Spanish Colonial Law: Cedula Requirements

Occasions Requiring Cedula Exhibition

• Upon taking up a commission or public employment under royal or insular authority
• Upon entering provincial or municipal office
• When making a public or private contract
• When representing a claim, soliciting business, or appearing before petty governors or ministers of justice
• When bringing an action before any court or officer
• Upon matriculation in an institute of learning
• When entering employment in industry, commerce, profession, art, or trade

Financial Transactions and Rights

• When paying direct taxes
• When presenting a claim, exercising a civil right, acquiring rights, or contracting obligations
• When realizing credits, making or withdrawing deposits, collecting on letters of credit, making bills of exchange, depositing in savings banks, or confirming pledges
• When bidding at a public auction

Identity and Travel

• When establishing identity
• When traveling beyond the boundaries of the pueblo of residence

Employment and Associations

• When entering domestic service
• When becoming a director, administrator, member, voter, shareholder, or employee of any association or industrial undertaking

Cedula Issuance and Enforcement

• Cedulas were issued based on a padrón prepared by the cabeza de Barangay
• Information was collected on schedules filled out by heads of households, including the name and income of every person over 18 years old
• The padrón was made in triplicate: one copy for the cabeza, one for the gobernadorcillo, and one for the treasury department
• Officers were authorized to call for and examine cedulas on any occasion, and those without a cedula (indocumentado) faced severe penalties

Colonial Government in the Philippines

• The Unification of the church and state was a special feature of the Colonial Government in the Philippines.
• The Pope gave the King of Spain a special power over churches in the colony, leading the King to order the colonial government to fund churches, schools, and charities operated by religious orders.
• The King also paid the salaries of the Archbishop, Bishops, and Parish Priests stationed in the Philippines.

Secularization of Parishes

• On November 9, 1774, the King issued a decree about the secularization of all districts of Parishes, transferring authority from regular parishioners to secular priests.
• Regulars opposed the transfer, believing Filipino priests were unfit due to their skin color, lack of education, and experience.

Dispute and Racial Discrimination

• The dispute escalated with the return of the Jesuits to the Philippines, leading to racial discrimination against native priests.
• Spanish authorities favored regular priests over native priests.

Key Figures and Movement

• Monsignor Pedro Pelez, Ecclesiastical governor of the Church, sided with Filipino priests but died in an earthquake in 1863.
• Filipino priests, including Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora (GOMBURZA), continued the fight for the secularization movement.