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Abuses During The Spanish Times in The Philippines

During the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines, there was a rigid social class system and widespread abuses. Spaniards imposed high taxes on Filipinos, forced labor systems like polo y servicios and encomienda, and limited education to maintain control. Under encomienda, Filipinos were subjected to forced labor, punishment, and death if they resisted. Additionally, friars exercised control over many civil functions through the parish system and opposed teaching Spanish to maintain their power over the population.

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845 views10 pages

Abuses During The Spanish Times in The Philippines

During the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines, there was a rigid social class system and widespread abuses. Spaniards imposed high taxes on Filipinos, forced labor systems like polo y servicios and encomienda, and limited education to maintain control. Under encomienda, Filipinos were subjected to forced labor, punishment, and death if they resisted. Additionally, friars exercised control over many civil functions through the parish system and opposed teaching Spanish to maintain their power over the population.

Uploaded by

Spéak Speare
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ABUSES DURING THE SPANISH TIMES

IN THE PHILIPPINES
During the Spanish colonial period,
four social class distinctions were observed
in the islands:
• Spaniards who were born in
Spain, peninsulares;
• Spaniards born in the colonies of Spain
(Latin America or the
Philippines), insulares or creoles;
• Spanish mestizos, Chinese or 'Indios'
(natives) dwelling within or near the city
(or town), and the church; and
• Chinese, Sangley, and rural Indios.
Abuses during Spanish Colonization:
Taxation
Sexual abuse of women
Spaniards tend to have heavy taxes known as the
tribute and the bandalâ

Bandalâ
It could be in cash or kind, with tobacco,
chickens, produce, gold, blankets, cotton, rice,
or other products depending on the region of the
country and was initially fixed at 8 reales, later
increased to 15 reales, apportioned as follows:
ten reales buwis, one real diezmos prediales
(tithe), one real to the town community chest,
one real sanctorum tax, and three reales for
church support. It is an annual forced sale and
requisitioning of goods such as rice.
Education
The state of education from the Spanish
Colonization is quite infuriating. It is because of
that the Spaniards limited the education degree
as well as its teachings so that there would be
no Filipinos to revolt or go against them using
education.

Labor
Regardless of the age, many Filipinos were
forced to work on several jobs like building
structures, defending the territory (military),
and trading goods to other countries.

Examples : Polo y Servicio, Galleon Trade, and


the Encomienda System
Encomienda

In theory, the receiver of the grant was to


protect the natives from warring tribes (given to
the receiver) and to instruct them in the Spanish
language and in the Catholic faith: in return
they could extract tribute from the natives in
the form of labor, gold, or other products.

In practice, the difference between encomienda


and slavery could be minimal. Many natives were
forced to do hard labor and subjected to
extreme punishment and death if they resisted.
The Polo y Servicios is the forced labor without
compensation. In this system, all men 16-60
years old forced to work heavy work for town
activities such as roads, churches, bridges,
schools, government buildings and public
structures.
The Church during Spanish Times:

“It is easy to see from this that the priest as NOT only
the spiritual guide, but that he was in every sense the
municipal ruler.” (Taft Commission)

“The friars had come to exercise almost all the


functions of civil government within the limits of their
parishes.”
School Municipal Hall
(Education) (Government)

CHURCH

Market Place Town’s Plaza


(Economy) (Socio-Cultural)
The religious:

• Public instruction was exclusively under the direction


of the friars. Higher education appears to have been
at first only for the sons of Spaniards.

• The friars opposed teaching the Spanish language to


any important portion of the people with whom they
dealt, the Jesuits being the order that most used its
influence toward extending education to the masses.

• Monastic orders had secured possession of large


tracts of some of the best cultivated lands, which
were leased out to tenants on terms profitable to the
orders.
The religious:

The friar as a parish priest was usually the only man of


intelligence and education who knew both the native
dialect and the Spanish language well in his parish.

His position as the spiritual guide of the people


necessarily led to his acting as intermediary between
them and the rest of the world in secular matters.

He came to discharge many civil functions and to


supervise, correct, or veto everything which was done
or sought to be done in the pueblo which was his
parish.

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