Grade 5: The Reduccion and Encomienda in the Philippines PDF

# **Figure This Out!** ## **The Reduccion** Because the barangays were scattered and far from each other, there was a need to put them together in one place in order to make them accessible to the Spaniards. Through this, colonization and Christianity could be spread easily and in an orderly mann...

# **Figure This Out!** ## **The Reduccion** Because the barangays were scattered and far from each other, there was a need to put them together in one place in order to make them accessible to the Spaniards. Through this, colonization and Christianity could be spread easily and in an orderly manner. Fr. Juan de Plasencia proposed the idea of establishing the reduccion which was approved by all the religious orders. On April 27, 1534, King Philip II of Spain ordered Governor-General Luis Perez Dasmariñas to carry out the reduccion. The religious orders were assigned places to lead and supervise. 1. Augustinians - Tagalog provinces, Pampanga, Ilocos, Cebu, and Panay 2. Dominicans - whole provinces of Cagayan and Pangasinan 3. Franciscans - whole Bicol Region 4. Jesuits - Samar, Bohol, Leyte, and some parts of Mindanao Reduccion is derived from the Spanish word "reducir" which means "to control" or "to conquer." The reduccion was arranged in such a way that the plaza became the center of the community. The church, convent of the missionaries, municipal hall, and stone houses of the principalia formed a square since they were located at the sides. The church became the center of all the activities in the reduccion from a person's birth until death. ## **Reduccion during the Spanish period** The Spanish soldiers were not allowed to live with the native peoples in the reduccion. This was because of the bad behavior that was shown by the soldiers which caused harm to the natives. Except for the clergy, no other Spaniard stayed with the natives. They had to stay either in Manila or Cebu to concentrate on the small forces of the islands. Ordinary Filipino families lived outside the center of the community. The arrangement was introduced to the natives including the blocks and streets. The reduccion was structured in such a way that the native peoples could easily go to the church at the tolling of the bells (bajo de campanas). Not all the places in the Philippines were placed under the reduccion. The mountainous areas of the country were difficult to reach; thus, most of the indigenous people who lived in the mountains were not indoctrinated to the Christian faith. ## **Spread of Christianity** The reduccion was the first step of the Spaniards in their aim to spread Christianity. As part of this pursuit, the missionaries lured the natives through various ceremonies and practices such as church songs, extravagant processions with images of saints garbed in colorful and expensive clothing, the Santacruzan and Flores de Mayo - a ritual pageant. Lighting of candles, praying the rosary, wearing of medals and scapulars, staging of senakulo - a play about the life and sufferings of Jesus Christ, and the tolling of the church bells. Some of the celebrations that became important to the native peoples were the Semana Santa or Holy Week, Corpus Christi, and the town fiesta which commemorates the feast day of their patron saint. After their baptism, the natives were given Christian names based on the names of their town's patron saints. This practice helped the Spaniards during census and collection of tributes. The missionaries taught the rudiments and teachings of the Christian faith. The children were taught verses, songs, and prayers. They also attended mass every day. After lunch, the children returned for their religious lessons until 5 o'clock in the afternoon that was followed by a procession after their lessons. ### **EXERCISE** Give the meaning of the following: 1. Reduccion 2. Santacruzan 3. Senakulo 4. Semana Santa 5. Pasyong Mahal ## **Figure This Out!** ## **Encomienda** The Philippines is blessed with natural resources and vast tracts of land. When the Spaniards saw that these lands were planted with bountiful crops, they decided to make full use of it. The Spanish conquerors and soldiers who helped colonize the country were rewarded with pieces of land for their services. This reward was called the encomienda. Encomienda was derived from the Spanish word "encomendar" which means entrusting a task, duty, or responsibility to a person. The person who was given this reward was called encomendero. The encomendero had the right to collect tributes and use the services of the people within his jurisdiction. However, he also had duties to his people. He was tasked to maintain the peace and order in the encomienda, protect his people from outside forces, and help the missionaries in teaching the gospel as part of the task in spreading Christianity. The encomienda of Captain Diego de Villalobos of Lisbon in Silang, Cavite was a peaceful one. He treated his people humanely as if he was also a part of the encomienda. He helped build a church and also provided aid and support to the victims of fire in the encomienda. ### **Types of Encomienda** There were two types of encomienda in the Philippines - the royal encomienda and private encomienda. The royal encomiendas were choice tracts of land such as important towns and ports that were reserved for the king of Spain. These were Bagumbayan (Luneta), Santa Ana de Sapa, Tondo, Navotas, and Malabon in Manila; and Lubao and Betis in Pampanga. Meanwhile, the private encomiendas were tracts of land on the mountainsides, hillsides, or along the coasts which were given to Spaniards who have served the king during the time of colonization. Pedro de Chavez was entrusted the encomiendas of Pandacan, Manila and Macabebe, Pampanga. Bataan was granted to Juan Esguerra and Batangas to Francisco Rodriguez. Francisco Liwag and Juan de Macapagal were also granted some encomiendas in Pampanga. ## **Abuses of the Encomenderos** Instead of protecting and promoting the welfare of the people, some encomenderos