1565 and preliminary establishment of the colony

Urdaneta established the route which connected the eastern colonies to the
western. It was because of this route that Manila was made the eastern terminal
for ships.
Legazpi established the first Spanish settlement in the archipelago: La Villa del
Santisimo Nombre de Jesus. He appointed Guido de Lavezares, who co-ruled
the settlement, and distributed the first encomiendas to the colonists in Cebu
and Panay.
o Legazpi requires the natives to pay tribute or tax to signify their
allegiance to the crown, which at first was accepted in kind.
Later on, with the implementation of a monetary system and the
continuous trade with the Chinese, tax was paid both in cash and in
kind.
Before the Spanish monetary system, natives already had their own
currency: pilocintos. These were gold-cast pellets stamped with
Tagalog characters used for trade as early as the 10th century.
Pagdatu is what the natives paid their chief, which was their share
of the harvest or hunt. They fought his fights and worked for him
without pay. When the Spaniards came, those who were baptised
were never made to pay more than their old pagdatu.
o Recopilacion de Leyes de Reynos de las Indias compilation of Laws
of the Kings to the Indians or natives of his colonies.
o Repartimiento was the distribution of encomiendas to deserving Spanish
soldiers and officials.
1571
Legazpi established Manila as the capital of the archipelago and dubbed it as a
ciudad. *this is both political and economic since the proclamation of the place
as a city meant that it was performing good financially.
1580
There were 241 encomiendas at this time. Managing an econmienda could be
inherited, for as long as it was allowed or said so by the king.
o Encomenderos were not allowed to live in the settlements but had to visit
at least 4 times annually.
The construction and repair of churches were funded by tributes from royal
encomiendas and from the polo.
o Agriculture flourished because of the new technique and tools the
Spaniards introduced; like the arado (plow) and mahis or corn.
The term arado has no indigenous term, so it can be said that the
technique was learned from the Spanish.
o Two types of encomienda:
realengas or encomienda de la real corona the kings lands
Encomienda de particulares which is further divided into:
Lands owned by the churches.
Lands owned by conquistadors and others who received it as a
token or prize from the king.
Corregimientos unpacified territories
Haciendas large areas of land used for agricultural or
commercial purposes.

o Tributes were collected by the encomendero himself when the

population of the settlement was easier to manage. When it grew, he
sought the assistance of the cabeza de barangay. Later on, he also
hired a cobrador de tributos to help in collection.
A quarter of that was set aside for the caja de cuartas or cashbox
of fourths which was for hospitals. But when the priests came is
when the money was allotted for their missions.
Tribute was 8 reales or rials.
One complete tribute signified one family. Those were excepted to
pay were the: principalia; oldest son of the cabeza; the sick; and
church workers like the cantors, sacristans, and the fiscal (not the
person related to government revenue!)
Late 1500s
There were 12 alcaldias or provinces, each of which had different numbers of
encomiendas; all in all, 267 encomiendas.
o Tribute lists were incredibly inaccurate even with the constant revision to
remove those who had died, moved to another town, and to add those
who had become of age to pay tribute. Aside from that, there were issues
brought upon the names themselves.
o The younger population was divided into those who had already received
both the Holy Communion and sacramental confession (comulgantes)
AND those who are yet to receive their holy communion (solo
confession).
It wasnt until the mid-19th century, under Gov. Gen. Claveria that a
more orderly system was proposed.
1590
Gov. Gen. Gomez Perez Dasamarias imposed an additional 2 reales for further
construction, defence, and security of the colony. This additional 2 reales was
called situado. 1.5 reales went to the military and half a real went to the
church.
o Dasamarias tried to standardise the tribute.
Toward the end of the 17 th century, 2 more reales were collected for
the Donativo Para Las Amardas Reales or for the support of the
Philippine Colonial Navy that constantly battled against Muslim
raiders.
o Direct taxes could be paid completely in cash, completely using goods
like produce and livestock. Direct taxes could also be paid in a
combination of both. Indirect taxes or compras reales or bandala was
paid through the enforced annual sale of goods like rice and coconut oil.
o Indulto de comercio (hoarding by the encomendero or by the
alcaldes) became more and more common.
Jure Regalia (Regalian Doctrine) was the set of rights that royals had, or the
rights that the king had by virtue of his prerogative. This basically means that
the fruits of the lands he or the people he bestowed the lands upon was his. The
lands were his.
o Many natives were driven out of their ancestral lands because this law
also dictated that title was the only proof of ownership of a plot of land;
even if was known by the whole community that the land was owned by a
specific family for many generations.
o This doctrine also paved the way to the establishments of pueblos, which

