RPH Notes 4

Notes 4
The Encomienda in the Early Philippine Colonial History (Class 1704 only)
Encomienda system – a royal tribute - a policy of rewarding meritorious crown servants of gold
(and its substitutes: agrarian products or labor) in the colonies.
- the earliest and, for half a century, the most important system in the
Spanish Philippines for the ordering of Filipino society and labor.
It started in the Philippines in 1572 under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.
The Salgado Document: Francisco Salgado, a tax collector, was charged due to his abuses on the
encomienda system between 1594-1595.
- The principales were included in paying for the tribute to the King of Spain. They were
under the encomienda system, not exempted. (Principales means those persons or people that
belong to the upper class of the society before.)
- there was an obvious unity of outlook and purpose among Filipino villagers and their
principales.
Value of Encomienda from Spanish perspectives:

1.) A tool for civilizing the Filipino peoples, providing for their religious instruction, securing
them from external aggression and teaching them useful social and work habits through
the imposition of a tribute-tax, the suppression of native religious forms and the
introduction of Castilian juridical principles.
2.) The ability to grant or withhold encomiendas provided the crown and its agents with a
powerful instrument for maintaining control and discipline in the Islands.
3.) A cheap and efficient means of expanding Spanish colonial rule.
Conclusion
Encomienda in the Philippines pursued different though complementary goals: to reward
soldiers for long, faithful or hazardous service to the crown and to expand Spanish control
through grants on the colony's frontiers. In both cases, the crown met with only moderate
success. There were never enough encomiendas to satisfy all claimants, and grantees were
usually interested in pacifying their native wards only insofar as was necessary for the
extraction of tribute.
The Decline of the Spanish in the Philippines and the Rise of the Filipino Nationalism.
Spanish decline of the Philippines began in the 1700s when the power of Spain was eclipsed
in Europe by the England, France and the Netherlands. Foreign competition in the late 1700s
disrupted the trans-Pacific trade routes and independence of Mexico and other Latin
countries in the early 1800s brought an end to Spain's trans-Pacific monopoly.
Mestizos (people of mixed Malay, Chinese and Spanish ancestry) began to move into
positions of influence and take the place of the Spanish. The opening of trade created a
wealthy class that was educated in Europe, where they were exposed to the same kind of
liberal ideas and philosophies that fostered the independence movements in the U.S.,
France and Latin America.
The British occupation (1762-1764) marked the beginning of the end of the old order and
helped spark a united, nationalist spirit. Rebellions broke out in the north, and while the
Spanish were busy fighting the British, Moros raided from the south. The Chinese
community, resentful of Spanish discrimination, supported the British with laborers and
armed men. Anticolonial sentiment intensified as friars and other Spanish colonizers
increasingly used brutal methods to try to retain control. By 1894 there were incidents of
open rebellion.
Changes and Reforms
José Basco y Vargas – Governor-General of the Philippines from 1778-1787 – initiated the
reforms.
He encouraged the growth of new crops for export — such as indigo, tea, silk, opium poppies,
and abaca (hemp) — and the development of local industry. A government tobacco monopoly
was established in 1782. The monopoly brought in large profits for the government and made
the Philippines a leader in world tobacco production.
The galleon trade between the Philippines and Mexico continued as a government monopoly
until 1815.
Diego Silang Revolt in Ilocos (1762)

Cofradía de San José Revolt (1839-1841)
Apolinario de la Cruz, a Tagalog who led the 1839-41 Cofradía de San José revolt,
embodied the religious aspirations and disappointments of the Filipinos.
Father Burgos and the Early Filipino Resistance

Father Jose Burgos— began protesting against inequality in the Filipino clergy in the 1860’s.
He was executed by the Spanish in 1872 after a show trial, a move that outraged many
Filipinos, triggering a sense of national that evolved into an armed struggle by the end of the
century.
Rise of Filipino National Consciousness
Nationalism in the modern sense developed in an urban context, in Manila and the major
towns and, perhaps more significantly, in Spain and other parts of Europe where Filipino
students and exiles were exposed to modern intellectual currents. Folk religion, for all its
power, did not form the basis of the national ideology. Yet the millenarian tradition of rural
revolt would merge with the Europeanized nationalism of the ilustrados to spur a truly
national resistance, first against Spain in 1896 and then against the Americans in 1899.
Cavite Mutiny in 1872.

About 200 Filipino dockworkers and soldiers in Cavite Province revolted and killed their
Spanish officers, apparently in the mistaken belief that a general uprising was in progress
among Filipino regiments in Manila.
Propaganda Movement
Between 1872 and 1892, a national consciousness was growing among the Filipino
émigrés who had settled in Europe. In the freer atmosphere of Europe, these émigrés —
liberals exiled in 1872 d students attending European universities — formed the Propaganda
Movement.
Organized for literary and cultural purposes more than for political ends, the Propagandists,
who included upper-class Filipinos from all the lowland Christian areas, strove to "awaken the
sleeping intellect of the Spaniard to the needs of our country" and to create a closer, more
equal association of the islands and the motherland. The most outstanding Propagandist was
José Rizal.
Among their specific goals were
1.) representation of the Philippines in the Spanish courts, or Spanish parliament;
2.) secularization of the clergy;
3.) legalization of Spanish and Filipino equality;
4.) creation of a public school system independent of the friars;
5.) abolition of the polo (labor service) and vandala (forced sale of local products to the
government);
6.) guarantee of basic freedoms of speech and association; and
7.) equal opportunity for Filipinos and Spanish to enter government service.
Beginning of Filipino Rebellion

A rebel movement against the Spanish began when three Filipino priests, including Burgos,
were executed for nationalist activities. The roots of this movement begin in the reformist
Propaganda Movement, which later paved the way for the Philippine Revolution. Reformist
and rebels fought for 25 years but were unsuccessful in their efforts to oust the Spanish.
One of the early nationalist leaders was José Rizal, a physician, scientist, scholar, and writer. His
writings as a member of the Propaganda Movement (intellectually active, upper-class Filipino
reformers) had a considerable impact on the awakening of the Filipino national consciousness.
Katipunan
Andres Bonifacio founded a secret society called, Katipunan, in 1892 and committed to winning
national independence. By 1896, the year the Katipunan rose in revolt against Spain, it had
30,000 members.
Although Rizal, who had again returned to the Philippines, was not a member of the Katipunan,
he was arrested and executed on December 30, 1896, for his alleged role in the rebellion.
Philippine Independence
With Rizal’s martyrdom, the rebels, joined now by Emilio Aguinaldo were filled with new
determination and declared independence from Spain on June 12, 1898.

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Notes 4

Value of Encomienda from Spanish perspectives:

Diego Silang Revolt in Ilocos (1762)

Father Burgos and the Early Filipino Resistance

Cavite Mutiny in 1872.

Beginning of Filipino Rebellion

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