The Encomienda caused more harm than
benefits to the socio-political system of the Philippines. This labor system
traces its roots from the royal decrees granted to Conquistadores who led successful expeditions to subjugate the
native people captured under the Spanish flag and Crown. Since the inception of
the Encomienda, Filipinos from
1521-1898 experienced forced labor and high taxation rates for the “protection”
of the Spanish government, who paradoxically mistreats natives and tortures
them in return for mandatory labor and tribute. This oppression of human rights
and repression of freedom of speech manifests itself in the proliferation of
class, hierarchical discrimination, racial prejudice, and race inferiority.
Going back to the nature of Encomienda, this system is led by the Encomienderos, who are Spaniards,
whether secular or clerical, given by royal decree the permission to enforce
tax and forced labor upon the population of a geographical area.
The first prerogative of an Encomiendero is to impose taxation in
his jurisdiction, which was 8 Reales;
but greedy Encomienderos raised the tributu to atleast 10 Reales per adult male as a mean for accumulating wealth. This
forceful increase of tax led to many Indios,
to pay in kind.
But since Encomienderos have
the right to impose forced labor under their command, they used a sub-set of
labor system called Polo y Servicios.
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| polo y servicio |
The Polo was hard labor performed by
men to construct government buildings, churches or to be drafted in military
expeditions. This labor system and the dreaded Cortes de Madera , another system of forced labor that constituted
the cutting and hauling of trees to build galleons and warships, proliferated
class discrimination among the Spaniards, Principalia,
Mestizo de Español, Mestizo de Sangleys, and Tornatras.
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| cortes de madera |
The unfair treatment against Filipinos and the biases towards the Spaniards brought by the Polo y Servicios and Cortes de Madera provoked the Filipinos to fight and rebel against the colonial government. Moreover, racial prejudice and inferiority emerged as a result of the privileged treatment of the upper class, which was evident in the lower rate of tributu (or sometimes exempted), between the harsh treatment of the lower class, which mostly constituted Filipinos. Because of the inability of the common Juan and Juana to pay their tributes, they were sometimes tortured, forced, and raped to pay their taxes on time.
On the contrary, the Encomienda has had its positive influence on the socio-political
system of the Philippines. Due to the nature of the labor system, numerous ayuntamientos and Iglesias were built under the Spanish Colonial government.
Moreover, provincial and capital roads were paved with piedra china or granite (prominent examples are like those in Calle Real in Intramuros).
But the most
positive influence of the Encomienda is
the Reduccionés, or the relocation of
native people in Spanish colonies in settlements or pueblos with the plaza
mayor and the Iglesia in the middle or also known as poblacion.
In addition, Reduccionés is a great
system for monitoring the population (census) of a barrio and converting the animist inhabitants to Catholicism. But
the Reduccionés has had its negative
effects when used by Spaniards to benefit themselves. One of which is using the
corralled population to monitor the amount of tax payers in a barrio. Second, the Encomienderos use the census to forcibly mandate the polo and cortes to the benefit of the Spanish government.
In addition, when the Spaniards came to the
Philippines, our ancestors were already trading with China, Japan, Siam, India,
Cambodia, Borneo and the Moluccas; the Spaniards, upon their colonization,
closed the ports of Manila to all countries except for Nueva Espana (Mexico), specifically, Acapulco. It contributed to
the failure of the Spanish authorities to develop Philippine trade with China,
India, Japan, and other Asian countries which were closer to the country and
therefore travel to these places were cheaper. Thus, the Manila–Acapulco Trade,
better known as the "Galleon Trade" was born.
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| Manila-Acapulco Route |
The Galleon Trade was a
government monopoly. Philippine
agriculture and industry was neglected, high profits from the trade drew the
officials in the country to Manila as the provinces was deprived of services.
Clearly, it is apparent that the Spaniards were more focused towards enriching
their own interests through colonization, like the Encomienda, at the cost of those of the native indios’. The systems they implemented in their colonization can be
said as rigged from the start in favor of the Spanish authorities; they were
the be-all and end-all when it came to making decisions on how the country was
run.
Modern day corruption in Philippine politics indeed is a remnant of Spanish colonization. Filipinos themselves were disenfranchised in home soil. We were taught by the Spaniards that those of a lower class background stay there and the same goes for those of an upper class background. This "classist" mentality can be observed in our society today. This mentality can be undone if people in the Philippines will unite in making decisions, such as will not choosing a politician that will not help our country’s status and go for a recall referendum that will remove the politicians in their position. The youth should be informed about Philippine history especially as they are the next generation voters so that they will get educated on the consequences of the past.
Modern day corruption in Philippine politics indeed is a remnant of Spanish colonization. Filipinos themselves were disenfranchised in home soil. We were taught by the Spaniards that those of a lower class background stay there and the same goes for those of an upper class background. This "classist" mentality can be observed in our society today. This mentality can be undone if people in the Philippines will unite in making decisions, such as will not choosing a politician that will not help our country’s status and go for a recall referendum that will remove the politicians in their position. The youth should be informed about Philippine history especially as they are the next generation voters so that they will get educated on the consequences of the past.