Various Developments of the Philippines Under Spanish Colonization

VARIOUS DEVELOPMENTS OF THE PHILIPPINES UNDER SPAIN

After arriving on the first quarter of the year 1521 and seizing the Philippine Islands for more than three centuries, the Spaniards departed leaving not just recollection of slavery, but also the rich maturation of the country. Divergent expansions acquired from Spain crept the Philippines away from what was a simple and allusive land, to a civilized and erudite realm. Yes, suppression was at its peak back then too, everyone knows it. And most of the time, it’s kind of disappointing to hear that tyrannization’s the only prominent imprint Filipinos stored in mind. Now, I am glad to present a study on how Spain toted colors to the Philippines in various aspects in the forms of politics, economics, and social and cultural, education and religion.

Political problem shared first degree of nuisance to the Philippines right after Spain took over. But come to think of it, it’s actually the first political scale our nation had felt. A nuisance. An inconvenience. Definitely, our country favored for the informality of power spreading over than what the Spanish men had to offer. Established as a “One Central Government,” independent barangays vanished. Spain ruled us with the said structure. As far as my data gathered could reach, I have three different versions of how Spain governed the Philippines chronologically applied. Since the Spanish nation was located southwest of Europe and the prioritization of his own country was his mission, the King simply cannot travel back and forth to our islands, considering the means of conveyance to be very finite. Denominated as Viceroy of Mexico, this person is the one who presided over the Islands of the Philippines, taking orders from the King. When Mexico regained independence two hundred years after, Viceroy of Mexico became obsolete, superseded by a Governor General. Doing the same task Viceroys were told to do, a Governor General became just played second fiddle to the greater Colonial Government, succeeding the King of Spain.

As years went by, further growth was accustomed dividing governments into two – the National Government and the Local Government. At this point, I could safely state that this evolution of politics within the Spanish colonization was the blueprint behind our government today, showing resemblance to the other. The National Government was the one in charge of maintaining peace and order, collecting taxes and building schools and other public works to the benefit of the people. On the other hand, the Local Government was supplementally diverged into two, namely Alcaldia, which was led by and Alcalde Mayor, and Corrigimiento, ruled out by a Corregidor. Again, similarities to the present time proclaimed. The duties of the Alcalde Mayors and Corregidors were not as challenging as what the National Government had. Alcalde Mayors managed the day-to-day operations of the provincial government and supervised the collection of taxes. Differently, the Corregidors just governed provinces that were not yet entirely controlled by the Spanish people. Moving on, provinces were divided into smaller towns or pueblos; each led by an officer hailed as Gobernadorcillos. The officer shouldered efficient governance and tax collection.

As I said earlier, if I’m not mistaken, this might be the mother template of our current government. A formality granted to our freeform political wall five centuries ago. You cannot deny the similitudes they convey, and you cannot deny the fact that we did reaped benefits from what they did to our national regime.

Economy during the Spanish Colonial Period was something not to be skipped about. Vibrant events leading free trade was something to be proud about. Although not formed mainly by Spain alone, the zigzag ventures the country went through definitely upped the sleeping trade industry of the Philippine Islands. Centered around “Manila Galleons,” sailed from Acapulco on the west coast of Mexico with shipments of goods, the trade kicked off booming. No straight trading was made by Spain and exploitations of natural resources were minimal. Basically, they focused on Galleon Trade. But as the trade industry prospered, another unwelcomed element was introduced – sojourning Chinese entrepreneurs and service providers.

In the course of the Seven Years’ War, forces approaching from British East India Company captured Manila. Even though Manila was restored under the Spaniards, a great rebellion streak was fired. Different races residing on our Islands sided with the British people, but soon enough, everything was put back to place. Everything was back the way it was. The restoration of the Spanish rule brought reforms aimed at advancing the economic development of the Islands and making them independent of subsidies from New Spain. The galleon trade ceased, and from that moment onward the Royal Company of the Philippines, which had been chartered in 1785, promoted direct and tariff-free trade between the Islands and Spain. Cash crops were cultivated for trade with Europe and Latin America, but profits diminished after Spain’s Latin American colonies became independent in the early ninteenth century.

Two decades later or so, free trade was formally recognized, getting rid of the Royal Company of the Philippines for good. Manila became an open port to Asian, European and North American traders because of its excellent port. Half a century followed, more ports were unfastened to foreign commerce. Concurrent, three crops – tobacco, abaca and sugar – dominated Philippine exports.

Lasting for more than three hundred years, you cannot simply say we were not influenced by Spain. Prominently showing, our social and cultural aspects exhibit the ever-rich Hispanic race, a reality you cannot repudiate. As I skimmed through references, I can conclude that language, culture and religion were three factors that had been influenced greatly by the Spaniards, greater than anything else. It is worth mentioning that the Spaniards enriched the Filipino languages through lexicographic studies produced by the friars back in their colonization. Many Spanish words found their way into the Tagalog and Visayan languages. The Spanish words somehow fitted into the phonetic patterns of the Filipino languages. These Spanish words like "mesa" (table), "adobo" (marinated cooked food), and others are commonly used today in the daily practical transactions of the Filipinos with each other.

