THE HISPANIZATION OF THE FILIPINOS

By Chiqui Orendain Alejaga

During the Pre-colonial period, it is true and evident that Filipinos have established their own
culture even before the Spanish colonization began. However, what were the causes as to why
the Spanish wanted to colonize the Philippines? What were their aims in order to spread
Hispanization in the chosen country? In order to go further and answer these questions, let us
first determine the definition of Hispanization. What does Hispanization mean?

Hispanicisation or hispanisation, also known as

castilianization or castilianisation (Spanish:
castellanización) refers to the process by which a
place or person becomes influenced by Hispanic
culture or a process of cultural and/or linguistic
change in which something non-Hispanic becomes
Hispanic……………………………………………………………………. ……….. Babylon’s dictionary

How was Hispanization lead to the Philippines?

Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan successfully

led the European expedition to Philippines in the
service of the King of Spain. On 31 March 1521 at
Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte, as stated in
Pigafetta's Primo Viaggio Intorno El Mondo (First
Voyage Around the World), Magellan solemnly
planted a cross on the summit of a hill overlooking the
sea and claimed for the king of Spain possession of the
islands he had seen, naming them Archipelago of Saint
Lazarus. The invasion of Philippines by foreign powers http://www.mcrg.ac.in/Chair_
however didn’t begin in earnest until 1564. After Professor/Articles/Spanish_col
Magellan's voyage, subsequent expeditions were onialism_in_The_Philippines.p
dispatched to the islands………………………………………….. ……….. df

When European traders, in search for a new route to

the Spice Islands, stumbled into the Philippine https://learning.knoji.com/the
archipelago in 1521, they found the people living in a -spanish-era-in-the-
comparatively high state of civilization……………………… ……….. philippines/
I. WHAT WERE THE OBJECTIVES OF SPANISH COLONIZATION IN THE PHILIPPINES?

What are the aims of Spanish colonization in the

Philippines?

The three reasons the Spanish had for colonizing are

usually listed as "gold, god, and glory." "Gold" meant
that one of the goals of Spanish colonization was to
find gold or to otherwise get economic benefits from https://www.enotes.com/hom
the colonies. "God" meant that one of their goals was ework-help/what-were-three-
to spread Christianity……………………………………………….. ……….. goals-spanish-americas-
301559

The goal of Spanish efforts to explore and settle Asia

during the 1500s onwards was to find ways to access
and secure trade with the East. At that time, there was
a great demand for silk, spices, porcelain, and other
‘exotic’ goods in the markets of Europe. Eventually Ryan Fernandez, B.A. Visual
this was expanded to growing cash crops like sugar, Arts, Fordham University
and tobacco in plantations across the Philippines......... .......... (2006)

Why did Spain want the Philippines?

Spain was an empire before they decided to include

the Philippines in it. The Philippines became an
important stop-over for Spanish treasure fleets
https://www.quora.com/Why-
importing the previous silver. The islands are also
did-Spain-colonize-the-
colonized because the Spanish wanted a footing in Philippines
Asian trade……………………………………………………………….. ………..

II. HOW WAS THE SPANISH SOCIAL STRUCTURE DETERMINED IN THE PHILIPPINES?

During the Spanish colonial period from the 16th to

the 19th century, the racial mixture in the Philippines
occurred on a quite smaller scale as compared to the
other Spanish territories. A caste system, like that
used in the Spanish America, existed in the
Philippines, with some explicit differences. The racial
hierarchy in Philippines is explained starting from the
highest rank group having maximum power and https://www.hierarchystructur
authority and ending with the group having lowest or e.com/racial-hierarchy-in-
zero rights, power and authority..................................... .......... philippines/
 A social system in which class status is determined at https://www.khanacademy.or
birth. The Spanish had mixed-race children in the g/humanities/us-
Americas with enslaved Africans and Native history/precontact-and-early-
Americans. Status was determined by how “Spanish” colonial-era/spanish-
colonization/a/spanish-
one was, so those with little to no Spanish blood were
empire-lesson-summary
in the lowest class…………………………………………………….. ………..

III. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT SOCIAL HIERARCHIES THAT DEVELOPED?

Who are the Peninsulares?

The highest level of the racial hierarchy in Philippines

is composed by Peninsulares class. These were the
person of pure Spanish descent born in Spain. These
people possessed maximum command and influence
https://www.hierarchystructur
over the e.com/racial-hierarchy-in-
Philippines…………………………...………………………………….. ……….. philippines/

Who are the Americanos?

Persons of pure Spanish descent living in the

Philippines who were born in Spanish America were
classified as ‘Americano’. This was the second highest
Ibid.
level of the hierarchy………………………………………………… ………..

Who are the Insulares?

The next rank in the Philippines racial hierarchy is the

Filipino. Basically, the Philippine-born children of
‘Americano’ were classified as
Ibid.
‘Filipinos’…………………………........................................... ………..

Who are the Ilustrados?

They are the middle class who were educated in

Spanish and exposed to Spanish liberal and European Agoncillo, Teodoro (History of
nationalist ideals………………………………………………………. ……….. the Philippines)

Who are the Principalia?

Nobility class was the social and educated class in the

towns of colonial Philippines composed of the
Gobernadorcillo, or the Cabeza de Barangay who
 governed the districts and the awardees of the medal
of Civil Merit…………………………………………………………….. ………..
Loc. cit

Who are the Mestizos?

