Lamigo, Jayvee R.

Cultural History of the Philippines

BBTLED-ICT 1-2

Response Paper 1
Phelan argued that the colonization of the Philippines is less violent and therefore less traumatic when
compared to the Spanish subjugation of Mexico. DO YOU AGREE WITH PHELAN'S ANALYSIS? Use the
knowledge that you have accumulated to construct a well-informed argument.

Spaniards who came here to the Philippines started the installation of Hispanization immediately; they
discovered a native population scattered across the archipelago who already had a thriving culture and lived a
subsistence lifestyle. The confrontation between these two groups (Spaniards and locals) proved difficult. The
colonists did make concessions to the Filipinos, though. As with other imperialist schemes, having a colony turned
out to be an expensive endeavor. The colonizers in the Philippines ran into financial difficulties in their annual
activities in this far-flung colony. A yearly subsidy had to be provided by Mexico to support the new project in the
Pacific. One was the encomienda system. The encomienda was never a land grant for all its purposes and intent.
It was a right to collect tributes.

The encomenderos who helped the Spanish Crown in the pacification of the Filipinos (private encomienda)
collected the annual tribute tax. But, later on, the collection of tributes in the pacified provinces was relegated to the
Cabezas de barangay. Another was the polo and vandala measures implemented by the Spaniards. Under the
Spanish regime, Filipinos between 18-60 years old were to render free labor in military-related works like
shipbuilding and public roads and bridges. The third was the vandala or "purchase."

Phelan said that the Philippines is less violent and therefore less traumatic when compared to the Spanish
subjugation of Mexico? I agree with Phelans because before the Spaniards arrived here in the Philippines, we
already had cultures and traditions, and at that time, we were not enslaved by the Spanish compared to Mexico.
Because there are more Filipinos than Spaniards, the cultures and traditions continue here in the Philippine s.
Compared to Mexicans who experienced more abuse and violence from the Spaniards because of the war during
those times, the Mexicans were increasingly depleted. Their leaders were dying, so the Mexicans were losing power,
and they were experiencing more violence and abuse from the Spanish.

They realized no monolithic leadership among the natives in the Philippines, at least not in the Luzon and
Visayas territories. What was present was the datus/chieftains' control over local leadership in their barangays. In
addition, this chapter explains the Filipino social hierarchy. The author identified four distinct classes in the
baranganic system: datu (chieftains and their families, maharlika (the mamamahay-tumaranpuh/guiguilir-ayuey (the
servile, dependent type mistakenly referred to as "slaves" by the Spaniards); and maharlika (the mamamahay
 Tumaranpuh/guiguilir-ayuey. "The people that the Spaniards encountered in both Cebu and Manila...were
superficially Islamized," the author added (Phelan, 1985:17). When the Spaniards arrived, the Filipinos already had
a flourishing culture of alphabets, beliefs, social activities, and trade with neighboring Indo-Pacific countries. As a
result, the Filipinos' indigenous way of life clashed and merged with the Spanish mission of unification,
Christianization, and Hispanization. On the other hand, the Filipinos reacted with acceptance, resistance, and
indifference.

Mexican is more traumatic and abused than Filipinos from Spaniards because of their lack of soldier and
leaders. As time passed by, Mexicans were slowly slaved by Spaniards. In the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, the total number of Spaniards in the country was relatively small. The Filipinos and the Chinese, according
to documentary evidence, were the two most populous groups. One aspect mentioned by the author was the
archipelago's mining industry's lack of development compared to Spain's colonies in Mexico and Peru. The
immigration of Spanish investors, for example, resulted in a large mestizo/creole population in Mexico. Despite
discovering rare metals and minerals in the country, the Spaniards did not develop them. As a result, Spaniards
were hesitant to visit the Philippines, frightened of disappointment. The Spanish religious missionaries and colonial
officials were forced to seek measures to strengthen their hold and social control over the Filipinos due to the
increase in population.

Using the Hegelian formula, Phelan expressed such a point. "The thesis is royal legislation dispatched to the
Philippines mainly based on Mexico models; the antithesis is local conditions in the islands often at odds with the
government's instructions. This gap was created by the Council of the Indies' ignorance of the actual state of affairs
in the distant archipelago and by the spontaneous impulse of the bureaucrats in Spain to standardize practices
throughout the empire. Thus, the Spanish authorities' efforts to copy policies from Mexico and Peru and apply them
to the Philippines did not produce the desired results; local customs, practices, and traditions and the country's
ecological makeup posed a significant challenge to the Spanish Hispanization schemes.
References

Secondary Sources:

. Summary of John Leddy Phelan s reprinted.(n.d) Retrieved from

https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/far-eastern-university/readings-in-philippine-history/summary-of-
john-leddy-phelan-s-reprinted/9571852

. The Hispanization of the Philippines.(n.d) Retrieved from

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13507486.2012.695588