CHAPTER I

JOSE RIZAL AND HIS TIMES (19TH CENTURY)

Objectives: At the end of this topic, the students are expected to:

1. Understand social context of Rizals time both in the global and local levels,
2. Know the socio-political factors that contributed to the growth of national
consciousness during Rizals time,
3. Identify the sources of discontent of the Filipinos against the Spaniards and
friars during the 19th century,
4. Appreciate the influence of the social context to the life and writings of Dr.
Jose Rizal
5. Answer the guide questions correctly and apply the key concepts in the exercises
of the chapter.

Key Concepts
Industrial Revolution
French Revolution
American Revolution
Suez Canal
Influx of Liberal Ideas
Twilight of Spanish Rule in 19th Century
Tribute
Encomienda
Polo
Frailocracy
Racial Discrimination

Content

It is difficult to say when Filipinos began to think of themselves as Filipinos and

not simply as Tagalogs, Ilokanos or Visayans. Probably the preliminary stage in the
development of national consciousness was reached when indios realized that they
have something in common, that is, a common grievance against the Spaniards (De la
Costa 1965: 213). Our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, was the first to think the
indios as one nation when he first used the word Filipino to refer to all
inhabitants in the country whether they are of Spanish or Filipino blood. During
the Spanish period, the native inhabitants were called Indios while only the
inhabitants with Spanish blood (peninsulares, insulares or mestizos) were regarded
as Filipinos. Rizal could not have thought of one people and one nation which
include all people in archipelago without the influence of the social milieu of his
time. Rizal was born and grew up in the 19th century, a period of massive changes
in Europe, Spain and in the Philippines. During this era, the glory and power of
Spain had waned both in her colonies and in the world.

THE GLOBAL CONTEXT: THE THREE GREAT REVOLUTIONS

Conversely, one cannot fully understand Rizals thought without understanding the
social and political context of the 19th century. Social scientists marked the 19th
century as the birth of modern life as well as the birth of many nation-states
around the world. The birth of modernity was precipitated by three great
revolutions around the world: the Industrial revolution in England, the French
Revolution in France and the American Revolution.

Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution is basically an economic revolution which started with

the invention of steam engine and resulted to the use of machinery in the
manufacturing sector in the cities of Europe. It has changed the economy of Europe
from feudalisman economic system which relied on land and agriculture--to
capitalism which relied on machinery and wage labor. The merchants of Europe who
became rich through trade became the early capitalists of this emerging economy.
Farmers from rural areas migrated to the cities and became industrial workers while
their wives remained as housekeepers at home in what Karl Marxs characterized as
the first instance of the domestication of women.

The Industrial Revolution that started in Europe had repercussions to the

Philippine economy. A radical transformation of the economy took place between the
middle of the eighteenth century and the middle of the nineteenth; something that
might almost be called an agricultural revolution, with a concomitant development
of agricultural industries and domestic as well as foreign trade (De la Costa 1965:
159). The economic opportunities created by the Industrial Revolution had
encouraged Spain in 1834 to open the Philippine economy to world commerce. As a
result, new cities and ports were built. Foreign firms increased rapidly.
Foreigners were allowed to engage in manufacturing and agriculture. Merchant banks
and financial institutions were also established. The British and Americans
improved agricultural machinery for sugar milling and rice hulling and introduced
new methods of farming. The presence of these foreign traders stimulated
agricultural production, particularly sugar, rice, hemp, andonce the government
monopoly was removed in 1882tobacco. Indeed, the abolition of restrictions on
foreign trade has produced a balanced and dynamic economy of the Philippines during
the 19th century (Maguigad & Muhi 2001: 46; Schumacher 1997: 17).

