CHAPTER 3 (PART 1) – THE SPANISH ERA  Juan de Cartagena, Antonio de Coca, Juan Sebastian del
Cano and Gaspar de Quesada were found guilty of treason…
In search of Lands
 15th and 16th centuries brought an era of worldwide exploration
and expansion that resulted to the desire to gain new lands,
power and wealth
 Europeans established commerce with the orient through
trade routes.
 Spices were the most important items of trade because they
enhance the taste of food and to preserve meat during winter
time… (pepper, ginger, nutmeg, onions and garlic)
 The fall of Constantinople and the rise of the Ottoman Turks
closed the former trade routes to the east causing the
monarchs to try new routes…
 The Portuguese were ahead of the Spaniards in this race…
Portuguese expeditions were headed by:
1. Prince Henry – the navigator
2. Bartolome Dias
3. Vasco de Gama
 The end of the wars against the moors paved the way for
great voyages, including the discovery of the America by
Christopher Columbus…
 After these voyages, Portugal and Spain became rivals in
colonizing land because of gold, spices, other merchandise
and spreading Catholicism
 Both have sent several daring expeditions…
 May 3, 1493, Pope Alexander VI issued a papal bull known as
Inter Caetera fixing the demarcation line to identify clearly the
spheres of exploration and conquest…
 In 1494, a demarcation line of 370 leagues was agreed in the
Treaty of Tordesillas. The revised treaty, allowed Portugal to
claim Brazil and the Americas was given to Spain…
 1505, Magellan, a Portuguese was sent to East Indies to bring
the viceroy…
 From there, he went to Malacca in the Malay Peninsula and
Ambon and Banda in Western Indonesia… in search for
spices…
 he was promoted as captain in 1510…
 he conceived of reaching the Spice Island or Moluccas
(Indonesia) via south America…
 he proposed this trip to King Manuel but the later refused to
send him there but instead cancelled his promotion….
 Disgusted with the king, he renounced his citizenship… he
went to Spain in 1517 and presented the same plan to King
Ferdinand… later, Magellan was named captain general of
the expedition…
 Left San Lucar Spain on Sept. 20, 1519…brought 5 ships:
Trinidad, Victoria, Concepcion, Santiago and San Antonio…
 This trip is intended to circumnavigate the earth…
 With him were: Fr. Pedro de Valderrama (fleet captain),
Antonio Pigafetta (chronicler), Duarte Barbosa (brother in
law), and his slave Enrique(interpreter)
 They passed by the west coast of Africa, the Canaries,
crossed the Atlantic, landed in Brazil, reached Sta. Lucia (Rio
de Janeiro), Rio de Plata, Port San Julian (Argentina).
 By the time Magellan’s team reach the south American
continent, it was already winter…
 Unknown to Magellan, 3 ships wanted to return to Spain but
Magellan refused to accept their petition…
Cartagena continued the plot again with Fr. Pero Sanchez de
Reina… were jealous of Magellan because he was a
Portuguese.
 When spring appeared, they continued the voyage…the ship
Santiago was destroyed by a typhoon… the 4 ships continued
and reached the strait of all saints… now known as the strait
of Magellan….
 Magellan directed the San Antonio to explore the southeast
opening but the ship captain sailed back straight to Spain…
then they crossed the Pacific Ocean….
 They underestimated the size of the ocean… in the next five
months, they run out of supplies… they ate sawdust, leather
ropes and rats… Many got sick of scurvy and died…then they
reached the Ladrones Island (Marianas)
 March 16, 1521 – they arrived in Samar and Leyte. They
named the island San Lazaro. The following day, they sailed
to Homonhon… on their 3rd day, they met some natives which
gave them food. On the 4th day, they went to Limasawa, Leyte
or Masao in Butuan…
 This is where Magellan met Rajah Kolambo… Kolambo gave
him jars of rice… their friendship was sealed with a blood
compact or the kasi-kasi…
 Up to the present time, historians still argue where the first
mass exactly took place…the name of the place was Mazaua
which is closer to the name of the place Masao…
 the mass was held on an Easter Sunday March 31, 1521
officiated by Fr. Valderrama
 After the mass, they planted a huge wooden cross on a hill
overlooking the sea…
 On April 7, accompanied by Kolambo the team went to
Sugbu. A blood compact was performed between Magellan
and Rajah Humabon.. Later, the king of Cebu was baptized
into Catholicism….
 On April 14, a mass was held. A wooden cross was also
planted… 800 natives were converted to Catholics including
the wife of Humabon who was given the name Juana. She
was given the image of the Sto. Nino as a gift from
Magellan…Humabon was renamed Carlos…
 Datu Zula of Mactan also welcomed the Spaniards…but not
Lapu-Lapu whose real name was Cali Pulaco…
 Lapu-lapu refused to accept the new political system and pay
tribute so he stayed away from Humabon…
 To teach him a lesson, Magellan invaded Mactan on April
27… his army consisted 60 Spaniards and 1,000 Cebuanos…
Magellan misjudged the fighting skills of Lapu2x and his men
 Lapu2x’s team only used spears and bamboo stakes…they
targeted the legs of the enemy. Magellan was hit by a
poisoned arrow in the leg and a spear stucked on his face…
 The battle of Mactan was a scandalous defeat for the
Spaniards… the natives plotted to kill them while attending a
party… Duarte Barbosa and Juan Serrano with 27 others
were killed. The others retreated to their boats and went back
to Spain … the ship Concepcion was burned… only the ship
Victoria reached Spain with only 18 survivors headed by del
Cano…
Result of Magellan’s expedition:
1. They found out that the Pacific Ocean is wide
2. They proved that the earth was round
3. The Europeans knew the existence of the Philippines and
other Pacific Islands
4. Broaden their geographical knowledge
5. Discovered the Strait of Magellan
 The cargo of cloves sold was sold and was sufficient to pay
for the Magellan’s voyage… Del Cano was later rewarded…
 The first Asian who circumnavigated the world was Enrique…
the slave of Magellan…
Other expeditions were headed by:
1. Capt. Garcia Jofre de Loaysa (1525)- with 7 ships and 450
men…he failed to reach the Philippines…after crossing the
strait of Magellan, his ships was driven away by storm… He
got sick during the travel and died…
2. Sebastian Cabot (1526) with 4 ships and 250 men… they