The influences from Spain have become permanently embedded in Filipino culture too. The Filipino people themselves have internalized them and definitely, they cannot be disregarded anymore. For good or bad, they have catapulted the Filipinos into the world of Spanish culture, into the world of Spanish civilization and its products. Nevertheless, it must be said that we, Filipinos did not receive the cultural influences from Spain sitting down. They responded in a way that demonstrated their capacity to master the new and to balance the new against the old, in a way that called for their capacity to bring values and principles to bear with a critical and informed judgment, and in a way that called for them to be able to sift what is essential from what is trivial. Thus they responded selectively to the novelties the Spaniards brought with them to the Philippine Islands. The Filipinos accepted only those that fitted their temperament, such as the "fiesta" that has become one of the most endearing aspects of life in our Islands, and made them blend with their indigenous lifestyle to produce a precious Philippine cultural heritage.

Like it or not, our Filipino cultural heritage cannot be refused that it is substantially authorized by the Spaniards. The way we speak, the way we run things, the way we do things. It’s inevitable. And it’s somehow nothing to be frowned about.

Deep cultural, religious and linguistic transformations were felt by the Philippines during the Spanish Colonization and that was made more eminent with education. They played a big role in the transformation the Islands of the Philippines went through. The oldest universities, colleges, vocational schools and the first modern public education system in Asia were created during the Spanish colonial period. By the time Spain was replaced by the United States as the colonial power, Filipinos were among the most educated subjects in all of Asia. A great effect Spain had granted to us.

Education during the colonization of Spaniards was mostly centered to religion and the Roman Catholic Church controls it. The main aim of the Spanish people was to convert our indigenous populations to the Catholic Faith. However, the authorities mandated the Spaniards to educate the natives, to teach them how to read and write and to learn the Spanish language. The Spanish missionaries established schools immediately on reaching the islands and wherever they penetrated, church and school went together. There was no Christian village without its school and all young people attended.

As a result of increasing the number of educated Filipinos a new social class raised, that came to be known as the Ilustrados. Furthermore, with the opening of Suez Canal in 1869 travel to Spain become quicker, easier and more affordable, and many Filipinos took advantage of it to continue higher education in Spain and Europe, mostly in Madrid and Barcelona. This new-enlightened class of Filipinos would later lead the Philippine independence movement, using the Spanish language as their main communication method. The most prominent of the Ilustrados was José Rizal, who inspired the desire for independence with his novels written in Spanish. Other Filipino intellectuals, such as Graciano López Jaena, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Mariano Ponce or Antonio Luna, who had also studied in Spain, began contributing to the cause for Filipino self-government and independence.

The Philippines proudly boasts to be the only Christian nation in Asia. More than 86 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, 6 percent belong to various nationalized Christian cults, and another 2 percent belong to well over 100 Protestant denominations. In addition to the Christian majority, there is a vigorous 4 percent Muslim minority, concentrated on the southern islands of Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan. Scattered in isolated mountainous regions, the remaining 2 percent follow non-Western, indigenous beliefs and practices. The Chinese minority, although statistically insignificant, has been culturally influential in coloring Filipino Catholicism with many of the beliefs and practices of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.
The pre-Hispanic belief system of Filipinos consisted of a pantheon of gods, spirits, creatures, and men that guarded the streams, fields, trees, mountains, forests, and houses. Bathala, who created earth and man, was superior to these other gods and spirits. Regular sacrifices and prayers were offered to placate these deities and spirits--some of which were benevolent, some malevolent. Wood and metal images represented ancestral spirits, and no distinction was made between the spirits and their physical symbol. Reward or punishment after death was dependent upon behavior in this life.
Upon this indigenous religious base two foreign religions were introduced -- Islam and Christianity -- and a process of cultural adaptation and synthesis began that is still evolving. Spain introduced Christianity to the Philippines in 1565 with the arrival of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. Earlier, beginning in 1350, Islam had been spreading northward from Indonesia into the Philippine archipelago. By the time the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, Islam was firmly established on Mindanao and Sulu and had outposts on Cebu and Luzon. At the time of the Spanish arrival, the Muslim areas had the highest and most politically integrated culture on the islands and, given more time, would probably have unified the entire archipelago. Carrying on their historical tradition of expelling the Jews and Moros [Moors] from Spain (a commitment to eliminating any non-Christians), Legaspi quickly dispersed the Muslims from Luzon and the Visayan islands and began the process of Christianization. Dominance over the Muslims on Mindanao and Sulu, however, was never achieved during three centuries of Spanish rule.

Opulent culture spreading across seven thousand islands, colorful fiestas celebrated every single day, there’s no opposition of the Spanish genes within the thick blood of our country. As I write this ending remark for my essay, I wish that the reader, in whichever side you are agreeing to, would think of the Spanish regime more of a blessing than a nasty colonizing disaster. There’s no way you could help it, we are some kind of Hispanics. And with everything Spain had influenced us, I can say that it just made our splendid culture more vigorous and more vibrant – a rich development we procured for almost a hundred years.

REFERENCES: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1835051 http://www.slideshare.net/emetess/sociopolitical-environment-of-the-philippines-during-the-spanish-regime http://tagaloglang.com/The-Philippines/History/economy-during-the-spanish-colonial-period.html http://filipinokastila.tripod.com/FilSpa.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Philippines_during_Spanish_rule http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Modules/Modules/PhilippineReligions/article_miller.htm

References: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1835051 http://www.slideshare.net/emetess/sociopolitical-environment-of-the-philippines-during-the-spanish-regime http://tagaloglang.com/The-Philippines/History/economy-during-the-spanish-colonial-period.html http://filipinokastila.tripod.com/FilSpa.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Philippines_during_Spanish_rule http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Modules/Modules/PhilippineReligions/article_miller.htm