Furthermore, the fast tempo of economic progress in the Philippines during the 19th
century facilitated by Industrial Revolution resulted to the rise to a new breed of
rich and influential Filipino middle class. Non-existent in previous centuries,
this class, composed of Spanish and Chinese mestizos rose to a position of power in
the Filipino community and eventually became leaders in finance and education
(Agoncillo 1990: 129-130). This class included the ilustrados who belonged to the
landed gentry and who were highly respected in their respective pueblos or towns,
though regarded as filibusteros or rebels by the friars. The relative prosperity of
the period has enabled them to send their sons to Spain and Europe for higher
studies. Most of them later became members of freemasonry and active in the
Propaganda Movement. Some of them sensed the failure of reformism and turned to
radicalism, and looked up to Rizal as their leader (PES 1993:239)

Lastly, safer, faster and more comfortable means of transportation such as railways
and steamships were constructed. The construction of steel bridges and the opening
of Suez Canal opened shorter routes to commerce. Faster means of communications
enable people to have better contacts for business and trade. This resulted to
closer communication between the Philippines and Spain and to the rest of the world
in the 19th century (Romero 1978: 16).

The French Revolution

If the Industrial Revolution changed the economic landscape of Europe and of the
Philippines, another great Revolution changed their political tone of the
periodthe French Revolution. The French revolution (1789-1799) started a political
revolution in Europe and in some parts of the world. This revolution is a period of
political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France during
which the French governmental structure was transformed from absolute monarchy with
feudal privileges for the rich and clergy to a more democratic government form
based on the principles of citizenship and inalienable rights. With the overthrow
of monarchial rule, democratic principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity--the
battle cry of the French Revolution--started to spread in Europe and around the
world.
Not all democratic principles were spread as a result of the French Revolution. The
anarchy or political disturbance caused by the revolution had reached not only in
neighboring countries of France, it has also reached Spain in the 19th century.
Spain experienced a turbulent century of political disturbances during this era
which included numerous changes in parliaments and constitutions, the Peninsular
War, the loss of Spanish America, and the struggle between liberals and
conservatives (De la Costa 1965: 159). Moreover, radical shifts in government
structure were introduced by liberals in the motherland. From 1834 to 1862, for
instance, a brief span of only 28 years, Spain had four constitutions, 28
parliaments, and 529 ministers with portfolio (Zaide 1999: 203). All these
political changes in Spain had their repercussions in the Philippines, cracking the
fabric of the old colonial system and introducing through cracks perilous
possibilities of reform, of equality and even emancipation (De la Costa 1965:
159).

Because of this political turmoil in the motherland, the global power of the Siglo
de Oro of Spain in the sixteenth century as the mistress of the world with
extensive territories had waned abroad in the nineteenth century. Her colonies had
gained momentum for independence owing to the cracks in political leadership in the
motherland. In fact, Cuba, a colony of Spain, was waging a revolution against Spain
when Rizal volunteered to discontinue his exile in Dapitan to work as volunteer
doctor there in order for him to observe the revolution. The divided power of Spain
was triggered by successive change of regimes due to the democratic aspiration
created by the French Revolution. This aspiration had inspired colonies under Spain
and Portugal to revolt in order to gain independence from their colonial masters in
the 19th century.

The American Revolution

Finally, the American Revolution, though not directly affecting the local economy
and politics of the Philippines in the nineteenth century, had important
repercussions to democratic aspirations of the Filipino reformist led by Rizal
during this period. The American Revolution refers to the political upheaval during
the last half of the 18th century in which the 13 colonies of North America
overthrew the rule of the British Empire and rejected the British monarchy to make
the United States of American a sovereign nation. In this period the colonies first
rejected the authority British Parliament to govern without representation, and
formed self-governing independent states. The American revolution had given the
world in the 19th century the idea that colonized people can gain their
independence from their colonizers. The Americans were able to overthrow their
British colonial masters to gain independence and the status of one free nation-
state. This significant event had reverberated in Europe and around the world and
inspired others to follow. Indirectly, the American Revolution had in a way
inspired
Filipino reformists like Rizal to aspire for freedom and independence. When the
Philippines was opened by Spain to world trade in the 19th century, liberal ideas
from America borne by ships and men from foreign ports began to reach the country
and influenced the ilustrados. These ideas, contained in books and newspapers, were
ideologies of the American and French Revolutions and the thoughts of Montesquieu,
Rousseau, Voltaire, Locke, Jefferson, and other political philosophers (Zaide 1999:
214)
THE RISE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Aside from the three great revolutions in Europe, the birth of social sciences such
as sociology, history and anthropology, also had a significant influence to the
intellectual tradition of the 19th century. The reliance on human reason and
science rather on dogmas of the Catholic Church has its roots in the intellectual
movement called The Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment or simply The
Enlightenment is a term used to describe a time in Western philosophy and cultural
life centered upon the eighteenth century, in which reason was advocated as the
primary source and legitimacy for authority.

