Catanduanes State University

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Virac, Catanduanes
Course Code: Political Science 2
Course Title: Introduction to Philippines Government and Politics
Reporters: Bagadiong, Alyssa Joy A.
De Vera, Cristine D.
Professor: Dr. Jocelyn T. Sorreda
Title: THE SPANISH PERIOD

INTRODUCTION
Spain colonized the Philippines from 1565 to 1898. The Spaniards ruled the Filipinos for
333 years. Spanish influence on the Philippines and the Filipino inhabitants was
immediately visible following the imposition of Castilian colonial sovereignty. The
Spaniards transplanted their social, economic, and political institutions halfway across
the world to the Philippine archipelago. The colonial masters required the native Filipinos
to swear allegiance to the Spanish monarch, where before they only had village
chieftains called "datus;" to worship a new God, where before they worshipped a whole
pantheon of supernatural deities and divinities; to speak a new language, where before
they had (and still have) a Babel of tongues; and to alter their work habits, where before
they worked within the framework of a subsistence economy. The Spanish landholding
system based on private ownership of land replaced the Filipino system of communal
landownership. Thus, when the Spanish rule ended, the Filipinos found many aspects of
their way of life bearing the indelible imprint of Hispanization.
DISCUSSION
Magellans Expedition in Search of the Spice Island. Ferdinand Magellan who was
born in 1480 and died in 1521 was a Portuguese maritime explorer who went to Spain in
1528 to offer his service to King Charles I. He left Portugal for Spain because he was
ignored by the King of Portugal, Manuel I for his bravery and expertise in expeditions.
The Spanish King agreed to send an expedition to the Moluccas, then known as the
Spice Island(or the Indies or Indonesia), with Magellan as commander in-chief.
The expedition consisted of five (5) ships: flagship Trinidad, Concepcion, Victoria,
Santiago and San Antonio.
Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian chronicler, went with Magellans Voyage. The expedition left
the Spain on September 20, 1519 and sailed southward across the Pacific Ocean. After
two months of difficult sailings due to hunger and hardship, the expedition reached
Brazil, then to Rio de Janeiro in the southern tip of South America. In this place, a mutiny
occurred but the mutiny was suppressed and the participants punished. From the tip of
South America, the expedition reached the strait in the Pacific Ocean which bears his
name the Strait of Magellan.
Then on March 1521, with only three (3) ships remaining, the expedition reached the
Ladrones Island (Marianas Island), named by Magellan because one of Magellans
boats was stolen by the natives. After they had rested in this island, the voyage
continued until a mountain was sighted in Samar on March 16, 1521.This marked the
coming of the Spaniards to the Philippines (rediscovery). On March 17, Magellan and his
150 men went to Homonhon and after having rested, proceeded to Limasawa which was

