Agrarian Disputes

AGRARIAN DISPUTES
introduction
In 1891, Jose Rizal received news that his family was involved in a legal dispute regarding their
property, the Hacienda de Calamba. He wrote to them to express his support and encourage them to
have patience and courage in a letter to his mother, Dona Teodora, and sisters, Josefa and Trinidad.
Historians believe this conflict greatly impacted Rizal. The chapter aims to examine the historical
background of the incident and delve deeper into the Hacienda de Calamba conflict.
Brief History of Friar Estates in the Philippines
The friar derivatives were land grants given to Spanish conquistadores in the Philippines in the
16th and 17th centuries. Spaniards were granted large plots of land, called sitios de ganado mayor, as
well as smaller parcels known as caballerias The Spanish hacenderos, who were awarded these lands,
failed to develop them in three reasons
1. Due to the Spanish population in the Philippines was transient.

2. A small market for livestock
3. And more attractive economic opportunities in the Manila trade.
The religious orders then took over the task of developing these lands through donations and
purchased. However, many Filipinos believed the religious orders had acquired these lands through
nefarious means. .
Records reveal that a number of Filipinos principales also contributed to formation of the friar
estates through donation and sales. The haciendas, which primarily served as cattle ranches and farms
of subsistence crops in the early centuries, eventually became important sources of income for the
religious orders through rice and sugar production in 19 th century. Religious estates in the Tagalog
region continued to grow, approximately 40 percent of the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the social structure of haciendas was led by lay brother
administrators and consisted of tenant farmers who were expected to work the land and pay an annual
rent, usually in the form of a fixed amount of harvest or money. The lay brothers had autonomy in
making decisions but were still under the authority of their religious orders
During the mid-eighteenth century, a growing economy focused on exporting agricultural goods
led to changes and the implementation of a system called inquilinato. Under this system, people would
rent land for a set yearly fee called canon.
By leasing the land to an inquilino, the religious hacenderos freed themselves from the social
resposiblities borne from a direct interaction with the sharecroppers since it was now the inquilinos who
dealt directly with the Kasamá.
A three-tiered system emerged with religious hacenderos at the top, inquilinos in the middle,
and sharecroppers at the bottom, with the inquilinos renting the land for a fixed annual amount and
sharecroppers working the land. This system led to contestation and was a contributing factor to the
Philippine Revolution in 1896.
Hacienda de Calamba Conflict
Former owners of Hacienda de Calamba
 Don Manuel Jauregi
The Hacienda de Calamba was owned by several Spanish laymen before it was donated to the
Jesuits in 1759 by a destitute Spanish layman, Don Manuel Jauregui, on the condition that he could live
in the Jesuit monastery for the rest of his life. The Jesuits were expelled from the Philippines eight years
later and the Hacienda de Calamba, along with other Jesuit properties, were confiscated by the
government and put under the management of the Office of Jesuit Temporalities.
 Don Clemente Azansa
In 1803 the Hacienda was later sold to a Spanish layman for 44,507 pesos to Don Clemente de
Azansa and then
 Dominicans
. Rizal's ancestors migrated to the hacienda and became one of the principal tenants. Sugar was
the main commodity grown on the hacienda, and much of the wealth of Rizal's family came from these
lands.
The conflict
In 1883, Paciano Rizal wrote that the friars were collecting rents without issuing the usual
receipt. Two years later, the tenants failed to pay their rent had supposedly increase while sugar prices
remained low. However, Problems began to arise with the friars, who were collecting rent without
issuing receipts, and increasing the rent without warning.
 The charges against the friars continued with Rizal’s brotherin-law Mariano Herboso,
Complaining about the yearly increase in rentals, faulty irrigation and failure to issue receipt.
 Sugar continued to decline in the world market
 Due to the dire situation Paciano considered giving back his lands to the friars and clearing land
elsewhere
 In 1886, the colonial government demanded from the tenants of the hacienda a report of
income and production of the estate because they suspected that the Dominicans were evading
payment of their taxes
 The tenants complied and submitted a report with a petition whom authored by Jose Rizal
which presented a list of grevances against the hacienda owners including a complaint on the
increasing rent.
In 1891 the friars began evicting tenants who refused to pay rent, and some of Rizal's family
members were exiled to remote areas in the country, including his parents, brother, and sisters. This
experience deeply affected Rizal and is reflected in his second novel, El Filibusterismo.
Summary
This chapter presented a brief history of the hacienda from its beginnings as a royal land grant
rewarded to Spaniards who had rendered exemplary service to the Spanish Crown. Later, these lands
came into the possession of the friars by the way of purchase or donation. Also pointed out in this
chapter was the change in landlord-tenant relationship from a two-tiered relationship between a
religious administrator and a tenant to a three-tiered one with landlords, inquilinios, and sharecroppers.
Rizal’s family served as inquilinos in the Dominican’s Hacienda de Calamba. By 1883, the family
began to notice changes in the manner through which the Dominicans collected rent. The conflict
reached its height towards the end of the 1880s when the farmers wrote a petition to the government
detailing their grievances against the Dominicans and with the priests retaliating as a result. The conflict
affected Rizal deeply and was reflected particularly in his second novel, El Filibusterismo.
Learning objectives
At the end of this chapter, the student should be able to:
1. Examine Rizal’s life in the Philippines within the wider context of the development in the
nineteenth century;
2. Explain how the Hacienda de Calamba issue serves as an explary illustration of agrarian conflicts
in the late nineteenth century; and
3. Describe the interplay of several factors that contribute to the changing landscape of Philippine
society and economy.

Agrarian Disputes

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AGRARIAN DISPUTES

Brief History of Friar Estates in the Philippines

1. Due to the Spanish population in the Philippines was transient.

Former owners of Hacienda de Calamba

 Don Manuel Jauregi

 Don Clemente Azansa

At the end of this chapter, the student should be able to:

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