Enlightenment philosophers such Michel de Montaigne, believed that human reason

could be used to combat ignorance, superstition, and tyranny and to build a better
world. Their principal targets were religion (embodied in France in the Catholic
Church) and the domination of society by a hereditary aristocracy.

The reliance on human reason rather on faith and religion has paved the way to the
birth of social sciences in the 19th century to study scientifically the changes
and conditions of Europe during this period. The massive changes in society brought
about by the three great revolutions has resulted to dissatisfaction

THE CHURCH IN THE 19TH CENTURY

In addition to the three great revolutions, the weakening of the grip of the
Catholic Church of the growing secularalized society of Europe and Spain has
implications to the Philippines. Conversely, the Catholic Church in Europe was a
most powerful institution in Europe. The union of Church State has identified the
Church with the monarchy and aristocracy since the Middles Ages. Since it upheld
the status quo and favored the monarchy, the Church in the nineteenth century had
been considered an adversary to the new Republican states and the recently unified
countries. The French saw the Church as a threat to the newly formed republican
state and Bismarck of Germany also saw it as a threat to the unified German Empire.
In Spain, the liberals considered the Church as an enemy of reforms. Thus they
sought to curtail to influence of the Church in political life and education. This
movement against the Catholic Church called anti-clericalism had gained strength in
the nineteenth century not only for political reasons but also of the materialistic
preferences of the people generated by the economic prosperity of the period
(Romero et al 1978: 17-18).

The declining influence of the Catholic Church in Europe and Spain has little
effect, however, to the control and power of the local Church in the Philippines.
Despite the anti-clericalism in Spain, the power of the friars in the Philippines
in the 19th century did not decline; instead, it became consolidated after the
weakening of civil authority owing to constant change in political leadership. This
means that Filipinos turned more and more to the friars for moral and political
guidance as Spanish civil officials in the colony became more corrupt and immoral.
The union of the Church and State and the so-called rule of the friars or
frailocracy continued during this period. In the last decades of the 19th
century, the Spanish friars were so influential and powerful that they practically
ruled the whole archipelago. The Spanish civil authorities as well as patriotic
Filipinos feared them. In every Christian town in the country, for instance, the
friar is the real ruler, not the elected gobernadorcillo. He was the supervisor of
local elections, the inspector of the schools, the arbiter of morals, and the
censor of books and stage shows. He could order the arrest of or exile to distant
land any filibustero (traitor) or anti-friar Filipino who disobeyed him or refused
to kiss his hands (Zaide 1999: 209).
One of the aims of Dr. Rizal and the propagandists in order to prepare the Filipino
people for revolution and independence was to discredit the friars. Exposing the
abuses and immoralities of the friars is one way to downplay their power and
influence among the people and thus can shift the allegiance of the Indios from the
friars to the Filipino reformists and leaders. The strengthening power of the
friars in the 19th century has encouraged the nationalists to double their efforts
to win the people to their side.
OTHER FACTORS FACILITATING THE GROWTH OF NATIONALISM
The Opening of the Suez Canal
Aside from these three great revolutions and the declining influence of the Church
during this period, there were also other factors that facilitated the growth of
nationalistic aspirations of Dr. Jose Rizal and other Filipino ilustrados. Foremost
among them is the opening of the Suez Canal to international shipping on November
17, 1869. This canal is 103 miles long and connects the Mediterranean with the Gulf
of Suez and hence with the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Its significance could not
be underestimated. With the opening of this canal, the distance of travel between
Europe and the Philippines was significantly shortened and brought the country
closer to Spain. In previous years, a steamer from Barcelona had to sail around the
Cape of Good Hope, and reached Manila after a hazardous voyage of more than three
months. With this canal, the trip was reduced to only 32 days (Zaide 1999: 215).

