PH UNDER THE SPANISH COLONIZATION

• 3Gs - Aims of Spanish Colonization

  • God - Propagation of Catholicism/Christianity
  • Gold - Desire for economic wealth
  • Glory - Spain's ambition to be the greatest empire
• Governor-General


  • Chief executive of the Philippines during Spanish time
  • Enforced king's royal decrees and laws from Spain
  • Commander-in-chief of colonial armed forces
  • Appointed and removed colonial officials, except those appointed by the king
  • Recommended priests for appointment as parish priests and intervened in controversies among religious authorities
• Powers that checked the Governor-General

  • Royal Audiencia (Supreme Court)
  • Archbishop and Clergy (Influential in king's court)
  • Residencia (Judicial institution to try outgoing governor-general and officials)
  • Visitador (Investigating officer sent to investigate conditions and complaints)
• Political System - Central Government

  1. Spain directly ruled Philippines through Consejo de Indias (Council of Indies)

  2. Consejo de Indias passed all governmental powers (legislative, executive, judicial)

  3. Recopilacion - Law of the Indios

  4. Las Siete Partidas - Spanish code and other laws

  5. Ministerio de Ultramar (Ministry for Spanish lands overseas) replaced Council of Indies in 1863
• Governor-General


  • Highest official of colonial government
  • Only representative of King of Spain in archipelago
  • General Captain, Vice-Royal Patron, and Royal Audience
  • Controlled colonial troops
  • Could suspend implementation of any law from Spain if deemed inappropriate for colony
• Provincial Government


  1. Alcaldia - Mayor in provinces where people were pacified

  2. Alcalde-Mayor - Highest leader in province

  3. Corregimientos - For strategic territories or unpeaceful areas

  4. Corregidores - Military-politician governors as leaders

  5. Only Spaniards could be appointed as Alcalde-Mayor or Corregidor

  6. Indulto de Comercio - Governor transformed trading in province into own monopoly, controlled prices and coerced people
• Municipal-Level Governments


  • Barangay - Brought under government structures to dampen resistance
  • Pueblos (Towns)
  • Gobernadorcillo (Mayor) - Elected, main role was tax collection, managed town courts and public works
  • Cabeza de Barangay - Head of barangays, appointed by authorities
  • Principalia - Prominent landlords and wealthy citizens who could read/write Spanish, could run for municipal positions
• Theocracy - Unity of Church and State, with Archbishops and Friar leaders occupying important positions in central government
• Priests


  • Important in maintaining Spanish rule
  • Extensive knowledge of Philippine languages and geography
• Parish Priest


  • Only Spanish residing in barrio
  • Had economic, political and spiritual powers
  • Municipal council adviser
  • Member of provincial board
  • Controlled education, public works, tax collection, census, enlistment, elections, censorship, imprisonment of Filipinos, suspension/transfer/expulsion of officials
• Friars actively fought against and prosecuted Filipinos who advocated reform
• Parish priest was the true representative of the King
• Friars' intervention in country's politics became so abominable
• Aims of Spanish Colonization

  • God - propagation of the Catholicism/Christianity
  • Gold - desire for economic wealth
  • Glory - Spain's ambition to be the greatest empire in the world
• Governor-General


  The chief executive of the Philippines during the Spanish time
• Powers of the Governor-General

  • Enforced the King's royal decrees and other laws from Spain
  • Commander-in-chief of the colonial armed forces
  • Appointed and removed colonial officials, except those appointed by the King
  • Recommended priests for appointment as parish priests and intervened in controversies among religious authorities
• Checks on the Governor-General's powers

  • Royal Audencia - the Supreme Court
  • Archbishop and Clergy - influential in the King's court
  • Residencia - a judicial institution where the outgoing Governor-General and other Spanish officials are tried
  • Visitador - an investigating officer sent to Manila to investigate Philippine conditions and complaints
• Consejo de Indias (Council of the Indies)


  Spain directly ruled the Philippines through this council, which possessed all governmental powers - legislative, executive, and judicial
• The decrees called "Recopilacion" or Law of the Indies, the "Las Siete Partidas" or the Spanish Code, and other laws were sent by the Council to the governor-general
• Ministerio de Ultramar (Ministry for Spanish Lands Overseas)


  Replaced the Council of the Indies in 1863, where laws drafted in Spain in the 19th century were implemented
• Corregimientos


  For strategic territories or areas where natives have not yet been fully "pacified", with corregidores or military-politician governors as the leaders
• Alcaldia-mayor


  For provinces where the people had been pacified, with the alcalde-mayor as the highest leader
• The provincial governor was dubbed as "the most corrupt bureaucrat" in the Philippines
• Indulto de comercio


  The governor controlled the prices of goods, transformed trading in his province into his own monopoly, and coerced the people into selling their products to him and to buy their provisions from him at a very high price
• Gobernadorcillo


  The equivalent of today's mayor, responsible for public works and management of the town's courts
• Cabeza de barangay


  Headed the barangays, which were brought under the government's structures to dampen the resistance of former datus and rajahs
• Principalia


  A group of prominent landlords and wealthy citizens who could read, write, and speak Spanish, who elected the new gobernadorcillo
• Only members of the principalia may run for a municipal-level position
• Theocracy


  The Archbishop and the leaders of religious orders were allowed to occupy important positions in the central government
• The corrupt political situation was worsened by the Church's interference with the civil government
• Parish priest


  Had economic, political, and spiritual powers, and was the only Spaniard residing in the barrio
• The friars' intervention in the country's politics became so abominable that Filipino propagandists and reformists demanded their expulsion from the Philippines