generally consisted of 20 or more barangays. Plaza complexes

surrounded by the church, offices and municipio, cemetery, market place,
and residences were in each poblacion (central area of town) were set
up to make converting natives into Catholics. Residencias were those
who lived within earshot of the church bell while the term visitas
pertained to those who lived farther away.
Those from the mountains were called ilaya and those from
lowlands or coastal areas were called ilawud.
Early 1600s
The government had already incurred a debt of 8,083 pesos, aside from the
6,643 pesos it owed polistas,
Gov. Gen. Pedro Bravo Acua proclaimed that Filipinos should pay 4 reales in
goods, one chicken, and the rest in money. This totalled to 10 reales annually.
Galleons were able to carry more and were growing larger because of the
advancements of shipbuilding. Traversing the Urdaneta Route (Acapulco to
Manila) took 5-6 months.
o Pancada was the system used by the government which is equivalent to
quality control now. After inspection, goods were sold wholesale and not to
individual buyers.
Spain was hoping that the galleon trade would boost immigration. Many refused
to travel to the Philippines because of how far it was and because of how little
the economic opportunities were. It was because of this that a monopoly
occurred. IT DID, however, attract Chinese traders (sangleys) and residents.
Peninsulares Spaniards born in Spain residing in a colony.
Insulares Spaniards born outside Spain.
*Criollos synonymous to insulares but mostly pertains to those
from Mexico.
Principalia upper-class Filipinos; most of which were former datus
or rajas who were given this privilege to avoid arguments.
Mestizos (both Filipino and Chinese) half Spanish, half Filipino
or Chinese.
*Creole this term is used all around the world up to this day to call
those who are half-black (negro) and half-Spanish. Though this term
can actually pertain to a person who is of black and French (the term
is actually French) ancestry.
Ilustrado middle class citizens who were educated outside the
country, mostly in Europe.
Indios derogatory term used to identify natives.
The Junta de Repartimiento (Allotment Board) issued licenses or boletas.
The Junta de Avaluo (Board of Appraisals) made sure that shipments did
not exceed legal specifications and that goods were fairly priced.
Japan was also included in the trading in the Philippines. They too brought to
Manila goods which were to be transported to Acapulco. Japan was prohibited
from doing direct business with China so they took Chinese goods from Manila,
like sillk.
1630
Gov. Gen. Juan Nio de Tavora disapproved that the people paid half the tribute
in money, which led to them working more to provide goods.
o Polo y servicio or forced labour was imposed on all Filipino males
including mestizos and Spanish vagabonds aged 18-60 for 60 days. This

was reduced to 15 days in the 19th century. These people were paid 8
reales (a peso) every month.
o American missionaries fought for the cease of free native labour, but this
proved to be futile. Instead, rules were set in order to control the practice
and protect the polo worker or polista.
o Chinese and Japanese people were below the Filipinos; as in the former
would be summoned to work and in the absence of them, the Filipinos
would be called upon.
o Falla (topa, in another source) was the fee paid to evade working. But this
too turned into a source of corruption.
1646
The Dutch fleet arrived in Manila.
This led to the expulsion of the Japanese and Chinese traders from
the Philippine Sea. This not just disrupted trade in the Philippines,
but to Acapulco as well.
Mid 1600s
The income was not enough to sustain the expenses of the colony; barely
500,000 pesos and 764,000 pesos, respectively. The debt had reached a
whopping 4 million pesos. (Revolt in Pampanga)
There werent much wars of conquest during this time. There were, though,
many expeditions to fight. It was because of this that many Filipinos were
captured and slavery worsened. Slavery became an industry of its own that
even parishes like the Augustinian ones had slaves.
This caused an uproar; Churchmen, Spanish, and Chinese Mestizos
insisted that many slaves were not even Filipino, but were of other
Malayan Portuguese colonies.
The Church was having a hard time supporting itself. It was decreed that
parishes that were located in settlements with less than 500 tributes be
supported by the treasury.
The church, though, would later on grow to become owners of large
patches of land. They would soon be known as abusive and corrupt.
1762
Britain attacked Intramuros (Manila).
There were Chinese individuals who sided the British and because of
this, when this was ended, were expelled or executed. Because of
this, those who remained were unopposed when it came to the
sugar industry which was very high-wielding in the galleon trade.
Britain apparently stalked Spanish ships, which led to their wanting
to occupy Manila as well. Their primary goal was to disrupt the
galleon trade. IN FACT, they tried to forge an alliance with Diego
Silang, who unfortunately was killed.
1764
The Treaty of Paris was signed. Britain returned a heavily indebted Philippines to
the Spanish. Aside from that, Britain demanded payment in the millions from
the Spaniards to give the Philippines back.
1769
The law which stated that only citizens of the Philippines had a right to trade
was abolished.