The opening of the Suez Canal facilitated the importation of books, magazines and
newspapers with liberal ideas from Europe and America which eventually influenced
the minds of Jose Rizal and other Filipino reformists. Political thoughts of
liberal thinkers like Jean Jacques Rousseau (Social Contract), John Locke (/two
Treatises of Government), Thomas Paine (ommon Sense) and others entered the country
(Maguigad & Muhi 2001; 62). Moreover, the shortened route encouraged more and more
Spaniards and Europeans with liberal ideas to come to the Philippines and interact
with Filipino reformists. The opening of this canal in 1869 further stimulated the
local economy which give riseas already mentioned above--to the creation of the
middle class of mestizos and ilustrados in the 19th century.

The shortened route has also encouraged the ilustrados led by Rizal to pursue
higher studies abroad and learn liberal and scientific ideas in the universities of
Europe. Their social interaction with liberals in foreign lands has influenced
their thinking on politics and nationhood.

The Democractic Rule of Gov. Gen. Dela Torre

The first-hand experience of what it is to be liberal came from the role modeling
of the first liberal governor general in the PhilippinesGovernor General Carlos
Ma. Carlos Dela Torre. Why Govenor Dela Torre was able to rule in the Philippines
has a long story. The political instability in Spain had caused frequent changes of
Spanish officials in the Philippines which caused further confusion and increased
social as well as political discontent in the country. But when the liberals
deposed Queen Isabela II in 1868 mutiny, a provisional government was set up and
the new government extended to the colonies the reforms they adopted in Spain.
These reforms include the grant of universal suffrage and recognition of freedom
and conscience, the press, association and public assembly. General Carlos Ma. De
la Torre was appointed by the provisional government in Spain as Governor General
of the Philippines (Romero et al 1978: 21).

The rule of the first liberal governor general in the person of General de la Torre
became significant in the birth of national consciousness in the 19th century. De
la Torres liberal and pro-people governance had given Rizal and the Filipinos
during this period a foretaste of a democratic rule and way of life. De la Torre
put into practice his liberal and democratic ways by avoiding luxury and living a
simple life. During his two-year term, Governor De la Torre had many significant
achievements. He encouraged freedom and abolished censorship (Maguigad & Muhi 2001:
63). He recognized the freedom of speech and of the press, which were guaranteed by
the Spanish Constitution. Because of his tolerant policy, Father Jose Burgos and
other Filipino priests were encouraged to pursue their dream of replacing the
friars with the Filipino clergy as parish priests in the country (Zaide 1999: 217).

Governor De la Torres greatest achievement was the peaceful solution to the land
problem in Cavite. This province has been the center of agrarian unrest in the
country since the 18th century because the Filipino tenants who lost their land had
been oppressed by Spanish landlords. Agrarian uprisings led by the local hero,
Eduardo Camerino, erupted several times in Cavite. This agrarian problem was only
solved without bloodshed when Governor De la Torre himself went to Cavite and had a
conference with the rebel leader. He pardoned the latter and his followers,
provided them with decent livelihood and appointed them as members of the police
force with Camerino as captain (Ibid).

The Cavite Mutiny and the Martyrdom of GOMBURZA

Two historical events in the late 19th century that hastened the growth of
nationalism in the minds of Rizal, reformists and the Filipino people is the Cavite
Mutiny and the martyrdom of Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora or popularly known as
GOMBURZA. The Cavite Mutiny is a failed uprising against the Spaniards due to
miscommunication. On the night of January 20, 1872, a group of about 200 soldiers
and workers led by Lamadrid, a Filipino sergeant, took over by force the Cavite
arsenal and fort. Before this, there was an agreement between Lamadrid and his men
and Filipino soldiers in Manila that they would join forces to stage a revolt
against the Spaniards, with firing of rockets from the city walls of Manila on that
night as the signal of the uprising. Unfortunately, the suburbs of Manila
celebrated its fiesta on that very night with a display of fireworks. The Cavite
plotters, thinking that the fighting had been started by Manila soldiers, killed
their Spanish officers and took control of the fort. On the following morning,
government troops rushed to the Cavite arsenal and killed many mutineers including
Lamadrid. The survivors were subdued, taken prisoners and brought to Manila (Zaide
1999: 218-220).