ruled by Raja Kulambo. A blood compact was held as a sign of friendship. Father Pedro
de Valderama who went with Magellans expedition celebrated the mass at Limasawa
seashore on March 31, Easter Sunday and it was the first mass celebrated in the
Philippines. Then a large cross was planted on top of the hill overlooking the sea.
Magellan called this Island Archipelago de San Lazaro because it was St. Lazarus day
when Magellan found this island.
However in 1542, this island was named Philippines by Ruz Lopez de Villalobos, a
voyager, in honor of the Spanish Prince Felipe who later became King Philip II of Spain.
After staying a week in Limasawa , Magellan proceeded to Cebu on April 8, and soon a
blood compact between him and King Humabon was made. On April 15, a mass was
celebrated and a cross was erected. Some 800 natives were Christianized. King
Humabon was christened as Carlos (in honor of King Charles of Spain and his wife
Juana (in honor of King Charles mother). Magellan presented Juana an image of the
Infant Jesus (Sto. Nino), now the Patron Saint of Cebu.
The Battle of Mactan and the Death of Magellan. Raja Sula, one-of-the chieftains of
the neighboring islands of Mactan asked Magellans help to defeat his rival Rajah Si
Lapu-Lapu who refused to pay tribute to Spain. In order to show his might, Magellan with
some sixty (60) men sailed to Mactan on April 27. Lapu-Lapu and his men armed with
spears and kampilan faced Magellans men.
In that battle, Magellan was wounded in the leg and seeing him wounded, Lapu-Lapus
men killed him with their spears. With the death of Magellan, his men fled to their ships
and returned to Cebu. In one occasion, while attending a party tendered by Raja
Humabon, they were massacred by the Cebuano natives because some of them robbed
the natives and raped some Cebuanas.
The Return of Trinidad and Victoria. On May 2, the remaining Spanish men left the
Philippines with only two (2) ships, Trinidad and Victoria, with Concepcion being
abandoned. On their way to the Pacific Ocean, they reached Brunei. In Brunei, Rajah
Siripada gave the Spaniards 26 tons of spices (cloves and cinnamon). Trinidad was
captured by the Portuguese soldiers but Victoria set sail via the Indian Ocean enroute
home on December 21, commanded by Juan Sebastian Elcano.
On May 6, Victoria routed Cape Good Hope and Cape Verde but many of Elcanos men
died of starvation and sickness. On September 6, 1522, Elcano and his few men arrived
in Spain (3 years after they departed).
Other Spanish Expeditions. Magellans expedition was significant because it led to
their Spanish expeditions to the Philippines. These were the Loaysa expedition in 1526,
Cabot expedition in 1530, Sayavedra expedition in 1528. The two famous and significant
expeditions were the Villalobos and Legazpi expeditions.
In order to settle the question of ownership of the Moluccas Island, the monarchs of
Spain and Portugal agreed to draw an imaginary line of the Moluccas Island and lands
west of the line belong to Spain while those of the east belong to Portugal.
Spain was paid by Portugal in the sum of 350,000 gold ducats (US $800,000 today) to
get the Moluccas. Spain respected the provisions of the Treaty of Zaragosa for many
years but later violated it by sending Ruy Lopez de Villalobos to an expedition to
Moluccas. With six (6) ships, Villalobos left Mexico on November 1, 1542. He crossed
the Pacific and reached Mindanao. It was here where Villalobos named the islands of
Leyte and Samar as Felipinas to honor King Philip of Spain.
Thereafter, Villalobos sailed for Moluccas but was captured by the Portuguese. Set free,
he sailed for Mexico but died later in 1546.
In 1556, King Philip II who succeeded his father King Charles I, sent Miguel Lopez de
Legazpi to head another expedition. Father Andres de Urdaneta, a member of the
Loaysa expedition, became the pilot of the expedition. With four (4) ships and about 380
men, Legazpi sailed from Mexico in 1564 and reached Cebu in 1565. With Panay at his
home base, he decided to spread Spanish rule to the other islands. At almost the same

time, Juan de Salcedo (Legazpis younger grandson) and Martin de Goiti captured
Manila (Maynila) which was then a Muslim kingdom ruled by Raja Sulayman.
After Legazpi took over Manila, he laid the foundation of a new city and made Manila,
the capital of the Philippines. King Philip II later called Manila as Distinguished and Ever
Loyal City. The Augustinians were the first missionaries to reach the Philippines led by
Father Andres de Urdaneta who was also a member and the pilot of Loaysa expedition.
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founded the first European settlement in Cebu in 1565. He
declared Manila as the capital of the Philippines in June 3, 1571. He became the first
governor-general of the Philippines. Diego Delos Rios, on the other hand was the
Philippines last Governor-general.
The Central Government. The head of the Spanish Central government in the
Philippines was the governor general or captain general who was appointed by the King
of Spain. The governor-general was the Kings official representative to the colony. He
possessed vast executive, legislative and judicial powers. There was no legislature or
Congress because laws were either made by the King of Spain through a Royal Decree
or Order or the governor-general through a superior decree.
The Audiencia. Judicial powers were exercised by the Audiencia (the highest court) and
the lower courts. The governor-general was the president or presiding officer of the
Audiencia. The Audiencia was established in 1854 with Santiago de Vera as the first
president.
The Provincial Government. The provincial government was headed by Alcalde mayor
who was appointed by the governor general. His salary was meager but he was given
the privilege to collect tributes and engage in trade to increase his income. Because of
abuses committed by the Provincial governor (alkalde mayor), the position was
abolished in 1844.
Municipal Government. Each municipality or town was headed by a gobernadorcillo
(little governor). The gobernadorcillo was assisted by four (4) tenientes, a chief of police
and subordinate officials called alguaciles. The gobernadorcillo was also called capitan
municipal or simply capitan. Today, he is called mayor.
In the beginning, the gobernadorcillo was elected for one year by all married men in
each town but in the late 19th century, he was elected by a board of electors composed
of the outgoing gobernadorcillo and twelve cabeza de barangay heads.
The parish priest and the alcalde mayor presided over the election. The result of the
election had to be approved by the parish priest and alcalde mayor. The winning
candidate had to be sent to the governor general for final approval. To qualify for the
office of the gobernadorcillo, he must be a Filipino, atleast 25 years old, be able to read
and write Spanish, and must have been a teniente mayor or a cabeza de barangay.
The City Government. During the first century of the Spanish rule, there were only two
cities: Cebu and Manila. By the 17th century, the Spanish officials created six cities:
Cebu, Manila, Vigan, Nueva Segovia (Lal-loc), Arevalo (part of Iloilo city) and Nueva
Caceres (Naga). The city was the center of social, commercial, religious and cultural life.
The city government was governed by a cabildo (city council, headed by Alcalde en
ordinario (city mayor), regidores (councilors), alguacile mayor (chief of police) and
escribante (secretary). The government was called the ayuntamiento (now called city
hall).
The Barrio Government. The towns were composed of barangays. Each barangay was
headed by a cabeza de barangay. He was appointed by the gobernadorcillo from among
the datus or the gobernadorcillos relatives. His main functions were to maintain peace
and order and to collect taxes. The town and barangay officials had no salary but their
families were exempted from paying taxes and they were considered members of the
principalia (leading citizens).