The next in the hierarchy is the class Mestizos de

Espanola, subordinate to the Tornatras. This term was
used to describe people of mixed Filipino and foreign
Ibid.
ancestry……………………………………………………………………. ………..

What are the types of Mestizos?

Tornatras were the persons of mixed indigenous

Spanish ancestry (referred to as Filipino or
Peninsular), Chinese (referred to as Sangley), and
Malay (referred to as Indio). Most people of the
Tornatras caste in the Philippines used Spanish as
their primary language, and in many cases converted
to the Catholic faith………………………………………………….. ……….. Ibid.

Sangley is a level used in hierarchy to demonstrate the

persons of pure Chinese ancestry, while Mestizos de
Sangley was used to refer to a person of mixed
Chinese and indigenous ancestry……………………………… ……….. Ibid.

Who are the Indios?

Indio was the term that was used to refer the native
Malays, but if we consider the legal classification, this
term was only used to refer the Christianized Malays
who lived in closeness to the Spanish colonies. This
Ibid.
was the second lowest rank in the hierarchy................ ..........

Who are the Negritos?

They are lowest level in the Philippines racial

hierarchy was of the Negritos. This group represented
the black Negro people who possessed minimal or
zero rights and worked as labors in the Spanish
Ibid.
colonial system............................................................. ..........

IV. HOW DID THE SPANISH SOCIAL STRUCTURE MADE AN IMPACT IN THE COUNTRY?
An important impact of Spanish rule in the Philippines
is the creation of a mestizo culture with entrenched
landed interests and a highly skewed land
distribution. The Spaniards made the local datus head http://www.seasite.niu.edu/T
agalog/Tagalog_Homepage99/
of the barangays, who eventually acquired large
impacts_of_spanish_rule_in_t
landholdings................................................................. ..........
he_p.htm

What are the two types of intermarriages?

Some of the barangay heads were natives, but many

important families arose at this time through the
intermarriages of two types:

The Spanish-Indio mestizo that had a higher status: it

is a socially exclusive class from which the scholars
and literatis of Manila emerged and today have close
ties to Spain and the United States............................... .......... Ibid.

The Chinese-Indio mestizo that had a lower status: this

class blended with Filipino rural cultures; it also
acquired large tracts of land through money lending.
From this class emerged an important economic
group of Filipino-Chinese in the Philippines today. This
class competed with migrant Chinese in trade but
were less successful in business.................................... .......... Ibid.

How was the higher classes served?

Spain was a traditional colonial monarchy; power,

wealth and control were kept thru a system of elite
titled Spanish aristocracy that ran the country with a
few Filipinos included into the ruling 'class'. The ruling
class gained power and wealth thru land grants, https://www.scribd.com/docu
positions, and titles from the King, and in turn gave ment/341850231/Effects-of-
tribute and loyalty back to the King.............................. .......... Spanish-Colonization

How was the middle to low class treated?

Some Filipinos in the small middle class of merchants,

soldiers, skilled services, etc. The majority of 'natives'
were just left alone aside from tax and trade, so long
as they did not go 'off reservation' headhunting or
what not. This colonial aristocracy, like those in
Mexico and elsewhere, used peons - peasants, who
were like medieval European serfs, to do manual
labor. These peons, like serfs, had little money or
power, and a fairly short and miserable life of endless
toil for the benefit of their colonial masters................. .......... Loc. cit.

How did it affect the people living in Manila?

The Spaniards in Manila lived in the walled city of

Intramuros. The governor, administrators, friars,
merchants, military officials, priests and soldiers from
Spain and some of their families all resided within the
walls. Outside the walls was a polyglot community of
Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese and other foreigners.
Those that profited the most from trade and other
economic activities, primarily the Spanish elite, wore http://factsanddetails.com/so
fine silks, traveled around un elegant coaches, wore utheast-
gold chains and gem-stubbed rings and were looked asia/Philippines/sub5_6a/entr
after by an army of servants......................................... .......... y-3836.html#chapter-6

What was the effect of it in the eighteenth-century?

In the eighteenth-century expulsion edicts had given

the Chinese mestizos the opportunity to enter
retailing and the skilled craft occupations formerly
dominated by the Chinese. The removal of legal
restrictions on Chinese economic activity and the
competition of new Chinese immigrants, however,
drove a large number of mestizos out of the
commercial sector in mid-nineteenth century.............. .......... Ibid.

What was the effect of it in the nineteenth century?

By the late nineteenth century, prominent mestizo

families, despite the inroads of the Chinese, were
noted for their wealth and formed the major
component of a Filipino elite. As the export economy
grew and foreign contact increased, the mestizos and
other members of this Filipino elite, known
collectively as ilustrados, obtained higher education
(in some cases abroad), entered professions such as
law or medicine, and were particularly receptive to
the liberal and democratic ideas that were beginning
 to reach the Philippines despite the efforts of the
generally reactionary--and friar-dominated--Spanish
establishment............................................................... .......... Ibid.

CONCLUSION

I therefore conclude that, the Spanish had a lot of aims for colonizing the Philippines; from
trade, religion, education, government and a lot more. Philippines only became independent 88
years after Spanish America. There can be no doubt that the Philippines was a fascinating
geographical and cultural space that captured the imagination, scientific interest and human
sensibility of the many scholarly Spaniards who spent long years living among the people.
However, the social classes had advantages and disadvantages to different societies. The
colonization also had many influences in the country and to the Filipinos living in that regime.