The Spanish Colonial Period in the Philippines

The bulk of the national revenue was collected from direct taxes (in the fiscal year of 1894-1895, this constituted P6,659,450 out of a national revenue of P13,519,000) Under Spanish rule, the burden of taxation was shouldered by the poor. Taxes were imposed on each person, and not fan impost on property. Taxes on luxury goods were very light, while taxes on commodities like rice, tobacco and sugar were heavy. Salaried employees and owners of small retail businesses also paid heavy industrial taxes, while big businesses and large-scale industrial ventures paid little taxes.

The national revenue then bankrolled the national budget, which is prepared in Manila and approved in Madrid. Taking a look at the budget for 1894-95 reveals that the bulk of the national revenue goes to the maintenance of the army and navy, pensions of Spanish officials and their heirs, the upkeep of the Church, and the salaries of government employees and clergy. In total, this makes up 87% of the national budget. Very little went to education and public works, constituting a mere 4.7% of the entire national budget. The remainder of the funds was used to shoulder expenses that did not benefit the Filipino people in any way, including the maintenance of the Spanish penal colony at Fernando Po, the pension paid to the Duke of Veragua (the heir of Christopher Columbus), the support of the Ministry of Ultramar in Madrid, and the maintenance of Spanish diplomatic and consular services in China and Japan.

In the provinces, the alcalde mayor who headed it could extort tributes from the people, often in the form of rice, which he evaluates at a very low price and sells to the government at considerably profitable prices. In the townships, taxes were collected by the gobernadorcillo, who served without salary. The town was further divided into barangays, where it was the duty of the cabeza de barangay to collect annual taxes for the central government. If some people from his barangay were unable to pay and the tax collection fell short, the cabeza had to reimburse the shortage out of his own pocket. Many cabeza de barangays suffered financial burdens in exchange for the prestige afforded them by their positions.

2. What positions were Filipinos allowed to take in government? What were their duties and the amount of de facto power they exercised?

Filipinos were generally not given participation in the government. Occasionally, some Filipinos assume local offices, judicial positions and minor posts in the army and navy, but these are rare occurrences. Filipinos in high offices were often placed there as the result of serendipity, like the Kapampangan Francisco Lacsmana who was appointed by the King of Spain as commander of Fort Santiago for 24 hours. Other prominent examples include Msgr. Miguel Lino de Espeleta, the first Filipino Governor-General of the Philippines from 1759-62 and Archbishop of Manila from 1759-61, and Father Pedro Pelaez who served as Ecclesiastical Governor of the Philippines in 1862.

Filipinos who enjoyed positions in the army, civil administration or judicial courts were often, as written by Apolinario Mabini, "noted for their riches rather than for their learning, (they) were ultimately nominated or appointed as members (of government); but such positions were gratuitous, and besides that body was a purely consultative one."

Filipinos were always treated as subjects of the Spanish colonizers, inferior to their white rulers. Pardo de Tavera wrote: "Although the laws recognized no difference between the races, nevertheless from the beginning of the nineteenth century the Spaniards claimed superiority over the Filipinos, and so taught their children. On the other hand, the Filipinos did not participate in the government of their own country; it is true that some of them at times occupied positions of importance, but these exceptions were so rare that they merely served to emphasize the fact that the automatic machinery of government was a thing apart and of which the natives served merely as adjuncts. In the towns the municipal functionaries had no choice except to convey to the people, and make them comply with the orders of the civil and military authorities of Spain, and especially with the wishes of the local curate."

Unlike Puerto Rico and Cuba, the Philippines was denied representation in the Spanish Cortes, with the exception of three brief periods (1810-13, 1820-23, 1834-37), even though the people clamored for it. Throughout the colonization, several futile attempts were made to initiate Filipino representation in the government institutions in the Philippines, but they all accomplished nothing and died out.

3. How was the forced labor policy implemented and what was the Filipino reaction to it?

Also called polo, the forced labor policy required Filipinos to render unpaid service for 40 days a year, usually for the construction of public works and infrastructure. The Tax Reform of 1884 reduced the required period from 40 days to 15 days a year.

4. What were the proper judicial processes as stated by the law? How was the justice system actually implemented on the Filipinos?

The highest judicial institution was the Royal Audiencia, composed of one chief justice, two presidents of divisions (civil and criminal branches), eight associated justices, additional judges for vacancies, an attorney-general, and other officials. The highest court in the colony was the Audiencia of Manila, which tackled civil and criminal cases, functioned as the highest executive in case of the death or absence of a Governor-General, enjoys the right to royal patronage with the Governor-General, charged with preparing the annual report to the Spanish king on Philippine conditions, audited the yearly accounts of the central government, consulted by the Governor-General for promulgating some ordinances called real acuerdo, and the promulgation of local ordinances. Beneath this were two Territorial Audiencias, one in Cebu and another in Vigan.