abused the natives. They imposed taxes and grabbed lands that they should pay. When they had plenty of gold, they cheated the natives on the amount they should pay. The encomenderos demanded for gold so the natives were forced to buy gold. Those who refused to pay were punished. The friars also became angry with the encomenderos who neglected their tasks of teaching Christianity. Many of the natives who had no means of paying the tribute fled to the mountains to escape punishment. They were called tulisanes or remontados by the Spaniards. These abuses by the encomenderos became one of the causes of the first revolts against the Spaniards. ## **Tributo** The tributo was considered a contribution of the native people to the expenses of the colony and a form of recognition and acceptance as colonized people. The money collected was used for building schools, supporting the church, promoting people's health, maintaining peace and order, and sustaining the other needs of the government. The amount of tributo started from eight reales annually per family. One real was equivalent to 12 centavos. Men and women without families were required to pay one-half real. The tributo may be paid in products, jewelry, or gold. In 1590, Governor-General Luis Perez Dasmariñas increased the amount of the tributo to 15 reales until the end of the Spanish rule. Of the total collection, one-fourth went to the church and the rest to the government. Aside from the tributo, the natives were also forced to pay other taxes: 1. Diezmos Prediales - It is a tax for the church (tithe) amounting to 1 real. 2. Samboangan or Donativo de Zamboanga - It is a tax for building defenses against the Moros from 1660-1851 amounting to 5 reales. 3. Vinta - It is a tax for building defenses against the Moros in Bulacan and Pampanga. 4. Bandala - It is the compulsory sale of the products which were produced by the farmers such as rice, coconut, tobacco, and cotton. The government officials dictated the quotas and prices of the products. Most often, the native peoples were not paid for the goods. If their produce was below the quota, the farmers had to buy from other farmers just to meet the quota. Those who were most affected from this were the farmers from the Tagalog provinces and Pampanga. The cedula personal replaced the tributo in 1884. The receipt of payment served as an identification paper of the native peoples. This paper contained the name, address, and age of the owner. This is the present equivalent of the Community Tax Certificate. All citizens of the Philippines who are aged 18 years old and above are required to pay this. # **Community Tax Certificate** The ancient Filipinos accepted the religion propagated by the Spaniards differently. Many of the natives easily embraced Christianity because they saw that it had many similarities with the original religion. The natives we animistic. They worship trees, animals, rivers, rocks, anitos, and fairies. The missionaries had no difficulty in introducing images of saints, medals, scapulars, and other religious images. Indigenous people also perform rituals on various occasions, such as planting, harvesting, weddings, and making special requests. They summon the spirits to ward off misfortune. They also worship the same God call Bathala. Consequently the Spaniards had no difficulty in introducing new rituals and celebrations during Lent, festivals and on certain special occasions such as childbirth, death, and burial. Indigenous people who embraced Christianity were baptized, changed names, said prayers, and married into the church. There are also those who refuse to embrace Christianity and remain faithful to their original religion. To this day, Filipinos still continue some celebrations and rituals taught by the Spaniards, such as the feast of saints, Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan, novėna, procession and reception of the Sacraments, such as Holy Communion, baptism, confession, marriage, and so on. Many of the natives also accepted the new religion out of great fear because the friars and soldiers were always together to conquer a place. They saw that the soldiers always carried rifles and swords. Their acceptance of the new religion was not because they believed in its doctrines and teachings but because it was out of fear. There are also natives who have climbed the mountain and have moved away. They were called remontados, cimarones, and ladrones by the Spaniards. There were also indigenous people who staged uprisings in rejection of the new religion. Some of them are Bankaw, Tamblot, and Pagani babaylan. Tapar revolted to establish a new religion. The Spaniards did not succeed in spreading their religion to Muslims and some indigenous groups such as the Ifugao and Ibanag who became loyal to their religion. The Negritos were not reached by the Spaniards due to lack of transportation and communication. ## **Reaction to Spanish Colonialism** Based on their observation, the Spaniards discovered that the communities in the country were isolated and had no centralized government. The occupiers took advantage of this and intensified the small disputes between the communities. The Spaniards used one group against another group to maintain their strife. This was effective in preventing the natives from uniting against them. Because the Spaniards intended to conquer the Philippines, the conquerors were always ready to go somewhere. They carried a cannon at their landing, and each soldier had a rifle and a sword. The use of military force caused great fear among the natives so they were easily conquered. There were also those who revolted against the Spaniards and their methods of subjugation to the ancient Filipinos. Lapu-Lapu was the first to reject Spanish rule. Many other patriotic Filipinos revolted against Spanish colonialism such as Diego and Gabriela Silang, Maniago, Dagohoy, and our other Filipino heroes. This only proves that Filipinos are ready to defend and fight for their right to achieve the desired freedom that we enjoy today.