The Parish Priest. The real authority of the town was the parish priest or the Spanish
friar. The friar was the supervising representative of the Spanish government for all local
affairs. His word was law. He was the local school inspector, prison inspector, in-charge
of charities and social welfare and other activities of the municipality.
Union of Church and State. In Spain, the Church and state were united. This union
was introduced in the Philippines and the officials appointed by the king were also
defenders of the church. The parish priests or friars were also agents of the Spanish
king. The governor-general had the authority to appoint parish priests. The parish priests
were active in government and had strong political power.
The Encomienda System. In 1570, encomienda was introduced in the Philippines by
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. Legazpi subdivided the country into encomiendas. An
encomienda is a parcel of land, including inhabitants, assigned to loyal Spaniards who
helped in the colonization of the country. The recipient of this parcel of land was called
an encomendero.
Three types of encomienda:
1. The royal encomienda (comprised of cities, sea ports, and regions rich in
natural wealth and owned by the Spanish crown),
2. The private encomienda (owned by private persons, charitable institutions)
and
3. The ecclestial encomienda (owned by the Catholic Church) were the three
types of encomienda.
The encomenderos were required to give protection to the natives, help the
missionaries convert the Christians, promote education but unfortunately many of them
committed abuses such as brutal treatment to the Filipinos and collection more taxes
than authorized by law, hence forcing people to work for them, and seizures of animals
and crops in default of payment of the imposed tribute. Because of the abuses, the
people complained and so this system was abolished by Spain in 1674.
Taxation. Filipinos were compelled to pay tribute (tribute) to pay for the administration of
the country, construction of churches, government buildings, roads, bridges and
improvement of transportation and communication. Originally, the tribute was 8 reales
(one real is equivalent to 12 centavos) but was raised to 10 in 1602, the increased to 12
in 1851.
Those who were required to pay tribute were individuals from 16 years old to 60 years
old. Unmarried men over 20 years old and unmarried women over 25 years old paid half
of the imposed tribute. The natives did not like the way tribute was collected because the
encomenderos became very wealthy and reaped huge profit from it.
Because of such abuses the king abolished it in 1884. In its place the cedula (residence
certificate or community tax) served as an income tax and personal identification of the
inhabitants. Another burden imposed on the people was the bandala-compulsory sale of
farmers of their farm products to the government, but in many cases, the products were
not paid for.
Forced Labor or Polo y Servicio. All male Filipinos from 18 to 60 years old age were
required to give their free labor (polo) to the government. This labor was for 40 days a
year but was reduced to 15 days in1884. This labor consisted of building roads and
bridges, public buildings, churches, cutting timber, shipyard works, and serving in
Spanish expeditions. Those who rendered forced labor were called polista.
The members of the principalia (town aristocracy), gobernadorcillos, cabezas de
barangay, school teachers were exempt from the polo. Rich Filipinos annually paid the
falla(Php7.00) to be exempted from forced labor.
Only the poor Filipinos were obliged to render forced labor. Certain conditions for forced
labor were set such as the polistas were to paid in full for their work and they should not

