The Spaniards

Chapter 1 ‘The Spaniards’ centers on setting the ground of our evaluation of the main actors and
players crucial to the Hispanicization of the Philippines. In this chapter, we sought to examine the factors,
intentions and motivation of the Spanish dominion that shaped the over-all history and as well the culture
of the Filipinos.

During the Age of Enlightenment in the seventeenth century Europe, a new shift of paradigm had
breakthrough and blanketed the West with radical ideals, nationalism and liberal movements. Together with
this epoch was the breakthrough in the expansion of territory through subjugation of lands` in the Age of
Exploration. One of the key players in this period was Spain. The conquest is motivated by the exploration
of riches not only in the form of silver metals but also through exploitation of native labor.

The conquest of Spain was centered to the transformation of pagan communities into a
Christianized society. Perhaps, the Spaniard found out a clever way of using religion and the name of God
to assert superiority and coerced inferior communities for their own personal and hidden interests. The
Spanish community also seem to have common opinion with regards to the imperialistic nature of the
conquest of their state. Moreover, this poses a question to the Spaniards integrity of using evangelic
enterprise as a way of legitimizing their authority in another native’s land.

A striking feature can also be noted in the imperialistic period of Spain is the inseparable union of
the Church and the State. Somehow, these two institutions were interdependent to one another and basically,
works together in achieving their common goal.

In the Philippine context, the Spanish occupation was promised not to be sanguinary. The
Spaniard’s objectives in conquering the country was to secure the lucrative spice trade, establish contacts
with China and japan and to Christianize the inhabitants of the archipelago.

King Philip II ordered Legazpi to travel across and commanded the expedition to be bloodless as
possible. Legazpi’s task was in the form of political reinforcement to a more Hispanized Philippines. The
Spaniards reinforced commercial activities of agricultural lands through labor.

This chapter set the stage for our understanding in the roles played by the Spaniards in shaping the
Philippines into a Christianized centered community and Hispanized way of life that constitutes
Christianity.

The Hispanization of the Philippines: Spanish Aims and Filipino Responses, 1565–1700. By John Leddy
Phelan. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. 1959. Pp. xiv, 218. $4.00.)
 The Filipinos
Chapter 2, ‘The Filipinos’ is an in-depth and careful examination of the socio-political aspect of
the Filipinos prior to the Spaniard’s arrival in the country and their role in the mitigation of the Hispanic
way of living throughout the archipelago. The first chapter discussed the Spaniards as conquistadores and
in this chapter, our focal attention is on the conquered natives, the Filipinos, their practices, customs and
belief system. This chapter also suggest that the process of inculcating the Hispanic image is not a ‘one
mans’ fault but a process were the Filipinos also participated.

The only form of political and social organization was a small kinship unit known as barangays; a
name derived from the sailboats. The barangays usually consisted of 30 to 100 families. The social
determination is expressed in four different classes: the chieftains called datus, and their families, the
Maharlika or the nobles, the free-men called timagua, and the servile or the dependent class whom the
Spaniard called slaves. The datu is somehow referred to the king of the pre-Hispanic times according to
historians. The nature of the interbarangay relations is not easy to determine as there were frequent
unmitigated hostility that took in the form of head-hunting expeditions.

The Spaniards had successfully conquered the Northern and Central regions of the Philippines but
Mindanao was a different story. Basically, Mohammedization was allowed to unfold there without being
checked by the Spaniards. A supra-barangay form of political organization that is susceptible to encroach
in other regions and the same development probably would have probably occurred in the central and
northern Philippines if the Spaniard did not intervene. Moreover, the Spaniards adroitly re-fashioned this
patriarchal kinship unit into the cornerstone of local government.

The Filipinos had an alphabet on their own consisting of seventeen letters, three of which are
vowels and the rest are consonants. The Filipino spoke variety of languages given the archipelagic
geographical setting of the place and that can be all traced back to Malay roots. Even though the
imperialistic nature of Spain’s conquest influenced the cultural dimension of communities, the Philippine
languages survived the conquest. The Philippine tongues were soon transliterated into Latin alphabet.