This unfortunate incidence in Cavite became an opportunity, however, for the

Spaniards to implicate the three Filipino priests who had been campaigning for
Filipino rights, particularly the right of Filipino priests to become parish
priests or Filipinization of the parishes in the country. These three priests,
especially Father Jose Burgos, the youngest and the most intelligent, championed
the rights of the Filipino priests and were critical of Spanish policies. The
Spanish government then wanted them to be placed behind bars or executed. To do
this, it magnified the event and made it appear as a revolt against the
government. Thus, after the mutineers were imprisoned, Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose
Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora (GOMBURZA) were arrested and charged falsely with
treason and mutiny under a military court. To implicate them, the government bribed
Francisco Zaldua, a former soldier, as the star witness. With a farcical trial, a
biased court, and a weak defense from their government-hired lawyers, the three
priests were convicted of a crime they did not commit. Governor Izquierdo approved
their death sentence and at sunrise of February 17, 1872, Fathers Gomez, Burgos and
Zamora were escorted under heavy guard to Luneta and were executed by garrote
(strangulation machine) before a vast crowd of Filipinos and foreigners (Ibid.).

The execution of GOMBURZA had hastened not only the downfall of the Spanish
government but also the growth of Philippine nationalism. The Filipino people
resented the execution of the three priests because they knew that they were
innocent and were executed because they championed Filipino rights. Among those in
the crowd who resented the execution was Paciano, the older brother of Jose Rizal,
who inspired the national hero to follow the cause of the three priests. Rizal
dedicated his novel Noli Me Tangere to GOMBURZA to show his appreciation to the
latters courage, dedication to Filipino rights, and sense of nationalism.

Discontent with Spanish Institutions

Spain introduced into the country mechanisms or institutions to enable the colonial
government in the country to comply with its obligations of supporting the Churchs
mission of Christianizing the natives and to contribute to the Spanish Kings
economic welfare. These institutions include the encomienda, the polo or forced
labor and the tributo or tribute. The tribute consisted of direct (personal tribute
and income tax) and indirect (customs duties and the bandala), taxes, monopolies
(rentas estancadas) of special crops and items as spirituous liquors (1712-1864),
betel nut (1764), tobacco (1782-1882), explosives (1805-1864), and opium (1847)
(Agoncillo 1990: 81). These colonial systems also became the major sources of
discontent of many indios during the Spanish period. Because of the oppressive
nature of these systems, many revolts and uprisings erupted in various parts of the
country which contribute tod the weakening of the Spanish rule in the 19th century.

The Tribute or Tributo

As a sign of vassalage to Spain, the Filipino paid tribute to the colonial

government in the island (Zaide 1999: 107). In July 26, 1523, King Charles V
decreed that Indians who had been pacified should contribute a moderate amount in
recognition of their vassalage (Cushner 1979: 101). In theory the tribute or tax
was collected from the natives in order to defray the costs of colonization and to
recognize their vassalage to the king of Spain (Ibid). From the point of view of
the Catholic Church, tribute could be extracted from the natives only if it was
used primarily for the work of Christianization like the building of churches in
the colony, support for missionaries, and so on. But from the point of view of the
natives, the payment of the tribute was, however, seen as a symbol of acceptance of
their vassalage to Spain.

Miguel Lopez de Legazpi was first to order the payment of tribute, both in the
Visayas and Luzon. His successors followed this practice. As mentioned above, the
buwis (tribute) during this period consisted of two types: the direct taxes which
came from personal tribute and income tax, and indirect taxes which were collected
from customs duties and bandala taxes, monopolies (rentas escantadas) of special
crops and items (Agoncillo 1990: 81).

