The Filipino Identity and the Kingship of Christ (III)


Iglesia de San Agustín en Paoay, Filipinas. Commons


Part IV: The Black Legend


Known in Spanish as «La Leyenda Negra», the Black Legend was originally a collection of various anti-Spanish myths of alleged cruelties and oppressive policies propagated by the enemies of Hispanidad (such as the Protestant British and the Talmudists) in order to malign what was then the strongest Catholic power in the world. Although often discredited among circles of honest historians, the Black Legend nevertheless persists in the historical beliefs of many today, and notably there is a set of myths applied to each part of Hispanidad. In the Philippine Islands, the most notable myths involve the following: the Encomienda system, the Polo y Servicio, and the friars.

The Encomienda system as taught in the modern Filipino school curriculum is often painted as a system of slavery whereby a piece of land was allotted to a Spaniard from Iberian Spain, and where he could thereby utilize the service of the natives inhabiting said land to his benefit. However, where there are rights, then duties will inevitably follow, and the encomienda system was no different. The landowner (encomendero) was entrusted with the land by the Spanish Crown not merely for the profit of the encomendero, but so that the natives themselves could profit by instruction in agriculture, and more importantly in the Catholic Faith. Furthermore, the encomienda system was a temporary institution that was abolished merely a few decades after its introduction, making way for the more permanent reduccion, for which the encomienda prepared the way.

Next, this work shall look at the Polo y Servicio. Often described as yet another oppressive policy imposed upon the natives of the Philippines, the Polo y Servicio was on the contrary a system that proved to be beneficial to them. Quite simply, the Polo y Servicio was a policy meant to advance the economy of a locality where the laborers were working, mainly through the making of infrastructure such as bridges, roads and the like; many examples of which are used to this day. Moreover, those who worked under the Polo y Servicio only worked for 40 days a year, each with a daily wage.

Finally, the Friars in the Philippines are often believed to be corrupt oppressors of the people who sought to satiate their own carnal desires. However, while there may certainly have been cases of such friars, they were by no means the rule. On the contrary, one would not go wrong in saying that the presence of the Friars brought about much good in the Philippines. It is to the Friars and the Jesuits that the Filipino peoples owe their education in both spiritual and temporal matters, raising the standard of their civilizations to a degree equal to those in Europe, nay even in some respects surpassing them, for as remarked by a certain foreign observer quoted in «The Friars in the Philippines» by Fr. Ambrose Coleman, O.P.: «…the Church has long proved to be, on the whole, by much the most cheap and efficacious instrument of good government and order—even the common people learn reading by its aid, so much at least as to enable them to read their prayer-books and other religious manuals. There are very few Indians who are unable to read, and I have always observed that the Manila men serving on board ships and forming their crew have been much more often able to subscribe their names to the ship’s articles than the British seamen on board the same vessels could do».
Indeed, with a meager garrison of less than 10,000 men, enough only to keep the Moros to the South in check, it was the Friars who themselves served as representatives of the government in Manila even in the most far-flung barrios, hence being catapulted into a position of paternal authority in the locales they served, an authority which nevertheless was not resented by the mass of the people. Thus being situated, it was often their lot as well to teach the farm-based populace modern agricultural methods as well as introducing new crops for them to sow, the most notable being Corn and Coffee. Corn, imported from America, became another staple food of the Filipino aside from Rice and Camote; whereas Coffee, although already present in the wilds of the Philippine Islands, was not cultivated until its value was pointed out by the Friars.

It would be good to point out as well the influence the Friars had on the Filipino Peoples education system. In each barrio there was one school for boys and one for girls, each taught, more often than not, by delegated assistants of the Parish Priest. Further, all those who wished to pursue higher education could attend the universities run by the religious orders, most notably the Universidad de Santo Tomas run by the Dominican Fathers, as well as the Universidad de San Ignacio and later the Ateneo de Manila run by the Jesuits.

Thus, we can say with confidence that the Filipino Peoples’ inclusion into Hispanidad proved to be on the whole beneficial, elevating their stature among the many peoples of earth. Yet sadly, the Filipino Peoples were ripped away from Hispanidad at the end of the 19th century, although as one shall see in the next article of this series, this was a process that would be centuries in the making.

Elijah Francis Morales,

Círculo Carlista Felipe II de Manila




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