MAGELLAN’S EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES

The Voyage begins:

•TheSpanish king Charles V approved Magellan’s ambitious plan to discover the famous Spice Island (Moluccas) by sailing westward. The King provided him with 5 ships and a crew of
about 265 men. The five ships were: Trinidad, the flagship, Victoria, Concepcion, San Antonio and Santiago.
•Thevoyage finally arrived in the Philippines on March 16, 1521 according to Pigafetta’s account but this is wrong because he failed to add one day in his diary when the expedition
crossed the International dateline. Hence the correct date of arrival in the Philippines is March 17, 1521.
•March31, 1521, the first mass in the Philippines was held at Limasawa officiated by Fr. Pedro de Valderrama, chaplain of the voyage attended by Raha Kolambou, native chieftain of
limasawa.
•From
Limasawa Magellan and his men went to Cebu, where Raha Humabon, the native chieftain welcomed them. On April 14, 1521, a mass was held on the shore of Cebu. Raha
Humabon and his wife together with their followers were converted to Christianity and they were given Christian names, Raha Humabon was named King Carlos and his wife renamed
Queen Juana.
•Thecolonizers wanted to go to Mactan but the native Chieftain, Lapu-lapudefied them. Magellan was irked and wanted to crush the defiant leader. At dawn of April 27, 1521, the Battle
of Mactan happened. By vanquishing Magellan, Lapu-lapu became the first Filipino fighter for freedom.
•Feelingno longer safe the Spanish survivors decided to continue their voyage to the Moluccas finally landing in Tidore on November 8, 1521. They were left with only two ships Trinidad
and Victoria. After securing a rich cargo of spices, the survivors decided that the ship Vicotria, under the command of Sebastian Elcano would sail back to Spain via the Cape of Good
Hope, while Trinidad led by Gomez de Espinosa, would cross the Pacific to Panama.
•Only the ship Victoria, was able to go back to Spain on September 6, 1522.
•Significance of Magellan’s voyage.
1. It accomplished the first circumnavigation of the world thereby proving that the world was round.
2. It made known to the Europeans that the greatest of all oceans the Pacific Ocean lies between the New World and Asia.
3. It increased geographical knowledge of the times.
4. It paved the way for the colonization and Christianization of the Philippines.
POST MAGELLAN’S EXPEDITION:
1. Loaisa Expedition 1525
2. Cabot Expedition 1526
3. Saavedra Expedition 1527
4. Villalobos Expedition 1542
5. Legaspi Expedition 1564
LEGASPI’S EXPEDITION (1564)
• With a fleet of four ships (San Pedro) his flagship, and 380 men, he left Natividad, Mexico on November 21, 1564. He was accompanied by Fr. Andres de
Urdaneta, chief pilot, Capt. Felipe de Salcedo, and others. The expedition arrived in Cebu on February 13, 1565 b He wa weut was unavle to land because of the
hostility of the natives and sailed to the neighboring island of Samar. He was welcomed by a friendly chief Urrao.
• On April 27, 1565 Legaspi arrived in Cebu where he established the first Spanish settlement which was named “City of the most Holy name of Jesus” (Cuidad de
Santisimo Nombre de Jesus), thus Cebu city, became the oldest city in the Philippines.
• On june 4, 1565, Legaspi and Tupas concluded a treaty with the condition that Raha Tupas and the other datus recognize Spanish sovereignty and friendship.
• In 1570, Legaspi dispatched Martin de Goiti to explore the northern islands of Luzon. At that time Manila was a Muslim kingdom under Raha Sulayman.
• On June 24, 1571, Legaspi proclaimed Manila as the capital of the Hispanized Philippines and he himself became the first Spanish governor general of the
Philippines. In August 20, 1572, Legaspi died of heart attack in Manila.
• Juan de Salcedo was the greatest military hero of Spanish conquest a worthy grandson of Legaspi.
Aims of Spanish colonization:
1. To propagate Christianity 2. To seek political glory 3. To acquire economic wealth
The Colonial Government: The colony was rule by the governor-general. He was the chief executive in the colony. He performs all functions of government namely:
executive, legislatice and judicial. Aside from that, he also exercised military, administrative, religious and diplomatic powers.
Executive---he is the highest official in the colony, he executes Royal decrees coming from Spain, he appoints colonial officials
Legislative-he issues executive orders which have the force of law. Cumplase----the power of the governor general to veto royal decrees coming from Spain.
Judicial—he is the President of the Royal Audiencia, the Supreme Court in the colony
Military---he is the captain general of the colonial armed forces
Religious ---he is the vice-royal patron of the church
Administrative—he supervised all colonial offices, department and agencies
Diplomatic---he has the power to send and receive diplomatic officials from other colonies
INSTITUTIONS CREATED TO CHECK AND BALANCE THE POWER OF GOVERNOR-GENERAL:

