The Roots of the Filipino Nation

Volume I

e
The Roots of the Filipino Nation
Volume I

O. D. Corpuz

The University of the Philippines Press

Diliman, Quezon City
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES PRESS
E. de los Santos St., UP Campus, Diliman, Quezon City 1101
Tel. No.: 9253243 / Telefax No.: 9282558
e-mail: press@up.edu.ph / uppress@uppress.org
website: www.uppress.org

© 2005 by O. D. Corpuz
All rights reserved.
No copies can be made in part or in whole without prior
written permission from the author and the publisher.

First published in 1989 by AKLAHI Foundation Inc., Quezon City, Philippines

Book Design by Zenaida N. Ebalan

ISBN 971-542-460-0

Printed in the Philippines by the UP Press Printery Division

 CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, ix

PROLOGUE, xi

CHAPTER 1: BARANGAY, CRESCENT, CROSS, 1

From the Tabon Caves to the Barangay, 3
The Great Traditions, 8
The Barangay, 15
Jolo, Maguindanao, Cebu, and Manila, 46
Crescent and Cross, 53
The Kingdom of Filipinas, 59

CHAPTER 2: LIFE AND DEATH IN THE ENCOMIENDAS, 62

The Conquest of the Barangays, 66
The Encomiendas, 90
Filipinas in Jeopardy, 118
The Vineyard, 123
Death in the Encomiendas, 126

CHAPTER 3: CHRISTIAN REVOLTS, MUSLIM RAIDS, 128

The Christian Uprisings, 129
The Muslim Wars, 157

CHAPTER 4: LIFE IN COLONIAL SOCIETY: THE DOCTRINA, 185

The Doctrina, 187
The Recovery of the Filipino Population, 193
Highland Missions and Lowland Pueblos, 195
The Gobernadorcillos, Cabezas, and the Friar, 206
The Three Worlds of the Filipinos, 215
 vi  THE ROOTS OF THE FILIPINO NATION

CHAPTER 5: PUEBLO FUNDS, SCHOOLS, FILIPINO PRIESTS, 244

The Caja de Comunidad, 245
The School in the Doctrina, 250
Filipinos in Holy Orders, 266

CHAPTER 6: SPANIARDS, SANGLEYS, MESTIZOS, 293

The Spaniards, 296
Sangleys and Mestizos, 300

CHAPTER 7: PUEBLO LANDS, FRIAR HACIENDAS, TAGALOG UPRISINGS, 318

Barangay Lands, 319
Pueblo Lands, 320
Landgrabbers, Haciendas, Revolts, 328

CHAPTER 8: TUMULT IN THE 1760S: THE EVE OF CHANGE, 355

Manila in the 1750s, 356
The British Conquest of Filipinas, 363
The Rebellion of Francisco Dagohoy, 375
The Rebellion of Juan de la Cruz Palaris, 381
The Rebellion of Diego Baltasar Silang, 390
Minor Revolts, 398
Spanish Soul-Searching, 400
Four French Views of Filipinas, 406

CHAPTER 9: AZIM UD-DIN I; THE APOGEE OF THE MUSLIM WARS, 417

The Saga of Alimudin, 420
The Crest and the Ebb Tide, 448

CHAPTER 10: AGRICULTURE, TRADE, INQUILINOS, SHARECROPPERS, 463

Agriculture, 467
Land Tenure, Agrarian Relations, 485
Local Trade, Urbanization, 518
Foreign Trade, 533
The Non-Spanish Foreigners, 537
 CONTENTS  vii

CHAPTER 11: FIGHTING FOR THE PARISHES; THE FILIPINO CLERGY, 541
Ancient Laws in the Nineteenth Century, 543
Spain, 1780s-1830s, 544
A Veil Is Lifted, 547
New Laws, Old Regime, 554
An “Astonishing Increase of Impiety,” 563
Reform Without Change, 577
The Secular Clergy Becomes Filipino, 584

APPENDIX: THE POPULATION OF THE ARCHIPELAGO, 1565-1898, 598

Population Loss in the Archipelago, 1565-1700, 598
The Spanish Population Estimates, 601
The Population Level of the Archipelago, 1565, 613
Population Estimates, 1588-1686, 619
Population Estimates, 1733-1799, 626
Population Estimates, 1805-1850, 639
Population Estimates, 1858-1903, 654

NOTES, 669

INDEX, 715
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

IT WAS NOT possible to think through the idea of this book and then to
labor on its writing save by living like a hermit upon my retirement into
private life. Dr. Serafin D. Quiason and Romeo G. Roxas sought me out
and extended precious aid and encouragement.
Of institutions, notes I took ages ago from the Widener and
Houghton libraries of Harvard University (1950s); the British Museum
Reading Room (1960s); and the Archivo General in Sevilla (1960s) went
into the core of my material. I thank their staffs belatedly.
To modern scholars, Filipino and others, whose work illuminate
specific aspects of our history, I give profuse thanks for the citations I
made from their research and, in some cases, translations.
My son Dr. Arturo G. Corpuz forced me to strengthen some
concepts in Volume I with his criticism. As Volume II took shape the
poet Gémino H. Abad and historian Oscar M. Alfonso of the University
of the Philippines read chapters and eliminated most typos.
I also thank friends on the staff of the National Library who took
on the indexing work. The chore of nursing copy through the printer fell
upon Ma. Julie S. Roxas, who patiently accommodated all last-minute
revisions.
And, for all the days and nights of writing in peace for more than
four years, I record my thanks to Aurora, because she understood I had
to write.