The king had actually issued that foreign traders who had been
residing in the Philippines could engage in trade.
Tianggi, unlike the Spanish market, was where most of the native Filipinos go to
participate in trade since it wasnt within their capacity to do trade with such.
People from the uplands came to purchase coastal products like salt. Those of
the sea, in return, needed wax, honey and gold. Those from the rivers and
plains produced brought rice, tobacco and the like to the tianggi.
o Prior to the coming of the Spanish people, there was no distinction
between products of private and public lands. The legal tradition of ius
primi occupantis (right of ownership by prior occupation) was changed
when the colonisers implemented the rule that all unclaimed or unused
lands belonged to the crown. The latter rule also led to abusive treatment.
Those who no longer owned land became paid workers, indios de
la estancia/siervos (the unpaid workers), inquilinos (similar
to modern-day managers), or reservas (group workers).
Inquilinos may also be tenants to their landlords.
Kasama the workers of the land hired by the inquilinos
Aksa the equivalent position of inquilino in the hacienda
Sakada seasonal paid workers in the hacienda
Terrazgo, or rental, was paid by the inquilino to his landlord who
was not paid but was allowed to stay on the land and have a house.
They did not pay, though, for the first 4 years.

Mid 1700s
Chinese retail trade earned more than 700,000 pesos annually.
Many regulations and laws were passed by the Spaniards to keep
the Chinese at bay. They had another community/settlement set up
called the Parian to house the Chinese. Those who were baptised
were allowed no move out but those who were not were forced to
live there.
Before this time, the Spaniards have been trying to even eradicate
Chinese retailers.
Those who lived in Manila because of choosing to be there! were considered
rich and powerful. It served as the residence of the governor-general, the royal
audencia, the fiscal, intelligentsia, and those who worked in treasury. Military
officials and personnel also lived in Manila, in the forts.
The king monopolised the tobacco industry. The governor general at that time,
Jose Raon, stated that replied saying that the colony did not have the proper
equipment to carry out the monopolisation.
The next governor general, Basco, pushed with the monopolisation
and announced that all tobacco plantations would be bought by the
government and six months after that, all tobacco material like
cigars, cigarettes, and snuffs should be surrendered to the
government. The efforts toward this can be considered futile as this
caused more problem than a source of revenue.
TOBACCO WAS BEING USED LONG BEFORE THE SPANISH EVEN
ARISED. This, of course, invited trouble. But in 1882, the prohibition
on the designation of where to plant tobacco was lifted.
1776
The ship named Buen Consejo was the first ship to traverse, in a record 5
months, the route that passed by the Cape of Good Hope. It did not follow the
traditional Acapulco-Manila route. It was only in use until 1783.

1781
1785
The Royal Trading Company was founded in the hopes of better facilitating
trade between Spain and the Philippines. They promoted direct and tariff-free
trade between the islands and Spain. But it failed just the same because of
incompetent Spanish officials. It was abolished in 1834.
But the establishment of the company paved the way for the
development of the agricultural industry, especially sugar.
1790
The Manila port was open to all Western ships.
Manila was already an open port before this. Ships that were not
allowed to dock at the port would simply raise an Asian flag to elude
Spanish officials. Britain was known to do this.
Despite the good trade in sugar and pepper, the interest in Manila
and other Asian countries started to wane as the interest started to
shift to South America.
During this time Spain was in the midst of the war in Europe. The
French Revolution was changing the entire continent. This caused
Spain to not give the Philippines the right amount of attention.
1821
Mexico is independent. This affects trade because the Philippines was a major
point/dock between the trading of China and Mexico, and Spain had to evacuate
from Mexico.
By this time (more or less), the Galleon trade (Manila-Acapulco) had completely
collapsed.
1834
Free trade was established because of the abolition of the Royal Company. This
marked the definitive status of Manila as an open port.
1849
Gov. Gen. Narciso Claveria issued an alphabetical list of Spanish names for
family heads to choose from. ERGO their names told them where they came
from.
o This explains why many Filipinos have Spanish surnames but do not have
Spanish ascendants.
1869
Spain was continuously losing its colonies, which started to heavily affect Manila
being a port. The decline of the Spanish empire was starting to invalidate many
business transactions. The building of the Suez Canal sported steamships which
operated between Europe and Manila.
1884
Tribute was changed to cedula personal, or head tax. Tax was collected
according to income. Before the imposition of this, only Filipinos and Chinese
were made to pay. Upon the shift to cedula ALL residents of the archipelago had
to pay.