history of the philippines during the spanish regime Camperspoint Philippines Home page > Welcome to the Philippines!!!!!

> 09. History of the Philippines > Important Events in Philippine History Important Events in Philippine History Friday 8 October 2004, by catseye The Spanish Regime March 17, 1521. Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator accidentally landed in the island of Samar. March 31, 1521. The first Catholic mass was held in Limasawa, an island in the south of Leyte. April 27, 1521. Magellan died in the hands of a chieftain, Lapu-lapu, from his strong will to invade the island of Mactan. February 13 1565. Another group of explorers headed by General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, arrived in Cebu and insisted their claim for the island. June 3, 1571. After defeating Raja Sulayman in a battle in Bangkusay, Martin de Goiti claimed autonomy of Manila. June 24, 1571. Legazpi established Manila as the capital city with himself as Governor-General. April 14, 1617. The Spanish fleet headed by Juan Ronquillo prevented the British attempt to invade Manila in the battle of Playa-Homda. October 3, 1646. For the second time, the Spanish fleet defeated the British warship in Manila Bay. This event is commemorated in a yearly feast called " La Naval de Manila". October 5, 1762. The British fleet defeated the Spanish warship allowing the British rule the country for two years. March 17, 1764. The British surrendered the country to Spain after losing a battle during the seven-year war between them. October 31, 1829. Francisco Dagohoy, a cabeza de barangay of Bohol and the leader of the longest uprising (8 years), surrendered to the Spaniards. September 6, 1834. Manila was opened to international trade leading to a remarkable transformation of its economy. February 15, 1889. The establishment of La Solidaridad, the newspaper founded by Graciano Lopez Jaena to voice out the Filipinos cry for reforms. September 18, 1891. Jose Rizal finished his novel El Filibusterismo following the first, Noli Me Tangere. Both portrayed the struggling life of the Filipinos under the Spanish rule. July 3, 1892. Jose Rizal established La Liga Filipina, a civic movement aimed at reuniting Filipinos to act together for reforms and autonomy from the unjust administration of the Spaniards. July 7, 1892. Jose Rizal was captured and exiled to Dapitan in Mindanao. There he served as a

doctor, a scientist and a teacher to the locals. July 7, 1892. At the same day of Rizals capture, Andres Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata and Valentin Diaz established the "Katipunan", a revolutionary movement aimed to fight for freedom against Spain. August 19, 1896. The Spaniards learned the Katipunan movement that resulted to a massive capture of many Filipinos. August 23, 1896. Bonifacio and his fellow Katipuneros tore their cedulas or residence certificates while shouting "Long live the Philippines", during their preparation for battle. This was marked as the historic Cry of Balintawak. August 25, 1896. The Katipuneros headed by Bonifacio had their first encounter with the Spanish civil guards and infantrymen. Due to strong forces and large presence of the Filipino troops, both camps of the Spaniards retreated. But in the end, Filipinos lost the battle when the latter came back with large number of fighters and stronger ammunition. Setember 12, 1896. A group of revolutionaries from Cavite were executed. They are now known as teh "Trece Martires de Cavite" or the thirteen martyrs of Cavite. December 30, 1896. Jose Rizal was executed by firing squad in Bagumbayan (now called Rizal Park) after being held captive at fort Santiago in Intramuros, Manila. March 22, 1897. The Katipuneros elected a new set of officers to replace the Katipunan. This was held in Tejeros, San Francisco de Malabon and was called the Tejeros Convention. Bonifacio diisolved the convention after Daniel Tirona, an associate of Emilio Aguinaldo, questioned his professional credibility as the director of the interior without a Lawyers diploma. Aguinaldos group won and considered Bonifacio and his men enemies of the revolution. May 10, 1897. Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio were excuted in Mt. Tala, Cavite after an unjust trial headed by General. Mariano Noriel, an associate of Emilio Aguinaldo. April 23, 1897. A new Spanish Governor named Fernando Primo de Rivera arrived in Manila for the purpose of minimizing the thriving rebellion of the Filipinos. He issued a decree to grant pardon to those who would surrender to the Spanish government. December 15, 1897. Primo de Rivera and Pedro Paterno signed the Truce of Biak-na-Bato allowing a temporary ceasefire between the Spanish and the Filipinos. December 27, 1897. Aguinaldo and his associates voluntarily moved to Hongkong for the amount of P800,000. January 20, 1898. Periodic battles between the Filipinos and the Spaniards erupted due to mutual suspicion. General Francisco Makabulos of Tarlac established a provisional goverment. The arrest and imprisonment of suspected rebels continued and despite the Truce, the revolution persisted. American Occupation February 14, 1898. The Spaniards bombed the American fleet "Maine" in Havana, Cuba killing 246 people. April 25, 1898. The United States declared war against Spain ordering Commodore George Dewy to attack the spanish fleet in the Philippines. May 1, 1898. Manila Bay turned into a massive battle field between United States and Spain. The Americans defeated the Spanish fleet led by Admiral Patricio Montojo.