Furthermore, this chapter also examines the customs of pre-Hispanic Filipinos from the process
marriage, belief system characterized by both monotheism and polytheism, with the latter tending to
predominate, and worshipping of anitos and pagan images to religious rituals performed by heathens to
cure illnesses. On the other hand, land ownership was communal in character with the actual title vested in
the barangay.

Under the Spanish colonial rule, most of the customs that is associated to paganism were dealt and
eliminated by introducing Christianity to the natives. In spreading Christianity, the Spaniards, according to
them were “liberating’ the Filipinos from oppressive sway of the devil.
 The Spanish Missionaries

Chapter 3, “The Spanish Missionaries” examines and dissect the role of Spanish missionaries in
spreading Catholicism throughout the archipelago. Also, this chapter will introduce and explain the
complex nature and relations of the ecclesiastical clergy with civil authorities.

The author dissected the elements of the varying roles of the religious force present directly and
indirectly in control of the missionary task in the Philippines. Amongst the role of the missionaries, regular
clergy was trusted to take the task of Christianizing the natives. The regulars lived according to a community
rule under the jurisdiction of their elected prelates. The bishops and other religious orders have established
Christian communities consist of Christianize natives.

Moreover, this chapter also explained the struggles of the missionaries building relationship and
contacts to the natives and their struggles as well with their superiors. Throughout the religious orders
settlement in the country was the ill-disciplined character of some of them. Some are guilty of the act of
hostility toward their constituents and measures are rooted from abuses.

The arrival of Spanish missionaries in the Philippines was a catalyst in the ignition of reformation
from the pagan native communities transforming them into a Christianize Filipinos. Although, they faced
a handful of problems, but they have overcome these struggles. Moreover, the Spanish clergy set out to
Christianize the Filipinos, but in doing so they ran the danger of “de-Christianizing” themselves.
 The “Spiritual” Geography of the Philippines
Chapter 4, “The ‘Spiritual’ Geography of the Philippines” mainly focuses on the key role of
geography in the missionary enterprise in determining what the Spaniards could and could not do. The
Transoceanic geography determined the number of Spanish religious that could be transported to the
Philippines and more importantly, the intra-Philippine geography also played an equally significant role in
shaping the effectiveness of the missionary enterprise.

The main hindrance to the missionary enterprise in the archipelago was the shortage of personnel.
There was a substantial number of Mexican regulars however they were predominately creoles and there
was a dissension between the creoles and Castilian friars among the Philippine Augustinians. Another
hindrance on delivering clergymen to the country was the amount of money spent in the travel. This led to
the deepening bankruptcy overwhelming Spain. Moreover, there were also a lot of unexpected conditions
during the voyage that led to some deaths of priests and thus the reason that many priests originally
designated to the Philippines never reached their destination. Once these missionaries survived all the
problems in the voyage and successfully arrived, the problem now was how to keep them in the island.

The author explained how geographical particularism hindered their objective to reach a particular
number of natives in a setting like Philippines. Thus, the only feasible solution to this problem was to
reduced the them into compact villages that constitutes a size of 2,400 and 5000 people. And one way to
actualize this was the resettlement policies inspired also from other native colonies that the Spanish regime
conducted. The Spaniard know that not everyone could be indoctrinated unless the Indians were
congregated into large villages. Among these plans of the Spaniards was also a great counter-reaction from
the Filipinos who resisted the resettlement project. Hence, to overcome the resistance of the natives, the
Spaniards used military force to coerced the Indians from their hostility towards the said resettlement
policy.

Given the said struggles and hindrance of exercising missionary activities, the Council of the Indies
in Spain instructed the governor and bishops to divide the Philippines among the four religious orders
namely the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians and Jesuits.

All in all, the ecclesiastical clergy faced a tumultuous experience in their voyage to the Philippines
due to the geographical distance and the geographical setting of the Philippines also added to the struggles
of the missionaries in propagating their objectives in Christianizing the community