•Because of the vast latitude of powers exercised by the governor-general, the certainty of abusing it becomes real. Because of these, 3 entities were
created to check and balance the exercise of such powers:
1.Residencia---this is an investigation conducted by the incoming governor general whether or not the outgoing governor general has committed abuses
while in power.
2.Royal audiencia---the Supreme court in the colony
3.Visita---a
secret investigation conducted by an official sent by the Council of the Indies (visitador general) whether or not the outgoing governor general has
committed abuses while in power.
THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT:
•Provinces were classified into two: alcaldia and corregimiento

1.Alcaldiais a fully pacified province where peace and order had been established and all the natives accepted Spanish rule and embraced Christianity. This
was rule by an alcalde mayor.
2.Corregimiento—partially pacified provinces where not all natives embraced chrisitanity and accepted Spanish rule. This was ruled by a Corregidor a
politico-military governor.

THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: Towns were known as pueblos. This was ruled by the gobernadorcillo. During the early decade of Spanish rule, the
position of governadorcillo was an appointive position. Later on, however, it became an elective position. Only members of the principalis class, a body of
prominent landowners, who can read, write and speak Spanish were qualified to run for the office.
THE CITY GOVERNMENT; The ayuntamiento- was a center of trade and industry. The city council was known as cabildo which was composed of:
alcalde9Mayor), regidores (councilors),aguacil mayor(chief constable) and the escribano(secretary).

BARANGAY GOVERNMENT; Towns were further divided into barangays. They were ruled by the cabeza de barangay or head of the barangay.
ECONOMIC POLICIES:
3.Encomienda system
4.GalleonTade
5.Trade Monopolies
ECONOMIC POLICIES:

1. Encomienda—is a piece of land granted to a Spanish colonizer in recognition of the valuable services he has rendered the crown. He is an
administrator of the encomienda.
Duties of encomendero:
a. to educate the natives b. to convert the natives into Christianity c. to maintain peace and order d. to collect taxes e. to
supervise over labor and industry f. to provide protection to
the natives. When the encomendero dies the land reverts back to the government unless he leaves an heir to administer the
encomienda.
2. Galleon trade----it was essentially a trade between China and Mexico with Manila serving as a transshipment port. Its primary goal was to
transform Manila as an important trade center in Asia. Goods coming from china such as sild, opium, gunpowder, silk and other
commodities are brought to Manila by junks. These are unloaded and transferred to Spanish galleons which will bring the goods to Mexico.
On the return trip galleons were loaded with silver to be brought to China via the colony.
3. Trade Monopolies--- was introduced by Gov. Gen. Jose Basco Y Vargas in 1781. Goods covered by the monopoly were tobacco, opium,
gunpowder, vinegar, wine, playing cards and many more. It simply meant that the government has the exclusive right to manufacture,
distribute and sell these products.
FORMS OF TAXES:
4. cedula- a form of personal tax where natives 18 years and above were required to pay
5. Tribute-a kind of tax in recognition of the sovereignty of the king
6. Bandala- the compulsory sale of agricultural commodities to the government
7. Polo- forced labor Filipinos males 16-60 years old were required to work and render service to the government. This labor lasted 40 days;
later in 1884 it was reduced to 15 days. Aristocratic Filipinos who can afford to pay the falla (exemption fee) were exempted from polo.
8. Land rents
9. Mining taxes
 STATE OF EDUCATION:

Spain introduced the European system of education in the colony. The first schools to be established were the parochial schools, with Spanish missionaries as
teachers. Subjects taught in the parochial schools were: Christian religion, 3 r’s (reading, writing and arithmetic), music, and various arts and trades.
1.Educational Reform decree of 1863 provided the following:
a. establishment of at least one primary school in each town
b. Primary instruction was to be free
c. teaching of Spanish shall be made compulsory
2. Journalism:
a. Del superior govierno—first Spanish newspaper in the Philippines
b. La esperanza—first Spanish daily newspaper
c. La Illustracion Filipina---first illustrated periodical
d. El catolico Filipino—first religious newspaper
e. La Opinion---first political newspaper
f. El Ilocano----first vernacular news paper, founded and edited by Isabelo delos Reyes
g. El Hogar---first women’s magazine

Social influences of Spain:

a.Christian religion h. western method of reckoning time
b.Fiesta system i. Spanish words incorporated in our vocabularies
c.Manner of dressing j. adoption of the Gregorian Calendar
d.Adoption of marriages in the catholic church k. Spanish delicacies
e.Burial in public cemeteries
f.Latin alphabet replaced pre-Spanish syllabaries
g.Spanish surnames, Gov. Gen. Narciso Claveria issued a decree for adoption of Spanish family names