 Before the Spanish conquest in 1565,

Filipinos had their own indigenous

culture, their own government and their
own religion.

 Spanish colonizers forced them to

accept foreign culture and Catholicism
that they never completely understood.
They lost their ancestral lands to
colonial masters through the
encomienda system.
 The Philippine society was predominantly
feudalistic-the results of the encomienda
and the succeeding Spanish land holding
system imposed upon the country with the
arrival of the conquistadors and
perpetuated the master-slave relationship.

 Master-slave (landlord-tenant) relationship

- an elite class (Spaniards) exploited the
masses (Filipinos)
 Forms of exploitation:

 Spaniards exacted all forms of taxes

and tributes;
 Filipinos were forced to do manual
labor
 The poor became poorer and the rich
became wealthier
 There was racial discrimination
among classes
 Social Structure

 The social structure was pyramidical

in form- with the Spanish doctrine of
“limpeiza de sangre” (purity of blood),
which institutionalized a system of
discrimination and injustice.
  Spaniards born in Spain whose
Peninsulares prerogative was to rule and govern

 Pure-blooded Spaniards born

Insulares in the Philippines

 Those born in Spanish

Spanish Mestizos and Native Filipino
parentage

Principalia  Town ruling class

 People with
Chinese Mestizos Chinese and
Indio parents

 Pure
Indios Filipinos
 From the beginning of Spanish rule to
1821, the Philippines was
administered by the Viceroy of
Mexico, in the name of the Spanish
monarch.
 When Mexico gained independence
in 1821, Spain governed the
Philippines through the Ministro de
Ultramar (Ministry of the Colonies)
based in Madrid.
 Gobernador General
Central
(Governor General)
Government

Alcalde Mayor
Alcaldia
(Provincial Governor)
(Provincial Level)

Corregimentos Corregidores

Pueblo Gobernadorcillo
(Town Mayor)

Barangay Cabeza de Barangay

(Barrio Administrator)

Guardia Civil Consists of corps of

(Civil Guards) native police headed
by Spanish officers
1.) Governor-general
 appointed by the Spanish monarch and headed the
central administration in Manila;
 The governor general is the king’s representative in
all state and religious matters and as such, he
exercised extensive powers;
 Executive power - issuing orders, proclamations
 Military power - head of armed forces
 Legislative power - with his cumplase, he could
disregard or suspend law or royal decree from Spain
 Judicial power - he is the ex-officio
president of Royal Audiencia (the highest
court) until 1861. The Royal Audiencia
advised the Governor General on financial
and other important administrative matters
but he was under no obligation to take its
advice.
 Religious duty (Vice Royal Patron) – he
had the prerogative to nominate priests to
ecclesiastical position and control the
finances of the mission
 He had supreme authority in financial
matters until 1784
 The governor general was theoretically
responsible for all government and
religious activities during his term.
 His supervisory and disciplinary
prerogatives gave him the opportunity to
reward his favorites and relatives and
penalize those who had displeased him.
2.) Alcalde mayor (civil governor)
 heads the provincial government
(alcaldia).

3.) Alcalde en Ordinario (Mayor and Vice

Mayor)

 heads the city government called

cabildo or ayuntamiento.
4.) Gobernadorcillo or Kapitan
 chief executives and chief judge of a
town (pueblo), elected by a board
composed of town principalia – a body
of citizens of high standing usually made
up the incumbent or ex-cabezas de
barangay.
5.) Cabeza de Barangay
 barangay or barrio level; usually Filipino or
Chinese mestizo, whose main responsibility
was to maintain peace and order and to
collect tributes and taxes in his barrio.
 Participation in the government of the
natives was confined to the lowest offices in
the administrative hierarchy.
 The position of the gobernadorcillo was
honorary.
6.) Guardia Civil and cuardrilleros
 corps of native police led by Spanish officers,
performing police duties and helped maintain
peace and order. By 1880, the Guardia Civil
was the most feared instrument of summary
arrest of persons denounced by friars as
filibusteros (enemies of the state).

7.) Alferez (Second Lieutenant)

 usually a Spaniard who headed the corps of
guardia civil in each town.
Structure of PHILIPPINE
GOVERNMENT (19th Century)
 King of Spain
Ministry of the Colonies
Governor-
Archbishop of Manila Royal Audiencia
General
Board of Authorities
General Segunda Cabo
Advisory Bodies

Adviser on military affairs Council of Administration

City Government (Cabildo or

Ayuntamiento)

Alcaldes en Ordinario Provincial Government

1Alcaldia Mayor 2. Corregimentos

Alcalde Mayor Corregidores

(pacified areas) (unpacified areas)

