The Philippines

A Century
Hence
The Political Conditions
of the Philippines during
the Time of Spanish
Colonization
1. The Dominance of the
Friars over the
Decentralized Colonial
Government
The Spanish government was
deeply indebted to the Catholic
priests in the process of colonization
and pacification of the Filipinos.

The colonial government in the

Philippines was composed of
Governor General as head of the
archipelago, following the
concept of decentralization of
administration; the country was
divided into provinces with the
Alcalde Mayor as the chief
executive.
Each of the provinces was
divided into town headed by
the Gobernadorcillo, and to
govern the barangays were
the Cabezas.

The Governor general was

given wide powers, but the
exercises of these power were
limited and controlled by
ecclesiastical hierarchy which
formed a part of the board of
authorities.
2. The Dominance of the
Principalia in the
Colonial Government
The Spanish Colonial government set a
qualification for the natives to be part of
the Gobernadorcillo of each town such
as follows:
A. Male
B. 23 years old and above
C. In the mentioned qualifications,
those who were qualified to vote
and be elected were those who
belonged to the higher class of the
society and the native who
belonged to the Indios did not
have a right to participate in the
election.
3. The Appointment of the
Under Qualified Officials
in the Colonial Government
in the Philippines
Due to the distance that the
Spanish needed to travel, the
qualified officials for the
colonial government did not
want to be assigned in the
Philippines. And most of the
officials who were assigned in
the country were corrupted
and used the funds of the
colonial government to their
own advantages.
 The Reforms Needed by
the Philippines according
to Rizal as Stated in His
Works
1. Representation
of the Country in
the Cortez
Some governors have realized this truth
and impelled by their patriotism, have
been trying to introduce needed reforms
in order to forestall events.
The governors assigned in the Philippines
tried to implement reforms using the law
created by the Spanish Cortez but
according to Rizal those reforms
implemented were not suitable to the
Philippines because the body who framed
the laws belonged to the different culture
and the only way in order to have a law
suitable for the FILIPINOS was to have a
Filipino representative in Spanish Cortez.
Rizal stated in his essay, that it’s hard to
govern a country very far from its
government so for efficient administration
it should have a representative which
came from the natives of the country.
The racial discrimination was one of the
reasons why the Spaniards did not want a
Filipino representative to Spanish Cortez
but according to Rizal, laws do not require
skin color nor perfect nostril. Filipinos
should have their representative in Spanish
Cortez to make laws that will suit their
culture and orientation.
2. Secularization
of the Parishes
The policy of the Spanish regular
clergy that became the
hindrance for the appointment of
the Filipino priest in the parishes
was rooted to Ethnocentrism of
the regular priest.

As Fray Gaspar de San Agustin

believed that the Indio was good
only as a slave and they should
not be allowed to become a
priest for it would upset mind.
In most writing of Jose P. Rizal, he
wrote about the different abuses
that the Regular priest did to the
people under their parish and to
the secular priest who wished to
contradict their action and in the
most instances the power of the
Regular priest succeeded.
However Rizal, did not
propose the rapid
eradication of the Regular
priest in the country but the
gradual assignment of the
secular priest in the parishes
and to widen their influence
in the church.
3. The Abolition of
the Power of the
Friars over State
The union of Church and State
because of the great help
extended by the church in the
establishment of the Spanish
colonial government in the
Philippines brought a huge power
to the curate to intercede with
the government policies and
decisions.
Although Rizal recognized the
contribution of the Jesuit and
Dominican friars in the founding of
universities and the construction
of buildings and roads, he still
stated that the intercession of the
church over the government
became the hindrance in the
implementation of the needed
reforms in the
country.
 4. The Reform in
the Administration
and in all Branches
a. Corruption in the Government

“They are annulled in the

lower circles, thanks to the
vices of all, thanks, for
instance, to the eager desire
to get rich in a short time
and to the ignorance of the
people, who consent to
everything.
The head of the provincial
government who succeeded the
encomiendero was known as the
Alcalde Mayor for the pacified
provinces. This leader received a
small salary but had the right to
engage into business known as the
Indulto de Comercio. This right
made the Alcalde Mayor gain so
much advantage in trading and
was a source of their corruption
and abuse.
 b. The Needed Reforms

The basic freedom and bill

of rights of the Filipinos
should be granted by the
government and according
to Rizal, liberty and freedom
were not necessarily the
same with independence.
The Filipinos had no
protection against the
abuse of the Spanish officials
and were often punished
without the due process of
law. The administration of
justice was slow and
expensive.
 c. The Equal Participation of
the Filipino & Spanish in the
Government in the Philippines

The involvement of the Filipino

in the government is limited to
the Gobernadorcillo and the
Cabeza de Barangay.

d. The elevation of the moral

standard of the administration
5. Reform in
Educational
System
THE DEFECTS OF THE
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN THE
PHIL. ACCORDING TO RIZAL
WERE:
1. There were too much
emphasis on the
religious subjects in all
areas of educational
system and there was no
academic freedom.
2. Teacher centered
curriculum where the friars
used the education to lower
the self-esteem of the youth
to avoid the rebellious
against them.
Rizal was against the
church centered education
because he was in favor of
the development of science
practical education
The basic foundation of
democracy according to
Rizal was the attainment of
education. He opposed the
corporal punishment, the
use of Spanish language, the
construction of school
buildings instead of using the
rood under.
6. Freedom of
Press
A government that rules a
country from a great
distance is the one that has
the most need for a free
press more so even than the
government of the home
country, if it wishes to rule
rightly and fitly.
Rizal, as he stated on his
essay, The Philippines A
century Hence, that since
the Philippines was far from
Spain, it was necessary to
have a freedom of the press
so that this freedom would
protect the people against
the abuse of the officials
and the friars.
Prepared by:
Ma. Katrina L. Hababag
Jarry A. Lozano
Maiah Isabel C. Mariano
Roselle V. Materiano