June 12, 1898. General Emilio Aguinaldo, who had returned from Hongkong, proclaimed Philippine independence at his mansion in Kawit, Cavite. August 13, 1898. A mock battle between the Spanish and the Americans occured forbidding the participation of Filipino soldiers. Later, Manila was surrendered by Spain to the United States. December 10, 1898. Without the knowledge of the Filipinos, Spain surrendered the Philippines (along with Puerto Rico and Guam) to the United States in exchange of $20 million under the Treaty of Paris. January 23, 1899. General Emilio Aguinaldo was sworn into office as the president of the Philippine Republic and at the same time promulgated The Malolos Constitution. June 5, 1899. General Antonio Luna was killed by soldiers from the Kawit Company in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. December 2, 1900. The young general, Gregorio del Pilar died while fighting against the Americans in the Battle of Pasong Tirad (Tirad Pass). March 23, 1901. Emilio Aguinaldo was captured by the Americans headed by Col. Frederick Funston with the help of some Filipinos in Palanan, Isabela. October 16, 1907. The first Philippine Assembly was inaugurated at Manila Grand Opera House. Sergio Osmena was elected as speaker and Manuel L. quezon as Majority Floor Leader. Occtober 13, 1913. The Underwood-Simons Law took effect, allowing an open trade between the United States and the Philippines. August 29,1916. The Jones Law was signed allowing the existence of the Philippine Legislature and promising the Philippine independence from the United States. August 26, 1930. Crisanto Evangelista established the Communist Party of the Philippines or CPP as a peasants rebel movement and was later joined by farmers and even professionals. December 7, 1933. Frank Murphy, the last American Governor, granted Philippine women the right to vote. March 24, 1934. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Tydings McDuffie Act as to allow the drafting of the Philippine Constitution and to establish the Philippine Commonwealth, an agreement to liberate the Philippines in ten years. March 23, 1935. Pres. Roosevelt approved the plebiscite on the constitution for the new Republic. Claro M. Recto presided the Philippine Constitution, which was mainly patterned after the American Constitution, over the Constitutional Convention. September 18, 1935. Manuel L. Quezon was elected President of the Commonwealth and Sergio Osmena as the Vice President. World War II and the Japanese Occupation December 7, 1941. The Japanese bombed the Pearl Harbor, a US military base in Hawaii. The Philippines wa attacked ten hours after the bombing. December 25 1941. General Douglas MacArthur declared Manila as an "open city" but the Japanese ignored and still continued its attack. March 29, 1942. Luis Taruc established the anti-Japanese guerilla movement HUKBALAHAP ( Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon).

April 9, 1942. On this day, the "Fall of Bataan" and the infamous "Death March" took place. Around 76,000 starving Americans and Filipino soldiers surrendered to the Japanese in Bataan. The Japanese led their captives on a cruel hike from Mariveles, Bataan to Camp Odonnell in Capas, Tarlac. Around 7,000 to 10,000 men perished from starvation during the ten-day march while some were luckily pulled out secretly by watching civilians. May 6, 1942. Corregidor, the last U.S. Defense Base of Filipino-American troops under Jonathan Wainwright, fell under Commander Homma of the Japanese Imperial Forces. October 24, 1944. This day the prominent battle of Leyte Gulf took place, where the island of Leyte was filled massively with an amphibious force of 700 vessels and 174,000 army and navy servicemen. By December 1944, the islands of Leyte and Mindoro had been cleared of the Japanese. September 2, 1945. Right after the war in the Pacific, Japan surrendered to the Americans. The Philippines later was granted its independence but with over a million Filipino casualties. More than 60,000 Americans died and 300,000 Japanese lost their lives. The friars controlled the educational system during the Spanish times. They owned different schools, ranging from the primary level to the tertiary levels of education. The missionaries took charge in teaching, controlling and maintaining the rules and regulations imposed to the students. These missionaries emphasized the teachings of the Catholic religion starting from the primary level to the tertiary level of education. The students in the primary level were taught the Christian Doctrines, the reading of Spanish books and a little of the natives' language. Science and Mathematics were not very much taught to the students even in the universities. Aside from the Christian Doctrines taught, Latin was also taught to the students instead of Spanish. The schools before were exclusive for the Spaniards. The Filipinos were only able to enter the schoo.1 in the late 19th century. The schools also limited their accommodations to the sons of wealthy Filipino families in 1863. Although the schools were already open for Filipinos, the friars still believed that the Filipinos would not be able to match their skills and that the only way for the Filipinos to learn fast was to impose upon them strict discipline which means applying corporal punishment. http://www.camperspoint.com/Important-Events-in-Philippine