The tribute or buwis was collected from the natives both in specie (gold or money)
and kind (e.g. rice, cloth, chicken, coconut oil, abaca, etc.). The King of Spain
preferred the payment of gold but the natives paid largely in kind. That was why
King Philip II was annoyed upon knowing that most of the tributes in the colony was
paid in kind (Cushner 1979: 104). In the 1570s, the tribute was fixed at eight
reales (1 real=121/2 centavos) or in kind of gold, blankets, cotton, rice, bells
and raised to fifteen reales till the end of the Spanish period. Until the mid-
nineteenth century, the Filipinos were required to pay the tribute of 10 reales; 1
real diezmos prediales (tithes), 1 real town community chest, 3 reales of sanctorum
tax for church support or a total of 15 reales (Agoncillo 1990: 1-82).

In addition, a special tax called bandala was also collected from the natives.
Coming the word mandala ( a round stack of rice stalks to be threshed), bandala is
an annual enforced sale or requisitioning of goods, particularly of rice or coconut
oil, in the case of Tayabas. If not paid, outright confiscation of goods or crops
if this tax is not paid or paid only in promissory notes. This type of tax is so
oppressive that it sparked a revolt in 1660-61. In November 1782, bandala was
abolished in provinces of Tondo, Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna, Batangas, Tayabas and
Cavite since natives refused to plant rice and other crops because of this tax
(Agoncillo 1990: 82).

By 1884, the tribute was replaced by the cedula personal or personal identity paper
which resembles with the present community or residence tax today. Everyone,
whether Filipino or other nationalities, over eighteen years of age, was required
to pay this kind of tax (Ibid.: 83).

The intended effect of the tribute was primarily to advance the Christianization of
the natives in the archipelago. The unintended effect however was exploitation of
the natives at the hands of some abusive Spaniards in the collection of this
tribute. Due to its lack of uniformity and fixed policy in collecting tribute in
the beginning, many natives complained of paying taxes beyond legal prescription.
Says Renato Constantino, The tribute-collectorsalcaldes, mayors, encomenderos,
gobernadorcillos, and cabezasoften abused their offices by collecting more than
the law required and appropriating the difference (Constantino 1975: 51).

The Encomienda

Another colonial system that is intimately connected with the tribute is the
encomienda system. The word encomienda comes from the Spanish encomendar which
means to entrust. The ecomienda is a grant of inhabitants living in particular
conquered territory which Spain gave to Spanish colonizer as a reward for his
services (Zaide 1987: 76). It is given by the king of Spain as gesture of gratitude
to those who assisted him in colonizing the Indies. In the strict sense, it is not
a land grant but a grant to exercise control over a specific place including its
inhabitants. This includes the right for the encomendero (owner of encomienda) to
impose tribute or taxes according to the limit and kind set by higher authorities
(Agoncillo 1990: 84). In exchange for this right, the encomendero is duty-bound by
law to (1) defend his encomienda from external incursions, (2) to keep peace and
order, and (3) to assist the missionaries in evangelizing the natives within his
territory (Ibid).

The encomiendas during the Spanish period were of two kindsthe royal and private.
The royal encomiendas which consisted of big cities, seaports, and inhabitants of
regions rich in natural resources were owned by the king. The private encomiendas
were owned by private individuals or charitable institutions such as the College of
Santa Potenciana and the Hospital of San Juan de Dios (Zaide 1987:76). By 1591, a
total of 257 encomiendas with a total population of over 600,000 were created by
the Spanish king in the Philippines (31 royal and 236 private). The encomienda
system lasted a little longer and finally ended in the first decade of the 19th
century (Zaide 1987: 77).

Like the tribute, the encomienda system is one of the major sources of discontent
of the natives against the Spanish rule. This system has empowered the Spanish
encomiendero to collect tribute or taxes according to his whim or desire. Because
there was no systematic taxation system in the colony, the encomiendero has the
option to collect the tribute in gold, cash, or kind. When gold was abundant and
money was scarce, he demanded cash or reales; when reales were plentiful and there
was scarcity of gold, they asked for gold, even when the poor Filipinos were
coerced to buy them. During bumper harvests, he demanded products like rice,
tobacco or even all of the Filipino possessions, and they were forced to travel
great distances to try to buy them at high rates. The encomiendero has indeed
become abusive because of his discretionary power to collect taxes within his
jurisdiction. Filipinos who resisted his power were publicly flogged, tortured or
jailed. These unjust collections of taxes within the encomienda system became one
of the causes of intermittent uprisings in the Philippines during the Spanish
period (Agoncillo 1990: 84-85).