failed to find the strait of Magellan
3. Alvaro Saavedra Ceron with 3 ships and 110 men… they
sailed from Mexico…only the ship Florida reached Surigao but
failed to colonize it.. Was not able to return to Spain because
of strong winds…Saavedra fell ill and died…. His men
decided to surrender to the Portuguese….
4. Ruy Lopez de Villalobos with 6 ships and 400 men…reached
Baganga Bay in Eastern Mindanao on Feb.2, 1543… 3
months of sailing….named Mindanao as Caesaria Caroli…
searching for food, they reached the island of Saranggani..
He named it Antonia… his men went to Samar and named it
Felipina…died in the Moluccas….
After King Charles abdicated his throne to his son Phillip II,
Spain was at the height of its power… another expedition was
sent to the Philippines…. Headed by:
5. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi – a soldier, lawyer and
administrator…sailed from Mexico and he spent his own
money for this trip…with 4 ships and 380 men… he was
accompanied by: Fr. Andres de Urdaneta (survivor Loaysa
expedition), Capt. Felipe de Salcedo (grandson of Legazpi),
Guido de Lavezaris (survivor Villalobos expedition), and
Melchor de Legazpi (son of Miguel)… stopped in Guam and
got some water and supplies…
 In 1565, they anchored near Cebu then they went to Samar
and had a blood compact with Urrao… they proceeded to
Limasawa where they were met by Bankaw…then they went
to Bohol and had a blood compact with Si Katuna and Si
Gala…
 In Cebu, they were challenged by Rajah Tupas but because
of the superior weapons of Legazpi’s team, the natives failed
to win the battle… they retreated to the uplands….
 The following day, Legazpi’s man named Mermeo discovered
the image of the Sto.Nino in one of the houses….this is why
he named Cebu as Ciudad del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus…
 The earliest Spanish settlement was in a triangular form…the
2 sides face the sea and the third face the land…surrounded
by fences…wells supply the needed water and a church was
erected…
 To soften the heart of Tupas, Legazpi asked Tamuyan-the
brother of Tupas to convince Tupas to accept the Spanish
goodwill.. Later, Tupas met Legazpi peacefully…Tupas was
convinced because of the attraction policy of the Spaniards…
this was possible because of the help of Cid Hamal, a Muslim
Malay….
 The 1st cebuano convert was Jandulaman, a widowed niece of
Tupas.. She was named later as Isabel…from Isabel Garces
the deceased wife of Legazpi…
 After the baptism of Isabel, she married one of the men of
Legazpi…
 Rajah Tupas was named Felipe while his son Pinsuncan was
named Carlos…
 In 1569, Legazpi went to Panay…the second Spanish
settlement was on the bank of Panay river…Datu’s Macabaog
and Madidong also became christians…
 Juan de Salcedo was sent to Mindoro where they toppled the
Moros in the islands of Ilin and Lubang…
 Marshall Martin de Goiti with 120 Spaniards and 600 Visayans
explored Batangas… they made friends with the natives of the
place…then they went to the banks of Pasig River, there they
met Rajah Matanda and his nephew Rajah Sulayman…
 Sulayman and Goiti sealed their friendship with the kasi2x..but
he was not willing to submit to Spanish domination and pay
tribute to its king… so a clash started…it was bloody..
Sulayman’s troupe retreated to the mountains…
 Having known from Goiti that Maynilad was a rich kingdom,
Legazpi decided to colonize it… he did so in April 1571…with
him was 27 vessels 280 Spaniards and 600 Visayan allies..
 Lakandula, the king of Tondo and uncle of Sulayman decided
to accept Legazpi’s friendship since he knew he will lose the
battle…He helped Legazpi persuade Sulayman to return to
the fold of Spain…
 A brave Macabebe warrior named Bambolito dared to face
Legazpi’s team… Goiti took the challenged and toppled
Bambolito’s group…@ the Bangkusay Channel
 On June 24, 1571.. Legazpi proclaimed Manila as capital of
the Philippines.. He named it Nueva Castilla…on the same
day, the city govt. was established with a city council and a
court…
 On June 1, 1574, King Philip II named it Insigne y Siempre
Leal Ciudad
 On Aug 20, 1572 died of heart attack.. He was replaced by
Lavezaris…
 Salcedo subdued the Laguna de Bay region, discovered the
gold mines of Paracale, pacified the Ilocandia and Cagayan,
founded Villa Fernandina in Vigan……conquered Camarines,
Albay and Catanduanes… As a reward, he was given an
encomienda in Ilocos…
 The Philippines was a crown colony...from 1565-1821 , the
Mexican viceroy manages the Philippines for Spain…When
Mexico got its independence the Overseas Ministry took over
the management of the colony…
 In 1568, King Philip instructed Legazpi to establish cities,
towns and encomiendas (to commit into one’s care) to be
distributed to deserving soldiers…
 The encomienda was not a land grant , its real purpose was
to get tribute from the natives… the plan of educating the
natives with Spanish norms of conduct was just a pretense
because it was all about slavery….
 Tributes were collected cash or in kind…1/4 of the collection
was given to the encomendero and the rest was for the friars
and the government…
 Because of the abuses of the encomenderos, the encomienda
system was replaced with the provincial government…
2 types of Provincial Govt.:
1. Alcadia –headed by an Alcalde mayor of the province
2. Corregidores- territories that had been completely
pacified by the politico military governors…
 The office of the Alcalde Mayor was a model of graft,
corruption and inefficiency
 The provinces were divided into towns or pueblos…headed by
the gobernadorcillo….
 This position is offered to the Filipinos… before it was given to
chieftains and their Descendants… then it was elected by an
electoral board composed of the outgoing gobernadorcillo and
12 members of the principalia…
 Principalia refers to prominent land-owning and propertied
citizens who could read, write, and speak Spanish…
 Bandala- refers to the assignment of annual quotas to each
province for compulsory sale of products to the govt …
nonpayment means seizure of products….
 Political condition is the Philippines was worsened because of
the union of the church and the state…the friars exercised
political, economic and other powers… they control the
educational system and they collect taxes.. They control
municipal elections and censored plays and reading
materials….