Gobernadorcillo or
Kapitan For municipal government
For municipal
government Cabeza de Barangay
or
Cabeza del Barrio
Judicial and
Legislative
System
Royal Audiencia – the highest
judicial body
o This body served as the highest
court of appeals for civil and
criminal cases but also as the high
council to which important
government affairs were referred.
o It also acted as auditor of the
finances of the government.
Spanish Cortes – the Spanish legislature; for three brief
periods, the Philippines was represented in the Spanish
Cortes

 No regular bodies took charge of enacting

laws in the Philippines
 Autos acordados – executive decrees issued
by the Governor General upon advice of the
Royal Audiencia; they had the binding force
of law, covering very broad fields ranging
from tribute collection to the control of
corruption in the provincial government.
 Laws of the Indies – were royal decrees
issued by the Spanish monarchs at various
times and intended for all Spanish colonies.
 Frailocracy
“Frailocracia”
 The principle of the union of church and
state that was practiced by almost all
absolute monarchial states spawned an
invisible government called frailocracia –
meaning “rule of the friars.”
 The friar-curates became very influential
and so powerful that the Spanish civil
authorities, including the Governor General,
feared them.
 The friars were permanently residing in the
colony, and as such, their advice was
sought by different Governor Generals.
Gradually, the friars powers and
functions included:
 Supervising local elections
 Acting as administrators of school
 Chairman of the board of
taxation, of health and of charity
 Responsible for certifying
personal identification card
 Inthe last four decades of the 19th
century, the friars became the
dominant force in the colonial
administration.
SOURCES OF
WEAKNESSES
AND ABUSES IN
THE
GOVERNMENT
1.) Vast powers and privileges of
the Governor General
 His supervisory and disciplinary
prerogatives gave him opportunity to
reward his favorites and relatives and
penalize those who had displeased him.

2.) Appointment of officials – main cause of

weakness of administrative system
 Appointed officials did not have the moral
strength to resist corruption for material
advancement; they were assigned manifold
duties and given many powers and
privileges.
How officials were appointed:
 Officials with inferior qualifications and
without dedication to duty were appointed
 The principal officials obtained their
position by royal appointment; the term of
office of the royal appointees depended on
the king’s whims, and often they were
ignorant of Philippines needs
 Other positions were filled by the Governor
General himself or were sold to highest
bidder (the sale of offices were practiced in
order to raise revenues)
 Other factors that contributed to the
perpetuation of anomalies in government
service:
 Distance of the colony from Spain
 Inadequate administrative supervision
 Overlapping of powers and privileges of official
 Many officials exploited their office and its
wide powers to recover their expenses in
obtaining their royal appointment and to
enrich themselves.
 When conflict of interest arose in the
performance of duties, the officials
inevitably favored their personal interest
over the welfare of the state.
 The insecurity of their term of office
made them more unscrupulous and
determined to recover their financial
losses through devious means
 The provincial administrative system
was the corrupt branch of government
 The alcalde was administrator, judge,
military commandant – rolled into one.
 Privileges of the alcalde:
 He collected taxes and unscrupulous officials
often exacted more tributes than required by law
and pocketed the excess collections
 He had the privilege to engage in trade (indulto de
commercio) – the provincial governors
monopolized provincial trade and controlled prices
and business practices; they bought goods from
the natives at a cheap rate and sold these goods
back to the natives in times of scarcity at a much
higher price. This practice practically killed the
business incentives left among the people.
3.) Checks adopted by Spain
proved ineffective
 Abuses multiplied because higher officials
were indifferent to the anomalies.
 Check and balance system:
 Visitador- paid regular visits to the
province
 Residencia – held at the end of an
official’s term when he was called upon
to account for his actuations while in
office.
4.) System of tax collection
5.) The natural and constitutional
rights of the indios were curtailed
 Homes were searched without warrants
 People were convicted and exiled for
being filibusteros
 Books and other printed materials could
not be published without prior approval
of the Board of Censors
 Meeting and assemblies for political
purposes were prohibited
6.) The judicial system was not properly
implemented because many judges were
incompetent and corrupt
 Many cases were settled not according to
the merit of the case but on the basis of such
considerations as race, money, and personal
advantage
 Legal proceedings were costly affairs
 Judicial decisions were so delayed and the
people were burned by the injustice of the
courts of justice
 Case of injustice; imprisonment of Rizal’s
mother
7.) The indivisibility/union of the
church and state (theocracy)
 The spread of Christianity was one of the most
important motives in Spain in colonizing the
people
 Consequently, friars were used by the
government as instruments of colonial control
 While the terms of office of the officials were
limited, those of the friars were not. Hence, they
became powerful and abusive in the areas they
were stationed.
 Political authority was placed on the hands of a
parish priest – making him the religious and
political representatives of the town whose
advice was sought in important matters,
 Intrigues and jealousies resulted in conflicts
between church and state and became
impediments to administration of justice
 Friar control over the country tightened in the
19th century when Spain suffered from political
instability due to the many losses of its Latin
American colonies.
 The religious corporations acquired vast tracts
of lands and enriched their coffers. Most of the
lands were arable and were leased to tenants
on terms profitable to the religious orders
 Unfair practices adopted by the friar-landlords
led to antagonism and anti-clerical sentiments
 Strategies of the Spanish
Conquest

 1. “Divide and Conquer” Policy

 2. Intermarriages between conquistadors

and native women were encouraged (at
least before the 1600’s when the
Spaniards were already well-established)
 3. Reduccion- the imposition of Spanish-style
towns or settlements for “subjects” of the
Crown. This was to separate them from the
“unconquered” – wrongly called tulisanes.