be overworked and send distant lands. However, all of these conditions were violated
and thousands of Filipinos died at the work sites.
The Galleon Trade. The galleon trade was early trade relation between Manila and
Mexico in 1565. It was basically a trade between the Chinese and Spaniards in Manila
and their counterparts in Mexico (Acapulco).Products from Manila were shipped to return
trip, the galleon carried silver coins.
The trade resulted to the introduction of new crops and animals to the country. Because
agriculture was neglected due to pre-occupation with trade and forced labor was
intensified in the constructed of galleons, this trade ended in 1815.
The Residencia and Visita. These were introduced in order to stop the abuses of high
Spanish officials in the Philippines. The Residencia was the public investigation and trial
of an outgoing officials by the incoming governor-general to ascertain whether they had
committed abuses in the performance of their duties.
The investigation result was sent to the King of Spain for final decision. However, in
many cases it was abused by the investigating governor-general. The vista was a secret
investigation of an officials acts to make him work honestly and efficiently.
The Church organization. To make the Catholic Church efficient in administration
parishes, the Catholic Church was divided into districts and missions. In 1578, Manila
was made a diocese. Father Domingo de Salazar was the first Bishop of Manila. The
bishopric of Cebu, Nueva Caceres and Nueva Segovia belonged to the Archbishop of
Manila.
The church had a court of justice composed of the archbishop, the vicar-general, a
notary and other officials. Cases dealing with the laws of the church and those involving
priests were tried in this court.
The Inquisition. The Inquisition was an ecclesiastical office whose duty is to arrest
Spaniards who were practicing doctrines contrary to the Catholic Church. The Inquisition
Office was in Mexico but the representative was sent to the Philippines to ferret out
heretics among the Spaniards.
Printing. During the early years of Spanish rule, there was no printing press to print
religious works. Eventually the first printing press introduced was xylography in which a
piece of woodblock is covered evenly with ink and a piece of paper is placed on the
woodblock and pressed with a heavy object.
The Christian doctrine in Tagalog and in Chinese were printed in this method. Later, the
use of a movable type of printing called typography was introduced by Father Francisco
de San Joseph. In 1606, the Franciscan friars put up a printing press in
Tayabas(Quezon) and the Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala of Father Domingo de los
Santos was printed in 1703.
The Dutch Threat to Spanish rule. Holland, which was once part of the Spanish
Empire, finally obtained its independence from Spain in 1648. Spain, however, closed
the Lisbon Port to the Dutch people to discourage them to trade with the Portuguese.
Because of this, the Dutch soldiers sent their ships to the Philippines to attack the
Spaniards.
In the Process, Holland came to colonize Malaya (now Indonesia). There were several
attacks in succeeding years but they were always defeated by the Spaniards with the
help of Filipinos.
The Mexican Subsidy. To save the colonial government of the Philippines from
bankruptcy, the Mexican government sent to the Philippines an annual subsidy on the
average of Php 250,000. But this amount was not spent to improve the condition of the
Filipinos. The large portion of the subsidy went to the pockets of Spanish Officials,

employees, and priests in the form of their salaries. Thus, the Mexican subsidy was
stopped when Mexico became independent in 1821.

SUMMARY
To administer the Philippines, the Spaniards extended their royal government to the
Filipinos. This highly centralized governmental system was theocratic. There was a
union of Church and State. The Roman Catholic Church was equal to and coterminous
with the State. Therefore, the cross as well as the scepter held sway over the
archipelago. While the State took care of temporal matters, the Church took care of
spiritual matters and hence preoccupied itself with the evangelization and the conversion
of the Filipino inhabitants from their primal religion to Roman Catholicism. The Spanish
friars wanted the Philippines to become the "arsenal of the Faith" in Asia. In the process,
the Spanish Catholic missionaries helped in the implantation of Castilian culture and
civilization on Philippine soil. This is because Spanishness was equated with
Catholicism. The two terms were virtually synonymous with one another. One was not a
genuine Spaniard if he was not a faithful Roman Catholic believer.
The Spaniards have introduced their westernized beliefs and replaced the primitive
ways of the natives which have changed and altered the lives of the
Filipinos. Spaniards have incorporated their political systems, religion, culture, arts,
and sciences to the natives. Political systems such as encomiendas
and cabeza de barangay replaced the datu rulings onto the islands.
Worshipping idols were abolished and Christianity was implanted to the
Filipinos. Kubos were altered and replaced into massive infrastructures s u c h a s
churches, covents, schools, roads, bridges, and stone houses.
E d u c a t i o n w a s introduced to the Filipinos and since then Filipinos was invaded by
the Spanish customs and tradition. In the end, the real contribution of the Spanish
colonization was not the westernization they have brought to the Philippines
but by the nationalism of the Filipinos they have awakened.
The influences from Spain have become permanently embedded in Filipino culture. The
Filipino people themselves have internalized them. They cannot be undone anymore.
For good or bad, they have catapulted the Filipinos into the world of Spanish culture, into
the world of Spanish civilization and its products. Nevertheless, it must be said that the
Filipinos did not receive the cultural influences from Spain sitting down. They responded
in a way that demonstrated their capacity to master the new and to balance the new
against the old, in a way that called for their capacity to bring values and principles to
bear with a critical and informed judgment, and in a way that called for them to be able to
sift what is essential from what is trivial. Thus they responded selectively to the novelties
the Spaniards brought with them to the Philippine Islands. The Filipinos accepted only
those that fitted their temperament, such as the "fiesta" that has become one of the most
endearing aspects of life in these islands, and made them blend with their indigenous
lifestyle to produce a precious Philippine cultural heritage.

Reference:

Ariola, Mariano M., (2012). Philippine History and government : With New
Constitution and Impeachment Trial. Manila: Purely Books Trading &
Publishing Corp.