The Polo or Forced Labor

In addition to the tribute, the Polo or forced labor is another Spanish that had
created discontent among the indios during the Spanish times. The word polo is
actually a corruption of the Tagalog pulong, originally meaning meeting of persons
and things or community labor. Drafted laborers were either Filipino or Chinese
male mestizos who were obligated to give personal service to community projects,
like construction and repair of infrastructure, church construction, or cutting
logs in forests, for forty days. All able-body males, from 16 to 60 years of old,
except chieftains and their elder sons, were required to render labor for these
various projects in the colony. This was instituted in 1580 and reduced to 15 days
per year in 1884 (Constantino 1975: 51).
There were laws that regulate polo. For instance, the polista (the person who
renders forced labor) will be paid a daily wage of real plus rice. Moreover, the
polista was not supposed to be brought from a distant place nor required to work
during planting and harvesting seasons (Ibid: 52). Despite restrictions, polo
resulted to the disastrous consequences. It resulted to the ruining of communities
the men left behind. The promised wage was not given exactly as promised that led
to starvation or even death to some polistas and their families. Moreover, the polo
had affected the village economy negatively. The labor drafts coincided with the
planting and harvesting seasons; forced separation from the family and relocation
to different places, sometimes outside the Philippines; and reduction of male
population as they were compelled at times, to escape to the mountains instead of
working in the labor pool (Agoncillo 1990: 83).

UNION OF CHURCH AND STATE

During the Spanish period, there was a union of Church and State. The Catholic
religion became the State religion. Both civil and ecclesiastical authorities
served God and king. Thus, the functions of the government officials oftentimes
overlapped with those of the clergy in the Church. Under the arrangements between
the Pope and the Spanish King called the Patronato Real de las Indias, civil and
Church authorities must coordinate to Christianize the natives in the colony. Since
evangelization of the natives is the only reason, according to the Church, that
gave Spain the right to colonize the Philippines and to extract tribute, civil
authorities should support the material needs of the missionaries in building
Churches and catechizing the inhabitants. Thus, the government provided salaries to
the Spanish missionaries and the clergy, making them technically government
officials.

The union of Church and State also implies the non-payment of all forms of tribute
or taxes by the Catholic Church and members of its clergy. The Church did not pay
any personal or income tax to the government. Instead, the government contributed a
huge amount of the taxes or duties collected from the colony went to the Church for
its evangelization work. Owing to this union, the clergy and friars enjoyed
political influence in the country. In the town, for instance, the parish priest
holds immense power compared to the gobernadorcillo or town mayor. He represented
the Spanish King in his area of responsibility. He supervised local elections,
education, charities, morals and taxation. Until 1762, members of the Church
hierarchy like bishops and archbishops acted as governors generals in case of
vacancy in the gubernatorial office. Among them were: Archbishop Francisco
Francisco de la Cuesta (1719-21), Bishop Juan de Arrechederra (1745-50), Bsihop
Lino de Espeleta (1759-61) and Archbishop Manuel Antonio Rojo (1761-62) (Zaide
1999: 111).

With todays doctrine of Separation of Church and State introduced by the

Americans, it is unthinkable for bishops and priests to hold public office or
exercise government power owing to the ban imposed by the Pope to the clergy. With
vast powers both spiritual and political in their hands, Spanish friars and the
clergy held absolute powers in the colony during the Spanish period. This had
attracted the attention of the reformists and ilustrados led by Jose Rizal that
resulted to a nationalist desire for reforms in the country and eventually
independence from Spain.

