
secular priests to the vacated parishes The dearth of secular
impelled Santa Justa to ordain Filipino secular seminarians and
appoint them as parish priests. A royal decree promulgated on
November 9, 1774 ordering the secularization of parishes (or
the turnover of the parishes administered by friar curates to the
seculars) sanctioned Santa Justa's campaign. The expulsion of
the Jesuits from the Philippines in 1768 created an even more
auspicious atmosphere for secularization. Unfortunately. the fast
pace of secularization involved the appointment of ill-trained
incompetent Filipino seculars who embraced the ways of their
Spanish predecessors with alacrity. The unpreparedness of the
native secular clergy and the organized opposition of the friars
to the secularization prompted the passage of another royal
decree in 1776, which virtually suspended the secularization of
parishes. The decree restored the parishes to the friar curates
but required visitation, which could be made either by the bishop
or by the superior of the religious order to which the friar curate
belonged. The decree moreover enjoined the church authorities
to prepare for eventual secularization by training a competent
native clergy in the Philippines The Spaniards continued to
make the parishes the exclusive reserve of the regulars and in
the 19th century, in the complete disregard of the injunction of
the decree of 1776, adopted a policy of despoliation or
desecularization. The influx of many religious priests in the
colony, encouraged by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869
and the growing liberalism and revolutionary sentiments that
had destroyed their power in Spain was made to justify such a
policy. Parishes had to be given to these friars and the
authorities, to be able to do so, not only refused to appoint
Filipino secular priests to vacant parishes but also dispossessed
the native clerics of parishes they already occupied. A decree
enacted in 1825 deprived many secular priests of parishes,
which they had held for nearly fifty years, another decree in
1849 gave seven curacies in Cavite, which were administered
by the secular clergy, to the friars.
 The return of the Jesuits in 1859 was also made to justify the
policy of despoliation at the expense of well-qualified Filipino
secular priests. The authorities ordered that the parishes in
Mindanao which the Jesuits held before their expulsion be
returned to them. The Recollects, however, had administered
these parishes in the Jesuit's absence and greeted the
government order with vehement opposition. Accordingly, the
government enacted a decree in 1861 which allocated the rich
and premier archdiocese of Manila where most parishes were
controlled by the Filipino secular clergy to the Recollects to
compensate them for loss of their parishes in Mindanao.
 The friars engaged the Filipino priests in a bitter fight over two
of the richest benefices in the country, the shrine of Antipolo and
the curacy of San Miguel Bulacan, which had long been
administered by Filipino secular priests. The curacy of Antipolo,
regarded as the "pearl of Philippine curacies, was a very rich
parish the collections of May alone when thousands of pilgrims
visited the provided the parish more than enough income to
support it for the rest of the year. When the parish priest of
Antipolo died in 1862, Father Pedro Pelaez, the ecclesiastical
govemor of the Archdiocese of Manila, appointed Francisco
Campmas, a Filipino secular priest to succeed him The
Recollects protesled the appointment on the ground that they
had the right to the panish, which was in the archbishopric
Manila by virtue of the decree of 1861. In the dispute the Filipino
secular clergy lost and the Recollects gained a very important
curacy. In 1869, the parish of San Rafael, Bulacan also became
vacant The government cancelled the competitive examination
for which 17 Filipino priests had qualified because the
Recollects invoking the 1861 decree claimed that the parish
should be given to them. The native clergy protest in vain. They
lost in similar disputes with the regulars the rich parishes in
Bataan, Zambales and Pampanga.Thus, the policy of
despoliation brought the Filipino secular clergy in direct
confrontation with the friars. Father Pelaez write a memorial to
the Queen of Spain protesting the decree of 1861 as illegal
because it violates the provisions of the Council of Trent and
was extremely prejudicial to the interests of the native clergy He
launched a spirited campaign for the secularization of the
Philippine parishes, and edited, with several others. El Eco
Filipino, a newspaper that worked for justice and equal
representation for Filipino priests The archbishop of Manila,
Gregorio Meliton Martinez, and the prelates of Cebu and Nueva
Caceres, on the other hand, supported the beleaguered native
clergy Archbishop Martinez, in particular, sent a memorial to the
Queen Regent in December, 1871 in which he advocated the
repeal of the decree of 1861 and the establishment of a definite
program of training seminarians for Philippine parishes He
called attention to the commendable qualities of the native
clergy and cited their faithful and efficient service to the church
in the same memorial, he issued a stern warning that if the
demands of the native clergy remained unheeded resentment
and hostility against the friars might develop in the natives a
contagious feeling hatred for all the Spaniards in the Philippines.