 4. Extensive Catholic evangelism (under the

supervision of friar missionaries)

 5. Repression of literacy and education

(by the 1600’s, the masses were practically
illiterate).
 University
of Santo
Tomas EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEM
Mid 19th century –
intellectual
Colegio de disintegration was
San Juan felt by the middle
de Letran
class
Serious problems in education:
 Over emphasis of religious matters- religion
was the main subject in the schools; fear of
God was emphasized and obedience to the
friars was instilled in the people’s mind
 Obsolete teaching methods – learning in every
level was largely by rote (knowledge was
measures by the students’ ability to memorize,
hampering intellectual progress.)
 Limited curriculum – this resulted to the
average native having no opportunity to show
what he can do.
 Poor facilities and lack of teaching materials
 Neglect of primary education – there was no
systematic government supervision of
schools
 Education Decree of 1863 – each major town in
the Philippines was to establish at least one
primary school for boys and another for girls.
 Other provisions of Education Decree of 1863:
○ Establishment of teacher training schools
○ Government supervision of the public school
system
○ Spanish was to be the medium of instruction in all
schools
 Absence of academic freedom
 Books read by the Filipinos had to pass through
rigid censorship by church and government
authorities
 Student unrests proved that the system was
defective
 Felipe Buencamino, inspired by the Moret
Decree, led student protest in UST for the
following reasons:
○ Criticisms against the Dominican methods of instruction
○ Clamoring for better professors
○ Demand for government control of the University
○ Keep UST abreast with academic developments in Spain
 Prejudice against Filipinos in higher
learning – there were constantly reminded
that they had inferior intelligence and were
fit only for manual labor
 This resulted to lack of personal confidence on
the part of the Filipinos and the development of
inferiority complex
 Schools for higher education were not open to
the natives until the later decades of the
Spanish period
The succession of monarchs such as:

 Ferdinand VII
 restored to the
Spanish throne
after the defeat of
the France
Isabella II

•The daughter of
Ferdinand VII
• who were unfit
to rule.
 The split among the
intellectuals – the
conservatives and the liberals
 The attitude of indifference
and political ignorance of the
people
The 35- year reign of Isabella II
was marked by political chaos
 Five military politicians from
various political leanings
succeeded premiership
 The Spanish Constitution was
modified thrice
  The Carlist Wars
(1833-1839) were
the continuous
struggles between
the Liberal party
(called Carlista
headed by Don
Carlos, brother of
Ferdinand) and the
Don Carlos Conservative Party
(who wanted to
retain the monarchy)
 Isabella II became extremely
unpopular and ineffective
 Her despotic reign ended in a
revolution in 1868
The Spanish Republic was born
at a difficult period in history
 Its six years of existence saw
bitter party strife, frequent
changes in government and a new
Carlist war
 The republic ended as a result of
another civil war
The monarchy
was restored in
1875 with
Alfonso XII as
King
His conservative
minister, Canovas
del Castillo,
strengthen the
monarch and
suppressed the
Carlist movement
 When Alfonso died in 1885 and left an
infant heir, a Canovite system was
implemented – it came to be known as
rotativism wherein two factions must
alternate in the administration of the
country’s affairs – to save Spain from
the disastrous effects of bitter political
disunity
 But the will of the monarch prevailed
and the sovereignty of the people under
the Constitution was only a farce
 Spanish masses lived in poverty and
socialism misery that in 19th century,
leaders demanded protection of
economic and social rights
 The revolutionary doctrines of
socialism and anarchism spread in
Spain
 The government tried to improve the
conditions of the people, but it also
undertook outright repression
 Spain lost its colonies while
fighting with the French, except
Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the
Philippines
 But the last decades of the 19th
century witnessed popular unrest
in these colonies, particularly in
the Philippines and in Cuba
 A change of government in Spain was
followed by changes in the top colonial
administrators of the Philippines
 The colony became the convenient dumping
ground for favorites and followers of
politicians in Mother Country
 When Spain finally abandoned mercantilism
and adopted laissez faire after more than
two hundred years, the Galleon Trade
ended and the Philippines was opened to
world trade, thus ending its economic
isolation from the rest of the world.