JOSE RIZAL AND HIS TIMES (19TH CENTURY)

Objectives: At the end of this topic, the students are expected to:
1. Understand social context of Rizal’s time both in the global and local levels,
2. Know the socio-political factors that contributed to the growth of national
consciousness during Rizal’s time,
3. Identify the sources of discontent of the Filipinos against the Spaniards and friars
during the 19thcentury,
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 19 th 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 Rizal’s 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 feudalism—an 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 Marx’s 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, and—once the
government monopoly was removed in 1882—tobacco. 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 19 th 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 mestizosrose 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 asfilibusteros 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 period—the 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 19 th 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 19 thcentury 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 19 th 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 19 thcentury 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 19 th 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 electedgobernadorcillo. 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 Indiosfrom 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 rise—as 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 Philippines—Governor 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 19 th century. De la Torre’s 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 Torre’s 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 18 thcentury
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 latter’s 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 Church’s mission of
Christianizing the natives and to contribute to the Spanish King’s economic welfare. These
institutions include theencomienda, 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 19thcentury.
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-collectors—alcaldes,
mayors, encomenderos, gobernadorcillos, and cabezas—often 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 theencomendero (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, theencomendero is duty-bound by law to (1) defend
hisencomienda 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 kinds—the 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 encomiendaswere 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 257encomiendas 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, theencomiendero 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 ¼ 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 polohad
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 today’s 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 people’s
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 Indian’s 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 indio…The 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 19 th 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 people’s 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.