Secularization had been going on since the time of Anda,
encouraging many Filipinos to join the priesthood in increasing
numbers. Many native priests had proved their capabilities by
passing competitive examinations for parishes and at the turn of
the 19th century, many qualified Filipino priests were running
parishes in Pampanga, the Tagalog provinces and the
archdiocese of Manila Father Pedro Pelaez, a Spanish mestizo
became vicario capitular of the Manila cathedral and for three
years was virtually archbishop of Manila, wielding ecclesiastical
prerogatives until the arrival of Archbishop Meliton
Martinez.  The despoliation decrees of the 19th century,
however eroded whatever headway the Filipino secular clergy
might have achieved. By 1898, the friars occupied 817 parishes
out of the 67 in the entire colony. Indeed, the manner by which
the regulars usurped the parishes due the native clergy caused
so much resentment and indignation among the Filipino secular
priests. Late in the 19 century, the religious ceased to be one of
secularization and became one of Filipinization. The controversy
assumed a distinctly racial overtone and many Filipinos,
doubtless parishioners of the dispossessed and discriminated
clerics, also saw and resented the racial prejudice and snobbery
of the Spaniards. In the struggle to secularize the parishes,
therefore, the native clergy heightened racial consciousness and
helped bring about the emergence of nationalism.
1868. Liberal Resime o Carlos Ma de la Torre (1869-1871)
After liberalism triumphed in the Spanish revolution of 1868.
Carlos Ma. De la Torre arrived in 1869 to become the most
liberal and most loved governor-general of the Philippines.
His liberalism made him liberal among the Filipinos,
particularly among the native clerics and ilustrados. He
dismissed his bodyguards and walked about the city in
mufti, mingling with the natives and mestizos. He
entertained the Filipinos in receptions in his official
residence and in one such party he said to have
encouraged the agitation of the native clergy, led by Father
Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora, for the
secularization of the parishes. The liberal governor also
encouraged the freedom of speech and abolished the
censorship of the press abolished flogging and substituted
imprisonment as punishment for desertion among native
soldiers and proved his benevolence by subduing an
agrarian uprising and pardoning the rebels.
In so doing de la Torre antagonized the friars, particularly so
when he implemented the educational decrees of 1870 which
provided for the limited secularization of education and
government control of certain educational institutions in the
Philippines. One decree provided for the conversion of the
Dominican-owned University of Santo Tomas into a
government-controlled University of the Philippines. The Moret
Decree provided for the fusion of certain sectarian schools run
by the Jesuits and the Dominicans, among them the Ateneo de
Manila, the colleges of San Juan de Letran and San Jose into
one school called the Philippine Institute. The decrees proposed
to improve the standard of education in the Philippines by
requiring the teaching positions in such schools to be fled by
competitive examinations.
The reactionary Spaniards and the friars regarded the ease with
which De la Torre consorted with the native Filipinos and the
alacrity with which he surrounded himself with Filibusteros (or
Filipinos critical of the Spanish regime) with alarm and utter
distaste. They denounced the political innovations of the
governor as this would have the effect of encouraging the
Filipinos to entertain revolutionary, if not actually separatist,
thoughts. They know only too well that the sweeping reforms of
de la Torre, sanctioned as they were by the liberal government
in the Peninsula was encouraging the formation of national
consciousness among the Filipinos and would therefore,
undermine their well- entrenched positions in the colony.
De la Torre's benevolent regime, however, was short-lived; he
was recalled to Spain following the collapse of the liberal regime
in 1871. The reactionaries In the Philippines welcomed with
undisguised relief his successor Rafael de Izquierdo (1871-
1873), who announced upon his arrival that he would rule with a
crucifix on one hand, and a sword in the other, the exact
antithesis of de la Torre. Izquierdo ruled with an iron and
adopted terrorism measures to reason Spanish power and
authority once more in the colony. He reversed the liberal
policies of his predecessor, he disapproved the establishment in
the new school of arts and trades for fear that might be used as
a front for anti-Spanish activities he strengthened censorship
and dismissed natives and mestizos in the civil and military
administration of the government. Then he repealed the
exemption from the tribute and forced labor that the Filipino
workers in the arsenal and navy-card in Cavite had been
enjoying. Less than two months later, disgruntled Filipino
workers at the arsenal mutinied and protested against this
unreasonable decree. The aftermath of this insignificant
demonstration – it could hardly be called a mutiny at all -
produced far-reaching consequences that eventually led to the
emergence of Filipino nationalism.