In the provinces, there were Courts of First Instance, headed by the alcalde mayor. The lowest courts were the Justice of the Peace Courts in different towns, headed by the respective gobernadorcillos. Both the justices of first instance and the justices of the peace were appointed by the Governor-General upon recommendation of the Royal Audiencia.

The judicial system was riddled with corrupt and incompetent officials. Graft pervaded the system, and they were more apt to called courts of injustice. Many judges did not know the law, and the ranks of the judiciaries, from the fiscals to law clerks and judges were corrupt.

Justice was very costly, and as the court cases dragged on for periods of years, the litigants (of civil or criminal cases) were often fleeced of money and from the stress, were likely left to suffer deteriorating health conditions. Because of the dragging time frames of court proceedings, delinquents often took flight and vital documents were often lost. The system was also so defective that often, when a case has been settled and given judgment under the Civil Code for example, minor defects in court statements could be presented as a flaw and used to reopen the case under the pretext of some other legal code, like the Criminal Code, the Roman Law, the Laws of the Indies, and so forth. This was the legal circus that pervaded the colonial justice system.

5. What is the political structure of the Spanish colonial government? What were the duties of the different branches? What was the distribution of power?

The Governor-General was the executive head of the central government. As chief executive, he executed the laws of the country, appointed and removed officials, except those appointed by Spain and sent to and received from Oriental countries' embassies. As Captain-General, he was the commander-in-chief of all armed forces in the Philippines, he dispatched military expeditions to other countries and he declared war and concluded treaties with other Oriental sovereigns. As Vice-Regal Patron, he nominated priests to ecclesiastical offices and parishes and he controlled the finances of the missions. He was also President of the Royal Audiencia until 1861, and with his legislative power, he could issue executive orders and proclamations, and gave approval to royal decrees that came from Spain.

The Governor-General took advice from the Board of Authorities and the Council of Administration. Directly under him was the Secretariat of the Central Government which was concerned with matters pertaining to foreign and domestic policy and matters of provincial and municipal governments and royal patronage. Various other government boards were also under his control, such as the Superior Board of Health, the Superior Commission of Primary Instruction and the Board of Agriculture, among others. The Governor-General was appointed and removed by the king of Spain, and there was no definite tenure of office. He took an annual salary of P40,000 with liberal allowances.

The corruption of Spanish officialdom was evident even among the ranks of the Governor-General, the highest seat of power in the country. Because of the physical distance from Spain, the Governor-General ruled as a virtual monarch in his own right. By the 19th century, however, many Governor-Generals were inferior in character, executive ability and intelligence to their predecessors. Many used their positions to enrich themselves, pass laws favorable to their party and many showed lack of foresight and good judgment. Especially after Mexico gained its independence, many Spanish job-seekers flocked to the Philippines, where the only qualifications for government office were white skin and Spanish citizenship. A job in the government was very lucrative, and as a result, those who filled the many offices were inept and unqualified. The civil service was also riddled with inefficiency, with its infamously short working hours. The Offices in Manila, for example, were "closed to the public during half the ordinary working day", wrote John Foreman in his book The Philippine Islands.

The Royal Audiencia was independent of the Governor-General, tasked with implementing justice in the country. The Governor-General often conferred with the Royal Audiencia for the promulgation of national and local ordinances. Judges were also appointed by the Governor-General upon the referral of the Royal Audiencia. The organization of the Audiencia was as described previously in #4.

The provinces were administered by alcaldes mayores, who held executive and judicial powers. Though the office paid only a small salary of P300 to P1000 per annum, many Spaniards even paid to be appointed to an alcaldeship. One privilege that the alcalde enjoyed was engaging in trade, called the indulto de comercio. Consequently, many alcaldes used their position to enrich themselves and leverage their businesses against their rivals, even forcing some of them out of business.

The towns, or pueblos, were administered by the gobernadorcillo, often called capitan. He was aided in his job by the teniente mayor (chief lieutenant), the juez de ganados (judge of the cattle), the juez de sementeras (judge of the fields), and the juez de policia (judge of the police). The directorcillo, or town secretary, was appointed and removed by the gobernadorcillo. The gobernadorcillo served without pay and was elected at the beginning of each year by the outgoing gobernadorcillo and twelve senior cabezas de barangay by secret ballot, in the presence of the parish priest (curate) and alcalde mayor.

The gobernadorcillo was also in charge of tax collection for the central government. He was in charge of maintaining peace and order in his area, supervising the forced labor, assisting the parish priest, and entertaining visiting dignitaries. All the money he spent in fulfilling his official duties came out of his own pocket, made up for only by the prestige brought about by his position.

The town was further divided into barangays, each of which was headed by a cabeza de barangay. He served without salary in exchange for the prestige brought about by his position. He was in charge of the annual tax collection in his barangay, and often had to make up for shortfalls in tax collection from his own pocket in case some folks in his barangay couldn't pay.