PHILIPPINES UNDER IMPERIAL SPAIN

4. Economy The Spaniards implemented economic programs which are mainly about land
ownership and taxes. The programs are encomienda, hacienda, imposition of different kinds of
taxes, galleon trade, monopoly and polo y servicios. Encomienda The encomienda is a land
ownership system with the use of titulo as proof of ownership. These are the lands given by the
King of Span to its soldiers who joined the military expeditions. The landlords are called
encomendero. They are the ones who collect the taxes or rent from the residents of their land. It
is his obligation to protect the residents from any danger or threat like bandits and invaders. But
as depicted in the picture, the contrary was happening.
5. Taxation To support the colony, several forms of taxes and monopolies were imposed.
Direct: The tithe is the payment of the 10% of an individuals annual income to the government.
The sanctorum is the tax being paid as support to the church. The tribute(buwis) is the tax or rent
given to the landlord a resident is under. It may be in cash or in kind (tobacco,chickens, produce,
gold, blankets, cotton, rice, etc., depending on the region of the country), fixed at 8 reales and
later increased to 15 reales.
6. Tributo = 10 reales Diezmos prediales (tithes or 1/10) = 1 real Treasury = 1 real Sanctorum
tax (church tax) = 3 reales All in all, an average Filipino will pay 15 reales . Indirect Also
collected was the bandal , an annual enforced sale and requisitioning of goods such as rice.
Custom duties and income tax were also collected. By 1884, the tribute was replaced by the
Cedula personal, wherein colonists were required to pay for personal identification. Everyone
over the age of 18 was obliged to pay. The local gobernadorcillos had been responsible for
collection of the tribute. Under the cedula system, however, taxpayers were individually
responsible to Spanish authorities for payment of the tax, and were subject to summary arrest for
failure to show a cedula receipt.
7. Forced Labor (Polo y servicio) Polo y servicio is the forced labor for 40 days of men
ranging from 16 to 60 years of age who were obligated to give personal services to community
projects. One could be exempted from polo by paying the falla, a daily fine of one and a half
real. In 1884, labor was reduced to 15 days. The polo system was patterned after the Mexican
repartimento, selection for forced labor
8. Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade The Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade was the main source
of income for the colony during its early years. Service was inaugurated in 1565 and continued
into the early 19th century. The Galleon trade brought silver from New Spain and silk from
China by way of Manila. This way, the Philippines earned its income through buy and sell - that
is, they bought silk from China for resale to New Spain and then bought American silver for
resale to China.
9. The trade was very prosperous. But It neglected the development of the colony's local
industries which affected the Indios since agriculture was their main source of income. In
addition, the building and operation of galleons put too much burden on the colonists' annual
polo y servicio, resulted in cultural and commercial exchanges between Asia and the Americas
that led to the introduction of new crops and animals to the Philippines notably tobacco that gave
the colony its first The trade lasted for over two hundred years, and ceased in 1821 with the
secession of American colonies from Spain. real income which benefit extended to the common
Indio.
10. Royal Society of Friends of the Country Established by Jose de Basco y Vargas, the
society was tasked to explore and exploit the island's natural bounties.

The society led to the creation of Plan General Economico of Basco which implemented
the monopolies on the areca nut, tobacco, spirited liquors and explosives.

It offered local and foreign scholarships and training grants in agriculture and established
an academy of design.

It was also credited to the carabao ban of 1782, the formation of the silversmiths and gold
beaters guild and the construction of the first papermill in the Philippines in 1825.

It was introduced on 1780, vanished temporarily on 1787-1819, 1820-1822 and 18751822 and ceased to exist in the middle of the 1890s.

11. Royal Company of the Philippines

March 10, 1785, Charles III created the Royal Philippine Company with a 25 year
charter.

It was granted exclusive monopoly of bringing to Manila, Philippines; Chinese and

Indian goods and shipping them directly to Spain via the Cape of Good Hope.

It was stiffly objected by the Dutch and English who saw it as a direct attack on their
trade of Asian goods.

It was also vehemently opposed by the traders of the Galleon trade who saw it as
competition. This gradually resulted into the death of both institutions: The Royal
Philippine Company in 1814 and the Galleon trade in 1815.

12. On June 12 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo declared the independence of the Philippines in
Kawit, Cavite, establishing the First Philippine Republic under Asia's first democratic
constitution.
13. The country under Spain was economically under developed. The Philippines was an
economic burden to Spain that caused an annual deficit to the Spanish coffers. Philippine
Economy under Spain The founding of the Economic Society of Friends of the Country helped
in theagricultural advancement of the country. The Tobacco Monopoly made the Philippines the
greatest tobacco-growing country in the Orient. All farmers had a quota of tobacco toraise
annually and all were sold to the Government. Spanish policies imposed here were not that
helpful for the Filipinos and most government officials were of Spanish by blood and Filipinos
were the ones made to work tedious jobs.
14. There were many changes in the Filipino society during the Spanish colonization. Spanish
authorities did not show any sign of fairness towards the Filipinos especially in the division of
responsibilities in polo y servicio. Because of this irresponsibility, Filipinos still work apart from
their allotted time for work. Filipinos who were working in the Galleon Trade experienced
misfortune because of the heavy loads Spanish authorities were asking of them. As a result,
many workers died and later on separated families because of poverty being experienced.