Abuses and Immoralities of the Friars

Although not all friars are bad, abusive and immoral friars became a source cause
of peoples disenchantment with the Spanish rule. The Filipino reformists led by
Dr. Rizal hated the abusive friars and wanted them to be expelled from the country
as attested by their Anti-Friars Manifesto of 1888:
The bad friars were portrayed by Rizal in his two novels Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo and by Graciano Lopez Jaena as Fray Botod (Zaide 1999:211). These
bad friars were arrogant, abusive and immoral. They impregnated native women and
sire illegitimate children.
The reformist Marcelo H. Del Pilar parodied the Ten Commandments to ridicule the
friars:
1. Thou shalt worship and love the friars above all.
2. Thou shalt not cheat them of their stipends.
3. Thou shalt sanctify the friar, Sundays or holidays.
4. Thou shalt pawn thyself to pay for the burial of thy father and mother.
5. Thou shouldst not die if thou hast not the money to pay for thine interment.
6. Thou shalt not covet his wife.
7. Thou shalt not steal with him.
8. Thou shalt not accuse him even if thou be called a liar.
9. Thou not refuse him your wife.
10. Thou shalt not deny him your property (Del Pilar in Agoncillo 1990:136-137).
Racial Discrimination
Another area of animosities between Filipinos and Spaniards that led to discontent
of the Spanish rule is racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is a form of
social exclusion where people are prevented from having access to public goods by
virtue of their physical traits. It is an abusive behavior of one race against
another. In colonization, the white colonizers who are Caucasians often down on
their colonized people or natives as inferior by virtue of their skin, height,
nose, or physical traits. In the Philippines, the Spanish authorities regarded the
brown Filipino as an inferior people and derisively called them Indios or
Indians. This racial prejudice against native Filipinos existed in the government
offices, in the armed forces, in the universities and colleges, in courts of
justice, and in high society (Zaide 1999: 211). Although the laws applied in the
colony recognized no difference between various races, documentary evidence on
racism in the Philippines is abundant. A description of Pardo de Tavera illustrates
this racial discrimination in social etiquette:
The townspeople were obliged to remove their hats when a Spaniard passed, and this
was especially the case if he occupied some official position; if the Spaniard
happened to be a priest; in addition to the removal of the hat the native was
obliged to kiss his hat. No Indian [i.e.,Filipino] was allowed to sit at the same
table with a Spaniard, even though the Spaniard was a guest in the Indians house.
The Spaniards addressed the Filipinos [i.e., Spaniards born in the Philippines] by
the pronoun thou, and although many of the Spaniards married pure blood native
women, the wives were always looked down on in society as belonging to an inferior
class (de Tavera in Agoncillo 1990: 121).

The friars and some Spanish writers the Filipino race in their writings. They
maligned the indios and degraded them as neither a merchant nor an industrial,
neither a farmer nor a philosopher. The Franciscan Fr. Miguel Lucio y Bustamante
opined in his Si Tandang Basio Macunat (Manila, 1885) that the Filipino could never
learn the Spanish language or be civilized: The Spaniards will always be a
Spaniard, and the indio will always be an indioThe monkey will always be a monkey
however you dress him with shirt and trousers, and will always be a monkey and not
human (Ibid).

To prove that indios were not inferior people, some talented and intelligent
Filipinos excelled in their chosen fields. Juan Luna excelled in painting. Fr. Jose
Burgos in Theology and Canon Law. Jose Rizal, by surpassing the Spanish writers in
literary contests and winning fame as a physician, man-of-letters, scholar, and a
scientist, proved that a brown man could be as great or even greater than a white
man (Zaide 1999:211).

The decline of the Spanish rule in the 19th century and the popularity of Rizal and
his reform agenda were products of an interplay of various economic, social,
political and cultural forces both in the global and local scale. The three great
revolutions, namely: Industrial, French and American as well the birth of the
social sciences and liberal ideas had gradually secularized societies in the 19th
century and thereby weakened the influence of religion in peoples mind, especially
the well-educated reformists and ilustrados. The political turmoil in Spain caused
by the rapid change of leadership and struggle between conservatives and liberals
had also weakened the Spanish administration in the Philippines. Although the
influence of the Catholic Church in the 19th century led by the friars had not
diminished, the liberal and progressive ideas of Rizal and the reformists had
already awakened the nationalist sentiment of the natives that soon became the
catalyst for political change in the late 19th century.