LIFE, WORKS & WRITINGS OF RIZAL
CHAPTER 5: THE NINETEENTH CENTURY PHILIPPINE
ECONOMY, SOCIETY, AND THE CHINESE MESTIZOS
VOCABULARY
CASH CROP – crops cultivated for export.
DECREE – an order issue by a legal authority; a policy pronouncement.
GALLEON TRADE – trade 1564-1815, this was the form of trade between the Philippines and
Mexico. The galleons would sail to Mexico loaded with goods and return to the Philippines
carrying the payment of silver.
INSULAREs – pure-blooded Spanish born in the Philippines.
MESTIZO – a person with mixed ancestry- one parent is Chinese or Spanish and the other is
native.
MERCHANT HOUSES – firms established in manila and other cities by foreign traders.
PACTO DE RETROVENTA – an agreement that allowed a landowner to sell his/her land with the
guarantee that she/he could buy the land back at the same price.
PARIAN – Chinese enclave established in 1581 outside the walls of Intramurous. The Chinese
were forced to live in the Parian.
PENINSULARES – pure-blooded Spanish born in spain.
PRINCIPALIA – wealthy pure-blooded natives said to have descended from the kadatoan class.
SANGLEY – a term that proliferate in the Spain Philippines to refer to people of pure Chinese
descent; came from the Hokkien word, “seng-li” meaning business.
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION – a way by which people in a society are categorized based on socio-
economic as well as political standards.
THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF PHILIPPINE ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
During this period, vast economic, political, social, and cultural currents were felt
By late 18th century, the monarchy in Spain experienced a dynastic shift from Habsburgs to
Bourbons.
The first governor-general to the Philippines under the Bourbon mandate was Jose de Basco y
Vargas. (1778)
By the time of Basco, the Galleon Trade, the main economic institution existing in the
Philippines.
To better facilitate the envisioned reorientation of the economy, Basco established Royal
Philippine Company in 1785 to finance agricultural project.
It also did not help that the Royal Philippine Company was fraught with issues and
mismanagement and corruption.
REFORMS
1. He lifted a ban on Chinese merchants;
2. Initialized the development of cash crop farms;
3. Relaxed certain policies that allowed the gradual opening of Manila foreign markets; and
4. Established the Tobacco Monopoly to maximize the production of this export good.
LIFE, WORKS & WRITINGS OF RIZAL
By 1810, the Mexican War of Independence ratted the Spanish empire, ass it would eventually
lead to the loss of precious Latin America colonies.
With this came the eventual end of the Galleon Trade which became a concern in the
Philippines.
Manila was opened to world trade by 1834.
The rapid development of the economy began to flow in the Philippines through cash crops.
By the first half of nineteenth century, majority of the exports of the Philippines came from cash
drops like tobacco, sugar, cotton, indigo, abaca and coffee.
The farmers felt the pressure of the economy while the hacienderos grabbed the opportunity.
For example: when a small landowner needed capital and money, he would engage in a pacto
de retroventa, an agreement of sale guaranteeing that he could buy the land back at the same
price at which it was sold.
Eventually, they would be forfeit the land and would be forced to become tenant farmer, or
kasama.
As form this mode, land acquisition also came in the form of land-grabbling.
As the growing economy required better management of lands, inquilinos emerged, renting
land to sublet it to smaller farmers.
These factors would bring change to the social stratification in the countryside.
THE CHINESE AND CHINESE MESTIZOS
The sectors that greatly benefited from the changing economy were the Chinese and the
Chinese Mestizos.
During the height of Galleon Trade, it was also Chinese products that comprised most the goods
being traded.
These feeling led to stringent stake policy towards the sangley ranging from higher taxes.
The restriction of movement with establishment of the Chinese enclave (Parian), to actual
policies of expulsion.
IMPACT ON LIFE IN THE COLONY
The economic developments, precipitated social, political, and cultural developments as well.
As Manila became trading center, it became viable destination for people seeking better
opportunities of those wanting to escape the worsening conditions in the farmlands.
The increased rate of internal mitigation raised several concerns.
One, people flocked to the centers of trade like Manila.
Two, the continuous movement of people made tax collection extra difficult.
In order to mitigate these concerns, one measure implemented was the 1849 decree of
Governor-General Narciso Claveria that urged the people in the colony tp adopt
surnames. Catalogo de apellideos drawn up.
Together with more policies like the registration and possession of cedula personal bearing
one’s name and residence, the colonial government sought to have a better surveillance
mechanism (Guardia Civilia).
LIFE, WORKS & WRITINGS OF RIZAL
RENEGOTIATING SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
With the growing relevance of the mestizo population, new lines were drawn with the following
social strata:
PENINSULAR – pure-blooded Spaniard born in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain).
INSULAR – pure-blooded Spaniard born in the Philippines.
MESTIZO – Born mixed parentage, a mestizo can be:
SPANISH MESTIZO – one parent is Spanish, the other is a native; or
CHINESE MESTIZO – one parent is Chinese, the other is a native.
INDIO – pure-blooded native of the Philippines
CHINO INFIEL – non-Catholic pure blooded Chinese.
