QUIOHILAG, Carl Jeff S.

AC1B

The point of view of the colonizer

“The Spaniards, crossing new and remote seas, extend their domain of geography by discovering
the Philippine islands. They found anarchy and despotism there, and established order and justice.
They encountered slavery and destroyed it, and imposed political equality. They ruled the
inhabitant with laws, and just laws. They Christianized them, civilized them, defended them from
Chinese, from the Moro pirates and from European aggressors: they spent much gold on them and
then they give them liberty”
–Sinibaldo de Mas
The point of view of the colonized

“The Spaniards, crossing new and remote seas, extend their domain of geography by discovering
the Philippine islands, due to their malicious greed. They found a country rich in resources and
gold, and established themselves here to destroy order and peace. They found slavery among the
lower rankings of the hierarchy and make most of the Filipino a slave, and imposed political
inequality with many biases. They ruled the inhabitants with their own interpretations of laws.
They Christianized them, exploit them, and make them a stepping-stone in south East Asia,
defended the Spaniard’s interest from Chinese, from the Moro pirates and from European
aggressors: they take so much gold on them and then leave when there is nothing left.”
-The Slave
Sinibaldo de Mas, as a Spanish diplomat, would recount the Spaniards as the hero of the
country because he is foremost one of them. Sinbaldo’s recount is in point of view of the colonizer,
the winner, so of course it the image of Spain is the good Samaritans and the Filipinos should be
grateful about them. However, as a Filipino, as the colonized, I feel that we are thoroughly
exploited. In addition, we cannot fight because we do not have enough power to expel them, as we
are now. Why the Spaniards did colonized us? Because we are rich in resources and minerals, so
of course they will invade us. According to the one of the articles I read, The Philippines is believed
by some historians to be the island of Chryse, the "Golden One," which is the name given by
ancient Greek writers in reference to an island rich in gold east of India. Josephus calls it in Latin
Aurea, and equates the island with biblical Ophir, from where the ships of Tyre and Solomon
brought back gold and other trade items. Spain like the other European countries believe in the
concept of mercantilism where there is a fixed amount of resources in a country and a country can
increase it by means of trading or forcefully subdue another country to be your colony and have
its resources. Spain wants to increase the membership of the Catholic Church by means of
expansionism outside Europe because she wants the free the natives there from the false gods and
teach them to worship the True God and be part of the True God’s Church, which is the Catholic
Church. Spain is one of the defenders of the Catholic Church against Protestant Reformation. In
addition, the Philippines’ location proved to be an ideal trading post for goods coming from China
(silk) and Indonesian archipelago (spices), while far enough from potential successful invasion
from other powers. Although there were attempts (Portuguese/Dutch/British/Chinese invasions)
but these were successfully repelled after months or a couple of years. Lastly, it borders the vast
Pacific Ocean to its east, allowing for an undisturbed trade with the Spanish Americans
(particularly Mexico).
Moreover, in the point of view of the colonized, Filipinos are enslaved as Filipino do what
they want with nothing in return. According to an article, Spaniards considered it legitimate to
enslave non-Christian captives from wars and trade them legally in the past. This is because they
did not consider this as an uncivilized and unchristian act because they believed that men were not
created equal and the superior ones may rule the inferior men. When Spaniards conquered the
archipelago, the Laws of the Indies served as a compilation of royal decrees for the Spanish
colonies including the Philippines. This included a law stating that Spaniards were forbidden to
hold Filipinos as slaves since they were under the subjection of King Phillip II. Observing the
widespread practice of slavery among the native tribes, the Law was sometimes ignored by
soldiers, some acting on their own and seizing natives in various parts of the country. Governor-
General Legazpi, upon discovering this, freed the slaves and punished those who took them under
the jurisdiction of the monarchy. Later on, the division of Luzon into encomiendas created a form
of compulsory work for the encomenderos, who were given the responsibility of evangelizing the
natives working for them. Many held workers for household chores. However, it is arguable
whether these workers were slaves in the common sense of the word. A Portuguese visitor noted
that there was no Spanish soldier who did not have an Indio or native worker. Even the religious
houses held at least one. The king, however, after hearing about this, appointed a minister, called
the Protector of the Indios, to investigate and restore the liberty of possible slaves. It seemed unfair
to encomenderos to generally abolish slavery though and it would cause economic disruption. The
General Assembly of 1586 then proposed three points: All children are to be born free, No new
slaves will be made, Slaves will have to pay a fair price for freedom. The king did not implement
this, however, and enforced further laws to punish the Spaniards who held Indio slaves. This
further indicates that the king does not want to abolish slavery and even give them second chance
in their life. This shows how scheming the king is because he knows all of the higher ranks of the
community will be against such law that he just ended punishing the ones held Indio slaves.

There is nothing wrong what Sinibaldo’s recount about the Philippines that is because they
are the winner and we lose to them. They have the rights of the winner and that is to be heroes and
as a the one who lose, we face the consequence. However, it is sad that we cannot do something
about it because they all erase any evidences that they are in the wrong and we are just quietly
living. They erase our culture and exploit us at the same time, because we do not have the power.
I think that is the unfairness of the world.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Spain-colonize-the-Philippines

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Spanish_slavery_in_the_Philippines

https://www.britannica.com/place/Philippines/The-19th-century

http://spanishcolonizatioinmexico.weebly.com/colonization.html

http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Philippines/sub5_6a/entry-3833.html