1. Cavite Mutiny and the Execution of Gomez, Burgos,
and Zamora. On the night of January 20, 1872, a group of
native artillery men, marines, soldiers and workers in the
arsenal of Cavite, led by a Sgt. La Madrid seized the nearby
fort of San Felipe. Izquierdo's unwarranted abolition of their
privileges caused the mutiny. The rebels held the fort for a
night but troops from Manila, among them two native
infantry regiments, served in the morning and subdued the
mutiny very easily. The leaders were shot and the rest were
taken prisoners.
The mutiny was nothing more than a local manifestation of
discontent with the reactionary administration of Izquierdo.
There was hardly any was an initial phase a widespread
rebellion in the Philippines. If there was such plot, the native
regiments sent from Manila, as exploited as its counterpart in a
Cavite would not have helped the Spaniards quell the mutiny.
The friars, however, saw in the incident an excuse to intimidate
into silence the restive Filipino clerics by convincing the
governor that a conspiracy existed to overthrow Spanish
sovereignty and establish an independent Philippine republic.
According to the friars, the mutiny was part of a well planned
and widespread conspiracy, in which the workers of Cavite part
of a military group involved in the plot - played an insignificant
role. The real perpetrator of the conspiracy, in their view, were
the Filipino priests. Actively supported by Filipino ilustrados and
businessmen.
The government, believing it to be a rebellion, ordered the arrest
of Filipinos and mestizos who were allegedly behind it. Among
those arrested were Fathers Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez,
Jacinto Zamora, Pedro Dandan, Toribio del Pilar, Mariano
Sevilla, Agustin Mendoza, Jose Guevara, and others. Among
the civilians arrested were Pedro Carrillo, Antonio Regidor,
Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, and others. They were sentenced to
be banished to Guam, while Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora were
sentenced to death.
1. The Execution of GomBurza. The priests, Gomez,
Burgos And Zamora were jailed in Fort Santiago before they
were tried for rebellion. Priests, both regular and secular,
were allowed to see them. Each one of them had a
confessor. During the trial, the government failed to prove
convincingly that the accused were really connected with
the January mutiny. The governor general promised to
present documents to prove that the three priests were
guilty of "rebellion," which to many was actually a mutiny.
But he never presented any document and to this day, no
document had been found to show that Gomez, Burgos,
and Zamora were, in any way connected with the mutiny.
Nevertheless, they were sentenced to death by garrote. On
February 17, 1872, the three priests marched from Fort
Santiago to Bagumbayan Field (now Luneta). It is said that
Zamora lost his mind and silently accepted to be garroted.
He together with Burgos, and Gomez maintained their
innocence until the end. While they were being executed
one by one-first, Zamora, then Gomez, and lastly, Burgos-t
witnesses of the event took off their hats and knelt to pray
for the soul of the innocent priests. The Spaniards who were
present, thinking that the Filipinos were preparing to rise in
revolt, fled toward the city. The importance of the execution
of the three priests rested on the fact that the Filipinos who
witnessed the execution began to think and feel as Filipinos,
not as Ilocanos, Tagalogs, Visayans, Bicolanos, and others.
They suspected that because they belonged to a different
race, the Spaniards, who had always felt superior over the
Filipinos, took them for beasts of burden. From this time
 forward, they began to feel the necessity for unity. Rizal
who was eleven years old at that time, would later dedicate
his second novel El Filibusterismo (The Rebel), to the
memory of the three martyred priests. He wrote:

“The Church by refusing to degrade you, has placed in doubt

the crime that has been imputed to you; the Government, by
surrounding your trials with mystery and shadows, causes the
belief that there was some error committed in fatal moments;
and the Philippines, by worshipping your memory in no way
recognizes your culpability. “

The execution of Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora may have halted

the secularization movement but not its advocacy for
“Filipinization”of the parishes. The Spanish government with its
cruel measures, continued to frighten the Filipinos into
submission. Nevertheless, the seeds of Filipino nationalism had
been planted of fertile ground.