Effects of Colonial Education in the Philippines The effect of education to the Filipinos was only compelled to the friars' influences from their lessons based on the Christian Doctrines or teachings. Indeed, the friars were effective in evangelizing the Catholic religion to the Filipinos. One major failure of the educational system of the religious congregations was the withholding of the Filipinos to learn other bodies of knowledge. Besides limiting education to the teaching of Spanish, Latin, and the Filipino languages, the teaching of Religion was also given emphasis. Thus, the teaching of Mathematics and Science were neglected. In entirety, education during the Spanish regime was privileged only to Spanish students. The supposed Philippine education was only a means to remain in the Philippines as colonizers. For this reason, the Filipinos became followers to the Spaniards in their own country. Even

auspicious Filipinos became cronies, to the extent that even their life styles were patterned from the Spaniards. Meanwhile, several educated Filipinos referred to as ilustrados began movements directed towards change in the system of government in the Philippines. Despite their wealth and education, the ilustrados were still considered by the Spaniards to be inferior. One of the goals of the ilustrado was to be in the same level with the proud Spaniards. The growing number of ilustrados in the Philippines maybe considered one of the major effects of education by the Spaniards in the Philippines.

Political System
The Spanish quickly organized their new colony according to their model. The first task was the reduction, or relocation of native inhabitants into settlements. The earliest political system used during the conquista period was the encomienda system, which resembled the feudal system in medieval Europe. The conquistadores, friars and native nobles were granted estates, in exchange for their services to the King, and was given the privilege to collect tribute from its inhabitants. In return, the person granted the encomienda, known as an encomendero, was tasked to provide military protection to the inhabitants, justice and governance. In times of war, the encomendero was duty bound to provide soldiers for the King, in particular, for the complete defense of the colony from invaders such as the Dutch, British and Chinese. The encomienda system was abused by encomenderos and by 1700 was largely replaced by administrative provinces, each headed by an alcalde mayor (provincial governor)[12] The most prominent feature of Spanish cities was the plaza, a central area for town activities such as the fiesta, and where government buildings, the church, a market area and other infrastructures were located. Residential areas lay around the plaza. During the conquista, the first task of colonization was the reduction, or relocation of the indigenous population into settlements surrounding the plaza. As in Europe, the church always had control over the state affairs of the colony. The friars controlled the sentiments of the native population and was more powerful than the governorgeneral himself. Among the issues that resulted to the Philippine revolution of 1898 that ended Spanish rule was the abuse of power by the religious orders.[citation needed] National Government On the national level, the King of Spain, through his Council of the Indies (Consejo de las Indias), governed through his sole representative in the Philippines: the Governor-General (Gobernador y Capitn General). With the seat of power in Intramuros, Manila, the Governor-General was given several duties: he headed the Supreme Court (Royal Audiencia), was Commander-in-chief of the army and navy, and was the economic planner of the country. All known executive power of the local government stemmed from him and as vice-regal patron, he had the right to supervise mission work and oversee ecclesiastical appointments. His yearly salary was P40,000. For obvious reasons, the Governor-General was usually a Peninsular (Spaniard born in Spain) to ensure loyalty of the colony to the crown. Rizal believed that the only justification for national liberation and self-government was the restoration of the dignity of the people,[note 20] saying "Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow?"[92] Rizal, through his reading of Morga and other western historians, knew of the genial image of Spain's early relations with his people.[93] In his writings, he showed the disparity between the early colonialists and those of his day, with the latter's injustices giving rise to Gomburza and the Philippine Revolution of 1896. The English biographer, Austin Coates, and writer, Benedict

Anderson, believe that Rizal gave the Philippine revolution a genuinely national character; and that Rizal's patriotism and his standing as one of Asia's first intellectuals have inspired others of the importance of a national identity to nation-building. Rizal's annotations of Morga's Sucesos de las islas Filipinas (1609), which he copied word for word from the British Museum and had published, called attention to an antiquated book, a testimony to the well-advanced civilization in the Philippines during pre-Spanish era. In his essay "The Indolence of the Filipino" Rizal stated that three centuries of Spanish rule did not do much for the advancement of his countryman; in fact there was a 'retrogression', and the Spanish colonialists have transformed him into a 'half-way brute.' The absence of moral stimulus, the lack of material inducement, the demoralization--'the indio should not be separated from his carabao', the endless wars, the lack of a national sentiment, the Chinese piracyall these factors, according to Rizal, helped the colonial rulers succeed in placing the indio 'on a level with the beast'.