 Each town is headed by the Cabeza de Barangay…remained

as an appointive office…
 The king appoints the governor general…
 He is the chief executive, commander in chief of the military
forces, vice royal patron (has the power to recommend priests
in parishes and intervenes in resolving problems between
religious authorities), can reject or suspend laws or decrees..
 The position can be bought or granted as a favor….short
tenure of office (two years and ten months) because of this,
the one in position will usually enrich himself….

 Evaluators of the performance of those in power:

 Audiencia Real- acts as the supreme court, advisory body to
the governor, audits the expenses of the govt.
 Visitador general- investigator sent by the king to check
behavior of high officials
 Residencia - conducts trial of an outgoing gov. gen. and other
officials to punish those whoa re involved in corruption
 Archbisop and clergy
 Subordinate public officials and influential private citizens.

The decision of those who perform the report may be changed

because they receive bribes…

Kinds of tribute(may be paid in money or in kind) :

1. 8 reales or 1 peso- paid by one family
2. 4 reales or 50 cents- paid by unmarried man or woman
3. Goods like corn, rice, honey, blankets etc…
4. In 1851, tribute was increased to 12 reales
5. In 1884, cedula tax replaced the tribute….

Exempted from paying the tributes were:

 Gobernadorcillos,
 cabezas and families
 Govt. employees
 Soldiers with outstanding service
 Descendants of Lakandula
 Other native chieftains
 Choir members
 Sacristans
 porters of churches
 Govt. witnesses

 Soldiers were used to collect taxes…nonpayment results to

punishment or torture…sometimes, houses were burned or
looted…
 Polo or forced labor – performed by males, 16-60 years
old…building ships, churches, roads etc…the workers has to
work 40 days in a year.. Later it was reduced to 15 days.. To
be excluded from it, a Filipino has to pay a falla or exemption
fee…chieftains and their eldest sons were exempted
Polo resulted to:
 Abandonment of fields
 Separation from families or homes
 Illness and death